Baker Hughes has expanded its SmartCare line of products to include what the company describes as ‘more environmentally responsible’ drilling and completion fluids, production chemicals and additives used in cementing and stimulation procedures…
Pieter Schelte will be capable of single-lifting topsides up to 48,000te and jackets up to 25,000te. Topsides will be lifted from a 122m long, 52m wide slot at the bow using eight sets of horizontal lifting beams, four on each side of the slot…
French-owned utility group GDF Suez is stepping up its UK exploration and production operations with the goal of becoming a major player in the North Sea. The company's UK E&P arm has been involved in the sector for the past 15 years, but is now working up major expansion plans…
Overall, total capital investment on developing UK oil & gas reserves rose by 40% to £8.5 billion in 2011, according to Oil & Gas UK's 2012 Economic Report. Confirmation in the 2012 UK Budget of measures to promote activity in a targeted way…
IHC Merwede, better known for its high-end sophisticated construction vessels, has developed a versatile in-house IHC Supporter class, targeting the light construction market, ROV construction support market and in particular the growing cable lay market associated with wind farms…
At a recent Bergen conference showcasing the strength in depth of Norway's subsea industry, Statoil EVP Øystein Michelsen challenged delegates to work with his company in developing the technology to go further, deeper and colder and seize the…
The latest addition to the Hallin Marine fleet of subsea operation vessels, the compact semisubmersible Derwent, was floated for final fit out at the Drydocks World yard in Nanindah, Indonesia, last month. Designed and equipped to meet current and anticipated subsea industry demand…
The Inter-M Pulse long-term mooring connector, developed by InterMoor in conjunction with sister company Pulse Structural Monitoring, was recently put through its paces in a North Sea field trial. Alan Duncan, MD of InterMoor UK, reported…
The US oil & gas industry grew across several categories in 2011, including a 38% increase in exploration and development spending, according to new analysis from Ernst & Young. Russell McCulley reports.While total capital expenditures among…
Baker Hughes’ new Mastiff mechanized, self-pinning rigless intervention system (RIS) provides operators with an alternative method for carrying out pipe installation and retrieval operations that typically require an offshore rig, helping to reduce the cost of abandonment…
OE's analysis of current rig market data is updated monthly using statistics provided by Rigzone.comUtilization for the competitive fleet of mobile offshore drilling units worldwide has been gradually improving since February and is currently in the mid-80% range…
Despite higher oil prices, improving access to capital, increasing economic optimism and a generally more favorable deal environment, oil & gas executives are still cautious about engaging in M&A, according to Ernst & Young's sixth Global Capital Confidence Barometer…
Specialist offshore fabricators continue to innovate in pursuit of an oil & gas market edge. Meg Chesshyre opens this month's yards round-up with a review of progress on the latest additions to Centrica Energy's North Sea infrastructure.Centrica’s…
The water depth record for conventional mooring offshore Brazil was improved by another 12m – to 2027m – by InterMoor recently under its one-year mooring and positioning support operations contract with Shell using the mobile offshore drilling unit Noble Clyde Boudreaux (pictured)…
ENSCO 8505, the sixth in a series of seven ultra-deepwater semisubmersibles, recently arrived in Texas for final trials before launching a two-year stint under contract to Anadarko, Apache and Noble Energy in the Gulf of Mexico. Russell McCulley was on hand in Corpus Christi…