Getting the drilling facilities design process right not only ensures the operator gets the ideal rig for the job but also increases HSE and operational efficiencies and cuts rig construction and commissioning costs. Andy Kay and Rodrigo Rendon discuss the RDS approach…
Statoil will launch a drilling campaign in the Norwegian Barents Sea before the end of the year with four exploration wells in the Skrugard area, the company announced at this year’s Offshore Northern Seas (ONS) conference in Stavanger. But its Arctic ambitions go much farther…
The effective development of low-permeability tight gas reservoir resources requires operational efficiency to improve production performance. Erik Schrama, Robin Naughton-Rumbo and Fred van der Bas, Shell; Josef Shaoul, Fenix Consulting Delft…
Baker Hughes has expanded its SmartCare line of products to include what the company describes as ‘more environmentally responsible’ drilling and completion fluids, production chemicals and additives used in cementing and stimulation procedures…
Alderley has launched a new division specialising in the provision of metering solutions for brownfield modifications and ageing systems. Alderley Metering Solutions’ multi-disciplined team of engineers will provide local support and services…
Halliburton’s Boots & Coots has acquired Old School Services to enhance its pressure control offerings and provide operators with the throughtubing equipment resources required by today’s rapidly growing unconventionals, horizontal drilling and multistage completions markets…
Whisper it quietly, but the long-promised dawn of serious and sustainable North Sea decommissioning sector activity may have arrived at last. Extensive planning and preparation are currently under way in the sector as countries around the North…
The worldwide mobile offshore drilling fleet has seen modest but steady increases in utilization since the beginning of the year. Currently, worldwide utilization stands at 78% whereas at the start of the year it was hovering around 73%.Recently…
The 'digital oilfield' has been talked about for decades, been in practice for several years, but has not yet become a complete reality. despite its early promise, one issue that has consistently impeded the digital oilfield is the management…
Drilling and completing the Dutch North Sea's first intelligent auto-gas lift tri-lateral subsea oil and gas well helped transform the highly marginal Van Ghent discovery into an economically robust development. Dana Petroleum Netherlands's Michiel van der Most…
Aberdeen-based deepwater buoyancy, insulation and elastomer product specialist Balmoral Offshore Engineering introduced two additions to its drill riser buoyancy portfolio. The new syntactic foams, Durafloat Superlite and Durafloat Superlite-X…
GE is developing a new oil & gas training facility in Houston at a cost of $10 million. Scheduled to open 4Q 2012, the 50,000ft2 GE Drilling Systems Technology Center ‘will focus on customer, technical and leadership skills aimed to meet…
Ulterra opened a stock point for its matrix and steel body PDC bits in Hammond, Louisiana, last month. Overseen by Rob Smith, and strategically located just 46 miles east of Baton Rouge and 58 miles northwest of New Orleans, the new facility will support Gulf Coast drilling operations.
ENSCO 8505, the sixth in a series of seven ultra-deepwater semisubmersibles, recently arrived in Texas for final trials before launching a two-year stint under contract to Anadarko, Apache and Noble Energy in the Gulf of Mexico. Russell McCulley was on hand in Corpus Christi…
The water depth record for conventional mooring offshore Brazil was improved by another 12m – to 2027m – by InterMoor recently under its one-year mooring and positioning support operations contract with Shell using the mobile offshore drilling unit Noble Clyde Boudreaux (pictured)…