Deepwater drilling rig contractors are facing an uncertain future, with an increasingly fragmented market favoring those who contract the vessels, according to an analyst. The comments follow market updates from rig operators including Transocean Ltd…
Eni Norge has opened a new operations center in Hammerfest as part of its expansion in northern Norway and the Barents Sea. The Italian company has been active in the region since the start of the 1990s and is developing the Goliat oil field…
Norway's Statoil has said a fifth natural gas discovery in Block 2 offshore Tanzania has opened up a new play in the region. The Mronge-1 discovery, drilled in 2500m water depth by the Discoverer Americas drillship, 20km north of the Zafarani discovery…
UK-based EV, a specialist in downhole video technology, has launched its Optis HD Electric line camera to the well intervention market, which they say can provide vital wellbore imagery that can save time and reduce risk. The new technology…
Noble Energy has made two deepwater discoveries in the Gulf of Mexico and offshore Israel. The Dantzler exploration well, located 12 miles west of the firm’s Rio Grande development in Mississippi Canyon 782, has encountered over 120 ft of net pay…
Hans-Joachim Polk took over as managing director for Hamburg-based RWE Dea AG’s UK subsidiary in August. Polk, a 22-year veteran of the German exploration company, began his career in 1991 as a production operations engineer. He eventually…
Dana Gas awarded Interserve plc’s Adyard Abu Dhabi a US$17 million contract to construct an offshore platform for the Zora offshore field development project. Zora is located in water depths of 24m and spans the territorial waters of Sharjah and Ajman…
Fugro announced that it has wholly-acquired Advanced Geomechanics Pty Ltd. (AG) to become part of its global geoconsultancy practice. The nearly 20-year-old, Perth-based AG provides geotechnical and geophysical engineering and consulting services…
Oilfield services company Archer is to cut staff and close some bases as part of a restructuring plan. The firm, which provides drilling and well services, said to accelerate margin improvements and adapt to the “highly competitive North American land market”…
Colloquy: Editor’s Column A lot of time and money can be wasted waiting on weather. Down time is expensive. Wave height and period determine vessel motion and when they exceed operating limits, work slows or stops. Working in rough weather can lead to injuries and damage equipment…
More offshore wind projects could be scrapped in the UK, an official has warned, after it was announced that technical challenges had brought a halt to a 1200 MW project in the UK’s Bristol Channel. RWE Innogy said its planned Atlantic…
Strategic decision-making in the boardroom is vital for those operating on the new frontiers, a new report says. Elaine Maslin reports. “A single event can transform the fortunes of an entire industry,” warns a recent report on frontier hydrocarbon exploration…
OneSubsea is to provide pump systems for the Total Moho Phase 1bis development in the deep water Moho-Bilondo license offshore Congo. The contract includes a multiphase pump station with two 3.5megawatt high-boost pumps, a power and control module…
Baker Hughes drilling rig count for 22 Nov 2013 shows 57 rigs drilling off the US, including two rigs each off California and Florida, three off Texas, and 50 off Louisiana. This is three fewer than last week, but four more rigs drilling offshore than a year ago…
The seafloor off the coast of Northern Siberia is releasing more than twice the amount of methane as previously estimated, according to new research results published in the Nov. 24 edition of the journal Nature Geoscience. The East Siberian…