Jul 30, 2010 - The Petroleum Safety Authority Norway granted consent to RWE-Dea Norge to perform exploratory drilling on well 35/9-6 S in Production License PL 420 using the Bredford Dolphin semisub. The well is located in a water depth of 1,211 feet (369 meters), and drilling should take about 55 days. RWE-Dea operates the license, holding a 30% interest; Statoil holds 40%; and Idemitsu holds the remaining 30%.

Jul 30, 2010 - New Zealand O&G is seeking to farm-out a portion of its 100% stake in license PEP 51311, located to the west and south of the Kupe development and spans 123,553 acres (500 square kilometers). New 2D seismic shot in February 2009 has identified a number of leads and prospects, including the Kaupokonui prospect. This prospect is a stacked series of Moutueka coastal sands, which are laterally truncated and sealed by deep canyons, according to NZOG. A site survey was performed over the proposed Kaupokonui, and is estimated to hold mean prospective resources in the amount of 200 million barrels. A commitment from a company is required by January 2011 to drill a well within the following 12 months.

Jul 30, 2010 - Melrose Resources found oil in the Galata Block offshore Bulgaria in the Kavarna East No. 1 well, which was drilled to test an exploration prospect about 6 miles (10 kilometers) to the east of the Galata production platform. The new gas discovery penetrated the top of the Paleocene reservoir interval at a depth of 2,753 feet (839 meters), encountering a net gas pay of 89 feet (27 meters) with an average porosity of 29%. The preliminary reserves estimate for the discovery is 12 Bcf, and is in-line with pre-drill estimates. The planned development for Kavarna East is to tie it back to the Kavarna subsea well location. Drilled by the Jupiter jackup, the rig will now install a subsea tree for the Kaliakra field development, and may then drill the Kaliakra East prospect. Melrose wholly owns and operates the discovery.

Jul 30, 2010 - The J W McLean semisub should commence drilling operations at the Cladhan location within the next couple of days, announced a partner on the field, EnCore. The Cladhan field is located on Blocks 210/29a and 210/30a in the UK sector of the North Sea in a water depth of 1,634 feet (498 meters). Sterling Energy, holding a 39.9% interest, operates Cladhan; Wintershall holds 33.5%; Encore holds 16.6%; and Dyas holds the remaining 10% interest.

Jul 29, 2010 - AWE has spud the Tuatara-1 exploration well and should reach a proposed total depth of 6,644 feet (2,025 meters). The well will target the Moki Sandstones within the Tuatara prospect, which is defined by the Malvern 2D seismic survey. Situated in a water depth of about 164 feet (50 meters), Tuatara is located in PEP 38524 in the western Tasman Bay in the southern part of the offshore Taranaki Basin. AWE operates the license, holding a 60% interest.

Jul 29, 2010 - Acergy was awarded a US $1.3 billion contract for the engineering, procurement, fabrication and installation of Total's CLOV deepwater development. Engineering will commence immediately, and offshore installation is scheduled to start in the fourth quarter of 2012. The CLOV project is located on Block 17 offshore Angola. Total's Angolan subsidiary, Total E&P Angola, is the operator of Angolan Block 17 with a 40% interest. Partners in the license include Statoil with a 23.33% interest, Esso Exploration Angola with a 20% interest and BP Exploration Angola with a 16.67% interest.

Jul 28, 2010 - FG International Holland was awarded a Flare Tip Handling study of the new build FPSO for Total's Pazflor development. The flare tip is located 417 feet (127 meter) above the main deck of the 1,066-foot (325-meter) by 200-foot (61-meter) FPSO. Located approximately 90 miles (150 kilometers) offshore Angola in ultra-deep waters, the Pazflor project incorporates four fields -- Perpetua, Zinia, Acacia and Hortensia -- spanning 148,263 acres (600 square kilometers) on the eastern edge of Block 17. Total's Angolan subsidiary, Total E&P Angola, is the operator of Angolan Block 17 with a 40% interest. Partners in the license include Statoil with 23.33% interest, Esso Exploration Angola with 20% interest and BP Exploration Angola with 16.67% interest.

Jul 28, 2010 - Bontan Corporation and partners in the Offshore Israel Project announced that the 3D seismic data covering the Sarah and Myra licenses was submitted to the Ministry of National Infrastructure as per the agreed work program. The first phase of the interpretation of the data should be completed and submitted to the MNI by Aug. 1, 2010. The two licenses, Sarah and Myra, compromising the Offshore Israel Project, span about 198,400 acres (310 square miles), and are situated in the Levantine Basin near Noble's Tamar and Dalit natural gas discoveries. Partners in the license consist of IPC Oil and Gas, Tel Aviv-based Emanuelle Energy, Modin Energy Partnership, Emanuelle Energy Oil & Gas, and four other entities including the operator, GeoGlobal Resources (India) Inc.

Jul 28, 2010 - Talisman Energy reported the topsides for the Yme platform are complete, and ready for load-out from the construction yard in Abu Dhabi. Load-out and transportation to Norway is planned for August, and if the installation process goes accordingly, first production from the field is anticipated towards the end of the year. Development drilling continues and is scheduled for completion in the third quarter. The Yme field is located 62 miles (100 kilometers) off the coast of Norway in a water depth of 305 feet (93 meters) on Blocks 9/2 and 9/5 in the southeastern region of the North Sea. Talisman Energy operates the field.

Jul 28, 2010 - Ithaca Energy has collected C $158 million from its previously announced Canadian bought deal and UK private share placement. The combination of the proceeds together with debt made available from the recently announced Bank of Scotland facility and a portion of anticipated cash flows are to be used to fund the Greater Stella Area development project in the UK central North Sea. The Greater Stella Area includes the Stella, Harrier and Hurricane discoveries. Detailed planning for the project has already started, and Ithaca has engaged in a formal dialogue with the DECC authorities and host infrastructure owners to accelerate and optimize the planned development. Ithaca plans to develop Stella with four oil producing wells and one gas producing well, and two gas producing wells for the Harrier discovery. The Stella gas field is situated on UKCS Block 30/6 in waters measuring 280 feet (85 meters) in the North Sea. Ithaca serves as the operator and holds a 50.33% interest.

Jul 28, 2010 - Cove Energy has agreed to farm into five deepwater blocks offshore Kenya. The company will acquire a 15% participating interest in five contiguous deepwater blocks L5, L7, L11A & B, and L12, covering an area of more than 7.5 million acres (30,500 square kilometers). Dynamic Global Advisors Kenya Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of DEPCO, with a 30% interest, holds the five blocks in a Joint Venture. Anadarko Petroleum serves as the operator with a 70% interest in the blocks. Cove will pay US $15.5 million to DEPCO, inclusive of acquisition costs, a reimbursement of DEPCO's past expenditure on the blocks, and funding for forward work program during the first exploration phase through June 2012.

Jul 27, 2010 - RDS was awarded a contract for the Chirag Oil Project Execute phase by the Azerbaijan International Operating Company (AIOC). After the project is sanctioned, RDS will perform the COP Execute phase, which includes detail design, follow-on engineering and construction and commissioning support. The project should continue until early 2013. The COP development concept is an offshore fixed installation located in the Chirag-Deep Water Gunashli area of the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli field, in a water depth of about 558 feet (170 meters). Installation consists of a single production, drilling and quarters platform. The Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) oil field is located in the Caspian Sea, 75 miles (120 kilometers) offshore Azerbaijan. BP is the operator of AIOC with a 34.1% interest in the company; partners include Unocal, 10.3%; SOCAR, 10%; INPEX, 10%; Statoil, 8.6%; ExxonMobil, 8%; TPAO, 6.8%; Devon, 5.6%; ITOCHU, 3.9%; and Amerada Hess, 2.7%.

Jul 27, 2010 - The Maersk Deliverer semisub is en route to Mauritania to drill the Cormoran prospect in offshore Block 7. Dana Petroleum anticipates the well should spud around September 1. Based on 3D seismic mapping, Cormoran has targeted reserves of 400 to 780 MMboe. The prospect is the largest in Dana's 2010 exploration campaign, and is near the existing Pelican discovery. Dana operates the block in West Africa.

Jul 26, 2010 - Tullow Oil intersected a significant amount of light oil in the Owo-1 exploration well in the Deepwater Tano license offshore Ghana, potentially adding a billion barrels of oil equivalent to the resource estimate for the area. The deviated well encountered a gross vertical reservoir interval of 505 feet (154 meters) containing 174 feet (53 meters) of net oil pay in two zones of high-quality stacked reservoir sandstones. Pressure data indicates that these zones are part of the same accumulation, and samples show that the oil is light, between 33 and 36 degrees API. Following the completion of logging operations, the well will be sidetracked .4 miles (.6 kilometers) to the east to provide additional information on lateral reservoir distribution, and to intersect a deeper part of the Owo channel system. Drilled by the Sedco 702 semisub, the well reached a final depth of 12,766 feet (3,891 meters) in a water depth of 4,685 feet (1,428 meters). Tullow Oil operates the license, holding a 49.95% interest; Kosmos Energy holds 18%; Anadarko holds 18%; Sabre Oil & Gas holds 4.05%; and the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation holds 10%.

Jul 26, 2010 - Drilling operations have commenced on the Anne Marie prospect, located off Faroe Islands. The well, 6004/8a-1, is targeting oil-bearing sandstones of the Eocene and Paleocene age in a structural trap. The well is being drilled by the Seadrill West Phoenix semisub in a water depth of 3,629 feet (1,106 meters), about 118 miles (190 kilometers) southeast of Torshavn. Eni Denmark BV serves as operator with a participating interest of 30%. Other partners in the joint venture consist of Dana Petroleum (25%), OMV (20%), CIECO (12.5%), and Faroe Petroleum (12.5%).