By Amy McLellan Oil prices may be low and rig counts falling but Rystad Energy, the Norwegian upstream consultancy, sees no near-term slump in US oil production – but does see growth topping out in Q3. Analysts at the Oslo-based consultancy estimate US annual oil production will peak at 9.7 million barrels per day by…
By Martin Clark Canadian-listed Calvalley Petroleum is facing up to the realities and hardships of working in another of the Middle East’s trouble spots, Yemen.While fighting in Syria continues to dominate headlines out of the region, Yemen hit the news recently when Saudi warplanes were called in to push back rebel fighters at the request…
The Markets The Office for National Statistics has said that UK productivity levels remain below those in 2007, with recorded figures showing a drop of 0.2% in the final quarter of 2014. While alternative measures such as output per worker were more positive, Vicky Redwood, UK Economist at Capital Economics, said that “this still isn’t…
By Eithne Treanor Signs of positive momentum returned to the oil market this week as an American “peak oil” concept was contemplated. This had been the strongest price in two months also helped by a weaker dollar. By Thursday, nervousness had returned to the market and in early trading on Thursday, Brent crude was down…
By Amy McLellan A promising start to the 2015 exploration campaign in the Falkland Islands, with the first of the six wells, targeting the Zebedee prospect, making an oil strike. The 14/15b-5 exploration well in PL004b encountered the seven predicted reservoirs in the Cretaceous F1-F3 interval plus an additional sand in the F2 sequence. Three…
By Stewart Dalby InfraStrata is an Aim-listed small cap oil explorer and gas storage company focused on the UK, where it operates four licences and has interests in several others. This year is an exciting one for the company because it has two wells planned, one on its Northern Ireland salt cavern gas storage project…
By Amy McLellan Block 120 offshore Vietnam may have been a catalyst for the troubles that overwhelmed ASX-quoted Neon Energy two years ago but it’s clear the partners that took over Neon’s equity are still committed to the block. Operator Eni and Singapore’s KrisEnergy have digested the results of the over-budget Ca Ngu-1 well of…
By Amy McLellan More good news for backers of a trio of AIM-listed onshore drillers when the fourth zone tested at the Wressle-1 oil discovery in the East Midlands yielded oil, making it four out of four in this testing programme. Zone 3a, the lower interval in the Penistone Flags, flowed at a rate equivalent…
By Alastair Ford “It really is the culmination of many years work”, says Professor Richard Conroy, after news broke that Karelian Diamonds had identified a new kimberlite on its Finnish ground. The company is already well established, sitting as it does on top of the largest kimberlite body in Finland at Seitapera, in the…
By Martin Clark Lots of things are going on at Canadian-listed Africa Energy Corporation, which holds an equity interest in two frontier exploration blocks in Puntland, Somalia. The company – which has just changed its name from Horn Petroleum, but still remains a part of the Lundin family of companies – announced this week that…
