The Mariner development concept. Images from Statoil. The Mariner heavy oil field took 40 years, 12 oil companies, five seismic surveys, and 18 exploration/appraisal wells to get to where it is today…
Rosneft and North Atlantic Drilling Ltd. (NADL) executed multiple long-term offshore drilling contracts at the end of July, just before the newest round of European Union (EU) and US-issued sanctions were enacted. Rosneft committed to six offshore drilling units until 2022…
Secondary mechanical pressure barriers could help ease regulatory bodies’ concerns around effective zonal isolation in wells. The Cytadel ZX packer can be activated by dropping a magnetic signal carrier from the surface…
Optimum completion. Photo from Weatherford. Weatherford’s Yvonne McAnally and Ben Lake show how collaboration and integrated methodology delivered an operator’s first subsea well project in Norway…
In advance of OE’s 2014 Deepwater Intervention Forum held in Galveston, Texas, Managing Editor Audrey Leon spoke with representatives of Helix Energy Solutions, FMC Technologies, and consultant Robert Keith of R.J. Keith & Associates, to discuss topics affecting the intervention sector…
Metalmorphology is the process of shaping metal downhole to provide a metal-to-metal, gas-tight seal for the life of the well. Photos from Meta. Well integrity has been defined by…
Fig. 1: Illustration of riser acceleration vs. wave height. Images from 2H Offshore. Michael Long Ge and Himanshu…
The Heidrun FSU crane in Protea’s yard, Poland. Photo from Protea. Protea has designed its largest crane to date for Statoil’s Heidrun FSU, a project that will aid the life extension of the Heidrun field…
BPZ Energy spud the CX15-7D development well in the Corvina field in Block Z-1, offshore Peru, on 29 July 2014, the company announced today. BPZ Energy plans to drill to 8500ft depth and expects operations to complete in October. BPZ…
Research and Markets analysts forecast that the global offshore drilling market will grow at a compound annual rate of 10.9% (CAGR) over the period 2013-2018. One of the key factors contributing to this market growth is the increase in…
The American Petroleum Institute (API) published new guidelines for the design, manufacture and use of subsea capping stacks, equipment designed as part of industry’s emergency preparedness in the event of a spill at a wellhead on the ocean floor…
The Fugro Synergy. From Fugro Drilling and Well Services. Plugging and abandonment accounts for about 43% of decommissioning costs. Operators and service companies are looking at ways to reduce the bill…
Houston-based Apache Energy found gas and associated liquid hydrocarbons in the Phoenix South-1 well off Western Australia, in the Roebuck basin, before a drill bit failure on 29 July. Over the past two weeks, Apache drilled to a depth…
Statoil released a video showing the Valemon topside arriving on 26 July 2014 near Stavanger, Norway after a 40-day trip from South Korea. The topsides set sail in June from the Geoje yard in South Korea, where Statoil contracted…
Portugal-based Galp Energia’s recent drilling campaign at the Tao-1 exploration well in the Tarfaya block off Morocco was unsuccessful, partner Tangiers Petroleum announced 28 July 2014. Australian-based Tangiers Petroleum, which holds 25% interest in the Tarfaya block…