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Exploration Licenses News

11 Dec 2023

Plans in Progress for New North Sea Wells

Source: COSL

Esgian has published its Week 49 Rig Market Roundup highlighting new drilling activity in the North Sea and a new licensing deal in Morocco.Drilling Activity and DiscoveriesSerica Energy is continuing with plans for its four-well drilling campaign in the UK North Sea, scheduled for 2024 and early 2025. The campaign will be carried out using the semisubmersible COSLInnovator. All four wells are production wells. The first well in the campaign will be a sidetrack of an existing well (B1z) on the Bittern field.

13 Sep 2021

Deep-sea Mining firm The Metals Co Tumbles 17% on Nasdaq Debut

© piccaya / Adobe Stock

The Metals Co (TMC) was trading down around 17% after listing on the Nasdaq on Friday following its creation from the merger of deep-sea mining exploration firm DeepGreen and a blank-check company.TMC opened at $11.0535 a share but started falling soon after, hitting a low of $8.31.In a filing on Tuesday, TMC said it had received only $110.3 million of the proceeds from a private placement of Sustainable Opportunities Acquisition Corp (SOAC) shares, having entered into agreements with investors for a $330 million placement.“SOAC intends to continue to seek to enforce the funding obligations of

12 Jan 2021

Norway Eyes Sea Change in Deep Dive for Metals Instead of Oil

An offshore platform in Norway - Credit:Jone Gundersen/AdobeStock

Norway's oil and gas reserves have made it one of the world's wealthiest countries but its dreams for deep-sea discovery now center on something different.This time, Oslo is looking for a leading role in mining copper, zinc, and other metals found on the seabed and in hot demand in green technologies.Norway could license companies for deep-sea mining as early as 2023, its oil and energy ministry told Reuters, potentially placing it among the first countries to harvest seabed metals for electric vehicle batteries…

13 Jun 2019

Book Review: Getting Down to It; 50 Years of Subsea Success in Norway

Co-author Arnfinn Nergaard.

The Norwegian Continental Shelf’s journey from the very first basic marinized subsea trees to today’s complex and sophisticated subsea processing equipment has been a rapid, at times turbulent, but always remarkable.There are many engineers who have seen through that journey, from the first exploration wells using Norwegian rigs in the mid-1970s to today. One has now written the history of subsea technology in Norway and this year’s Underwater Technology Conference (UTC) has been chosen for its launch…

10 Oct 2018

Chevron becomes first oil major to exit Norway

© Marius Dobilas / Adobe Stock

U.S. oil firm Chevron will become the first oil major to formally exit the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) as it transfers its last stake in an exploration license, according to a government letter.Oil majors, including Exxon Mobil, BP and Shell, have scaled down their presence in Norway by selling or merging their assets in the mature region to focus on new growth opportunities elsewhere.Chevron is also seeking to sell assets in the British North Sea in order to focus on growing U.S.

16 Jan 2018

Norway Awards 75 Oil Exploration Licenses

© Marius Dobilas / Adobe Stock

Norway's energy ministry has awarded 75 offshore exploration blocks to oil companies in a so-called predefined areas (APA) licensing round, handing out acreage to 34 firms, of which 19 got at least one operatorship, it said on Tuesday.   A total of 39 firms had applied for the offered acreage, up from 33 companies that applied in the previous round a year ago, when the ministry awarded 56 exploration licenses. (Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis and Joachim Dagenborg, editing by Terje Solsvik)

25 Sep 2017

Total, Chevron Team up in Gulf of Mexico Oil Exploration

Total announced that its subsidiary, TOTAL E&P USA, INC., has entered into an agreement to capture seven prospects operated by CHEVRON U.S.A. INC. in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. The agreement covers 16 blocks. The associated prospects are located in two promising plays and areas of the GoM: Wilcox in Central GoM next to the Anchor discovery, and Norphlet in Eastern GoM nearby to the Appomattox discovery. Total’s participation in these wells will be between 25 percentand 40 percent.The first of these wells was spudded late July on the Ballymore prospect in Mississippi Canyon. “This agreement, together with the recently announced participation in the Jack field as part of the Maersk Oil acquisition…

19 Jan 2017

Israel Bolsters Navy to Protect Offshore Oil & Gas

Offshore energy platforms a potential target; Israel accepting bids on 24 new exploration blocks. Israel is boosting spending on its navy to better protect offshore oil and gas deposits and secure a large maritime zone that abuts that of its neighbour and enemy, Lebanon. The navy asked in 2013 for an increase in its budget of $700 million to build up its systems and $100 million annually to maintain them, though the defence ministry declines to say how much it has since received. The increase was tied to the need to defend the oil and gas development, and the current spending comes as Israel begins accepting bids from companies that want to explore 24 offshore blocks in the eastern Mediterranean that adjoin the vast Leviathan deposit.

21 Dec 2016

Arctic Drilling Ban Gives Canada Leg Up -US Lawmakers

© ggw / Adobe Stock

U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday slammed an agreement made with Canada to ban offshore Arctic drilling, saying Ottawa's plan to review its ban every five years gives Canada a leg up on energy exploration. U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday announced a ban on new oil and gas drilling federal waters in the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, while Canada instituted a similar ban in its Arctic waters. Unlike the United States, where the ban is indefinite, Canada said it will review its restrictions every five years.

21 Dec 2016

Obama Bans New Drilling off Alaska, Part of Atlantic Shore

(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday banned new oil and gas drilling in federal waters in the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, in a push to leave his stamp on the environment before Republican Donald Trump takes office next month. Obama used a 1950s-era law called the Outer Continental Shelf Act that allows presidents to limit areas from mineral leasing and drilling. Environmental groups said that meant Trump's incoming administration would have to go court if it sought to reverse the move.

24 Aug 2016

Canada May Ask Far-offshore Drillers to Pay Extra

Canada may ask oil companies to contribute to the hundreds of millions of dollars or more the country has to pay to an international body if they drill far offshore, according to an internal government memo. If that happens, it could make the operations more expensive and strain talks that companies will have with provincial governments, which already require them to pay royalties. A United Nations convention, which Canada ratified in 2003, says signatories need to pay the International Seabed Authority (ISA) if companies drill on the "extended continental shelf," the seabed part of a country's landmass, but more than 200 nautical miles (230 miles) offshore. It was never clear from where that money should come.

03 Nov 2015

Statoil Green Lights Floating Wind Farm Project

Statoil has made the final investment decision to build the world’s first floating wind farm: The Hywind pilot park offshore Peterhead in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The decision triggers investments of around NOK 2 billion, realizing a 60-70 percent cost reduction per MW from the Hywind demo project in Norway. Statoil will install a 30 MW wind turbine farm on floating structures at Buchan Deep, 25 kilometers offshore Peterhead, harnessing Scottish wind resources to provide renewable energy to the mainland. The wind farm will power around 20,000 households. Production start is expected in late 2017. “Our objective with the Hywind pilot park is to demonstrate the feasibility of future commercial, utility-scale floating wind farms.

27 Jun 2015

Exxon, BP Defer Canadian Arctic Drilling

As Imperial Oil, as senior partner in the northern venture with ExxonMobil and BP, told Canada’s National Energy Board (NEB) that the exploration program has been deferred, the plan to revive arctic gas and oil drilling in deep Canadian waters of the Beaufort Sea ground to a halt. The slow pace of regulatory review has left too little time to finish the approval process and does the work before the group's drilling leases expire, Imperial said in a filing at the board. The partners – Calgary-based Imperial, Exxon Mobil and BP – have asked Canadian officials for seven-year extensions of Beaufort Sea exploration licenses that are currently scheduled to expire in 2020, reported Reuters.

16 Mar 2015

Shell Pulls Back from South African Shale

Royal Dutch Shell is pulling back from its shale projects in South Africa due to lower energy prices although it is still seeking an exploration license for the onshore Karoo Basin, its country manager said on Monday. A more than halving of crude oil prices since June last year has put high cost projects such as shale gas exploration in jeopardy around the globe, Shell South Africa Chairman Bonang Mohale told Johannesburg station Talk Radio 702. "The reason to go to a low cost holding position ... is as a result of a difficult period for world (prices)," Mohale said. Shell's retreat is a blow to the South African government, which has been criticised by oil firms for delaying issuing exploration licenses…

27 Feb 2015

Petrobras Denies Hiring JPMorgan for License Sales

Petróleo Brasileiro SA denied on Friday that it has hired JPMorgan Chase & Co to handle the sale of oil exploration licenses in deep-sea areas off the coast this year. In a securities filing, the state-controlled oil producer known as Petrobras reiterated the need to reduce capital investments, dispose of assets and step up divestitures to preserve cash. Petrobras also said JPMorgan did not have a mandate to map out potential investors interested in acquiring licenses for subsalt oil reserves currently held by Petrobras. The company is in touch with banks to refinance existing credit lines or tap new ones, the filing said. The filing…

01 Jul 2014

Greece Promises Tax Cut to Attract O&G Majors

Ionnis Maniatis

Greece is planning to cut tax rates for oil and gas companies as it wants to attract them to help exploit its untapped offshore hydrocarbon resources, its energy minister said on Tuesday. Under the plan, oil and gas explorers will pay 25 percent tax, down from 40 percent currently, and 5 percent of the tax will go to local communities. "We have done this in order to incentivize our investors to invest in the future of Greece," Ioannis Maniatis, Greece's Energy Minister, said at a conference in London. He did not say when the new tax rates would come into effect.

16 Jun 2014

New Zealand Mulls Ocean Floor Mining Proposal

New Zealand decides this week whether to approve an underwater iron-ore operation that would likely become the world's first commercial metals mine at the bottom of the sea. A green light to allow New Zealand's Trans Tasman Resources Ltd to start iron-ore dredging off the country's west coast will encourage others looking to mine copper, cobalt, manganese and other metals deeper on the ocean floor but worried about regulatory hurdles. Along the Pacific Rim of Fire, as deep as 6,000 metres underwater, volcano crusts, "black smoker" chimneys and vast beds of manganese nodules hold promise for economic powers like China and Japan as well as many poor island states busy pegging stakes on the ocean floor.

18 Apr 2014

When Will Deep Sea Mining Commence? The Robot is Ready

copyright Nautilus Minerals

The world's first deep sea mining robot sits idle on a British factory floor, waiting to claw up high grade copper and gold from the seabed off Papua New Guinea (PNG) - when a wrangle over terms is solved. Beyond PNG, in international waters, regulation and royalty terms for mining the planet's subsea wealth have also yet to be finalised. The world waits for the judgement of a United Nations agency based in Jamaica. "If we can take care of the environment we have a brand new day ahead of us.

19 Aug 2013

Statoil: Divesting and Refocusing Portfolio

Statoil ASA has signed an agreement to divest minority interests in the Gullfaks and Gudrun fields offshore Norway and exit the non-core, non-operated Schiehallion and Rosebank fields, West of Shetlands. In addition to the cash consideration of USD 2.65 billion, the transaction with Austrian oil and gas company OMV includes a contingent payment and involves a partnership between the two companies. Statoil reduces its ownership share in Gullfaks from 70 % to 51 % and from 75 % to 51 % in Gudrun, and retains its operatorships on both fields. "Through this transaction, Statoil captures value created through asset development and unlocks capital for investment in high return projects in core areas. This includes our recent discoveries on the Norwegian continental shelf.

24 Apr 2013

Eni Releases 1Q 2013 Results

Eni, the international oil and gas company, released its group results for the first quarter of 2013 (unaudited). • Leverage: down to 0.24. • Versalis entered partnership agreements with Genomatica, Pirelli and Yulex targeting continuing expansion in the bio-technologies and the bio-ruber segment. Paolo Scaroni, Chief Executive Officer, commented, “We confirm our growth and profitability targets for the full year 2013, in spite of a slower first quarter. This was negatively impacted by lower oil and gas production due to contingencies as well as to the current downturn in the gas market.

25 Mar 2013

Iceland Likely to Order More PSV's

Iceland, which issued its first offshore oil and gas exploration licenses this year, seeks to become a hub for subsea explorers from Greenland to Jan Mayen. Foreign Minister Ossur Skarphedinsson announced that Icelandic companies will probably follow oil-service provider Fafnir Offshore’s 7.3 billion kronur ($59 million) purchase of the country’s first platform supply vessel (PSV) from Norway’s Havyard Group reports Bloomberg. Iceland will seek to become an oil-service hub for exploration in its northern waters, off Norway’s Arctic Jan Mayen island and offshore Greenland, as the island recovers from the 2008 banking meltdown that led to its worst recession in six decades. Source: Bloomberg

21 Jun 2012

Statoil, Rosneft Sign Deal

Statoil and Rosneft today signed agreements on joint bidding for exploration licenses in the Norwegian Barents Sea and on Joint Technical Evaluation covering two Russian onshore assets. This concludes the first implementation agreements envisaged in the strategic cooperation that the two companies entered into on 5 May, 2012. The agreements were signed by Statoil CEO Helge Lund and Rosneft Chairman and President Igor Sechin at the World Economic Forum in St. Petersburg. "These agreements show that Statoil and Rosneft are moving rapidly to implement the cooperation agreement signed on 5 May," says Statoil CEO Helge Lund. "The speed with which we are proceeding reflects our joint commitment and determination to realize the potential of the strategic cooperation," he continues.

16 Oct 2012

Eni CEO Meets Rosneft CEO

Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin and Eni CEO Paolo Scaroni have met to discuss the progress of joint projects between the two companies offshore Russia in the Black Sea and Barents Sea, sanctioned in the strategic cooperation agreement signed on 25 April 2012. The executives in charge of the two companies’ upstream, downstream and offshore projects and the CEO of Saipem were also present at the meeting. As part of the agreement, Eni and Rosneft will form joint ventures (Eni 33.33%, Rosneft 66.67%) for the joint development of the Fedynsky and Tsentralno-Barentsevsky exploration licenses, located offshore Russia in the Barents Sea, and Zapadno-Cernomorsky, located offshore Russia in the Black Sea, areas with great mining potential.