OE ’s analysis of current rig market data is updated monthly using statistics provided by Rigzone.comUtilization for the worldwide mobile offshore drilling fleet continues to track in the 74-75% range, about 7% below year ago levels. Global…
The oil & gas industry and analysts greeted President Obama’s offshore drilling plan as a step in the right direction. But subsequent events surrounding the Deepwater Horizon disaster (see Heavy losses in Horizon tragedy ) could complicate matters…
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…
When the P-61 tension leg wellhead platform (TLWP) begins operations at Petrobras' Papa Terra offshore Brazil in 2013, it will be the new kid on the block in more ways than one. Not only will the deepwater unit be the first TLWP facility off Brazil…
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…
Improving data integrationLandmark has developed a new integrated, asset-level production operations and optimization workflow solutions program called DecisionSpace for Production. The software is deployed in several deepwater FPSO environments…
Nigeria’s controversial oil reforms, long in the works, appear close to passage. The government hopes to shore up falling production and get a bigger share of oil profits. But IOCs doing business in the Delta are wary, as Russell McCulley reports…
Handling the loadCargotec is to deliver MacGregor offshore and subsea load-handling systems to a deepsea research vessel on order at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ Shimonoseki shipyard in Japan.‘This contract highlights Cargotec’s capacity and technological expertise in offshore load-handling…
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…
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…
With offshore maintenance costs soaring, Dutch firm Beele Engineering is anticipating keen interest in its ‘Rise’ extender frame which can be retrofitted onto cable and pipe transits on ships and platforms.--The system, which can be used for all A0-A60 multi-cable transits…
Flotel specialist Prosafe expects a good long-term demand for its accommodation rigs, with growth in activity in the North Sea from spring 2011 and in deepwater regions. Meg Chesshyre reviews recent developments at the world’s leading owner and operator of semisubmersible accommodation rigs…
Prosafe’s newest rival in the flotel market is Swedish company Floatel International, established by Bassoe Offshore and management in Gothenburg in late 2006 and run by an experienced management team comprising personnel from Consafe Offshore…
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…