Operations North News

UK-focused offshore wind vessel operator North Star Renewables said Tuesday it would order the world’s first hybrid daughter craft vessels to support the offshore wind market.The company, established earlier this year as an offshore wind-focused business of the ERRV-firm North Star, has $375 million worth of contracts in hand to deliver three service operation vessels (SOVs) to be used on what will be the world’s largest offshore wind farm, the 3.6GW Dogger Bank Wind Farm in the UK North Sea.

Australian officials have ordered the repatriation of nine Chinese and Filipino seafarers who have been working on board the bulk carrier Brio Faith for nearly two years without relief. The Panama-flagged bulker was inspected Monday in Port Alma, Queensland, where Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) personnel verified that three crew had been on board for over 12 months, four crew had been on board for over 16 months and two crew had been on board for over 20 months.During the inspection the operator Tianjin Shun Xin Yuan Shipping Co LTD assured AMSA, and provided evidence, that crew would be repatriated the following day.On Tuesday, the operator informed AMSA that those repatriation plans had fallen through.

Naval architecture, design and marine engineering specialist Foreship has transferred a senior member of its management team in Finland to head its Seattle operation, in a move aiming to expand West Coast activities and provide a new focus for its U.S. cruise ship customer base.Marcus Höglund, Foreship Senior Vice President Engineering Services, will take up a position as Head of Operations North America, Foreship LLC with effect from October 8 to lead a team including existing staff in Seattle and in the company’s Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

North Sea Terminal Bremerhaven (NTB) has upgraded its terminal operating system from Navis Express to the N4 terminal system. NTB is one of Europe's busiest and most important container terminals, handling about 3.2 million TEUs annually via continuous 24/7 operations. The terminal is located in Bremerhaven, Germany, offering complete intermodal connections to 130 ports worldwide. "N4 is the most advanced and widely-used terminal system on the market; we never considered another provider when tasked with migrating from Navis SPARCS and Express," said Marc Dieterich, General Manager Operations, North Sea Terminal Bremerhaven GmbH & Co.

Jannicke Nilsson has been appointed executive vice president and chief operating officer (COO) in Statoil ASA. She takes over the role from Anders Opedal, who will lead the development of Statoil’s growing and increasingly important operations in Brazil as new country manager. Jannicke Nilsson will assume her new responsibilities on 1. December this year, Anders Opedal will assume his responsibilities 15 January 2017. Nilsson will report to President and CEO Eldar Sætre with her office location being Stavanger, while Opedal will report to Lars Christian Bacher, executive vice president Development & Production International. His office location will be Rio de Janeiro. Current Brazil country manager Pål Eitrheim is appointed new chief procurement officer.

Statoil, on behalf of the license holders, has submitted a Plan for Development and Operation of the Trestakk discovery on the Halten Bank to the minister for petroleum and energy, Tord Lien, in Bodø. Capital expenditures are estimated at approximately 5.5 billion NOK. The discovery, made in 1986, contains about 76 million barrels of recoverable oil equivalent, mainly oil. The project will be tied back to the Åsgard A oil production vessel, with planned production startup anticipated in 2019. “Trestakk is a good example of what is possible to achieve through spending time on working toward the best concept selection. By rethinking our concept along with license partners and suppliers, we have arrived at a solution that costs almost 50 percent less than the original concept.

Statoil appoints new chief financial officer (CFO), and launches business area for New Energy Solutions (NES). Three new executive vice presidents (EVPs) are appointed as members of the corporate executive committee (CEC). CFO Torgrim Reitan is appointed EVP for Development & Production USA (DPUSA) after Bill Maloney decided to not prolong his contract with Statoil. Hans Jakob Hegge is appointed new EVP and CFO. Hegge comes from the position as senior vice president for Operations North in Development & Production Norway. Irene Rummelhoff is appointed EVP for New Energy Solutions, and Jens Økland new EVP for Marketing, Midstream & Processing (MMP). Rummelhoff and Økland start in their new positions 1 June 2015. Reitan and Hegge will start in their new positions 1 August 2015.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Air and Marine agents assigned to the North Dakota Air Branch have located four people on Red Lake after a call for assistance came in from the Red Lake Police Department. The incident began at approximately 2 a.m. on August 20, when the North Dakota Air Branch was called to assist the Red Lake Police Department with a search and rescue mission of a vessel in distress that was carrying four individuals. Two air interdiction agents assigned to the North Dakota Air Branch immediately responded by launching an OAM AS350 helicopter. Upon arriving on scene the crew searched the Red Lake area using night vision goggles and a forward looking infrared system.

Statoil, on behalf of the licence owners, issued a Letter of Intent (LOI) to Samsung Heavy Industries for a permanent floating oil storage unit (FSU). The contract is worth an estimated US$ 230-million and includes options to buy two additional units. The new storage unit will replace the existing buoy loading system on the Heidrun field in the Norwegian Sea. The Heidrun field has been developed with a floating tension leg platform with a concrete hull and has been on stream since 1995.

Statoil and its partners in the Troll licence on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) decided in September to invest NOK 11 billion in two new compressors on Troll A. The two new compressors will enable Statoil to produce gas even faster and accelerate production at the Troll field by allowing for production with reduced wellhead pressure. The compressors will enable the production of gas from the field all the way until 2063. "The new pre-compressors on Troll A will be powered by electricity supplied from Kollsnes.

Statoil has awarded Aibel a contract for modules and modifications for two new pre-compressors on the Troll A platform in the North Sea. The contract is worth an estimated NOK 2.7 billon. Statoil and its partners in the Troll licence on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) decided last week to invest NOK 11 billion in two new compressors on Troll A.The two new compressors will enable Statoil to produce gas even faster and accelerate production at the Troll field by allowing for production with reduced wellhead pressure.

Rolls-Royce Commercial Marine Inc. has teamed up with Great Lakes Shipyard, a division of The Great Lakes Towing Company, Cleveland, OH to create a state-of-the-art marine service center to improve and grow their respective vessel repair and overhaul businesses in the Great Lakes Region. The long-term agreement, effective June 1, 2011 is the latest stage in the development of a global Marine Service Center network, which brings the expertise of Rolls-Royce engineers to customers around the world. Rolls-Royce has opened seven Marine Service Center in the last two years and the global network now includes facilities in 34 countries. Rolls-Royce is in the business of manufacturing and selling propulsion systems and machinery…

Statoil has forwarded its investigation report following a crane and lifting incident on the Gullfaks A platform in the North Sea on 28 February this year. One person was injured in the incident. In connection with a normal lifting operation from the loading deck to a supply ship, a roustabout was struck in the shoulder by a container. The roustabout was sent to the hospital, where a broken collarbone was confirmed. The cause of the incident was that the container being lifted started to swing in a pendulum motion, striking another container which in turn struck the roustabout.

Statoil has awarded Subsea 7 a contract for marine installations and pipe-laying in connection with development of the Fossekall/Dompap discoveries off the coast of Helgeland in northern Norway. The contract value is around NOK 970 million without options and extra charges due to the weather. Discovered one year ago, Fossekall will also make it possible to develop the earlier find Dompap. This is Statoil’s fifth fast-track development and the largest so far. “With all of the contracts awarded, we can already start production at the end of 2012.

Statoil commenced production of oil from the Morvin subsea field towards the Åsgard field in the Norwegian Sea Sunday, 1 August. “The field is strategically important for further development and operation of activities in the Norwegian Sea,” said Ivar Aasheim, head of the Operations North cluster in Statoil. Located 20 kilometres west of the Åsgard B platform on the Halten Bank, Morvin is a subsea development with two templates and four production wells. The well stream is led through a 20-kilometre long pipeline to the Åsgard B platform for processing.

As of Nov. 10, Øystein Michelsen, Helga Nes and Gunnar Myrebøe have been appointed members of StatoilHydro's corporate executive committee. Mr. Michelsen will take up the position as executive vice president for the Exploration & Production Norway business area, Mr. Myrebøe is to hold the same post in the Projects business area and Ms. Nes will lead the area for corporate staffs and services. Øystein Michelsen graduated as Master of Science from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in 1980. He joined Hydro in 1981, starting at Hydro's research center in Porsgrunn. In 1985 he started in Hydro Oil & Energy where his posts included safety manager for the Brage project…

Executive vice president for Exploration and Production Norway (EPN), Tore Torvund, and executive vice president for Projects, Morten Ruud, are resigning from their present posts and StatoilHydro's corporate executive committee. Reports indicate the resignations are a result of a probe into possible corruption in Libyan oil contracts. Øystein Michelsen and Helga Nes have today been appointed acting executive vice presidents for Exploration & Production Norway and Projects respectively. Both will join StatoilHydro's corporate executive committee. Øystein Michelsen has been senior vice president for Operations North in the EPN business area since the merger.

On behalf of the partners in the Troll licence, StatoilHydro has entered into an agreement on a two-year extension of a current contract with Odfjell Drilling for the Deepsea Trym drilling rig. “Deepsea Trym has been employed on the Troll field since 2005 and will continue to operate on the field during the extended contract period through 2011,” says Atle Reinseth in the Projects business area. This contract gives StatoilHydro good rig coverage at the Troll field for the next years and allows realisation of the planned drilling activities in the area.

Tugboat operator Adsteam Marine Ltd. is aiming for improved profits in 1999/2000 after reporting a 1998/99 net profit of $11.1 million. The company achieved a 1997/98 net profit of $10.8 million. Managing director David Ryan said the company was enthusiastic about improved returns from its Newcastle operations, which were expected to return to profit this year. Ryan said earnings before interest, tax and abnormals had grown 5.8 percent in 1998/99 to $18.9 million. Revenue rose to $77.9 million from $70.2 million, with net earnings affected by a 23.2 percent higher tax provision. "The company was targeting further earnings growth in the current financial year - both from traditional operations and from newly acquired assets," he said.