OE's analysis of current rig market data is updated monthly using statistics provided by Rigzone.comMaking a strong showing during the second half of 2012, North Sea utilization rates are leading the way with a 96% average.The worldwide competitive…
Overall, total capital investment on developing UK oil & gas reserves rose by 40% to £8.5 billion in 2011, according to Oil & Gas UK's 2012 Economic Report. Confirmation in the 2012 UK Budget of measures to promote activity in a targeted way…
French-owned utility group GDF Suez is stepping up its UK exploration and production operations with the goal of becoming a major player in the North Sea. The company's UK E&P arm has been involved in the sector for the past 15 years, but is now working up major expansion plans…
An impressive example of lean design and fast-track construction of a major offshore structure is now standing in 133m of water in the Norwegian North Sea. Adrian Cottrill looks at the technology-stretching jacket at the heart of Statoil's NKr20…
The Valemon gas and condensate accumulation, a 1985 discovery 160km off the coast from Bergen, has estimated recoverable reserves equivalent to 210 million barrels of oil. Development is currently priced at NKr20.4 billion by operator Statoil and its partners Petoro…
All the careful planning and refinement of the Valemon jacket design finally paid off on 18 June when the structure's record-breaking offshore lift-installation was completed. At 03.00 hours, the base of the 160m high steel frame finally touched the seabed…
As the giant Nord Stream project, involving 3 million tonnes of rock dumping over two and a half years, comes to an end, Tideway has picked up another substantial project from Subsea 7 for Total's Laggan Tormore project. Meg Chesshyre reports…
Rotterdam-based Jumbo is boosting the capacity of its heavylift fleet with orders for two K-3000 vessels which, as the name implies, offer a tandem lift capacity of 3000te. The in-house designed K-3000 vessels are being built at the Brodosplit shipyard at Split in Croatia…
Just as its current workload was drawing to a close, the HSM Offshore yard picked up a substantial construction contract from GDF Suez E&P Nederland for the operator's Dutch sector L5 and D18 projects. Tenders included three (two x 1200te, one x 1800te) topsides plus jackets…
Statoil may not have the biggest R&D budget, but company officials say the operator's technological track record on the Norwegian continental shelf will help it push recovery rates to new highs and create the first subsea factory, including seafloor separation…
At a recent Bergen conference showcasing the strength in depth of Norway's subsea industry, Statoil EVP Øystein Michelsen challenged delegates to work with his company in developing the technology to go further, deeper and colder and seize the…
Final commissioning of Expro’s ground-breaking AX-S well intervention system took place recently onboard the Havila Phoenix on a subsea well in Norway’s Onarheimsfjorden. Preparations are now under way for the system’s first commercial well intervention job in the North Sea…
CodaOctopus and its Dutch agent Nautikaris recently provided positioning and survey services to Deep BV for the installation of a power cable at the Thornton Bank wind farm off the Belgian coast. It was the first time the Echoscope had been…
Integrated control and safety systems provided by Emerson Process Management under a $23 million contract from BP will help manage operations on the two new bridge-linked platforms to be installed West of Shetland for the Clair Ridge development…
Successful field deployment of a new compact remote controlled subsea hot tapping machine was announced recently by TD Williamson. The lightweight Subsea 1200RC Tapping Machine, described as a ‘topside-driven machine with passive ROV interface’…