Exploration

According to the head of a local oil company, European firms will take part in the latest block auction, but companies from the US may wait until further reforms have been made.

Chevron Corp. has made a major natural gas discovery in the Greater Gorgon Area of the Carnarvon Basin, offshore Western Australia. The discovery will further underpin the companies proposed Gorgon LNG project.

Poland and Ukraine are planning to wean themselves off Russian oil and gas by developing domestic shale gas reserves.

Kosmos Energy has intersected oil and gas condensate in the Wawa-1 exploration well in the Deepwater Tano block, offshore Ghana.

The latest EIC Monitor quarterly report tracking new project announcements across the global energy industry shows an overall reduction in the number of projects announced during the second quarter of 2012.

WGP has completed the fifteenth Life of Field Seismic (LoFS) survey for BP over the Valhall field in the North Sea.

Rosneft and GE have signed a deal to jointly evaluate and develop oil and gas exploration and production opportunities in Russia.

Providence Resources has reported more good news from its Barryroe discovery, with analysis of sidewall cores showing high levels of permeability.

A newly passed Vietnamese law requiring all foreign naval vessels operating in the waters around the Spratly islands to notify Vietnamese authorities has incensed the Chinese government.

Nuri al-Maliki, the Iraqi Prime Minister has warned that an exploration contract between Exxon Mobil and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is dangerous and could potentially lead to a breakdown of the unity of Iraq.

Exxon Mobil is to cease its shale exploration activities in Poland in a move that will come as a heavy blow to the country’s ambitions of reducing its dependence upon Russia.

A spokesman for the Iraqi government has announced that Iraq is to hold a fifth oil and gas licensing auction in early 2013, with improved contract terms.

Eni has purchased a 50% share in LLC Westgasinvest in order to gain access to the Lviv Basin in Ukraine to explore for shale gas.

Statoil has confirmed the discovery of 3 trillion ft3 of gas in its Lavani exploration well in the Block 2 license area offshore Tanzania.

Earlier this week France announced that it would be suspending drilling permits for offshore exploration in French Guyana, citing worries over the provisions made for marine life and consultation with the local population.