The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate has granted a drilling permit to Total E&P Norge AS for well 1/5-5 in the North Sea, offshore Norway. The well, 1/5-5 will be drilled from the Maersk Gallant jack-up drilling rig. The drilling program for well 1/5-5 applies to drilling of a wildcat well in product
Amedeo Resources, an AIM quoted company investing primarily in the resources and energy sectors, has informed that the physical build of the jack-up rig Explorer 1 has been completed. The jack-up drilling rig, of the Le Tourneau Super 116E Class design, was Jiangsu Yangzijiang Offshore Engineering’s
KCA Deutag, a global drilling and engineering contractor, has sold its jack-up drilling unit, the Ben Loyal, to Egyptian-headquartered Advanced Energy Systems A.D.E.S. SAE for an undisclosed sum. According to the drilling contractor, the Ben Loyal had been continuously under contract in the Gulf of
The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD), a government agency whose task is to manage the oil and gas resources on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, has granted Wintershall a drilling permit for a wildcat well in the Barents Sea. The well 7224/2-1, in production licence 611, will be drilled from the
Baker Hughes Incorporated has posted Weekly Rig Count reports according to which offshore rigs have clawed up by one unit, compared to the previous week. BHI Rig Count: U.S. Unchanged at 709 rigs U.S. Rig Count is unchanged from last week at 709, with oil rigs up 17 to 541, and gas rigs down [&hel
Atwood Oceanics, an offshore drilling contractor, has agreed with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) to delay the company’s requirement to take delivery of two newbuild ultra-deepwater drillships. According to the drilling contractor, delivery dates for Atwood Admiral and Atwood Archer
The New York Stock Exchange has suspended trading in shares of offshore driller Paragon Offshore, effective immediately. According to a statement by the drilling company the NYSE determined that Paragon’s ordinary shares were no longer suitable for listing based on “abnormally low” price levels. “As
Offshore driller Seadrill Partners LLC has decided to reduce the quarterly distributions to its shareholders. The company cited the depressed drilling market as the reason for the move. According to Seadrill Partners, the company will reduce the quarterly distribution to $0.25 per unit to its common
Noble Corporation, an offshore drilling contractor, has received a contract termination for one of its rigs from an oil major Royal Dutch Shell. According to Noble’s latest fleet status report, Shell has terminated the contract for the drillship Noble Discoverer “for convenience” and will pay Noble
Norwegian-born billionaire John Fredriksen has set up a company to snap up oil rigs from firms struggling with low crude prices, adopting a similar approach to the one he used in 2012 when the tanker market collapsed.
Statoil, a Norwegian oil major, has decided to cancel the contract with Transocean, a drilling contractor, for the drillship Discoverer Americas. The drillship has been on contract with Statoil since 2009, supporting Statoil’s exploration activities in East and North Africa and the Gulf of Mexico. S
Faroe Petroleum, an independent oil and gas company, has announced the award of a rig contract for the drilling of the Brasse exploration well in the Norwegian North Sea. Faroe is the operator of the Brasse prospect with 50% interest. In addition, the company announced a re-start of oil production f
Offshore Energy Today has interviewed Mr. Ryan Stewart, Chief Commercial Officer at Prosafe, one of the world’s largest providers of offshore accommodation vessels. In the interview below, one can learn about the high-spec offshore accommodation units in general, attractive regions for deployment, b
Songa Offshore, an offshore drilling contractor, has taken delivery of Songa Encourage from Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) in Korea. This is Songa’s third Category D rig delivered from DSME, the first two being Songa Equinox, delivered in June, and Songa Endurance, delivered in Augu
