Companies across the offshore supply spectrum used the recent downturn to take stock – either out of necessity or for strategic reasons – in order to reposition themselves for when the upturn finally kicked in. OE looks at one such company,…
With subsea infrastructure getting into ever deeper waters, umbilicals have had to shoulder an expanding load. Jennifer Pallanich talks to five leading SURF sector players about how the industry's thermoplastic and steel tube umbilicals have evolved…
The views expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect OE's position.Detesting cruel and unusual punishment, preventing double jeopardy and imposing statutes of limitations are basic tenets of the legal systems of democracies. A judiciary…
Data fetchingCoastal Flow Measurement has announced a new leasing program for its BirdDog Remote data Retrieval System, which provides access to information from monitored remote locations through a web interface as well as BirdDog Morning Reports delivered daily via e-mail…
The latest top end 3D graphics cards can now support GPU rendering for volume visualization and instantaneous processing of volume data. Paradigm's Huw James, Evgeny Ragoza and Tatyana Kostrova explain what this generation of cards makes possible…
A 2000ft plume of volcanic ash from Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull brought chaos and confusion to European airspace last year. North Sea offshore helicopter operators are accustomed to dealing high winds, driving rain and freezing fog, but how did they cope with this new phenomenon…
The old rivalry between ROV pilots and divers appears to be breaking down, as both sides recognize the considerable benefits of working together. Russell McCulley referees.--'When I started, it was taboo to even get near an ROV,' says Michael Johnson…
Even in an industry that thinks in decades, seconds count. As such, employees are seeking ways to speed up certain processes, such as collaboration. Once reserved for in-person visits and meetings, employees can now consult with one another through myriad means…
Jose Antonio Meade Kuribreña has been appointed Mexico's energy minister and chairman of the state oil company Pemex. Previously Mexico's deputy finance minister, Meade replaces Georgina Kessel, who had served as energy minister under President Felipe Calderón since 2006…
Cape Wind clears another hurdleThe Cape Wind offshore wind power project in January received a final permit from the US Environmental Protection Agency to begin construction of the first US offshore wind farm. The agency's approval came a…
During the recent inauguration of the new premises of Alstom Hydro Ocean Energy on the island of Nantes, the French group revealed some of the key characteristics of its Beluga 9 tidal electricity-generating turbine and announced it will undergo its first tests in Canada's Bay of Fundy in 2012…
The Oil Council's recent World Energy Capital assembly in London shone a light on the new generation of smaller companies from disparate backgrounds now beginning to make their presence felt on the international exploration and production stage…
For this specially extended edition of his monthly OE column, Professor Michael Economides invited famed horizontal drilling pioneer Jacques Bosio to collaborate on a piece discussing the provenance of this breakthrough technology and its continuing influence on oil & gas well design today…
Russell McCulley reviews recent developments and talking points in the offshore communications arena.Florida-based Harris Corporation followed its summer 2010, $525 million acquisition of CapRock Communications with the purchase of Schlumberger's Global Connectivity Services (GCS) in November…
New reports point, cautiously, to better times ahead for the industry in 2011. But uncertainty in the post-Macondo Gulf of Mexico remains, as Russell McCulley writes.World oil demand bounced back in 2010 to its 2007 all-time high, according to a December report from Wood Mackenzie…