Oil drilling

03 November 2009 -- BP, and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), announced today that they have signed a technical service contract with Iraq's state-owned South Oil Company (SOC) to expand production from the Rumaila oilfield, near Basra in southern Iraq

The signing follows BP's successful bid for the contract with CNPC in Baghdad in June.

The consortium led by BP (38 per cent) with partners CNPC (37 per cent) and the Iraq government's representative State Oil Marketing Organisation (SOMO - 25 per cent), has agreed to nearly triple the Rumaila field's output to almost 3 million barrels of oil a day (b/d), which would make it the world's second largest producing oilfield.    » read more »

October 19, 2009 -- U.S. Senator Mark Begich issued the following statement today after learning The Department of Interior's Minerals Management Service (MMS) has approved, with conditions, Shell Offshore, Inc.'s Exploration Plan to explore two leases in the Beaufort Sea:

"I am pleased to hear that the MMS has approved Shell's Exploration Plan for the Beaufort Sea. Alaska has long been America's energy storehouse and this positive development demonstrates that our state's role in helping meet the nation's energy needs will continue.    » read more »

Washington, DC - 09/17/2009 - More than 400 scientists from the U.S. and 20 other countries have signed a strongly worded letter urging the Obama administration to defer offshore oil and gas development in the U.S. Arctic Ocean until research can adequately assess potential risks to fragile marine ecosystems.

"The Arctic Ocean is our last opportunity to prevent damage to a pristine environment that will be a legacy to our children," said Henry Huntington, science director for the Pew Environment Group's Arctic program. "We must stop and do the thorough research that is needed to protect this special place that is already stressed by climate change."    » read more »

August 28, 2009, Homer, Alaska – Alaska Governor Sean Parnell welcomed the news that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the Beaufort Sea 2007 oil and gas lease sale did not violate environmental laws.

The decision means that Shell Alaska can continue with its plans to explore and develop its Beaufort Sea leases.

“This is good news for the State of Alaska,” Governor Parnell said. “Outer Continental Shelf development is critical to the state’s long-term economic future. The OCS offers the greatest opportunity for new oil discoveries in the Arctic, and barriers against exploration and development there continue to fall.”

The decision comes on the heels of two favorable federal court decisions.    » read more »

Find Demonstrates Chevron's Ongoing Exploration Success in Prolific Block 0

SAN RAMON, Calif., August 7, 2009 - Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) announced today that its affiliate, Cabinda Gulf Oil Company Limited (CABGOC) and its partners, had made a successful discovery in Block 0 located adjacent to the Cabinda coastline in Angola.

The 79-3XST1 discovery well, drilled in March 2009 in 397 feet (120 meters) of water to a total vertical depth of 13,000 feet (3965 meters), encountered over 225 feet of net hydrocarbon pay in the Upper Pinda formation. The well was tested from a single 150 ft. perforated interval and flowed at a rate of 11.6 million cubic feet of natural gas and 2,550 barrels of liquid hydrocarbons per day.    » read more »

A column by United States Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La.

06/23/2009 -- WASHINGTON -- Last summer, Americans were reeling from the largest oil price spike the nation ever experienced. Oil prices had increased from $51 per barrel in January 2007 to nearly $150 in July 2008 — a nearly 200 percent increase in 18 months.

Skyrocketing energy prices led millions of hardworking families to demand that Congress change our policies to allow for more domestic oil and gas production. Americans from coast to coast were ready to cut ties with unfriendly foreign governments and produce our own energy right here at home.    » read more »

Project is Chevron's First Major Upstream Development in Brazil

SAN RAMON, Calif., June 23, 2009 - Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) announced today that its subsidiary Chevron Brasil Upstream Frade Ltda. has commenced crude oil production from the Frade Field, the company's first operated deepwater development in Brazil.

The estimated $3 billion project, with continuing development drilling, is expected to achieve peak production of 90,000 barrels of crude oil and natural gas liquids per day in 2011.
Frade

This schematic drawing depicts the Frade subsea system. Oil from the field is produced through a floating production storate and offloading vessel (FPSO). The crude is stored in the FPSO and offloaded to crude oil tankers.    » read more »

OSLO, NORWAY—June 16, 2009—GE Oil & Gas, a world leading company in oil and gas advanced technology equipment and services, today announced that it has been selected by BP to conduct two initial engineering studies for the Foinaven oil field, for subsea processing and power-from-shore systems respectively.

The initial engineering studies, which will involve obtaining accurate data for field development and its technical and commercial feasibility, represent a continuation of work already completed by GE Oil & Gas to support BP in developing the Foinaven field for future production enhancement. The target completion date for the initial engineering studies is the third quarter of 2009.    » read more »

KazMunayGas, ConocoPhillips and Mubadala Announce Signing of Project Agreements for Exploration and Development of N Block, Offshore Kazakhstan

HOUSTON, June 11, 2009 – ConocoPhillips [NYSE: COP], JSC National Company KazMunayGas (KMG) and Mubadala Development Company PJSC (Mubadala) today announced that they have signed project agreements allowing the joint exploration and development of the Nursultan Block (N Block) located in offshore Kazakhstan.

KMG as majority owner will hold a 51 percent interest in the subsoil use contract and the remaining 49 percent will be shared equally between ConocoPhillips and Mubadala. The project will be operated by a Kazakh LLP, which will be jointly owned by the participants in proportion to their equity.    » read more »

Approximately seven million acres to be explored in Turkish Black Sea

IRVING, Texas -- Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) today announced the Turkish government approved an agreement between its affiliate ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Turkey B.V. and the Turkish national oil company Türkiye Petrolleri Anonim Ortaklığı (TPAO) to explore two deepwater blocks in the Black Sea.

ExxonMobil and TPAO signed the agreement in November 2008 to jointly explore deepwater prospects in the Samsun Block, which measures approximately 2 million acres (8,500 square kilometers) and the eastern portion of 3921 Block, which measures approximately 5 million acres (21,000 square kilometers). Water depths reach an approximate 6,500 feet (2,000 meters).    » read more »

June 2, 2009, Anchorage, Alaska – Alaska Governor Sarah Palin today was pleased to express her appreciation to the individuals, businesses, and organizations that helped start the Point Thomson oil and gas development project. Located on the North Slope of Alaska, Point Thomson is 60 miles east of Prudhoe Bay.    » read more »

May 28, 2009 -- BATON ROUGE – Today, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal joined officials from Denbury Resources Inc, an independent oil and gas company, to provide an update on Denbury’s Green Pipeline project. Denbury is building a "Green Pipeline" from Donaldsonville, Louisiana to a location in Texas, which will be one of the first pipelines designed to transport man-made CO2 injecting it into oil reservoirs to recover additional crude oil that would not otherwise be produced.

The Green Pipeline project will have a total capital investment of $750 million and is expected to create up to 800 jobs during construction.    » read more »

27 May 2009 -- Sociedade Nacional de Combustíveis de Angola (Sonangol) and BP Exploration (Angola) Limited today announced the 'Oberon' oil discovery in ultra-deepwater Block 31, offshore Angola.

This is the eighteenth discovery made by BP in Block 31 and is located in the southern portion of Block 31 about 335 kilometres northwest of Luanda and 4.3 kilometres to the north-east of the Dione discovery.

Oberon-1 was drilled in a water depth of 1624 metres and reached a total depth of 3622 metres TVD below sea level. The well test results confirmed the capacity of the reservoir to flow in excess of 5000 barrels/day under production conditions.    » read more »

May 26, 2009 -- Total announced last week that, within the framework of the EGAS 2008 international bid round organized by the Egyptian authorities, it has been awarded a 90% participation in and the operatorship of Block 4 (East El Burullus Offshore) in conjunction with partner ENEL (10%). This award is subject to approval by the competent authorities.

This block is located in the Mediterranean Sea, in the Nile Basin, and covers an area of 2,516 square kilometres, and is situated approximately 70 kilometres from the coast in water depths varying from 100 to 1,600 metres. The Nile basin is a prolific area where numerous gas discoveries have already been made.    » read more »

May 11, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today asked the Department of Justice to seek clarification from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on the scope of its April 17, 2009 decision that Bush Administration officials did not conduct sufficient scientific and environmental analysis before scheduling oil and gas lease sales on the Outer Continental Shelf off Alaska.    » read more »