UK-based explorer Ophir Energy has started drilling operations on the Padouck Deep-1 well on the Ntsina Block, offshore Gabon, using the Vantage Titanium Explorer drillship. Padouck Deep-1 is the first well targeting the pre-salt play offshore in the North Gabon basin…
Dubai-based rig builder Lamprell has completed construction on the jackup drilling rig Qarnin (pictured) and its delivery to Abu Dhabi’s National Drilling Company (NDC). The on time and on budget completion was marked at a ceremony held at Lamprell’s Hamriyah facility in the UAE February 13…
Keppel FELS Limited (Keppel FELS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Keppel Offshore & Marine (Keppel O&M), has secured contracts to build three high-specification KFELS B Class jackup rigs worth about US$650 million from Fecon International Corp (Fecon)…
Norway-based offshore marine and engineering consultancy Aqualis Offshore has opened a new office in Bahrain. Aqualis already has offices in Dubai, UAE (regional headquarters), and Dammam, Saudi Arabia, in the Middle East. “The primary…
Norway headquartered DeepOcean Group has moved into the offshore geotechnical services market by acquiring ageotechnical drilling rig and agreeing a strategic alliance with Swiss firm Geoquip Marine. The strategic alliance will see the…
Murphy Oil has started drilling the Bamboo-1 exploration well on the Ntem concessions, offshore Cameroon, using the Ocean Confidence(pictured) fifth generation semisubmersible drilling rig. The well, about 56km off the coast, has an estimated…
Keppel FELS has won a contract from a subsidiary of UMW Oil & Gas Corporation (UMW Oil & Gas) for a KFELS B Class jackup rig worth US$218 million. It will be the third KFELS B Class jackup rig for UMW Oil & Gas and is scheduled for delivery in 3Q 2015…
Ensco plc announced the sale of its two remaining cold-stacked jackup rigs for US$33 million. The net value of the two rigs, ENSCO 69 and Wisconsin, both built in 1976, was approximately $9 million. The pre-tax gain on the sale is approximately $24 million…
The Solberg prospect, operated by Germany's Wintershall (35% equity), is 4km northeast of the Tyrihans field and 8km southeast of UK-based explorer Faroe Petroleum’s Maria discovery (2010). Drilling is being carried out using the…
Wintershall has exercised the first of two six-month options for the jack up rig Energy Endeavour with Northern Offshoresubsidiary Northern Offshore U.K. The start date of the option period will be in direct continuation,following the end of the well in progress on 1 May 2014…
Rowan Companies plc, a global offshore contract driller, is now live with IFS Applications on the first of its ultra-deepwater drillships, Rowan Renaissance. Rowan’s deployment includes requisitioning, inventory, and EAM functionality…
Noble Corp. today reported Q4 2013 net income of US$174 million, and for Q3 2013, the company reported net income of $282 million. Net income for the full year 2013 totaled $783 million, on revenues of $4.2 billion, compared to net income of $522 million on revenues of $3…
Gazpromneft Sakhalin says it has started work preparing to drill an appraisal well in the Pechora Sea. The firm, a subsidiary of Gazprom Neft and project operator for the exploration and development of Dolginskoye field, on the arctic shelf of the Pechora Sea…
TTS Group ASA has lost a contract for a lifting equipment package on a new ultra-deepwater drillship after Sigma Drilling Ltd terminated a construction contract with STX Offshore & Shipbuilding Co. Ltd.(STX). Cayman Islands-based Vantage Drilling Company has Sigma…
Drydocks World (DDW) has signed an agreement with Drill One Capital to build what it is describing as the largest jackup ever built. The Dubai Expo 2020 NS jackup rig will be the first Gusto MSC CJ 80 design rig to be built. It has been designed to be operated in harsh environments…