SandRidge Energy makes job losses in Oklahoma
SandRidge Energy said it will be making job losses from its Lariat Services Group in Oklahoma.
drilling
UK oil and gas drilling down in 2015, new figures show
Exploration and appraisal drilling in the UK North Sea went down in 2015, new figures show. A dozen exploration wells were drilled in the North Sea last year, one fewer than in 2014, according to UK Government statistics published this week. Offshore appraisal drilling decreased from 14 two years ago to 12 in 2015.
Oklahoma earthquakes prompt calls to change drilling regulations
A series of earthquakes that have hit the US state of Oklahoma has to led to calls for the governor to make changes to oil and gas drilling regulations and reduce seismic activity.
Permit approved for ConocoPhillips Alaskan drilling
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has approved a drilling permit for Conoco Phillips in Alaska. The decision was awarded on the proposed Greater Mooses Tooth Unit oil and gas development project. It will open the way for the first production oil and gas from federal land in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska.
US Government launches new curbs on Arctic exploration
The US government has launched new curbs on oil and gas exploration in Arctic waters. The move comes after oil major Shell announced it was pulling out of its drilling activity in the region. The US Interior department said as well as cancelling two potential Arctic offshore lease sales and would not extend current leases.
US drillers idle rigs for sixth week as oil lingers near $50
US oil explorers idled rigs for a sixth week as they grapple with crude near $50 a barrel. Rigs targeting oil in the US fell by 9 to 605, adding to the 61 sidelined in the previous five weeks and extending a five-year low, Baker Hughes Inc. said on its website Friday. Equipment put aside in the Permian Basin in West Texas led the decline. "We were expecting a lot of the marginal vertical and directional rigs to start coming back out of the market, and that’s exactly what we saw this week," Matt Marietta, an analyst at Stephens Inc. in Houston, said. "Overall this is a trend I think is going to continue into year-end."
Shell Arctic drilling comes to an end, but rig could still be housed in Seattle port
Oil major Shell could still house some of its fleet in Seattle’s port despite pulling out of plans for exploratory drilling in Alaska. The company said last month it would no longer be pursuing Arctic drilling for the foreseeable future after disappointing results from an initial well. Seattle Mayor Ed Murray said the ruling by deputy hearing examiner Anne Wantanable to clear the way for the possibility of Shell using Terminal 5 for the Polar Pioneer was disappointing. Wantanabe said the attempt by the city’s department of planning and development to require a new land-use permit relied on “inaccurate” characterisations of the work to be done.
Approval for solar park at site of exploratory oil drilling scheme
Plans for a community-owned solar park to help power a village which was at the centre of Britain’s biggest anti-fracking protests have been approved. Campaigners said the 5MW solar park would not only match the electricity demand of Balcombe in West Sussex but also the nearby village of West Hoathly. In the summer of 2013, thousands of protesters descended on Balcombe after energy firm Cuadrilla started exploratory drilling for oil, sparking fears that it would go on to frack there.
Environmentalists hail Shell decision to halt drilling off Alaska coast
Shell has pulled out of offshore drilling in the Arctic, in a decision labelled an “unmitigated defeat” for oil companies by environmentalists opposed to the exploration. The company is abandoning exploration off the coast of Alaska after failing to find sufficient signs of oil and gas to make further exploration worthwhile. The company said it would cease exploration activity in the region “for the foreseeable future”, blaming high costs associated with the project and a “challenging and unpredictable regulatory environment”.
Offshore Europe 2015: IADC says drilling industry must become “high reliability” sector
The chief executive of the International association of Drilling Contractors (IADC) said the drilling industry must become a "high reliability sector". Steve Colville said drilling in a number of regions was currently "uneconomic" and needed some "substantial readjustments" in its cost base as a result. Speaking at Offshore Europe at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre (AECC) Colville said other industries including aviation and nuclear could provide many learnings for the sector.
NPD awards Wintershall drilling permit
The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) has granted Wintershall Norge a drilling permit for well 35/12-5 S. The well will be drilled from the Borgland Dolphin drilling facility after concluding the drilling of wildcat well 6507/3-11 for E.ON E & P. The area in the permit consists of parts of blocks 35/8 and 35/11.
Maersk exec says recovery in oil drilling years away
The market for offshore drilling rigs is likely to remain weak for another two years as a slump in oil prices hurts exploration investments, while much-needed industry consolidation remains a distant prospect, the head of Denmark's Maersk Drilling said. With demand plunging and new capacity coming on the market, the cost to an oil company of renting deepwater drilling rigs has fallen by more than half in the last two years, from a peak around $650,000 per day to a current level of around $300,000. Competitors Fred. Olsen Energy FOE.OL, Diamond Offshore Drilling DO.N, Transocean RIGN.VX and Seadrill SDRL.OL have all recently warned of weak markets ahead.
Lekoil suspends drilling for safety reasons
Lekoil has confirmed that first oil from its Otakikpo field in Nigeria will be delayed until autumn after drilling operations were halted for safety reasons.
Hercules Offshore to file for bankruptcy in weeks
Hercules Offshore said it plans to file for creditor protection in the coming weeks in a bid to end the year with a restructured balance sheet. The company has been struggling for a number of months because of an oversupplied rig markets and slumping oil prices that have forced producers to reduce spending.
Video: Time-lapse shows Kazakhstan rig move
This stunning footage shows a rig move in Kazakhstan.
Is the tide turning for drillers?
Drilling analysts at RS Platou believe oil & gas companies will start to see offshore spending in a more positive light over the coming years
North Sea drilling figures show mixed picture
The number of new exploration and appraisal (E&A) wells in the UK North Sea during the first quarter of 2015 was double that of a year ago, new figures show.
Nabors reduces global workforce
Contract drillers Nabors Industries said it has reduced it global workforce by 18% since last year. The company had made the move following the oil price decline and it affect on drilling activity.
Noble set to retire ‘old iron’ as market gets tougher
London listed, but still North American at its core, drilling contractor Noble Corporation is disposing of three of its older rigs . . . the semi-submersibles Noble Paul Wolff, Noble Driller and Noble Jim Thompson. What has not been stated is whether they will be scrapped. In the case of the last named, the company will be substituting another semi-, the Noble Paul Romano to execute a previously announced contract covering four wells, or a primary term of up to one year in the US Gulf of Mexico. The Paul Romano is in the Canary Islands and is expected to start operations on or around September 1. The deteriorating drilling market is behind the decision with DavidWilliams, chairman, president and CEO of the company, reporting last month: “Rapidly declining crude oil prices during the fourth quarter further aggravated the offshore supply imbalance and contributed to an increasingly difficult environment for securing new contract commitments from our customers.
Offshore rig market expected to feel cost of low oil prices
The massive drop in oil prices, combined with cost and cash flow issues among petroleum companies, is expected to exert further downward pressure on offshore jack-up and semi-submersible rig charters this year. In a nutshell, a lot of rigs are going to become idle over the next couple of years. That will depress rig rates significantly. According to analysts RS Platou, rig demand will slacken sharply, dropping an additional 30% based on a $75 oil price over and above last year’s decline.
Video: Obama calls for expansion to protect Alaska from drilling
President Barack Obama will call on the US congress to expand protection of Alaska’s Arctic refuge to 12million acres. The move will prohibit oil and gas drilling in a region with more than one million acres of oil heavy coast. The proposal was unveiled by the Interior Department at the weekend.
Hercules takes five rigs off the market
Hercules Offshore said it will be taking five drilling rigs off the market in the Gulf of Mexico. The company also expects to write off $117million in asset value in the second quarter of the year.
More than 20,000 Canadian drilling jobs could be lost
The Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors (CAODC) said there could be up to 23,000 jobs losses this year. CAODC has anticipated that the lower price of oil and natural gas will adversely affect the number of active drilling rigs in service, resulting in an industry-wide slowdown and employment losses. Last year, it originally issued its 2015 drilling forecast with an assumption of oil at $85 per barrel.
Why conventional drilling makes sense in 2015
This New Year, an old trend may become a new trend as conventional drilling in North America is once again in the spotlight at a time when oil prices continue their slump and the unconventional becomes increasingly uneconomical. Advanced horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracking for extraction is much more expensive than conventional drilling. While these high-cost methods are the technology that ushered in the North American shale boom, in times of oil price troubles, plenty are moving back to the basics. Unexplored conventional plays are set for a mini-boom of their own.
Canadians cutting back 2015 drilling
The Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors (CAODC) has released its 2015 Drilling Activity Forecast, which projects a 10% decrease in activity. The forecast is that Canadian land-based drilling rigs will drill 10,354 wells next year. The uncertainty around pipeline construction was a determining factor in the activity outlook.