Inpex is set to start an exploration drilling campaign offshore Japan as it seeks to prove up new oil and gas fields, which if commercialised will mark the nation’s first new offshore gas development in over three decades.
Petronas Carigali, the upstream subsidiary of Malaysian national oil company (NOC) Petronas, has made a gas discovery at the Hadrah-1 wildcat exploration well of Block SK411, located in the shallow waters of Balingian province about 170 kilometres northwest off the coast of Sarawak, Malaysia.
The European Court of Human Rights is asking Norway to respond to charges by activists that allowing new oil and gas drilling in the Arctic during an environmental crisis may breach fundamental freedoms.
Questions have been raised over the future of Glengorm, hailed as the UK's largest gas discovery in a decade, after an appraisal campaign yielded no commercial hydrocarbons.
The Covid-19 pandemic has marked the end of an era for Southeast Asia’s combined oil and gas production, pushing the region’s output in 2021 to below 5 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) for the first time since 1998. Significantly, this threshold is not likely to be exceeded again in the future, despite new project start-ups in coming years, the latest analysis from Rystad Energy shows.
Malaysia’s Petronas has awarded six of the 13 offshore exploration blocks offered in the recently concluded Malaysia Bid Round (MBR) 2021.
The government of India is offering eight upstream blocks in its latest licensing round as it seeks to boost domestic production and reduce its reliance on imports.
Australian company Timor Resources has completed the first of three exploration wells onshore East Timor. The company said it hit oil and gas in its contract area, although it remains to be seen if the discovery is commercial.
Helicopter operator CHC has landed a contract to transport workers for the Capricorn Energy (formerly Cairn Energy) Diadem drilling campaign in the North Sea.
After two years of mediocre activity levels brought on by budget cuts and pandemic-related restrictions there will be an uptick in 2022 as operators work their way through the backlog in Asia Pacific.
UK-listed Harbour Energy (LON:HBR) said it is on track to probe the deep waters of Indonesia’s North Sumatra basin in its Andaman II production-sharing contract (PSC) with drilling set to start around March-April 2022. Significantly, the company has already identified potential commercialisation paths with first gas eyed by 2026, as well as options for carbon capture and storage (CCS).
The Europe chief executive of Harbour Energy has told investors that the Dunnottar exploration project is a “a well to watch”.
The government of Sri Lanka is seeking to attract “top international” investors and revive exploration in the country’s under-explored deep waters as it seeks to shift the island towards a gas-based economy. Significantly, it is looking for help appraising and developing two potentially large gas discoveries.
The Oil and Gas Authority’s (OGA) Well Insight report says “significant opportunities” remain in the basin, despite rising abandonment and a COVID-related exploration slump.
Thailand’s PTT Exploration & Production (PTTEP) (BKK:PTTEP) has struck a second gas discovery in Baram province in Block SK417 in shallow waters about 180 kms off the coast of the Malaysian state of Sarawak.
With domestic supply in decline, Asia urgently needs to address its growing gas and energy needs. In the past few months, multiple energy crunches across the globe highlights that a flexible and reliable supply of energy is critical to keep markets and prices stable. In Asia, a growing gap between booming gas demand and falling supply is cause for significant concern.
Australian company Timor Resources will drill three exploration wells onshore East Timor as the nation hopes for commercial success. The three wells will be drilled as part of a back-to-back campaign that started late October.
Australian company Timor Resources has spudded the first onshore well in East Timor in more than 50 years as the Southeast Asian nation, also known as Timor Leste, hopes for an oil bonanza.
ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) is reportedly discussing acquiring stakes in some deepwater fields from state-backed India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC).
State-backed Thai player PTT Exploration & Production’s (PTTEP’s) new chief executive, Montri Rawanchaikul, intends to strengthen the firm’s core upstream business in Southeast Asia, while preparing for new energy opportunities.
Indonesian independent Medco Energi (IDX:MEDC) operator of South Natuna Sea Block B offshore Indonesia, has started shooting 270 square km of 3D seismic at the Kaci field starting on 29 September, according to upstream regulator SKK Migas.
Westwood Global Energy reports that as of 29 September there were two appraisal wells and two exploration wells active in the UK.
China’s national oil companies, CNPC, CNOOC, and Sinopec, are expected to spend over $120 billion on drilling and well services by 2025 to help meet rising domestic oil and gas demand. With 118,000 wells estimated to be drilled in China, analysts at Rystad Energy reckon there will be significant opportunities for innovative suppliers.
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.
New Fortress Energy has finalised a contract with the government of Sri Lanka that gives it the rights to develop a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal off the coast of Colombo that is expected to start up in 2023.