North Sea News


Wintershall North Sea wildcat comes up dry

Jun 18, 2015

Wintershall Norge, operator of production license 378, is in the process of completing the drilling of wildcat well 35/12-5 S. The well was drilled about 15km southwest of the Gjøa field in the North Sea and 80km southwest of Florø…

UTC: Troll - looking back

Jun 18, 2015

Subsea challenges are in focus at this week’s Underwater Technology Conference in Bergen. While the conference examines future oilfield challenges, we take a look back at past innovations in the industry. In the final article in a three-part series…

Statoil Mariner deals surpass US$1.5 billion

Jun 17, 2015

Statoil has handed out the largest contracts for the UK North Sea’s Mariner field that are worth more than US$1.57 billion (£1 billion) to the companies established in Aberdeen. Mariner. Image from Statoil…

JV establishes North Sea decommissioning facility

Jun 17, 2015

Peterson and UK-based Veolia announced a US$1.5 million investment in the development of a new, purpose built decommissioning facility in Great Yarmouth.  The new site in Great Yarmouth port, operated with joint venture partner Veolia…

Ocean Installer bags Balder deal

Jun 16, 2015

ExxonMobil awarded Ocean Installer its first call-off contract for subsea well tie-back, engineering, IRM (inspection, maintenance and repair), ROV and associated services at the Balder field. The Normand Mermaid…

Wintershall unmanned L6-B onstream

Jun 16, 2015

Wintershall’s unmanned mini-platform L6-B started the production of natural gas off the Dutch North Sea coast in a restricted military zone. The L6-B unmanned platform.  From Wintershall…

UTC: The one-atmosphere experiment

Jun 16, 2015

Subsea challenges are in focus at this week’s Underwater Technology Conference (UTC) in Bergen. While the conference examines future oilfield challenges, we take a look back at past innovations in the industry. In a three-part series, Elaine Maslin looks at three past papers from UTC Bergen’s…

Exxon gets Jotun extension

Jun 15, 2015

The Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA) granted an extension to ExxonMobil to use the Jotun A floating production storage offloading (FPSO) vessel and Jotun B wellhead platform beyond their original expected lifetimes in the North Sea…

Statoil awards Johan Sverdrup drilling contracts

Jun 15, 2015

Statoil has awarded Odfjell Drilling two contracts worth more than US$550 million (NOK 4.35 billion) for drilling services on its massive Johan Sverdrup field. The $14.8 billion first phase development on the field will see four, bridge-linked installations alone…

Survey paints bleak UKCS portrait

Jun 11, 2015

The Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce released findings today (11 June) from its 22nd Oil and Gas Survey conducted in partnership with law firm Bond Dickinson, which revealed startling new numbers showing that confidence levels in the…

FPSO market to reach US$8.65 billion in 2015

Jun 11, 2015

The global capital spending on newbuild and converted floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels could reach US$8.65 billion this year, according to consultancy firm Visiongain.  The largest spend will be focused on offshore…

Lundin gets Edvard Grieg nod

Jun 10, 2015

Lundin Norway received approval from the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate to drill an appraisal well located southeast of the giant Edvard Grieg field, in the central North Sea. Map of well 16/1-23S…

Ivar Aasen gets its steel jacket

Jun 10, 2015

Det norske installed the 8900-tonne steel jacket for its Ivar Aasen platform in the North Sea. The Ivar Aasen steel jacket. Images from Det norske. The Saipem-built jacket was lifted in place down to the seabed at 112m water depth…

Suncor starts Niobe

Jun 08, 2015

Suncor Energy began operations at the Niobe exploration prospect in the UK North Sea, according to partner Trap Oil. Niobe map. From Suncor. Niobe is located in license P.1889…

Kvaerner/KBR JV grabs Johan Sverdrup gig

Jun 08, 2015

After some tough international competition, Statoil chose the Kvaerner/KBR joint venture to take on the US$849 million (NOK 6.7 billion) contract for the complete delivery of the platform topside to the Johan Sverdrup field development in the North Sea…

Current News

NSTA Awards 31 More Licenses in Latest North Sea Oil and Gas Round

Höegh LNG Strikes Deal to Deploy FSRU Hoegh Galleon in Egypt

BW Offshore Concludes Sale of FPSO Polvo

Van Oord’s Heavy-Lift Installation Vessel Gets Major Upgrade

Subscribe for OE Digital E‑News