Statoil lets FEED contract for Trestakk subsea tieback

Operator Statoil ASA has two contracts for subsea front-end engineering and design (FEED) studies for the Trestakk discovery subsea tieback to the Asgard A floating production, storage, and offloading vessel in the Norwegian Sea. Source: News


Carboniferous sandstone targeted onshore UK

Egdon Resources PLC spudded the Laughton-1 well in UK onshore license PEDL209 in Lincolnshire, UK, on Feb. 12. The well is targeting a structural trap at 1,500 m. According to the company, the Laughton prospect has multiple conventional targets, of which the 15-m thick Silkstone Rock is the primary interval. Source: News


BP, Oman Oil to develop Khazzan project’s second phase

BP PLC and Oman Oil Co. have signed a heads of agreement with the government of Oman to amend the Oman Block 61 exploration and production sharing agreement (EPSA), extending the block’s license area and enabling further development of the major Khazzan tight gas field. Source: News


MARKET WATCH: NYMEX, Brent crude oil prices rally to end week

Light, sweet crude oil prices rallied Feb. 12 and jumped more than $3/bbl, closing at $29.44/bbl on the New York market, which broke a six-session losing streak. Brent crude oil prices on the London market also jumped by more than $3/bbl that day. Source: News


Statoil farms into second block offshore Uruguay

Statoil ASA has agreed to acquire 35% working interest in exploration Block 15 in the Pelotas basin offshore Uruguay from Tullow Oil PLC. Source: News


Ireland awards first phase of 2015 license round in Porcupine basin

Ireland’s Department of Communications, Energy & Natural Resources has awarded 14 new licensing options in the country’s southern Porcupine basin. The 2015 Atlantic Margin licensing round recently concluded with 43 applications received by the September 2015 deadline, a number of which included seismic acquisition for later this year. Source: News


E&P startup agrees to buy WPX's Piceance unit for $910 million

Houston-based exploration and production startup Terra Energy Partners LLC has agreed to acquire WPX Energy Rocky Mountain LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of WPX Energy Inc., Tulsa, for $910 million. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter. Source: News


Obama's proposed fiscal 2017 budget includes $10.25/bbl crude oil tax

US President Barack Obama proposed a $10.25/bbl crude oil tax to fund transportation improvements in addition to doubling federal clean energy research and development outlays in the final federal budget proposal of his presidency. Source: News


Obama's oil fee

When the President of the United States proposes to wreck what until recently had been a rare source of economic growth, his reasons should be sound and his prospects for success, solid. Source: News