Norway’s Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) has granted Wintershall Norge consent for exploration drilling at the Orion prospect in the North Sea with the Borgland Dolphin semisubmersible. The 35/11-19S well is located in production license 248…
Wintershall Norge has awarded a four-year service contract to support its exploration and development projects in Norway to Halliburton. The contract is effective immediately and will be used for drilling-associated services on Wintershall’s Maria development in the Norwegian Sea…
Maersk Training has signed a global framework agreement with Statoil to provide drilling simulation training for the next three years with an option to extend for additional two years. Statoil has identified a need for advanced drilling…
Drilling contractor Awilco Drilling posted zero revenues for Q1 this year and a net loss of US18.7 million, thanks to one rig being out of work and another undergoing work. While the firm has work for one of its two semisubmersible rigs…
Russian oil giant Rosneft has started drilling on the Lebedinskoye oil and gas condensate field, which sits under the Sea of Okhotsk, in Sakhalin region, Russia. It will drill a 5.3km-long, horizontal extend-reach well, drilled from the coast of Sakhalin Island…
Sparrows Group has been awarded a 20-month inspection services contract to cover Stena Drilling’s global fleet of drilling vessels. The agreement will see Sparrows Group deliver LOLER lifting gear surveys, potential dropped objects surveys…
Software that enables acoustic data to be streamed in real-time from subsea structures as they are installed has helped to reduce non-production time (NPT) for independent oil and gas producer, INPEX, and its survey contractor, Neptune Geomatics…
Fugro has begun a three-year period of metocean and ice data acquisition as part of the Barents Sea Metocean and Ice Network Project. The data will help operators to better understand relevant operational uncertainties and risk factors…
Pura Vida Energy has taken over operatorship in the Ambilobe block, offshore Madagascar, east Africa, following the withdrawal of Sterling Energy from the license. The move means Pura Vida now also has 100% interest in the license and means additional strategic options will be available…
Landmark, a Halliburton (HAL) business line and provider of exploration and production software, has released of EDT 5000.14 (Engineer’s Desktop), an upgrade to its integrated suite of well construction applications. The new EDT delivers…
US-based driller Atwood Oceanics has sold its semisubmersible drilling rig Atwood Falcon for recycling and scheduled the Atwood Eagle semisubmersible to be idled in May. The Atwood Eagle is in transit to Singapore and is being marketed…
Drilling giant Transocean swung back into profit in Q1 2016, despite revenues having hemorrhaged compared to Q1 2015. Rig utilization was 51% in Q1, compared with 60% in the prior quarter, and 79% in the same period last year. Utilization is lowest in the ultra-deepwater floater segment…
Cobalt International has struck its sixth pre-salt discovery offshore Angola. The firm made a 'significant condensate and gas' discovery on the Zalophus #1 pre-salt exploration well in Block 20 offshore Angola. It is the firm's third discovery on Block 20…
US-based explorer Kosmos Energy has agreed to farm-out a one third stake in its Block 42 contract area offshore Suriname to Hess. In return, Hess will fully fund the cost of a 6500sq km 3D seismic survey, expected to start in Q3 this year…
Dutch designer GustoMSC has launched its GustoMSC SmartCrane at this year's OTC in Houston. Gusto says the crane offers features to directly address the call for cost reduction from operators, while enabling increased efficiency and simultaneous operations (SIMOPS)…