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Oil And Gas Exploration News

09 Jan 2024

Norway Parliament Votes in favor of Seabed Mining

© Vladimir Mucibabic / Adobe Stock

Norway's parliament on Tuesday voted in favor of allowing Arctic seabed mineral exploration, in line with a deal reached between the government and key opposition parties last month, overcoming objections from environmental campaigners.The decision comes as Norway hopes to become the first country to make deep-sea mining happen on a commercial scale and secure critical minerals and jobs despite concerns over the environmental impact and international calls for a moratorium.There is yet no set timeline for when exploration could begin, although the plan is to award companies exclusive rights to

29 Dec 2023

Esgian: New Contracts, Drilling Activities and Rig Moves Across the World

Borgland Dolphin drilling rig (Credit: Dolphin Drilling)

Esgian's last roundup of the year for the Week 52 puts spotlight on new developments for Dolphin Drilling semisub, Seadrill drillships, as well as Shell’s plans for Australia and ONGC’s new tender for jackups in India.ContractsDolphin Drilling has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with an undisclosed operator for the 1,500-ft semisubmersible Borgland Dolphin to undertake a 500-day drilling campaign in the UK. The drilling campaign is planned to begin directly after the firm part of the contract period with EnQuest, which was announced in late November 2023.

18 Dec 2023

China to Conduct Sea Trials for Its First Ultra-deepwater Drilling Ship

© robinimages / Adobe Stock

China will on Friday conduct sea trials for its first ocean research drilling vessel, capable of drilling at depths of more than 10,000 meters (32,800 feet), a key step towards beefing up the country's deep-sea oil and gas exploration capabilities.It is China's first vessel capable of ultra-deepwater research and drilling, Chinese state media reported on Monday. It can travel 15,000 nautical miles (27,780 kilometers) and operate for 120 consecutive days without returning to port.

24 Nov 2023

Petrobras to Invest $102 Billion in Next Five Years

Source: Petrobras

Brazil's Petrobras will invest around $102 billion within the 2024-2028 period, the firm's new strategic plan showed on Thursday, representing a major boost in expected investments by the state-run oil company.The plan, the first released by the oil giant since CEO Jean Paul Prates took the helm of the company, includes investments in a range of different segments, with most of it going into oil exploration and production.The figure represents a 31% leap from the $78 billion Petrobras…

21 Jun 2023

Offshore Oil Spending to Rise More Than 20% This Year

© JT Jeeraphun / Adobe Stock

Offshore oil and gas exploration spending will increase more than 20% globally this year and the growth will continue into the next, oilfield services firm SLB said on Wednesday."Offshore is experiencing a renaissance, with significant breadth and anticipated durability," SLB Chief Executive Olivier Le Peuch said at the JP Morgan Energy Power and Renewable Conference, according to a draft of the speech posted on the company's website.SLB, the world's largest oil services and equipment provider, said it expects to see a long tail of activity with 65 lease rounds concluding globally this year, i

22 May 2023

Managing Offshore Oil & Gas Through Energy Transition

Copyright bomboman/AdobeStock

Scientists warn that climate change is the greatest peril that humankind has ever faced. Yet oil and gas exploration is set to clock the highest growth for more than a decade this year and next. Protesters cause disruption but, for the moment, hydrocarbon energy underpins life as we know it“Offshore oil and gas production probably matters now more than ever,” said Audun Martinsen. The Rystad Energy Partner and Head of Energy Research told Maritime Reporter & Engineering News.“It…

28 Apr 2023

Protecting Offshore Energy Sources via USV

Photo courtesy Mr. Dave Meron

When most people discuss energy sources such as fossil fuel and green energy, it is from an “either-or” perspective. Some favor the former while others advocate for the latter. However, what is often lost in the arguments on both sides is that regardless of the type of energy being extracted or generated, those platforms that are offshore, especially oil rigs, oil and gas pipelines, and wind farms, are incredibly vulnerable to anyone who wants to attack these sources in wartime…

13 Jan 2023

Vessel Retrofits Could Accelerate U.S. Offshore Wind Development

Photo courtesy Bernhard Schulte Offshore /Matthias Giebichenstein

The U.S. Administration’s strategy to fast-track offshore wind development is exciting for overseas shipbuilders and service providers in the field. Joint ventures meeting Jones Act requirements will support accelerating development. Some question, however, whether ambitious 2030 targets can actually be achieved.Ulstein group is a front runner. The Norwegian-based company has already provided the design for a rock installation vessel now under construction for a joint venture between Houston-based Great Lakes Dredge & Dock (GLDD) and Netherlands based Van Oord.

10 Jan 2023

Philippines' Supreme Court Voids 2005 South China Sea Oil & Gas Exploration Deal

©niroworld/AdobeStock

The Supreme Court in the Philippines on Tuesday declared the country's 2005 energy exploration agreement with Chinese and Vietnamese firms was illegal, ruling that the constitution does not allow foreign entities to exploit natural resources. The decision, on an agreement that expired in 2008, could complicate efforts by China to revive oil and gas exploration talks with the Philippines in areas of the South China Sea that are not in dispute. The court gave no explanation for why the ruling came 14 years after a petition was filed.

05 Jan 2023

China, Philippines Agree to Handle Disputes Peacefully, Resume Joint Offshore Oil Exploration Talks

On the afternoon of 4 January, China's President Xi Jinping held talks with Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. at the Great Hall of the People during the latter’s state visit to China. Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China

China and the Philippines have agreed to set up a direct communications channel between their foreign ministries on the South China Sea to handle disputes peacefully, they said on Thursday.Their agreement, which contained 14 elements aimed at cooling security tensions and boosting economic cooperation, comes as they strive to mend a relationship hurt after the Philippines won a 2016 arbitral ruling that invalidated China's expansive claims in the South China Sea.The Philippines…

06 Oct 2022

Israel, Lebanon Closing in on Maritime Border Deal

Credit:timyee/AdobeStock

Lebanon and Israel are closer than ever to signing a deal demarcating their maritime border, opening the door to new oil and gas exploration, after years of U.S.-brokered negotiations.While limited in scope, the agreement is set to ease security and economic concerns in both countries, whose shared history is rife with hostility. The deal will only resolve a territorial dispute in the eastern tip of the Mediterranean sea and does not touch on their land borders, which are yet to be settled.Here are some details of the U.S.

19 Nov 2021

New Report Tracks Sources of Marine Litter

(Photo: GESMAP)

The sources and impact of sea-based marine litter form the focus of a new report by the Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection (GESAMP), an advisory body to the United Nations sponsored by 10 UN entities. The report outlines the various sources of marine litter and the impact and assesses the current availability of data and identifies knowledge gaps for the main categories of sea-based sources of marine plastic litter. The Working Group was established by GESAMP…

18 Nov 2021

UAE, Israel to Jointly Design Unmanned Military, Commercial Vessels

Credit: EDGE

Emirati and Israeli state-owned weapons makers on Thursday signed a strategic agreement in Dubai to jointly design unmanned vessels capable of carrying out anti-submarine warfare.United Arab Emirates defense conglomerate EDGE and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) announced the partnership on the final day of the biennial Dubai Airshow.In a joint statement, the firms said they would design the "170 M" advanced modular unmanned service vessels that would be able to be used for both…

06 May 2021

Seismic Data Firm CGG Launches Pollution Monitoring Solution

Credit; CGG

French firm CGG, best known for its seismic data services for oil and gas exploration, has now launched a maritime pollution monitoring solution named SeaScope."Combining expertise in remote sensing science, Earth observation data, machine learning and high-performance computing, SeaScope provides critical sea surface slick intelligence for a range of industries to strengthen situational awareness of the interaction between offshore assets, coastal facilities, local vessel activity and the natural marine environment…

01 Apr 2021

Biden Administration Aims for US Leadership in Offshore Wind -Official

© Alexisaj / Adobe Stock

The Biden administration aims to transform the United States into the world’s leading producer of energy from offshore wind after years of lagging behind Europe, a senior official said on Wednesday.President Joe Biden’s cabinet earlier this week unveiled a plan to boost the industry that promised new acreage, faster permitting, and billions of dollars in financing - part of his sweeping plan to fight climate change by decarbonizing the economy.“The distinction now is that we have…

21 Jan 2021

Elon Musk's Firm Buys Two Offshore Rigs to Serve as Launchpads for SpaceX Rockets

Two offshore drilling rigs, previously used for oil and gas exploration beneath the seabed, could soon help with space exploration.Namely, according to multiple reports this week, a company linked to billionaire Elon Musk bought two deepwater semi-submersible drilling rigs last year, with plans - reportedly - to convert them into floating launch pads for Musk's SpaceX rockets.SpaceX, or Space Exploration Technologies Corp, was founded by Musk back in 2002 to cut space transportation costs and enable the colonization of Mars.According to CNBC, a company named Lone Star Mineral Development, linked to Musk's Space X firm, in July 2020 bought two semi-submersible drilling rigs from Valaris.

14 Jan 2021

U.S. Blacklists China's CNOOC over South China Sea Actions

Credit: Eagle/AdobeStock

The Trump administration added China’s CNOOC to a U.S. economic blacklist on Thursday, accusing the oil giant of helping Beijing intimidate neighbors in the South China Sea and ratcheting up tension days before U.S. President-elect Joe Biden takes office.Alongside blacklisting CNOOC, the Commerce Department added China’s Skyrizon to the Military End-User (MEU) List over its ability to develop military products including aircraft engines, restricting its access to U.S. exports.CNOOC…

07 Jan 2021

Digital Twins: Rivers, Oceans, Harbors Recreated

(Photo: Seamens’ Church Institute)

In 2001, George Burkley, a maritime educator, wrote a look-ahead article for Maritime Reporter and Engineering News, presenting the benefits and real-world payoffs from using simulators in maritime education. In the late 1990s, new tech and software advances were creating scenario programs that moved a student closer and closer to the realities demanded by, well, reality. “The future is here, and we are ready to simulate it,” Burkley concluded.Burkley is now executive director at the Maritime Pilots Institute in Covington, La.

13 Oct 2020

Lebanon and Israel in Talks Over Maritime Border

Israel and Lebanon Flags - Credit;Oleksii

Lebanon and Israel, formally still at war after decades of conflict, launch talks on Wednesday to address a long-running dispute over their maritime border running through potentially gas-rich Mediterranean waters.The U.S.-mediated talks follow three years of intense diplomacy by Washington and were announced less than a month after the United States stepped up pressure on political allies of the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah.They also come after the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain agreed to establish full relations with Israel…

02 Dec 2020

Lebanon Wants Maritime Border Talks to Succeed. Difficulties Can Be Overcome, President Says

Flags of Lebanon and Israel (Credit:luzitanija
/AdobeStock)

Lebanon wants maritime border talks with Israel to succeed and difficulties that surfaced in the last session round can be overcome, President Michel Aoun told a U.S. mediator on Wednesday after the latest round was postponed.The negotiations between the old foes were launched in October, with delegations convening at a U.N. base to try to resolve a dispute about their maritime border that has held up hydrocarbon exploration in the potentially gas-rich area.But a session scheduled for Wednesday was postponed with U.S.

09 Sep 2020

[Op/Ed] The Gulf of Mexico: An Energy Platform for America

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Even as business, schools and scenes from everyday life seem frozen as society adjusts to the coronavirus, the U.S. marches closer toward the November presidential election. In early August, Vice President Joe Biden announced Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate. As the Biden-Harris ticket works out their policy platforms, they should move beyond past comments attacking American offshore oil and gas production. In fact, a strong American offshore oil and gas industry is a platform every candidate should stand behind.Between New Orleans and Houston…

15 Sep 2020

Harvey Gulf Converting Four PSVs for Lightering Support

(Photo: Harvey Gulf)

Harvey Gulf International Marine is continuing its push to diversify, announcing on Monday its plan to convert four of its platform supply vessels (PSV) to be redeployed in the lightering support market.The four vessels will provide lightering services in California, Texas, Louisiana and Florida, said Shane Guidry, CEO of Harvey Gulf. “In this market, we will offer a larger vessel with newer equipment in order to provide a safer service, all at the price of the smaller vessels presently doing this work…

13 Aug 2020

France to Increase Mediterranean Military Presence over Turkish Oil & Gas Exploration

France will increase its military presence in the eastern Mediterranean, President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday, calling on Turkey to halt oil and gas exploration in disputed waters that has heightened tensions with Greece.The French leader voiced concern over "unilateral" exploration by Turkey in a call with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Macron's office said in a statement. It added that prospecting should "cease in order to allow a peaceful dialogue" between the neighboring NATO members.The standoff deepened this week with the arrival of Turkish seismic research vessel Oruc Reis in a disputed area of the Mediterranean…