Offshore Oil Industry News

Global oil companies are pumping billions of dollars into offshore drilling, reversing a long decline in spending on the decades-long projects, including some in the remote iceberg waters far off Canada's Atlantic coast.Surging oil prices are encouraging the investments, along with Europe's mounting energy demand as the Ukraine-Russia war drags on. Offshore production sites are more expensive to build than onshore shale, the last decade's investment darling. But once they are up and running…

Looking back, it is easy to wonder if one could have done better by taking the other fork in the road. I grew up in Holland in a maritime family and am pretty sure I would have stuck with maritime there. In 1968, when I was 8 years old, my father left Holland America Line and joined the United States Salvage Association. At the same time, their main customer, the U.S. marine insurance industry, became heavily involved in the development of North Sea offshore oil and gas, and it resulted in an economic boom that made USSA’s Rotterdam office wildly profitable.

Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM) and Rawabi Vallianz Offshore Services (RVOS) on Tuesday announced a joint venture to offer third-party ship management services to the offshore sector in Saudi Arabia.The deal was announced during the  ADIPEC Exhibition in Abu Dhabi."The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has some of the world’s largest oil reserves and a mature extraction industry supported by an established offshore service chain. With a fleet of more than 40 offshore vessels, Rawabi Vallianz Offshore Services is one of the leading suppliers of offshore vessels within this market.

SBM Offshore, one of the world's largest suppliers of floating, production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessels for the offshore oil industry, is looking at ways to diversify its offering, with a more dominant role predicted for gas in the future.The company, which has the ambition to have 25% of revenues from Gas & Renewables by 2030, has this week launched a video showcasing its LNG2Wire offshore facility concept.According to the Dutch company, its LNG2Wire floating facility can produce and supply high-voltage power from LNG…

Offshore energy companies have started searching for new bases away from Louisiana's devastated ports as oil and gas companies launch efforts to resume their Gulf of Mexico operations.Port Fourchon, a key hub for the offshore industry, was slammed by Ida on Sunday when it made landfall with winds over 150 miles per hour (240 kph). Supply boat, fuel and air ferry services were still unable to access facilities there on Wednesday due to extensive storm damage.Dozens of oil and gas companies operate in the U.S.

Canada will spend C$320 million ($238.56 million) to support its offshore oil industry in Newfoundland and Labrador, which has struggled as coronavirus pandemic travel restrictions reduced demand, the government said on Friday.The funds are intended to support jobs and to lower greenhouse gas emissions from crude production, and could be used for maintenance, upgrades and environmental services, Natural Resources Minister Seamus O'Regan said St. John's.The money falls short of requests from the industry…

April 20, 2020, marks the tenth anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion, the offshore oil industry's biggest environmental disaster.Eleven people died, 17 others were injured, Transocean's drilling rig sank, and an incident caused more than four million barrels of oil to spill into the U.S. Gulf of Mexico from the BP-operated Macondo well which spewed oil into the ocean for 87 days before it was finally capped.In a review paper published in the journal Nature Reviews Earth & Environment…

Brazilian state-run oil firm Petrobras plans to restart operations in the coming days at two ships used in offshore oil production that suffered coronavirus outbreaks, an executive told journalists during a call on Friday.Petrobras Exploration and Production Director Carlos Alberto de Oliveira said operations at the Cidade de Santos should restart over the weekend, and operations at the Capixaba should restart within 10 days. Both are large ships known as FPSOs.Brazil's offshore oil industry has been hit hard by the novel coronavirus.

Iranian Offshore Oil Company (IOOC), a subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company, has successfully launched its first offshore pipeline integrity management system (PIMS) in the Iranian oil industry.According to IOOC, the system was launched in order to comply with international and national requirements for the standard, safe and continuous operation of the Salman Oilfield’s gas pipelines with a Norwegian company and the Pipeline Technology Company.The project is dubbed as the first of such projects in the Iranian offshore oil industry, said a report in Iran News.A Pipelines Management System (PMS) provides a clear process, with tasks and responsibilities…

The subchapter M towboat rules, safety management systems, and an emerging culture shift on the inland waterways brings with it a fresh look at how to manage risk. Is it time for P&I clubs to return to brown water? And should inland operators welcome them home?A mass exodus from the inland marine sector by P&I clubs in the mid-1990’s was precipitated by many things. Today, these very same vessels have been put under the subchapter M regime, and most are adapting SMS as a culture in the process. Moreover, and without a doubt, the environmental record of this sector has improved 99% since the 1970’s. As all of that unfolds, the P&I clubs have begun to look at this sector more closely and…

Evac has acquired Transvac Systems, aUK business specializing in the distribution and servicing of wastewater treatment systems, sanitary systems and ballast water treatment systems for ships and offshore platforms.This is in step with Evac's global operations expansion, started with its acquisition of another UK company, Cathelco, in May 2018. Last year EVAC totaled sales of about $182 million.One of Transvac’s key strengths is a long history as a supplier to the Royal Navy in…

The cleantech solution company Evac has acquired the  provider of ballast water treatment systems for ships and offshore platforms Transvac Systems.This is another important step forward for Evac who expanded their global operations by acquiring Cathelco, the UK manufacturers of equipment for ships in May 2018.Evac continue to build their reputation on the supply of integrated water and waste management systems for ships, offshore platforms and buildings worldwide resulting in sales of around 160 MEUR in the last financial year.One of Transvac’s key strengths is a long history as a supplier to the Royal Navy in the UK as well as many…

New Orleans-based offshore oil industry service provider Laborde Marine Management  announced that Ashton P. Laborde has been appointed as President of the Company effective January 1, 2019. Laborde joined the Company in 2007 and most recently served as Director of Marketing. Throughout his career at Laborde Marine, Ashton has held various positions of increasing importance in operations. The marine company which owns or operates a fleet of 25 vessels also annouced that  John Peter Laborde, III, has joined the Company as Director of Finance. John Peter recently received a Master’s in Accounting and a Master’s of Management in Energy from Tulane University.Additionally…

OSVDPA accredits Texas A&M Maritime Academy to provide dynamic positioning (DP) training to its cadets.In early September, the Offshore Service Vessel Dynamic Positioning Authority (OSVDPA) announced that the Texas A&M Maritime Academy at Texas A&M University at Galveston was now the first maritime academy in the nation accredited to provide OSVDPA courses to its cadets. For any U.S. maritime academy, most if not all of them traditionally focused on sending out graduates ready for blue water, deep water service, this represents a sea change in training. On the other hand, what better place to start than the U.S. academy closest in proximity to the heart of the domestic offshore energy industry…

The proper lining of ballast tanks is essential and critical to ship safety. Not too many decades ago, ships traveling the North Atlantic routes were experiencing terrible losses from outright sinking in the turbulent seas. It was eventually discovered that the primary culprit was hull failure from ballast tanks rupturing from the inside out due to simple, plain old-fashioned rusting and galvanic corrosion. The U.S. Navy led the way and came up with a recommended formula, or recipe, for a ballast tank coating that paint manufactures could copy in bidding for Navy business.

Facing “sustained positive trend in North American business levels” Bergen-based supplier of davits and other boat launching equipment Vestdavit said it is opening an office in Seattle. According to the company, direct representation will help it build on its existing strong regional reputation. Its davits are already widely used by the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Coast Guard, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and in the offshore oil industry among others. “The opening of the U.S.

Later this year a major oil and chemical protection exercise dubbed SCOPE 2017 will be carried out in Norway. A joint project including major European and Scandinavian stakeholders, the simulated response to a combined oil and chemical spill aims to foster clearer communication and coordination of spill response across agencies and physical country boundaries. Stig Wahlstrøm, Project Manager SCOPE 2017, Norwegian Coastal Administration and Johan Marius Ly, Director, Department for Emergency Response, explain.

Shares in Dutch offshore oil industry services company SBM Offshore rose on Friday on a media report the company was close to settling a corruption probe with Brazilian authorities that has prevented it from bidding for work in a major market. The shares rose as much as 5.5 percent to a 17-day high of 15.29 euros after oil and gas magazine Upstream published an article indicating a deal was near, analysts said. SBM, which has been seeking a deal after being accused of paying bribes to executives of state-controlled oil company Petrobras, declined to comment. If it reaches a deal, SBM would be well placed to win a tender for the first floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) platform for the giant Libra oil field offshore Brazil, KBC Securities analyst Tom Simonts said.

McAllister Towing continues its long, 150-plus year hisory of serving the maritime industry announcing investment in two new boats sporting the latest technology. McAllister Towingis announced that Horizon Shipbuilding, Inc. of Bayou La Batre, AL, will build 100 x 40-ft. Escort/Rescue tugs for the company, vessels powered by 3516E Tier IV Caterpillar engines with Schottel SRP4000FP units producing 6,770 hp and 80 metric tons bollard pull. The tugs will be classified with ABS as Maltese Cross A-1 Towing, Escort Service, FiFi 1 and Maltese Cross AMS.

A.P. Moller-Maersk said on Thursday two of its offshore oil industry supply vessels sank off the coast of France earlier in the day as they were being towed for scrapping in Turkey.   It said the two vessels, Maersk Searcher and Maersk Shipper, were unmanned at the time of the incident and no one was hurt.   Both vessels, with deadweight of around 3500 tonnes and 82 metres long, had been emptied of fuel and lubricants, Claus Bachmann, chief operating officer of Maersk Supply Service, said in an email. (Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen; Editing by Greg Mahlich, Reuters)

SAAM has taken delivery of its first two tugs to be powered by GE Marine. These new 80-ton RAstar 3200 terminal support tugs include two 8L250 GE Marine diesel engines. Designed by Robert Allan Ltd. and built at Guangdong Bonny Fair Heavy Industry Limited in China, the tugs will operate out of Uruguay. “Arriero,” reached its new home port of Montevideo on November 16 and the second tug, “Maneador,” is currently en route. Two additional vessels ordered by SAAM and also to be powered by GE Marine, the “Yunco” and “Huairavo” will sail out of Chile.

Horizon Shipbuilding, Inc. is located on the Southwestern coast of Alabama, about 30 miles from Mobile. Designing, building and repairing ships, boats, and barges up to 300’ in length and 1500 tons, Horizon’s customer base includes tug and barge operators, the offshore oil industry, cruise and diving industry, and specialized craft for domestic and foreign governments. Horizon was founded in 1997 by a father-and-son team who bring more than 60 years combined experience in ship design, construction, operation, maintenance and repair.

Reintjes is a name known well in maritime circles, a German engineering and manufacturing company which has designed and built some of the most rugged gearboxes on the waterways. Klaus Deleroi took the helm at Reintjes in January 2015, and he is in the midst of steering a change in mindset at the company: a mindset that is more customer-centric to better understand and fulfill the needs of the people and companies that own and operate vessels. We met with Deleroi in his Hameln, Germany, HQ for insights on the path ahead.