Offshore NEWS

Thai oil and gas company PTTEP has made an oil and gas discovery from the first exploration well, Sirung-1, in Block SK405B, off the coast of Sarawak, offshore Malaysia. The well, spudded in January, was drilled to a total depth of 2,538 meters where it encountered a significant oil and gas column of more than 100 meters, in the clastic reservoirs. An appraisal well is scheduled in near future to assess the upside resources, PTTEP said

ClassNK developed the guidelines which establish requirements related to the equipment and basic items that are generally required for the operation of these ROV/AUV, as well as precautions and safety measures, based on the knowledge obtained through demonstration experiments with experts and companies making advanced efforts.In recent years their utilization as a means for maintaining offshore wind power generation facilities and pipelines has been steadily increasing.

The global offshore wind industry installed 6.07 GW of new capacity in 2020, with China in the lead with over 3 GW, the latest figures by GWEC Market Intelligence. The newly installed capacity was close to the record level of 6.1 GW reached in 2019, in spite of the pandemic. The world's total offshore wind capacity now stands at 35,196 GW.

Baker Hughes and Akastor ASA have announced an agreement to create a joint venture company that will bring together Baker Hughes’ Subsea Drilling Systems business with Akastor’s wholly-owned subsidiary, MHWirth AS. The JV will deliver a global full-service offshore drilling equipment offering that will provide customers with a broad portfolio of products and services. The Company will be owned 50-50 by Baker Hughes and Akastor. Merrill A. “Pete” Miller will serve as chairman and chief executive officer.

Fugro has been awarded multiple contracts by Eni Angola to carry out geotechnical and environmental surveys off the coast of Angola. Two Fugro vessels from their world’s largest fleet of specialist geotechnical and geophysical vessels are currently active in the region. Multipurpose survey vessel the Fugro Scout, specifically designed for seabed sampling and in situ testing in water depths up to 3000 m, has embarked on a deepwater environmental survey to acquire, analyse and interpret sediment and water samples from Eni Angola’s Agogo field development.

Abu Dhabi awarded Japan’s Cosmo Energy Holdings Co. the right to explore for offshore oil and natural gas as the Middle Eastern emirate seeks to expand its output capacity. Cosmo will invest as much as $145 million in the exploration phase at Offshore Block 4, government-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Co.

A big decision comes the industry's way as Denmark decides to retire from the North Sea. On Thursday, the Danish Parliament voted in favour of ending the offshore oil and gas extraction. The nation has cancelled it's latest licensing round, saying the country is "now putting an end to the fossil fuel era". Currently, one-third of Denmark's electricity production derives from wind turbines.

The OTC organizers have announced that the Offshore Technology Conference 2021 will be postponed from its traditional time run, as Covid-19 is still creating challenges for mass meets. The new virtual submits will shift for the second half of the year 2021. The plan for the same will soon be shared with all the participants to ensure that everyone is able to meet and exchange their ideas despite these unprecedented circumstances.

A successful trial of a subsea power component has been announced by ABB and OneSubsea. The variable speed drive (VSD), component is particularly useful at slowing motors, fans, and other such devices to ensure that energy is not wasted and eventually delivers improved efficiency of the overall system. It has been an integral part of the ABB's long-running project to deliver an effective subsea power system, especially for the offshore industry.

Seabed Geosolutions has been awarded a survey contract in the Brazilian waters. The company will have to perform a baseline 4D ocean bottom node (OBN) survey and a future 4D monitor OBN survey. The operations will be performed in water depths over 2,200m. "We are delighted to be awarded another high-profile, deepwater OBN project in Brazil", said the company. Seabed is a joint venture between Fugro and CGG.

Fugro has secured a fourth consecutive contract from Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) to provide integrated survey services. Under the contract, Fugro will provide infield developments on the east and west coasts of India. The contract also includes rig positioning, current profile measurements and wellhead searches. Fugro will carry out the services using multibeam bathymetric, shallow seismic profiling, magnetometry and 2D ultra-high resolution.

Well-Safe Solutions has acquired the harsh-environment jack-up West Epsilon from deepwater drilling contractor Seadrill. Well-Safe Solutions noted that the rig will be refurbished and renamed ‘Well-Safe Protector’. Operations on the upgrade of the company’s first rig Well-Safe Guardian were paused earlier this year as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, operations are restarting, and the company expects to deploy both Guardian and Protector early next year.

More than one-fifth of U.S. offshore oil production and exporting ports were shut in lieu of Hurricane Sally which will make landfall on the U.S. Gulf Coast. Sally was upgraded to a Category 2 hurricane and could strengthen further before making landfall late on Tuesday. 21% of offshore crude oil production and 25% of natural gas output were shut in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

Equinor has claimed a “world-first” with the use of a drone to deliver lifeboat system parts offshore. A drone flew from the Mongstad base to the Troll A platform in the North Sea. The flight spanning around 80 kilometers to the Troll field took about one hour, at an altitude of approx. 5000 feet. The flight was a test, the world’s first of its kind.

Following the tracks of Noble Energy and Diamond Offshore Drilling, Valaris Plc has also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The firm's revenue has taken a major hit due to the slump in the oil prices. Oil companies have canceled or delayed drilling programs while asking for price concessions and other contract modifications. Valaris ended the first quarter with $6.8 billion of debt against roughly $200 million in cash and $1.3 billion available on its credit facility.

Solstad Offshore (Norwegian offshore service company) has secured a contract from subsea contractor Ocean Installer for the Normand Vision high-capacity construction support vessel which is capable of carrying out the installation of subsea structures, umbilicals, risers and flowlines with a length of 157cm. It is equipped with a 3,000t underdeck carousel and a 150t vertical lay spread system. The contract starts in the first quarter of next year.

Hermitage Offshore Services, alongside 28 of its vessel-owning subsidiaries, have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The step was taken due to the collapse in global oil prices as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on on the company and it does not expect business operations and relationships with its customers and vendors to get affected while it works with its lenders through this process.

At least 31 employees of India’s state-controlled Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) working at a key offshore facility off the country’s west coast have tested positive for Covid-19. These 31 employees had spent 15 days at the facility. They were found positive in the COVID-19 test conducted at a hospital in Mahim. G North ward has reported 6,613 COVID-19 cases so far, of which 1,908 patients are from Mahim.