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Drill Rig News

26 Oct 2022

C-Innovation Secures Work in US Gulf

C-Constructor (Photo: C-Innovation)

Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO) affiliate C-Innovation, (C-I) on Wednesday announced it has signed a multi-year contract with a major operator in the Gulf of Mexico, securing the C-Constructor to support the New Well Delivery Program and the Holiday for inspection, repair and maintenance (IRM) services.The C-Constructor and Holiday are both light construction vessels equipped with 150 MT subsea cranes and two Schilling UHD work class ROVs each. The C-Constructor will support the New…

23 Mar 2022

Fortescue Future Industries Buys PSV from MMA Offshore for Green Ammonia Conversion

©MMA Offshore

Australian offshore vessel owner MMA Offshore has completed the sale of the vessel “MMA Leveque” to a subsidiary of Fortescue Future Industries (“FFI”) for US$7.75M.FFI plans to convert the 74.87 meters long platform supply vessel to dual fuel with the objective of operating almost totally on green ammonia.

06 Oct 2020

Jack-Up Barge Solutions Target Offshore Efficiency

(Photo: Jack-Up Barge)

Dutch offshore self-elevating platform and services provider Jack-Up Barge BV believes innovative and cost-efficient solutions are needed now more than ever across the offshore oil and gas and renewables businesses.The current market faces challenges, from the COVID-19 pandemic and low oil prices to wind farms that have spiraled in size from 2-3 MW turbines to 12 MW turbines in just a few years. It’s a constantly changing landscape, and the risk is that if the industry keeps doing things the same way, it’ll get the same results, says Jack-Up Barge.

30 Apr 2019

Activists End Occupation of Arctic Drill Rig

(Photo: Greenpeace)

Greenpeace activists climbed down from a Seadrill drilling rig in Norway on Tuesday and are no longer occupying it, the environmental group told Reuters.The rig, which was boarded by four activists on Monday, will be used next month by Equinor to explore for oil and gas in the Arctic.(Reporting by Gwladys Fouche, Writing by Terje Solsvik, Editing by Paul Tait)

27 Mar 2019

Sonangol Drillship Delivered

(Photo: Sonangol)

Angola state oil company Sonangol has taken delivery of Libongos, the first of two new drillships built by Korean shipyard Daewoo Shipbuilding Marine Engineering (DSME).The new seventh-generation drillship, christened March 21 in Busan, is capable of operating in deep, ultra-deep and pre-salt waters and will be available to carry out national and international work, Sonangol said.Sonangol president Carlos Saturnino, said, "Having now in our hands a drill rig, whose specifications allow us to overcome the challenges of the new exploration and production frontiers…

23 Nov 2018

BP: First Oil Production at Clair Ridge

Energy giant BP has taken its first oil from the Clair Ridge mega-project in the U.K. North Sea in a “major milestone” that is the culmination of many years of work.Clair Ridge, the second phase of the development of the Clair Field, 75 kilometers west of Shetland, is one of the biggest developments in the history of the basin, requiring huge investments in new platforms and pipelines in harsh waters west of Shetland.Clair Ridge is BP’s sixth major project start-up in 2018 following seven last year, which are expected to increase the company’s production by 900K boe/day by 2021. It has an estimated seven billion barrels of hydrocarbons.According to a press release from the British multinational oil and gas company…

24 Aug 2017

Shipbuilding: Mega Yards

Arctic Firsts: Arc 7 LNG carriers, including the Risunok and the ice-breaking Christophe de Margerie (pictured here). (Photo Courtesy: Yamal LNG and Sovcomflot)

The Woodmac report we saw offered us cause for pause — “Strong activity from the (major oil companies)” while “national oil companies have tightened their purse strings.” What Maritime Reporter found, was that national oil companies — nation-builders, for many — are putting their money in affiliate shipyards. The hope of two, new shipbuilding giants is jobs, innovation, national survival and export security. The model is to invite those who have done it before: Koreans, Japanese, French and a contractor with offshore and marine experience.

01 May 2017

Lamprell Delivers 9th Jackup Drill Rig to NDC

Photo: Lamprell

Lamprell announced the completion of construction of Al Lulu, the final jackup drilling rig in a series of nine delivered to Abu Dhabi’s National Drilling Company (NDC). The contract for the NDC Al Lulu rig was awarded in April 2015, one of only three rig orders awarded that year. All nine rigs have been designed according to the Cameron LeTourneau Super 116E (Enhanced) Class design and were completed to the highest standards of quality using the latest in drilling system technology, the builder said.

05 Apr 2017

Oil Firm Penalized by DOJ for Jones Act Violation

Alaska Oil Company Agrees to Pay $10 Million in Penalties to Settle Federal Claims for Violating the Jones Act. Acting U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroder announced today that Furie Operating Alaska LLC (“Furie”), a company whose focus is exploration and production of natural gas and oil in Cook Inlet, has agreed to pay $10 million to satisfy a civil penalty originally assessed against it by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) for violating the Jones Act. Furie was penalized when it transported the Spartan 151 jack-up drill rig from the Gulf of Mexico to Alaska in 2011 using a foreign flagged vessel without acquiring a waiver of the Jones Act from the Secretary of Homeland Security. This resolves a civil lawsuit filed by Furie in 2012 challenging the assessment of the civil penalty.

03 Feb 2017

Expedition to Glaciers of Antarctic

How has the West Antarctic Ice Sheet changed in response to alternating warm and cold time periods? And what does it mean for the sea level – today and tomorrow? Pursuing answers to these key questions, 50 researchers on board the Alfred Wegener Institute’s research vessel Polarstern are going to depart from Punta Arenas (Chile) on 6 February 2017, bound for the Amundsen Sea – the region of the Antarctic currently characterised by the most massive and rapid loss of ice. In the course of the expedition, the seafloor drill rig MARUM-MeBo70 will be used in the Antarctic for the first time. Rifts in the Larsen Ice Shelf and the Brunt Ice Shelf, which is home to the UK’s Halley Research Station, are being closely observed.

18 Oct 2016

Jensen Evolves With Crowley's Support

As the City of San Francisco commissions its latest fireboat today, the vessel, designed by Seattle-based Jensen Maritime Consultants, exemplifies the evolution and growth of the naval architecture and marine engineering firm since it was acquired by Crowley Maritime Corp. in 2008. “Eight years ago I’m not sure this project would have been in our sweet spot,” said Johan Sperling, vice president of Crowley’s marine solutions group, which includes Jensen. “But over the past eight years, Crowley has made a considerable effort to give us all the tools we need to expand into new areas. “It’s one thing to be able to design a good looking boat, but if it can’t be built efficiently and cost effectively, and if it doesn’t operate the way it is supposed to, what do you really have?” said Sperling.

19 Apr 2016

Culzean Wellhead Jacket and Access Deck Set Sail

Heerema Fabrication Group (HFG) has completed the project for the Culzean Wellhead jacket and Access Deck for client Maersk Oil. April 13 at Heerema Vlissingen, the Netherlands the Wellhead jacket and April 11 at Heerema Hartlepool, U.K. Wellhead Access Deck set sail to their final destination: the Ultra High Pressure High Temperature Culzean development field in the U.K. sector of the North Sea, where Heerema Marine Contractors will perform the installation. On October 21, 2014, Maersk Oil awarded HFG the Procurement & Construction contract for the Culzean Wellhead jacket, the Wellhead Access Deck and the Access ways. Heerema Vlissingen constructed the jacket, while the Wellhead Access Deck with the Access ways was constructed by Heerema Hartlepool.

23 Oct 2015

Drilling the Earth’s Mantle Beneath the Atlantic

Robot drills on RRS James Cook's deck (Photo: NOC)

A team of scientists will set sail from Southampton to drill through the Earth’s mantle in the center of the Atlantic Ocean. They leave on board the Royal Research Ship James Cook on October 26, 2015 to explore the Atlantis Massif, a 4000 meter high underwater mountain. This is the first time a UK research ship will be used for this branch of science. The expedition is conducted by the European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling (ECORD) as part of the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP).

03 Sep 2015

Former CIA Spy Ship Becomes Victim of Oil Slump

U.S. Government Photo

A ship built by the CIA for a secret Cold War mission in 1974 to raise a sunken Soviet sub is heading to the scrap yard, a victim of the slide in oil prices. Christened the Hughes Glomar Explorer, after billionaire Howard Hughes was brought in on the CIA's deception, the 619-foot vessel eventually became part of the fleet of ships used by Swiss company Transocean to drill for oil. But the oil price rout means the former spy ship now called GSF Explorer is just one of 40 such offshore drilling rigs that have been consigned to scrap since last year.

31 Aug 2015

Harkand: Expanding the Fleet, Growing a Global Business

The DP2 multi-purpose service and ROV vessel, the Siem Spearfish, operates globally.

International inspection, repair and maintenance (IRM) company Harkand aims to be a $1 billion company. MR’s Tom Mulligan recently met with John Reed, the company’s CEO, to discuss his vision for the future and how Harkand aims to achieve its goal of being the leading subsea IRM and light construction contractor globally. Established in 2012 and headquartered in London with operations bases in Aberdeen, Houston, Mexico, and Ghana, global subsea IRM group Harkand has been expanding its business operations rapidly throughout North America…

31 Aug 2015

Keppel Acquires Cameron's Rig Business

Singapore's Keppel Offshore & Marine (KOM), via subsidiary, Keppel Offshore & Marine USA  has inked a deal with Cameron International Corporation, a US-based oil and gas solutions provider, to acquire its offshore rigs business for US$100mln. This segment is made up of Cameron's proprietary LeTourneau jack up rigs designs, its rig kit business, and aftermarket services. The LeTourneau jack up rigs designs have been popular with certain market segments and will help Keppel expand its suite of jackup rig offerings, Keppel said in a statement. Under the agreement, a new subsidiary known as "NewCo" will be 100%-owned KOM USA, which houses the offshore rig business.

21 Jul 2015

Commandant Discusses Coast Guard’s Role in the Arctic

Coast Guard Cutter Healy patrols the Arctic Ocean during a Coast Guard Research and Development Center joint civil and federal search and rescue exercise near Oliktok Point, Alaska, July 13, 2015. The Healy is a 420-foot icebreaker homeported in Seattle. (USCG photo by Grant DeVuyst)

U.S. Coast Guard Commandant, Adm. Paul Zukunft presented at last week’s 6th Symposium on the Impacts of an Ice-Diminishing Arctic on Naval and Maritime Operations in Washington, DC. Summarizing Adm. In my role as the Commandant of the Coast Guard, I view the Coast Guard as the lead federal maritime agency when it comes to all things Arctic. By “all things Arctic,” I mean everything from safety of life at sea, to marine environmental protection, to fisheries enforcement and a whole host of Coast Guard missions. They all reside within one service, the United States Coast Guard.

18 Jun 2015

Harkand Secures Decommissioning Work in UKCS

David Kerr (Photo: Harkand)

Global  inspection, repair and maintenance (IRM) company Harkand, has commenced decommissioning work in the United Kingdom Continental Shelf supporting Maersk Oil UK’s work in the Leadon field. Earlier this year, the IRM firm secured a multi-million pound 12-month frame agreement with Maersk Oil in the region for the provision of its two dive support vessels (DSVs), the Harkand Da Vinci and Harkand Atlantis as well as supporting onshore and offshore personnel. This new award will…

11 May 2015

US Approves Shell's Plan to Drill for Oil in Arctic

Drill barge Kulluk, used for oil exploration in the Arctic, drifted aground December 31, 2012. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Jonathan Klingenberg)

Royal Dutch Shell's return to oil drilling in the U.S. Arctic for the first time since 2012 took a big step forward on Monday when the Obama administration approved the company's exploration plan. The Department of Interior conditionally approved Shell's plan to explore for oil in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska. Shell has already spent about $6 billion on exploration in the Arctic. The Arctic is estimated to contain about 20 percent of the world's undiscovered oil and natural gas, but its recovery could be decades away.

11 May 2015

OSRCL Inks Maintanence Deal with Wood Group

Wood Group Kenny (WGK) has secured a five year contract with Oil Spill Response (Capping) Ltd (OSRCL) to provide the maintenance support for a key part of a containment toolkit that would be used to control hydrocarbon release in the event of a subsea well control incident. The multi-million dollar project will see WGK work with OSRCL to ensure that the flexible flowlines included in the toolkit are continuously in a condition suitable for immediate load out if mobilised by subscribing oil and gas operators. This will include maintenance management, recommendations for preservation, inspection and testing of all ancillary and lifting equipment, as well as the flexible flowlines, stored at sites in the UK, Singapore and Brazil.

13 Apr 2015

Rough Seas Sends Greenpeace Home

Six Greenpeace activists opposed to offshore drilling in the Arctic have abandoned a Seattle-bound drill rig they boarded in the Pacific Ocean six days ago. Rough seas prompted the decision, Greenpeace said. The protesters rappelled off the an oil rig leased by Royal Dutch Shell Plc. that is bound for the Arctic and got into inflatable boats before returning to a Greenpeace ship stationed nearby. "Worsening weather conditions that were expected to bring high swells led the six activists to leave the oil rig on Saturday," a Greenpeace representative said in an email. The six climbed on the Polar Pioneer, a 400-foot (120-meter) rig owned by Transocean Ltd., about 750 miles (1,200 kilometres) northwest of Hawaii last Monday.

07 Apr 2015

Greenpeace Boards Arctic Offshore Rig

Six Greenpeace activists boarded a Shell oil drilling ship in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and vowed to stay there to protest the company's plans to drill above the Arctic Circle, the environmental organization said. They boarded as the drill rig was transported across the Pacific Ocean toward Seattle, where it will be staged for drilling on Shell leases in Alaska waters. Royal Dutch Shell confirmed that the protesters "illegally boarded the Polar Pioneer" about 750 miles northwest of Hawaii on Monday morning. It called the protest a "stunt" that jeopardizes both the crew and the protesters themselves. The 400-foot Polar Pioneer, owned by Transocean Ltd.…

20 Feb 2015

US Proposes First Rules for Arctic Oil, Gas Drilling

Photo: BOEM

The Obama administration on Friday proposed standards on exploratory drilling for oil and gas in U.S. Arctic waters that would add costs for energy companies but aim to protect against catastrophic spills. The rules, proposed by the Department of Interior, require for the first time that energy companies have access to equipment to contain potential well blowouts, such as rigs that can drill so-called relief wells. The companies would also need to ensure quick access to capping stacks and containment domes while drilling in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas off Alaska.

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