Indian state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has qualified to bid as an operator for Angolan deep-water blocks, now likely to be offered after elections in the African nation.

Addax Petroleum has hit hydrocarbon during drilling of the Ngosso prospet off Cameroon, while drilling of first exploration wells in the Iroko licences, came up dry.

Kazakhstan is considering halving corporate income tax to 15% while introducing a tax of up to 20% that will apply only to the oil and mining sectors, an oil industry group official said today.

Liberia has opened a second licensing round for offshore oil acreage, with three international companies bidding for a total of five blocks, Minister for Land, Mines and Energy Eugene Shannon said.

Kazakhstan is interested in buying Oman's 7% stake in the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) should the Middle Eastern state decide to sell out, an influential oil industry group official said today.

Hungary's MOL has scooped up a 40% stake in an offshore block in Cameroon from Tullow.

Aker Solutions has bought Aberdeen-based well services company Qserv for Nkr1 billion ($197.2 million).

BP will shut down its offshore West Java gas field for maintenance for two weeks from 11 July, temporarily halting gas supplies to two power plants in Jakarta.

Australia's Origin Energy urged shareholders today to reject a $13.1 billion bid from the UK’s BG Group as speculation grew over whether BG would raise its offer.

Odfjell Drilling has scooped another two years on its existing drilling and maintenance contract for Talisman Energy’s North Sea platform activity for £25 million ($49.7 million).

Rift Oil has hit gas earlier than anticipated during drilling of the Puk Puk-1 well in Papua New Guinea.

G8 leaders meeting in Japan next week to discuss rising oil prices and global warming are being urged to drop the World Bank’s highly controversial climate investment funds.

Norwegian operator StatoilHydro has reported hitting gas during drilling in production licence 395 in the Barents Sea, while drilling in its PL 283 and ConocoPhillip’s drilling in PL 273 proves unfruitful.

UK-based independent Perenco has bought three exploration permits that lie in the Sorell basin off South East Australia from Chevron.

Petrobras will be invited to help develop China’s offshore oil reserves which include a deposit that contains at least 7 billion barrels of oil, local media reported China’s China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) saying.

Australian explorers Incremental Petroleum and Otto Energy are set to flow test the Arpaci-2A well on the Edirne basin in western Turkey after striking about 20 metres of net gas bearing sands.

Australia’s Queensland Gas Company (QGC) and UK gas producer BG Group’s proposed Curtis liquefied natural gas project took a step forward today as the Queensland government declared the development significant status paving the way for environmental impact assessments.

Norwegian supplier Aker Solutions has signed a $210 million contract with Jurong Shipyard in Singapore for delivery of drilling equipment system for semi-submersible drilling.

Houston offshore drilling contractor Atwood Oceanics said its wholly-owned subsidiary, Atwood Oceanics Pacific has conditionally exercised an option to build an ultra-deep-water semi-submersible drilling rig to be built with Jurong Shipyard in Singapore.

The US State Department denied charges by a House committee that it inappropriately encouraged Texas-based oil company Hunt Oil to strike an exploration deal with the Kurdish government in Iraq.