Given that our issue’s focus is the Gulf of Mexico, it is fitting that we remember the fifth anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon disaster. On 20 April 2010, 11 lives were lost when the Macondo well blew out, spilling millions of barrels of oil…
Italy is sitting on sizeable untapped gas resources, yet it still imports a large proportion of its gas. Elaine Maslin reports from the Offshore Mediterranean Conference, Ravenna. Bruno Lescoeur…
Researchers at Norway’s SINTEF together with a consortium of industrial partners have developed technologies to enable real-time condition monitoring reports from within pipelines to be transmitted to shore. SmartPipe launched in 2006…
Jerry Lee and Greg App examine how lasers could be used for not just drilling, but for completions and well intervention projects, too. Laser drilled sandstone core sample. Images from ZerLux Hungary Ltd…
Halliburton Energy Services’ Harvey J. Fitzpatrick, Jr. shows how wellbore stimulation fluids can increase production. Fig. 1—Example of acid-etching properties of SandStim service. The service…
Installed in 65m water depth in 1998, the Siri platform was an innovation. Now, it has taken another innovation – taking onshore cable stay engineering design concepts for use subsea – to allow the platform to continue operation. Elaine Maslin reports…
Calibrating the 64 load cells on the Snorre A tension leg platform was a lengthy arduous task, until a new solution, installed late 2014, was found. Elaine Maslin reports. The Snorre A tension leg platform…
While methanol/glycol cleaning could be considered the primary removal method, its efficiency in open water is limited. BOURBON has started using high-pressure water jet cleaning as an alternative. The…
Jeannie Stell looks at offshore heavy oil development economics with an eye on the current low-price environment. ExxonMobil expects its 52-well Hebron development project offshore Newfoundland to bring in first oil in 2017…
The subsea factory could be here sooner than many believe and Danish firm Danfoss is helping drive the innovation that will make it happen. Emma Gordon reports. Chemical inhibitor system. Photos from Danfoss…
EPCIC contractor EMAS AMC is betting on the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, bringing not only its newbuild vessel the Lewek Constellation, but investing and upgrading a sprawling marine base in Ingleside, Texas. Audrey Leon reports. The…
Carbon fiber rods are the way forward for providing umbilicals in deepwater applications, according to one leading subsea contractor. John Bradbury explains. Umbilical load out Moss. Photo from Aker Solutions…
Hardfacing has been given a tungsten carbide boost thanks to chemical vapor deposition technology developed in Russia. Elaine Maslin explains. Hardide reactor loading to perform the CVD process…
Bruce Crager profiles some of the floating production vessels already being used offshore Mexico, and highlights what is yet to come. FPSO Yùum K’ak’Náab is currently operating in the KMZ oilfield in the Bay of Campeche…
Protecting, inspecting and repairing pipelines in the shallow waters of the Middle East isn’t as easy as it sounds. Elaine Maslin reports. McDermott’s DP2 offshore construction support vessel Thedbaud Sea in the Middle East…