Offshore NEWS

Saipem 7000 has reached Damen Verolme Rotterdam (DVR) and will go through a major upgrade. It is one of the world’s largest semi-submersible crane and pipelaying vessels. Its system will be upgraded to meet the closed ring DP3 configuration and ABS EHS-P notation after which it will have 4 independent redundancy group systems. After the modifications, it will be able to maintain its position in the harsh weather conditions also.

The state oil giant of UAE, Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) gave 25% stakes of its Ghasha sour gas concession to Italian company, Eni. As per the information from the oil major, it will announce its new partners for this offshore project in the coming weeks. ADNOC said in a statement that the further announcement would revolve around the opening of six oil and gas blocks for competitive bidding.

EPC giant, TechnipFMC has granted a transportation and installation contract to Jumbo's offshore division. The work involves lowering the manifold onto the seabed and installing various other SSIV’s and valve skids. Jumbo will additionally transfer equipment from U.S. Gulf Coast to Eastern Mediterranean. Jumbo’s offshore division will also provide reliable project management and engineering services are part of the contract as well.

Aberdeen-based ROVOP acquired M2 Subsea’s entire fleet of 28 ROV systems. The fleet acquisition is in line with ROVOP’s growth strategy to offer a focused ROV service to its customers regardless of markets and geographies. While 19 of the ROV systems qualifies the ROVOP standard and will be added to its fleet, the remaining ROVs will be either decommissioned or sold.

CLP Power has got an environmental permit for Hong Kong’s first offshore LNG receiving terminal. The Environmental Protection Department of the territory has considered the project as environmentally safe and has given a nod for its construction and operation. After the final approval from the government, the construction is expected to start from 2019. CLP Power is currently operating three power stations.

Offshore services firm, EnerMech was acquired by private equity firm, Carlyle Group in a $450 million buy-out deal. EnerMech is involved in large scale projects across the sectors of oil and gas, renewables, defence, power, infrastructure and petrochemicals. The firm registered group turnover of £361.4 million in 2017. Final transaction is expected in 4Q2018.

British offshore drilling services provider, Ensco Plc has entered into an acquisition agreement to buy Rowan Companies. The deal is estimated to be worth £1.7 billion. The acquisition is said to create an “industry-leading” drilling firm with a fleet of 82 rigs covering six continents. The merged entity will be valued around £9.2 billion. The merger is expected to conclude by the first half of next year.

Shell decided to scrape off the “hated” three week rotas and change it to 2:3 last month. The offshore contractors on the Shell platform, working for Wood have shown disagreement on the same as it leads to severe pay cuts of 14.8%. Shell plans on introducing performance based bonus in order to reduce the impact of pay cuts. Currently, Wood has employed 250 people on the Shell assets.

UK’s oil and gas firm, Angus Energy has informed that the seven day flow test has been completed at the Balcombe exploration site. The company wants to “establish commercial production” from Balcombe-2z horizontal well. According to the firm’s prediction, initially 3,000 bpd can be extracted from the site. MD of Angus said “We are obviously pleased with the results of the Balcombe-2z flow test”.

Offshore innovative solutions developer, Trendsetter Vulcan Offshore (TVO) has signed an agreement with Norway’s SubseaDesign AS. Under this agreement, TVO will give all the rights of marketing and commercialization of its patent Tethered BOP design to SubseaDesign. The BOP, which mitigates the challenges of wellhead fatigue and wellhead strength will be then used in Norwegian sector of the North Sea.

After reporting heavy losses in the end of year 2017, offshore drilling company, Seadrill has now disclosed firm recovery in the first six months of 2018. The company went through the losses mainly because of the dip in offshore drilling market and ageing assets. Seadrill in a statement said that the company has recognized impaired assets of $414 million and is working towards the same.

CEO of Petrogal, Miguel Pereira informed about the company’s expansion plans in Brazil in order to increase its stake offshore and to develop its oil and gas assets. The company will invest $800 million to $1 billion annually. Petrogal is the third largest oil and gas producer of Brazil and currently wants to enhance its presence in offshore pre-salt areas of Brazil.

Unite, the workers' union has finally arrived at an agreement with Total, following several weeks of talks. 62% of the union members voted in favour of accepting the controversial 3 by 3-rota system in return of a 15% increment in basic pay plus retention bonuses. Total’s plans to implement the three on, three off rota had met with strikes at the Alwyn, Dunbar and Elgin rigs.

The offshore division of Jumbo has been awarded an LNG contract by Sapura at Sergipe, Brazil. Under the scope of this contract, Jumbo will provide the transportation and installation services for FSRU mooring system and also, project management and engineering services. The whole task is expected to be over by December 31st, 2018. Loading of the structure will take place in Indonesia and transported from there.

French supermajor Total has made a new natural gas discovery on the Glendronach prospect offshore UK. The firm believes that the discovered prospect will incur low cost for commercialization, given the leverage of existing Laggan-Tormore infrastructure. Early tests have estimated recoverable resources at about 1 tcf. Total operates the Glendronach discovery where Ineos E&P UK Ltd and SSE E&P UK Ltd are partners.

Recruitment specialist, Prodrill Energy Resource Solutions (PERS) has cautioned a massive skill shortage in the North Sea. MD of the firm noted that there is a risk of skill shortage in the industry with more mature workers leaving the industry. PERS observed an increased requirement of onshore and offshore-related roles in exploration, apart from engineers who could plug and abandon wells.

Oilfield services giant, BHGE secured Saudi Aramco’s first large-scope integrated services contract for the Marjan oilfield. The largest upstream development project this year, Marijan is first in the line of three major offshore expansions in Saudi Arabia. The scope of the contract includes drilling services, coiled tubing services and drilling fluids engineering services in Marjan. BHGE will deploy logging-while-drilling, reservoir navigation services, and rotary steerable services on the field.

The three weeks off, three weeks on rotas are affecting the mental health of the employees and because of this reason, the Unite trade union wants a review of the working patterns on BP’s North Sea. The union and Petrofac have raised a “collective grievance” for the same. BP has acknowledged the issues faced by the workers and said, the company is “committed to supporting mental health in the workplace”.