Deepwater Field News

Offshore installation firm McDermott said Monday that its upgraded Amazon vessel was coming to the Gulf of Mexico to support a subsea contract for the Whale Development in Alaminos Canyon.Oil major Shell in July reached a final investment decision for its Whale deepwater field development. Discovered in 2017, Whale will feature a semi-submersible production host in more than 8,600 feet (2621 meters) of water with 15 oil-producing wells.McDermott will provide engineering, procurement…

Aqualis Offshore has been handed the position keeping role for installation of the floating production storage offloading unit (FPSO) at Total’s Egina field offshore Nigeria.EPCIC contractor for the $3.3 billion FPSO, Samsung Heavy Industries, has awarded the position keeping work to Aqualis Offshore. The newbuild Egina FPSO was towed from South Korea and arrived in Nigeria in late January for final integration of topside modules built in Lagos.The FPSO measures approximately…

Royal Dutch Shell has given the go-ahead to develop its Kaikias deepwater field in the Gulf of Mexico, the first such project the oil and gas company has approved in 18 months. Oil companies around the world are emerging from one of the longest downturns in recent decades amid warnings that the drop in investment in recent years may lead to a supply deficit by the end of the decade. Shell said the Kaikias oil and gas project, located some 210 kilometres (130 miles) from the Louisiana coast, will start production in 2019 and generate profits with oil prices lower than $40 a barrel after the company slashed its costs by around 50 percent due to simplified design plans. Oil prices were around $56 a barrel on Tuesday.

Sea Trucks Group said its principle Nigerian business, West African Ventures, has been awarded a contract for the provision of an accommodation vessel to a deepwater field, offshore Nigeria. The scope of work covers accommodation support services for 250 pax, as well as to provide marine logistics support for the execution of the turnaround maintenance work scopes during the turnaround project. Jascon 30, one of the group’s DP3 accommodation construction vessels, has been nominated for the scope. Jascon 30 is equipped with a 270 mT heave compensated main crane.

Dramatic changes to the global oil and gas landscape over the last decade have led the industry to encounter increasingly challenging and remote environments including emerging yet largely unexplored new provinces and more complex deepwater territories. But true to its industrious and adventurous spirit, the sector is turning these challenges into opportunities and underpinning this shift to new frontiers is adding significant tangible value to the way in which hydrocarbons are recovered.

Ceona, SURF contractor with heavy subsea construction capabilities, has bolstered its fleet with the christening of its flagship asset, the Ceona Amazon, which has been delivered in less than two years of the letter of intent (LOI) for its construction being signed. The Ceona Amazon has been internally designed at Ceona and purpose built to perform in multiple pipelay and operational modes. She also features a large storage capacity and heavy subsea construction capability with her versatility setting her apart as a deepwater field development asset.

Oceaneering International, Inc. announced it has commissioned the construction of a subsea support vessel from BAE Systems. The vessel is expected for delivery by the end of the first quarter of 2016. This vessel will be U.S. flagged and documented with a coastwise endorsement by the U.S. Coast Guard. It will have an overall length of 353 feet, a Class 2 dynamic positioning system, accommodations for 110 personnel, a helideck, a 250-ton active heave compensated crane, and a working moonpool.

Oceaneering International, Inc. has commissioned the construction of a subsea support vessel from BAE Systems, expected to be delivered by the end of the first quarter of 2016. The new ship will be U.S. flagged and documented with a coastwise endorsement by the U.S. Coast Guard. It will have an overall length of 353 feet, a Class 2 dynamic positioning system, accommodations for 110 personnel, a helideck, a 250-ton active heave compensated crane, and a working moonpool. Two 13,000 foot-rated Oceaneering work class remotely operated vehicles will also be provided.

For more than 35 years, Advanced Subsea (AS) has been deeply involved in marine technological innovation. Through steady research and partnerships with research institutes in France and Brazil, Advanced Subsea has been developing new tools, procedures and methods for monitoring oceanographic and meteorological parameters. AS is an independent French company specialized in deep water subsea construction support and services with its head office in Paris and support offices in Houston, Luanda and Rio Janeiro. Advanced Subsea’s Modeling & Forecast Services are based on a partnership between Advanced Subsea SAS & LEGOS – CNRS Laboratory for Geophysics & Spatial Oceanography.

Technip in a Joint Venture with MMHE awarded substantial contract for the Malikai Project in Malaysia. Technip in a joint venture with Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering Sdn Bhd (MMHE) has been awarded a substantial contract by Sabah Shell Petroleum Company Ltd (SSPC) for the engineering, procurement and construction of a tension leg platform (TLP) for the TLP Malikai Deepwater Project. This TLP will be designed as a fully-manned platform to be installed 110 kilometers offshore Sabah, Malaysia, at a water depth of approximately 500 meters. It will weigh approximately 26,000 metric tonnes incorporating a topsides, which will have facilities to process 60,000 barrels of oil and 1.4 million cubic meters per day of gas, and a hull. The tendons will be fabricated in the U.S.

Ensco has taken delivery of ENSCO 8504, the fifth of the seven ENSCO 8500 Series(R) rigs constructed by Keppel FELS Limited in Singapore. After mobilizing to Brunei to complete deepwater sea trials and final outfitting, ENSCO 8504 will commence a previously announced drilling contract with Total E&P Deep Offshore Borneo B.V. The proprietary design of the ENSCO 8500 Series(R) was developed with input from customers to address the drilling requirements for virtually every deepwater field around the world. The design includes a 35,000' nominal rated drilling depth, two million pounds of hoisting capacity, 8,000 tons of variable deck load, and an open layout well suited for subsea completion activities. Improved visibility from the open deck configuration also enhances safety.

According to Germanischer Lloyd (GL), Offshore service vessels (OSV) are becoming larger, more specialized and technically sophisticated as a result of the rising demand for more complex deepwater field developments, including the Gulf of Mexico. Currently, there are some 2,500 OSV worldwide, with a steady growth projected from now through 2020. All this has led to an expanded definition of OSV which refers to "not only traditional supply boats, but also anchor handling tug/supply ships, well stimulation ships, and standby ships" and even those "built to carry hazardous and noxious substances, to fight fires, or to occasionally recover oil," said Stephen Gumpel, Area Manager North and Central America at GL.

Statoil USA E&P Inc. announced that the Shell operated Vito appraisal well in deep water Gulf of Mexico has encountered more than 600 net feet of high-quality oil pay in thick subsalt Miocene sands. This sidetrack appraisal well, which is located in Mississippi Canyon block 940, is more than one mile from the 2009 Vito discovery well. Statoil holds a 25% working interest in the block. “The Vito oil discovery is located in an area of good reservoir development within the Miocene play. In addition to our participation in other large discoveries in this play, Statoil plans to test several new Miocene exploration opportunities through its current operated drilling campaign,” said Helen Butcher, head of Gulf of Mexico Exploration.

The technical evolution of offshore support vessels (OSV) has prompted Germanischer Lloyd (GL) to publish new rules for ships intended for offshore support and supply, offshore towing, well stimulation, and other specialized offshore services. On 1 January 2010, new Rules for Hull Structures of Offshore Service Vessels will come into force. These rules apply to ships intended for offshore support and supply, offshore towing, well stimulation, and other specialized offshore services. For these ships the class notation Offshore Service Vessel will be assigned, complemented by optional further notations, such as HNLS for ships carrying hazardous and noxious liquid substances…

Keppel FELS Limited (Keppel FELS) is on track to deliver West Vencedor, the sixth of seven KFELS semisubmersible drilling tenders (SSDT) to Seadrill Limited before the end of 2009. The completion of this project on time and within budget, will top out a record year of 13 rig deliveries for Keppel FELS. West Vencedor is built to Keppel’s KFELS SSDT 3600E design which was conferred the ASEAN outstanding engineering achievement award in December 2009 for its eco-friendly features and sustainable operations.

Keppel Shipyard Limited (Keppel Shipyard) is on track to deliver the first floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel for the US Gulf of Mexico (GoM) to BW Pioneer Ltd, an affiliate of BW Offshore. Named on Oct. 26 at Keppel Shipyard, the vessel BW Pioneer will be turret moored at a water depth of about 2,600 metres – by far the deepest for an FPSO. The FPSO, which is nearing completion, has achieved an impressive safety record of more than four million incident-free man-hours to-date. BW Pioneer has been leased by Petrobras America Inc.

The current status of new class rules and complementary solutions for safer operation of offshore service vessels (OSVs) were presented by Germanischer Lloyd's Helge Rathje at the 3rd International Conference on Technology & Operation of Offshore Support Vessels in Singapore. "Our aim is to formulate a set of new rules that are comprehensive, strict and feasible enough to help construct safer and more robust OSVs and to minimize their operational risks," he said. Offshore service vessels (OSVs) are becoming larger, more specialized and technically sophisticated as a result of the rising demand for more complex deepwater field developments. Currently there are some 2,500 OSVs worldwide, with a steady growth projected from now through 2020.

International oilfield service company Expro is establishing a new base in Ghana following the award of a multi-million dollar contract to deliver subsea, well test and data acquisition services for Tullow Ghana Limited (subsidiary of ‘Tullow Oil’) on the Jubilee Phase 1 Development field, which is the country’s first deepwater development. Ghana has been a strategic target for Expro since Tullow announced its intention to explore and later develop a major discovery. Expro is the current incumbent for Tullow’s exploration and testing work. On the back of this success, Expro has been awarded the Jubilee Phase 1 subsea and intervention work for 30 months.

ABS has marked the 60th anniversary of its activities providing classification services to the Brazilian shipping and offshore industries with a dinner in Rio de Janeiro attended by luminaries from the Brazilian maritime community. Speaking at the dinner ABS Chairman and CEO Robert D. Somerville noted the significant expansion of the offshore, shipbuilding and shipowning sectors that is currently taking place in Brazil. “ABS is proud to have been providing support to the offshore industry in Brazil,” he said, noting the many industry innovations that have been developed by the industry in the country. “With Brazilian shipyards resurgent…

DeepStar, a group consisting of 10 leading deepwater operators, has awarded Aker Kvaerner a contract for a study to develop a semisubmersible production platform for use in coming ultra-deepwater field developments. The study was won in competition with a number of deepwater floater expertise contractors, and Aker Kvaerner was awarded the contract based on the company's leading experience with deepwater floaters. DeepStar wants to get a credible solution for future developments in ultra-deep water depths down to 10 000 feet. In addition to the development of the floating platform itself, the scope includes other critical aspects such as design of the risers that will bring the oil and gas from the well to the surface. It also includes installation methods for mooring systems and risers.

There are 2,511 identified pending, probable and possible subsea production wells forecast (base case) worldwide over the next six years. Some 18 percent of these subsea completions will be installed in North America, 30 percent in Africa/Mediterranean, eight percent in Asia-Pacific, 26 percent in the North Sea and 18 percent in Brazil. These subsea projects are in various development stages, including: 23 percent at the pending/construction stage, 11 percent bidding, 9 percent in detailed engineering, 16 percent at the front-end engineering design (FEED) stage, 16 percent of the wells probable and 26 percent possible indicating possible development in the future.

Coflexip Stena Offshore, along with Kvaerner, is finalizing the acquisition of the business of Houston-based pipeline engineering company Kvaerner R.J. Brown (KRJB). Closing was expected to occur on March 31. Known as a pipeline engineering company specializing in the design and installation of pipeline bundles and risers for deepwater applications, KRJB is renowned for its offshore pipeline design and towing techniques for more than 30 years. Operating as a separate engineering company under the R.J. Brown Deepwater name within the CSO Group, and working closely with CSO's Deepwater Field Development Division. RJB Deepwater will provide FEED engineering services on an independent basis.

Coflexip Stena Offshore, along with Kvaerner is finalizing the acquisition of the business of Houston-based pipeline engineering company Kvaerner R.J. Brown (KRJB). Closing was expected to occur on March 31. Known as a pipeline engineering company specializing in the design and installation of pipeline bundles and risers for deepwater applications, KRJB is renowned for its offshore pipeline design and towing techniques for more than 30 years. Operating as a separate engineering company under the R.J. Brown Deepwater name within the CSO Group, and working closely with CSO's Deepwater Field Development Division. RJB Deepwater will provide FEED engineering services on an independent basis.