With well costs escalating to consume up to half of a project’s funding, operators are seeking ways to trim costs. During IADC’s Deepwater Drilling conference in Rio de Janeiro in March, operators discussed some of their strategies to trim costs…
Two recently published reports point to a speedy recovery for offshore E&P. The deepwater sector of the oil & gas business should recover quickly from the economic downturn and resume the growth the sector enjoyed before the recession, suggests a new report from Douglas-Westwood…
Late in the evening 20 April, an explosion rocked the deck of the Deepwater Horizon and set off a fire that raged for 36 hours before the Transocean semisubmersible plunged to the seafloor 5000ft below. As OE went to press, operator BP and other…
Two competing gas transportation projects in southern Europe could be combined to increase the future security of European gas supply, Eni chief executive Paolo Scaroni told CeraWeek attendees in Houston in March. According to Scaroni, combining…
While operating in Brazil’s pre-salt region does require an array of technologies, Petrobras CEO Jose Gabrielli told a Houston lunch that a bigger challenge lies in meeting logistical demands for operating in deep waters offshore. During the Brazil-Texas Chamber of Commerce event in March…
‘It seems the world is feeling better,’ observed Talisman Energy president and CEO John Manzoni, striking an optimistic note in his keynote speech at the recent IP dinner in London. But, he wondered, is the oil & gas industry ready to drive…
Operating in the marine seismic environment requires the ability to constantly adapt and chase down the opportunities. Andrew McBarnet describes how fortunes tend to favour the big rather than the brave.It’s business as usual’ has got to be something of a misnomer in commercial life…
Rapid technological and market developments in the offshore industry over the past five years have put pressure on class to develop rules and notations for a new generation of specialised well-intervention offshore vessels. DNV's Alexander Wardwell reports…
The shaky economic recovery could be threatened if US energy policies push up prices, ExxonMobil chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson said in Houston last month.‘You can raise taxes, raise royalties – it's going to ultimately increase the cost of energy…
In 2007, OGX was but a dream of Brazilian entrepreneur Eike Batista. In the course of three short years, the company secured financing for leases, bid on and won shallow water blocks, secured drilling rigs, hired about 150 staff, tallied six…
The scheduled 2012 lease sale offshore Virginia will proceed, even without the environmental impact studies necessary to allow oil & gas exploration in place, according to MMS director Liz Burnham.The sale – the first on the US Atlantic OCS…
Compact Azipod units promise the means of producing more efficient thrust for drilling vessels, saving fuel cost and cutting emissions. OE hears from developer ABB Marine.Bunker prices for the IFO380 grade fuel used by the majority of ships were on the rise at time of writing…
The trend toward putting more and more production equipment on the seabed – and in increasingly deeper waters – strongly challenges the offshore construction industry to continuously improve their ability to perform such activities in a safe and cost-effective manner…
Japan Drilling Company’s semisubmersible drilling rig Hakuryu-5 was recently upgraded with Exmar Offshore’s Deepdish pontoon sponson, an innovative combination of pontoon sponsons and integrated cross bracing designed to increase the capabilities and operating life of ageing rigs…
Mounted onboard the GDF Suez E&P Nederland chartered multi-purpose supply vessel REM Mermaid, Offshore Solutions BV’s offshore access system has notched up over 1000 operational connections without any lost time incidents. The OAS, a heave compensated…