Petroleum geology

Greece approved applications submitted by a consortium of Total, ExxonMobil and Hellenic Petroleum for oil and gas exploration and drilling off the island of Crete, its Energy Ministry said on Friday.

The ministry also approved an application submitted by Greece's sole oil producer Energean Oil for offshore drilling in western Greece, the ministry said.

French energy giant TOTAL is expected to start exploratory drilling in block 11 of the Cyprus Exclusive Economic Zone on July 14.

Block 11 covers some 2,958 square kilometres and the drill site is 150 km off the coast of Cyprus.

Before any exploratory work begins, a 4400-metre diameter area around the site will be explored for objects of archaeological interest.

ExxonMobil and partner Qatar Petroleum have signed a deal with Cyprus to carry out exploratory drilling off the east Mediterranean island's southern coast.

Qatar Petroleum chief executive Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi told the AP there's "a strong possibility" that the geological structure in the area where the partnership is licensed to drill could potentially hold hydrocarbons.

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration said on March 24 it has granted a permit for TransCanada to build the Keystone XL oil pipeline, giving final approval to a project his predecessor had halted over environmental concerns.

Turkey will be more active in offshore oil and gas exploration with plans to conduct seismic studies in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean by the end of March or beginning of April, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Berat Albayrak said March 14.        

Greece has concluded talks with a consortium led by France's Total for deep sea gas exploration in one block in western Greece, its energy minister, Giorgos Stathakis, said on Wednesday, taking the two sides closer to signing a deal.

Greece named on Wednesday a consortium of France's Total, its biggest oil refiner Hellenic Petroleum and Italy's Edison as the preferred bidder for an offshore gas drilling block in the west of the country.

With Iran ready to resume business as usual with the world under a historic nuclear deal, Tehran will target India, Asia's fastest-growing major oil market, and old partners in Europe with hundreds of thousands of barrels of its crude.

The Obama administration dealt a setback to Royal Dutch Shell's Arctic oil exploration plans on June 30, saying established walrus and polar bear protections prevent the company from drilling with two rigs simultaneously at close range, as it had planned. 

China overtook the United States as the world's top importer of crude oil for the first time in April, and its purchases are expected to remain strong despite a slowing economy, with far-reaching consequences for global oil and commodities markets.