Gullfaks News

Scientists warn that climate change is the greatest peril that humankind has ever faced. Yet oil and gas exploration is set to clock the highest growth for more than a decade this year and next. Protesters cause disruption but, for the moment, hydrocarbon energy underpins life as we know it“Offshore oil and gas production probably matters now more than ever,” said Audun Martinsen. The Rystad Energy Partner and Head of Energy Research told Maritime Reporter & Engineering News.“It…

Ampelmann, a Dutch-based firm providing offshore access solutions, will soon be deploying a second gangway to support the construction of the Hywind Tampen floating wind farm in Norway.The first gangway, an E1000 system, was fitted to OSCV Siem Barracuda in early December. Ampelmann said Monday that the second Ampelmann gangway would begin its operations on the wind farm within the next six months.Maichel van Nauta Lemke, Ampelmann’s Business Developer for floating wind. ”We are…

The first floating wind turbine for Equinor's 88MW Hywind Tampen floating wind farm in Noway was assembled last week at Wergeland Group's base in Norway, Wergeland shared via social media.Equinor’s Hywind Tampen will be the world’s largest floating offshore wind farm once completed later this year.The turbine assembled at Wergeland's base is the first of eleven to be assembled. The towing of the turbines to the North Sea location is expected to start early in the summer.Hywind Tampen will serve as the power source for five of Equinor's offshore oil and gas platforms in Norway…

Norwegian offshore vessel owner Simon Møkster Shipping has recently won a contract with Equinor for service operation vessel (SOV) services for the Hywind Tampen floating wind farm project in Norway.The 88 MW Hywind Tampen, which will be the world's largest floating wind farm once built, will serve as the power source for five of Equinor's offshore oil and gas platforms in Norway, Snorre A, and B, and Gullfaks A, B, and C.As part of the SOV contract with Equinor, Simon Møkster will deploy its 2014-built Stril Server vessel…

Offshore seismic survey contractors PGS and Shearwater GeoServices have been awarded framework agreements with Equinor for 4D towed streamer seismic acquisition on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) in what Equinor said was a new way of working with seismic contractors.The agreements have a total estimated value of around NOK 700 million (~USD 82,7 million).“This is a new way of working with seismic suppliers. We are moving away from annual tenders towards a more long-term collaboration model.

Greenpeace's flagship Rainbow Warrior blocked a tanker on Thursday from delivering crude oil from Norway to Sweden's Lysekil refinery in a protest against plans to expand it, the advocacy group said.The 850-tonne sailboat decorated in rainbow colors dropped anchor in a fjord near the installation owned by Sweden's largest refiner Preem to block passage for the Grena Knutsen carrying crude from Norway's Gullfaks oilfield."We will not let any crude oil to the refinery until Preem stops its plans to expand," said Greenpeace member Gustav Martner during a live feed from Rainbow Warrior as it lower

The “new normal” is a phrase tossed around often in offshore energy circles today as those servicing and operating in the sector grapple with the harsh realities of the prolonged industry downturn. Operators, service companies and equipment suppliers have been forced to adjust to oil selling at prices well below the $100+ per barrel mark seen in years past. As of this writing, Brent oil was hovering around $62 per barrel, and analysts expect prices will remain in this range for some time into the future.On top of this…

Spanish-based engineering company Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) said that the world’s largest floating wind power plant will be installed in Norway, equipped with 11 Siemens Gamesa SG 8.0-167 DD turbines.Scheduled to be commissioned in late 2022, Hywind Tampen will be the first ever floating wind power plant to power offshore oil and gas platforms.“We are pleased to have received the firm order from Equinor to be the supplier of this ground-breaking project. Thanks to our strong collaboration and joint focus on innovation, we are now at the forefront of developing this exciting technology and unlocking the vast potential for floating offshore wind power…

Oil workers have been evacuated from the Statfjord A platform in the North Sea after it was struck by a platform supply vessel (PSV), Norwegian oil and gas company Equinor said on Friday.The platform was not producing when it was struck by the support vessel Sjøborg during loading operations at 1:55 a.m., and there were no injuries to the 276 people on the platform, Equinor said.The Statfjord A platform has been shut since the end of May for maintenance expected to last through July…

Norway's Equinor said on Tuesday it is considering whether to build a pioneering offshore wind farm with floating turbines to supply electricity to two North Sea oilfields as part of a strategy to curb greenhouse gas emissions.The project at the Gullfaks and Snorre oilfields would cost around 5 billion Norwegian crowns ($592 million) and could reduce Norway's emissions of carbon dioxide by more than 200,000 tonnes per year, Equinor said."This could be the first time an offshore wind farm is directly connected to oil and gas platforms," state-controlled Equinor said in a statement.

The new Cat J jackup rig Askeladden started drilling on the Gullfaks field on 26 March, with the goal of providing new production from old wells and exploring to create new value. Askeladden has been bought by the Gullfaks licence to carry out production and exploration drilling on Gullfaks Satellites. For several months the rig had to wait on weather, both on its way from the yard in South Korea and when it met the Norwegian winter weather. It arrived at the field on February 19th and on 5 March the legs were firmly placed on the seabed at its final location by the subsea template. “Safety is our top priority – we will not start any operations before we are confident that they can be carried out safely.

Swiss offshore services firm Allseas is planning to build a vessel big enough to be able to remove the world's largest oil and gas platforms when they reach the end of their production lives, its chief executive said. The vessel, to be called Amazing Grace, is designed to remove the heaviest platforms in a single lift and could reduce decommissioning costs for global oil and gas producers, the firm said. It would be a bigger version of Allseas' existing Pioneering Spirit ship…

About 755 Norwegian workers on seven oil and gas fields could go on strike from Saturday, hitting output from western Europe's top producer, if a new wage deal is not agreed before a Friday deadline, trade unions said on Monday. A final round of mandatory talks will be hosted by a state mediator on June 30 and July 1 in an effort to avoid disruption that could start the following day. The affected fields account for nearly 18 percent of Norway's oil output and a little more than 17 percent of its natural gas, Reuters calculations show. Combined oil output was about 285,000 barrels per day in the first four months of the year, with natural gas output at 48.5 million cubic metres (mcm) per day.

Statoil has awarded Palfinger Dreggen a contract for the complete rebuild and upgrade of six blowout preventer (BOP) cranes for the Gullfaks field in the northern part of the Norwegian North Sea. Each of the BOP cranes to be delivered from Palfinger Dreggen will have the capacity to lift 2 x 20 tons. In addition, the cranes are equipped with an auxiliary hoist with SWL 5 tons for smaller lifts. The delivery includes complete new trolleys with hoisting machineries, new modern control systems for the cranes and radio remote systems to make the operation of the cranes easy and flexible.

Statoil has awarded two new, long-term contracts with estimated value of NOK 11 billion for insulation, scaffolding and surface treatment services to Beerenberg Corp AS and Prezioso Linjebygg AS. They will provide services to 20 of the company’s 29 installations on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) when the contracts take effect. Carried out on all installations on the NCS, as well as all onshore plants in Norway, these services have ripple effects in many parts of the country. Taking effect in the first quarter of 2016, the contracts have an estimated total value of NOK 11 billion over the 15-year contract period. The two new contracts will replace the company’s existing contracts with these two suppliers regarding NCS services.

After several years of technology development, construction and testing the first subsea wet gas compressor in the world is now installed at the Gullfaks C platform in the North Sea. In May and June Gullfaks subsea compressor project (GSC) completed successful structure and module installation campaigns for the subsea station. The compressors were installed at the end of June. Subsea wet gas compression at Gullfaks C will add 22 million barrels of oil equivalent, and extend plateau production by about two years. “The installation campaigns have been successfully performed by Subsea Seven,” says project manager Bjørn Birkeland. The project has now entered the last phase, testing and preparing for hand-over and start-up in the last quarter of this year.

Ocean Installer has been awarded North Sea umbilical installation and riser replacement contracts from Statoil, the company announced yesterday. The Norwegian subsea contractor signed amendments with Statoil for umbilical marine installation at the North Sea's Visund field and for riser replacement at the Troll B field. The work will be executed under the SLMP Marine Installation Contract. Ocean Installer will utilize the large construction support vessel (CSV), Normand Vision, as the installation vessel for both projects. The water depth in both areas is approximately 330m.

The world’s first subsea wet gas compressor station is now ready for the final testing at Horsøy outside Bergen before being prepared for installation and hook-up to Gullfaks C in 2015. By adding 22 million extra barrels of oil equivalent from the Gullfaks South Brent reservoir the compressor will help extend the field’s productive life. Starting back in 2008 the efforts to develop and qualify the compressor in line with Statoil’s requirements represent a good example of Statoil’s cooperation with the Norwegian supply industry to develop robust improved oil recovery solutions.

Statoil has entered into an agreement with DNV GL to establish an industrial cooperation to introduce an international industry standard for subsea process technology. DNV GL will lead a joint industry project (JIP) with important subsea operators to find industrial standards which will make it more profitable to develop larger projects with subsea processing technology. Today, subsea developments are characterized by tailor-made solutions. Subsea pumps have been used in many oil fields…

Schlumberger Norway has been awarded a contract with Statoil to provide integrated drilling services for the Norwegian continental shelf licenses Gullfaks, Gullfaks Satellites, Snorre, Statfjord , Tordis/Vigdis, Visund. The agreement also covers exploration drilling on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS). Taking effect on 1 September 2014 the contract has a value of NOK 1.15 billion for an initial duration of two years. The contract also has three optional extensions, each for two years. The contract will provide jobs for some 350 people in Schlumberger Norway over the next two years. Services under the agreement include the delivery of directional drilling, measurement while drilling (MWD), logging while drilling (LWD) and mud logging services.

North Sea crude premiums held strong on Tuesday, supported by solid demand from Shell, and traders said the market for June-loading cargos could remain strong due to tighter supply. Loading programmes for North Sea crude in June have started to be issued this week and traders say summer maintenance work at oilfields and other infrastructure could tighten supplies. "That could keep differentials supported," said one. Output at the Buzzard oilfield appears to have recovered after a cutback last month, which trimmed supply of Forties and led to a spate of loading delays for cargoes in April and May. The field was pumping at normal rate of around 200,000 barrels per day on Tuesday, an industry source said.

Dockwise, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. (Boskalis) inform it has been awarded a contract by Statoil Petroleum AS for the transportation of two very large new jack-up drilling rigs from Korean shipbuilders to the North Sea, said to be the largest and heaviest jack-up rigs ever to be transported on a heavy marine transport vessel. The two rigs are on order with a South Korean yard and are scheduled to be transported to Norway between the second half 2016 and the second half 2017.

Statoil say that a situation arose in which drill fluid was lost as a new well was being drilled on Snorre A, in the Tampen area of the North Sea. Statoil explain that while it was possible to quickly reduce the loss of drill fluid to the reservoir, adverse weather conditions created some uncertainty as to when a vessel might get out to the platform with a new supply of drill fluid. As a purely preventive measure, 117 out of a total 254 platform personnel were transferred to Gullfaks A and Gullfaks C. The well in question is being cemented and closed.