BP Canada is putting its Nova Scotia exploration drilling activity on the back burner until 2018, as it waits out the economic slump the entire industry has been enduring. Map of BP's Scotian basin exploration drilling project…
Statoil has reached a deal with Austria's OMV to acquire a 30% interest in an exploration permit offshore New Zealand, increasing the Norwegian oil major's interests in the region. Petroleum Exploration Permit (PEP) 57073 covers 9800sq km in the East Coast Basin…
Statoil has completed a farm-in transaction with ExxonMobil, acquiring a 35% interest in the ER 12/3/154 Tugela South Exploration Right offshore South Africa. The remaining interests are held by operator ExxonMobil (40%) and co-venturer Impact Africa (25%)…
Primeline Energy Holdings Inc. has announced that China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) has agreed to extend the exploration period under the petroleum contract for Block 33/07 to facilitate Primeline’s exploration drilling program in the East China Sea…
The Bulgarian Ministry of Energy awarded Shell E&P a permit for deepwater exploration of oil and natural gas in Blocks 1-14 Silistar in the Black Sea, according to Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova. Image from Shell…
Three majors are vying for the same block offshore Mozambique in Mozambique's fifth licensing round, according to the round application details released by the country's National Petroleum Institute (INP) today. It reveals that ExxonMobil…
Northern Petroleum announced that the environmental impact assessments (EIA) for its three remaining exploration permit applications in the southern Adriatic have been approved. These approvals are in addition to the two EIA approvals for exploration permit applications announced on 10 June 2015…
Wellesley Petroleum Holdings, a new exploration company focused exclusively on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS), announced that Chris Elliott has been appointed as CEO. Elliott’s last role was exploration manager UK and Norway for Cairn Energy…
Young Okunna, GlobalData's upstream analyst covering Sub-Saharan Africa reported that the current downturn in oil prices has not slowed down in the region. Although several firms have cut back on their global exploration budgets, the region continues to attract activity…
Australia's Woodside Energy has signed production sharing contracts (PSCs) for offshore blocks AD-2, AD-5, A-4 and A-7, offshore Myanmar, paving the way for the company to start exploration work in the basin. The Blocks were awarded to the company in the 2013 Myanmar Offshore Bid Round…
Statoil is expanding its presence offshore Indonesia with a new awarded exploration license in which the company will operate and own 100%. The new license, the Aru Trough I, covers an area of about 8300sq km and is located near Statoil’s…
Effective 1 February 2015, INPEX will have two new changes in general managers. Toru Akutsu, currently the general manager of the exploration & exploitation unit domestic project division, will become the project general manager of the domestic project division…
Norway's Ministry of Petroleum has welcomed interest in its latest Awards in Pre-defined Areas licensing round, despite the expection that future discoveries in the area will be smaller than in the past. Stakes in some 54 new production…
Lundin Petroleum has announced a US$1.45 billion 2015 development, appraisal and exploration budget - representing a 31% drop compared to its forecast 2014 spending. Spending on development projects will drop about 30%, to $980 million…
Five companies have been awarded licenses covering 10 exploration blocks in the Adriatic Sea in Croatia's first licensing round. The round had offered 29 blocks in the eastern Adriatic Sea covering a total of 36,822sq km. Bids were received from six companies for 15 exploration areas…
