Robert Bachman, a friend and a distinguished reservoir engineer from Calgary, sent me an e-mail on 11 November 2011: ‘Michael, I am really looking forward to your comments on the Keystone debacle. You know as well as I do that the US has just stabbed their best friend in the back…
‘BW Offshore's Yùum K'ak' Náab FPSO has been producing Pemex' KMZ field in the Mexican sector of the Gulf of Mexico since 2007. BW is also supplying the first FPSO for the US sector of the Gulf of Mexico. The BW Pioneer is moored at Petrobras'…
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…
Citing a ‘renewed culture of safety' taking hold in the offshore oil & gas industry, the co-chairman of the presidential commission set up to investigate the Macondo disaster told attendees at the March CeraWeek conference in Houston that the…
New software developed by naval architects and marine engineering consultants Safety at Sea to address the International Maritime Organization's challenging regulations on a ship's safe return offers potential for aspects of offshore vessel design…
‘An exciting future for the subsea business' was predicted by Ross Kinnear, head of subsea operations in BP's North Sea SPU, when he addressed Subsea UK's annual flagship conference in Aberdeen last month. David Morgan reviews some of the Subsea 2011 highlights…
Ice floes are not the only threat to Arctic offshore infrastructure; pipework in the region is also extremely vulnerable to corrosion. Jennifer Pallanich discusses cold climate corrosion control techniques with NAC E International's Oliver Moghissi…
New and expanding regulations governing the growing number of ageing offshore oilfields are pushing the industry to develop safe, innovative and fit-for-purpose technologies for well plug and abandonment (P&A) operations and late-stage interventions…
The traditionally risk-averse offshore oil & gas industry has long relied on not just following regulations set out by governments but also requirements outlined by classification societies to ensure their operations are safe. As water depths…
Mexico's latest licensing round only the second in state oil company Pemex's long history, made possible by recent exploration & production contract reforms failed to draw a successful bid for the offshore blocks on offer. Russell McCulley talks to Juan Carlos Zepeda Molina…
Regulatory enhancements prompted by the macondo disaster now require operators to submit a worst-case discharge (WCd) scenario report prior to obtaining a drilling permit in US offshore fields. How to model WCd for offshore wells in compliance…
OE's latest review of deepwater subsea tieback projects ongoing in the Gulf of Mexico shows the region is still suffering from the after-effects of the drilling moratorium that followed in the April 2010 Macondo disaster's wake. Jennifer Pallanich…
Mexicans go to the polls 1 July to elect a new president and congress. Polls suggest big gains for the institutional Revolutionary Party which dominated post-revolutionary Mexican politics for seven decades. Will a new administration have the…
Two years after Macondo, BP launched an all-out effort at OTC 2012 to demonstrate its commitment to safety and to its future in the Gulf of Mexico. Russell McCulley reports.Among the many legacies of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon blowout is what's…
A fit-for-purpose capping stack designed to cope with Alaska’s environmental extremes will play a key role in the US Bureau of Safety & Environmental Enforcement (BSEE)-compliant containment system Shell Exploration & Production has put together…