Exploration - 22 September 2011

Total has acquired a 40% interest in five offshore exploration blocks in Kenya. The company has acquired stakes in blocks L4, L7, L11a, L11b and L12 in the Lamu basin.

Petrobras has confirmed the presence of oil and gas accumulations in the ultra deep waters of the Sergipe-Alagoas basin, after completing a lined well formation test in the BM-SEAL-11 concession in Block SEAL-M-426.

Cuadrilla has announced that it has discovered shale gas reserves, estimated to be as large as 200 trillion ft3, in the Bowland Basin in Lancashire, UK. If the estimates prove correct, it will be the largest gas field ever discovered in the UK.

Apache Corporation has agreed to acquire Exxon Mobil Corporation's Mobil North Sea LLC assets, including the Beryl field and related properties, for $1.75 billion.