Applications for the current UK Licensing Round reveal a focus on gas
As Paul de Leeuw from Robert Gordon University noted during the panel session at a Westwood Energy event in Aberdeen last week: “Before the COP26 Conference in Glasgow, new oil…
Exploration
The Suriname-Guyana Basin
Hydrocarbons were first noted in the Guyana-Suriname region by Dutch explorers in the 1750’s. Onshore discoveries of biodegraded heavy oil in Suriname supported the presence of a working petroleum system.…
Keeping an eye on the Cuban part of the GOM
The island of Cuba has a rich history of oil and gas exploration, dating back as far as the 1860s when commercial discoveries of heavy oil were found. The first…
Can Aberdeen become a center for minerals needed for the energy transition?
On a rainy day in March, on a quiet countryside road north of the village of Ellon in Aberdeenshire, northeast Scotland, I am welcomed by geologist Drew Craig from Aberdeen…
Timely success for re-energised gas cluster offshore northwest Turkiye
Canadian firm Trillion Energy International have reported success at their SASB (South Akçakoca Sub-Basin) gas field cluster offshore northwest Turkiye. Alapli 2 reached 3,258 m TD on 16 July 2023.…
A significant gas discovery at the right time
“Norway is the gift that keeps on giving,” said DNO’s Executive Chairman Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani in a press release last week, when the discovery of gas and condensate in well 35/10-10A…
Where to drill in the Dutch offshore?
The GEODE platform, an online viewer and database compiled by EBN and TNO – Geological Survey of the Netherlands – provides an overview of the exploration potential and risks associated…
Hotly debated Arctic boundaries
Canada is reported to be the first nation to lay claim to its boundaries extending into the Arctic in 1925. They were followed by the then Soviet Union in 1926.…
Bid rounds in the Middle East and South Asia – the shop front is still open
As June is drawing to a close, the Middle East and South Asia region have a number of licensing rounds open, with three more offshore rounds anticipated during the year.…
Companies feel pressure to accelerate frontier exploration
“I might as well go gardening if it was not my role to speed up the process of discovering reserves through frontier exploration”, said Neil Hodgson from Searcher. One of…
How to attract the majors?
When it comes to finding new oil and gas fields, there’s not much that can beat the excitement of frontier exploration. Drilling wells in areas where no one has gone…
The slick anomalies that led to the drilling of Ephesus
The Ephesus prospect – or Cape Freels as it is called by OILCO – lies in the western part of the Orphan Basin. This basin finds its origin in the…