UKCS development well drilling segment to remain “stable”, analyst predicts
Development drilling activity levels on the UK continental shelf will hold up for another three years, an analyst from Douglas Westwood has said.
development drilling
Stella area drill award
Ithaca Energy awarded a multimillion-pound contract to Transocean subsidiary ADTI yesterday to complete development drilling at its Greater Stella Area project.
Drilling under way
Aberdeen-based oil firm Dana Petroleum has started drilling the Magnolia prospect in the Moray Firth.
Shell’s Fram field plan under review
Shell UK left oil and gas experts baffled last night after it said it was reviewing its Fram development in the UK North Sea as a result of "unexpected initial drilling results".
Dana – Western Isles latest
With the countdown started for development drilling by the end of this year, Paul Griffin, Managing director of Dana UK, talks about how the firm’s largest project is vital to its growth plans. The £989million Western Isles project is made up of the Harris and Barra fields in the northern North Sea.
There’s a big buzz about the province as BP invests
As the UK Atlantic Frontier - aka West of Shetland - comes of age, so exploration and development momentum builds. There is a buzz about the province as the pace quickens and more discoveries graduate to the development category.
Raising Premier’s North Sea game
In April this year, Premier Oil was given clearance by the Department of Energy & Climate Change to develop the West of Shetland Solan oilfield.
Further delays on Breagh
First gas on the southern North Sea Breagh development could be delayed after further cost overruns on the project, it was announced today.
Costs on Breagh overrun
Oil and gas explorer Sterling Resources has said costs have overrun by 17% on the southern North Sea Breagh gas development.
EnQuest picks up a Kraken
Independent oil and gas firm EnQuest is to take over control of the North Sea Kraken discovery after agreeing to up its stake to 45%.
MPX to develop Orlando
Oil and gas explorer MPX North Sea has applied to the Department of Energy and Climate Change to develop the Orlando field.
It’s business as usual – but only for now
At the time of writing it's all the sevens: seven E&A wells spudded to date in 2011, seven wells completed and seven wells currently operating or drilling.
Maersk takes delivery of third of three identical deepwater semis
Maersk has taken delivery of the last in a series of three identical ultra-deepwater development semi-submersible drilling rigs constructed at Keppel FELS in Singapore.
The king is dead. Long live the king?
Since the announcement earlier this year of the successes of the Blackbeard, and particularly the Davy Jones exploration well, drilled by McMoRan Exploration Company, there has been significant press attention given as to how such large, deep gas plays could be extracted from shallow-water regions in the Gulf of Mexico.
Grenland signs up for work in China
GRENLAND Group of Norway has signed a $7.7million contract with a unit of China Offshore Services Limited (COSL) for project-related work on a semi-submersible rig under construction at the Yantai Raffles yard in China.
Norwegian safety body gives the green light
NORWAY'S Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) has given the green light to StatoilHydro and Marathon to carry out exploration and development drilling with the semi-submersibles, Polar Pioneer, West Alpha and Deepsea Bergen.
Rationalisation among North Sea minnows ‘on the way’
A long-overdue rationalisation among the smaller oil and gas firms in the North Sea is on the way, according to an industry expert.
Is rig rate resistance hotting up?
Rig day-rates may be about to peak as drilling contractors hit resistance from increasingly wary oil companies.