The UK North Sea's first use of a subsea oil storage tank has started, independent operator Premier Oil announced this morning. First oil on the Solan field, which was developed to use normally unmanned facilities, including subsea oil storage and tanker offloading…
Statoil has awarded Proserv a multimillion-dollar contract to provide production control equipment for its Gullfaks project in the North Sea. Upon the terms of the agreement, Proserv will supply five wellhead hydraulic power units for the field…
DOF subsidiary DOF Rederi has entered into agreements with both Nexen Petroleum UK and Maersk Oil North Sea UK for charter contracts in the North Sea. With Nexen, a contract is scheduled to start in May for the Skandi Marstein in the North Sea…
The third of four new Cat D rigs being built to work for Statoil by drilling contractor Songa Offshore has started drilling operations for Statoil on the Norwegian Continental Shelf under its eight-year contract. The Songa Encourage is on operational day rate and working on the Skuld field…
DNV GL has now launched the first globally applicable guidance for leak detection systems for offshore fields. The challenge for oil and gas operators is to have a leak detection system that is reliable and capable of detecting leaks…
Talisman's new Montrose bridge linked platform (BLP) topsides has sailed out from the Heerema Fabrication Group's Zwijndrecht yard, 12mi south of Rotterdam. The 10,500-tonne, 75m-long, 40m-high, topsides will make a short stop off at Schiedam…
UK-based well examination services firm Chris Dykes International has been acquired by Danish well management company WellPerform. Established by Chris Dykes in 2002, following a career with oil majors and the UK's Health and Safety Executive…
Well management and performance improvement firm Exceed has bolstered its decommissioning credentials through a strategic alliance with Weatherford. The collaboration will offer an end-to-end solution for well decommissioning, using an…
Fabrication of the billion dollar topsides destined for the Maersk Oil operated US4.5 billion UK North Sea megaproject, Culzean has started. A steel-cutting ceremony for the first of the three topsides modules took place at the Sembcorp…
It's hard to quantify accurately recovery rates on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS). Estimates from the Department of Energy and Climate change put it at about 46%. Global estimates point to somewhere between 30-35%. However, the well known dictum…
Statoil has cut its average project cost per barrel from US$70/bbl to around $40/bbl, but the work has just started and the changes need to be permanent, even if prices increase, CEO Eldar Sætre said this morning. Speaking at the Subsea Valley conference in Oslo…
Zennor Petroleum’s subsidiary Zennor Pathway has spudded an appraisal well at its Finlaggan discovery in the Central North Sea. Well 21/5c-7, spudded on 5 April, is being drilled with Transocean Sedco 704 semisubmersible drilling rig…
Tullow Oil awarded subsea engineering and training firm Jee a contract to investigate the most appropriate options for decommissioning their Thames area assets in the North Sea. Awarded in February 2016, the contract relates to the decommissioning of the Horne…
The fact that exploration drilling activity is at a record lows in the UK North Sea is well recorded. It's easy to quantify and monitor. What is not so easy, is quantifying the number of already discovered fields which are currently sitting…
Maersk Oil may shut down production at Denmark’s largest gas field, should an economically viable solution for continued operations not be reached by this year. Platforms at Tyra East. Image from Maersk…