UK drilling picks up pace
At the time of writing there were two active E&A wells drilling. Both wells were spudded at the end of May, taking the total well spuds to date in 2017 to five, all of which are exploration.
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Repsol Norge gets go-ahead for wildcat well
The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) has approved Repsol Norge's bid to drill a wildcat well in the Norwegian Sea.
Texas oil and gas regulator falls short of abandoned well target
The state regulator of oil and gas in Texas said the body has fallen short of its goal to plug almost 900 wells, according to the agency's Oilfield Cleanup Program annual report.
IOG results on track despite North Sea well rethink
Independent Oil and Gas (IOG) has revealed its interim results as it said commerciality of its Skipper well may take longer than expected.
Lundin Norway wins wildcat drilling approval
Lundin Norway has won a drilling permit for a well in the Norwegian North Sea.
Polyard Petroleum begins testing of Philippines well
Polyard Petroleum said it has completed testing of a well in the Philippines.
EnQuest confirms oil discovery from North Sea Eagle exploration well
EnQuest has confirmed an oil discovery at its Eagle exploration well in the North Sea.
Faroe Petroleum begins drilling North Sea well
Faroe Petroleum has kick-started drilling on its latest North Sea well.
Statoil gets permit for drilling of wildcat well
Statoil has been granted a permit by the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) for the drilling of a wildcat well.
Byron Energy spuds Gulf of Mexico well
Byron Energy said it has spudded the SM-71-1 well in the Gulf of Mexico.
Wintershall Norge’s wildcat bites dust
Wintershall Norge’s wildcat well came up dry.
Petrofac wins North Sea contract
Petrofac has secured a contract from Zennor Petroleum to provide well design and well construction management services to support the Finlaggan well in the North Sea.
Total begins drilling of Antelope-6 appraisal well
Total has begun the drilling of the Antelope-6 appraisal well in Papua New Guinea.
Transerv achieves sustained gas flow from Warro-6 well
Transerv said sustained gas flow and a continuous gas flare have been achieved from the Warro-6 well in Western Australia during the initial clean-up phase of the well. The company said the flow rate has yet to be measured but the early stage result is considered to be a significant development in its strategy to establish Warro as a major economic gas project. Warro is Australia’s largest undeveloped gas field with resources of 11.6trillion cubic feet of gas in place.
Anadarko ordered to pay $159.5million for 2010 Gulf spill
Anadarko Petroleum Corp. was ordered to pay almost $160 million for its role as part-owner of the doomed Gulf of Mexico well that in 2010 caused the biggest offshore oil spill in U.S. history.
Lundin Petroleum commences drilling of Malaysian well
Lundin Petroleum has commenced drilling of the Selada-1 exploration well in Block PM308A offshore Malaysia. The company said the well will target hydrocarbons in Miocence aged sands and is 14km to the south of the Bertam field operated by Lundin Malaysia.
Noble Energy abandons Falklands Humpback well
Noble Energy has plugged and abandoned its Humpback well in waters off the coast of Falkland after non-commercial quantities of oil and gas were discovered. The company said a full assessment and integration of drilling results was on-going to determine the remaining exploration potential in the southern area license. Noble said the rig which drilled the Humpback well will be released to another operator before returning to the company to spud the Rhea prospect later this year or early next year.
Hibiscus Petroleum spuds Sea Lion well
Hibiscus Petroleum has spudded the Sea Lion well after the project was delayed. The company’s subsidiary, Carnarvon Hibiscus, said the West Telestro drilling rig arrived at the site last week following a 196-mile tow from its original location. The planned total depth of the well is 1,800metres with the exploration well expected to take up to 30 days.
Ophir Energy launches Thailand exploration
Ophir Energy said it has launched its two-well exploration programme in Thailand after spudding of the first wildcat. The company said it had spudded the G4/50-10 exploration well on the Soy Siam prospect in the western Gulf of Thailand. The block partly surrounds Ophir's producing Bualuang oil field and spans a series of Tertiary aged sub-basins in the region.
State review says Californian oversight of oil well injection sites ‘inadequate’
California's oversight of wells where oil companies dispose of wastewater brought to the surface is hindered by inadequate staffing and poorly organized paper records, a state review of the program said Thursday. In a report to the state legislature, California's Department of Conservation (DOC) found that wastewater injection wells also suffer from inconsistent permitting, monitoring and enforcement of their construction and operation, among other problems. "The division hasn't owned up to its responsibilities as a regulator in the past, but we are rapidly moving towards doing that," Steve Bohlen, head of California's Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources, which oversees the state's drilling activities, said on a conference call with reporters.
San Leon to spud Poland development well next month
San Leon Energy said the Rawicz-15 development well in Poland will be spud next month. The development well is in the country’s southern Permian Basin and in addition to providing a second well, it is also hoped it will provide further data on the sandstone reservoir.
Lundin resumes spudding of Malaysian exploration well
Lundin Petroleum has resumed drilling in Malaysia with the spud of the Mengjuang-1 exploration well in licence PM307. The company's subsidiary, Lundin Malaysia, said the well will target hydrocarbons in Miocence-aged sands 75kilmoetres from the Bertam field.
Sea Lion-1 exploration well faces further delays
The Sea Lion-1 exploration well is facing further delays due to continued weather conditions preventing the handover of the West Telesto rig from its current operator. Hibiscus Petroleum is currently awaiting handover of the jack-up from Origin Energy in the Gippland basin. 3D Oil said the hold-up was not at the material expense of the joint venture and was also not due to the performance of the rig or other operational factors.
Faroe Petroleum well comes up dry
Faroe Petroleum will plug and abandon a well after it came up dry. The company said the Portrush exploration well encountered no hydrocarbons in well 6407/10-5. The well was drilled to a vertical depth of 2,850 metres below sea level and was terminated in the objective interval.
NPD grants Lundin Norway drilling permit
The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) has granted Lundin Norway a drilling permit for well 7220/11-3 A. The well will be drilled from the Island Innovator facility. The drilling programme for well 7220/11-3 A relates to the drilling of an appraisal well in production licence 609.