Independent oil and gas exploration and production company Saratoga Resources Inc., announced Dec. 4, 2012, an update on its planned operations.

China’s CNOOC Limited [NYSE: CEO, SEHK: 00883] said Dec. 28 that it has commenced production at two locations in the Pearl River Mouth Basin of the South China Sea.

TransAtlantic Petroleum Ltd. has provided initial production results of the Goksu-3H, the company's first horizontal producing well in Turkey.

Houston, TX-based Liberty Energy Corp. has provided an update on its Bulgarian natural gas asset.

GeoPetro Resources Company (NYSE MKT: GPR) said October 16 that Kunlun Energy Ltd., acting in its capacity as operator of the Bengara-II Production Sharing Contract (PSC), has terminated negotiations with the Indonesian government for an extension of the PSC’s term. Consequently the PSC will be relinquished and allowed to expire in accordance with its terms.

In early October, Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), the Mexican national oil company, said it had discovered a new oil field with significant potential in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. The announcement was deemed significant enough that it was made by Mexico’s President Felipe Calderón.

Oil production on Alaska’s North Slope, which has been declining since 1988 when average annual production peaked at 2.0 million barrels per day, is transported to market through the TransAlaska Pipeline System (TAPS). In the EIA's Annual Energy Outlook 2012 low oil price case, North Slope production would cease and TAPS would be decommissioned, which could occur as early as 2026.

According to Goldman Sachs, more than $1.2 trillion will be spent in the next five years on oil and gas projects around the world.