A US court ruling has put a key document supporting oil major Shell's Chukchi Sea drilling in doubt. Over one partial objection, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (CA9, panel based in San Francisco) ruled that selection by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management…
London-listed oil and gas industry service provider Petrofac has placed the first long-lead orders for its new in-house-designed deepwater derrick lay vessel, to be built at the Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industry Co., Ltd (ZPMC) yard in China…
UK-based engineering and project management firm AMEC has said it has made a provisional offer to buy Switzerland-headquartered Foster Wheeler AG for US$3.2 billion.Foster Wheeler is an international engineering, construction and project management contractor…
Aker Solutions completed the sale of its well-intervention services business area to EQT, a Swedish private equity fund.The unit was sold for an enterprise value of NOK 4 billion and the agreement includes an earn-out provision where Aker…
Royal Dutch Shell plc announced the successful completion of the acquisition of Repsol S.A.'s liquefied natural gas (LNG) portfolio outside North America for a headline cash consideration of US$4.1 billion. As part of the transaction…
At a meeting of the HRT's Board of Directors held on Dec. 20, 2013, resolutions were passed on the following motions by the majority of the members in attendance: To acknowledge that the election of Messrs. Edmundo Falcão and Marcello Pacheco is null and void…
Two workers were injured and production was slashed when a fire broke out aboard one of Petrobras’ Marlim field platforms, the production semisubmersible P-20. Marlim is located in Brazil’s Campos basin, about 110km offshore the state of Rio de Janeiro…
Fugro has reached agreement with The State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) to form a new Joint Venture for the performance of bathymetric, geophysical and geotechnical surveys, the provision of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs)…
BP announced that it increased its fleet on Tuesday, announcing that it added two drilling rigs to the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM). BP’s count now stands at nine rigs - a company record. Following the end of its year-long moratorium imposed in 2010…
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”…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Australia’s Pura Vida has agreed a farm-in deal giving it a 50% stake in the Ambilobe area office Madagascar, east Africa. The firm has also finalized a farm-out deal offshore Morocco. Pura Vida will take a 50% stake in the Ambilobe block…