Putting the Brent field online in 1976 was a feat. Decommissioning the field’s four massive platforms is equally challenging. Elaine Maslin sets out Shell’s latest plans and how it came to them. End of an era at Brent…
Allseas’ dynamically positioned single-lift installation/decommissioning and pipelay vessel Pioneering Spirit has successfully executed its first heavy lift project offshore Norway. The US$2.7 billion mega-vessel, built to lift 48,000-tonne topsides…
Allseas’ huge single-lift installation/decommissioning and pipelay vessel Pioneering Spirit has successfully installed a 5500-tonne test platform topsides on a substructure in the K-13 field in the Dutch sector of the North Sea. The installation was completed on Sunday 7 August…
Allseas mega-vessel Pioneering Spirit has left its berth at the Maasvlakte 2, Rotterdam, to perform offshore trials ahead of its first commercial operation in the Norwegian North Sea (see video below). Crowds of people turned out to watch as huge…
Dutch heavy weight Allseas has successfully completed commissioning of the topsides lift system on its heavy lift mega-vessel the Pioneering Spirit. The massive, twin-hull US$2.7 billion vessel has also completed the major part of the…
The UK North Sea is expected to dominate the decommissioning market from 2016-2040. How much it will cost depends on the success of vessels such as Allseas’ Pioneering Spirit, says Douglas-Westwood’s Ben Wilby. Pioneering Spirit with the Lorelay…
This year, Allseas’ Pioneering Spirit mega-vessel is finally due to set out into the seas to perform its first heavy lift. Elaine Maslin provides an update. Pioneering Spirit’s twin-hull mounted lifting beams…
Wintershall's Zeppelin exploration well offshore Norway has been classified as dry. The well, 10/4-1, in production license 734, was drilled about 35km southeast of the Yme field in the North Sea using the Borgland Dolphin semisubmersible drilling rig in 98m water depth…
Lundin Norway commenced the drilling of its second Alta appraisal well in the Barents Sea South, and the drilling of an appraisal well on the Edvard Grieg field in the Norwegian North Sea. Drilling has also commenced on the partner-operated…
Swedish headquartered Lundin Petroleum has started spinning two drill bits on the Norwegian Continental Shelf - on Alta, in the Barents Sea, and one on the Edvard Grieg discovery, in the Norwegian North Sea. Both are appraisal wells.…
Wintershall, a 100%-BASF subsidiary, plans to optimize its portfolio by selling to Tellus Petroleum its interest in assets in four non-operated fields in a US$602 million deal. The fields include Knarr (where Wintershall owns a 20% interest)…
Wintershall’s unmanned mini-platform L6-B started the production of natural gas off the Dutch North Sea coast in a restricted military zone. The L6-B unmanned platform. From Wintershall…
Rotterdam was home to three giants of the sea in early March – offshore industry flagships, not least Allseas’ newly renamed Pioneering Spirit. Elaine Maslin took a tour. Pioneering Spirit’s lifting beams loom from its bows…
Lloyd’s Register Consulting completed safety work packages for Aibel regarding an engineering and design contract for the Vette floating productions storage and offloading (FPSO) project. The safety contracts cover quantitative risk assessments…
Dutch contractor Allseas last night (26 February) signed a contract with Norway's Statoil for the installation of three platforms on the giant Johan Sverdrup development in single lifts using the newly renamed mega-vessel Pioneering Spirit…