During the recent inauguration of the new premises of Alstom Hydro Ocean Energy on the island of Nantes, the French group revealed some of the key characteristics of its Beluga 9 tidal electricity-generating turbine and announced it will undergo its first tests in Canada's Bay of Fundy in 2012…
New reports point, cautiously, to better times ahead for the industry in 2011. But uncertainty in the post-Macondo Gulf of Mexico remains, as Russell McCulley writes.World oil demand bounced back in 2010 to its 2007 all-time high, according to a December report from Wood Mackenzie…
Responding to consultant Ian Fitzsimmons' recent remarks in OE about BP's accident investigation report on the Gulf of Mexico's Macondo well disaster, drilling specialist Dr John Thorogood argues that it's time to stop pointing the accusatory finger and start learning the human factors lesson…
Don’t expect much action on legislative items of interest to the US oil & gas industry before the next Congress is sworn in early 2011. That was the word from King & Spalding senior government relations advisor George Crawford, who spoke to…
During the Cold War, leaders recognized that a robust energy supply was a sign of power, economic strength and prosperity. But now, two decades on, there appears to be an unquestionable sign of ‘change’ – and it’s not necessarily change for the better for the US…
Merger and acquisition activity in the US oil & gas sector picked up steam 3Q 2010, despite ongoing uncertainty about business in the Gulf of Mexico, reported PricewaterhouseCoopers.For the three-month period ending 30 September, there were…
The overhaul of the reservoir model of the giant Forties oilfield – from data management to full field simulation – is described here by operator Apache North Sea’s Jeffery Pyle and Schlumberger’s Gordy Shanor.Production from the Forties field began in 1975…
It’s amazing how little it takes for perspective on a business to change more or less overnight and be seen through a completely fresh set of lenses. Andrew McBarnet reviews some surprising developments.A month or so ago at the annual meeting…
Water jetting is now a well-established subsea approach and the technology has evolved significantly in the 30 years since the first mass-flow excavation (MFE) tool reached the market. David Morgan looks at the latest such development: the Marin Group Evo Claycutting system…
A configuration change-up on traditional spars could spell out some relief in wind load, drop the unit’s center of gravity, slim down the hull, and cut the amount of tripping time needed for drilling operations from a spar. OE’s Jennifer Pallanich…
Offshore topsides must be light enough to be economical, yet big and robust to contain all the drilling and production equipment needed to develop the field. Alliance Engineering’s Norb Roobaert argues that there is no need to compromise safety…
LNG business took a hit last year as the economic downturn put the brakes on global natural gas demand just as US shale gas output started to surge. Infield Systems’ Peter Kiernan reviews the changing gas market fundamentals and assesses the…
The days may be numbered for resource nationalism, Robert Johnson told the Houston World Affairs Council at the Mayer Brown offices late October. ‘Not every country is equally capable of exercising a campaign of resource nationalism,’ said Johnson…
Post-Macondo efforts to improve well containment capabilities on both sides of the Atlantic moved into higher gear last month.In the US it was confirmed that Technip will handle front- end engineering and design of a proposed subsea well containment…
With close proximity to the offshore Cantarell and Ku-Maloob-Zaap fields, the inland Gulf of Mexico port of Villahermosa is a major operation center for Mexican state oil company Pemex. Last month the city again played host to the Petroleum Exhibition & Conference of Mexico (PECOM)…
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