Oil production has started ahead of schedule from Fletcher Finucane oil field offshore Western Australia in the Carnarvon basin, project operator Santos Ltd. reported.

The US drilling rig count was unchanged during the week ended May 17, maintaining a total of 1,769 rotary rigs working, Baker Hughes Inc. reported.

The US Department of the Interior released a revised proposal to regulate hydraulic fracturing on public and Indian lands that it said would maintain important safety standards, improve integration with existing state and tribal rules, and increase flexibility for oil and gas producers.

Enquest PLC, London, has let a contract for inspection, repair, and maintenance services to Hallin Marine in its revitalization of the Thistle Alpha drilling and production platform in the North Sea 275 miles northeast of Aberdeen (OGJ Online, Feb. 5, 2013).

Statoil and its partners placed an order with Noble Corp. for a newbuild, high-specification jack up drilling rig to be used in the Mariner heavy oil development in the UK North Sea.

Bitumen will claim an increased share of sharply higher oil production in Alberta over the next 10 years, according to the provincial Energy Resources Conservation Board.

The US Bureau of Land Management’s Anchorage, Alas., office released a draft plan listing near-term priorities and actions to plug and clean up legacy wells in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, but the draft quickly drew fire from the state’s senior US senator.

The US drilling rig count gained 5 units during the week ended May 10 to a total of 1,769 rotary rigs working, Baker Hughes Inc. reported. That compared with 1,974 rigs working in the comparable week last year.

Deliverability of natural gas in Canada is in what the National Energy Board calls a “holding pattern” because low prices have suppressed gas drilling.