July 16 (africa.businessinsider.com) An African island nation offered oil companies control of as much as 85% of three offshore blocks. Only two investors came forward. São Tomé and Príncipe has now reportedly rejected every bid submitted in its latest licensing round, delivering another setback to the Central African country’s decades-long search for a commercially viable... Continue Reading →
Staatsolie gets fourth open acreage proposal in less than a month
July 10 (oilnow.gy) Staatsolie Maatschappij Suriname N.V. has received the fourth proposal under its Open Acreage model, extending a run of offshore proposal activity as Suriname works to advance its oil production ambitions. The state oil company announced on July 7, 2026, that it received a proposal for an area in Sector 2: SHO EAST,... Continue Reading →
NextFloat Floating Wind Pilot Clears Key Spanish Regulatory Hurdle
July 8 (OE) The PlemCat floating offshore wind test site in the Spanish Mediterranean has secured a favorable Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), clearing a key regulatory hurdle for deployment of X1 Wind's 8.5 MW X100 platform under the NextFloat project. The approval was officially published in Spain's Boletín Oficial del Estado on July 8 and... Continue Reading →
Brazil’s frontier basin lit up as TGS, SLB drive 3D seismic push
June 18 (offshore-energy.biz) A multi-client 3D seismic survey is on the agenda at one of the frontier regions in Brazilian waters, with Norway’s energy data and intelligence company TGS and its joint venture (JV) partner, U.S.-headquartered SLB, at the helm of the campaign that will help boost the hydrocarbon exploration momentum in the South American... Continue Reading →
Trafigura granted wholesale power trading licence in Brazil
12 June 2026 – Trafigura has received a licence from Brazil's National Electric Energy Agency (ANEEL) to trade wholesale power in Brazil, marking the company’s entry into Latin America’s largest and most developed power market. With the licence now granted, Trafigura’s Brazil power desk is positioned to participate actively in the country’s electricity market. The desk... Continue Reading →
Venezuela moves pacts forward with Shell, including Loran gas field
June 11 (Reuters) - Venezuela signed five agreements with British oil major Shell on Thursday to advance oil and gas projects, including the company's participation in the coveted 7-trillion-cubic-feet Loran offshore gas field, the government said. The country had signed preliminary agreements for these and other projects earlier this year with Shell, one of the few... Continue Reading →
Petrobras Updates Forecast and Expects to Complete Morpho Well Drilling on the Equatorial Margin in August
June 12 - Petrobras has updated its forecast for the completion of drilling at the Morpho well in the Foz do Amazonas Basin, off the coast of Amapá. The initial expectation was to finish work by the end of June, but the company informed IBAMA (Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources) that it... Continue Reading →
Shell Makes ‘Most Promising Subsurface’ Find in Well Offshore Namibia
June 10 (OE) Shell and its partners QatarEnergy and Namibia's national oil company NAMCOR have reported encouraging results from the Merlin-1X exploration well in Petroleum Exploration License 0039 (PEL 0039) offshore Namibia, with the well delivering the most promising subsurface results to date in the license area. Merlin-1X, the tenth well drilled under the license... Continue Reading →
Suriname’s Block 52 Could Become Commercial in 18 Months
My 28 (Reuters) Malaysia's oil and gas producer Petronas is exploring for oil at offshore Block 52 in Suriname, which was declared commercially viable for the development of natural gas late last year following large discoveries in the area, the managing director of state company Staatsolie said on Wednesday. "We hope also to somewhere in... Continue Reading →
California Reaffirms 25 GW Offshore Wind Target for 2045
May 25 (offshoreWIND.biz) California remains committed to deploying 25 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2045, according to state officials who were at the recently held 2026 Pacific Offshore Wind Summit, hosted by Offshore Wind California. David Hochschild, Chair of the California Energy Commission, reiterated California’s offshore wind ambitions and said the state would continue... Continue Reading →