A Bleak Year for Oil and Gas Exploration in Africa
Despite optimistic expectations at the start of the year, with several high-impact wells planned, 2020 is the bleakest year in a decade for African oil and gas exploration. Expectations were…
North America
Guyana–Suriname: The Hotspot That Keeps on Giving
Patterns are emerging in the Guyana-Suriname hydrocarbon hotspot as further successes are announcement – indicating an even more promising future for oil and gas exploration in the region. Building on…
Onshore Hydrocarbon Exploration Opportunities in Angola
Angola’s Onshore Kwanza Basin offers an underexplored basin with a world class petroleum system, presenting many oil and gas exploration opportunities for the upcoming Onshore Angola License Round. Seasoned explorers…
Chasing Hydrocarbon Plays Along the Rona Ridge
Review of new 3D seismic data in the Faroe-Shetland Basin has revealed new hydrocarbon potential of the Early Cretaceous syn-rift and Precambrian fractured basement plays along the northern extent of…
Success for Shallow Water Bashrush Gas Discovery, Offshore Egypt
After a string of dry wells in the eastern deepwater Nile Delta, Eni, in partnership with BP and Total, have had success testing their recent shallow water Bashrush gas discovery,…
Hydrocarbon Exploration Suriname: Perseverance Rewarded
Perseverance pays off; following two high-profile, high-cost dry holes drilled in Suriname, Apache hit their third consecutive major condensate-light oil discovery on Block 58. Map showing location of the…
Oil and Gas Exploration Challenges in South East Asia
South East Asian oil and gas explorers started 2020 with new licensing rounds and extensive exploration drilling and seismic programmes planned but the current economically challenging conditions created by Covid-19…
Australia: Offshore Wildcat Spuds
BP’s much-anticipated Ironbark-1 offshore wildcat was finally spudded at the end of October 2020 offshore the North West Shelf of Australia. Map showing the location of the Ironbark-1 well offshore…
Potential Impactful Hydrocarbon Discoveries West of Shetland
Underexplored West of Shetland has potential for big oil and gas discoveries in newly awarded UK licensing round. The recently concluded 32nd offshore licensing round in the United Kingdom has…
The Elusive Deepwater Gippsland Gas Prize
ExxonMobil have recently completed a three-well drilling campaign on VIC/P70 offshore Gippsland Basin, south-east Australia. Location of the Sculpin-1 well. ExxonMobil have recently completed a three-well drilling campaign on…
Update on the Deepwater Luiperd-1 Well, Offshore South Africa
Total, with partners Africa Energy, Qatar Petroleum and CNR, have returned to the deepwater Block 11B/12B in the Outeniqua Basin, offshore South Africa, to spud the Luiperd-1 well. Location off…
Norway Surprises with 25th Oil and Gas Licensing Round
Norway surprised many observers in June by announcing plans for a licensing round that signalled a major expansion of the availability of areas for oil exploration in the Norwegian sector…