On the 28th February, Greece’s parliament gave the go-ahead for companies including France’s Total and Italy’s Edison to explore for oil and gas in the west of the country. Licences for four blocks – one offshore and three on land – were awarded in…
ExxonMobil said on the 28th February that it will pull out of exploration and research joint ventures with Rosneft due to US and European Union sanctions against Russia. Exxon, the world’s largest publicly traded oil producer, said the exit will result in an after-tax…
Is it time for an offshore marine decom product? Dennis Culligan of risk, insurance and claims management company Longdown|EIC Risk Consulting Ltd feels there remains a worrying lack of consensus over the extent of liabilities relating to the decommissioning of offshore assets and whether existing…
The United States will overtake Russia as the world’s biggest oil producer by 2019 at the latest, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on the 27th February, as the country’s shale oil boom continues to upend global markets. IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said…
For all the talk of aging oil fields and shrinking production, the UK is about to achieve a surprising feat: it is on the brink of becoming a net crude oil exporter for the first time in 14 years. To put the milestone into context,…
The new company, Canadian Supply Base Company (CSBC), is gathering resources, opportunities and cluster participants to explore the development of a proposed multi-user, ‘one-stop shop’ port cluster at Bull Arm, Newfoundland. This ‘Life of Field Service Centre’ concept would incorporate supply base services with…
On the 23rd February, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced new sanctions against North Korea in order to isolate the regime further. US OFAC advised that the North Korean shipping industry is a primary means by which North Korea…
Norwegian oil company Statoil has started drilling at the Oseberg Vestflanken 2 development located offshore Norway, using the Cat J rig Askepott. Statoil started drilling at Oseberg Vestflanken 2 in the early hours of Sunday, the 25th February, the company announced, adding that the project could…
South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries has completed a riser platform topside for Statoil’s giant Johan Sverdrup development offshore Norway. The shipyard said on the 26th February that the topside module for the Johan Sverdrup riser platform had left the Geoje shipyard. The topside loaded…
East Timor and Australia have reached an agreement for a treaty on their disputed maritime border and on a “pathway” to develop the giant Greater Sunrise offshore gas fields, the Permanent Court of Arbitration said on the 26th February. Under the agreement, the share…
