The Obama administration selected Coast Guard veteran Brian Salerno as director of the US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE). Salerno previously served as a former Vice Admiral in the US Coast Guard. He will take over the position from James Watson…
Seadrill Ltd has entered into turnkey contracts to build four new ultra-deepwater drillships. Two drillships will be built at the DSME yard and the other two at the Samsung yard, in South Korea. The project value price is estimated to be…
A subsidiary of Atwood Oceanics has ordered a fourth ultra-deepwater drillship from South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME). The vessel, to be named the Atwood Archer, will be identical to the previously ordered Atwood Advantage…
GE Oil & Gas is launching its next-generation SeaONYX blowout preventer (BOP) surface control system and operator interface at the 2013 Offshore Technology Conference (OTC). Designed for high-speed, reliable performance in the demanding deepwater drilling environment…
Superior Energy Services’ Complete Automated Technology System (CATS) has been selected as a 2013 Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) Spotlight on New Technology award winner. CATS offers the industry safer operations, better well performance and lower costs through minimal crew size needs…
Oilfield services provider Oceaneering International is to provide a Transocean subsidiary with subsea blowout preventer control systems for three existing semisubmersibles. The contracts cover three discrete hydraulic systems. Transocean…
Variable Bore Rams struck a deal to supply Weatherford’s Asia Pacific subsidiary with blowout preventer rams. Equipment stocking began last month and includes multiple sizes of rams. “We hope that our presence in the Asia Pacific region will…
Apache shifts Cecil Provine rig to location Apache to move Rowan's Cecil Provine drilling rig to location for possible relief well (Image: Rowan)Apache evacuated 15 workers after experiencing a kick from an abnormally pressured gas zone…
Oceaneering to provide 3 BOP control systems Multiplex Control Pod (Image: Oceaneering) Oceaneering International, Inc. secured contracts with a subsidiary of Transocean Ltd. to provide three subsea blowout preventer (BOP) control systems…
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…
Newcastle-based umbilical systems supplier Duco landed the top honour – subsea company of the year – at the Subsea UK annual awards dinner in Aberdeen last month. The company has seen turnover increase year on year with over £100 million in new contracts awarded in 2011 alone…
Post-Macondo efforts to improve well containment capabilities on both sides of the Atlantic moved into higher gear last month.In the US it was confirmed that Technip will handle front- end engineering and design of a proposed subsea well containment…
BP in late August was in the final stages of permanently plugging the deepwater Gulf of Mexico Macondo exploration well, which spilled nearly 5 million barrels of oil between the 20 April blowout that destroyed the Deepwater Horizon rig and mid-July…
Four of the largest oil companies have pledged $1 billion to build a rapid response system designed to capture and contain oil in the event of another Macondo-style blowout in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.In a July 21 joint announcement, Chevron…
BP in mid-June began collecting oil & gas from the first phase of a system that taps into the choke and kill valves on the Macondo well's failed blowout preventer. The system employs the same flow lines and manifold used in the company's unsuccessful top kill attempt in May…