King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia, custodian of the two holy mosques, has ordered a halt to oil exploration operations to save hydrocarbon wealth for future generations, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported recently.

Exploration and development company, Gulfsands Petroleum plc, has provided an update on the its operations at Block 26, Syria where the company holds a 50 per cent interest and acts as operator.

OMV HAS ANNOUNCED the discovery and successful testing of gas and condensate in its Fella-1 exploration well in the recently granted Nawara Production Concession. This is the fifth successive discovery in this area, which is within the Jenein Sud exploration block in southern Tunisia, in the last four years and underpins the significant potential of the block.

Apache Corporation has announced that Egypt's Ministry of Petroleum has finalised the extension of the Khalda Offset and East Bahariya concessions in the Western Desert. The extensions will permit Apache to continue its exploration program across approximately 1.5mn acres.

State-owned oil major China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) is holding negotiations over the development of the Maysan (Misan) oil fields in southern Iraq, according to the Middle-Eastern nation's oil minister Hussain al-Shahristani.