Private equity backed Azinor Catalyst has awarded a rig contract to Diamond Offshore Drilling for use of the Ocean Guardian semisubmersible rig to drill two wells in Q3 2017. The first exploration well will target the Partridge prospect…
The first modules for Statoil's UK North Sea Mariner heavy oil field topside have set sail from Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering's yard in South Korea. The Mariner field is on the East Shetland Platform, about 95mi (150km) east of Shetland and is being developed via a production…
Just days after being lifted from the concrete legs it had stood on since 1976, Shell's Brent Delta platform arrived in one piece at Able Seaton Port, Hartlepool, on Tuesday. The journey followed the record-breaking, 24,200-tonne lift by Allseas' megavessel Pioneering Spirit…
Marathon Oil has renewed a contract for work on its three Brae platforms in the North Sea with Aberdeen-based oilfield equipment firm Archer. The contract for platform drilling, maintenance and engineering services was first signed in 1993…
Kurdistan focused operator DNO is to take over North Sea-focused Origo Exploration. DNO, which is Oslo-listed, will pick up stakes in 11 exploration and appraisal licenses in the North Sea, seven of which are on the Norwegian Continental Shelf and four on the UK Continental Shelf…
Amec Foster Wheeler’s completions and commissioning company, qedi, has signed an extension of its global Master Service Agreement with BP, which it has successfully delivered since 2012. The new contract with BP will run for two years through till December 2019…
Norway's Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has announced the Awards in Predefined Areas 2017, comprising predefined areas with blocks in the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea. The application deadline for APA 2017 is mignight on Friday 1 September 2017…
The Steam Oil Production Company has entered into a cooperation agreement with FluidOil, an independent heavy oil technology company, to explore the potential of integrating FluidOil’s Viscositor Heavy-to-Light (VHTL) oil upgrading technology into an offshore steam flooding project…
The UK's Oil & Gas Technology Centre (OGTC) has launched its first 'Call for Ideas,' inviting innovative technology concepts and ideas to transform the way that offshore oil and gas wells are plugged and abandoned. The OGTC is planning to invest about US$1…
Offshore enhanced oil recovery pilots in the North Sea are paving the way towards helping to get more heavy oil out of the ground. Elaine Maslin reports. Biopolymer containers on Heidrun’s deck…
Susan Gourvenec offers a down under outlook for decommissioning offshore oil and gas facilities. Operating pipelines provide habitat for marine life. Photos from Woodside. Australia’s…
Yards are actively building capacity for onshore removals as North Sea decommissioning starts to pick up pace. Elaine Maslin reports. Taking aim at Yme: Pioneering Spirit. Photo from Allseas…
Quietly, but surely, high-pressure, high-temperature expertise is being developed on the UK Continental Shelf. Elaine Maslin sets out the detail. Action on Alder. Photos from Airborne. The North Sea’s latest high-pressure…
Allseas’ dynamically positioned single-lift installation and decommissioning and pipelay vessel Pioneering Spirit is on its way to northeast England after setting a world offshore heavy lifting record on Friday, with the removal of Shell’s 24…
Global oil discoveries fell to a record low in 2016 as companies continued to cut spending and conventional oil projects sanctioned were at the lowest level in more than 70 years, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), which warned that both trends could continue this year…