National Oilwell Varco is acquiring California-based fiberglass pipe manufacturer Ameron International in a deal valued at approximately $772 million. Subject to Ameron shareholder approval, the transaction could close as early as the fourth quarter…
Andrew McBarnet detects a rebuilding of industry confidence in marine controlled source electromagnetic surveys after a troubled period for the operators of the technology.It is now almost exactly 10 years since a somewhat historic scientific…
At the EAGE annual meeting in Vienna Andrew McBarnet discerned a mood of surprising equanimity in the marine seismic community.Some titles are hard to live up to. So, even though the recent annual meeting of the European Association of Geoscientists…
Andrew McBarnet reviews some of the history of Norwegian marine seismic ventures to assess the aspirations of the latest entrant into the market.The launch of yet another Norwegian-inspired company dedicated to making its mark on the marine seismic business is so déjà vu…
Rowan Companies is selling all its shares in manufacturing subsidiary LeTourneau Technologies to Joy Global in a $1.1 billion cash deal. Rowan acquired LeTourneau, which built the majority of Rowan's jackup rig fleet, in 1994. Rowan president…
Greene's Energy Group has opened an operational base in Singapore to serve the company's Asia Pacific region. The 140,000ft2 location includes offices, a warehouse and heavy equipment yard space, and will provide a regional base for all of Greene's business divisions…
Pulse Structural Monitoring, a recent offshoot from 2H Offshore, is gearing up post Macondo to provide what it claims is the most comprehensive drilling riser monitoring service on the market, as Bill Clewes reports.Despite its environmental impact…
Within a fortnight of closing its $3 billion acquisition of compression, flow technology, measurement and distribution infrastructure provider Dresser, GE last month announced plans to lay out another $2.8 billion to secure the well support division of John Wood Group…
Ahead of the September launch of its second offshore licensing round, Uruguayan national oil company Ancap opened up a Houston data room in February in hopes of whetting IOC appetites. Jennifer Pallanich paid it an early visit.Uruguay Round II has fair bidding terms according to Santiago Ferro…
Reservoir isolation rethinkThe newly patented PowerBall from Aberdeen-based Red Spider turns traditional reservoir isolation barrier technology on its head by moving the mechanical parts of the ball mechanism below the closed ball area of the tool…
Jose Antonio Meade Kuribreña has been appointed Mexico's energy minister and chairman of the state oil company Pemex. Previously Mexico's deputy finance minister, Meade replaces Georgina Kessel, who had served as energy minister under President Felipe Calderón since 2006…
Reporting from last month’s SEG annual meeting in Denver, Andrew McBarnet finds marine seismic contractors frustrated by contract bidding woes.There is no question about what was bothering the marine seismic community at last month’s well attended…
Some new twists and turns have been added to the well chronicled travails of companies fighting an uphill battle to establish the use of marine controlled source electromagnetic (CSEM) technology for offshore hydrocarbon detection.Careful reading…
Schlumberger wrapped up its $11 billion purchase of Smith International at the end of August. Andrew Gould, chairman and CEO of Schlumberger, commented: ‘We are ready to begin the process of realizing the synergies made possible by this merger…
One or two recent asides from major seismic contractor bosses implies that they expect that the global seismic fleet to move closer to some kind of equilibrium next year where the supply of vessels is no longer so out of kilter with the demand for survey work…
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