Exploration

News
March 17, 2025
Azerbaijan is set to sign agreements to explore for natural gas in Israeli waters, highlighting a key strategic alliance between the two countries amid turbulence in the region. A consortium of Azeri state company Socar, bp Plc and Israel’s NewMed Energy LP will get the right to explore in one offshore block.
News
March 12, 2025
Cairn Oil & Gas, part of Vedanta Group and India’s largest private oil and gas exploration and production company, has entered into a strategic alliance with TechnipFMC to accelerate the delivery of integrated subsea infrastructure for future deepwater projects in India.
News
March 10, 2025
BW Energy announced a substantial oil discovery on the Bourdon prospect in the Dussafu License offshore Gabon. “The Bourdon appraisal well again confirms the significant resource potential of the Dussafu license, which holds multiple additional prospects,” said CEO Carl Arnet.
News
March 03, 2025
VAALCO Energy has farmed into the CI-705 block offshore Côte d’Ivoire, obtaining a 70% working interest and a 100% paying interest though a commercial carry arrangement and partnership with Ivory Coast Exploration Oil & Gas SAS and PETROCI.
News
February 18, 2025
Drilling waste management specialist, TWMA*, has announced a landmark partnership with a multinational energy operator for its inaugural exploration project in Egypt, located offshore in the Mediterranean Sea.
News
February 07, 2025
Custos Energy announced completion of the previously announced farm-in by Chevron Namibia into Petroleum Exploration License 82 (PEL 82). The transaction provides for an 80% participating interest and operatorship for Chevron.
News
January 14, 2025
DNO ASA announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary DNO Norge AS has been awarded participation in 13 exploration licenses, of which four are operatorships, under Norway's Awards in Predefined Areas (APA) 2024 licensing round.
News
January 10, 2025
Shell has announced that oil discovered offshore Namibia in PEL 39 cannot be currently confirmed for commercial development. As such, the company will write down $400 million, citing technical and geological difficulties.
News
January 08, 2025
Murphy Oil announced that its subsidiary has drilled an oil discovery at the Hai Su Vang-1X exploration well in Block 15-2/17 in the Cuu Long Basin, located 40 miles offshore Vietnam.
News
December 17, 2024
(Bloomberg) – Shell Plc’s subsidiary in Nigeria will begin oil and gas production offshore at the Bonga North floating facility by the end of the decade.
News
November 27, 2024
Norway's Shearwater Geoservices has received a letter of award from India's state-owned Oil & Natural Gas Corporation for a large 3D seismic survey off the east coast of India.
News
November 22, 2024
Electromagnetic Geoservices (EMGS) announced they have signed a contract with an undisclosed client for a controlled source electro-magnetic (CSEM) survey in India. The survey is expected to have a contract value of approximately USD 10 million, including mobilization fee.
News
November 20, 2024
(Bloomberg) – Exxon Mobil Corp. has withdrawn from an oil-exploration block off the coast of Suriname, not far from where it discovered more than 11 billion bbls in Guyanese waters. Exxon will transfer its 50% stake in the block to Malaysia’s Petronas, the project operator.
News
November 13, 2024
Bourbon announced that it has been awarded a new fully integrated logistics contract by an oil & gas major operator to support its exploration campaign and the drilling of its first well in the waters of southern Namibia.
News
November 05, 2024
(Bloomberg) – Libya is planning its first tender for energy exploration contracts since 2011’s civil war, as the OPEC member looks to bring back oil majors spooked by years of instability and production shutdowns.
News
November 04, 2024
(Bloomberg) – Thailand will press ahead with a plan to restart talks with Cambodia to jointly explore petroleum reserves worth an estimated $300 billion in a disputed offshore area, disregarding opposition from some political groups and activists. 
News
October 31, 2024
Panoro Energy has announced that following the provisional award of a 25% participating interest in two exploration blocks offshore shallow water Gabon, final terms have been agreed with the government of Gabon for production sharing contracts (PSCs) covering the two blocks.
News
October 29, 2024
(Bloomberg) — The National Petroleum Corp. of Namibia aims to triple its stake in future oil and gas projects to 30% as the southern African nation is set for a surge in activity following multiple offshore discoveries.
News
October 29, 2024
(WO) — TotalEnergies announces that the Harald East Middle Jurassic nearby exploration well (HEMJ-1X) has discovered additional gas condensate resources in the Harald field, in the Danish North Sea.
News
October 25, 2024
(Bloomberg) — Suriname, which is on the verge of becoming a major South American energy producer, is ruling out more borrowing against future oil production, according to its finance minister.
News
October 23, 2024
(WO) — Namibia’s next wave of offshore oil drilling is set to begin with the arrival of a rig near an existing discovery made by Galp Energia SGPS S.A.
Connect with World Oil
Connect with World Oil, the upstream industry's most trusted source of forecast data, industry trends, and insights into operational and technological advances.