Lundin spuds exploration well on the Ørnen prospect in the Barents Sea
Nov 25, 2015
Lundin Petroleum AB says that its wholly owned subsidiary Lundin Norway AS has commenced the drilling of exploration well 7130/4-1, located on the Ornen prospect in the southern Barents Sea.The planned total depth of the well, which will be drilled using the Transocean Artic (mid-water semisub), is approximately 8,628 feet below

BG Group secures equity in Aphrodite discovery, offshore Cyprus
Nov 24, 2015
BG Group has taken a 35% holding in Block 12 offshore Cyprus which includes the Aphrodite gas discovery. This upstream position provides a potential source of gas to Egypt where BG Group holds equity in the two train LNG export facility at Idku as well as LNG offtake rights to lift 3.6 mtpa.

Eni completes sale of the remaining shareholding in Galp
Nov 23, 2015
Eni S.p.A. has completed the sale of 33,124,670 ordinary shares (the “Shares‘) of Galp Energia SGPS S.A. (Galp), corresponding to the entire participation held by Eni and equal to approximately 4% of the share capital of Galp (the “Sale‘). The aggregate consideration of the Sale amounted to approximately € 325 million at a price of € 9.81 per Share.

Shell-BG recommended combination receives Australian antitrust clearance
Nov 20, 2015
Royal Dutch Shell plc announced that its recommended combination with BG Group plc has received unconditional merger clearance from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. Together with the previously announced clearances in Brazil and EU, three of the five pre-conditions to the combination have now been satisfied.

Petrobras confirms deep water oil find in Potiguar Basin's Pitu area
Nov 19, 2015
An extension well has confirmed the presence of oil in the Pitu area. The discovery of this accumulation in the deep waters of the Potiguar Basin was first announced on December 17, 2013. The new well (3-BRSA-1317-RNS), known informally as Pitu North 1, is the first extension well drilled as part of the Pitu Discovery Evaluation Plan and is located 60 km off the Rio Grande do Norte state coast at a water depth of 1,844 m and with a final well depth of 4,200 m

READ Cased Hole wins cased hole logging contract with Hess Denmark ApS
Nov 18, 2015
Aberdeen-based production and integrity evaluation company READ Cased Hole (READ) has been awarded a cased hole logging contract by Hess Denmark ApS, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hess Corporation. The framework contract appoints READ as the preferred provider on a four year basis with one year extension option available.

NPD gives green light for production start-up on Edvard Grieg
Nov 17, 2015
The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) has granted consent to start production on the Lundin Norway-operated Edvard Grieg field in production licence 338 in the North Sea. Production start-up is scheduled in accordance with the Plan for Development and Operation (PDO). Development costs have increased slightly, but the increase is within the uncertainty range of plus/minus 20 per cent in the PDO investment projections.

Lundin spuds exploration well on the Lorry prospect, offshore Norway
Nov 16, 2015
Lundin Petroleum AB says that its wholly owned subsidiary Lundin Norway AS (Lundin Norway) has commenced drilling of exploration well 6407/10-4 on the Lorry prospect.The well 6407/10-4 will explore the Lorry prospect in PL700, located on the northern part of the Frøya High in the Norwegian Sea approximately 17 km northeast of VNG Norge operated Pil and Bue discoveries in the Halten Terrace.

Kosmos Energy makes second major gas discovery Offshore Mauritania
Nov 13, 2015
Kosmos Energy says that the Marsouin-1 exploration well, located in the northern part of Block C-8 offshore Mauritania, has made a significant, play-extending gas discovery. This is the company’s second major discovery of 2015.

Statoil increases environmental commitment on the NCS
Nov 12, 2015
Since 2008, Statoil has had the aim of reducing CO2 emissions on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) by up to 800 000 tonnes by 2020. The company is already close to achieving this goal, four years ahead of time, and therefore increases the target by 50% to 1.2 million tonnes. “In Norway, we produce oil and gas with half of the CO2 emissions per unit of output compared to the global industry average. By aiming even higher now, we are reinforcing our leading role in the coming years as a low-emission producer of oil and gas,” says Arne Sigve Nylund, executive vice president, Development and Production Norway (DPN).

NPD announces dry well near the Njord field
Nov 11, 2015
VNG Norge AS, operator of production licence 586, is in the process of completing the drilling of wildcat well 6406/12-5 S. The well has been drilled about 33 kilometres southwest of the Njord field and about five kilometres southeast of the 6406/12-3 S (Pil) discovery in the Norwegian Sea.

AGR to deliver well and drilling operations for GDF SUEZ E&P Norge
Nov 10, 2015
AGR has been awarded an agreement with operator GDF SUEZ E&P Norge to deliver well construction and drilling operations for the Cara Well in license area PL636 in the Norwegian North Sea.The planning phase for the project is already underway and drilling is planned for Q3 of 2016, and is expected to last 53 days. The operational phase may be extended with an optional drill stem test which is part of the Scope of Work.

Faroe Petroleum completes acquisition of interests in UK Blane and Enoch fields
Nov 9, 2015
Faroe Petroleum has completed the previously announced acquisition of Roc Oil (GB Holdings) Limited, which holds a 12.5006% interest in the Blane Unit in the UK North Sea and a 12.00% interest in the Enoch Unit in the UK North Sea. Post-Acquisition Faroe will hold in aggregate a 30.5047% non-operated interest in the Blane Unit (Pre-Acquisition interest 18.0041%) and a 13.86% non-operated interest

Ashtead Technology secures exclusive underwater Glider agreement
Nov 6, 2015
Ashtead Technology has secured a global asset management agreement with Blue Ocean Monitoring to store, maintain and supply underwater gliders for ocean data monitoring. The deal will see Blue Ocean Monitoring expand its service offering globally with Ashtead providing asset management services and project support from its offices in Aberdeen, Houston and Singapore.

Statoil awards accommodation rig contract for Johan Sverdrup
Nov 5, 2015
Statoil has, on behalf of the Johan Sverdrup licence, awarded a contract to Jacktel AS, a wholly owned subsidiary of Master Marine AS, for providing accommodation services on the Johan Sverdrup field. Jacktel AS, a wholly owned subsidiary of Master Marine A, located in Oslo/Norway, has been awarded a contract for the Haven jack-up accommodation rig for the installation and commissioning period for the Johan Sverdrup project phase 1.

Goliat FPSO Mooring Lines Installed
Nov 4, 2015
Lankhorst Ropes Offshore has overseen the installation of the mooring ropes for the Goliat FPSO (Floating Production Storage and Offloading) for Eni Norge AS, positioned 85 km offshore, North West of Hammerfest in the PL229 and PL229B licence areas in the Barents Sea, offshore Norway.

Gassco takes over the operatorship of the new Utsira High gas pipe
Nov 3, 2015
Gassco has taken over the operatorship of the new Utsira High gas pipe (UHGP), which will transport rich gas to Britain’s Scottish Area Gas Evacuation (Sage) system and St Fergus in Scotland. Running for 94 kilometres, this pipeline starts at the Edvard Grieg field about 57 kilometres north of Sleipner in the northern North Sea.

Apache makes significant North Sea discoveries
Nov 2, 2015
Apache Corporation announced significant discoveries on two exploration wells in the Beryl area of the U.K. North Sea. The company also drilled two

Statoil to explore offshore South Africa
Oct 30, 2015
Statoil has completed a farm-in transaction with ExxonMobil Exploration and Production South Africa Limited (ExxonMobil), acquiring a 35 percent interest in the ER 12/3/154 Tugela South Exploration Right. “This opportunity is in line with Statoil’s exploration strategy of access at scale. It represents access into a frontier basin where we believe we see indications of an active petroleum system and which has impact potential,” says Nick Maden, senior vice president for Statoil's exploration activities in the Western Hemisphere.

Keppel FELS delivers eighth rig of the year safely and on time
Oct 29, 2015
Keppel FELS, a wholly owned subsidiary of Keppel Offshore & Marine (Keppel O&M) has delivered ARABDRILL 70, a KFELS B Class jackup rig, to Arabian Drilling Company (ADC). It was completed three days ahead of schedule, on budget and with a perfect safety record. ARABDRILL 70 is the fourth KFELS B Class jackup rig to work for ADC.

Technip awarded a substantial contract to supply flexible pipes for the Libra field
Oct 28, 2015
Technip was awarded a substantial contract from Libra Oil & Gas BV, a consortium led by Petrobras Netherland BV (40%) and partners: Shell (20%), Total (20%), CNOOC (10%) and CNPC (10%).The project includes the supply of flexible pipes for the Libra Extended Well Test field, located in the Santos Basin pre-salt area, Brazil. This is one of the first steps of the Libra giant field development.

Proserv seals significant contract for Johan Sverdrup work
Oct 27, 2015
Energy services company Proserv has secured a contract with a value of more than 20 million NOK (approx. £1.6 million) to provide topside control equipment at one of the largest field discoveries on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The agreement will see Proserv supplying Aibel, on behalf of Statoil, with a hydraulic power unit (HPU) and three chemical injection panels to be used on the prestigious Johan Sverdrup development’s drilling platform

NPD announces new study on unmanned wellhead platforms
Oct 26, 2015
The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate wants unmanned wellhead platforms to be considered more often as an alternative to subsea tie-back in connection with development decisions.A new study will look into the benefits and disadvantages of wellhead platforms.'The main argument in favour of unmanned wellhead platforms as a concept, is that this could be an efficient development solution in terms of both cost and production.

Statoil reports more gas from Troll A
Oct 24, 2015
The two new giant compressors that started up on the Troll A platform this month will help increase gas recovery by 83 billion cubic metres. The occasion attracted a platform visit from EEA and EU affairs minister Vidar Helgesen.“Europe is in a transition phase with regard to both competitiveness and climate. Stable and competitive gas deliveries from the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) play a key role along these two axes. Higher production and flexibility from the Troll field is therefore good news to both Norway and Europe,” said Helgesen during his visit.