North Sea News


UKCS production efficiency at 73%, more to be done

Jun 15, 2017

Production efficiency (PE) on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) has risen for a fourth consecutive year to 73%, according to a new publication released by the UK regulator, the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA). The increase in the measure, which…

RockRose closer to Maersk assets acquisition

Jun 15, 2017

The UK's Oil and Gas Authority has cleared Maersk Oil North Sea to assign its interest in license P218 to new independent RockRose Energy. The license contains the Scott (Maersk 5.16%) and Telford (Maersk 2.36%) fields. Scott and Telford are operated by Nexen through the Scott platform…

Decommissioning – will yards become a bottleneck?

Jun 14, 2017

The key to governing a late life oil province like the North Sea is getting the balance right between initiatives to maximize recovery in late life assets with the practicalities of planning for decommissioning. Fail on the first and…

Brasse commerciality confirmed

Jun 13, 2017

Faroe Petroleum has announced positive results from its Brasse appraisal well in the Norwegian North Sea, confirming Brasse as a commercial discovery. The firm says it now plans to perform a drill stem test (DST) and potentially side track the well…

Signs of light, but we're not out of the woods yet

Jun 13, 2017

Improvements in oil and gas contractor confidence both on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) and internationally suggests some businesses are seeing signs of recovery and are focused on the future, according to an industry report released today…

Odfjell inks Taqa drilling gig

Jun 12, 2017

TAQA Bratani has awarded Odfjell Drilling a contract for platform drilling and maintenance services on five of its platforms in the UK North Sea. The contract period is two years, with additional yearly options. The contract is planned to start Q3 2017…

Statoil inks Garantiana tieback study

Jun 12, 2017

Wood Group has been awarded two new contracts by Statoil to deliver concept and feasibility studies to their Norwegian North Sea assets. Wood Group will deliver a topside concept study evaluating the tie in of Total’s Garantiana field development to Statoil’s Gullfaks B and Visund facilities…

Talks with Xcite potential buyer near completion

Jun 08, 2017

Xcite Energy Ltd.’s (XEL) assets could have a new owner by month’s end, according to the firm handling XEL’s liquidation. In a 7 June letter, FTI Consulting said talks with one potential buyer to dispose of shares that XEL holds in Xcite Energy Resources are now in an advanced stage…

Decades left, but data sharing would mean a step change

Jun 06, 2017

Decades of life yet are left in the UK North Sea, but it's still all about reducing costs and finding more efficiencies, including through use of data.  Industry leaders gave these views at Oil & Gas UK’s Oil and Gas Industry Conference…

Cape lands BP North Sea renewal

Jun 05, 2017

Services firm Cape has been awarded contracts on Inpex's Ichthys LNG project and for work for BP in the North Sea. Cape Industrial Services secured two contracts, extending existing contracts, with BP in the UK North Sea for a further three years…

WesternGeco wins Gjøa 4D work

Jun 05, 2017

Engie E&P Norge has awarded Schlumberger company WesternGeco two contracts for acquisition and processing of towed 4D seismic data over the Gjøa license, in the northern part of the Norwegian North Sea. The acquisition will be performed with the vessel WesternGeco Magellan…

Repsol to decommission Buchan Alpha

Jun 02, 2017

Buchan Alpha. Image from Veolia Twitter. Repsol Sinopec Resources UK awarded Veolia the decommissioning job of the Buchan Alpha facility in the UK North Sea, which has ceased production on 12 May 2017 as planned…

Aker BP to use Transocean Arctic at Alvheim

Jun 01, 2017

Norway’s Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) says that Aker BP is approved to use the Transocean Arctic to drill two production wells on the Alvheim field in the North Sea. The two wells are designated 24/6-A-6 and 24/6-A-7 and are to be drilled in Boa…

Managing stick-slip

Jun 01, 2017

Mats Andersen, Stephen Forrester, and Andrew Creegan, of NOV, discuss how to overcome potentially damaging stick-slip issues and improve drilling performance rates. Figure 1 – The SoftSpeed II…

North Sea awe

Jun 01, 2017

The awe inspired during the early days of the North Sea industry was back and in full force for the world’s heaviest offshore lift. Elaine Maslin reports. Pioneering Spirit, closing in on Brent Delta…

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