Petroleum Technology News

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.

Norway's oil and gas reserves have made it one of the world's wealthiest countries but its dreams for deep-sea discovery now center on something different.This time, Oslo is looking for a leading role in mining copper, zinc, and other metals found on the seabed and in hot demand in green technologies.Norway could license companies for deep-sea mining as early as 2023, its oil and energy ministry told Reuters, potentially placing it among the first countries to harvest seabed metals for electric vehicle batteries…

National Energy Services Reunited (NESR), a provider of integrated energy services in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Asia Pacific regions, has been awarded contracts worth US$660 million by Saudi Aramco for coiled tubing, stimulation and cementing services for a five year period.The contract is with the National Petroleum Technology Company, a subsidiary of NESR, for coiled tubing and N2, stimulation services and cementing services for a period of five years with possible extensions of up to two years.Mohammed Y. Al-Qahtani, senior vice president for upstream, Saudi Aramco, said: “NESR is a key partner for Saudi Aramco, and we are very pleased to see National Petroleum Technology Company…

The Norwegian Continental Shelf’s journey from the very first basic marinized subsea trees to today’s complex and sophisticated subsea processing equipment has been a rapid, at times turbulent, but always remarkable.There are many engineers who have seen through that journey, from the first exploration wells using Norwegian rigs in the mid-1970s to today. One has now written the history of subsea technology in Norway and this year’s Underwater Technology Conference (UTC) has been chosen for its launch…

The fatal explosion in the pump room on the Brazilian FPSO Cidade de São Mateus in February 2015, demonstrated the potential for major accidents on this type of unit. Although there has never been an explosion in the oil storage tanks of an FPSO, there is a potential for such an event and offshore operators should assess the risks of such events to design against them. It is therefore imperative that risk assessments of FPSOs address this type of event. For this, they need to estimate its annual likelihood of occurring.

The Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons (MMH), Ophir Equatorial Guinea (Block R) Ltd, OneLNG SA and La Compania Nacional De Petroleos De Guinea Ecuatorial (GEPetrol) have nominated Gunvor Group Ltd (Gunvor) as its preferred LNG Buyer for offtake from the Fortuna FLNG project. All parties have agreed the principal commercial terms subject to finalising a Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) for the offtake ahead of the Final Investment Decision (FID) on the Fortuna FLNG project. Gunvor is committed to take the full contract capacity of the Gandria FLNG vessel of 2.2 MMTPA which will be purchased on a Brent-linked, Free on Board (FOB) basis for a 10 year term. The contract structure allows flexibility for up to 1.1mmtpa of the Fortuna capacity to be marketed on an alternate basis.

The Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons (MMH), Ophir Equatorial Guinea (Block R) Ltd, OneLNG SA and La Compania Nacional De Petroleos De Guinea Ecuatorial (GEPetrol) have nominated Gunvor Group Ltd (Gunvor) as its preferred LNG Buyer for offtake from the Fortuna FLNG project. All parties have agreed the principal commercial terms subject to finalizing a Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) for the offtake ahead of the Final Investment Decision (FID) on the Fortuna FLNG project. Gunvor will take the full contract capacity of the Gandria FLNG vessel of 2.2 MMTPA which will be purchased on a Brent-linked, Free on Board (FOB) basis for a 10 year term. The contract structure allows flexibility for up to 1.1mmtpa of the Fortuna capacity to be marketed on an alternate basis.

Aker Solutions' subsidiary, Managed Pressure Operations, won a prize for its riser safety system at the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston. The Aker Solutions unit won the Woelfel Best Mechanical Engineering Achievement Award for its Riser Safety System (RSS). The award recognizes products, devices or systems that reflect innovation or practical use of mechanical engineering in solving problems, improving design or maximizing performance, according to the ASME International Petroleum Technology Institute that hands out the award.

Professor Curtis Hays Whitson has been awarded Statoil’s research prize 2010 for his major input to boosting knowledge about recovery of gas and gas condensate fields and improved recovery of oil fields by the use of gas injection. The prominent researcher came to Norway in the early 1980s. As professor and entrepreneur he has conducted numerous studies for Hydro and Statoil in connection with field implementation of gas injection on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) and internationally, as well as studies related to gas field recovery and phase behaviour of reservoirs.

The Tyrihans field was one of five offshore developments to be presented with a Five Star Award at the Deep Offshore Technology (DOT) conference in Houston on Feb. 2. The Statoil-operated oil and gas project in the Norwegian Sea came on stream last July, and has delivered well above its production targets. Ingrid Sølvberg, vice president within marine technology and operations, accepted the award – given for field developments judged to be the best in the world – on behalf of the group.