Nigeria Touts $18 Billion Upstream Investment, Output Gains Ahead of Paris Forum
Nigeria announced $18.2 billion in approved upstream projects for 2025, covering 28 field developments and targeting roughly 1.4 billion barrels of reserves. Crude output has risen to 1.6‑1.7 million barrels per day, boosted by heightened drilling and a 200,000 bpd contribution from indigenous operators after international firms divested. The Petroleum Industry Act’s fiscal reforms have improved transparency, while downstream capacity expands with the near‑full‑scale Dangote refinery and renewed pipeline projects. The petroleum minister will showcase these gains at the Invest in African Energy Forum in Paris.
Eni Makes 2 Tcf Gas Discovery Offshore Egypt with Fast-Track Development Potential
Eni announced a 2 trillion‑cubic‑foot (Tcf) gas and condensate discovery at the Denise W‑1 well in Egypt’s Temsah concession, located about 70 km offshore in 95 m of water. The find sits less than 10 km from existing processing and export infrastructure, enabling a fast‑track...
Kharg Island Targeted in U.S. Strikes as Hormuz Tensions Lift Oil Prices
The United States launched precision strikes on military installations at Iran's Kharg Island, deliberately sparing the island's oil export terminals. The attacks, part of a broader campaign to pressure Tehran, coincided with President Trump's warning of a larger operation if...
Weatherford to Shift Domicile to Texas in Move to Streamline Structure
Weatherford International has filed a proposal to relocate its legal domicile from Ireland to Texas, aiming to simplify its corporate structure and boost financial flexibility. The redomestication, slated for completion in Q3 2026 pending shareholder and regulatory approval, aligns the company’s...
Continental Resources to Boost U.S. Oil Output as Crude Tops $100
Continental Resources announced it will raise its 2026 capital budget to boost oil production as crude prices break $100 a barrel amid the Iran‑Israel conflict. The Oklahoma‑based producer, which delivered 475,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in Q4 2025,...
Ted Cruz Honored by TIPRO for Backing U.S. Oil and Gas Policy
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz was presented with TIPRO’s 2026 Hats Off Award at the Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association’s annual convention in Houston. The honor recognizes his legislative push to expand LNG exports, reduce regulatory burdens, and champion domestic...
Latin America Offshore Drilling Gains Appeal as Iran War Reshapes Markets
Constellation Oil Services Holding SA, a major deep‑water rig supplier to Petrobras, has extended three offshore drilling contracts and is eyeing Brazil’s Equatorial Margin and Pelotas Basin. CEO Rodrigo Ribeiro called Brazil the world’s best offshore drilling market, citing high‑quality...
Subsea7 Wins Equatorial Guinea Tieback Contract for Chevron Gas Project
Subsea7 secured a substantial subsea installation contract for Chevron’s Aseng Gas Monetization Project offshore Equatorial Guinea. The award covers roughly 19 km of rigid production flowline and 20 km of umbilicals, to be installed in about 800 m water depth, linking the Aseng...
Offshore, Onshore Panels Bring Encouraging Views to Energy Workforce Attendees
At the Energy Workforce & Technology Council’s Tucson meeting, offshore and onshore panels highlighted a renewed surge in deep‑water projects and the growing role of AI, automation, and performance‑based contracts in boosting efficiency. Offshore executives cited West Africa, Brazil, Guyana,...
Liberty Energy Raises $525 Million in Convertible Notes to Boost Financial Flexibility
Liberty Energy Inc. raised $525 million through a private 0.00% convertible senior note offering due 2032, marking its second financing round this year after a $770 million issuance earlier in 2026. The notes were sold to qualified institutional buyers under Rule 144A and...
Halliburton Acquires Norway’s Sekal to Expand Automated Drilling Capabilities
Halliburton announced the acquisition of Norway‑based drilling‑automation specialist Sekal AS from Sumitomo Corporation. The deal merges Halliburton’s LOGIX automation suite with Sekal’s DrillTronics platform, creating a unified digital well‑construction solution. Sekal’s technology, already deployed in more than 1,300 wells, will be...
EMGS Sells Core Geoservices Business in $2.5 Million Deal to Riggs Capital
Electromagnetic Geoservices (EMGS) has agreed to sell its core offshore geoservices business to private‑equity firm Riggs Capital for up to $2.5 million. The deal provides $1 million at closing and a $1.5 million earn‑out tied to future performance, while Riggs assumes selected liabilities....
BLM Lease Sales in Three States Generate $65 Million, Signal Stronger Onshore Drilling Outlook
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s latest lease sale across Colorado, Nevada and Utah generated $64.8 million from 136 parcels covering 131,121 acres. Utah accounted for the bulk of revenue, delivering $56.4 million from 57 parcels, while Colorado and Nevada contributed $8.1 million...
New Fortress Secures Long-Term Lease for Brazil FSRU LNG Terminal
New Fortress Energy has signed a long‑term lease and capacity agreement for its Terminal de Gás Sul (TGS) LNG import facility in Santa Catarina, Brazil, set to commence in August 2026. The deal is projected to generate roughly $50 million in annual...
ABL, Maridive Sign Marine Assurance Deal for Offshore Fleet Operations
ABL has signed a two‑year master services agreement with Maridive & Oil Services to provide marine assurance, risk support, and dynamic positioning (DP) services for its offshore fleet. The deal covers vessel inspections, audits, asset surveys, pre‑purchase assessments, DP assurance,...
Eco Atlantic Names Keith Hill Chairman as Board Reshuffle Takes Effect
Eco Atlantic Oil & Gas appointed Keith Hill as non‑executive chairman following its annual general meeting, succeeding Peter Nicol who stays on the board as a non‑executive director. The reshuffle aligns with the company’s push to expand offshore exploration across...
SLB, Azule Energy Expand Digital Platform to Optimize Angola Operations
SLB has signed a three‑year deal with Angola’s largest independent producer, Azule Energy, to broaden the deployment of its Delfi digital platform across the joint venture’s offshore assets. The expanded scope will integrate subsurface data with planning and execution workflows,...
Devon Energy’s Gaspar Sees Good Things Ahead, Stemming From His First Year and the Imminent Merger with Coterra Energy
Devon Energy CEO Clay Gaspar reflected on his first year, highlighting a three‑pillar strategy that sharpened culture, organic growth, and portfolio optimization. He explained that the recently announced merger with Coterra Energy is a strategic fit that delivers scale and operational...
Higher Oil Prices Could Revive U.S. Shale Drilling in 2026, Citi Says
Higher oil prices spurred by the Middle East conflict are prompting Citi to predict a resurgence in U.S. shale drilling later this year, with an expected output boost of more than 100,000 barrels per day by 2027. The bank’s forward‑curve...
IKM Testing Awarded Role on Northern Endurance CO₂ Transport and Storage Project
IKM Testing UK secured a pre‑commissioning contract for the Northern Endurance Partnership (NEP) carbon capture and storage project in eastern England. The work, overseen by main contractor Saipem, covers pipeline flooding, cleaning, gauging and hydro‑testing to ready the system for...
Chariot Funds Angola Offshore Acquisition, Secures Stake in Block 14 Production
Chariot, through its Etu Energias subsidiary, is acquiring a 20% working interest in Angola's Block 14 and a 10% interest in Block 14K, backed by $12 million of financing. The stakes give Chariot exposure to roughly 4,000 barrels per day of net production...
ReconAfrica Begins Production Testing at Kavango West Discovery in Namibia
ReconAfrica has begun production testing on its Kavango West 1X discovery well in Namibia after securing regulatory clearance. Updated petrophysical analysis now shows about 75 m of net hydrocarbon pay in the Huttenberg formation, expanding the total prospective interval to 345 m across...
Vantage Drilling Reports 2025 Profit as Offshore Activity Strengthens
Vantage Drilling International posted a 2025 net income of $40.3 million, a turnaround from a 2024 loss, driven by stronger offshore activity and an asset‑light, debt‑free model. The company secured a three‑year, approximately $261 million contract for the Platinum Explorer drillship, providing...
Serica Completes TotalEnergies Asset Deal, Establishes West of Shetland Gas Hub
Serica Energy has completed the acquisition of a 40% operated interest in TotalEnergies' Greater Laggan Area assets, adding roughly 5,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed) to its portfolio. The deal gives Serica operatorship of the Shetland Gas Plant,...
Interior’s Burgum Sees U.S. Energy Agenda Proceeding as Planned
U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum reaffirmed President Trump’s energy dominance agenda at CERAWeek, emphasizing abundant, affordable power to support the economy and allies. He warned that Iran’s missile range far exceeds public estimates, heightening security risks. Burgum highlighted a $1.5 trillion...
ConocoPhillips CEO Warns Supply Losses, Infrastructure Gaps Will Drive Higher Oil Prices
ConocoPhillips Chairman and CEO Ryan Lance warned that the removal of 8‑10 million barrels per day of oil and roughly 20% of global LNG capacity is creating a tight market that will push oil prices higher. He said U.S. shale output...
Sierra Leone Promotes Offshore Licensing, Upstream Potential at Paris Energy Forum
Sierra Leone’s Petroleum Directorate announced its sixth offshore licensing round, targeting deep‑water blocks in a largely untapped frontier basin. Recent 3‑D seismic surveys suggest the offshore could hold tens of billions of barrels of recoverable oil and gas. At the...
Petrobras Awards Foresea Long-Term Drillship Contract for Mero Field Offshore Brazil
Foresea secured a long‑term contract with Petrobras to operate the ultra‑deepwater drillship ODN I on the Mero field offshore Brazil, adding roughly $465 million to its order backlog. The agreement covers a 1,443‑day drilling campaign slated to begin in early 2027, with...
Nigeria Fast-Tracks Permits to Revive Idle Oil Wells, Boost Production
Nigeria’s Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission has reduced idle‑well permit approvals from weeks to mere hours, aiming to boost output as crude prices hover around $100 a barrel. The fast‑track process has already cleared 500 permits in 2024, encouraging local firms...
Saudi Arabia Ramps Yanbu Exports Toward 5 MMbpd as Hormuz Disruption Forces Rerouting
Saudi Arabia is accelerating crude exports from its Yanbu Red Sea terminals, aiming for a 5 MMbpd target as the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed by Iran. The East‑West pipeline linking Abqaiq to Yanbu can handle 7 MMbpd, but 2 MMbpd are...
Oil Executives, Investors Meet in Venezuela as Sanctions Easing Revives Upstream Interest
Dozens of hedge‑fund and oil‑company executives gathered in Caracas this week, marking one of the largest investor delegations to Venezuela in years. The meetings, organized by U.S. consultant Signum Global Advisors, follow a U.S. policy shift that is easing sanctions...
EnerMech Wins Five-Year FPSO Services Contract for Kraken Field, UK North Sea
EnerMech has been awarded a five‑year contract to provide crane management, lifting, helideck and scaffolding services on the Armada Kraken FPSO operated by Bumi Armada in the UK North Sea. The Kraken vessel can produce up to 80,000 barrels of...
Expro to Deliver Geothermal Well Testing for Vulcan Energy’s Lionheart Project in Germany
Expro has secured a contract to provide geothermal well‑testing services for the first Schleidberg well of Vulcan Energy’s Lionheart project in Germany. The Lionheart initiative, classified under the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act, aims to pair geothermal power generation with...
Strohm to Supply TCP Production Jumpers for Deepwater Malaysia Field Extension
Strohm has secured a contract to supply insulated thermoplastic composite pipe (TCP) production jumpers for a deep‑water field extension offshore Sabah, Malaysia. The order covers two 7‑inch carbon‑fiber‑reinforced PA12 jumpers destined for installation at roughly 1,350 m water depth, with delivery...
Oil States Announces CEO Transition, Hajdik to Succeed Taylor in May
Oil States International announced that President and CEO Cindy Taylor will retire on May 1, 2026 after more than 25 years at the helm, with CFO Lloyd Hajdik slated to succeed her. Taylor will stay on as a consultant through October 2026 to...
McDermott Vessels Earn ISO 50001 Certification for Offshore Energy Efficiency
McDermott has secured ISO 50001 energy‑management certification for three offshore vessels—DB32, DB50 and DLV2000—extending the standard previously applied to its fabrication yards. The 2025 certification required vessel‑specific baselines, real‑time fuel monitoring and a plan‑do‑check‑act framework verified by third‑party auditors. By embedding...
AI Anomaly Detection Gains Traction Offshore as Aker BP Deploys Cognite–NVIDIA Solution
Industrial software firm Cognite has embedded NVIDIA’s NV‑Tesseract time‑series AI models into its data platform, creating a combined solution for offshore anomaly detection. Aker BP is the first major operator to deploy the system, extending predictive‑maintenance monitoring to wells, heat...
Trendsetter Installs Tethered BOP for Deepwater U.S. Gulf Well Stability
Trendsetter Vulcan Offshore (TVO) has installed a tethered blowout preventer (TBOP) system in approximately 4,000 ft of water in the U.S. Gulf, using a modified Hercules™ technology to combat wellhead fatigue on soft‑seabed sites. The TBOP employs four polyethylene tethers anchored...
Vietnam Advances Offshore Gas Project with Development Approval
Jadestone Energy has secured Vietnamese government approval for the field development plan covering the Nam Du and U Minh offshore gas discoveries. The approval enables the company to book initial 2P reserves of roughly 32 MMboe and to pursue farm‑in partners. The project...
Equatorial Guinea Unveils Reprocessed Offshore Seismic Data to Boost Exploration
Equatorial Guinea released a reprocessed offshore seismic dataset covering over 7,300 km, using broadband Pre‑Stack Depth Migration and Full Waveform Inversion to improve imaging. Developed by Searcher with the Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons, the data aims to lower exploration risk...
North Africa Power Interconnectors Emerge as New Energy Link to Europe
Europe is expanding its energy mix by adding North African electricity to its supply chain, complementing traditional oil and gas links. The planned ELMED subsea cable will connect Tunisia and Sicily, delivering up to 600 MW of power bidirectionally. Libya is...
Petrobras Confirms Deepwater Gas Discovery Offshore Colombia
Petrobras has confirmed a gas discovery at the Copoazu‑1 exploratory well in the offshore GUA‑OFF‑0 Block, located about 36 km from the Colombian coast in 964 m of water. The well, drilled since November 2025, revealed gas‑bearing intervals in both primary and secondary...
IMI Wins North Sea Contract for Ultra-High-Pressure Chemical Injection Valves
IMI secured a North Sea contract to supply ultra‑high‑pressure control valves for chemical injection, targeting reservoirs exceeding 600 bar. The EroSolve Metamorphic Trim (MMT) valve can manage pressure drops from over 620 bar to near vacuum while maintaining precise low‑flow regulation. A...
OEUK Urges Scrapping Windfall Tax to Boost UK Gas Output, Energy Security
Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) is urging the UK government to scrap the Energy Profits Levy – a windfall tax introduced after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – and replace it with a permanent price‑triggered mechanism immediately. The lobby argues that doing...
ExxonMobil, Halliburton Deploy Closed-Loop Automated Drilling in Guyana
ExxonMobil and Halliburton have successfully completed the industry’s first fully automated closed‑loop geological well‑placement system during offshore drilling in Guyana. The workflow combined rig automation, real‑time subsurface interpretation, geosteering and drilling optimization into a single digital loop. The system placed...
Eni Discovers More than 1 Tcf of Gas Offshore Libya Near Bahr Essalam Field
Eni announced the discovery of more than 1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in two offshore wells, Bahr Essalam South 2 and South 3, located about 85 km off Libya’s coast. The gas‑bearing intervals were found in the Metlaoui Formation, the same reservoir that...
OTC Announces 2026 Spotlight on New Technology Award Winners
The Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) unveiled the 2026 Spotlight on New Technology Award winners, honoring 17 innovations across offshore drilling, subsea systems, digital tools, and well construction. Recipients include industry giants such as Baker Hughes, Bosch Rexroth, Fugro, Oil States,...
Texas RRC Chairman Highlights Strength of Texas Oil and Gas Industry in Letter to Trump
Texas Railroad Commission Chairman Jim Wright wrote to President Donald Trump asserting that Texas oil and natural gas production remains a cornerstone of U.S. energy security. He highlighted that the state accounts for roughly 43% of U.S. crude oil and...
California Orders Sable Offshore to Remove Santa Ynez Pipeline Crossing State Park
California’s Natural Resources Agency ordered Houston‑based Sable Offshore to remove the segment of its Santa Ynez pipeline that crosses Gaviota State Park, after the company received a federal directive to resume oil production. The state denied Sable’s easement request and...
Mach Natural Resources Boosts Proved Reserves 109% to 705 MMboe
Mach Natural Resources LP announced a 109% jump in proved reserves to 705 MMboe, driven by $1.3 billion of acquisitions in the Permian and San Juan basins. The company posted fourth‑quarter revenue of $388 million, net income $73 million and adjusted EBITDA $187 million, while full‑year...