Major Oil

TEN Takes Delivery of Panamax Tanker Aztec

Tsakos Energy Navigation Limited (TEN) has entered into a new medium-term charter arrangement with PMI, the state owned oil company of Mexico. Under the terms of the agreement, TEN has chartered its newly delivered coated double-hulled Panamax, the Aztec, to PMI. The contract is for 30 months at an accretive rate. TEN currently has the Handysize product carrier Libra chartered to PMI until 2005. "We are pleased to furnish PMI with another high-quality vessel to serve their growing production needs," said Nikolas Tsakos, President and CEO of TEN. "TEN is focused on expanding our relationships in this region by building ships that meet our clients' individual requirements and providing superior customer service and support directly to major oil producers like PMI." The Panamax Aztec was delivered on May 29 from Imabari Shipyards in Japan. The vessel immediately entered into a profitable repositioning voyage with a major oil trading concern, and will then commence the time charter with PMI. The Aztec is the third of four new fully coated Panamaxes, and joins its sister ships, the Maya and the Inca, which were both received earlier this year and recently chartered at attractive rates to a major South American oil producer. TEN plans to receive the last of the four Panamaxes, the Andes, in August 2003.

SapuraCrest, Ramunia Awarded Contracts

Two oil and gas players, SapuraCrest Petroleum Bhd and Ramunia Holdings Bhd, announced major contracts related to the industry worth $120 million and $24 million respectively. SapuraCrest said its 51%-owned unit Tioman Drilling Co Sdn Bhd had been awarded a contract from Carigali-Triton Operating Co Sdn Bhd (CTOC) for the provision of two drilling units– Teknik Berkat and a new mobile drilling vessel, known as T-10 – to CTOC.

Wärtsilä Acquires Power and Automation Systems from Aker Kvaerner

Wärtsilä has acquired Aker Kvaerner Power and Automation Systems AS (AKPAS) from Aker Kvaerner. AKPAS supplies power and automation systems for the oil and gas, marine and industrial markets. The company operates mainly in the North Sea region with major oil and gas companies and Norwegian shipyards. AKPAS has annual net sales of EUR 28 million and 135 employees in Stord, Norway. The acquisition price is approximately EUR 12 million.

Wärtsilä Automation in Norway

The Norwegian automation company AKPAS, acquired by Wärtsilä in February, has been renamed Wärtsilä Automation Norway AS. The company becomes part of Wärtsilä from March 1. The company supplements Wärtsilä's product offering in electric propulsion systems, power distribution and automation for the oil & gas and marine sectors. It also strengthens Wärtsilä's capabilities for further development of automation systems.

Norsk Hydro Strikes Oil, Natural Gas Reserves off Norway

Norsk Hydro ASA struck oil and natural gas reserves off the western Norway city of Bergen, reports said. The directorate described the strike as minor though no estimate was given for the size of the find. It said field partners may link the oil and gas reserve to existing production facilities at the nearby Fram field, also operated by Norsk Hydro. The Norwegian government has encouraged oil companies to look for small finds near producing offshore fields to maintain the oil flows that

First Steel Cut for Liftboat ‘Seajacks Hydra’

A ceremony marked the event at Lamprell’s Hamriyah Dubai facility. The self-elevating, ‘Seajacks Hydra’ has been specifically designed for installation and maintenance services in the offshore wind and oil and gas sectors. The vessel will be equipped with a high speed jacking system, a 400t crane and able to operate in water depths up to 48m. Lamprell Energy has built all three of Seajacks’ current vessels; ‘Kraken’

Jackson Offshore Receives Minority Certification

Lee Jackson, President and CEO of Jackson Offshore LLC, a provider of high specification crewboat services in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, announced the company’s recent certification as a minority business in the state of Louisiana. Jackson Offshore was formed in part to provide dedicated crewboat services to major oil and offshore service companies wishing to contract with companies involved in the reinvestment and rejuvenation of southern Louisiana and especially New Orleans

$100 Oil: Driving Deepwater Oil Services Boom

Deepwater is one of the few areas where good prospects of major oil finds still remain, and these are mainly outside the control of OPEC. In a note to clients today, John Westwood, MD of international energy analysts Douglas-Westwood said “over the past year the stock prices of a grouping of 10 companies with significant exposure to the sector (the Douglas-Westwood Deepwater Index) has risen by an average of 79% and one, Wellstream, by 157%”.

TOP Announces Delivery of Sixth in Series of Ten

TOP Tankers Inc, announced that it took delivery of M/T Restless, a 47,084 Dwt, ice-classed, double-hull Handymax tanker, built in 1991 by Halla Engineering & Heavy Industries Limited of the Republic of Korea. As with all the Company's Handymax tankers, the vessel commenced its 2-year profit-sharing employment contract with a major oil trader. The delivery of the M/T Restless represents the sixth of 10 double-hull tankers the Company is acquiring using the proceeds of its initial public

INS is Key Focus at Sonardyne Workshop

Sonardyne Inc.’s recent ‘Life of Field’ two day workshop was well attended by over 40 industry professionals, ranging from major oil representatives through to vessel Captains.   Held at the 4 Points Sheraton Hotel, Houston, day 1 focused on acoustic positioning techniques whilst day 2 looked at advances in Metrology, Autonomous Monitoring and Inertial Navigation Systems (INS).   With sessions delivered by members of Sonardyne’s Survey Support Group (SSG)