An Eni SPA-led group said a gas discovery offshore northern Mozambique has opened a new play in Eocene sand and hiked the overall potential of the Mamba complex to 47-52 tcf of gas in place.

The UK Department of Energy and Climate Change and the British Geological Survey have authorized TGS-NOPEC Geophysical Co. to release on line new and historical data for all land and offshore wells in the UK.

CBM Asia Development Corp., Vancouver, BC, and Continental Energy Corp., Jakarta, formed a joint study and bid group to investigate coalbed methane opportunities in Indonesia.

Petrolia Inc., Rimouski, Que., has been issued drilling permits for two wells in the Gaspe area of Quebec that target conventional prospects of the Bourque reef complex.

CAMAC Energy Inc., Houston, said it has signed production sharing contracts on two newly created deepwater blocks off Kenya in addition to two Lamu basin land blocks previously awarded.

Tethys Petroleum Ltd. said its Chegara Production Ltd. subsidiary signed a 25-year production enhancement contract that covers the Chegara group of fields in Uzbekistan.

BG Group is preparing to spud its sixth wildcat offshore southern Tanzania after reporting a fifth gas discovery at the Mzia-1 exploratory well on Block 1.

The Anadarko Petroleum Corp. group has added 7 to 20+ tcf of recoverable gas to its discovered trove offshore Mozambique at an exploratory success nearly 20 miles northwest of its Prosperidade complex.

Logs and drillstem test pressure data indicate two stratigraphically separate carbonate reservoir intervals with separate pressure systems and potentially separate or stacked hydrocarbon pay at the Tricertops-2 well in Papua New Guinea, said InterOil Corp., Houston.

Statoil ASA has reached an agreement to use Seadrill’s West Aquarius harsh environment semisubmersible on its 2012-2013 exploratory drilling  offshore Newfoundland.

Ivory Coast has formally granted Rialto Energy Ltd., Perth, an exclusive exploitation area on Gazelle field on offshore Block CI-202 with the right to produce hydrocarbons for 25 years.

International news for oil and gas professionals

The US Department of the Interior released its long-awaited proposal to regulate exploration and development of unconventional oil and gas resources on onshore public and tribal lands.

China National Offshore Oil Corp. has signed a production sharing contract under which ROC Oil (Bohai) Co. will explore a block in southern Bohai Gulf.

Despite sharply rising drilling and service costs, the costs per barrel of finding, developing, and acquiring (FD&A) oil and natural gas increased moderately in 2011 and remain below levels of 2008, says Fitch Ratings.

Neon Energy Ltd., Perth, has spudded the Paloma Deep-2 well and is preparing to spud the Paloma-3 shallow appraisal well in Paloma field in Kern County, Calif., in the San Joaquin basin.

TGS-NOPEC Geophysical Co. has begun shooting the first phase of a 3D seismic survey in the Erlend basin north of the Shetland Islands on the UK Continental Shelf.

Trinidad and Tobago’s Ministry of Energy and Energy Affairs launched the 2012 Deepwater Bid Round late last month in which it offered deepwater areas on six blocks off northeastern and eastern Trinidad and Tobago.

Groups led by Statoil ASA plan to further explore the Barents Sea offshore Norway in the vicinity of the Skrugard and Havis discoveries while working toward a late 2018 production start for the Johann Sverdrup discovery in the North Sea west of Stavanger.