North Sea News


A 2.0 silver lining?

Oct 01, 2015

Low oil prices, falling investment and the need to transform the UK exploration and production sector were high on the agenda at SPE Offshore Europe. Elaine Maslin reflects. A packed plenary session during SPE Offshore Europe 2015…

Deloitte: UK firms are missing collaboration opportunities

Oct 01, 2015

Deloitte’s survey of oil and gas operators and oilfield services companies has found that a lack of effective supply chain collaboration means companies are missing out on maximizing the potential value from the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS)…

VBMS installs Wintershall umbilical

Sep 28, 2015

VBMS, a strategic joint venture of VolkerWessels and Boskalis, successfully completed the offshore installation of an 18.5km control umbilical for Wintershall Noordzee B.V. The umbilical connects platform RAVN to A6A, located in the Danish and German sectors of the North Sea…

Johan Sverdrup costs drop by US$1 billion

Sep 25, 2015

Statoil is cutting costs by more than US$1 billion (NOK 9 billion) for the first phase of its giant Johan Sverdrup development in the North Sea, partner Det Norske said. Illustration of Johan Sverdrup…

EIA: low prices lead to reduced investment

Sep 24, 2015

Sustained low oil prices could lead to a long-term drop in upstream oil and natural gas investment, according to a new report by the US Energy Information Administration. “Given the fall in oil prices that began in mid-2014 and the relationship between oil prices and upstream investment…

IOG progresses on Skipper

Sep 24, 2015

Independent Oil & Gas (IOG) has made significant progress towards drilling the Skipper well in the Northern North Sea, located in Block 9/21a, in license P1609. Image from IOG. Alpha…

Statoil eyes new era of Gullfaks production

Sep 24, 2015

Statoil is targeting 20 MMbbl of additional resources in the Gullfaks area by tapping reservoirs above the main Gullfaks field. Gullfaks was brought on stream in 1981, but the plan for development and operation (PDO) did not include the Shetland and Lista reservoirs…

Statoil to drill new Heimdal well

Sep 23, 2015

Statoil received consent from the PSA to drill a new production well from the Heimdal facility. The well is to be drilled using a modular drilling rig (MDR). An MDR is a modular mobile rig installed in the facility's drilling area. One has been used for permanent plugging of wells at Heimdal…

Claxton installs drilling riser system

Sep 21, 2015

Claxton has installed a high-pressure drilling riser system as part of a multimillion-dollar contract for the Catcher area field development in the central North Sea.  “Claxton was the only company to offer Premier Oil a fully-forged…

Decomissioning: This time it is different...

Sep 21, 2015

For much of the period since the year 2000 – characterized by high and rising oil prices, and long-term concerns over global oil supply – decommissioning took a backseat. Asset lives were extended through improved recovery, enhanced maintenance…

Hansa, GDF Suez in Dutch North Sea deal

Sep 17, 2015

Hansa Hydrocarbons Ltd. completed a farm-out with GDF SUEZ E&P Nederland B.V. (part of the ENGIE Group) in respect of a 30% interest in its 4Quads licenses (blocks G18, H16, M3 and N1) in the Dutch North Sea. Pursuant to this transaction Hansa and GDF SUEZ E&P Nederland B…

Tata picks up Culzean contract

Sep 17, 2015

Tata Steel has been awarded a multi-million pound contract for the Maersk Culzean project in the UK central North Sea – one of the largest discoveries in the region in the last 10 years.  The company will be responsible for providing more than 18…

VNG Norge hits pay on Boomerang

Sep 17, 2015

VNG Norge has made an oil discovery in the main bore of the Boomerang exploration well offshore Norway. Well 6406/12-4S on Boomerang was drilled close to the Pil discovery and encountered a 26m gross Upper Jurassic intra-Spekk/Rogn sandstones with good reservoir properties and moveable oil…

ABB inks $90 million Johan Sverdrup power contract

Sep 16, 2015

Sweden’s ABB has won a US$90 million contract to supply a two-cable high-voltage system to power, from shore, for Statoil’s Johan Sverdrup field.  The move paves the way for the entire Johan Sverdrup field to be powered from shore, as well as other fields on Norway’s Utsira High…

MODEC inks Culzean FSO deal

Sep 16, 2015

Japan's MODEC has made its first entry into the North Sea thanks to a contract with Denmark's Maersk Oil. Maersk Oil's UK North Sea business has inked a contract with MODEC for the supply of a floating storage and offloading (FSO) vessel for the US$4…

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