AUDAX RESOURCES ANNOUNCED that Atwood Oceanics has been selected as the successful bidder to provide Drilling Rig Services for the deepwater Sambuca prospect in the Kerkouane permit offshore Tunisia. Atwood will be providing the Atwood Southern Cross semi-submersible offshore drilling unit to conduct the work program.

THE FIRST WELL of Mubadala, the Abu Dhabi-based investment company, and ConocoPhillips joint venture in Kazakstan, will be drilled next year, a ConocoPhillips executive said.

"Plans call for pre-drilling seismic surveys and analyses to be completed this year. “We are currently planning to drill the first well in 2010. The production start date depends upon our exploration programme results," said Charlie Rowton.

GAZPROM NETHERLANDS B.V. and the Algerian State Oil and Gas Corporation (ASOGC) Sonatrach have signed an agreementfor the transfer of rights for hydrocarbon exploration and production in the onshore area El Assel located in the Berkine Basin of Algeria.

SUDAN HAS ANNOUNCED a new oilfield that will begin production in the Upper Nile state with a capacity of 50,000 bpd. The director of exploration at the Ministry of Energy and Mining, Azhari Abdullah, told reporters that the field, named Qamari, will be opened in March by Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir.

CIRCLE HAS ANNOUNCED that the Al Amir SE-2X appraisal well has been drilled in the onshore North West Gemsa Concession in Egypt. Circle has confirmed a discovery in the Kareem Formation sandstones, with the well testing 41 degrees API oil and gas at sustained average rates of 5,785 bopd and 7.8 MMscfd using a 64/64" choke from the lower of two identified pay zones.