Global and regional upstream activities, including in Southeast Asia, are rising, as more exploration and development projects are evaluated and approved. Yet, the drilling rig market in the region is not as exciting as it should be, especially with global oil prices ranging between $100 and $120 per barrel in recent months.
India’s Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) said it targets to boost exploration investments by 1.5 times in the next three years to $4 billion. Significantly, ONGC is heading the South Asian nation’s oil and gas hunt in unexplored areas and is seeking international partners to bring challenging fields to production to make up for the falling output from its ageing fields.
Harbour Energy is pushing ahead with an “active rig programme”, with plans to drill over 20 development and infill wells in 2022.
Inpex has started exploration drilling offshore Japan, which if successful could mark the nation’s first new offshore gas development in over three decades.
A supercycle in oil rig day rates could be around the corner as confidence floods back to the North Sea.
Harbour Energy is to assess the commerciality of the Dunnottar project after “marginal accumulations” were found at the prospect.
North-east firm i3 Energy (LSE: I3E) is planning for a “very busy” 2022 with an “extensive” drilling programme on the cards.
China has again been contesting Malaysian oil and gas activity in the South China Sea. This time Beijing has been targeting Thai state-backed upstream player PTT Exploration & Production’s (BKK:PTTEP) upstream drilling operations offshore Sabah.
Westwood Global Energy reports that as of 29 September there were two appraisal wells and two exploration wells active in the UK.
Indonesian upstream regulator SKK Migas has approved ExxonMobil’s plans to restart drilling at its giant Cepu Block in a bid to find new reserves and stem falling output at the country’s largest oil producing block.
Italy’s Eni is believed to be carrying out studies in Blocks 115 and 116 offshore Vietnam with an eye to planning a single-well drilling campaign during the first-half 2022, Westwood Global Energy said in its latest report. The blocks are a short distance from Eni’s large Ken Bau discovery offshore Vietnam.
Valaris will drill the highly-anticipated Buffalo-10 well offshore East Timor that if successful could unlock more than 30 million barrels of oil.
A Chinese ship has been meddling with Harbour Energy’s ongoing drilling campaign at its Tuna block in the Natuna Sea offshore Indonesia. Significantly, the appraisal drilling is funded by Russia’s state-backed Zarubezhneft and the incident underscores the fact that Moscow’s energy interests in the South China Sea are increasingly being threatened by China.
Harbour Energy has picked a Maersk Drilling rig for a trio of development wells on the Catcher area of the UK North Sea.
Rig owner Awilco said today that a number of positive signs pointed to more drilling work and higher contract values in the North Sea.
Norwegian offshore drilling company Borr Drilling has received a letter of award covering a 105-day contract for its Gunnlod jack-up working for an undisclosed operator in Malaysia.
UK-based upstream player Harbour Energy has restarted development well drilling at its Natuna Sea Block A offshore Indonesia after operations were suspended due to a helicopter accident last week.
Westwood Global Energy reports that as of June 28 there were two appraisal wells active in the UK. Completions to date in 2021 are one appraisal well at 22/26d-3 Glengorm South and two exploration wells at 22/6c-B4Z Bacchus South and 16/2a-6 Tiger Lily.
Transocean’s Deepwater Nautilus semi-submersible unit looks set to keep drilling offshore Myanmar for South Korea’s POSCO after the Swiss-based driller announced a contract extension.
Climate activists that failed in their attempt to stop oil and gas drilling in Norway’s Arctic are taking the case to the European Court of Human Rights.
Santos has started its $235 million Phase 3C infill drilling campaign offshore East Timor in an effort to extend the life of the Bayu-Undan field. If successful, the Santos-led Darwin liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plant in Australia, which is fed by the ageing field, will not need to be shut down while new supplies of gas are developed.
India’s Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is seeking to buy newly built jack-up drilling rigs as the national oil company (NOC) looks to secure long-term offshore drilling capacity.
The sinking of Velesto Energy’s NAGA (dragon) 7 jack-up rig offshore Malaysia has prompted investment firm CGS-CIMB to upgrade the drilling company as the closed-door investigation into the accident continues.
Thailand’s PTT Exploration & Production (PTTEP) is seeking a moored floating drilling rig for an appraisal drilling campaign off Myanmar.
Malaysia’s Velesto Energy is evaluating potential recovery options for its jack-up drilling rig NAGA (dragon) 7 that sunk off the Malaysian state of Sarawak while working for ConocoPhillips.