Varel UK has signed a collaborative project with the University of Aberdeen to design and develop a new drill bit, which addresses the unique challenges of drilling in Resonance Enhanced Drilling (RED) mode. Resonance Enhanced Drilling…
Faroe Petroleum has agreed to acquire a further 13.9935% interest in the producing Blane field in the UK North Sea from JX Nippon Exploration and Production for US$5.25 million. The field is a subsea tie-back to the Ula platform (Faroe 20%)…
Statoil and its partners have started production from the US$126 million (NOK 1 billion) Byrding field in the Norwegian North Sea. The project cost is down from the original estimate of $440 million (NOK 3.5 billion). Byrding is an 11 MMboe recoverable field north of the Troll field…
Saipem and Petrobel have finalized offshore contract variations worth US$900 million for engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) activities in relation to the “Optimised Ramp Up” phase of the “supergiant” Zohr field development project offshore Egypt…
Heerema Fabrication Group has been awarded the procurement and construction contract of the Albatros offshore transformer module (OTM) by Siemens AG on behalf of EnBW Energy. The 1000-tonne OTM will be part of the Albatros offshore wind farm project…
The UK's Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) has launched the 30th Offshore Licensing Round, with 813 blocks or part blocks on offer in mature areas of the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS), covering a total 114,426sq km. Image from iStock…
Island Constructor. Image from Island Offshore. Norway’s Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) has granted Norske Shell consent to use the Island Constructor mobile drilling facility for the start-up of well 6407/9-G-5 on the Draugen field…
Offshore engineering firm Aquaterra Energy has secured a multi-million pound investment from EV Private Equity as the company gears up for service expansion and new technology launches. The deal is the first to be agreed following EV’s…
Nearly two years after a failed attempt, oilfield services giant Schlumberger is set to acquire a majority stake in Eurasia Drilling Co. (EDC). The Astra jackup. Image from EDC. Schlumberger…
Danish oil firm Maersk Oil has set out its concept for a full redevelopment of the Tyra field on the Danish Continental Shelf.
As part of a three year contract with Lloyd’s Register (LR), the Oil & Gas Authority (OGA) has released their first set of Regional Geological maps and data sets, which cover the UK Central North Sea and Moray Firth. Henk Kombrink, Senior…
All three of Maersk Oil's Culzean high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) development jackets have been installed in the UK North Sea. Maersk says they were installed on time and on budget, about 145mi east of Aberdeen and is estimated to produce between 60…
A Eurostars-funded joint industry project (JIP) led by Akselos and LICengineering has announced the signing of Royal Dutch Shell as the first operator to participate in the two-year digital twin initiative. The JIP is focused on advancing…
Industry guidelines designed to boost production efficiency in the UK Continental Shelf have been published by Oil & Gas UK. Between 2004-2012, the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) faced the significant challenge of a sustained decline in levels of production efficiency (PE)…
The Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) has released a tranche of UK Continental Shelf data in an effort to help revitalize exploration in the basin. The latest data release follows the publication of a suite of subsurface data packages in June…