North Sea News


Record well depth achieved off Norway, on uHPHT well

Aug 25, 2016

Maersk Drilling's Maersk Gallant jackup drilling rig has beaten the record for drilling the deepest well on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The well, which reached a total depth of 5941m on 31 July, was on Total's Solaris ultra-high-pressure…

Statoil starts production from Fram C East

Aug 24, 2016

Statoil started production from the subsea Fram C East satellite offshore Norway, which will help boost the nearby Troll C’s production and activities. Subsea template at Fram. Images from Statoil. The…

Claxton completes Horne and Wren abandonment

Aug 24, 2016

Claxton, an Acteon company, has completed its involvement in the abandonment of two wells on the Horne and Wren platform in the southern North Sea.  Completed within 18 days in July 2016, Claxton was responsible for the 5.5in tubing cut verification…

Transocean Winner under tow to safer waters

Aug 24, 2016

Transocean's Transocean Winner semisubmersible drilling rig, which ran aground on a Scottish Island more than two weeks ago, is now under tow to safer waters. The rig was refloated from Dalmore Bay, on west coast of the Isle of Lewis…

Chevron's Erskine production delayed

Aug 23, 2016

Production at Chevron’s Erskine project in the Central North Sea has hit a new snag, after Shell said that further work is needed on the recommissioning of the Lomond platform, according to partner Serica Energy. Erskine…

Decom North Sea launches planing portal

Aug 23, 2016

UK industry body Decom North Sea has launched the Late Life Planning Portal, a website also known as L2P2, designed to support the North Sea oil and gas industry in the planning and execution of late life and decommissioning projects. Providing…

Statoil takes over two North Sea blocks

Aug 23, 2016

Norway's Statoil has agreed to acquire a 70% stake in two blocks in the UK North Sea from Jersey Oil & Gas and CIECO Exploration for US$2 million, and is planning to drill and exploration well on one of the blocks in 2017.   The two blocks…

Grounded rig Transocean Winner refloated

Aug 23, 2016

At 10pm last night (Monday 22 August) the Transocean Winner drilling rig was successfully refloated from Dalmore Bay, on the Isle of Lewis, off the west of Scotland, where it had grounded just over two weeks ago. Following its refloat…

PHOTOS: Pioneering Spirit achieves Yme lift

Aug 23, 2016

Allseas’ dynamically positioned single-lift installation/decommissioning and pipelay vessel Pioneering Spirit has successfully executed its first heavy lift project offshore Norway. The US$2.7 billion mega-vessel, built to lift 48,000-tonne topsides…

Grounded rig refloat planned for tonight

Aug 22, 2016

A semisubmersible drilling rig grounded off Scotland weeks ago could be floated off at high water tonight.  Update here If the operation in Dalmore Bay, on the east coast of the Isle of Lewis, is a success, the Transocean Winner will be towed using two tugs to Broad Bay…

IOG comes up dry at Skipper

Aug 19, 2016

Independent Oil and Gas (IOG) has come up dry in Skipper’s secondary objective, and the company will plug and abandon the well. IOG completed its first operated appraisal well on its 100% owned and operated Skipper oil discovery which…

Statoil submits Byrding plans

Aug 19, 2016

Norwegian giant Statoil has submitted its plans for the US$122 million (NOK 1 billion) Byrding discovery in the North Sea to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD), which is expected to start production in Q2 2017. Image…

Permasense installs industry first monitoring system

Aug 17, 2016

Permasense, the leading provider of remote corrosion and erosion monitoring solutions to the global energy industry, has completed the first installation of the ET210 Integrity Monitoring System in the UK North Sea, on Total’s Alwyn platform…

Awilco cold-stacks WilHunter

Aug 17, 2016

UK-based driller Awilco Drilling has swung back to a profit in Q2, but is set to cold-stack its WilHunter semisubmersible due to lack of work opportunities for it in the short-term.  The WilHunter will join a fleet of seven cold-stacked…

Successful Skipper well, despite delays

Aug 17, 2016

UK based explorer Independent Oil and Gas (IOG) is targeting two prospects thought to contain 46 MMbbl after successfully appraising the Skipper oil discovery in the North Sea. While drilling the Skipper appraisal well hit delays, due to the need to re-spud the well…

Current News

Orbital Marine Grows UK and Canada Tidal Energy Orderbook to 32MW

SIT, Seatrium Launch Offshore and Marine Digital Learning Lab

Elemental Energies Expands Subsurface Expertise with APT Buy

Transocean Secures $184M for Drilling Rigs Operating off Norway

Subscribe for OE Digital E‑News