Petronas today announced a gas discovery from its Cengkih-1 exploration well in Block SK 320 in the Central Luconia Province, about 220 kilometres off the coast of Bintulu, Sarawak, offshore Malaysia.
Chevron (NYSE:CVX) confirmed that its wholly owned subsidiary, Chevron New Ventures, has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) to assess the exploration potential across a number of basins in India, the company told Energy Voice.
Equinor and Soliton Resources will drill an exploration prospect targeting up to 100 million barrels of oil equivalent in the UK North Sea.
Harbour Energy is expected to start gas production from its Andaman II Block offshore Indonesia in 2028, according to a senior Indonesian government official.
Malaysia’s national oil company Petronas is considering acquiring further upstream acreage offshore Indonesia’s Aceh province as it seeks to develop more gas projects in the Southeast Asian nation. Significantly, more incentives are expected to be offered to encourage exploration investment.
The Philippines is open to new talks with China on oil and gas exploration, the Southeast Asian nation’s top diplomat said.
UK-listed Harbour Energy (LON:HBR) has cautioned that “permeability was on the low side of expectations” at its play-opening deepwater Timpan-1 exploration well offshore Indonesia in the North Sumatra basin.
ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) and India’s Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) have signed a heads of agreement covering deepwater exploration off the east and west coasts of India. The news bodes well for ONGC, which recently pledged to boost exploration investment by 150% to $4 billion.
Indonesian upstream regulator SKK Migas has confirmed that Repsol’s (BME:REP) Kali Berau Dalam (KBD) gas discovery, initially thought to be the country’s biggest find in 18 years, is significantly smaller than expected, putting the mega project in doubt.
Thailand’s PTTEP (BKK:PTTEP) has announced another “significant gas discovery” from its first exploration well in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), together with partner Eni (MIL:ENI) of Italy, that paves the way for “establishing a strong presence” in the Middle East nation.
Spain’s Repsol has started drilling the much-anticipated Rencong-1X wildcat in the frontier deepwaters of Indonesia’s North Sumatra basin in the Andaman III Block.
Indonesia, which is seeking to significantly boost oil and gas production this decade, is today launching its first 2022 bid round. Six blocks are up for grabs, offering a range of exploitation, near-field and frontier high-impact opportunities.
Chain National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) is offering 13 offshore exploration oil and gas blocks to foreign companies as part of its 2022 bidding round.
Italy’s Eni (BIT:ENI) is offering to sell its Krueng Mane Block offshore Aceh in Indonesia to London-listed Harbour Energy (LON:HBR), reported Indonesian upstream regulator SKK Migas. Significantly, the potential acquisition seems logical given that Harbour’s recent exploration success could trigger a new development area in the region.
TotalEnergies’ (LON:TTE) is planning to explore a large undrilled shallow-water gas prospect in the Cape Vogel basin offshore Papua New Guinea (PNG) after signing a technical cooperation agreement with Australia’s Lakes Blue Energy.
UK-listed Harbour Energy (LON:HBR) has announced initial success at its play-opening deepwater Timpan-1 exploration well offshore Indonesia in the North Sumatra basin. Significantly, the initial result bodes well for the frontier area and could open up more petroleum plays, which are thought to be gas prone.
In a boost for Indonesia, BP (LON:BP) has today signed the 30-year production sharing contracts (PSC) for Agung l and Agung ll deep-water oil and gas exploration blocks with the government of Indonesia. The areas are underexplored with significant potential for natural gas resources, close to expanding gas demand markets.
Australian company Timor Resources said it will drill three more exploration wells onshore East Timor after certifying 24.2 million barrels of oil and 1.3 billion cubic feet of gas reserves from its first two onshore wells.
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.
Oil & Natural Gas Corp.’s profit rose 32% in the fourth quarter but missed estimates as an increase in government levies ate into the gains from soaring oil prices after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Expensive offshore exploration setbacks for international oil majors including Shell and Exxon Mobil are throwing cold water on their plans to turn Brazil into a profit center.
Inpex has started exploration drilling offshore Japan, which if successful could mark the nation’s first new offshore gas development in over three decades.
Australian-listed Sacgasco (ASX:SGC) has agreed an alliance covering extended well testing and early production systems in the Palawan basin offshore Philippines as they aim to pump oil as fast as possible in the current high oil price environment. Significantly, the company and its partners will be hoping to eek oil out of an old field before their contract expires in 2024.
Australia’s Carnarvon Energy (ASX:CVN) reported that the recent Pavo-1 exploration well drilled offshore Australia proved up a “substantial volume of light oil in excellent quality reservoirs” and “significantly increases Carnarvon’s oil resources for potential development through the Dorado facilities.”