Rem Offshore Clinches Platform Supply Vessel Deal
Norwegian offshore vessel owner Rem Offshore has said it has secured a new contract for the Rem Insula platform supply vessel.In a social media post on Tuesday, Rem Offshore said that the contract would take the offshore vessel through 2020 and into "smooth waters in 2021.""Thanks to our client for the contract award and greetings to the crew who have made this possible. This is the second contract award in two weeks after Rem Mira was awarded last week," Rem Offshore said.Rem Offshore did not say who the client was. Data from VesselsValue show the client is the Chinese oil company CNOOC, with the vessel operating in the UK North Sea…
Statoil Cancels Maersk Rig Contract
Norwegian firm Statoil ASA is ending its rig contract for the Maersk Gallant six months early. The jack up rig has been on contract with Statoil for two years, since 21 August 2014, and since 9 October it has been sub-chartered to ConocoPhillips. "Between 14 February and 21 August 2016 the Maersk Gallant is on a new contract with Total E&P Norge AS, who will pay cancellation fee according to the former contract," says a press statement from Statoil. In January, Total received consent from the Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) of Norway, to drill the North Sea exploration well 1/5-5 in PL 618 using Maersk Gallant. The jack-up Gallant was last listed as operating in the North Sea. No information was given on the day rate or other terms for the lease.
Alaska Drilling - Now or Never?
Despite surging production from U.S. shale plays, the scale of long-term production remains uncertain, leading to the question of where will be the next major play? Attention is being focused on Arctic Alaska, where reserves are waiting to be exploited. Geologists estimate total Arctic oil reserves of nearly 134bn BOE, 28% of which lie in US territory, and some 39bn BOE of natural gas. So what’s the catch? Early last week, hundreds of “kayaktavists” blocked the entrance to Seattle’s port where Shell docked its Arctic bound Polar Pioneer drilling rig. The activists are concerned with the environmental impact and risks of Arctic drilling. Wilderness experts say there is a 75 percent chance of at least one large spill occurring in the Chukchi Sea over the next six decades.
Rough Seas Sends Greenpeace Home
Six Greenpeace activists opposed to offshore drilling in the Arctic have abandoned a Seattle-bound drill rig they boarded in the Pacific Ocean six days ago. Rough seas prompted the decision, Greenpeace said. The protesters rappelled off the an oil rig leased by Royal Dutch Shell Plc. that is bound for the Arctic and got into inflatable boats before returning to a Greenpeace ship stationed nearby. "Worsening weather conditions that were expected to bring high swells led the six activists to leave the oil rig on Saturday," a Greenpeace representative said in an email. The six climbed on the Polar Pioneer, a 400-foot (120-meter) rig owned by Transocean Ltd., about 750 miles (1,200 kilometres) northwest of Hawaii last Monday.
Discovery in Barents Sea Delineated
StatoilHydro has completed the drilling of an exploration well on the Nucula discovery, which is located around 110 kilometres east-northeast of the Goliat discovery in the Barents Sea. The purpose of exploration well 7125/4-2 in the StatoilHydro-operated production licence 393 was to delineate the Nucula oil and gas discovery from early 2007, and to explore another segment of the structure. The well confirmed a small oil column in sandstone of the Triassic age. The oil-bearing layers were thin, but showed good production properties. It is too early to reach a conclusion on the size of Nucula.
Gas Discovery in the Barents Sea
During the drilling of exploration well 7226/2-1 in the Barents Sea StatoilHydro, the operator of the licence, has struck gas in a prospect named Ververis. The drilling in 347 metres of water was performed by the Polar Pioneer drilling rig. This is the 13th discovery on the Norwegian continental shelf that StatoilHydro is involved in this year. The main purpose of the well was to confirm the existence of hydrocarbons in early Jurassic to mid-Jurassic sandstones. The well confirmed the existence of gas in mid-Jurassic sandstones. No gas/water contact was established.
