Australia-listed Otto Energy Ltd. said it obtained the Department of Energy’s (DoE) approval granting it a two-year moratorium on exploration activity earlier required by the regulator covering a deep-water exploratory well in the South China Sea. The company had sought the reprieve in January or five months after announcing plans to plug and abandon Service Contract 55 (SC55) after its drilling there yielded no oil. The moratorium is good until December 23, 2017, Otto said in a statement. Read more here.