In a perceptive and timely contribution to the ongoing Macondo debate, US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement director James Watson spelled out the key lessons learned from the disaster in a Houston Chronicle opinion piece last month…
The water depth record for conventional mooring offshore Brazil was improved by another 12m – to 2027m – by InterMoor recently under its one-year mooring and positioning support operations contract with Shell using the mobile offshore drilling unit Noble Clyde Boudreaux (pictured)…
BOEMRE director Michael Bromwich vows that deepwater drilling will return to the US Gulf of Mexico in the coming months, marking a return of exploration all but shut down after the Deepwater Horizon disaster. But the oil & gas industry remains skeptical…
In the run up to the Macondo trial, which was to begin in Louisiana late last month, the federal judge hearing the case ruled contracts between well operator BP and its contractors – including Transocean and Halliburton – indemnified the contractors…
In his opinion piece in last month's edition of Offshore Engineer, consultant Ian Fitzsimmons questioned whether the UK Health & Safety Executive's Offshore Division was fit for purpose in a post-Macondo world. Here, Steve Walker, head of the HSE's Offshore Division…
In a world where two things are certain – death and taxes – Arctic exploration does offer a certain amount of certainty: just a little bit of information can completely alter the way the industry views a specific Arctic area. Industry leaders…
A robust mergers & acquisitions market in the latter half of 2011, particularly in midstream, bodes well for deal making in 2012, according to Deloitte's Center for Energy Studies. But world events could throw a wrench into the M&A machine, as Russell McCulley reports…
A new line of fire-resistant cables, developed by Keystone with input from engineers, consultants and contractors involved in Chevron’s Gorgon LNG project, will feature on the Westrade Australia stand at this month’s Australasia Oil & Gas show (Perth…
Mexico’s state oil company plans to ramp up domestic production of crude oil to 2.7 million b/d next year and to 3 million b/d by 2017, buoyed by new shallow-water discoveries and enhanced recovery techniques in mature fields, a key member of…
Despite some concerns over the global economic outlook, oil & gas industry leaders are expecting improved performance and higher capital expenditures in 2012, according to an annual survey of top industry executives and directors.The study, Big…
High safety standards in oil & gas operations are better achieved when self-imposed, rather than through excessive government regulation, a leading Shell figure told delegates to this year's SPE ATCE in Denver. US editor Russell McCulley listened in…
Andrew McBarnet says it makes sense for the oil and gas E&P business to provide more independently researched evidence documenting best environmental practice in its operations. A recent fragment in the oil industry news cycle noted that electromagnetic…
The Macondo incident pushed oil spill response to the top of the environmental agenda. A recent contest let some innovative companies demonstrate spill response equipment – and for one of the event's technical advisors, Shell, to reassure the public that it intends to operate safely in Alaska…
BP has received approval from the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management for a supplemental exploration plan in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, the company’s first such approval since the April 2010 blowout and spill at its Macondo prospect and…
Mooring Chevron's Jack/St MaloMore than 164,000ft of polyester mooring rope plus accessories and field inspection support services are to be supplied by Parker Hannifin's energy products division for Chevron's Jack/ St Malo floating production unit…