ION Geophysical Corp. is showing its new Narwhal integrated ice management system at the 2013 SEG Annual Meeting in Houston this week. The tool is designed to improve seismic data acquisition and drilling operations, while operating in arctic environments and provides ice visualization…
The National Snow & Ice Data Center, based at the University of Colorado in Boulder, issued a news release stating that preliminary data indicates that on 13 September, Arctic sea ice reached its likely minimum extent for 2013. NSIDC…
Russia’s State Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (SMRCC) has ordered two new rescue and salvage icebreakers for patrols in offshore oil-and-gas fields.The vessels are under construction at Nordic Yards GmbH in Germany and will be fitted with equipment for oil-spill response…
Exxon, Rosneft establish ARC Rosneft and ExxonMobil signed agreements establishing a joint Arctic Research Center (ARC) in Russia and technology-sharing to support their joint ventures worldwide. ARC will provide research, development…
Current measurements of the ESA ice thickness satellite CryoSat-2 have shown that the total mass of the Arctic sea ice was 36% smaller last autumn than during the same period from 2003 to 2008. This conclusion was reached by an international…
With construction underway on the first ever Oblique Icebreaker, research specialist Aker Arctic Technology has unveiled a new version of a unique vessel type that will bring ice management and pollution control in thick, first-year ice to a new level…
Bremerhaven, 15 February 2013. Current measurements of the ESA ice thickness satellite CryoSat-2 have shown that the total mass of the Arctic sea ice was 36% smaller last autumn than during the same period in the years 2003 to 2008. Five years ago…
Time is the most critical factor when dealing with an Arctic oil spill, says Steve Potter, principal consultant, SL Ross. Small spills can usually be handled by onsite personnel with rig- or platform-based boats and booms. Larger spills require more resources…
Photo: GazpromIcebreakers transfer LNG from Norway to JapanLNG Carrier ‘Ob River’ chartered by the Gazprom Marketing & Trading (GM&T) group, a wholly-owned subsidiary of OAO Gazprom, and operated by Dynagas (Greece), has successfully completed…
Statoil will launch a drilling campaign in the Norwegian Barents Sea before the end of the year with four exploration wells in the Skrugard area, the company announced at this year’s Offshore Northern Seas (ONS) conference in Stavanger. But its Arctic ambitions go much farther…
A low temperature perfluoroelastomer material introduced by Precision Polymer Engineering (PPE) for use in oil and gas applications has been developed to perform under extreme conditions, in temperatures as low as –40°C (–40°F). According to PPE…
The oil & gas industry has long used dry ice as an isolation technique, for example to freeze a wellbore and allow intervention work. Now, after years of application in the nuclear sector, cryogenic freezing using liquid nitrogen has started to make inroads offshore…
Three Alaskan Beaufort Sea developments – BP Exploration (Alaska)'s Northstar, Pioneer --Natural Resources' Oooguruk and now Eni Petroleum's Nikaitchuq – have helped establish baseline experience for future arctic frontier pipelines. As well as demonstrating technical strides…
Newly published Polar class vessel rules from French classification society Bureau Veritas are aimed at speeding Arctic and Caspian Sea oil and gas development by facilitating the building of tank, cargo and offshore service vessels which can operate unsupported by icebreakers in very heavy ice…
Among the greatest uncertainties in future energy supply is the amount of oil and gas yet to be found in the Arctic: the US Geological Survey estimates the region to hold as much as one-fifth of the world's untapped reserves of hydrocarbons…