Europe

Mediterranean eyes on Greece as deepwater drilling approaches

The exploration hunt for hydrocarbons in Greece started in 1938 with the drilling of shallow wells. After a post-war lull, the passage of Greece’s first comprehensive petroleum law in 1959 drew im­mediate international attention, prompting Esso to se­cure exploration permits.…

Exploring salt for hydrogen storage

Halite cores from one of the exploration wells drilled to evaluate the Zuidwending salt dome for hydrogen storage readiness. Photo: IOT Holland. Energy stock, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Dutch state-owned company Gasunie, is working on a project called…

Why physical collaboration matters in a digital subsurface

I will be honest: I was sceptical about bringing EAGE to P&J Live in Aberdeen, Scotland, this year. Historically, out-of-town campus venues risk fracturing a conference. You fight the traffic, you miss the or­ganic energy of a city centre, and…

Storing heat in basement rocks

“Having a look at our lineament map,” says Jon Engström from the Geological Survey of Finland, “that is the first thing you need to do when you’re planning a subsurface project in our country.” Jon is a structural ge­ologist who…

Deep hydrogen in Lorraine: An appraisal well or a science project?

Following the discovery in 2023 of hydrogen in Folschviller-1A, a coalbed methane test-well analysed by La Française de l’Energie (FDE), Lorraine’s hydrogen potential made headlines again in March this year with the drilling by FDE of a dedicated and much…

Ideas over barrels

When France launched the slogan «On n’a pas de pétrole, mais on a des idées» dur­ing the oil shock, it wasn’t clever copy – it was national reframing. Lacking domestic crude became a spark for in­genuity: Efficiency drives, speed lim­its,…

The very first core cut in the UK North Sea

It is boxing day 1964, a day most people in the countries around the North Sea don’t think about spend­ing a day at sea. Yet, the crew of the Global Marine Mr Cap Barge was about to spud a well…

From image to insight: Why seismic data quality matters for CO₂ storage

Left: Overview map of the NVG reprocessed seismic dataset; Right: Coloured interpretation of the seismic line. Repurposing seismic data for carbon storage activities Carbon storage licensing on the Norwegian Continental Shelf has gained momentum, highlighting its role in the energy…

Keep that well

Equinor made a discovery in the North Sea recently, but that is not the biggest piece of news. What is interesting about the Omega Sør Alfa discovery (34/4-19S) is its location as well as the way the exploration well was…

The critical role of cement

In January this year, during a presentation at the Canadian Energy Geoscience Association (CEGA), Eavor’s VP Drilling Performance, Mark Hodder, shared some insights on the drilling aspects of the Geretsried deep geothermal pro­ject in southern Germany. For me, this was…