The mix of orders for all categories of drillings rigs continues, with Asia Pacific and Middle East shipyards and their overseas affiliates indicating a marked drift away from jackups and towards ever larger semisubmersibles and ultra-deepwater drillships…
The complexity and sheer scale of Total's Pazflor project in block 17 offshore Angola – the field covers 600km2, six times the surface area of Paris – was outlined at the recent Subsea Europe conference in Paris by Laurent Villard, the operator's SURF installation engineering leader…
Wood Group has launched a new company in Luanda in joint venture with its Angolan business partner Amílcar Nascimento. Wood Group Kianda, through which sister companies Mustang, Kenny and PSN will provide their services, kicks off with a contract…
The offshore yard of Hyundai Heavy Industries in Korea will start cutting steel for Dockwise's new marine transportation super vessel in September. David Morgan reports.Previously referred to as ‘Type 0' but officially named as Dockwise Vanguard on 19 August…
Planning and information are key to the successful realization of Petrobras’ ambitious plans to hoist pre-salt production levels from the current 100,000b/d to 1.08 million b/d inside ten years. Jennifer Pallanich listened in as José Formigli…
Cheese may never be far from the thoughts of the French. But what concerns classification and verification group Bureau Veritas is the holes in cheese – and more precisely how to avoid them. OE hears from BV offshore projects manager Jose Esteve…
Seaway Heavy Lifting will shortly take delivery of its second heavylift crane vessel, the state-of-the-art Oleg Strashnov. David Morgan looks at some of the new HLV 's novelties and niceties. The Oleg Strashnov has been a while coming…
Floating systems consultant Peter Lovie pinpoints some of the perils of speculative FPS building and wonders if the practice may now have become just too risky for operators or contractors to consider.In the service vessel business and in the…
Newly published Polar class vessel rules from French classification society Bureau Veritas are aimed at speeding Arctic and Caspian Sea oil and gas development by facilitating the building of tank, cargo and offshore service vessels which can operate unsupported by icebreakers in very heavy ice…
Ageing FPSOs present naval architect with GL – installed March 2000 in 90m potential safety challenges that the oil & gas industry is only now coming to terms with, according to GL Noble Denton. ‘There have been over 200 floating production system deployments…
Global demand for floating hardware continues apace. David Morgan and Meg Chesshyre review recent support & supply sector initiatives and innovations targeting offshore platforms and rigs.Drilling riser departure A high pressure marine riser…
The pre-salt Tupi field may claim most of the interest when it comes to oil activity offshore Brazil, but plenty is going on along the large country's coastline. In the last two months, Petrobras has brought online two fields, updated its files…
Shell's solution for dealing with the heavy oil at the low-energy BC-10 concession offshore Brazil – caisson separator electrical submersible pumps - is working ‘outstandingly' well according to the field's project manager. Jennifer Pallanich…
Brazilian operator Petrobras expects to initiate production from a new reservoir to existing facilities in Modules 1 and 2 of its deepwater Marlim Sul field this summer and bring a third module onstream via the P-56 semi early next year. Asset…
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…