Fincantieri has signed an agreement with a Russian research centre to define plans for a new drillship able to navigate in ice up to 1.5m thick. The Italian ship building firm has also won a contract with Russia's RosRAO, to build a semisubmersible…
The UK's Government has awarded a further 52 North Sea oil and gas exploration licenses, bringing the total number of awards offered in the 27th Round to 219. The figure represents a record, with the number of smaller independent companies being offered awards also representing a high level…
MSc papers from students studying at the University of Aberdeen and Robert Gordon University (RGU) were pitched against each other at the Aberdeen branch of the UK's Energy Institute’s annual student competition this week. Six students…
MacGregor has won a contract to deliver a comprehensive set of cranes to a new vessel under construction at the long-established Canadian shipyard, Chantier Davie Canada Inc. The vessel is scheduled for delivery by the end of Spring 2015…
Oilfield services company Archer is to cut staff and close some bases as part of a restructuring plan. The firm, which provides drilling and well services, said to accelerate margin improvements and adapt to the “highly competitive North American land market”…
ThoughtStream: Opinion The shift in oil demand from industrialized to emerging economies is one that we at Dana Petroleum know only too well. An impressive North Sea success story with modest but ambitious beginnings in Aberdeen in the mid-1990s…
The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced in mid-November that US$5 million would be allocated for seven US universities studying methane hydrates. “The recent boom in natural gas production - in part due to long-term Energy Department…
Prospector Offshore Drilling's new jack-up drilling rig, Prospector 1, arrived in the Cromarty Firth, Scotland today, after a two-month journey from its construction shipyard in Dalian, China. The jack-up features an advanced, fully-automated…
Drilling on the first exploration well in Tanzania's Block 7 has started, using the Deepsea Metro I drillship, said operator of Ophir Energy plc. The Mlinzi Mbali-1 well, in which fear has an 80% interest, is in 2600m water depth, 210km west of Dar es Salaam…
Alpha Petroleum (UK) Holdings Limited is the proposed buyer for ATP Oil and Gas UK Ltd (ATP UK), it has been revealed. Independent Oil and Gas plc, which is a partner in licenses operated by ATP UK, said US court documents posted today…
Italy's Eni has signed a string of agreements with Russian operators and a research institution, building its ties with the country. The first is a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Eni and Novatek, which sees the two firms agreeing…
Mermaid Maritime Public Co. Ltd. announced that its business units serving the Middle East have been awarded a suite of subsea services contracts. The work includes air diving services such as air diving for pipeline free-span correction and a subsea cable lay contract…
Italian oil major Eni has fired up its new petaflop-class supercomputer at its Green Data Center in Ferrera Erbognone, northern Italy. The supercomputer will support hydrocarbon exploration activities, providing the computing capacity…
Brian Salerno, director of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), cited 12 Gulf of Mexico (GOM) operators for failure to comply with the Safety and Environmental Management Systems (SEMS) requirements of the Workplace Safety Rule…
Fugro announced that it has wholly-acquired Advanced Geomechanics Pty Ltd. (AG) to become part of its global geoconsultancy practice. The nearly 20-year-old, Perth-based AG provides geotechnical and geophysical engineering and consulting services…