Douglas Westwood News

 

Underwater autonomy

Oct 01, 2016

There’s potential for growth in the AUV market. However, operators and manufacturers will need to clearly demonstrate the benefits of the technology if they’re to move beyond being a niche solution. Douglas-Westwood’s Ben Wilby explains. BG…

Tech transformation in survey market

Sep 05, 2016

Offshore surveys are a necessary precursor for both oil and gas (O&G) and renewable energy installations on the seafloor. Particularly for new projects in remote regions, surveys (oceanographic, geotechnical, geophysical etc.) are critical for successful project design and implementation…

Keeping afloat

Sep 01, 2016

The market for floating production systems may have stalled, but FPSs will still be a key part of the offshore technology tool kit, outlines Douglas-Westwood’s Ben Wilby. The FPSO Cidade de Saquarema…

Petrobras to offer nine shallow water fields

Jul 05, 2016

Petróleo Brasileiro (Petrobras) is offering nine shallow water fields located in the states of Ceará and Sergipe, in a competitive process. Image from Petrobras. The Brazilian…

DW: Deepwater recovery not likely until 2020s

Jul 05, 2016

While outages in Canada and Nigeria have helped a rally in oil prices, the outlook for 2017 isn't looking favorable as new projects come online, says Douglas Westwood.  Matt Cook, who has authored the firm's World Drilling and Production…

Strong tailwinds

Jun 14, 2016

Offshore wind is headed toward new highs with the North Sea region serving as the backbone of the global market, says Douglas-Westwood’s Celia Hayes. Image from iStock. The offshore…

Douglas-Westwood: floating production on the rise

Jun 07, 2016

Last year was a challenging year for the floating production systems (FPS) market. The low oil price threatened the commerciality of numerous projects, delay announcements for FPS units under construction arrived regularly and overall only four orders were placed…

North Sea opportunity knocks

Jun 01, 2016

The UK North Sea is expected to dominate the decommissioning market from 2016-2040. How much it will cost depends on the success of vessels such as Allseas’ Pioneering Spirit, says Douglas-Westwood’s Ben Wilby. Pioneering Spirit with the Lorelay…

DW: Oil price uptick coming?

Apr 25, 2016

Scanning the newspapers, social media and analyst coverage this year, there is consensus that a recovery in oil prices is coming, as a function of a reduction in over-supply, and that we should expect upward movement in prices later this year…

UKCS tax cuts, on reflection not so great

Apr 01, 2016

Mid-March, the UK Government made a headline grabbing announcement – taxes would be halved for the ailing North Sea industry.  Chancellor George Osborne said he would cut a supplementary charge on operators (a tax in addition to corporation tax) from 20% to 10%…

DW: West Africa deepwater falls a further 44%

Mar 21, 2016

Douglas Westwood (DW) has revised its outlook considerably for West Africa’s deepwater prospects by 44% amid project delays and cancelations.   A year ago, DW said that exploration and production (E&P) companies within West Africa were…

Keppel FELS names Floatel's latest unit

Mar 11, 2016

Singapore's Keppel FELS is on track to deliver a fifth high-specification accommodation semisubmersible to Floatel International following the unit's naming ceremony today.  Once delivered, the Floatel Triumph semisubmersible, built to Keppel's proprietary SSAUTM 5000NG design…

DW: deepwater spend forecast drops 35%

Mar 08, 2016

Douglas-Westwood (DW) forecasts deepwater expenditure to total US$137 billion from 2016-2020. This represents a 35% decline compared to DW’s previous edition of the deepwater forecast issued March 2015. The prolonged low oil price has impacted the deepwater market…

A new marine model required?

Feb 22, 2016

The protracted low price environment is pushing the offshore marine supply chain to breaking point. Rig managers, offshore support vessel (OSV) contractors and subsea vessel owners are trading at 60-70% discounts to 2013 highs and every week seems to usher in a new wave of profit warnings…

Decommissioning boom to be driven by UK

Feb 01, 2016

The oil price collapse has been bad news for nearly every company involved in the industry, but one group that could actually benefit from it are specialist decommissioning companies. For these companies, there is an opportunity to be…

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