Author: Rigs & Barge World

On the sidelines of the US-Algeria Energy Forum 2025, SONATRACH and its partner, Occidental Petroleum (Oxy), signed two Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) to consolidate and expand their cooperation through new partnership opportunities in hydrocarbon exploration and production in Algeria. The first MoU defines the framework for discussions in regards to assessing cooperation opportunities to develop carbonate reservoirs. The second focuses on the implementation of Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) techniques, with the aim of optimizing production and improving final recovery factors. It is worth mentioning that SONATRACH and Oxy, along with two other partners, are jointly developing the contractual area in…

05/06/2024 Starting Wednesday June 5th 23 employees in the Norwegian Offshore Directorate, that are members of the trade union Unio, are on strike. Update: On Wednesday morning, all employees are back to work as normal. Update: The strike has ended and normal operations will resume as soon as it is practically possible. The personnel on strike work across the directorate’s areas of responsibility, and there will be reduced capacity in case processing, professional assessments, and communication of facts. Updated: 05/06/2024 Latest news Drilling permit for wellbore 30/11-16 S 15/04/2025 The Norwegian Offshore Directorate has…

The International Energy Agency (IEA) announced that global oil demand growth forecast for 2025 has been revised down to 730,000 barrels per day (bbl/d), a decrease of 300,000 bbl/d from the March report. The agency said that this decline is due to the escalating trade tensions that left a negative impact on the economic outlook. Furthermore, global demand in 2026 is expected to drop to 690,000 bbl/d, as risks to the forecast remain high amid the fast-evolving macroeconomic backdrop. These expectations are mainly impacted by the strong oil consumption in Q1 2025, up by 1.2 million barrels per day (mmbbl/d)…

06/06/2024 As many as ten new mud volcanos have been proven in water depths of 440-480 meters in the western Barents Sea. The mud volcanos were discovered by the EXTREME24 expedition using the RV Kronprins Haakon research vessel. Rune Mattingsdal, geologist in the Norwegian Offshore Directorate, participated in the last part of the expedition, which took place under the direction of the UiT The Arctic University of Norway. “The main objective of the research expedition was to conduct further studies of the Borealis mud volcano, which the Norwegian Offshore Directorate helped discover last year,” Mattingsdal says. Borealis is…

The Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, in cooperation with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), held the second meeting of the Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) for the Project for Capacity Development on Energy Efficiency and Conservation, at its headquarters in Egypt’s New Administrative Capital. The meeting was led by Alaa Al-Batal, First Undersecretary of the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources and Chairman of the Committee. He was joined by Ebisawa Yu, the newly appointed head representative of JICA’s office in Egypt, alongside representatives from the Japanese Embassy and officials from the Egyptian side, particularly from the Ministry of…

The Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Karim Badawi, held a joint meeting with the Minister of Environment, Yasmine Fouad, and Minister of Civil Aviation, Sameh El-Hefny, to explore coordination mechanisms among the three ministries to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF)–a project implemented by the Egyptian Petrochemicals Holding Company (ECHEM) as part of the ministry’s green strategy. The project aims to meet the local demand expected for this type of green fuel over the next few years. It also opens new horizons for export to foreign markets, capitalizing on the growing global demand, especially with the petroleum sector having the…

Illustration of CO2-storage. 06/06/2024 On 6th of June 2024, the Ministry of Energy announced three areas for CO2 storage pursuant to the CO2 Storage Regulations. These areas comprises defined blocks in the North Sea. Updated: 06/06/2024 Latest news Drilling permit for wellbore 30/11-16 S 15/04/2025 The Norwegian Offshore Directorate has granted Aker BP ASA drilling permit for wellbore 30/11-16 S in production licence 873, cf. Section 13 of the Resource Management Regulations. An APA overview 09/04/2025 Through APA the industry has gained regular access to new acreage on the…

Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Karim Badawi met with Mathios Rigas, Chairman and CEO of Energean, and Nicolas Katcharov, CEO and Chairman of Energean International E&P SpA, to discuss advancing cooperation between Egypt’s petroleum sector and Energean’s concession areas for natural gas production in the Mediterranean Sea. Badawi emphasized the ministry’s commitment to supporting partnerships, overcoming challenges, and delivering tangible results within its strategy to boost domestic natural gas production. He also highlighted the importance of seizing the new opportunities in the Mediterranean region offered by the ministry for the exploration and production of natural gas resources. Rigas confirmed…

Geologist Jorge Sanchez-Borque (from the left), director general Torgeir Stordal and geophysicist Petter Dischington from the Norwegian Offshore Directorate will speak during the major EAGE technical conference. Arne Jacobsen, Kristoffer Engenes and Lars Gunder Klefstad will also participate. 07/06/2024 Experts in the Norwegian Offshore Directorate are key speakers at the EAGE technical conference. Here they’ll talk about scientific work that benefits the industry as well as the broader society. It’s a major event that the EAGE conference (European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers) will be held in Norway, from 10-13 June in Lillestrøm. Around…

Libya’s first oil and gas bid round in nearly two decades is targeting foreign heavyweights including US giant ExxonMobil, with NOC hoping to lure back international investors to boost oil and gas output after years of political instability and frequent oilfield shutdowns. With 22 onshore and offshore blocks on offer, including 19 prior discoveries with estimated in-place reserves of 1.63bn barrels of oil equivalent (boe) (MEES, 14 March), NOC hopes to “rescue the Libyan oil sector from declining levels of oil production,” it said in a statement on 7 April as acting chief Massoud Suleiman launched the latest promotional event…