Downhole gauges and ESP bypass systems are among the home-grown, leading edge offerings in the Zenith Oilfield Technology portfolio. Meg Chesshyre met up with managing director Greg Davie to find out what else the company has in the works.Based near Aberdeen…
Mindful of Offshore Europe in Aberdeen this month, Andrew McBarnet explains why seismic companies keep coming back to the mainly mature offshore hydrocarbon province of northwest Europe.It's not the most elegant of sayings but 'there's life…
Australian contractor Clough is selling its offshore marine construction business to Malaysia's SapuraCrest Petroleum in a cash deal worth roughly $129 million. The sale includes the Java Constructor derrick lay barge, Clough's interest in the…
Despite a reputation for ‘cumbersome’ contract processes, recent oil & gas sector reforms have created a more favorable investment climate at Mexican state oil company Petróleos Mexicanos, a Pemex official told the 2011 Petroleum Exposition & Conference of Mexico in Villahermosa…
National Oilwell Varco is acquiring California-based fiberglass pipe manufacturer Ameron International in a deal valued at approximately $772 million. Subject to Ameron shareholder approval, the transaction could close as early as the fourth quarter…
Time is running short for a collaborative and cost-efficient approach to decommissioning, believes Optimus consultant Stuart Heggie.Perhaps understandably, governments and operators have put off decommissioning as much as possible. However,…
If current trends continue, Mexico could become a net oil importer in a decade, a new report claims. --Mexico, the world's sixth-biggest crude oil producer and an important supplier to the US, has seen its production fall by more than 25% from its 2004 peak of 3…
On 1 July 2011, Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. (Boskalis) announced that it reached an agreement with The Rezayat Group of Saudi Arabia (Rezayat) to sell SMIT’s terminal and AHTS transport activities to Lamnalco Ltd. (Lamnalco). Boskalis and Rezayat each own a 50% stake in Lamnalco…
With floating LNG facilities now widely acknowledged to be a key enabler for exploiting stranded gas reserves, Trelleborg Marine Systems' Simon Wilson offers some insights into the new design methodologies needed for integrated berthing and…
Multi-client specialist TGS took the marine seismic business by surprise last month with the purchase of Stingray Geophysical, a UK-based start up company focusing on seismic-based permanent reservoir monitoring (PRM). Andrew McBarnet discusses what prompted the move…
A more optimistic view of the future of the southern North Sea gas and the hard-pressed East of England offshore supply chain emerged at a recent regional conference in Norwich. Meg Chesshyre reports.Having acquired assets from BP, Shell and BG in 2003 and ExxonMobil fields in 2007…
Following two years of development, Aberdeen Drilling Consultants recently launched its new ADC Virtual Academy division, offering what they believe is the world's first online course focused on drilling equipment for the oil & gas industry…
A resurgent UK offshore oil & gas sector is mired in fresh uncertainty following the coalition government's surprise imposition of what is, in all but name, a windfall tax on North Sea production. David Morgan reports.In his Budget speech last month…
China constantly shakes many of the world's beliefs, for better or worse, from its economic growth to trade to human rights. There is no doubt that China will become before not too long the world's dominant economic power. It also provides an additional…
Recent events in North Africa provide a stormy backcloth to the Offshore Mediterranean Conference (OMC) in Ravenna 23-25 March, but the region nonetheless remains a highly prospective one for the offshore sector especially with Noble beginning to unlock the treasures of the Levantine Basin…