Wednesday, 4 November 2026

Vedanta Oil and Gas Ltd. (VOGL) has selected Kent-owned Exceed to manage an exploration and appraisal campaign targeting the KG-DWHP-2017/1 deepwater block in India's Krishna-Godavari Basin, World Oil reported.

The block holds four gas discoveries already confirmed, along with additional prospects spread across water depths of about 600 to 2,000 meters.

Exceed will handle subsurface work, well planning, and drilling operations for the campaign.

Vedanta plans to begin a multiwell drilling program early next year.

Serica Energy has contracted the Odfjell Drilling-operated semisubmersible Beacon Pacific for a multi-well drilling campaign across the UK North Sea and west of Shetland, according to Offshore Magazine.

In the northern Norwegian North Sea, Aker BP awarded Subsea7 a contract to support development of the Lyra oil field, Offshore Magazine reported.

Kistos entered the planned Abbey and Baker gas project in the North Sea, according to Offshore Magazine.

Offshore workers represented by Unite expanded strike action on Apache's North Sea-operated facilities, Offshore Magazine reported.

Shell plc is expected to drill the Trailblazer prospect in the US Gulf of Mexico during the first half of 2027, targeting an estimated 200 million barrels of oil equivalent, according to Offshore Magazine.

The well would be the first exploration effort for the Shell-Kosmos Energy partnership, which was formed earlier this year, Offshore Magazine reported.

Should Trailblazer yield a commercial discovery, Kosmos Energy would serve as the designated development operator, and the project would likely be tied back to Shell's Appomattox platform, according to Offshore Magazine.

Diamondback is shifting to full-field development of its Barnett holdings, according to Oil & Gas Journal. CEO Van't Hof told analysts that falling costs on the acreage are turning what had been a geologic success into meaningful value.

Diamondback executives unveiled a 200,000-acre Barnett position in February and have since added 24,000 net acres, Oil & Gas Journal reported. Van't Hof said on Nov. 3 that plans now call for developing up to five sections in the Barnett by the end of February.

Aghorn pleaded guilty to negligent endangerment and willful violation of safety laws and paid a USD 1 million fine, according to Inside Climate News. As part of the plea deal, the company admitted that its failure to implement workplace protections caused Jacob Dean's death.

Federal prosecutors documented a pattern of chronic leaks and unsafe practices at Aghorn that continued for years after the Deans died, Inside Climate News reported. Investigators returned twice to the site and continued to find gas leaking.

Texas's TCEQ resolved a separate complaint over an Aghorn leak without imposing a penalty after the company patched it, records show, according to Inside Climate News.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) estimated that Alaska's North Slope holds a mean 96 tcf of technically recoverable, undiscovered conventional natural gas resources, according to Oil & Gas Journal. The figure is nearly three times the roughly 35 tcf of proven gas reserves already identified in the region.

The USGS calculated a probability range spanning 17.3 tcf at the F95 level to 276.7 tcf at the F5 level, according to the journal.

The assessment addresses technically recoverable resources, not volumes that could be produced economically, Oil & Gas Journal reported.

The Africa Energy Bank (AEB) officially launched this week to finance oil and gas projects across the continent, according to Climate Home News. The bank's arrival follows repeated delays; it was originally expected to begin operations in January 2025.

The AEB is a joint initiative of the African Petroleum Producers' Organization (APPO) and the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Climate Home News reported. The institution said it had authorised capital of USD 5 billion, though it did not disclose how much shareholders had subscribed or paid in.

The launch comes as global lenders retreat from oil and gas investments due to climate concerns, creating a financing gap the bank aims to fill.