en.Wedoany.com Reported - Equinor, together with its partners, has made an oil and gas discovery at the Skrugard North Tubåen prospect in the Barents Sea. The well is the 17th well drilled in production license 532, located 6 kilometers north of the Johan Castberg discovery well 7220/8-1 and 240 kilometers northwest of Hammerfest, with estimated recoverable resources of 1.2 to 1.7 million standard cubic meters of oil equivalent. The operation was carried out by the harsh-environment semi-submersible drilling rig Transocean Enabler, with well number 7220/5-EC-2 H. Equinor serves as operator, with partners including Vår Energi and Petoro.

Saipem has been awarded an offshore drilling contract by Eni Côte d’Ivoire Ltd, valued at $260 million. Saipem will deploy the drilling vessel Santorini to offshore Côte d'Ivoire to carry out a long-term development drilling campaign, expected to commence in early 2027. Santorini is a seventh-generation drillship capable of operating in water depths of up to 12,000 feet. According to Saipem, the contract includes options for additional work periods and the possibility of deploying the rig in neighboring countries.

ADNOC has reached a final investment decision (FID) on the $6.2 billion Umm Shaif gas cap offshore gas development project. Umm Shaif is the country's longest-producing offshore oil field, having come on stream in 1962. ADNOC estimates that the new development will deliver more than 600 million standard cubic feet per day of natural gas from the gas cap overlying the field's oil reservoir, while maximizing condensate recovery. The project scope includes the construction of at least two new gas production wellhead platforms (GP-1 and GP-2) and one gas injection wellhead platform; a large new offshore facility equipped with wet gas compression trains, connected via a new bridge to the existing offshore Integrated Gas Development-Habshan platform; separation and processing facilities, subsea infrastructure, gas gathering systems, and brownfield modifications to existing platforms; subsea pipelines and cables for oil and gas collection, with dehydrated rich gas to be transported to Das Island via the existing main gas trunkline/interfield gas pipeline system; and new condensate processing units and associated connections on Das Island. ADNOC serves as operator with a 60% stake, with partners including TotalEnergies (20%), Eni (10%), and China National Petroleum Corporation (10%).

Basra Oil Company has awarded Halliburton a contract to provide integrated field management services and engineering, procurement, and construction management for the development of the Bin Umar and Sindbad oil and gas fields in southern Iraq. Halliburton will use its Landmark software portfolio to connect subsurface evaluation, drilling planning, production operations, and business planning. Basra expects the Bin Umar field to produce approximately 150,000 barrels of oil per day and 300 million standard cubic feet per day of associated gas during the first five-year development phase.

Equinor has entered into an agreement with Transocean (subject to license approvals) to charter three Cat D semi-submersible drilling rigs specifically designed for year-round operations on the Norwegian continental shelf, with a contract value of $1 billion. Equinor will deploy the Enabler (3 years), Encourage (2 years), and Endurance (2 years). The Norwegian company stated that securing these rigs will help achieve its production plans through 2035. The Enabler and Encourage will commence operations in the first quarter of 2028, while the Endurance is scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2027.

"Our ambition on the Norwegian continental shelf is to produce 1.3 million barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2035, with approximately 70% of that production coming from new wells," said Rune Nedregaard, Equinor's senior vice president for drilling.

Eni has announced that the Sabratha Compression Project has successfully commenced oil and gas production. The offshore project aims to sustain and increase natural gas output from the Bahr Essalam field, located approximately 100 kilometers off the Libyan coast. To boost production, a 1,600-ton compression module equipped with new compressors was installed on the Sabratha platform, increasing total compression capacity to approximately 440 million standard cubic feet per day. As the Bahr Essalam field is already in its natural decline phase, the new module is expected to increase annual gas production by approximately 800 million cubic meters, along with associated condensate. Eni is developing the Sabratha Compression Project jointly with Mellitah Oil & Gas, its joint venture with Libya's National Oil Corporation.

Santos's second quarter 2026 report outlines progress on its Barossa and Pikka development projects. At the Barossa field, located 280 kilometers north-northwest of Darwin offshore, production has reached 97% of planned capacity, with two project cargoes loaded at eight-day intervals near the end of the quarter.

The company further reported that the Pikka Phase 1 project is progressing toward stable production. The first production wells have come on stream, delivering approximately 23,000 barrels per day of gross production. Additional production wells and a water injection system that will provide reservoir pressure support are expected to be commissioned in the coming weeks. The project remains on track to reach its target stable gross production rate of approximately 80,000 barrels per day in the third quarter of 2026, with first sales revenue expected in August.

Saipem has announced the completion of offshore installation operations for the production platform of the Neptun Deep gas development project, using the Saipem 7000, one of the world's largest crane vessels. According to the company, the project, located in Romanian waters of the Black Sea, is the largest offshore gas project currently underway in the European Union. The fully automated platform, designed for remote operation, will transport processed gas through a 160-kilometer subsea pipeline laid by Saipem's fleet.

Saipem was awarded the contract in 2023, covering the engineering, procurement, construction, and installation of the gas production platform, subsea works for the Domino and Pelican fields, and the laying of a 160-kilometer, 30-inch subsea gas pipeline and fiber-optic cable connecting the platform to the Romanian coast. Operator OMV Petrom expects first gas in 2027 and estimates that Neptun Deep holds approximately 100 billion cubic meters of recoverable gas. Neptun Deep is operated in partnership between OMV Petrom (50%) and Romgaz (50%).