Aberdeen-based independent explorer Xcite Energy Resources (XER) has agreed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Teekay Shipping Norway on the use of a floating production facility for its Bentley heavy oil field in the North Sea. The…
Production has started on the first new Statoil-operated platform on the Norwegian Continental Shelf since 2005. The Gudrun oil and gas field, in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea, is also the first new to be operated by Statoil from the Stavanger region since Sleipner in 1993…
Heat transfer, separation and fluid handling firm Alfa Laval has agreed to buy submerged pump systems firm Frank Mohn AS for NOK 13 billion from Wimoh AS. Alfa Laval said the move, which includes the Framo brand products, would strengthen its fluid handling portfolio…
A team of US BSEE engineers and inspectors conducted a safety inspection of the first FPSO (floating production storage and offloading) vessel designed and built for containment use in the Gulf of Mexico. The pre-production inspection is…
ION Geophysical Corp. today announced it has been awarded permits to acquire 12,600km of seismic data offshore Peru. The 2D multi-client survey, known as PeruSPAN, covers the offshore margin from the Talara basin in the north, to the Pisco basin in the south…
Are the UK's fractured basement reservoirs ripe for exploitation? Hurricane Energy's Robert Trice explains why he believes they are. The potential of fractured basement reservoirs is often overlooked by explorers, yet there are numerous…
Deepwater drilling is no longer just about exploration. Lars Eirik Nocolaisen looks at market sentiment and potential reality. Reporting season 1Q 2014 saw deepwater drillers’ reporting numbers in-line with expectations, but still stock prices have plummeted…
ION Geophysical Corp. today announced it is collaborating with UAE-based Polarcus to acquire a new 4000sq km, 3D multi-client seismic survey offshore southwest Ireland, the first major survey of the significantly underexplored deepwater Southern Porcupine basin…
Market drivers point to a slowdown in new project activity, Ian Simpson and James Graf of ABS report. Changes in the drilling rig market are indicators of industry ups and downs. A look at today’s numbers indicates that the most recent upswing is about to change direction…
The US Energy Information Administration’s new “Today in Energy” brief looks at how US oil imports were down in 2013, but the share of imports last year from the United States' top three foreign oil suppliers—Canada, Saudi Arabia, and Mexico—was the highest in at least four decades…
Infield analyst Edward Richardson examines whether the newbuild rig market is heading for deeper waters. History shows us that when oil prices are high operators seek to expedite the development of existing reserves and prove up additional resources…
The Wood Review proposes a new regulator for the North Sea. Elaine Maslin looks at SIr Ian Wood's recommendations and why a regulator is necessary. Nearly 50 years after the first major discoveries in the North Sea, the basin’s UK industry…
US rakes in $850million for lease sale The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) received 380 bids for 326blocks in the central Gulf of Mexico, totaling more than US $850 million. Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 231 attracted operators to bison almost 40 million acres…
On 2 Jan 2014, Divetech Marine announced the successful underwater and surface reinstallation of six Rolls-Royce azimuth thrusters on Transocean's Deepwater Millennium drillship in Singapore. Divers and coordinators from Divetech Marine…
New Zealand's Minister of Energy and Resources Simon Bridges announced the country's third block offering. Up for grabs is a total of 405,000sq km, including both on and offshore acreage. Offshore release areas include the Reinga-Northland Basin…