UAE-based rig builder and fabrication firm Lamprell has been awarded a jackup construction contract by Abu Dhabi's National Drilling Co. (NDC). Image of the Muhaiyimat for National Drilling Co…
Baker Hughes Inc. issued its international rig count that showed 1251 rigs operating worldwide in March 2015 outside of the US and Canada. Unsurprisingly, global rig counts have dropped significantly due to an approximate 50% drop in crude oil prices since 2014…
An overboard incident on the Scarabeo 8 semisubmersible drilling unit offshore unit was caused by missing grating on the blowout preventer (BOP) carrier platform grating, a report by Norway's Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) says. The…
Norway-based Odfjell's newbuild deepwater semisubmersible Deepsea Aberdeen has started drilling operations under a seven-year contract with BP on the Quad 204 field development project West of Shetland, UK. Deepsea Aberdeen (pictured)…
The first well drilled using the new build jackup giant Maersk Interceptor (pictured) have reaped successful results for operator Det norske, the firm said this morning. The new unit, operating in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea…
NOV's senior vice president and chief financial officer, Jeremy D. Thigpen, has left the company effective immediately to become president and CEO of rig owner Transocean. Thigpen succeeds Ian C. Strachan who was appointed interim CEO…
Norway-based North Atlantic Drilling (NADL) and Russia's Rosneft recently agreed to extend the termination date of the 2014 framework agreement until May 31, 2017. The agreement states that either party can end the agreement, including any offshore drilling contracts…
The GSF Explorer drillship is next on the chopping block as Transocean decides to scrap its 19th rig, causing an estimated US$120 million hit to the company. The Transocean Sedco Express was awarded a 45-day contract…
Drill rig fleet operators are dropping dayrates as the market is squeezed due to the precipitous fall in global crude price. Industry insiders say dayrate bargaining by upstream companies is the play of the day. Rigs operating in the Middle East are particularly exposed…
Cobalt International Energy opted to plug and abandon its North Platte No. 2 appraisal well at Garden Banks Block 959 in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico due to a seal failure in the riser connection system, the company announced on 9 April. The well…
National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) president, Randall Luthi, joined API’s Jack Gerard and IADC’s Stephen Coleville this morning to discuss improvements in offshore safety since the Macondo Well accident five years ago. Luthi’s…
Dubai-based Drydocks World has completed a rig refurbishment project on Abu Dhabi-based National Drilling Company’s (NDC) offshore drilling rig jackup Beynouna in record time. The work on rig Beynouna, which included dry docking, hull treatment…
Neptune Marine Services has been awarded an 18-month rig positioning and mooring services contract for Apache Energy, in Australia. The contract is set to begin in May 2015, and come with two extension options. It will see Neptune…
Global rig provider Transocean said it will scrap two more rigs from its fleet taking the total number of floaters it is planning to scrap to 18, the company announced on 1 April 2015. The two rigs joining its soon to be departed brethren are the GSF Aleutian Key and Sedco 707…
Premier Oil’s first exploration well in its 2.1 billion bbl 2015 Falkland’s drilling campaign has confirmed the extension of the giant Sea Lion discovery. The 14/15b-5 Zebedee exploration well, using the Eirik Raude semisubmersible drilling rig…