Gas Exploration News

Lebanon and Cyprus signed a long-awaited maritime demarcation deal on Wednesday, paving the way for potential exploration of offshore gas fields and energy cooperation in the Mediterranean.Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides signed the agreement at Lebanon's presidential palace and told reporters it would signal deeper cooperation between Lebanon, European Union-member Cyprus and the broader EU."This is a historical agreement, concluding an issue pending for many years and now look forward to what our countries can jointly create…

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration will delay by two years a final rule designating protections for the endangered Rice's whale in the oil and gas drilling region of the Gulf of Mexico, according to an agreement with environmental groups filed in a federal court.The U.S. Commerce Department's National Marine Fisheries Service agreed with green group Natural Resources Defense Council to finalize by July 15, 2027 the geographic area deemed critical for the Rice's whale survival. The previous deadline had been Tuesday, July 15, of this year.The agreement filed in the U.S.

SCHOTTEL founder Josef Becker invented the fully steerable rudder propeller, an innovation that continues to shape the maritime industry today.Since its introduction, more than 17,000 SCHOTTEL RudderPropellers have been sold, powering a wide variety of vessels on nearly every major body of water around the globe. This year marks the 75th anniversary of this development.With the invention of the SCHOTTEL RudderPropeller (SRP) in 1950, ships could, for the first time, use the full power of their propulsion system for maneuvering.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced the publication of a Proposed Notice of Sale (PNOS) for an oil and gas lease sale in the Gulf of America.As directed by Secretary of the Interior and outlined in the PNOS, Lease Sale 262 will offer approximately 15,000 unleased blocks located 3 to 231 miles offshore across the Gulf’s Western, Central, and Eastern Planning Areas. Covering roughly 80 million acres, these blocks are situated in water depths ranging from 9 feet to more than 11…

Australia is losing its competitive edge in attracting investment in natural gas exploration and production, threatening the nation’s energy security, economic growth and emissions reduction targets, a new report by Wood Mackenzie has found.The ‘Australia’s Natural Gas Investment Competitiveness’ report found that while global investment in gas exploration has grown by nearly 30% in the past five years, investment in Australia is lagging with just 15% growth recorded over the same period. The analysis included a CEO sentiment survey of Australian gas producers.

U.S. oil producer Continental Resources estimates there is a shale oil reserve of 6.1 billion barrels in Turkey's southeastern Diyarbakir Basin, the Turkish energy minister said.If confirmed, such reserves would place Turkey above some OPEC members such as Congo or Gabon, and other major producers such as the UK.Continental Resources and Turkish national oil company TPAO signed a joint venture agreement in March to develop shale fields in the basin."Turkey's current annual (crude) oil import amounts to 365 million barrels.

Shell signed a contract with Bulgaria's government on Tuesday (April 15) giving the oil and gas multinational major rights to explore for oil and gas in the Black Sea."With this contract, we are taking a significant step toward uncovering the deep Black Sea’s potential for future gas supplies," Bulgaria's Energy Minister Zhecho Stankov said.The contract will allow Shell to explore 4,000 square metres in the Block 1-26 Khan Tervel field.European Union member Bulgaria, which had been totally dependent on Russian gas until 2022, has been seeking to diversify its gas supplies and find cheaper sour

Chevron has expressed an interest in hydrocarbon exploration off the island of Crete in the Mediterranean Sea, the second such expression for Greek energy by the U.S. oil producer this year, the Greek energy ministry said on Wednesday.Greece has accepted Chevron's interest for two blocks south of Crete and will soon decide on the coordinates and on launching an international tender for the areas, which border two licensed blocks where an ExxonMobil-led consortium has been evaluating seismic data…

The EU has just adopted its 16th sanctions package against Russia. The package targets systemically important sectors of the Russian economy such as energy, trade, transport, infrastructure and financial services.To curb the risk of our sanctions being bypassed, certain provisions of the 16th package are now also mirrored in the Belarus sanctions regime. The EU has in addition updated and strengthened its sanctions regimes concerning Crimea and Sevastopol, and the non-government-controlled areas of Donetsk…

When President Donald Trump sat down to lunch with his Japanese counterpart this month, talk turned quickly to how Tokyo could help realize a decades-old proposal to unlock gas in Alaska and ship it to U.S. allies in Asia.Trump and his energy tsar Doug Burgum framed the venture as a way for Japan to replace Middle East energy shipments and address its trade imbalance with the U.S., according to two officials briefed on the closed-door talks.Japanese premier Shigeru Ishiba - eager to ensure a positive first meeting and stave off damaging U.S.

The Coast Guard gets its first new polar icebreaker in more than 25 years.The Coast Guard has accepted its first new polar icebreaker in more than 25 years, but it’s not really new. The 12,900-ton, 360-foot Anchor Handling Tug Support Ship (AHTS) Aiviq was acquired by the Coast Guard and renamed USCGC Storis (WAGB 21).According to a Coast Guard statement, “On Nov. 20, the Coast Guard purchased the M/V Aiviq, a 360-foot U.S.-built polar class 3-equivalent icebreaker for $125 million in a deal with Offshore Surface Vessels LLC.

BP will cut over 5% of its global workforce, it said on Thursday, as part of CEO Murray Auchincloss' efforts to reduce costs and rebuild investor confidence in the energy giant.Around 4,700 employees and 3,000 contractor positions will be cut this year, BP BP.L told Reuters. The cuts were announced in an internal memo seen by Reuters earlier on Thursday.BP shares were up 1% at 1200 GMT.Auchincloss last year said he would cut the British company's costs by at least $2 billion by…

Esgian highlights several new contracts in its Week 39 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.Report SummaryContractsMarket sources indicate that ADNOC has exercised an extension option for the 350-ft jackup drilling rig Aryabhatt 1 in Abu Dhabi.Petrobras has awarded two floating rig contracts to Constellation Oil Services for work at the Roncador field in the Campos Basin offshore Brazil. Valued at $1 billion, the two contracts will see Constellation 10,000-ft drillship Laguna Star and Hanwha Drilling 12,000-ft newbuild Tidal Action operate for Petrobras for around 2.5 years.

Esgian provides an update on new contract awards for floating rigs in its Week 37 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.Report SummaryContractsTransocean Ltd. has secured a 365-day contract for the 12,000-ft drillship Deepwater Atlas with bp in the US GOM.Norwegian operator Aker BP has extended the contract for Saipem’s 10,000-ft semisub Scarabeo 8 in Norway.Drilling Activity and DiscoveriesEquinor has found hydrocarbons at the Sitka C-02 exploration well in the Flemish Pass area offshore Newfoundland & Labrador…

JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration Corporation, NYK and NYK affiliate Knutsen NYK Carbon Carriers (KNCC) have demonstrated a new CO2 liquefaction method that the partners say is a breakthrough for the carbon capture and storage (CCS) industry.The three companies have devised the CO2 liquefaction process based on the isenthalpic expansion cooling and liquefaction process which takes advantage of the temperature drop caused by depressurizing the captured CO2 to form a liquefied CO2 suitable for marine transport.In principle…

Esgian provides an update on plans for Petronas to return to the deep waters off Mexico in its Week 35 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.Report SummaryContractsMalaysia's Velesto said Monday it has secured a Letter of Award for its 350-ft jackup Naga 3 from Vietnam-based Thang Long Joint Operating Company (TLJOC).Dolphin Drilling’s Letter of Intent (LoI) with an undisclosed operator in the UK for its 1,500-ft semisub Borgland Dolphin has lapsed and the rig is now available for new…

New Zealand said on Monday it would pass laws by the end of this year to reverse a ban on offshore oil and gas exploration, and take urgent steps to remove regulatory hurdles to import LNG amid energy shortages.The law would end the ban, in place since 2018, on exploration outside onshore Taranaki, an energy-rich region on the country's North Island as the right-of-centre government plans to lure investment to the country's oil and gas sector.Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said severe shortages over the last few weeks had led energy prices to spike to some of the highest levels among develop

Britain's decision to issue dozens of new oil and gas exploration licences is being challenged in court by a marine conservation organization, which argues ministers unlawfully failed to consider the impact on marine life.Oceana UK is taking legal action over 31 licences issued under Britain's previous government in May this year as part of the North Sea Transition Authority's latest oil and gas licensing round.An exploration licence does not necessarily result in a producing field, though environmental groups argue that expansion of oil and gas production is inconsistent with the government's

According to the Norwegian Offshore Directorate's projected scenarios leading up to 2050, the difference between high and low production of oil and gas can amount to nearly an entire government pension fund.Norway still has extensive oil and gas resources on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS). This can provide a basis for high levels of production, export and value creation for the broader society for many years to come, according to the new resource report. However, this potential future will not simply materialize on its own.

At the urging of environmental groups, a U.S. judge threew out an assessment by a federal agency governing how endangered and threatened marine species should be protected from oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman in Greenbelt, Maryland, ruled the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Services' so-called "biological opinion" was flawed and did not adequately address risks species face from oil spills and vessel strikes.The assessment was issued…

New Zealand's green credentials are at risk as the government rolls back environmental reforms in a bid to boost a flailing economy and fulfil promises made to its voters.Since taking power last year, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon's center-right coalition announced it will reverse a ban on oil and gas exploration, push the pricing of agricultural emissions back five year and encourage more mining.This is part of a government shift in priorities towards increasing exports to support an economy that grew just 0.3% in the year to March 2024…

China National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC) said on Thursday it signed strategic alliance agreement with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) to deepen cooperation.Under the agreement, the companies will cooperate in oil, gas exploration and production, oilfield services and the trading of crude oil and liquefied natural gas, CNOOC, parent of CNOOC Ltd, said a press release.They will also deepen work in the new energy sector and in low-carbon projects, CNOOC added.(Reuters - Reporting by Chen Aizhu; editing by Jason Neely)

Australia has awarded new offshore acreage for petroleum exploration and carbon capture and storage (CCS) opportunities.The Minister for Resources and Northern Australia Madeleine King will finalize permits for Esso and Beach Energy in the Otway and Sorrell Basins, with any discovered gas to support the domestic east coast market.Exploration permits will also be finalized for Chevron, INPEX, Melbana and Woodside Energy on Australia’s west coast. In addition, 10 permits will be finalized for carbon capture and storage exploration.“As ageing coal generation comes offline in coming years…