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.

A group led by P1 Energy Corp., Calgary, has gauged a Mirador oil discovery on the Llanos 32 block in Colombia’s Llanos basin.

TAG Oil Ltd., Vancouver, BC, has spudded an exploratory well that targets the Paleocene Waipawa black shale and Paleocene-Cretaceous Whangai source rock formations in New Zealand’s East Coast basin.

A Statoil well has established new-pool potential in old Gullfaks oil and gas field in the Tampen area of the North Sea offshore Norway.

Bowleven PLC said its Isongo Marine-5 well on Block MLHP-7 of the Etinde permit offshore Cameroon has exceeded expectations and that the company targets the final investment decision by the end of 2013 for a phased gas-condensate development.

Genie Energy Ltd., Newark, NJ, said its Mongolian subsidiary signed an exclusive agreement to explore and evaluate the commercial potential of oil shale resources on 34,470 sq km in central Mongolia.

Kosmos Energy Ltd., Dallas, has taken a farmout from Antrim Energy Ltd., Calgary, covering Licensing Option 11/05 in the Porcupine basin offshore west of Ireland.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp.-led groups have drilled a new natural gas accumulation near the center of Offshore Area 1 in the Rovuma basin offshore Mozambique and encountered noncommercial oil shows off northern Kenya.

Stratex Oil & Gas Holdings Inc., Watertown, Conn., said it has leasehold interests in 6,000 net acres in Sioux County, northwestern Nebraska, where it said it is monitoring a possible unconventional shale play in northeastern reaches of the Denver basin.

Tecpetrol, Buenos Aires, will complete the Pendare-2 well on its 80% owned CPO-13 block in Colombia’s Llanos basin in the top of the Basal Carbonera sand unit and perform an extended production test in conjunction with the Pendare-1 well test.

US states are the most qualified to regulate oil and gas development within their boundaries because they’re well acquainted with unique geological and environmental conditions there, officials from three state governments told the US House Natural Resources Committee.

A group led by PetroChina Co. Ltd. has begun work on the second phase of development of giant Halfaya oil field in Iraq, reports PetroChina parent China National Petroleum Corp.