Industry News

Zephyr Energy has begun rigging up operations to spud the initial, surface section of the State 36-2 LNW-CC-R well, part of the Paradox Basin project in Utah. All necessary ancillary service providers have also arrived on site to support its operations.The new well will target the same Cane Creek reservoir and the over-pressured, gas-bearing natural fracture system that was proven during the drilling of the original well. Drilling at the new well is planned to reach a total depth of 10,362 ft measured depth (9,600 ft true vertical depth) and will incorporate a 270-ft horizontal reservoir section. The new well

BP, operator of the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) project, announced the start-up of oil production from the new Azeri Central East (ACE) platform as part of the ACG field development in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea.The ACE platform is the seventh oil-producing platform installed on the giant ACG field in the Caspian Sea. ACG first began production in 1997 and has since produced over 4.3 billion barrels of oil. The BP-operated Shah Deniz gas field has two further platforms in the Caspian.The ACE platform and related facilities are designed to process up to 100,000 bbl/day and the project is expected

Petrobras has awarded SLB three contracts for completion hardware and services for up to 35 subsea wells in the development of Petrobras’ Buzios Wave II oilfield, offshore Brazil. The contract includes SLB’s fullbore electric interval control and electric subsurface safety valves. The award is a catalyst toward full production system electrification for Petrobras, improving production availability via more reliable completions.By converting to electric completions, Petrobras can control a more sophisticated system in the subsurface reliably. Full electrification of completions enables maximum production control across multiple reservoir drains, potentially requiring fewer wells and limiting heavy workovers during the productive life of

Vår Energi has discovered oil at Ringhorne Nord in the North Sea, offshore Norway. The wells, 25/8-23 S and 25/8-23 A & B, are north of the Ringhorne Øst field and 200 km northwest of Stavanger. The well was drilled using Odfjell Drilling’s Deepsea Yantai semisubmersible rig.Preliminary calculations indicate the discovery’s size at between 2 and 3.7 million standard cu m of recoverable oil equivalent. According to the Norwegian Offshore Directorate, this is the equivalent of 13-23 million barrels.The licensees are considering a tieback of the discovery to existing nearby infrastructure.These are the first exploration wells in production license 956,

Valeura Energy announced three oil discoveries on its assets in the offshore Gulf of Thailand.The Nong Yao-13 well was drilled to 5,399 ft measured depth (MD) – 3,342 ft true vertical depth (TVD) – and discovered just over 30 ft of new oil pay across several intervals. The result confirms that oil has successfully migrated into this area of the block, a factor that was seen to be a risk in the Nong Yao D area. The particular intervals comprising the discovery are relatively shallow new zones not produced elsewhere on the concession. These reservoirs are believed to be recurring

Sinopec has completed drilling China’s deepest geothermal exploration well, the Fushen-1 well in Hainan, with a depth of 5,200 m. The milestone revealed the deep geothermal formation and enrichment in South China. The breakthrough in hot dry rock in terms of demographic region and depth is of great significance to enhance the large-scale development and utilization of geothermal resources in South China and aid the energy structure adjustment.The drilling goal of Fushen-1 was granite dated 250 million years ago. Since the exploration launched in August 2023, Sinopec has adopted multiple independently developed innovative technologies, including the combination of dual-drive drilling

Petrobras has discovered an oil accumulation in the Potiguar Basin’s ultra-deep waters, in the Anhangá exploratory well. The Anhangá well is located on the coast between Ceará and Rio Grande do Norte, about 190 km from Fortaleza and 250 km from Natal, at a water depth of 2,196 m in the Brazilian Equatorial Margin.This is the second discovery in the Potiguar Basin in 2024 and was preceded by proof of the presence of hydrocarbons in the Pitu Oeste Well, located 24 km from Anhangá. These discoveries still require further assessment. The new campaign was executed without any incidents.In addition to

Shelf Drilling has secured a contract extension for its Barsk jackup with Equinor for operations at the Gudrun field in the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The firm term of the extension is two wells with an estimated duration of 254 days in total. The contract extension also includes options for three wells at Gudrun.The Shelf Drilling Barsk rig is scheduled for operations with Equinor at the Sleipner Vest field in May 2024 with an initial scope of two wells and an estimated duration of 270 days, with options for two wells. In conjunction with the extension, Equinor has also exercised the