Deep Water

CNOOC Pairs with Husky to Explore Deep Water Oil

CNOOC Ltd.’s unlisted parent company plans to start deep water oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea with Canada's Husky Energy Inc. next year, according to AP report. If the scheduled exploration finds sizable reserves in a bloc in the South China Sea about 185 miles south of Hong Kong, it will be China's first deep water oil and gas field. CNOOC's parent company is currently restricted to pumping oil and gas offshore at no deeper than 350 m, because of the technology currently available to it. According to the report, CNOOC previously signed a production sharing contract with Husky, an integrated oil and gas producer, to jointly explore and develop two deep water blocs in the South China Sea. The two companies explored the other bloc in the western part of the South China Sea in 2004, but the reserves discovered were too small to justify commercial drilling. Source: AP

China to Build Deep Water Oil Exploration Fleet

China will build its own deep water oil exploration fleet in three to four years. The fleet will be able to work in deep waters all over the world, except for the north pole. China's Offshore Oil Company has launched the strategy for building such a fleet. The company's spokesman, Liu Junshan, said one of their future targets would be deep sea oil exploration. They will invest up to $1.33b in the construction of modern equipment for deep sea drilling, a laboratory, and a working fleet

Offshore Drilling Spends Surges

High oil prices will drive oil & gas industry spends on offshore drilling to a total of $380b over the five year period to 2012; a rise of nearly 60% in comparison to the $240b spent in the previous five years. The latest edition of the ‘World Offshore Drilling Spend Forecast 2008-2012’ published by Douglas-Westwood and Energyfiles forecasts that by 2012 the global drilling market will be worth an estimated $80b, more than doubling since 2003.

DryShips Takes Delivery of First Newbuilding Drillship

DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS) announced that its 78% owned subsidiary Ocean Rig UDW Inc. took delivery of its newbuilding drillship, the Ocean Rig Corcovado. The Ocean Rig Corcovado is the first to be delivered of the four sister drillship vessels that are being constructed at Samsung Heavy Industries. The construction of all vessels is progressing well and according to schedule. The vessels are sixth generation advanced capability ultra-deep water drillships

X-Stream: New Deepwater Pipeline Concept

DNV has developed a new pipeline concept, called X-Stream, that can significantly reduce the cost of a deep- and ultra-deepwater gas pipeline while still complying with the strictest safety and integrity regime. X-Stream is based on established and field-proven technologies which have been innovatively arranged. X-Stream can reduce both the pipeline wall thickness and time spent on welding and installation compared to deep-water gas pipelines currently in operation

Sonardyne Launches Leak Detection Sonar

Sonardyne International has announced the launch of an Automatic Leak Detection Sonar (ALDS) at the Oceanology International Exhibition and Conference in London. The Sonardyne product is an active sonar capable of detecting and localizing deep water hydrocarbon leaks around offshore installations and pipelines soon after they develop, allowing operators to respond immediately and accurately in the case of a leak.ALDS is designed to detect oil and gas leaks at significant ranges

ABB Unit Awarded Deep-Water Drillship System

The U.S. leg of ABB has won a $15 million contract for construction of a riser system for a new build drillship designated to operate in up to 10,000 ft. of water. With a scheduled delivery sometime during the second quarter of 2000, Saipem SPA of Milan, Italy granted this right to ABB Vetco Gray with construction to be done at Samsung Yard in Korea. The rig will incorporate both standard equipment, as used in most deep water rigs

Iran and China Agree on Joint Oil Exploration

Iran's North Drilling Company (NDC) and the Hong Kong-registered China Oilfield Services Ltd. signed an oil-exploration agreement for management, repair, and maintenance of the Alborz semi-floating platform, currently being constructed by the Iranian Offshore Industries Company. A three-year contract with an estimated cost of $33 million will enable Iran, with China's help, to move its exploration activities to the deep waters of the southern Caspian

ISE Awarded New AUV Development Contract

International Submarine Engineering Ltd was awarded a development contract in December, 2007 by Cybernetix S.A. of Marseille, France. The contract is to conduct the design and engineering work on a new Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) platform, known as SWIMMER. The contract comprises engineering Phase 1 of the SWIMMER project. Since 2001, Cybernetix has proven that the concept of using a hybrid AUV-ROV for inspection,

Deep-water Drilling Strategic Alliance Formed

Gardline Geosciences & Canyon Offshore strategic alliance to provide deep-water seabed drilling service to offshore SI market. Eric Zon, Managing Director of Gardline Geosciences stated ‘this agreement is a perfect synergy to enable Gardline to offer full geotechnical services in the deep water market and to add enhanced operational performance in extreme shallow water-environments.  The technology strengthens Gardline Geosciences and its sister company Asian Geos