The Spanish Council of Ministers awarded two new onshore exploration licenses to San Leon Energy PLC’s wholly owned subsidiary, Frontera Energy, targeting both unconventional and conventional resources.

A group operated by Valiant Causeway Ltd. will drill the first well on the Handcross Prospect in the West of Shetland area offshore the UK this autumn with the Stena Drilling Carron drillship.

Eni has increased its estimate of natural gas in place in its license offshore Mozambique to 80 tcf from 75 tcf after completing appraisal drilling.

The Total Ivoire-1X exploratory well has cut 28 m of net oil pay in a 100-m Cetaceous section offshore Ivory Coast. The oil is 35º gravity.

Dana Petroleum PLC has spudded an exploratory well from near its De Ruyter platform offshore the Netherlands to test new-pool potential.

Kulczyk Oil Ventures Inc., Calgary, said its AED Southeast Asia Ltd. subsidiary is rigging up to drill the Lukut Updip-1 well on the onshore portion of 1,123 sq km Block L in Brunei.

Repsol SA said its winter exploratory campaign on Alaska’s North Slope resulted in three “good quality hydrocarbon discoveries” whose results are encouraging for future development, but the company did not use the word commercial in its announcement.

A group led by PT Medco Energi plans to test an indicated gas discovery on Block A Aceh in North Sumatra, Indonesia.

DNO International ASA, Oslo, has signed a production sharing contract covering Block SL18 onshore Somaliland.

Several operators reported having been awarded blocks in the Egypt Natural Gas Holding Co. 2012 international bid round held last week.

The second development well at Kharsang field in Arunachal Pradesh, India, has encountered 12 potentially hydrocarbon-bearing sands, the deepest of which could be on production in as soon as 2 weeks, said Jubilant Energy NV.