Joint Exploration News

SOCAR, the the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic, and BP signed a new production sharing agreement (PSA) for the joint exploration and development of Block D230 in the North Absheron basin in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea. The PSA was signed in London, in the presence of UK Prime Minister Theresa May and Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, by Rovnag Abdullayev, President of SOCAR, and BP group chief executive Bob Dudley. Speaking at the signing event  Abdullayev said: “We have a long tradition of successful cooperation with BP. I believe that the synergies between modern upstream technology and unique historical experience, embodied in both companies, create a solid basis for our continued success.

The Philippines is looking to seal a pact with China within a few months to jointly explore for oil and gas in a part of the busy South China Sea waterway claimed by both countries, a Philippine official said on Monday. In February, the two countries agreed to set up a special panel to work out how to jointly explore for offshore oil and gas in areas both sides claim, without needing to address the touchy issue of sovereignty. "We're trying to see if we can achieve an agreement, hopefully within the next couple of months," Jose Santiago Santa Romana, Philippine ambassador to the People's Republic of China, told a news conference held on China's island province of Hainan.

The Gazprom headquarters hosted today a meeting between Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Company's Management Committee and Patrick Pouyanne, Chief Executive Officer and President of the Executive Committee of Total, to address the core issues of the bilateral cooperation on the current status of the agreements on joint development of oil and gas fields in Bolivia. It was noted that the preparation of wells and the relevant infrastructure was well underway as part of developing the Ipati and Aquio gas deposits before the start of commercial production scheduled for 2016. The meeting also shared opinions regarding the project for joint development of hydrocarbon deposits in the Acero block.

ExxonMobil is still drilling in the Russian Arctic, a Russian minister said on Friday, in move that if confirmed will anger Washington after the U.S. administration slapped sanctions on Moscow to suspend such operations by Western oil majors. The joint drilling project in the Kara Sea between Exxon and the Kremlin's state oil firm Rosneft has become one of the most watched projects by the oil industry after the West ratcheted up sanctions on Moscow for its incursion in Ukraine. Two previous waves of sanctions have failed to stop Exxon from sending an oil drilling rig from Norway to the Russian waters in August in the hope to confirm billions of barrels of new oil reserves.

The Gazprom headquarters hosted a working meeting between Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Company's Management Committee and Fam Suan Shon, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to Russia. The meeting addressed the issues of the Russian-Vietnamese cooperation in the energy sector. In particular, the parties praised the results of the joint exploration and production activities on the Vietnamese shelf and in Russia as well as expressed their satisfaction with the progress of a Vietnamese project for natural gas use as a vehicle fuel. In addition, the participants confirmed their willingness to arrange the Russian LNG supply to Vietnam. Special attention was given to Gazprom's participation in the expansion of the Dung Quat oil refinery in Vietnam.

Indian company ONGC Videsh Ltd. is interested in exploring for hydrocarbon deposits in the Arctic in cooperation with leading Russian companies, reports 'Arctic info' (Russian). The announcement came in a joint statement adopted at the XIV Russian-Indian Summit, where talks were held by Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The partner of the Indian company could be Rosneft, suggests Arctic info. During negotiations, the parties expressed…

Rosneft’s President and Chairman of the Management Board, Igor Sechin, and Eni’s CEO, Paolo Scaroni, in the presence of the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, have signed, at the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum, a Completion Deed relating to the agreements for the joint development by the two companies of exploration activities in the Russian Barents Sea (Fedynsky block and Central Barents block) and Black Sea (Western Chernomorsky block). The projects are part of the wider cooperation between Eni and Rosneft sanctioned under the Strategic Cooperation Agreement entered into by the parties on April 25, 2012, which provides for joint development of the Russian offshore blocks, technological and staff exchange and Rosneft’s participation in Eni’s international projects.

StatoilHydro has signed an agreement with the Colombian oil company Ecopetrol America inc. under which the two companies will form a Joint Exploration Team for the US Gulf of Mexico and drill three or more wells in the coming years. Under the agreement the companies will also further mature prospects to potential drilling. StatoilHydro will remain the operator for all prospects. Ecopetrol will farm in with interests of around 20-30% in the wells covered by the agreement. "This agreement is in line with our long-term Gulf of Mexico strategy. We are starting our drilling operations next year in some of the prospects we acquired from lease sales and acquisitions in the past years", explains senior vice president in StatoilHydro, Øivind Reinertsen, heading up the USA and Mexico region.