North Sea News


Dry wells in Ula formation

May 14, 2014

Centrica Resources Norge AS, operator of production license 405, has announced that exploration wells 8/10-5 S and 8/10-5 A are dry. The wells were drilled approximately 13km southeast of the Ula field, in the southern sector of the North Sea…

UK rig market to mid-2015

May 14, 2014

UK-based drilling rig operator Awilco says the UK North Sea floating drilling rig market is close to sold out until mid-2015. Announcing its Q1 results, the firm said due to the sustained “high” oil price and increased operator financial discipline…

Premier close to Catcher sanction

May 14, 2014

Premier Oil says government approval for its UK North Sea Catcher development is expected soon and that the FEED and drilling contracts on Sea Lion in the Falklands will be issued this quarter. Premier said key service contracts covering the Catcher FPSO (pictured)…

Talisman Sinopec boss leaves

May 14, 2014

Talisman Sinopec Energy UK's managing director Geoff Holmes left the busines with immediate effect, yesterday, with the firm's executive vice-president Europe-Atlantic Paul Warwick taking over the job in an interim role (pictured). Talisman…

Danes eye EOR boost

May 13, 2014

A billion kroner fund from the Danish Underground Consortium (DUC) will target future oil and gas production from the Danish North Sea and potentially create research opportunities for up to 100 scientists. Based at Denmark’s Technical University (DTU) in Lyngby…

Marathon selects Technip for Alvheim

May 13, 2014

Technip was awarded by Marathon Oil Norge a contract for the extension of subsea infrastructure on the Alvheim field, located on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The scope of work includes installation engineering, procurement, fabrication…

Unmanned buoy concepts grow

May 12, 2014

A 20-year-old concept is receiving increasing attention in the North Sea as operators look for options to develop marginal fields. The concept is for unmanned production buoys, which could cost-effectively support production from small or marginal fields…

Cygnus jacket floats out

May 12, 2014

A year of significant construction work on the Cygnus gas project by Burntisland Fabrication (BiFab) came to fruition recently as major infrastructure sailed out from the yard in Methil, Fife.  Operator GDF SUEZ E&P UK Ltd (38.75%) and partners Centrica Energy (48…

Lundin assesses Edward Grieg upside

May 12, 2014

Lundin Petroleum (Lundin Petroleum), through its wholly-owned subsidiary Lundin Norway (Lundin Norway), is pleased to announce that the appraisal drilling and testing of the well 16/1-18 on the Edvard Grieg field in the North Sea sector of…

BOP ops' guidance issued

May 12, 2014

Oil & Gas UK has released issue 2 of its guidelines on Blowout Preventer (BOP) operations for offshore wells to improve cross industry understanding of well-related issues on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS). In addition to providing operators…

Can North Sea replace Russian gas?

May 12, 2014

Western Europe will continue to rely on imported Russian gas into the 2020s, as mature offshore provinces struggle for growth, while large-scale shale gas extraction looks increasingly unlikely in the medium term. Following Moscow’s intervention…

173 North Sea round applications

May 06, 2014

More than 170 applications have been received for the latest offshore licensing round in the UK, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) says.  The 28th Offshore Oil and Gas Licensing Round closed for applications on Friday 25 April…

Xcite, Shell, Statoil join forces

May 06, 2014

UK heavy oil explorer Xcite Energy has entered into a collaboration agreement with Statoil and Shell over the Bentley and Bressay fields in the North Sea. The move could see the two heavy oil fields developed using the same infrastructure…

Transocean to spin off North Sea units

May 06, 2014

Transocean is to create a new business unit called Caledonia Offshore Drilling Company to run its eight-strong North Sea midwater drilling rig fleet. The company expects to establish the new business unit during 2H 2014 and, at an appropriate stage…

Wood Group challenges rising costs

May 06, 2014

Wood Group subsidiary Wood Group PSN has put its money where its mouth is and announced plans to address cost escalation in the North Sea by reducing rates paid to its UK-based onshore contract workers. The firm said the move was in response…

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