ConocoPhillips sub-leases Stena Carron
CONOCOPHILLIPS has taken the drillship, Stena Carron, on sub-lease from Chevron for a high-risk exploration probe of the Laurentian Basin offshore Newfoundland, Canada.
Services giant wins multiple contracts
ENERGY services giant Halliburton has secured contracts worth some $640million with Petrobras and StatoilHydro.
Brazilian operator soaks up more drilling capacity
PETROBRAS has committed to a three-year with option to extend to five years contract with Transocean for the hire of its ultra-deepwater semi-submersible drilling rig, Cajun Express, for operations offshore Brazil.
Eni receives Goliat field environment order
ITALIAN energy conglomerate ENI has been ordered to collect environmental data for its Goliat oilfield project in the Norwegian sector of the Barents Sea.
E&A improves as drilling doubles in Q2
After nearly seven months of 2009, the number of UKCS exploration and appraisal well spuds stands at 24, with a further 17 sidetracks initiated since year start.
Figures point to interesting trends in consumption
One of my favourite publications is the annual BP Statistical Review of World Energy, the 2009 edition of which has just been published. I do not read it in bed - that would be sad - but make extensive use of it in my work.
Administration of Oilexco – the detail
The administration of Oilexco North Sea Limited (ONSL) earlier this year marked a milestone for the oil&gas industry as ONSL was the first major oil exploration, production and development company to be rescued out of an insolvency process.
Lies, damned lies and statistics
OSO's ability to release UK content figures in excess of 70% was the cause of much "triumphalism" by successive governments, whose PR machines "spun it" as evidence of the success of official policy, the competitiveness of the "British" offshore industry and the contribution it was making to the British economy.
PSA clearance
NORWAY'S Petroleum Safety Authority has given Lundin Petroleum clearance to drill in the southern part of the Norwegian North Sea with the semi-submersible drilling rig, Songa Dee.
Loyalty still solid for jack-up rigs
DESPITE the ambition to become a large player in the deepwater/ultra-deepwater markets, Ensco is not deserting the market that enabled it to get to where it is today - jack-ups. Key theatres are south-east Asia, Gulf of Mexico and north-west Europe.
Competition strong
HEAD halfway around the globe and Asia-Pacific is a very important market and currently accounts for nine jack-ups.
$170bn of projects deferred, says IEA
BETWEEN October, 2008, and mid-April, 2009, more than 20 planned large-scale upstream oil&gas projects involving about 2million bpd of peak oil capacity and close to 1billion cu ft per day of peak gas capacity were deferred indefinitely or cancelled, according to the IEA.
Ensco heading for ultra-deep water
Last month, the first of seven new ultra-deepwater semi-submersible drilling rigs ordered by US drilling company Ensco started on a four-year contract with Anadarko and Eni.
Shooting yourself in both feet – a Scottish Enterprise production
I had promised myself that, this month, I was going to write something positive. Whether it's the better weather, the fact that I'd finally got the brakes on my old sports car to work properly or my son passing his end-of-year exams with flying colours, I was feeling pretty good.
Long-term view – what’s that?
A couple of weeks ago, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate revealed that the IOR prize for 2008 will not be awarded. The oil prize is presented to fields, companies or individuals that exhibit the "courage, willingness and ability" to improve oil recovery on the Norwegian Continental Shelf beyond statutory expectations.
Winds of change look set to whip up massive North Sea upheaval
Offshore wind activity is at an all-time high. The next two years will see significant year-on-year growth in capacity installed. However, the industry is struggling with development costs, which have more than doubled in five years.
World-class people seek world-class solutions
CLEARLY, the NSRI has a business plan, but what are the guts of it? The core is a five-year plan, but with annual waypoint targets.
Capitalising on UK’s huge underwater capability
BUT surely the difference between academia and industry is that they would say academia leans too much towards blue skies and doesn't understand the corporate world.
MacCollam’s dream – building a modest energy empire
Nial MacCollam is a former petroleum industry technologist who made a leap of faith into the world of green energy barely a handful of years ago. Today, this one-time Exxon employee is a senior at fast-growing energy services group Senergy, of Aberdeen, and responsible for its renewable business.
Burntisland perfectly placed
Burntisland Fabrications is the sole surviving active offshore fabrication yard in Scotland geared up to building large structures for the oil&gas industry.
China set for 100GW of wind by 2020
CHINA will have 100 gigawatts of wind-power capacity by 2020 - more than three times the 30GW target the government laid down in an energy strategy drawn up just 18 months ago.
Dundee flexes its muscles – ready to do battle over renewables
Dundee has chosen this year's All-Energy as the launch pad for a drive to capture a share of the burgeoning renewable business.
Algae – a tantalising energy prospect
Passenger jets cruise at 10,700m (35,000ft) without a hiccup; in the US, catfish farmers lease ponds to biofuels entrepreneurs and venture capitalists sink $1billion or so into the lure of infinite green crude.
Scottish north-east under microscope in GILDED project
THE EC 7th Framework Programme project, GILDED (Governance, Infrastructure, Lifestyle Dynamics and Energy Demand: European Post-Carbon Communities), has finally been launched.
World one step closer to being Aquamarine’s oyster
A WAVE energy converter developed by Aquamarine has generated power for the first time using a full-scale test rig onshore. The device, known as Oyster, produced and exported electricity to the grid at the UK's New and Renewable Energy Centre (NaREC) near Newcastle.