North Sea News


Wood Group wins $750m BP contract

Dec 11, 2014

Wood Group PSN (WGPSN) has been awarded a five year contract worth about $750million by BP for engineering, procurement and construction services on six UK continental shelf (UKCS) offshore upstream assets and the Forties Pipeline System (FPS) onshore midstream facilities in Grangemouth…

SBM to cut 1200 jobs

Dec 11, 2014

Floating production and mooring specialists SBM Offshore is cutting 1200 jobs and relocating its headquarters from Monaco to Amsterdam, the firm announced this morning.  SBM said: 'In light of market conditions and in order to optimize the company's cost base…

EPSI makes bid for Rocksource

Dec 11, 2014

Private equity back exploration outfit EPSI has made a NOK6/share offer for the remaining shares of Norwegian exploration firm Rocksource, valuing the firm at US$82 million.  EPSI, a HitecVision VII investment, initially increased its holding in Rocksource to 33…

Tendeka wins Statoil contract for sand screens with ICDs

Dec 10, 2014

Tendeka has secured a four-year contract extension with Statoil for the supply of sand-face completion equipment for the Troll field, as well as other fields under Statoil’s operation in the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS). The agreement will see Tendeka install up to 40…

9% drop in UKCS jobs predicted

Dec 10, 2014

The UK’s oil and gas industry workforce is expected to contract 9%, or by 35,000 jobs, between this year and 2019 according to a newly released report.  Produced by professional services firm EY, for Oil & Gas UK, industry skills body OPITO and the Department for Business…

Det norske selects AVEVA for Ivar Aasen

Dec 08, 2014

Det norske oljeselskap has begun deployment of AVEVA’s Progressive Handover Solution to manage life cycle information for its Ivar Aasen field project in the North Sea. The AVEVA solution allows Det norske to benefit from improved information…

West Alpha to drill at Balder for ExxonMobil

Dec 08, 2014

ExxonMobil received consent from the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA) to use the West Alpha semisubmersible drilling rig on the Balder field, in the central North Sea. The West Alpha. From North Atlantic Drilling…

UK offers tax reduction, HPHT allowance in Autumn Statement

Dec 03, 2014

For the UK Oil & Gas industry, today’s Autumn Statement by British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, offered the first cut in tax rates for the UK North Sea in 21 years. “There is record investment this year in the North Sea…

The economics of exploration in the UKCS

Dec 02, 2014

Ahead of the autumn statement by British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne on Wednesday, 3 December 2014, Ignacio Fernandez provides an economic analysis of fiscal terms for the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS). UKCS exploratory drilling…

Statoil, EMGS enter multi-client agreement

Dec 02, 2014

Electromagnetic Geoservices ASA (EMGS) entered into a data licensing agreement with Statoil ASA worth US$10 million for the provision of 3D EM data from EMGS' multi-client data library in Norway. After adjustment for partner's share of the revenues…

Production optimization trends

Dec 01, 2014

We asked production optimization specialists their views on the latest trends in the area. Skills comes high up the list. Elaine Maslin sets out the results of our survey. Topside activities are currently the biggest challenge to production optimization in the North Sea…

The mighty Johan Sverdrup

Dec 01, 2014

A new and exciting chapter has opened in the history of the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Meg Chesshyre reports. Fig. 1: Johan Sverdrup phase 1, comprised of four bridge-linked platforms. Image from Statoil…

Optimizing options

Dec 01, 2014

Late life production optimization is hard, but interesting, according to those tackling the issue. Elaine Maslin provides an overview of recent trends. As natural production rates wane and assets start to age, optimizing production rates offshore becomes a key challenge for operators…

Charting Norwegian shipbuilding

Dec 01, 2014

In 2005, Norway’s Ulstein Group introduced the X-Bow to the market, a design feature that increases crew comfort onboard offshore vessels, while giving the opportunity to keep up speed in foul weather or the option of reduced fuel consumption…

MacArtney buys Callidus Subsea

Nov 28, 2014

Offshore systems supplier MacArtney UK has announced the acquisition of Ellon-based Callidus Subsea. The acquisition supports MacArtney UK’s targets to become a market leader in the design and production of cable assemblies and moldings…

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