Exploration ///
“These discoveries are part of an extensive well program in the Stabroek Block utilizing six drillships to test play extensions and new concepts, evaluate existing discoveries and complete development wells for the Liza Phase 2 and Payara projects,” said Mike Cousins, senior vice president of exploration and new ventures at ExxonMobil.
Greenpeace asked judges in Scotland’s Court of Session to overturn the government’s decision to grant BP a permit to drill for 30 million barrels of oil in the North Sea.
Norway, Western Europe’s biggest oil producer, has more than 50% of its recoverable resources still in the ground, according to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate. The Barents Sea probably holds most of that, yet there’s only one oil field and one gas field currently producing.
The award extends the scope of energy cooperation between the UAE and Pakistan, which imports about 100,000 barrels of Emirati oil a day. Abu Dhabi sovereign fund Mubadala Investment Co. owns a stake in a refinery in Pakistan.
The Trump administration’s approval of a ConocoPhillips oil field project on Alaska’s Northern Slope was rescinded by a federal judge who said it failed to adequately protect polar bears and didn’t properly consider the effects on climate change.
The Biden administration is appealing a federal judge’s ruling against its oil leasing moratorium, while promising to resume offering new leases on U.S. lands and waters.
The Oman-based land seismic acquisition company will use Stryde systems to obtain better high-definition images for oil and gas exploration across several projects.
Cameron Wallace, World Oil
Taking a page from the Neville Chamberlain Handbook for Diplomacy, Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, is lobbying the UK to take actions that will ultimately lead to a disorganized and very costly end to fossil fuel development in the Scottish sector of the North Sea.
The software combines innovative technology with a tightly integrated, end-to-end suite of workflows to create a complete and connected geoscience solution that enables a subsurface digital twin.
Over 35% of the acreage available in licensing rounds that are either open or scheduled to close in H2 2021 are located in shallow water, while ultra-deep water and deepwater acreage account for 24% and 19%, respectively, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
ExxonMobil reported a significant discovery at Whiptail in the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana. The Whiptail-1 well encountered 246 feet (75 meters) of net pay in high quality, oil-bearing sandstone reservoirs.
The activity level on the Norwegian continental shelf has been high in the first six months of the year – despite the Covid situation. Eight discoveries have been made, production remains high, and many new development projects are on the drawing board.
Greenland's government “has decided to cease issuing new licenses for oil and gas exploration,” it said in a statement. “This step has been taken for the sake of our nature, for the sake of our fisheries, for the sake of our tourism industry, and to focus our business on sustainable potentials.”
Oil majors are gearing up to explore off the coast of Colombia, offering hope to a country struggling to reverse declines in reserves and output of its biggest export.
Equinor and the partners Petoro, Vår Energi and Total E&P Norge have decided to develop the Lavrans discovery and the Kristin Q-discovery which is a part of the Kristin field. Capital expenditures for this first phase will total about NOK 6.5 billion.
With these two new operated exploration blocks, TotalEnergies expands its position in Suriname, an emerging world class basin. A 3D seismic acquisition campaign will be carried out on these 2 licenses to confirm their potential.
A new supercycle in global oil prices could be triggered by a lack of new investments in exploration, Saudi Arabia’s energy minister said.
Norway, Western Europe’s biggest oil producing nation, plans to expand its green energy industry and strengthen its power grid, but isn’t willing to budge when it comes to exploiting its oil and gas resources.
“Longtail-3, combined with our recent discovery at Uaru-2, has the potential to increase our resource estimate within the Stabroek block, demonstrating further growth of this world-class resource and our high-potential development opportunities offshore Guyana,” said Mike Cousins, senior vice president of exploration and new ventures at ExxonMobil.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that state energy company Tpao has found 135 billion cubic meters of gas at the Amasra-1 offshore well, bringing the total amount of deposits discovered in the Black Sea over the past year to 540 billion cubic meters.