Austrian integrated energy firm OMV has boosted its UK west of Shetland holdings after agreeing to buy four licenses in the area from Hess, including the Cambo field and the Blackrock prospect, for US$50 million. Depending on future developments…
Statoil Petroleum has discovered hydrocarbons in wildcat well 34/8-17 S in production license 120 in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. The well was drilled on the north-east flank of the Visund field, in the northern part of the North Sea…
ITF, the Industry Technology Facilitator, has started a joint industry pptoject (JIP) with Tullow Oil to establish a comprehensive, global wells and completions reliability database and is urging more operators to join the project. The…
Luxembourg-based investment firm JACCAR Holdings has made a takeover bid for French offshore vessel owner Bourbon. JACCAR, the private, maritime sector-focused, investment company of Jacques de Chateauvieux, Bourbon’s chairman, already directly owns 26…
Cairn Energy has said it is committed to its planned 2014 operations, but that spending beyond then is being looked at closely as its awaits resolution of tax issues in India. The Edinburgh-based firm says spending beyond 2014 would depend…
Shipbuilding firm Vard has set up a new subsidiary for ship design, engineering and sales activities in Canada. Vard Marine Inc. is a ship design and marine engineering company providing solutions for offshore and specialized vessels such as offshore support…
Saipem has been contracted by South Stream Transport for the construction of the first line of the South Stream Offshore Pipeline, from Russia to Bulgaria across the Black Sea, for a total value of about US$2.7 billion. The South Stream…
Cairn Energy's JM-1 well, offshore Morocco, is to be plugged and abandoned without testing, after funding heavy oil. The JM-1 well (operated by Cairn with 37.5% WI) was drilled to evaluate Upper Jurassic and Middle Jurassic objectives…
Germany’s RWE Aktiengesellschaft has conditionally agreed to sell its exploration and production firm subsidiary RWE Dea AG to Russian-backed LetterOne Group for about Euro 5.1 billion (US$7 billion). LetterOne was founded last year as an investment vehicle…
GE formally opened its newly expanded oil and gas facility in Fót, Hungary. The GE Oil & Gas manufacturing plant has been substantially enlarged with the addition of a new 8000sq m manufacturing facility and a new office building of 3000sq m…
Germany-based crude oil and natural gas producer is planning to divest its shareholding in the Eastern German company Verbundnetz Gas AG (VNG) as part of its strategy to concentrate on the upstream sector. A 24 March agreement will see EWE Aktiengesellschaft take over Wintershall’s 15…
An inquiry into the 2009 North Sea helicopter crash, in which 16 men lost their lives, found that had three failures by aircraft operator Bond Offshore Helicopters not happened, the incident 'might' have been avoided. The Fatal Accident…
Wrench time has been highlighted as one of the key areas the UK offshore oil and gas industry needs to address to improve production efficiency levels. Average wrench time - the amount of time spent working on a mechanical project, either…
Chevron’s leadership set out the oil major’s plans out to 2020 this week, including eying exploration opportunities offshore Greenland, to maintain its reserves hopper. Chevron is planning 20% production growth, from 2.6MMboe/d in 2013…
Ship designer and builder Vard Holdings has agreed a letter of intent with Solstad Offshore for the design and construction of a large offshore subsea construction vessel (OSCV). The contract will be the largest single vessel order in…