When a major operator with extensive holdings on the US Gulf of Mexico shelf wanted to scale back the use of divers while ramping up decommissioning and platform removal activities, it turned to contractor Versabar, the company behind the Bottom Feeder heavy lift system…
As 2011 drew to a close, yet another Deepwater Horizon report surfaced, this time from the National Academy of Engineering. Russell McCulley reports on the findings, as well as other late-year news involving ongoing legal wrangling between BP and its Macondo contractors…
Global upstream spending ballooned by 47% in 2010, driven by substantial investments in the US and Latin America, IHS reported. In the IHS Herold 2011 Global Upstream Performance Review, the information service said capital spending among 221 oil & gas companies reached $558 billion in 2010…
U.S. Coast Guard photo of the Black Elk Energy production platformHouston-based Black Elk Energy vowed to continue searching for a missing contractor after the U.S. Coast Guard suspended efforts on Saturday offshore Louisiana, the company announced on 18 November 2012…
Smoke plume rising from Black Elk Energy production platformTwo contractors are missing and 11 were injured when an oil production platform offshore Louisiana caught on fire, the U.S. Coast Guard announced on 16 November 2012.At the time of the fire…
BP has won four deepwater exploration blocks offshore Nova Scotia, Canada, the supermajor confirmed on 16 November 2012.The Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board announced that BP bid a combined $1.04 billion for blocks five, six, seven and eight in the Call for Bids NS12-1…
AS BP incurs the largest fine in U.S. history - $4.5 billion - for its role in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, A grand jury in the Eastern district of Louisiana has returned indictments against three BP employees.Robert M. Kaluza, of Henderson…
Exmar's Opti-EX FPS in deployment at LLOG's Who Dat field in the Gulf of MexicoPrivate equity firm Blackstone Group has partnered with LLOG Exploration to invest $1.2 billion in the Louisiana-based company's Gulf of Mexico operations, the two companies announced on 13 November 2012…
Enbridge Inc. announced that it will build, own and operate a crude oil pipeline in the Gulf of Mexico to connect the proposed Heidelberg development, operated by Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, to an existing third-party pipeline system. The lateral pipeline is expected to be operational by 2016…
Saudi Aramco president and CEO Khalid Al-Falih has committed to opening a new technology center on Houston's northside, Houston Mayor Annise Parker announced on 11 November 2012.A press release put out by the mayor's office said the arrangement will bring 100 new jobs to the city…
Technip's Deep BlueShell has chosen Technip to develop subsea infrastructure at Cardamom field in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, the Paris-based engineering firm announced on 9 November 2012.Technip's lump sum contract covers project management…
Raytheon unveiled its latest surveillance cabin for the oil & gas market during demonstrations in Galveston, Texas, last month. Intended to improve incident management through maritime domain situational awareness, it has a number of potential…
Danny Hall, former VP of legacy company Jarvis Freight International, has been promoted to VP strategic business development for the Houston-based Crowley Maritime logistics group. David Higgs, former director of Crowley's product logistics…
Dominic Wright has joined Xodus as flow assurance lead in Houston. He has more than 10 years' subsea engineering experience.
Donald Bearb has been named assets and maintenance manager of Devin International, based in Lafayette. He served most recently as Devin's operations manager in Macaé, Brazil, and prior to that was with Weatherford International for 38 years.