Elaine Maslin reports on the Southern North Sea 2013 Conference, organized by East of England Group With a large fleet of often unmanned and aging platforms, operators in the predominantly gas producing Southern North Sea (SNS) are having to face asset integrity issues head on…
The Skarv FPSO is BP’s first Norwegian greenfield project since 2001. Elaine Maslin explains the details. Sitting just 50km from the Arctic Circle in 350-450m of harsh waters, the Skarv FPSO is a milestone for BP. It is the firm’s first…
Ecosse Subsea Systems (ESS) has reported a successful start to a 10-week boulder clearing and trenching campaign on the Baltic 2 offshore wind farm project. Mobilised onboard the Siem Topaz anchor handling vessel, Ecosse Subsea’s SCAR subsea…
MacGregor, part of Cargotec, has secured its third identical offshore crane contract for Volstad Maritime AS series of 125m offshore construction vessels being built by Bergen Group Fosen shipyard in Norway. The order is booked in the first quarter 2013 order intake…
North Star Shipping, a division of the family-owned global shipping and energy services firm The Craig Group, has been awarded a major contract with BP with a value of £63million. The multi-service contract is for five years with a possible extension of five years and includes tanker assist…
The outgoing chief executive of Norwegian state-owned oil firm Petoro is to join Aibel as chairman. Kjell Pedersen has a degree in petroleum engineering from Trondheim and had a long career in Exxon/ExxonMobil before joining Petoro in 2001…
Bridge, the Oslo Børs and AIM listed oil and gas exploration and production company, is pleased to announce that the drilling of exploration well 6406/6-3 has commenced. The well will target the Mjøsa gas prospect, which is located 10 km northeast…
Premier Oil's Huntington field in the central North Sea came on stream on Friday using Sevan Marine's Voyageur Spirit FPSO.After an initial ramp up period, the field is expected to produce 25-30 kboepd (gross), said Premier. For Premier it is…
2012 was a big year for marine seismic in NW Europe. Andrew McBarnet asks whether we can expect a repeat in 2013. The summer season offshore NW Europe is often seen as the bellwether of the marine seismic industry’s state of health. This was definitely the case in 2012…
The global rig market is strong, with high utilization, high day rates, and nearly 200 offshore drilling rigs under construction. Drilling contractors are changing their fleet makeup, modernizing, streamlining, and concentrating on market sectors…
Newcastle University is to lead a national centre for subsea and offshore engineering as part of a major drive to develop new materials and technologies to explore the world’s oceans. The Neptune National Centre for Subsea and Offshore Engineering…
Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) has announced it won a US$1.9 billion order to build a Floating Production Storage and Offloading unit (FPSO) for Chevron North Sea Ltd. Hyundai Heavy will carry out engineering, procurement, and construction…
Bibby Remote Intervention Limited (BRIL) has successfully secured a contract with the potential of a seven year commitment. Centrica Energy has awarded a three year contract with two, two year extension options, worth up to £40million. It is the largest Inspection…
Jacking gears are by definition the most characteristic systems of self-elevating units and jack-ups. However, this gear remains often neglected on board, with a high potential for dire consequences.Damaged jacking gear (Image: WillTeco)In order to achieve higher availability…
Aker Solutions has won a contract to provide hook-up, commissioning and facility management services to Premier Oil at the operator's Solan field development, west of Shetland.The hook-up project will see two subsea production and two subsea…