The TUP (transfer under pressure) Diving System, designed and built in-house by N-Sea, has undergone a refit and been converted to allow it be used as a mobile system, deployable from most DPII support vessels and platforms. The system will be online August 2013…
Smith Bits, a Schlumberger company, released the ONYX 360° rolling polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) cutter. This technology enables a PDC cutter to rotate 360° while drilling, improving drillbit durability in abrasive formations and extending drillbit life and footage drilled per run…
ESAB’s new Warrior cutting tool is a heavy-duty, multi-process welding machine with wire feeder. It was developed for reliability, minimal downtime, and maximum productivity. The machine will perform MIG/MAG (metal inert gas/metal active gas)…
The Next 50 Years is the strap-line of this year’s SPE Offshore Europe— underpinning those five decades will be technology, says BP’s North Sea regional president. Elaine Maslin reports. This year SPE Offshore Europe is celebrating its…
Houston-based Cobalt International Energy has said it expects the results of two deepwater exploration wells offshore Angola during the second half of this year. It is drilling the Mavinga #1 pre-salt exploratory well with Diamond Offshore's Ocean…
Appraisal drilling on the Barents Sea Norvarg gas discovery has confirmed the “extensive” nature of the field, it has been announced. The well (7225/3-2), in license PL 535 offshore Norway, was drilled in 377m deep water by Total using the Leiv Eiriksson semisubmersible drilling rig…
BigLift Shipping's new vessel Happy Sky started its her maiden voyage from Shanghai to Cape Lambert, Australia, on Monday. The vessel is transporting three large modules – 1 x 935 mt / 1 x 818mt / 1 x 777 mt – to be installed as part of the Port B…
The next few years could see major investments in Colombian waters and last year’s bid round has independents, NOCs, and majors heading to the country’s Caribbean shores. Colombia is South America’s fourth largest oil producer with 2 billion barrels of proved oil reserves…
Pemex Exploration and Production has recently drilled three successful wells testing the deepwater Perdido Fold Belt, but questions remain about the NOC’s timing to develop the offshore discoveries. Mexico’s earliest deepwater exploration was in 2003…
The US Dept. of the Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced final details for the Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 233. The sale will take place on August 28 and will cover about 20.7 million acres off Texas for oil and gas exploration and development…
Offshore Installation Services Ltd (OIS), an Acteon company, launched a new service designed to help operators fulfill their suspended well decommissioning plans. Wellintel is a well data collection and review service that gathers and prepares…
Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. announced plans to proceed with the construction of a second newbuild semisubmersible well intervention vessel, to be named the Q7000. Owen Kratz, Helix’s President and CEO, stated, “Based on strong market…
The offshore oil and gas industry has changed tremendously over the last several years. Moving into deeper waters has created challenges in operations that would be considered commonplace in shallow water projects. Deeper water has not only made tasks more complicated…
Statoil details the load out process and sail away of a 10,600-ton topsides model destined for its Gudrun field, in the Norwegian North Sea, from Aibel's shipyard in Haugesund, Norway. Read more about the topside's journey here.
Sophisticated monitoring systems on floating production systems can provide real time information for operational support and to improve performance, but a holistic approach is needed to be fully beneficial. Louise Ledgard, head of oil and gas business development…