In this Then & Now episode of the Oil & Gas Journal ReEnterprised podcast, Managing Editor and Content Strategist Mikaila Adams reconnects with Deborah Byers, nonresident fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute Center for Energy Studies and former EY Americas industry leader, to revisit a set of questions first posed in 2017. In 2017, the industry was emerging from a downturn and recalibrating strategy; today, it faces heightened geopolitical risk, market volatility, and a rapidly evolving technology landscape. The conversation examines how those earlier perspectives have aged—covering oil price bands and the speed of recovery from geopolitical shocks, the role of US shale relative to OPEC in balancing global supply, and the shift from scarcity to economic abundance driven by technology and capital discipline. Adams and Byers also compare the economics and risk profiles of shale and offshore development, including the growing role of Brazil, Guyana, and the Gulf of Mexico, and discuss how infrastructure and regulatory constraints shape market outcomes. The episode further explores where digital transformation—particularly artificial intelligence—is delivering tangible returns across upstream operations, from predictive maintenance and workforce planning to capital project execution. The discussion concludes with insights on consolidation and scale in the Permian basin, the strategic rationale behind recent megamergers, and the industry’s ongoing challenge to attract and retain next‑generation talent through flexibility, technical opportunity, and purpose‑driven work.

Eni North Africa, a unit of Eni SPA, together with Libya’s National Oil Corp., plans to develop two new gas discoveries offshore Libya as tiebacks to existing infrastructure. The gas discoveries were made offshore Libya, about 85 km off the coast in about 650 ft of water. Bahr Essalam South 2 (BESS 2) and Bahr Essalam South 3 (BESS 3), adjacent geological structures, were successfully drilled through the exploration well C1-16/4 and the appraisal well B2-16/4 about 16 km south of Bahr Essalam gas field, which lies about 110 km from the Tripoli coast. Gas-bearing intervals were encountered in both wells within the Metlaoui formation, the main productive reservoir of the area. The acquired data indicate the presence of a high-quality reservoir, with productive capacity confirmed by the well test already carried out on the first well. Preliminary volumetric estimates indicate that the BESS 2 and BESS 3 structures jointly contain more than 1 tcf of gas in place. Their proximity to Bahr Essalam field will enable rapid development through tie-back, the operator said. The gas produced will be supplied to the Libyan domestic market and for export to Italy. Bahr Essalam produces through the Sabratha platform to the Mellitah onshore treatment plant.

Azule Energy has started natural gas production from the New Gas Consortium (NGC)’s Quiluma shallow water field offshore Angola. Start-up of the gas delivery from Quiluma field follows the November 2025 introduction of gas into the onshore gas plant, marking the beginning of production operations. The initial gas export will be 150 MMscfd and will ramp up to 330 MMscfd by yearend, the operator said in a release Mar. 13.  In a separate release Mar. 17, NGC partner TotalEnergies said the startup marks the first development of a non-associated gas field in Angola, noting that the gas produced “will be a stable and important source of gas supply for the Angola LNG plant that is delivering LNG to both the European and Asian markets.” The non-associated gas of NGC Phase 1 will come from Quiluma and Maboqueiro shallow water fields with additional potential related to gas from Blocks 2, 3, and 15/14 areas. An onshore plant will process gas from the fields and connect to the Angola LNG plant, aimed at a reliable feedstock supply to the plant, sited near Soyo in the Zaire province in north Angola. The plant holds a capacity of 400MMscfd of gas and 20,000 b/d of condensates. Azule Energy, a 50-50 joint venture between bp and Eni, is operator of NGC project with 37.4% interest. Partners are TotalEnergies (11.8%), Cabinda Gulf Oil Co., a subsidiary of Chevron (31%), and Sonangol E&P (19.8%).

Equinor Energy AS and partners will consider a tie back of a new oil discovery to Johan Castberg field in the Barents Sea, 220 km northwest of Hammerfest. Preliminary discovery volume estimates at the in the Polynya Tubåen prospect are 2.3–3.8 million std cu m of recoverable oil equivalent (14–24 MMboe). Wildcat well 7220/7-5, the 17th exploration well in production license 532, was drilled about 16 km southwest of discovery well 7220/8-1 well by the COSL Prospector rig in 361 m of water, according to the Norwegian Offshore Directorate. The well was drilled to a vertical depth of 1,119 m subsea. It was terminated in the Fruholmen formation from the Upper Triassic. The objective was to prove petroleum in Lower Jurassic reservoir rocks in the Tubåen formation. The well encountered a 26-m gas column and a 26-m oil column in the Tubåen formation in reservoir rocks totaling 39 m, with good to very good reservoir quality. The total thickness in the Tubåen formation is 125 m. The gas-oil contact was encountered at 972 m subsea, and the oil-water contact was encountered at 998 m subsea. The well was not formation-tested, but extensive volumes of data and samples were collected. It will now be permanently plugged. ‘New’ Barents Sea oil province The discovery comes as Equinor aims to increase volumes in the Johan Castberg area—originally estimated at 500–700 million bbl—by an additional 200–500 million bbl, with plans to drill 1-2 exploration wells per year in the region, Equinor said. “With Johan Castberg, we opened a new oil province in the Barents Sea one year ago. It is encouraging that we are now making new discoveries in the area,” said Grete Birgitte Haaland, area director for Exploration and Production North at Equinor. Production at Johan Castberg began in 2025.  In June 2025, the Drivis

@import url(‘https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Inter:[email protected]&display=swap’); a { color: var(–color-primary-main); } .ebm-page__main h1, .ebm-page__main h2, .ebm-page__main h3, .ebm-page__main h4, .ebm-page__main h5, .ebm-page__main h6 { font-family: Inter; } body { line-height: 150%; letter-spacing: 0.025em; font-family: Inter; } button, .ebm-button-wrapper { font-family: Inter; } .label-style { text-transform: uppercase; color: var(–color-grey); font-weight: 600; font-size: 0.75rem; } .caption-style { font-size: 0.75rem; opacity: .6; } #onetrust-pc-sdk [id*=btn-handler], #onetrust-pc-sdk [class*=btn-handler] { background-color: #c19a06 !important; border-color: #c19a06 !important; } #onetrust-policy a, #onetrust-pc-sdk a, #ot-pc-content a { color: #c19a06 !important; } #onetrust-consent-sdk #onetrust-pc-sdk .ot-active-menu { border-color: #c19a06 !important; } #onetrust-consent-sdk #onetrust-accept-btn-handler, #onetrust-banner-sdk #onetrust-reject-all-handler, #onetrust-consent-sdk #onetrust-pc-btn-handler.cookie-setting-link { background-color: #c19a06 !important; border-color: #c19a06 !important; } #onetrust-consent-sdk .onetrust-pc-btn-handler { color: #c19a06 !important; border-color: #c19a06 !important; } Woodside Energy has appointed Elizabeth (Liz) Westcott as chief executive officer and managing director. Westcott, who has served as Woodside’s acting chief executive since the departure of Meg O’Neill in December 2025 to lead bp plc, has more than 30 years’ experience in the global energy industry. Westcott joined Woodside in 2023 as executive vice-president Australian operations, and in 2024 was appointed executive vice-president and chief operating officer Australia, leading Woodside’s Australian projects and business operations. Prior to joining Woodside, she most recently held the role of chief operating officer at EnergyAustralia. Liz had a 25-year career at ExxonMobil working in Australia, the United Kingdom, and Italy, including a secondment in 2013 to Adriatic LNG as managing director.

@import url(‘https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Inter:[email protected]&display=swap’); a { color: var(–color-primary-main); } .ebm-page__main h1, .ebm-page__main h2, .ebm-page__main h3, .ebm-page__main h4, .ebm-page__main h5, .ebm-page__main h6 { font-family: Inter; } body { line-height: 150%; letter-spacing: 0.025em; font-family: Inter; } button, .ebm-button-wrapper { font-family: Inter; } .label-style { text-transform: uppercase; color: var(–color-grey); font-weight: 600; font-size: 0.75rem; } .caption-style { font-size: 0.75rem; opacity: .6; } #onetrust-pc-sdk [id*=btn-handler], #onetrust-pc-sdk [class*=btn-handler] { background-color: #c19a06 !important; border-color: #c19a06 !important; } #onetrust-policy a, #onetrust-pc-sdk a, #ot-pc-content a { color: #c19a06 !important; } #onetrust-consent-sdk #onetrust-pc-sdk .ot-active-menu { border-color: #c19a06 !important; } #onetrust-consent-sdk #onetrust-accept-btn-handler, #onetrust-banner-sdk #onetrust-reject-all-handler, #onetrust-consent-sdk #onetrust-pc-btn-handler.cookie-setting-link { background-color: #c19a06 !important; border-color: #c19a06 !important; } #onetrust-consent-sdk .onetrust-pc-btn-handler { color: #c19a06 !important; border-color: #c19a06 !important; } US Energy Secretary Chris Wright Mar. 13 authorized an immediate 13% increase in LNG exports at Venture Global’s Plaquemines plant in Louisiana to help blunt the surge in global natural gas prices following US military strikes on Iran.  Plaquemines LNG is now authorized to export a total of 3.85 bcfd to both Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and non-FTA countries, “strengthening global natural gas supplies with reliable American LNG,” DOE said.  “At a time when Iran and its terrorist proxies attempt to disrupt the global energy supply, the Trump administration remains committed to strengthening American energy dominance,” said Secretary Wright. “We will see meaningful additions to US LNG export capacity at Plaquemines immediately and other facilities commencing operations in future weeks and months.”