The accurate application of torque in both installation and maintenance of pipeline and wellhead assets is vital to ensuring equipment is fully operational in remote and hostile subsea locations. Norbar Torque Tools' technical manager Mark Woodward discusses recent advances in this sector…
Ever-alert to the need to hone its competitive edge, the drilling technologies business unit of Aker Solutions is looking to take its service offering to an unrivalled level of sophistication with the new drawworks extended test facility in Erkelenz…
With the scene now apparently set for a long-awaited global decommissioning drive, RBG director Roger Esson discusses what it takes to retire offshore installations safely and efficiently.Despite the high oil price and drive to extract more reserves from existing fields…
Time is running short for a collaborative and cost-efficient approach to decommissioning, believes Optimus consultant Stuart Heggie.Perhaps understandably, governments and operators have put off decommissioning as much as possible. However,…
Aberdeen-based specialist explosives service provider Spex Services launched a new division earlier this year to capitalise on the business opportunities opening up in the decommissioning and salvage sectors. The company operates from three bases…
Seeking to establish itself as the national strategic centre of excellence for subsea research, the National Subsea Research Institute (NSRI) recently unveiled the future focus for its ground-breaking research – and the accent will be very much…
Letters of intent for the removal of two redundant North Sea platforms, H7 and 2/4-S, have been awarded by Statoil on behalf of operator Gassco. AF Decom Offshore will remove and sell H7, while Saipem UK will remove 2/4-S. Both installations are to be removed by the end of 2014…
The benefits of 'remote open close' technology are increasingly being sought out by operators as a new way to approach well interventions and completions, particularly in deepwater and subsea applications where rig time savings are critical…
The proliferation of modern specialist vessels serving just about every sector of the offshore oil & gas business has not gone unnoticed by traditional shipping industry equipment and service providers, as was plain to see at the 2011 Nor-Shipping event in Oslo late May…
Statoil last month launched a campaign urging the UK to make natural gas a key component in its long-term future energy. The operator argues gas can be an important part of securing UK energy supplies and cutting CO2 emissions, although political…
Offshore sector M&A activity continues apace, with Aberdeen-based ‘inspect, assess and repair' services provider RBG among the latest players to change hands. Meg Chesshyre talks to RBG chief executive Dave Workman about the background to –…
A decade after acquiring Kvaerner, Aker Solutions is preparing a demerger that will spin the company off as a separate, fully fledged EPC contractor – with concrete gravity base structures (GBS) very much on its agenda.Legacy company Norwegian…
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…
When KBR bought out JGC's near 45% stake in MW Kellogg earlier this year making it a wholly-owned subsidiary, the resulting ‘London Operating Centre' – combining major UK bases in Greenford and Leatherhead with over 2600 staff – emerged as KBR's largest entity globally…
The UK offshore industry recognised that a key component to achieving a reduction in offshore hazards and incidents was to improve basic safety training for all personnel. OE looks at the e-learning programme designed to achieve that goal and now ready for roll out internationally…