Exploration

Arrow LNG, owned by Petrochina and Shell has made an offer of AU$ 520 million (US$ 543 million) to acquire the gas explorer Bow Energy.

WesternGeco announced today that it has begun acquisition of the Bjørnøya Phase I 'Ice Bear' 3D multiclient survey in the highly prospective West Loppa area of the Barents Sea.

Demand for subsea vessels is projected to make a strong recovery as confidence returns to the industry and more deepwater projects are sanctioned.

Shell’s Gannet platform in the North Sea is still leaking oil into the North sea and the episode does cast serious doubt over the whole North Sea operation.

As energy demand is rising again, the year 2011 marks a turning point in the oil & gas industry with increased investments in the entire value chain.

A group of US businesses and business groups, including API, have written a letter to President Obama asking him to intervene in the implementation of stringent new standards.

Statoil and its partners have discovered a high impact well in the Aldous Major South field in Norwegian waters of the North Sea.

Spectrum has acquired the 2D Multi-Client library of CGGVeritas encompassing more than 500,000 km of seismic data. This significant increase in Spectrum’s Multi-Client data library involves a US$ 40 million transaction.

As Burma and China improve their resources development partnership, concerns have arisen over the impact such the joint ventures will have on conflict and stability in the region.

Simba Energy Inc. has been granted a Production Sharing Contract (PSC) by the Ministry of Energy, Republic of Kenya for Block 2A, comprising 7801.72 square kilometres in northeast Kenya.

TGS has commenced a new multi-client 3D survey in the Faroe-Shetland Basin. The survey covers 2500 km2 west of the British Isles over quads 6004, 204 and 205 and is acquired in partnership with PGS.

API CEO releases a statement in support of budget negotiators of the bipartisan debt ceiling bill, which passed through Congress on August 2nd.

Penn Virginia Corp. is to sell all of its Arkoma Basin properties, together with certain other Mid-Continent properties, to an undisclosed buyer for US$ 30.5 million in cash.

A quick round up of recent downstream news from the Americas.

Hess Corp. in partnership with Petroceltic International PLC, has signed production sharing contracts (PSCs) with the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq for its Dinarta and Shakrok exploration blocks.