Offshore NEWS

As U.S. oil companies show a new brand of fiscal discipline even as oil prices continue to climb, oil companies spent nearly $192 million on drilling rights in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

Now may be the perfect time to buy shares in green energy giant Ørsted, analysts at Swiss bank UBS said on Wednesday, with winds of change picking up even as the stock has tumbled more than 30% in 2021.Pressure on the renewables sector since February, amid a dampening of market sentiment on clean energy and other growth stocks, has recently depressed shares in Ørsted ORSTED.

Iberdrola and Vestas have signed a contract to supply 50 units of the offshore wind turbine V174-9.5 MW for the Baltic Eagle project being developed off the island of Rügen, in German waters of the Baltic Sea. Both parties have also signed a contract for Service and Maintenance of the new turbines. With 476.25 MW installed capacity and spanning a 40 km2 area.

ADNOC announced the award of a $744 million (AED2.73 billion) contract for the full field development of the Belbazem Offshore Block, underscoring its drive to unlock and maximize value from all of Abu Dhabi's fields as it expands its oil production capacity to 5 million barrels per day by 2030. Located 120 kilometers northwest of Abu Dhabi city, the Belbazem Block consists of three so-called marginal offshore fields; Belbazem, Umm Al Salsal, and Umm Al Dholou.

DNV has awarded an Approval in Principle (AiP) to Singapore-based Keppel Offshore & Marine (Keppel O&M) for its proprietary AssetCare system, a suite of digital services to support an asset's lifecycle needs. The AiP award follows the signing of an MOU between DNV and Keppel in April 2020. The aim of the collaboration is to improve overall efficiency of the design and construction process, and of the asset lifecycle support services for projects in the offshore and marine industry.

BP has started a recruitment campaign for the people who will drive its expanding clean energy ambitions. The London-based oil and gas company is looking to fill 100 offshore-wind jobs in the UK and the U.S., a figure which could double by the end of the year. The recruitment drive comes even as thousands of other employees have left the company amid a wider restructuring.

The European Commission has approved Polish offshore wind support policy following a state aid review. The scheme is intended to support offshore wind farms and has a total maximum budget of €22.5bn running until 2030. The aid will be granted in the form of a two-way contract-for-difference premium, during 25 years, but only up to 100,000 full load hours per MW of installed capacity.

Iran’s Petropars Ltd. will be awarded a $1.78 billion contract by the National Iranian Oil Co. to develop the giant Farzad-B gas field that was previously intended to be tapped by a group of Indian companies. Petropars will produce 28 million cubic meters of gas a day from the offshore deposit within five years, according to the agreement, the Iranian oil ministry’s official Shana news service reported, with the contract to be signed on Monday. An Indian consortium led by ONGC Videsh Ltd. was engaged in talks with Iran to develop the field but disagreements over investment volume and gas prices delayed progress and negotiations stalled completely after the U.S. reimposed sanctions on Iran in 2018.

The White House has approved Avangrid and CIP’s 800MW Vineyard offshore wind project off the coast of Massachusetts. The project will be the first large-scale offshore wind project in the US and will be located 12 nautical miles from Nantucket. It will comprise 84 turbines arranged in a north-south and east-west orientation, with a minimum spacing of one nautical mile between each turbine.

BVG Associates (BVGA) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Mitsubishi Research Institute (MRI) to strengthen cooperation in consulting services in offshore wind in Japan and for Japanese clients globally. The MoU follows successful collaboration on a number of Japanese projects, the duo said. It includes the development and operation of projects, support for offshore wind auctions, strategic advice on market entry, business expansion and supply chain and technology development.

Poland’s Energy Regulatory Office (ERO) has announced that Equinor and Polener-gia’s Baltyk II and Baltyk III projects were awarded contracts for difference (CfD) under the first phase of Poland’s offshore wind development scheme. The projects, with a com-bined potential capacity of 1440 MW, are among the first to secure offshore wind awards in Poland.

The UK government unveiled plan to increase its offshore wind power capacity from 30GW to 40GW by 2030, in October 2020. The UK government unveiled plan to increase its offshore wind power capacity from 30GW to 40GW by 2030, in October 2020.Verdict has conducted a poll to assess whether the UK will be able to reach its goal of having adequate offshore wind farms.

CGG announced the delivery of the fast-track data from its Agata Reimaging program over the Agata block in the Santos Basin, a highly prolific area of Brazil's offshore pre-salt. The ultramodern reimaged seismic data set covering over 9,300 sq km (3,591 sq mi) will provide valuable information to oil and gas companies wishing to evaluate acreage and assess the potential of the Agata block, prior to Brazil's upcoming 7th Production Sharing Bidding Round.

April 16 (Renewables Now) - The International Finance Corporation (IFC) on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding with Azerbaijan's Ministry of Energy to help the country develop offshore wind. IFC plans to work with the ministry to create a roadmap for the development of the offshore wind energy sector in Azerbaijan. Further on, it expects to continue partnering with the ministry on implementing the roadmap.

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.