Field Offshore News

Esgian reports on new contracts for Borr Drilling and Shelf Drilling (North Sea) jackups in its Week 15 Rig Analytics Market Roundup. Additionally, Energean has selected a drillship for its upcoming drilling campaign offshore Morocco. South America remains vital to the floating rig market, with ExxonMobil moving ahead on a sixth development on the prolific Stabroek block offshore Guyana and Petrobras reporting a new discovery in Brazil's Potiguar Basin.Report Outline:ContractsBorr Drilling has announced new contract commitments for three of its premium jackup rigs…

Esgian reports various drilling contractors disclosing details of discussions with Saudi Aramco regarding jackup contract suspensions in its Week 14 Rig Analytics Market Roundup. These contractors include Shelf Drilling, ADES, Borr Drilling, Arabian Drilling, COSL, and ARO Drilling.Meanwhile, Transocean, Noble, and COSL rigs have firmed up new work in the US Gulf of Mexico, Suriname, and the North Sea, respectively.Report overview:ContractsShelf Drilling has received a notice of suspension of operations on four jackup rigs from a customer in the Middle East.

Esgian reports shifts in demand in its Week 13 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.Report overview:ContractsADES has received a Letter of Intent (LOI) from PTTEP Energy Development Company Limited for an 18-month jackup drilling contract in the Gulf of Thailand. Operations are expected to begin in the second half of 2024, with an unspecified jackup.Drilling Activity and DiscoveriesThe Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD) has granted Aker BP a drilling permit for an exploration well in…

In the commercial maritime and offshore industries, where worker safety and competency are crucial, effective training practices are an absolute must. While hands-on, in-the-field learning will always be a vital component of any mariner’s training, marine simulation has become a welcome enhancement to the education process. And in some cases, it’s seen as a safer alternative to traditional survival craft and rescue boat training.A leader in this space is Virtual Marine, based in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Altera Infrastructure has hired DOF to install Voyageur Spirit floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit as well as one floating storage unit (FSO) at Eni-operated Baleine oil field offshore Ivory Coast.The project includes the complete installation of seabed mooring systems, flowline between the FSO – a converted shuttle tanker Nordic Brasilia - and the Voyageur Spirit FPSO, along with their associated equipment.The contract for the redeployment of the FPSO and the FSO was secured by Altera back in October 2023.Voyageur Spirit is a cylindrical-shaped FPSO…

Esgian's last roundup of the year for the Week 52 puts spotlight on new developments for Dolphin Drilling semisub, Seadrill drillships, as well as Shell’s plans for Australia and ONGC’s new tender for jackups in India.ContractsDolphin Drilling has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with an undisclosed operator for the 1,500-ft semisubmersible Borgland Dolphin to undertake a 500-day drilling campaign in the UK. The drilling campaign is planned to begin directly after the firm part of the contract period with EnQuest, which was announced in late November 2023.

This week Esgian’s Week 50 Rig Analytics Market Roundup notes developments in the semisub sector including that Shell has decided to exercise its option on Stena Don in the North Sea but not on Deepsea Bollsta in Namibia. Meanwhile, a new contract for the Transocean Barents will see it operate in the Black Sea, and jackup Shelf Drilling Perseverance will move to Vietnam.ContractsShelf Drilling has secured a contract award for the 400ft Shelf Drilling Perseverance jackup rig with PetroVietnam Domestic Exploration Production Operating Company Limited (PVEP POC).

Eni will invest $10 billion in the development of the Baleine field offshore Ivory Coast, which will take place in three phases from 2023 to 2027, Energy Minister Mamadou Sangafowa Coulibaly said on Thursday.The Baleine field, where certified reserves are estimated at 2.5 billion barrels of oil and 3.3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, was discovered in 2021 by the Italian energy group off the east coast of the West African country.The field's crude oil production should reach 200,000 barrels per day by 2027, compared with 30,000 barrels per day in 2023, the energy minister said."With a tota

Italian gas grid operator Snam will invest 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) in a new LNG offshore terminal near Ravenna, the company's CEO said on Tuesday.The floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) will add to another LNG terminal already set up in Tuscany, increasing Italy's gas import capacity and reducing dependence from its traditional suppliers, including Russia."To increase energy security for Italy we decided last year, together with the government, to increase the country's LNG import capacity in order to have more flexibility and diversify energy supplies…

KOTUG said Tuesday it had, via its Guyanese subsidiary KOTUG Guyana strengthened its position in Guyana with the arrival of three additional Offshore Terminal Tugs to support ExxonMobil Guyana’s offshore operations.With the arrival of KOTUG-owned ‘SD Grace’, ‘Seaways 20’ and ‘Seaways 22’, KOTUG will operate a total of five offshore terminal tugs in Guyana.The vessels predominantly provide support (“tanker lifting operations”) to the large crude oil tankers that are loading crude oil from ExxonMobil's producing FPSOs in the Stabroek field…

Brazilian oil and gas company Enauta, the operator of the Atlanta field in Santos Basin. offshore Brazil, has started the anchoring campaign for the FPSO Atlanta, which is expected to start production in 2024.This marks the start of installation works on what is called Atlanta’s Phase I, which will bring a larger capacity FPSO to the field that has so far been producing oil via the Petrojarl I FPSO."[The anchoring ] stage consists of installing flexible riser anchors and torpedo anchors for the new [FPSO].

FPSO leasing company BW Offshore has signed a short-term extension for its Abo FPSO.The extension was signed with Nigerian Agip Exploration Ltd, a subsidiary of the Italian oil firm Eni, and runs until August 14, 2023.BW Offshore has been in talks to divest the FPSO, which is operating at the Abo field offshore Nigeria, and is seen as non-core to its FPSO fleet. This extension is the latest in a series of short-term extensions announced for the Abo FPSO recently.The ABO FPSO started producing in April 2003.

Malaysian FPSO leasing company Bumi Armada said Tuesday it had completed the sale of the Armada Claire floating production storage and offloading vessel. The FPSO was sold by Bumi Armada's subsidiary, Armada Balnaves."The Armada Claire sale was on an “as is where is” basis, at a sale price of US$20 million. The sale proceeds were received by [Armada Balnaves] on April 19, 2023," Bumi Armada said,Bumi Armada said it would recognize a gain on sale of the Armada Claire FPSO of approximately US$12 million in its second quarter financial results. Proceeds from the FPSO sale, net of transaction fees, will be used to reduce Bumi Armada Group’s corporate debt.

Oil and gas company Valeura Energy said Monday that modifications to the MT Jaka Tarub crude oil storage vessel were complete, making the vessel compatible with infrastructure at its Wassana oil field, offshore Thailand.According to Valeura Energy, the vessel is capable of tandem crude oil loading/offloading. "Subject to favorable metocean conditions, the vessel will arrive at the Wassana field in the coming days, after which Valeura intends to resume oil production operations, targeting initial rates of up to 3,000 bbls/d, net to the 89% working interest share held by its subsidiary company Valeura Energy Asia Pte. Ltd." the company said.As reported by Offshore Engineer in December 2022…

Dubai's shipbuilding and shiprepair company Drydocks World and Norwegian offshore engineering and construction firm Aker Solutions have established a joint venture to upgrade the Petrojarl Knarr FPSO for Equinor's Rosebank offshore oil and gas field in the UK, the Government of Dubai media office confirmed Friday.The joint venture signed its first contract with FPSO owner Altera Infrastructure to upgrade, refurbish, and electrify the FPSO. The vessel will be redeployed at Rosebank field…

Norway's Aker Solutions will upgrade Altera Infrastructure's Petrojarl  Knarr floating production storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) to be redeployed at Equinor's Rosebank field development, offshore the UK. Petrojarl Knarr was built by Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea and delivered in 2014. It was operating on the Knarr field offshore Norway from 2015 until May 2022.The development concept for the Rosebank field includes the redeployment and reuse of the existing Petrojarl Knarr FPSO owned by Altera.Under a 'substantial' contract with Altera…

As we enter the final month of 2022, a review of the floating production system (FPS) market revealed that some E&Ps have been bold with investments in the development of their oil and gas (O&G) reserves, with a total of 1.9 mmboepd (1.3 mmbpd of oil and 3.8 bcfd of gas) of FPS throughput capacity sanctioned year to date (YTD). This represents a 7% increase on 2021, with Westwood anticipating an additional 180 kboepd of FPS throughput capacity to be sanctioned before the end of the year.

Oil and gas company Valeura Energy has entered into a definitive agreement with PT Samudra Alam Transport to charter the MT Vula crude oil tanker to store oil produced from the Wassana oil field, offshore in the Gulf of Thailand.In Q2 2022, Valeura acquired KrisEnergy International (Thailand) Holdings Ltd. which owns and operates two licenses in the offshore Gulf of Thailand. The acquisition included the suspended Wassana oil field and the fully appraised Rossukon oil field. Additionally, through a separate agreement, the company agreed to acquire the Mobile Production Unit Ingenium (“MOPU”) which is on location at the Wassana oil field.Valeura said this week that the oil tanker to be chartered for Wassana would be renamed MT Jaka Tarub.The MT Jaka Tarub is a Panamax-sized oil tanker…

Japanese floating oil and gas production systems provider MODEC has signed a contract to perform Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) for an FPSO vessel for ExxonMobil's “Uaru” oil field development project offshore Guyana.The FEED contract award relates to the initial funding by ExxonMobil’s subsidiary, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), to begin FEED activities related to the FPSO design and to secure the second M350TM hull for FPSO service.Following FEED and subject to government approvals in Guyana of the development plan…

The FPSO Atlanta, contracted by the Brazilian oil company Enauta to Malaysia's Yinson for conversion to service the Atlanta Field offshore Brazil, will be operated under ABS Class.The Atlanta, which will serve as the Definity Production System at the Atlanta Field in the Santos Basin, offshore Brazil, is being converted in Dubai Drydocks World, including structural upgrades, refurbishment and enhancement of equipment, will have a production capacity of 50,000 BOPD, 12.4 MMscfd gas and a storage capacity of 1,800,000 bbl.

Norwegian oil and gas company Equinor has exercised an option to extend the contract for Solstad Offshore's Normand Ferking AHTS vessel for one more year to November 2023.Equinor has the option to extend the contract for a further one year after the expiration of the current contract. Normand Ferking has been on contract with Equinor since 2007 and will continue to support Equinor's activities on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

UAE-based shipyard Drydocks World has signed a contract with Norway-based Kanfa to deliver a topside module for a floating production storage and offloading vessel.In what will be the first collaboration between Drydocks World and Kanfa, the M10 module will be placed on the main deck of the FPSO.The module will be used to process crude oil received from oil wells, which will be dewatered and stabilised to meet export quality specifications. Weighing approximately 700 tons, the process module is scheduled for delivery in Q2 2023.Kanfa…

Italian oilfield services firm Saipem has confirmed it has recently been awarded a limited notice to proceed (LNTP) by BW Offshore, for the early-stage engineering services for the supply of an FPSO unit to be supplied to Shell for the development of the Gato do Mato field offshore Brazil.The oil and gas field is located around 200 km offshore Brazil in the Santos Basin, in water depths of around 2,000 meters.The LNTP is valued at up to $50 million. Saipem’s share is worth approximately $25 million.Upon completion of the LNTP…