The first development well in BP PLC-operated NS377 oil field on the Shadwan Development Lease in Egypt’s Gulf of Suez cut 144 m of gross oil column in the Miocene Kareem formation.

Shell Exploration & Production France SAS acquired a 33% interest from Tullow Oil PLC in an exploration license off French Guiana, and Tullow said it expects to farm out more of its interest by the end of 2009.

Norwood Resources Ltd., Vancouver, BC, drilled a sidetrack hole at the planned total depth of 7,000 ft at the San Bartolo-1X exploration well in western Nicaragua’s Sandino basin.

Kea Petroleum Ltd., private New Zealand operator, has been awarded the PEP 51339 exploration permit just north of Auckland in the lightly explored Northland basin.

Texalta Petroleum Ltd., Calgary, is spudding its fourth horizontal well at Wordsworth, Sask, to evaluate the eastern end of the Mississippian Alida oil reservoir found at a 2006 discovery well.

Addax Petroleum Corp. has spudded the Malanza-1X exploratory well in Block 4 of the Nigeria-Sao Tome Joint Development Zone in the Gulf of Guinea.

CNOOC Ltd. has spudded the Bogal-1 exploration well on Block 9 in the Anza basin in northwestern Kenya.

Cohort Energy Co., a subsidiary of J-W Operating Co., Dallas, and Caithness Petroleum Ltd., London, hold a 60-40% interest in 20,319 acres in the oil window of the Barnett shale play in the Fort Worth basin of North Texas.

Caithness Petroleum Ltd., private UK independent, said its UK subsidiary has identified two prospects on UK North Sea Block 23/26c awarded in the 25th round.

A subsidiary of Caithness Petroleum Ltd., private UK independent, has been awarded a 1-year reconnaissance license named Taounate in Morocco.

Goodrich Petroleum Corp., Houston, gauged a peak 24-hr rate of 15.3 MMcfe/d from Jurassic Haynesville shale at its Plants 26H-1 well in De Soto Parish, La.

Crown Point Ventures Ltd., Vancouver, BC, found gas in two zones in the Canadon Seco formation in El Valle oil and gas field in the Argentina’s southern San Jorge basin and plans to drill five to eight more wells in early 2010 subject to regulatory approval.

Questar Exploration & Production Co., Salt Lake City, is drilling a horizontal well to the H4 member of the Eocene Green River formation at 7,000 ft true vertical depth in Utah’s Uinta basin.

EOG Resources Inc. has expanded its acreage position in the Haynesville shale play to 153,000 net acres after adjusting for the expected exercise of third party preferential rights.

Royale Energy Inc., San Diego, said its Goddard 7-1 apparent new field discovery in the Sacramento basin stabilized at 2.45 MMcfd of gas on a restricted choke from an undisclosed formation.