Offshore Energy Markets News

There is an increasing expectation that oil and gas firms can demonstrate their value and efficiency through more data-centric processes, managing costs and reacting more quickly to changing market conditions. While the sector has typically been slow to adopt digital innovations, today’s offshore energy markets are fluid and fast-changing, and the ‘business as usual’ model will not necessarily yield the best future results.AI, automation and data-driven solutions are helping companies across industries to reduce costs, improve efficiency and cut emissions.

Testing, inspection and certification group Bureau Veritas (BV) announced Friday that its MAC (Maritime Assurance & Consulting) will officially become Bureau Veritas Solutions Marine & Offshore (BVS), the technical advisory, asset management, and assurance solutions partner dedicated to the marine and offshore energy markets.MAC was acquired by BV in 2016 and continued to operate under its own brand. According to BV, the integration will enable more synergies and make available additional and enhanced services.Paul Shrieve…

The offshore wind industry has made great strides to become a cost-competitive option for grid and off-grid energy solutions. And today, the industry is growing faster than ever before, both in the well-established European market and in newer ones such as in China, Taiwan, Japan and the U.S.As the industry keeps growing, projects and turbines do too, says Philip Lewis, director of research at World Energy Reports."Offshore wind is becoming more mainstream, and as it does, the average project size is increasing…

Bureau Veritas (BV) says it has launched the BVS eAcademy to provide online learning for marine and offshore energy markets across the globe.Led by BV Solutions Marine & Offshore (BVS M&O), BVS eAcademy offering more than 25 maritime courses developed from BV’s own internal training academy which, since 2016, has delivered more than 20,000 training sessions to more than 1,500 BV staff.Delivered online and on-demand, the course are suitable for maritime professionals, or students looking to develop their awareness and understanding of specific areas of expertise…

The promise of a vibrant U.S. offshore wind business has been long in the making. While questions remain on timing and pace, there is renewed confidence in the offshore wind sector, particularly in the northeast United States (global pandemic notwithstanding). Investment in the sector had escalated to start 2020, embodied best by Reinauer Group and its WindServe Marine unit, which when combined with its Senesco Marine boatbuilding and logistics hub give its an ‘ A-to-Z, soup-to-nuts’ enviable position to build…

A ‘work in progress,’ the North American brown water, shallow draft sectors have experienced a tumultuous year of evolution, changing market conditions, a rapidly shifting regulatory environment and new opportunities. Anything but boring; and within the pages of Maritime Reporter’ & Engineering News’ Annual Yearbook, Joseph Keefe, editor of sister-publication MarineNews, takes a deep dive into the issues driving the domestic waterfront.Workboat EmissionsMore than one year ago, Volkswagon learned the ultimate (and painful) meaning of the iconic U.S. adage of “Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time – or at least pay the staggering fine.” And pay it forward, Volkswagen did.

While the late 2018 oil price swoon has put a damper on an otherwise positive year for offshore energy markets, Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) ends the year on a positive, signing a construction management contract, as well as a five-year drilling contract with Chevron USA, Inc. for one of its two dynamically positioned (DP) ultra-deepwater drillships currently under construction at the Jurong shipyard in Singapore.The drilling contract has an estimated backlog of $830 million, excluding mobilization and reimbursables.The rig will be the first ultra-deepwater floater rated for 20,000 psi operations and is expected to commence operations in the Gulf of Mexico in the second half of 2021.In the event of termination for convenience by the customer…

Subsea Innovation, the supplier engineered equipment and technology used in the installation of subsea equipment for the offshore oil and gas, has announced two high profile contract wins with Royal IHC, as part of a collaborative framework agreement.A press release from the  offshore energy engineering compmany said that  will be supporting their client Royal IHC Limited on the design, development, manufacture and supply of back deck equipment on two projects to be completed throughout 2018 and 2019."For both projects, which include a reel lay project and a J lay project, Subsea Innovation will be producing a range of back deck equipment including Pipeline End Termination (PLET) manipulators…

The subsea cables and engineering services provider Tekmar Energy announced that international marine contractor Van Oord has selected the patented Tekmar Cable Protection System (CPS) TekLink Mechanical Latch for the Borssele 2 (site III and IV) offshore wind farm.According to a press release from the offshore wind cable protection systems company, Borssele 2 consisting of 77 turbines and a total of 731.5 MW, will go into construction off the coast of Zeeland, the Netherlands in 2020.James Ritchie, CEO of Tekmar Group plc, said: “We are delighted that Van Oord has chosen Tekmar for Borssele 2. This continues our trusted relationship together following the successful award from Van Oord for Deutsche Bucht and BorWin3 earlier in 2018…

In what can be construed as another positive sign for the turnaround of the offshore energy markets, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM) said it has set up a new business unit to focus on the oil and gas and offshore energy renewables markets.“This segment is focused on special operations and driven by different rules, so we decided to establish a dedicated expert team to specifically attend to the needs of the offshore market,” said Matthias Mueller, Managing Director of BSM…

UK-based survey specialist Bibby HydroMap have announced the successful completion of testing of ‘DriX’, the 8-metre Autonomous Unmanned Survey Vessel (AUSV) developed by iXblue.Designed to provide a true extension of survey capability from shallow and inshore waters to a full offshore environment, DriX is a new breed of AUSV that is the first autonomous survey platform to truly rival the performance of a traditional survey vessel.The versatile system has the ability to accommodate a hydrographic and geophysical survey payload and to aid positioning of underwater vehicles, facilitating data collection on a variety of marine projects.Guillaume Edeline…

Shoaling shifts NCDOT’s propulsion needs, prompting a sea change. Thrustmaster waterjets step in to carry the day. In Swansboro, N.C., boatbuilder U.S. Workboats (formerly Armstrong Marine) is assembling the linchpin of the North Carolina Department of Transport’s (NCDOT) business plan for its future Outer Banks ferry services. Separately, in both Hatteras and Ocracoke, crews are preparing to break ground on new parking additions and visitor facilities. The Ocracoke Express passenger ferry project – made necessary by the shifting and unpredictable shoaling on North Carolina’s Outer Banks – will, starting this summer, change forever the way tourists and visitors get to and from these national treasures.

U.S. shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) announced today a number of changes across its leadership team. HII’s Board of Directors has elected Christopher D. Kastner to succeed Barbara A. Niland as the company’s chief financial officer and corporate vice president, business management, effective with Niland’s retirement on March 1, 2016. Furthermore Philip Luna, corporate vice president and president, UniversalPegasus International (UPI), a subsidiary of HII, has been promoted to the HII senior executive team, effective immediately.

BMT Nigel Gee (BMT), a subsidiary of BMT Group Ltd, and an independent naval architecture and marine engineering design consultancy, is celebrating its latest achievement in securing its 1,000th project which will involve the delivery of detailed production engineering for a ferry machinery conversion. John Bonafoux, Managing Director of BMT Nigel Gee commented, “Reaching our 1,000th project is a massive achievement. Our first ever project seems such a long time ago now, but I still remember it well.

A precipitous plunge in energy pricing is problematic for a prodigious oil producing nation such as Norway, but it really only tells a portion of the story when evaluating the immediate future for the collective maritime and offshore energy markets. Prolonged stagnation in the global economy, growing political tension and instability in several world regions, and a general breakdown in international cooperation all conspire to make the path ahead a perilous one for this wealthy nation of five million.

Two safety and survival systems developed for use in the UK’s offshore sector by the Survitec Group were recognised for their industry-leading importance when they won the Safety Innovations Award in the recent Offshore Achievement Award organised by the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE). The Safety Innovations Award recognises excellence in innovative technology and products that have been developed in the UK and which contribute to offshore safety. In particular, it looks at how they contribute to the overall objective of improving individual, plant or operational safety in the offshore energy sector (oil and gas and all forms of renewables).

BMT Nigel Gee (BMT), a subsidiary of BMT Group, has announced the completion of new offices in Southampton in order to meet a large increase in design work. Operating across four principal market sectors, the naval architectural practice delivers design and engineering services for specialised vessels in the commercial, yacht, defence and offshore energy markets. With 62 live projects, BMT has made an exciting start to 2015. Current contracts equate to a total vessel length of nearly 2600m, with projects spreading across 13 countries, over three continents.

L-3 SAM Electronics announced today that it has completed the supply and installation of extensive drive equipment, as well as automation, navigation and positioning systems, on board the Heavy-Lift Jack-Up Vessel (HLJV) Vidar, which is operated by HOCHTIEF Infrastructure GmbH for construction and service support of offshore wind farms. The Vidar is the latest in a series of recently completed offshore turnkey projects undertaken by L-3 SAM Electronics on behalf of leading operators in the world’s offshore industry.

Jack-Up Barge, the offshore self-elevating platform supplier, has pioneered a new cost-effective installation method that the company said will revolutionize offshore wind turbine construction. The Netherlands-based based company, a supplier to the offshore energy markets, successfully completed seatrials at the beginning of March, on a new, first-of-its-kind, portable DP2 system. The new system, integrated to one of Jack-Up Barge’s platforms, enables the vessel to operate between work sites offshore without recourse to a tug vessel.

BMT Nigel Gee, a subsidiary of BMT Group, an international design, engineering and risk management consultancy, has announced expansion activity at its offices in Southampton to meet a large increase in design work. Operating across four principal market sectors, the naval architectural practice delivers design and engineering services for specialized vessels in the large yacht, commercial, defense and offshore energy markets. John Bonafoux, Managing Director of BMT Nigel Gee said…

SHC Wavedancer, with a new patents pending design, is capable of transforming from a high speed catamaran to a semi-submersible platform. The desingers believe that this innovation has enormous global potential for use in the offshore energy markets, such as platform personnel transfers and wind farm maintenance, offshore survey, inspection and installation works. The patents pending Submersible Hull Vessel (SHV) concept is owned by OSSeas Ltd and is the only vessel which can change its own internal volume.

Wilhelmsen Technical Solutions (WTS) opens an office in Houston to service their increased offshore business. WTS is targeting increased business from the local offshore industry in the Gulf of Mexico and an expanded focus on Brazil, where deepwater offshore production is entering a new and dynamic phase. WTS Vice President, Americas Region, Philip Bannerman says the company is well placed to provide the mix of skills and competence in demand in these regions. “Both US and Brazilian offshore & energy markets are booming and we wanted to be closer to where our customers are.

Wilhelmsen Technical Solutions has established a new office in Houston, Texas in response to increased client demand for its newbuilding and aftermarket products and services. WTS is targeting increased business from the local offshore industry in the Gulf of Mexico and an expanded focus on Brazil, where deepwater offshore production is entering a new and dynamic phase. WTS Vice President, Americas Region, Philip Bannerman says the company is well placed to provide the mix of skills and competence in demand in these regions.