Pacific Drilling CEO Christian J. Beckett has stepped down from his positions as CEO and as a member of the board, after a 10-year tenure, to pursue other opportunities, the firm has announced. Paul T. Reese, the Houston-based company’s current Executive Vice President and CFO…
Diamond Offshore is championing a new Floating Factory concept meant to meet future deepwater challenges, but drumming up support during the downturn may be tough. Karen Boman reports. Photo from iStock…
The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) has granted Statoil a drilling permit for wildcat well 7435/12-1 in the Barents Sea. Map of 7435/12-1, from NPD. Well 7435/12-1 in production…
CIMC Raffles has started sea trials for the ultra-deepwater drilling rig Blue Whale II, following the completion equipment testing. The sea trials are expected to last for three weeks. Designed to operate in water depths of 3658m and drill to depths of up to 15…
Talos Energy's Zama-1 exploration well, which made the 'world class' Zama discovery, has failed to find further volumes in a deeper target. Zama-1 is being drilled in 166m water depth, in Block 7 in the Sureste Basin, about 37mi (60km) off Tabasco…
Varel UK has signed a collaborative project with the University of Aberdeen to design and develop a new drill bit, which addresses the unique challenges of drilling in Resonance Enhanced Drilling (RED) mode. Resonance Enhanced Drilling…
Tullow Oil has revealed its plans for the rest of the year to drill offshore Suriname, and resuming at the Tweneboa, Enyenra, Ntomme (TEN) fields offshore Ghana. Image from Tullow Oil. In the company’s half year 2017 report…
ExxonMobil has discovered additional oil at a Payara appraisal well offshore Guyana, upping the ultra deepwater discovery's resources to about 500 MMboe. Map of Stabroek, from Exxon. The…
Island Constructor. Image from Island Offshore. Norway’s Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) has granted Norske Shell consent to use the Island Constructor mobile drilling facility for the start-up of well 6407/9-G-5 on the Draugen field…
Oilfield giant schlumberger has revealed a slew of new contacts including a deal to supply equipment to the Leviathan field, offshore Israel, and to perform ocean bottom survey work on BP's Clair Ridge field, west of Shetland, UK. The…
BP Ventures, Schlumberger Ventures and GE Ventures have agreed a US$6.5 million (£5 million) investment into metal-to-metal downhole sealing solutions firm BiSN. Under the terms of the investment, BiSN and BP Ventures will work together to develop a commercial portfolio of technology…
Petrobras has awarded Subsea 7 extensions for three pipelay support vessels (PLSVs) currently on long-term day-rate contracts offshore Brazil, with a total combined value of about US$250 million. The firm contract periods for the Seven Waves…
Partners on the Leviathan gas project offshore Israel have opted to end a rig contract with Atwood Oceanics in favor of a cheaper deal. Operator Noble Energy had been due to drill the Leviathan 5 and 7 appraisal and production wells using the Atwood Advantage drillship…
The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) has granted Statoil a drilling permit for wells 6507/8-9 and 6507/8-U2 in the Norwegian Sea. The wells will be drilled with the Deepsea Bergen drilling facility, after concluding the drilling…
SolstadFarstad has secured a contract with Cooper Energy to support drilling operations within the Bass Strait region of Australia. The contract consists of the Far Statesman and Far Senator towing the Ocean Monarch from the North West Shelf of Australia to the Bass Strait…