Development Solutions News

An offshore wind hub is coming to the site of the former Avondale Shipyard in Louisiana as the region ramps up to service the growing renewable energy industry in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.New Orleans-based Gulf Wind Technology (GWT) announced Monday it is collaborating with energy supermajor Shell to establish a research, training and technology demonstration program at GWT’s facility within the Avondale Global Gateway in Jefferson Parish.The news comes after the Biden administration…

As the Second Global Ocean Conference opens today in Lisbon, governments in Asia and the Pacific must seize the opportunity to enhance cooperation and solidarity to address a host of challenges that endanger what is a lifeline for millions of people in the region.If done right ocean action will also be climate action but this will require working in concert on a few fronts.First, we must invest in and support science and technology to produce key solutions. Strengthening science…

UK-based 3t Energy Group has agreed to buy oilfield services giant Petrofac's UK training business.The purchase includes Petrofac’s Survival and Marine, Health and Safety, Fire, and Major Emergency Management capability and facilities in Scotland. The value of the acquisition is undisclosed.3t Energy said the acquisition would expand its offering into marine & major emergency management training markets. "3t Energy will now become a supplier to Petrofac for its in-person UK training requirements…

Norwegian subsea contractor Ocean Installer and Norwegian multinational energy company Equinor ASA have signed a contract that covers the floating production storage and offloading unit (FPSO) mooring installation, tow out and hook-up of the Johan Castberg FPSO in the Barents Sea.Johan Castberg is one of the largest subsea field developments on the Norwegian continental shelf. The project includes Skrugard, Havis and Drivis, which lies about 240 kilometers from Hammerfest and about 100 kilometers north of Snøhvit.The water depth is between 360 and 405 meters. Ocean Installer’s new scope is extensive and will be carried out in combination…

Offshore oil services firm Subsea 7 has announced the award of a sizeable contract by Fieldwood Energy to Subsea Integration Alliance, a global partnership between Subsea 7 and OneSubsea, a Schlumberger company.The award is for the deepwater Katmai field development in the US Gulf of Mexico’s Green Canyon 40, said a press release from the company.This supplier-led integrated subsea development solution, combines OneSubsea’s subsea production systems (SPS) and Subsea 7’s subsea umbilicals, riser and flowline systems (SURF) expertise.The Subsea 7 scope includes project management, engineering, procurement, construction and installation of 40 km of pipe-in-pipe production flowline (12” outer pipe and 8” inner pipe)…

Statoil’s proposed impact assessment programme for the Johan Castberg project reveals that the project will be important to Norwegian industry and have strong ripple effects. During our improvement work we have created new opportunities for the Johan Castberg field in the far north. We have changed the concept and found new solutions that allow us to realise the project. But we are still vulnerable to increasing costs and a continued low oil price,” says Margareth Øvrum, executive vice president for Technology, Projects and Drilling in Statoil. The proposed impact assessment programme is an essential part of the preparations before a final development plan for Johan Castberg is submitted in 2017, according to schedule.

Subsea 7 was awarded of a long-term agreement to provide support to Centrica throughout early phase Concept engineering, FEED, SURF project execution and Life of Field operations on an exclusive basis. The agreement is applicable to the Centrica portfolio on the Norwegian Continental Shelf and has a duration of five years plus options for extension. The objective is to provide Centrica with development solutions that minimize complexity, cost and risk in order to generate sanctionable business cases. The partnership approach supports delivery of projects safely, predictably and competitively so that sanctioned value is fully realized. Work has commenced immediately, with execution of a FEED study for the planned Butch Field Development from our office in Stavanger, Norway.

Subsea 7 and Houston-based OneSubsea have announced the signing a global alliance agreement to combine resources and collaborate on selected projects. The firms will jointly design, develop and deliver integrated subsea development solutions. OneSubsea is owned by Cameron and Schlumberger. The alliance will bring together Subsea 7’s experience and technology in seabed to surface engineering, construction and life-of-field services with OneSubsea’s unique reservoir expertise and state-of-the-art subsea production and processing systems technologies. The alliance will combine both companies’ resources to collaborate on selected projects, engaging early to improve field development planning from the reservoir to the production facility.

The licensees in the Johan Castberg and Snorre 2040 licences have decided to spend more time on the projects. “Castberg and Snorre 2040 are two major and important projects in our portfolio, and it is important that we find sound and robust development solutions for them,” says Ivar Aasheim, Statoil’s senior vice president for field development on the NCS. Statoil and its partners have put in an extensive effort to develop cost-effective solutions for the projects. “We see that our efforts have yielded results, and we are focused on reaping the full benefits of this in a way that ensures a sustainable and profitable utilisation of the resources in the Snorre and Johan Castberg fields. The recent decline in oil prices emphasises this,” Aasheim says.

Statoil has together with PL169 partners proved new oil resources in the D-structure in the vicinity of the Grane field in the North Sea. Well 25/8-18 S, drilled by the rig Transocean Leader, proved an oil column of 25 m in the Heimdal Formation. The estimated volume of the discovery is in the range of 30-80 million barrels of recoverable oil. "We are pleased with having proved new oil resources in the Grane area," said May-Liss Hauknes, Statoil vice president for exploration in the North Sea. "Near-field exploration is an important part of Statoil’s exploration portfolio on the NCS.

Statoil’s fast-track development projects are increasing the company’s and partners’ oil and gas production through a combination of standardised subsea development solutions and utilisation of infrastructure in a manner which helps extend the lifetime of existing fields. Production start-up on Fram H-North and Svalin C marks the eighth and ninth fast-track development projects for Statoil. "Together with partners, authorities and suppliers we have been able to develop standardised technical solutions and methods of interaction that yield increased production from the Norwegian shelf," says Statoil’s head of field development on the Norwegian shelf, Ivar Aasheim. "We have achieved a lot with regard to costs, development time and HSE.

In its capacity as Focal - MOOG Components Group representative in Scandinavia and Holland, the MacArtney Group has recently passed a momentous system delivery milestone. Since the partnership was initiated, MacArtney has facilitated the sale and delivery of more than 40 Focal swivel solutions to offshore Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessels operating across the world. FPSOs are offshore production facilities that house both processing equipment and storage for produced hydrocarbons.

RoadOne IntermodaLogistics, a single source intermodal, distribution and logistics services company, announced the appointment of a new executive team which they say positions RoadOne for strong, continuous growth. Larry Cuddy, Vice President Commercial Strategy & Client Solutions:  Larry is an accomplished logistics and supply chain professional with a strong 20 year history in business development, solutions design, transportation management, and IT solutions. Prior to RoadOne, Larry was Sr. Director, Client Solutions Supply Chain at Estes Express Lines, Inc. His experience also includes senior sales positions at 3PD, Exel and Velocity Express.

Lloyd’s Register (LR) announced a significant investment in global services company Senergy to create an industry-leading offering - from the reservoir to refinery and beyond. The deal will see LR and Senergy provide a unique and comprehensive portfolio of services to the upstream sectors of exploration, production and transportation through to refinery and beyond. The combined business will also provide life of field services from inception to decommissioning and offer unparalleled…

Senergy Development Solutions (SDS), which specializes in oil and gas facilities engineering and total project delivery, has positioned itself to harness the increasing market demand for its services by appointing a third director to its leadership team. Rob Fisher joins fellow directors Murray Douglas and Stuart McAuley at SDS, which is part of global energy services company Senergy. He will underpin and lead SDS’s subsea, pipeline and construction management business and further build on the company’s track record in engineering and project management.

As momentum builds for the effort to save and repurpose the greatest American ocean liner ever built, the SS United States Redevelopment Project (SSUSRP) announced that it has named New Canaan Advisors LLC (NCA) as real estate advisors to a growing team leading this exciting redevelopment program. New Canaan Advisors will assist the SSUSRP on a number of aspects related to transforming the historic ship into a stationary, multi-purpose waterfront destination. The SS United States, which will celebrate the 60th anniversary of its maiden voyage this year, remains the largest passenger vessel ever constructed in the United States. At nearly 1,000 feet long, she remains the fastest ocean liner to cross the North Atlantic and one of the last surviving of the great 20th Century liners.

Statoil and its partners are considering developing the Skrugard discovery in the Barents Sea by means of a floating production unit with the additional capacity to process and transport from other prospects in the area. A feasibility study has identified a technical and commercial solution for the Skrugard field in the Barents Sea. The solution involving a floating production unit will result in the rapid and cost-efficient development of the discovery. The production unit will have separate oil storage and offshore loading capability with a production capacity of 95…

Electro-Flow Controls (EFC), an Aberdeen-based leading designer and manufacturer of instrumentation, monitoring and control systems for the global oil and gas industry, has secured a contract worth over $900,000 with Helix Well Ops (UK). The provider of life-of-field services and development solutions has contracted EFC to design and supply riser handling and additional storage solutions for the company’s Well Enhancer vessel. Bob Will, EFC managing director said: “EFC offered its conceptual design service…

SSP Offshore Inc. announced that the SSP team and its proprietary platforms, the SSP320 and SSP Plus, reached a major development milestone, completing a full spectrum of global environment performance tests carried out at the LabOceano/Coppe testing basin in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The MARIN Institute operating in collaboration with Oceanica Offshore supervised these tests. SSP Offshore hosted a Showcase Day on November 19, 2009 for selected participants at the LabOceano facilities.

Monday, April 20, 2009, the Port of Detroit welcomed the arrival of the ocean going vessel, Federal Pride, at 6:00 p.m. at the Nicholson Terminal & Dock Company. The ship's arrival began the port's 2009 shipping season. The Federal Pride, a Cyprus flagged vessel, set sail on April 3, 2009 from Teesport, United Kingdom and Antwerp, Belgium with a cargo of steel. The ship, 470 ft long with a 75 ft beam, sailed under the command of Captain Maciej A. Adamiak. Limassol, Cyprus is its home port. Olinek will present the coveted J.L. Hudson Trophy to World Shipping, the ship's agent. The Detroit/Wayne Port Authority established in 1978, is a non profit organization based in Detroit…

StatoilHydro is investing $413 million in R&D activities in 2008, 20% more than in 2007. The R&D portfolio is divided into: exploration, increased oil recovery, new development solutions, oil and gas value chain, new energy as well as new ideas. Video available includes: headquarter, offshore and onshore facilities shots, as well as new technology projects animations.

Scheduled for a September 2003 release, the next major revision of the 3-D product modeling software for shipbuilding and offshore platforms from Albacore Research Ltd., ShipConstructor2004, will include a full Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning module (HVAC). HVAC is a fully integrated member of the ShipConstructor suite of Structure, Automatic and Manual Nest, NC Code generation, Outfit, Pipe, Fairing, and Lofting tools. To facilitate automatic report generation, HVAC makes full use of ShipConstructor's SQL Server product database. As with all ShipConstructor modules, HVAC is a full 3-D modeling package; this reduces drafting errors and time-to-production. With ShipConstructor, HVAC ducts are full-featured AutoCAD entities.

Shuttle tankers meeting rigorous federal safety and environmental standards will be ready to begin transporting crude oil to U.S. ports whenever the first Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel is deployed in the Gulf of Mexico, Houston-based American Shuttle Tankers L.L.C. (AST) said today. "In the weeks since the Minerals Management Service (MMS) approved the use of FPSOs in the Gulf of Mexico, companies evaluating development options for deepwater oil discoveries in the U.S. solutions", said Oyvind Jordanger, president of AST. American Shuttle Tankers, which was formed last year by the top crude oil lightering company in the Gulf of Mexico and the leading shuttle tanker service provider in the North Sea…