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…
North America
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…
Cinder Cone or Mud Volcano?
A triangular feature identified in modern seismic on the Papuan Plateau went ‘viral’ on social media amongst the geoscience community as geoscientists from all over the world debated their theories…
Latin America Leads the Way with FSPO Developments
South America’s upcoming floater projects could help sustain fabrication yards that are struggling to keep their doors open, with FPSO developments driven by Brazil and Guyana. While the rest of…
Hydrocarbon exploration in New Zealand: A beginning or the end?
In April, OMV, with partners OMV Sapura and Mitsui, announced the success of the Toutouwai-1 well in the Taranaki Basin Block 60093 offshore New Zealand’s North Island. However, further exploration…
Calculating Fluid Saturation in Unconventional Reservoirs
A new way to accurately model and calculate true moveable fluid phase saturation in unconventional, organic-rich shale reservoirs. New and greatly improved technologies in drilling, hydraulic fracturing and imaging have…
Locating Sweet Spots: Shale Petroleum Systems
Petroleum system analysis has been a major tool in petroleum geoscience and exploration – but can it help locate shale ‘sweet spots’ and thus increase production, reduce risk and minimize…
Rakhine Basin Gas Discovery, Offshore Myanmar
Korean company Posco International has discovered a new gas field in Myanmar with exploration well Mahar-1, located in offshore Block A3 in the Rakhine Basin. Location of the Posco…
Egypt: A New Regional LNG Hub?
Egypt became a net importer of LNG in 2015. However, the country announced its intention to cease imports and begin exporting LNG through its main LNG terminal at Damietta in…