Repsol YPF SA, which is scheduled to begin exploratory drilling in Cuban waters, has offered US agencies an opportunity to inspect the vessel and its equipment before it arrives at the well site, US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) Director Michael R. Bromwich said on Oct. 18.

The US Forest Service may be trying to make an arbitrary and unnecessary change in federal energy policies through its forest management process if it decides to prohibit horizontal drilling in the George Washington National Forest in western Virginia, the American Petroleum Institute warned on Oct. 17.

Noble Energy Inc. has reportedly encountered difficulties with water pockets and gas seepage in its drilling of its Cyprus A prospect offshore Cyprus.

US crude oil and natural gas drilling rig activity this week jumped another 11 units to reach a total of 2,023 rigs working. This week’s count is up by 353 units from the comparable period a year ago, Baker Hughes Inc. reported.

Ensco PLC ordered a newbuild ultrapremium harsh-environment jack up rig to be built under a fixed-price shipyard construction contract with Keppel FELS Ltd. in Singapore.

US crude oil and natural gas drilling rig activity this week jumped 22 units to reach a total of 2,012, the first time the count was above 2,000 since the week ended Sept. 19, 2008, when the count was 2,018.

Gulfsands Petroleum PLC has plugged and abandoned the Wardieh-1 exploratory well 16 km southeast of Yousefieh field in Syria Block 26 after it encountered a zone of live asphaltic hydrocarbons overlying a porous reservoir, the combination of which threatened the safety of the drilling operation.

ShaMaran Petroleum Corp., Vancouver, BC, said it identified two oil-bearing zones in its Pulkhana-9 appraisal well in Iraqi Kurdistan in addition to the two already encountered.

US crude oil and natural gas drilling rig activity this week fell slightly, losing 1 unit to reach a total of 1,990 rigs working. This week’s count is up by 331 units from the comparable period a year ago, Baker Hughes Inc. reported.

Noble Energy Inc., Houston, has revised drilling plans for the three deepwater rigs it has under contract in the Eastern Mediterranean.

US crude oil and natural gas drilling rig activity this week climbed another 6 units, reaching a total of 1,991 rigs working. This week’s count is up by 341 units from the comparable period a year ago, Baker Hughes Inc. reported.

HRT Participacoes em Petroleo SA, Rio de Janeiro, has ordered four heliportable drilling rigs for its exploratory program in the Solimoes basin in Brazil.

A partnership led by Statoil Petroleum AS will consider further exploratory drilling to clarify the potential of the Aldous Major North structure in the North Sea off Norway.