Ivanhoe Mobilizes Rig for 2nd Mongolia Well

- Ivanhoe Mobilizes Rig for 2nd Mongolia Well

Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Ivanhoe Energy Inc.

Ivanhoe and Ivanhoe's wholly-owned subsidiary Sunwing Energy Ltd., announced that Ivanhoe's drilling team has begun moving the drilling rig to the site of the second exploration well in east-central Mongolia.

"Our drilling program was designed to advance our knowledge of Mongolia's Nyalga Basin, a highly prospective area with numerous potential structures that could be tested by drilling," David Dyck, President and Chief Operating Officer, said. "These initial wells are testing two different structures with diverse seismic characteristics."

Mr. Dyck said testing has been completed at the first exploration well, N16-1E-1A, which was drilled to a depth of 2,003 meters. The first well has been plugged and abandoned and the rig disassembled for mobilization.

"While the testing of our first well did not encounter oil shows in the reservoir, it has provided vital information that we are combining with our seismic data to help guide our continuing drilling program."

The second well is on an eight-square-kilometer structure approximately 12 kilometers from the first well. Drilling of the second well is expected to begin by the end of this month toward a target depth of approximately 2,500 meters.

"Mongolia in general, and the Nyalga Basin in particular, is in the early days of oil exploration, requiring a great deal of study to understand its full potential. We remain optimistic that our exploration efforts will enable the discovery of oil resources at our Mongolian project," Mr. Dyck added.

Sunwing Energy Ltd. is party to a Production-Sharing Contract with the Mongolian Government for Block XVI, a 12,679-square-kilometer area that encompasses the Nyalga Basin and is adjacent to the north-south Trans-Mongolian Railway.

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Transocean Launches All Cash Voluntary Offer For Aker Drilling

- Transocean Launches All Cash Voluntary Offer For Aker Drilling



Aug 26, 2011

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) announced after receiving clearance by the Oslo Stock Exchange, that it launched its all cash voluntary offer for 100% of the shares of Aker Drilling for 26.50 Kroner per share. The offer has been made on an unconditional basis and with settlement guaranteed by a financial institution.

Transocean has a potential upside of 51.7% based on a current price of $51.47 and an average consensus analyst price target of $78.07.

Transocean is currently below its 50-day moving average (MA) of $59.22 and below its 200-day MA of $70.28.

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Blake International Adds Another Rig to its Fleet

- Blake International Adds Another Rig to its Fleet

Monday, August 22, 2011
Blake International

Blake International has purchased a 3000hp platform rig from Well Services LTD in Trinidad. Blake has renamed the rig the 'Blake Rig 5' and it has a 1 year contract working for PEMEX with a contract value of $25,000,000.00. "This acquisition was essential for us to meet the market's demand for higher horsepower rigs", says Beau Blake, Vice President of Business Development.
>P?The Blake Rig 5 is currently being shipped from Trinidad to Mexico where it will undergo minor refurbishments before beginning its contract with PEMEX.

Blake International owns and operates a fleet of 10 Platform Rigs in the US and Mexico.

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A Snapshot of Brazil

- A Snapshot of Brazil

Friday, August 19, 2011
Rigzone Staff
by Trey Cowan

Brazilian offshore drilling activities are faring much better than worldwide operations. Total average utilization for Brazil's mobile offshore drilling fleet is 94 percent, which compares quite favorably to the global average of 80 percent. Similarly, average dayrates are much higher in Brazil than compared to the rest of the world. Currently, rigs (i.e. drillships, jackups, and semisubs combined) are garnering rates in the high-$310s while global average dayrates are in the mid-$230s.

The favorable disparity for both operating efficiency and dayrates is due largely to fleet mix. Most of the rigs operating off the coast of Brazil are exploring for oil in deeper waters. Hence, very little drilling in the region is accomplished using jackups; which typically command the lowest dayrates in the industry.

Brazil's semisub fleet utilization (a regional fleet of 52 competitively marketed rigs) is 98 percent, quite high by industry standards. Its drillship fleet, while much smaller at 17 marketed rigs, will continue to grow as newbuild equipment is delivered into the region. The jackup fleet is the smallest of the mix with just three competitive rigs on lease in the region. All three are currently under contract. Given the vast quantity of Brazil's discoveries, demand for offshore rigs shows only signs of growing as the country looks to further tap its ample reserves.

Recent News From the Region

• Pacific Drilling announced that its ultra-deepwater drillship the Pacific Mistral has been awarded a three-year contract by Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras) for operations in Brazil. The contract is expected to commence in the fourth quarter of 2011. Estimated maximum contract revenues, including mobilization and client requested modifications, are approximately $536 million.
• Rockhopper recently completed interpretation of its fast track new seismic data in PL032 and PL033. Seismic data shows that the Sea Lion Main Complex ("SLMC") will extend to the south and a new high case area extends over 90km2. Also, two new fan prospects were identified within the new seismic data, Casper and Kermit. Following completion of drilling operations on well 14/10-6, Rockhopper is committed to drill three further wells using the Ocean Guardian.
• Petrobras has commenced production from the P-56 platform at the Marlim Sul field in the Campos Basin. The unit began production through well 7-MLS-163HPRJS and will potentially generate around 16,000 bopd. The P-56 platform, installed in a water depth of 5,479 feet (1,670 meters), is designed to handle up to 100 Mcf/d when it reaches maximum capacity. This is expected to take place in the first quarter of 2012.
• The Sevan Brasil, which is under construction at Cosco Shipyard in China, is on schedule to be delivered during the first quarter of 2012. Upon delivery, the rig will set sail for Brazil to begin its six-year contract with Petrobras.

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Africa Oil Clinches Rig for Puntland Program

- Africa Oil Clinches Rig for Puntland Program

Thursday, August 18, 2011
Africa Oil Corp.

Africa Oil provided an update on drilling operations related to the two-well exploration program in the Dharoor Valley Block, located in Puntland (Somalia).

Drilling locations have been selected over two robust prospects targeting gross best estimated prospective resources of over 300 million barrels each, based on internal estimates. A contract has been awarded to Sakson Drilling and Oil Services who will provide a 1,500 horse-power, top drive equipped rig. The majority of the drilling-related third party service contracts have been entered into and all outstanding service contracts are expected to be completed before the end of August.

The Company is actively engaged in sourcing drilling related materials and early stage logistics including drill site and ingress route construction. A contract has been signed with a water well drilling company and water well drilling will commence in early September. Mobilization of required personnel and equipment is planned to allow for spud of the Shabeel-1 well during the fourth quarter of this year.

The Puntland Government and Dharoor Valley communities are fully supportive of the drilling project and have ensured they will do all that they can to allow the project to move forward safely and expeditiously.

Please refer to the Company's press release dated August 11, 2011, detailing a proposed transaction whereby the Company will transfer its interests in the Puntland production sharing contracts to Denovo. Assuming completion of the transaction and related financing, it is anticipated the Company will own approximately 50% of Denovo. A private placement of CAD$40.9 million has been closed by Denovo subject to final TSX Venture Exchange approval of the transaction which will allow the new combined company to fully fund the upcoming two well program.

Keith Hill, Africa Oil's President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "We are very pleased to have signed a drilling rig contract and to have procured the required services to allow us to commence drilling operations in Puntland. With support from the local communities and Puntland Government, we are eager to drill the first exploration wells in Puntland in over 20 years, aimed at unlocking the resource potential of the area."

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Basic Energy's Rig Utilization Falls

- Basic Energy's Rig Utilization Falls



Aug 8, 2011

Basic Energy Services Inc.(NYSE:BAS) reported Monday that its July well servicing rig utilization rate fell slightly to 73% from 74% in the prior month.

The number of well servicing rigs stayed unchanged at 412 as of July 31, but rig hours fell to 69,000 from 73,600 the month before.

The count for drilling rigs remained at 10, but drilling rig days climbed to 279 from 256 in June. Drilling utilization rose to 90% from 85% in June.

Basic's fluid services truck fleet increased to 871 by the end of the period from 838 at the end of June.

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Keppel On Track to Deliver Saipem Rig

- Keppel On Track to Deliver Saipem Rig

Monday, August 01, 2011
Keppel Corp. Ltd.

Keppel FELS is on track to deliver Scarabeo 9, a 6th generation ultra-deepwater semisubmersible drilling rig, to Saipem S.p.A (Saipem) on time and with no lost time incidents.

A significant part of Keppel FELS' workscope on Scarabeo 9 involved the completion and commissioning of marine and drilling systems onboard.

The rig was named by Lady Sponsor, Mrs. Anna Tatka, spouse of Mr. Pietro Franco Tali, CEO of Saipem.

Speaking at the ceremony, Mr. Tali said, "With Keppel's proven track record, we were confident of receiving a rig of the highest quality delivered on time and in a safe manner. This sixth generation rig will be an important addition to our fleet as we expand our foothold to be one of the best balanced turnkey operators in the offshore and marine industry."

The Frigstad D90 semisubmersible rig is equipped with a Dynamic Positioning 3 system and will be capable of operating in water depths of up to 3,600 meters.

Mr. Tong Chong Heong, CEO of Keppel Offshore & Marine, added, "In completing this complex rig, we leveraged our in-house engineering expertise, proven project management and execution capabilities to ensure quick turnaround times in providing value added solutions.

"We thank Saipem for their trust in us and are glad to be able to demonstrate our capabilities with this safe and on time delivery. This extends to all our projects for Saipem, including the completion of Castorone at Keppel Shipyard. We look forward to supporting Saipem as they grow their fleet of high specification products for different parts of the world."

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San Leon Secures Rig for Nida Trough Program

- San Leon Secures Rig for Nida Trough Program

Friday, July 29, 2011
San Leon Energy plc

San Leon Energy's Polish subsidiary Vabush Energy Sp. z o. o. (Vabush) has signed with Poszukiwania Nafty i Gazu Jasło Sp. z o. o. (Jasło) to contract a rig for its upcoming two well program in Poland's Nida Trough. Both wells are planned to reach a total depth of 1,000 meters and test multiple targets on trend with the prolific Płowowice and Grobla oil fields. The first well, Chopin-1, is set to spud in early September immediately followed by the Belvedere-1 well. Vabush has secured land access agreements for the first location, Chopin-1, and is finalizing the Belvedere-1 agreements. Both Vabush and Jasło are finalizing the permitting process with plans to start building a location in early August.

Oisin Fanning, Executive Chairman of San Leon, commented, "San Leon is delighted to be on the cusp of a very intensive drilling program in both conventional oil and unconventional gas. The focus of San Leon's high-impact campaign in Poland will see the company drill up to three wells in September alone, weather permitting, and one of which is a shale gas prospect in the Baltic Basin. We look forward to updating the market in due course."

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Treaty: Drilling Rig Arrived in Belize

- Treaty: Drilling Rig Arrived in Belize

Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Treaty Energy Corp.

Treaty reported the Drilling Rig and support equipment have arrived in the port of entry in Belize.

Stephen L. York, President and COO of Treaty Energy Corporation, stated, "All the equipment shipped by sea last week has arrived safely at the port of entry in Belize and we have arranged for our toolpusher/rig manager and drilling supervisor, W D Harden to arrive in Belize and be on site to supervise the un-loading and reassembly of the rig."

Mr. York added, "In addition to reassembling the rig Mr. Harden and Treaty Belize Energy employees will be coordinating services with third party companies related to the drilling of our initial well sites and securing all our equipment to their proper locations. Today Treaty Energy has moved one step closer to implementing our drilling program to extract commercial grade quantities of oil in Belize."

In summary, the equipment in this shipment to Belize by sea out of Mobile, Alabama included the following: Drilling Rig, Bulldozer, Backhoe, Fuel Truck, and 28 foot Flat Bed Truck.

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American Standard Adds Rig for Permian Basin Drilling Program

- American Standard Adds Rig for Permian Basin Drilling Program

Thursday, July 21, 2011
American Standard Energy Corp.

American Standard announced the addition of a second rig for its 10 net well drilling program in Andrews County, Texas.

ASEN has secured the JW Rig #5 which will be moving onto the University 8 #1 location this week in Andrews County and is expected to spud Monday July 25th.

The Viking Rig #20 initiated the 10 net well drilling program and has spud the University 42 #2 well in Andrews County.

ASEN intends to drill the University Andrews 42 #2 well to the Devonian and then subsequent wells will be drilled to the Strawn and completed in the Strawn, Wolfcamp, Spraberry and Lower Clearfork formations. The Company will own 100% working interests in all 10 wells.

ASEN will have these dedicated two Rigs for the duration of this Phase 1 of our Permian Basin development program and expects to maintain them for future Phases. With the addition of the second rig, we project completion of this project to be cut by three months.

Scott Feldhacker, CEO of ASEN commented, "With over 4000 permits filed by various operators in the Permian Basin this year to date ASEN is demonstrating its abilities to aggregate the services needed to develop its assets in a marketplace of high demand."

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Noble 2Q Earnings Drop on Rig Downtime

- Noble 2Q Earnings Drop on Rig Downtime

Thursday, July 21, 2011
Noble Corp.

Noble reported second quarter 2011 earnings of $54 million, or $0.21 per diluted share, matching earnings reported for the first quarter of 2011. Results for the second quarter included a $0.04 per diluted share benefit relating to the settlement of certain discrete tax matters. First quarter 2011 results included a one-time after-tax net gain of $0.06 per diluted share relating to the substitution of the drillship Noble Phoenix for the drillship Noble Muravlenko in Brazil. Contract drilling services revenues totaled $590 million in the second quarter of 2011, up nine percent from $543 million in the first quarter of 2011. Contract drilling margin percentage for the second quarter of 2011 was approximately 43 percent compared to 44 percent in the prior quarter. Noble invested $815 million in capital projects during the second quarter.

At June 30, 2011, approximately 73 percent of the Company's available rig operating days were committed for the remainder of 2011 and approximately 43 percent were committed for 2012. The Company's total backlog at June 30, 2011 was approximately $13 billion.

David W. Williams, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, noted, "Second quarter results were significantly hindered by several downtime events involving five rigs. Although we were disappointed by the interruption in service on these rigs, most of which pertained to subsea equipment and control systems, four out of five rigs returned to service prior to the end of the second quarter. Despite the fleet downtime, the quarter was characterized by an improvement in business fundamentals, as utilization and tendering activity improved for both jackups and deepwater units, and several Noble rigs returned to active status."

Operations Highlights

In Mexico, six of Noble's jackups returned to active status during the second quarter following the award of contracts, while a contract on the Noble Sam Noble is expected to commence by the end of July. Also, the Noble Roy Butler was awarded a three-year contract in July, which is expected to commence in September 2011 following the completion of a leg-extension project. Dayrates for the rigs that have or will soon return to work range from approximately $80,000 to $100,000. Noble now has all 12 of its jackup rigs in Mexico under contract, with 10 of the 12 units under contract into late 2011 or beyond.

In the North Sea, the jackup Noble Byron Welliver was awarded a three-well contract at a dayrate of $91,000, while the jackup Noble Lynda Bossler was awarded a two-well contract at a dayrate of $105,000. Both rigs are expected to commence their new contracts in or around January 2012.

The Company continued to build its presence in Saudi Arabia following the award of contracts for the jackups Noble Gene House and Noble Joe Beall. The three-year contracts are expected to commence in September 2011 with an operating dayrate for each rig of $81,000. With these awards, the Company now has four jackups committed to Saudi Aramco.

Finally, in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, the semisubmersible Noble Jim Day began receiving its full contract dayrate of $485,000 on July 11 following the award to our client of permits necessary to commence well operations in the region. In addition, certification of the subsea control system on the semisubmersible Noble Driller was completed in July and the rig is expected to resume operations shortly at its full operating dayrate, pending receipt of a drilling permit. The Company now has certified subsea equipment and control systems on all six of its active semisubmersibles in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

"Offshore demand continues to build in most regions around the world, supporting expectations for gradually improving utilization and dayrates among our jackups and floating rigs," said Williams. He added, "Additional client demand for jackups is visible in Mexico and the Middle East. In the deepwater sector, Petrobras continues to tender for dynamically positioned and moored rigs for offshore Brazil with contract lengths of three to five years and we continue to see client interest in some of the emerging deepwater frontiers."

In closing, Williams stated, "Our fleet enhancement program, currently composed of the construction of seven ultra-deepwater drillships and four high-specification jackups, is transforming Noble into one of the industry's most modern and capable offshore drilling contractors. As client demand in the offshore sector increases and expands geographically, so does the need for technically advanced, versatile and efficient rigs that address both shallow and deepwater prospects. We believe our strategic growth initiatives strongly position the Company to benefit from further client demand and offshore industry expansion."

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Oilex Continues Ops to Demobilize Rig at Cambay PSC

- Oilex Continues Ops to Demobilize Rig at Cambay PSC

Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Oilex Ltd.

Oilex advised that operations are continuing to demobilize the Black Pearl rig and associated drilling equipment.

Mobilization of the equipment required to conduct the large volume multi-stage fracture stimulation of the Y Zone tight gas reservoir is near completion and rigging up is progressing. In total, 16 zones will be stimulated in 8 stages over the length of the horizontal section of the well bore (approximately 600 meters).

• Report date: July 12, 2011
• Status:
  
  • Demobilizing drilling rig
  • Mobilizing fracture stimulation equipment
• Past Week's Operations Demobilizing drilling rig
• Objective Cambay Eocene "tight" reservoir Y Zone
• Total Depth (TD) 2,740 meters

The participating interests in the Cambay PSC are:

• Oilex Ltd (Operator) 30%
• Oilex NL Holdings (India) Limited 15%
• Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation Ltd 55%

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Transocean: Rig Off Ghana Remains Stable after Taking On Water

- Transocean: Rig Off Ghana Remains Stable after Taking On Water

Friday, July 08, 2011
Dow Jones Newswires
HOUSTON
by Ryan Dezember

Transocean said Thursday that the deep-water drilling rig off Ghana that was evacuated Wednesday after it took on water remains stable.

The company is working on unmooring the Transocean Marianas, which is anchored some 46 miles offshore, and plans to tow it to sheltered water to inspect damage, spokesman Guy Cantwell said.

It will likely be at least a week before a full damage assessment can be made, Cantwell said.

There have been no injuries and a skeleton crew remain aboard the vessel, Cantwell said. And because the rig was not drilling when it began taking on water, there is no risk of an oil spill.

Transocean owned the Deepwater Horizon, which exploded last year while drilling a well for BP in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 and touching off the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. Since then Transocean has faced scrutiny over its safety procedures and maintenance of the world's largest offshore drilling fleet.

More than 100 workers were evacuated from the Marianas on Wednesday when it was discovered to have taken on water. A semisubmersible rig, the Marianas floats on large ballast tanks, or pontoons, which are filled with water for stability during drilling and emptied to ease transport. It was built in 1976 and upgraded to drill in depths up to 7,000 feet in 1998.

The rig had been drilling for ENI and was in the process of being moved to drill an exploration well for Kosmos Energy and partners that include Anadarko, Tullow Oil and Ghana's national oil company.

The Marianas was expected to arrive on site next week and Kosmos on Thursday asked Ghana for more time to begin drilling the prospect while it searches for a new rig.

The loss of income from the Marianas, which earned $450,000 a day on its contract with ENI, will likely trim Transocean's earnings by 15 cents per share this year, analysts with Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. said in a client note.

"As of now we are assuming rig does not work for rest of 2011," the Houston-based analysts said.

Copyright (c) 2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

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Antrim to Farm-Out N. Sea Erne Prospect

- Antrim to Farm-Out N. Sea Erne Prospect

Thursday, July 07, 2011
Antrim Energy Inc.

Antrim has signed a Heads Of Agreement (HOA) to farm out a portion of its Erne Prospect located in the Greater Fyne Area in the Central North Sea.

Premier Oil UK Limited (Premier) has agreed to earn a 50% working interest in Antrim's 100% owned License P1875 by funding a promoted share of the costs to drill a well on the Erne Prospect on Block 21/29d. The well is expected to commence drilling in the third quarter of 2011 as part of the Greater Fyne Area drilling program announced by Antrim on March 28, 2011. A contract has been signed with AGR Well Management Limited to provide well project management and drilling services, including the provision of the WilPhoenix semi-submersible drilling rig, and a site survey has been completed.

The Erne Prospect is an Eocene Tay Formation oil prospect located between the Fyne and Guillemot NW fields at a drilling depth of approximately 6,000 feet. Erne is analogous to the Guillemot NW Field, which produces oil from the Eocene Tay Formation.

The Erne farmout is part of Antrim's strategy of managing risk and reducing cost while maintaining significant interest in its North Seas properties.

Assignment of the license interest to Premier will be subject to approval by the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC).

As previously announced on April 04, 2011, Antrim and Premier, along with First Oil Expro Limited, will also collaborate on the drilling of an appraisal well on the eastern flank of the Fyne Field, License P077 Block 21/28a. The East Fyne well is anticipated to be spud in 4Q 2011.

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Baraka: Rig Headed to Georgina Basin

- Baraka: Rig Headed to Georgina Basin

Thursday, July 07, 2011
Baraka Energy and Resources Ltd.

Baraka and joint venture partner PetroFrontier announced that the long awaited Rig mobilization by Major Drilling has begun from Brisbane, Queensland to the Southern Georgina Basin in the Northern Territory, Australia.

Drilling Program Update

The rig will mobilize approximately 3,000 kilometers and is expected to arrive at the Baldwin-2 well site in approximately one week. Once the rig arrives on location and is rigged up, it will be subject to a final government audit prior to spud. PetroFrontier will provide a further update once a spud date has been confirmed.

Baldwin-2 is located in the southern part of EP 103 in the Southern Georgina Basin. Its primary target is the Basil Arthur Creek "hot" shale with a secondary target being the Hagen Member above the hot shale. Management believes that the Arthur Creek is analogous to the Bakken play found in Saskatchewan, Canada and North Dakota, USA. PetroFrontier has identified 13 older unconventional wells within the Arthur Creek "hot" shale zone on its lands.

PetroFrontier has a 100% working interest in EP 103 and is the operator.

After completion of drilling the Baldwin-2 well, the rig will then move to the MacIntyre-2 well site located in the northeastern corner of EP 127. MacIntyre-2 will be fracked and completed immediately after it is drilled and then the rig and frac crew will return to Baldwin-2 to conduct fracking and completion operations on that well.

According to a report prepared by Ryder Scott Company Canada (independent oil and natural gas reservoir engineers), dated November 1, 2010, the unrisked, undiscovered, prospective (recoverable) resource, based on a best (P50) scenario, for the unconventional Basil Arthur Creek shale zone in EP 103 and EP 127 may contain approximately 13.2 billion barrels and 2.7 billion barrels (gross) of oil respectively.

The Ryder Scott Resource Report on the resource potential of the Southern Georgina Basin describes the prospective (recoverable) portion of "Undiscovered Resources", as defined by the Canadian Oil and Gas Evaluation Handbook and does not represent an estimate of reserves. The Ryder Scott Resource Report is compliant with National Instrument 51-101 "Standards of Disclosure for Oil and Gas Activities" (NI 51-101). There is no certainty that any portion of the resources will be discovered. If discovered, there is no certainty that it will be commercially viable to produce any portion of the resources.

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Faroe Spins Bit at Fulla Well

- Faroe Spins Bit at Fulla Well

Thursday, July 07, 2011
Faroe Petroleum plc

Faroe announced that drilling operations have commenced on the Fulla exploration prospect (Faroe Petroleum 50%), located in the west of Shetland area of the Atlantic margin.

This west of Shetlands well, located to the north east of the producing Clair oil field, is targeting potentially oil-bearing Devonian Clair reservoir sands at a depth of 2,100 meters. Faroe is operator of the well which is being drilled by the WilPhoenix semisubmersible drilling rig under contract with Awilco Drilling in a water depth of 120 meters. Operations are expected to be completed well within the summer weather period.

UK License P.1161 contains both the Freya oil discovery and the nearby Fulla exploration prospect. The Freya discovery was drilled by Mobil in 1980 and encountered 140 meters of oil-bearing Devonian Clair reservoir sands. Similarly to a number of the Clair appraisal wells, a valid surface oil sample was not obtained in the Freya discovery well. Since Freya was drilled, horizontal well drilling on the Clair oil field has led to a very successful extended well test in 1997 which in turn led to development sanction. The BP operated Clair field is under phased development and has been on production since 2005, having to date produced in excess of 75 million barrels of oil with current rates at approximately 40,000 barrels per day.

The Fulla exploration prospect is located in the same Clair reservoir sands at a depth of approximately 2,100 meters and is situated along the same structural trend to the north east of both Clair and Freya, thereby de-risking the prospectivity of the target.

The objectives of the Fulla exploration well are to prove a significant column of oil-bearing Devonian Clair reservoir sands on the Fulla structure and, in that event, to obtain an oil sample using advanced wire-line technology. If these objectives are met, uncertainties related to a possible Freya and Fulla combined development project will be significantly reduced.

In December 2010 Faroe farmed out a 50% interest in License P.1161 to Canadian Overseas Petroleum Limited (COPL) on promoted terms, such that COPL will pay 60% of estimated well costs for the Fulla well.

Graham Stewart, Chief Executive of Faroe Petroleum plc, commented, "We are delighted to be drilling the Fulla prospect, as operator. Should the Fulla drilling operations be successful, this will present an excellent opportunity when combined with the already defined Freya discovery to prove up sufficient resources for a significant standalone field development.

"The next exploration wells scheduled after Fulla are all located on our Norwegian acreage and are the Butch well followed by the T-Rex and Kalvklumpen prospects, which are expected to spud in 3Q and 4Q. Faroe's ongoing multi-well exploration drilling program will carry on through 2011 and beyond as we push forward to test our substantial northern seas portfolio of over 40 significant licenses."

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Rockhopper Adds Additional Appraisal on Semisub

- Rockhopper Adds Additional Appraisal on Semisub

Thursday, July 07, 2011
Rockhopper Exploration plc

Rockhopper has entered into a further assignment agreement to secure an additional well slot on the Ocean Guardian drilling rig. Rockhopper will shortly drill well 14/10-6, its third appraisal well on the Sea Lion feature, followed by an additional three wells in succession.

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Abraxas Buys Drilling Rig

- Abraxas Buys Drilling Rig

Wednesday, July 06, 2011
Abraxas Petroleum Corp.

Abraxas has purchased a drilling rig and hired an experienced rig operator.

Abraxas purchased a used Oilwell 2000 hp diesel electric drilling rig, which will be refurbished and mobilized to the Williston Basin to drill Bakken/Three Forks wells using a multi-well pad drilling system. Abraxas anticipates that the rig will be ready to spud its first well in October 2011 in the North Fork area of McKenzie County, North Dakota where the Company has 60 gross (18 net) identified drilling locations.

The rig will be owned and operated by Raven Drilling, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Abraxas. Abraxas has hired an experienced rig operator, Tom Coons, who will run the day-to-day operations of the rig and its crew. Mr. Coons has worked for Abraxas as a drilling consultant in the Rocky Mountain region since 1997 and he has drilled numerous wells in various basins throughout his 40 year career in the business.

"Due to the severe shortage of equipment and services in the Williston Basin, we felt it was prudent to secure our own drilling rig in order to get our operated wells drilled on a timely and cost-efficient basis. The multi-well pad drilling system should save a lot of capital costs as the rig walks from location to location which reduces the mobilization costs, in addition to other cost savings by using the same mud system for multiple wells. On the completion side, we are still in the process of negotiating long-term availability of services; nonetheless, we are beginning to see additional availability in the basin, both of which will be of benefit to us once we get our operated wells drilled and ready for fracture stimulation," commented Bob Watson, Abraxas’ President and CEO.

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Det norske Sells Stake in North Sea

- Det norske Sells Stake in North Sea

Tuesday, July 05, 2011
Det norske oljeselskap ASA

Det norske oljeselskap has sold a 15 percent interest in production license 450 to North Energy.

The license is located in block 7/12 in the North Sea, southwest of the Ula field. Drilling of the prospect Storebjørn is planned for in the fourth quarter of 2011 with the jack-up rig Maersk Guardian.

Det norske is the operator, and will after the transaction hold a 60 percent interest in the license. Partners are North Energy with a 15 percent interest, and Dana Petroleum Norway with 25 percent.

The sale is part of Det norske's continuous effort to diversify and optimize its exploration portfolio. The agreement remains subject to government approval.

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Argos Reports Progress on Seismic Interpretation

- Argos Reports Progress on Seismic Interpretation

Tuesday, July 05, 2011
Argos Resources Ltd.

Argos Resources reported encouraging progress on the processing and interpretation of its recently acquired 3D seismic data over its 100% owned license PL001.

In April 2011, the Company announced the completion of the acquisition of 1,415 net square kilometers of 3D seismic data, including coverage over the entire license area, a halo outside the license boundaries and tie-ins to key wells. The 3D data covering the northeastern quarter of the license was prioritised to be processed on a fast-track basis. This processing was completed in May and interpretation of the data is now well advanced. The structural prospects Zeus and Demeter have been confirmed and are considered to be robust closures. In the Competent Person's Report of June 2010 these prospects were attributed Best Estimates of unrisked prospective resources of 258 mmb and 63 mmb of oil respectively, based on 2D seismic data. New stratigraphic prospects and leads have also been identified and are subject to ongoing detailed mapping.

One of the principal features of the northern part of the North Falkland Basin in the vicinity of licence PL001 is the presence of a major delta system that has prograded southwards across the license area, but does not appear to extend beyond the southern boundary of the license. This delta is at least age-equivalent to the organic rich oil source rock, the presence of which can be mapped with improved confidence across the license area. The 3D data quality over the delta is excellent and the Company is now using that data to identify new stratigraphic prospects in what is expected to be a sand-prone deltaic sequence

The fast track processing results have been so encouraging that the Company has commissioned similar fast track projects on the southeastern quarter and western half of its license, with results due for interpretation in July and August respectively. The final processed data for the entire survey area is due around year end.

Commenting on this progress, Ian Thomson, Chairman of Argos, said, "Through sharing costs and seismic acquisition with adjacent operators, and being able to tender for a larger seismic program as a consequence, we have been able to acquire more 3D data and at lower cost than was envisaged at the time of the flotation in July of last year. The 3D seismic we have obtained is the best quality data seen in the basin to date, allowing us to map prospects with confidence.

As expected, we are also seeing from this data new stratigraphic prospects and leads which were not evident on the old 2D data. This was one of the objectives in acquiring 3D seismic, so we are very encouraged that additional prospectivity is being identified in the license area and we can reasonably expect that further new prospects should be identified as the remainder of the 3D data is processed and interpreted.

By committing to fast track processing of the 3D data in the rest of the license we expect to gain at least three months on the schedule for the complete project. This will greatly assist in our objective to be ready to drill in late 2011/2012 in order to have the option to contract the Ocean Guardian drilling rig which is currently operating in the area."

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