Marine Link
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
SUBSCRIBE

Deepwater Oil News

22 Feb 2024

Floating Production – A Growing Segment in Transition

The FPSO offshore floating platform for oil production off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. The structure is designed for ice conditions and deep wells. See Less
Copyright Dolores Harvey/AdobeStock

The specialized deepwater oil & gas and floating offshore wind segments will share many of the same stakeholders and supply chains, competing for increasingly scarce resources.To receive a full version of Inteletus analysis, click hereThe established floating production segment is forecast to experience continued growth through this decade, driving demand for, among other things, moorings, subsea systems, umbilicals, risers, flowlines and the large anchor handlers and subsea support vessels that will install and maintain the elements.At the same time…

31 Aug 2023

Anchor Handler Construction: What to Expect as Floating Wind Picks Up

Maersk Supply Service used the Maersk Mariner to install six mooring lines (hybrid lines of chain and fiber rope) and six drag anchors for the DemoSATH floating wind project. (Photo: Maersk Supply Service)

A fleet of newbuild specialized anchor handlers will be required to help build up the emerging floating offshore wind industry. But since the industry is still in its early days, many unknowns have made it difficult for shipyards and their partners to gear up to build this fleet. This article explores complex market demand and technical drivers that help give a better understanding of anchor handler requirements for floating offshore wind.Floating wind is an emerging technology currently being tested in small scale demonstration and pilot projects…

13 Apr 2023

Markets: The Challenges of Developing Floating Wind at Scale

Hywind Scotland, the world.s first floating wind farm, operated by Equinor. (Credit: Signal Film / ©Equinor)

Tens of gigawatts of floating wind projects are slated for development in this and the next decade, but many obstacles remain.There has been much focus on the emerging floating wind market of late.The U.K. is forging ahead with commercial scale floating wind developments through the Scotwind and INTOG awards of at least 24 gigawatts (GW) of floating wind capacity representing close to 1,500 floating turbines that will come on stream through 2030. And this will be soon followed by the award of at least 4 GW of capacity through the Celtic Sea floating wind auctions. The U.S.

30 Mar 2023

Big Oil Splits Over Production vs Carbon Storage in Gulf of Mexico Auction

Credit: Scott Bufkin/AdobeStock

Exxon Mobil Corp on Wednesday bid for offshore blocks to store carbon dioxide underground during a government oil and gas lease sale in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, while rivals Chevron Corp and BP Plc targeted areas for production.The largest U.S. oil company has been selling oil production blocks in the U.S. Gulf since 2018 as it shifts to more lucrative fields elsewhere. And yet, it bought dozens of blocks in the past couple of years in the same basin with a new purpose: burying carbon dioxide instead of pumping oil.The government oil license auction generated $264 million in high bids…

20 Jul 2022

Gallery: FPSO Almirante Barroso En Route to Brazil

FPSO Almirante Barroso - Photo by CHUN YEAU NG (via Petrobras)

Japanese FPSO leasing company MODEC said Wednesday that the FPSO Almirante Barroso MV32 had started its navigation towards Brazil last Sunday. The FPSO is bound for deployment at Petrobras' Búzios deepwater oil field.The FPSO left the Cosco shipyard in China on Sunday, July 17. It will carry out navigation tests for five days in the Chinese waters, then make stops in Singapore and Mauritius, where it will supply and change the crew, before arriving in Brazil at the BrasFELs shipyard…

13 Dec 2021

Exxon Proposing to Build Supply Base for Guyana Project

Liza Unity will be Guyana's second FPSO in production. It recently reached the country's waters - Image Credit: SBM Offshore

Exxon Mobil Corp outlined a major new investment in Guyana amid government calls for delivering economic benefits to residents from deepwater oil and gas discoveries helping turn the South American nation into an oil powerhouse.A coming onshore supply base will expand jobs and boost local fabrication for future projects starting with its fourth production unit, Exxon's president for Guyana Alistair Routledge said in remarks late Thursday. It will bring total investment in Guyana to $30 billion…

01 Nov 2021

Jackson Offshore Buys Platform Supply Vessel. Five-year Charter with Shell Secured

Credit: Jackson Offshore

U.S.-based offshore vessel owner Jackson Offshore Operators has acquired the M/V STORM platform supply vessel.Once it has completed regulatory requirements, the M/V STORM will start a five-year contract with Shell in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.Built in 2015, the M/V STORM is an MMC-879 design PSV, DP Class 2, and diesel-electric propulsion. It is 260 feet in length with a carrying capacity of 4,200 T DWT. The vessel is expected to go into service immediately upon completion of a special dry-docking survey. "We’re thrilled to add the M/V STORM to our fleet of platform supply vessels.

01 Sep 2021

First Look at Louisiana Offshore Oil Port Finds No Major Damage after Hurricane

LOOP - Credit: Edibobb / Wikimedia Commons - CC BY 3.0

The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP), the largest deepwater oil import and export terminal on the U.S. Gulf Coast, has found no major damages to its marine operations during an initial review [of the impact of the hurricane Ida], but operations remain offline as assessments continue, according to a person familiar with the matter.Louisiana Offshore Oil Port Llc - a joint venture of Marathon Petroleum Corp, Phillips 66 and Valero Energy Corp - has a crude oil loading and unloading facility 18 miles (29 km) off the coast of Louisiana.

18 Jun 2021

Early-season Gulf of Mexico Storm Trims Some US Oil Production

(Photo: NOAA)

The first storm to hit oil-producing regions of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico this year sent workers fleeing offshore oil platforms and cut some production.A weather disturbance in the central Gulf of Mexico was expected to become a tropical storm on Friday. It was moving north at about 14 miles per hour (22 kmh) and could bring up to 12-inches of rain to the central U.S. Gulf Coast by Saturday, the National Weather Service said.Equinor ASA on Friday said it had removed staff and shut production at its Titan platform, which is about 65 miles (105 km) off the coast of Louisiana.

11 Jun 2021

Petrobras Orders $2.3B FPSO from Saipem, DSME JV

An FPSO Offshore Brazil - Credit: Ranimiro/AdobeStock

Italian offshore engineering and construction firm Saipem, in a joint venture with South Korean shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. Ltd (DSME), has won a contract with Brazil's Petrobras to build an FPSO for the Búzios offshore field in Brazil.The FPSO P-79 project is worth overall approximately $2.3 billion. Saipem’s portion is approximately $1.3 billion.The FPSO vessel will allow initial separation of gas from the oil extracted in the deep offshore reservoir and will have a production capacity of 180…

09 Mar 2021

Gulf of Mexico: HWCG, Helix Extend Fast Oil Spill Response Agreement

Helix 4000 - Public Domain Image

Helix Energy Solutions Group has entered into a new agreement for offshore oil spill response resources with HWCG, a consortium of deepwater oil and gas companies in the Gulf of Mexico who have come together with the shared goal of quickly responding to offshore oil spills.Under the agreement, HWCG’s members are given the opportunity to identify the Helix Fast Response System as a response resource in permit applications to U.S. federal and state agencies, and to deploy the Helix Fast Response System to respond to a well control incident in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

24 Sep 2019

Equinor to be ‘Offshore Wind Major’

The multi-billion capital investment by Equinor at its new Dogger Bank Offshore Wind Farm will see it rival its major oil and gas projects, according to Rystad Energy."The offshore wind project Dogger Bank in the UK North Sea will not only be Equinor’s largest project through 2026, it will also rank as the sixth largest offshore development project in the world during this period," said the energy research firm.UK authorities announced on Friday that Equinor and joint venture partner SSE have been chosen to develop the world’s largest offshore wind farm, Dogger Bank, with an expected $11 billion in capital investments from 2020-2026.Audun Martinsen…

02 May 2019

Canyon Charters Otto Candies Vessel

Ross Candies (Photo: Ottio Candies)

Subsea services company Canyon Offshore said it has entered into an agreement with vessel owner Otto Candies for the charter of the Jones Act-compliant inspection, maintenance and repair (IMR) vessel Ross Candies.The charter will commence in July 2019 upon completion of a previously scheduled regulatory dry dock. Canyon, the robotics division of Helix Energy Solutions Group, said it expects the vessel to support IMR operations for clients operating in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.Jeremiah Hebert…

01 Feb 2019

Deepwater Oil Output to Reach 10 mb/d in 2019

Global deepwater oil production was expected to grow 700,000 barrels  per day (b/d) this year to hit a record high of more than 10 million b/d.Norwegian research group Rystad Energy said that it "expects global deepwater production to reach record high level and surpass 10 million bb/d.""With new fields starting up in Brazil and Gulf of Mexico, we expect the total deepwater liquid production to reach 10.3 million bbl/d in 2019. This is an increase of 700 kbbl/d compared to 2018," it said.In addition to Brazil and the US, Angola, Norway and Nigeria are the largest deepwater producers.Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency has estimated that the share of deepwater in total offshore production will rise to 30% in 2040…

27 Jan 2019

Senegal Awards LNG, Oil Advisory Job to Doris Engineering

French engineering services provider Doris Engineering has been awarded an advisor contract by the Senegalese ministry of petroleum and energies for the development of oil & gas projects offshore Senegal.This two-year mission consists in reviewing the optimization and the robustness of the field development performed on these projects to be in line with the Ministry expectations. It focuses on two projects: Grand Tortue Ahmeyim, operated by BP, and the SNE project, operated by Woodside.Grand Tortue Ahmeyim is located at the border between Senegal and Mauritania and lies in ultradeep-water. The facilities under review include the subsea network…

06 Aug 2018

Kosmos Energy Acquired DGE for $1.23 Bln

(File photo courtesy of Deep Gulf Energy)

Kosmos Energy has agreed to acquire Deep Gulf Energy (DGE) from its private equity owner for $1.23 billion, according to a bourse filing on Monday, expanding the deepwater oil and gas firm's operations into the Gulf of Mexico.Dallas-based Kosmos, which currently operates in Africa and South America, will pay $925 million in cash and $300 million in Kosmos common stock to acquire DGE, with the transaction expected to close towards the end of the third quarter.Acquiring DGE's business will increase Kosmos' production by more than 50 percent to 70,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed) from

31 Jan 2018

Shell Makes Big Deepwater Oil Discovery in Gulf of Mexico

Oil major Royal Dutch Shell said its U.S. unit had made one of its biggest oil discoveries in the past decade in the Whale deepwater well in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The Whale is operated by Shell and co-owned by U.S. oil giant Chevron Corp. "Evaluation of the discovery was ongoing, and appraisal drilling is underway to further delineate the discovery and define development options," Shell Offshore Inc said in a statement without giving figures. Shell has three Gulf of Mexico deepwater projects under construction -- Appomattox, Kaikias and Coulomb Phase 2. It has added more than one billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) resources in the last decade in the Gulf of Mexico.

31 Jan 2018

Total Announces Major Deepwater Oil Discovery in US Gulf

French oil and energy group Total said on Wednesday that it had made a significant oil discovery at the Ballymore prospect in the deep offshore in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, its largest discovery in the area. "This major discovery gives us access to large oil resources and follow on potential in the emerging Norphlet play," Arnaud Breuillac, Total's president for exploration and production, said in a statement. "While already deemed commercially viable, we will work together on the appraisal of this discovery and a cost-effective scheme to ensure a rapid, low breakeven development," he added. An assessment of the resource estimate was ongoing, the company said, adding that the discovery will bolster Total's new exploration strategy put in place since 2015.

28 Nov 2017

GoM Stakeholders Energized Despite Lingering Oil Bust

Miss Marilene Tide (Credit Tidewater)

Gulf of Mexico vessel builders – and their customers – adapt to a lean offshore market. After oil prices plunged in late 2014 – pressured by shale output – demand for offshore vessels in the Gulf of Mexico shrank, day rates for boats fell and non-working units were idled. This year, several GoM boat builders filed for Chapter 11, or voluntary bankruptcy, while others consolidated. The most diversified companies kept their heads above water. Today, the outlook's a bit brighter. Crude oil prices hit bottom early last year. Tidewater Inc.

05 Mar 2017

BHP Billiton, Pemex sign Trion Contract

BHP Billiton has advanced its exploration and production interests in the Gulf of Mexico by executing a contract with PEMEX Exploration & Production Mexico (Pemex) to complete work on the significant Trion discovery in Mexico. In December 2016, BHP Billiton successfully bid on the resource that, once fully appraised, is expected to be in the top 10 fields discovered in the Gulf of Mexico in the last decade. The agreement includes a commitment to deliver a Minimum Work Program, which consists of drilling one appraisal well, one exploration well and the acquisition of additional seismic data. The signing ceremony today was attended by President of Mexico…

12 May 2016

Oil-hungry Bacteria Could Clean Up Next Big Oil Spill

Heriot-Watt scientists have cracked the genetic code of the marine bacteria which helped ‘eat’ the oil spilled in the Deepwater Horizon disaster, information which could aid clean-up efforts for any future major spill. Dr Tony Gutierrez, Associate Professor of Microbiology at Heriot-Watt, was in the US at the time of the disaster and was able to perform experiments with samples from oil-contaminated waters of the Gulf of Mexico shortly after the spill occurred, samples that contained key species of bacteria that fed on the oil. Experiments with the samples revealed that certain bacteria had thrived on the oil that gushed into the Gulf, devouring the oil as a preferred food source.

26 Feb 2016

Mexico Sets Its First Deepwater Gulf Oil Auction

Contract awards for Mexico's first-ever deepwater oil auction covering 10 potentially lucrative blocks are expected to take place on December 5, oil regulator CNH said on Friday, a tender that will test investor interest given a worldwide price slump.   The 10 blocks are located in the country's territorial waters in the Gulf of Mexico.   A formal vote to approve the date is expected to pass by a unanimous vote of CNH commissioners.   (Reporting by David Alire Garcia)

22 Jan 2016

China Pull Online Rig Location after Vietnam Complaint

Chinese maritime officials on Friday removed an online notice giving the location of a $1-billion deepwater oil rig in the South China Sea two days after issuing it, following a warning from Vietnam about drilling in disputed waters. Vietnam closely tracks the movement of the oil rig, which in mid-2014 caused the worst diplomatic rift between the neighbours in decades, when China parked it for 10 weeks in waters Vietnam considers its own. Annual trade between the communist neighbours exceeds $60 billion but anti-China sentiment is strong in Vietnam, where people are embittered over what many see as a history of Chinese bullying and territorial infringements in the South China Sea.

Subscribe for
Maritime Reporter E-News

Maritime Reporter E-News is the maritime industry's largest circulation and most authoritative ENews Service, delivered to your Email five times per week