Caspian Sea focused Dragon Oil has awarded a US$100 million contract to offshore support vessel (OSV) firm Topaz Energy and Marine for use of six vessels. Dragon Oil is the upstream oil and gas subsidiary of Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC)…
Major offshore drilling contractor Transocean has moved to purchase Cyprus-headquartered Songa Offshore in a US$3.4 billion deal, the two companies announced today (15 August). Transocean expects the merger to close in Q4 2017. The Songa Endurance…
Island Constructor. Image from Island Offshore. Norway’s Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) has granted Norske Shell consent to use the Island Constructor mobile drilling facility for the start-up of well 6407/9-G-5 on the Draugen field…
New North Sea well abandonment firm Well-Safe Solutions has made its first acquisition - Intervention Project Management (IPM) for an undisclosed sum. IPM’s founder and managing director, Phil Milton, has been appointed CEO of Well-Safe Solutions…
Transocean seems to be shaping up with a busy quarter of reactivating rigs and extending contracts, as the offshore drilling contractor sets its sights on nearly 60 floater programs that could begin within the next 18 months. The Transocean Nautilus…
ASV Global has started phase 2 of a multi-phased project with Shell aiming to develop an unmanned seismic energy source vessel as part of their Rapid Autonomous Marine 4D (RAM4D) source concept. Upcoming trials for the project will include…
With US lawmakers prepared to hit Russia with more sanctions*, the domestic oil and gas industry is bracing for what potential impacts may come. Karen Boman lays out concerns voiced at a July Atlantic Council Event. [*Update] The US Senate…
Royal Dutch Shell encountered hydrocarbons in the initial Whale exploration well in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. Noble Globetrotter I. Image from Huisman. The well was safety…
Royal Dutch Shell will exit upstream operations in Ireland with the sale of its Corrib gas field stake to a Canadian pension fund. Source: Shell The sale is part of the company’s strategy to reshape itself through a three-year…
A Eurostars-funded joint industry project (JIP) led by Akselos and LICengineering has announced the signing of Royal Dutch Shell as the first operator to participate in the two-year digital twin initiative. The JIP is focused on advancing…
Shell is buying the deepest floating production unit in the world, the Turritella floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit in a US$1 billion cash deal that will allow the supermajor to assume operatorship of the entire Stones development in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico…
Decommissioning will be a special focus at SPE Offshore Europe 2017 with a range of expert speakers announced as part of the plenary and new Decommissioning Zone technical programme. Shell will host a keynote panel session with senior spokespeople from CNR…
Russia's President Vladimir Putin visited Allseas' mega-vessel, the Pioneering Spirit, to symbolically launch of the alignment of the shallow and deep-water sections of Gazprom's TurkStream gas pipeline in the Black Sea. Putin toured…
Nearly two years after a failed attempt, oilfield services giant Schlumberger is set to acquire a majority stake in Eurasia Drilling Co. (EDC). The Astra jackup. Image from EDC. Schlumberger…
The Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) has offered for award 12 licenses to 11 companies, including Statoil, BP, Shell, Maersk, Apache and EnQuest in the 2016 Supplementary Offshore Licensing Round. Fourteen blocks were originally on offer in this Supplementary Round…