Floating systems consultant Peter Lovie offers his personal take on the debt crisis facing round FPSO pioneer Sevan and the unexpected challenges encountered by the US Gulf of Mexico's first FPSO .Sevan brought the first round FPSOs into operation…
Statoil may not have the biggest R&D budget, but company officials say the operator's technological track record on the Norwegian continental shelf will help it push recovery rates to new highs and create the first subsea factory, including seafloor separation…
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…
Two platform supply vessels under construction at Louisiana's Harvey Gulf International Marine will use LNG as a propulsion fuel, a first for the US. Russell McCulley hears from Harvey Gulf and others about the move to LNG fuel in the offshore oil & gas market…
Energy companies and conservationists have joined forces in a novel effort to protect Louisiana’s coastal wetlands using recycled plastic bottles to create floating ‘islands’ offshore one of the state’s most threatened ecosystems.The technology…
A federal investigation into the 2010 Macondo disaster does not pinpoint what caused the well's cement job to fail, but backs up earlier conclusions that operator BP and its contractors skirted safety measures that could have prevented the blowout…
Despite a reputation for ‘cumbersome’ contract processes, recent oil & gas sector reforms have created a more favorable investment climate at Mexican state oil company Petróleos Mexicanos, a Pemex official told the 2011 Petroleum Exposition & Conference of Mexico in Villahermosa…
Increased economic activity, more jobs and a 70% rise in spending are predicted for the Gulf of Mexico offshore oil & gas industry by 2013 – provided permitting returns to pre-moratorium levels. Katie Jernigan looks at the region’s latest economic impact analysis…
Technological barriers and operator requirements can limit the possibilities available to offshore design teams when it comes to engineering a production riser plan for a deepwater facility. Hybrid solutions and composites will offer some relief…
An internal Transocean investigation into the explosion and loss of the Deepwater Horizon found that the tragedy was the result of ‘compromised' well integrity due to a series of well design, construction and temporary abandonment decisions made by operator BP…
The Deepwater Horizon's blowout preventer was a victim of the Macondo disaster, not the perpetrator. So says consultant Ian Fitzsimmons in his latest think piece for OE which takes issue with some of the findings of DNV's forensic study of the…
Long content to remain under the radar, Louisiana's LLOG is set to make a big splash with its first Gulf of Mexico deepwater development using a floating production system. Russell McCulley joins LLOG officials at the company's new digs north of New Orleans to talk about the Who Dat project…
In 2010, ShawCor picked up an OTC Spotlight on Technology award for its Thermotite Ultra pipe insulation coating system. That summer, two of the company's divisions, Bredero Shaw and Bredero Shaw FJS, put the technology to use on a reeled pipeline…
The US Coast Guard in April released a report on its investigation into BP's Deepwater Horizon disaster, just weeks after DNV delivered the results of its forensic examination of the Macondo blowout preventer. Both will inform the Joint Investigation Team's final report…
Responding to consultant Ian Fitzsimmons' recent remarks in OE about BP's accident investigation report on the Gulf of Mexico's Macondo well disaster, drilling specialist Dr John Thorogood argues that it's time to stop pointing the accusatory finger and start learning the human factors lesson…