In a short period of time, drones have shot to popularity as a tool for offshore oil and gas facility inspection. Elaine Maslin profiles the technology and its providers. Flying high. Image from Sky-Futures…
Elaine Maslin details Statoil’s journey towards the resident ROV – using an existing ROV design. The Merlin UCV. Photo from IKM Subsea. The concept of the subsea resident remotely operated vehicle (ROV) has been around for some time…
Elaine Maslin reports on the progress of Aasta Hansteen, Norway’s first spar development. Aasta Hansteen topside under construction at HHI. Living quarters in place. Images from Statoil. Statoil’s…
The Gullfaks subsea multiphase compression project made waves last year, becoming the first of its kind. In June, four people involved in the project won the Underwater Technology Foundation’s Subsea Award at the Underwater Technology Conference…
Three of Norway’s regulators have found nonconformities from regulations, following their joint investigation of a crude oil spill at Statoil’s Statfjord’s OLS B loading buoy that occurred last year. Image from Statoil…
This week, Maersk Oil outlined plans to review the scope and scale of its headquarters organization over the next three months that will see its chief growth officer, Ebbie Haan, leave the company next month. The review is in response…
A strike by workers in the Norwegian sector has led to a number of rigs in the basin having to halt operations and staff being put on temporary dismissal. Songa Offshore says three of its four newbuild Cat D rigs are out of operation and on force majeure rate…
Norwegian firm Det norske and BP's Norwegian business are set to cease to be from today, after a deal which will see the two firms combines is scheduled to complete. The two companies are to become Aker BP under the move. Aker BP will…
UK independent Premier Oil is resigning as operator on the UK North Sea Bagpuss joint venture effective at the end of this year. Premier will also sell its 40.1% interest to newly formed firm, Aberdeen-based Reach Halibut, subject to approval by the joint venture partners…
Initial results from the Skipper appraisal well in the UK North Sea have shown oil 'significantly' heavier than expected, but in sands with higher permeability than thought. Operator and 100% owner Independent Oil and Gas says it will now review its development strategy for the field…
Swedish headquartered oil firm Lundin says its Barents Sea Alta discovery contains up to 125-400 MMboe gross contingent resources after completing its latest appraisal well. The estimate, inline with pre-drilling estimates, comes after…
Norway's Statoil says the world’s first subsea gas compression system has now been in successful operation for one year on the Åsgard field, helping increase production by some 16 MMboe. The firm says the system, installed on the field in the Norwegian Sea…
Scottish back deck machinery firm Maritime Developments (MDL) has introduced a new 110-tonne, four-track pipelay tensioner to its MDL Offshore Service business. MDL says it's the only system of its capacity readily available to take on projects worldwide…
Denmark's Maersk Oil has started drilling on the first production well for the Culzean high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) development in the UK North Sea. Drilling started at 6pm on 28 September using Danish drilling firm Maersk Oil's Maersk Highlander jackup…
Trendsetter Engineering and Add Energy have teamed up to develop the Relief Well Injection Spool (RWIS), designed to enable pumping of up to 200 bbl per minute of kill mud through a single relief well utilizing multiple vessels as opposed to the conventional method of multiple relief wells…