Subsea Oil News

Thai subsea services company Mermaid Maritime has through its subsidiary Mermaid Subsea Oil and Gas Services (MSOGS) secured a loan of up to $10 million for the acquisition of Mermaid Sapphire ROV support vessel.The loan agreement, SinoPac Capital International, will facilitate the reimbursement of Mermaid’s equity used for the acquisition of the Mermaid Sapphire.The Mermaid Sapphire is a DP2 remotely operated vehicle (ROV) support vessel equipped with a deepwater work-class ROV…

Samsung Heavy Industries has received basic certification for a floating CO2 storage unit (FCSU) from DNV.The FCSU, jointly developed by Samsung Heavy Industries and MISC, is 330 meters long and 64 meters wide, and has a high-pressure tank capacity that can store 100,000 cubic meters of liquefied CO2 at -50 degrees Celsius or less.The injection module mounted on the upper part of the hull secures the ability to send five million tons (MTPA) of CO2 per year to the depths of the seabed.

Integrated marine and subsea solutions provider Unique Group has announced the acquisition of the Australian-company Western Advance’s Marine Division.The provider of services and solutions for the offshore, subsea and life support industries also announced the appointment of Chris Forde as its new regional vice-president.Western Advance’s integration with Unique Group ties in with the Group’s strategy to enhance its portfolio of autonomous solutions for marine, offshore and subsea industry operations in the region.Harry Gandhi, chief executive officer at Unique Group, said: “Over the years, Unique Group has built a strong presence in APAC offering survey equipment, buoyancy and ballast, diving and life support and on-site engineering products and services to our customers.

Hansa Heavy Lift  has transported a giant carousel together with eight reels, weighing a total of 3,508.7 metric tonnes, from Newcastle, United Kingdom to Lagos, Nigeria destined for the Egina Oil Field.The voyage took place on board the super heavy lift vessel HHL Lagos, which was mobilised in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, to prepare the vessel with additional deck strength for the extralarge carousel, which weighed over 2,200 metric tonnes including spooled product and had a diameter of over 25 metres.“Close connection between the Hansa Heavy Lift engineering, superintendents and the vessels crew allowed for a fast deck reinforcement through the installation of additional underdeck stiffeners and a spooling platform…

A new entrant to North Sea decommissioning, Well-Safe Solutions was established by a group of oil industry stalwarts Alasdair Locke, Mark Patterson and Paul Warwick, setting out to provide a new approach to the safe and cost-efficient decommissioning of subsea wells. The new start company, which aims to attract £200 million ($260 million) in investment and create 400 new jobs, will offer a specialist well abandonment service. Well-Safe has secured funding from Scottish Enterprise…

USA subsea equipment firm FMC Technologies and French engineering company Technip have jointly announced that they expect their merger to be formally complete by January 16. Houston-based FMC and Paris-based Technip will form a new entity called TechnipFMC. Their planned amalgamation was first announced in May. The parties also announced the filing of a Delaware certificate of merger pursuant to which FMC Technologies and a subsidiary of TechnipFMC will merge effective immediately after the merger between Technip and TechnipFMC on January 16, 2017, which will complete the business combination between FMC Technologies and Technip. Trading of the TechnipFMC shares is expected to begin on January 17, 2017, on Euronext Paris at 9:00 a.m. (Paris time) and on the NYSE at 9:30 a.m.

HANSA HEAVY LIFT has transported five Gottwald mobile harbor cranes, weighing a total of 1,400 metric tonnes, loading them in Denmark and Belgium and delivering them to Bulgaria and Egypt. All five cranes were lifted and stowed fully-erected on deck, which limited the line of sight for the crew aboard HHL Rio de Janeiro, requiring an extra radar scanner to be installed on the foremast. Extra risk assessments were also carried out prior to commencing the voyage, in order to fully comply with all local and flag regulations.

Hess Denmark ApS has awarded a contract to DNV GL to provide asset integrity inspection management of its South Arne field including Risked Based Inspection (RBI) services and Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) inspection services. The contract continues an 18-year partnership between Hess and the leading technical advisor to the oil and gas industry. Oil export pipeline and offloading buoy. “DNV GL has been contracted to provide integrity inspection on the South Arne field since 1998. The renewal of this partnership demonstrates the importance of high-quality service delivery in a cost-pressured market. Further, the contract shows Hess’s confidence in DNV GL’s ability to deliver efficient solutions which can help manage operation costs for the South Arne field…

Harkand has signed a new joint venture agreement with ESOPEG Lda in Angola, its first strategic partnership in the country and third in the region as the global inspection, repair and maintenance (IRM) company continues to strengthen its capabilities across West Africa. The newly formed company Harkand Angola Lda, based in Luanda, will focus on the development of local IRM capabilities and services in country, providing support and local content on both large major capital development projects and maintenance to existing ageing operations.

Pupils at an Aberdeen primary school were given a rare insight into the depths of the oil and gas industry’s subsea sector after getting to sit in the driving seat of a remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) simulator. The Tullos Primary visit to i-Tech was organised by EnQuest as part of the company’s ongoing commitment to encouraging youngsters to consider a career in the oil and gas industry. Around 20 primary five pupils were shown why ROVs are increasingly becoming pivotal to the critical path of subsea operations during the tour at i-Tech, which is a division of Subsea 7 and a global-leading supplier of ROV and intervention tooling solutions.

Aker Solutions won its first order for a project offshore Mexico as it secured a contract from Saipem to supply umbilicals for the Pemex-operated Lakach deepwater natural-gas field. Aker Solutions will deliver electro-hydraulic steel tube umbilicals of about 73 kilometers (45 miles) that will help connect Mexico's first subsea gas development to onshore processing facilities. The field is located about 98 kilometres (60 miles) southeast of Veracruz at depths of between 900 and 1,200 meters in the Gulf of Mexico. It is targeted to supply 400 million standard cubic feet per day. "The Lakach field is Mexico's first deepwater subsea development by Pemex and Aker Solutions is proud to deliver the first umbilical to the Mexican Gulf of Mexico…

Last month Maritime Reporter had the good fortune to receive insights from a trio of maritime salvage leaders – Paul Hankins, Tim Beaver & Jim Elliott – garnering insights on one of the most challenging and ever-changing sectors of the maritime market. It was recently written “salvors have become more closely tied to Oil Spill Response Organizations (OSROs).” Why? Hankins The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA90) defines how all stakeholders will respond to potential or actual oil spill responses.

Wintershall has taken over the operatorship of the subsea oil and gas field Vega from Statoil, Wintershall announced today. Vega is the BASF subsidiary’s first operated subsea tie-in field in Norway. With this transfer, Germany-based Wintershall now operates two production fields on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, Brage and Vega. The takeover of the Vega operatorship is part of a transaction with Statoil that was completed in December 2014. Winteshall is currently producing more than 60,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in Norway.

Drydocks World and Maritime World, the international providers of maritime and offshore services to the shipping, oil, gas, and energy sectors have been awarded the Best Oil & Gas Project Award for outstanding Project Excellence on the SOLAN Project. The gala event was held on the 30th anniversary of Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition & Conference (ADIPEC) at the Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi on November 10 2014. According to ADIPEC officials, the judging panel received 396 participant entries from over 100 companies across 27 countries. The Regional Select Jury (RSJ), led by the Awards Chairman Mr Abdul Munim Saif Al Kindy, Chief Executive Officer…

General Electric today announced the opening of the $500 million Brazil Technology Center that will focus on developing advanced subsea oil and gas technology. The center, GE’s first in Latin America, will be a hub for engagement and collaboration with GE’s customers in the region and is expected to employ 400 researchers in the future. In the twentieth century, one of mankind’s greatest feats was successfully landing on the moon more than 235,000 miles from earth. In the 21st century, mankind’s greatest feat may well be securing the  world’s energy future for the next few centuries. Subsea engineers often say that it is actually more difficult to put a machine 10,000 feet under the sea than send a rocket to the moon.

Aker Solutions today started trading on the Oslo stock exchange as a leaner and more streamlined company that will build on its strengths in the subsea and field design markets. The company emerges after a spin-off of the Subsea, Umbilicals, Engineering and Maintenance, Modifications and Operations (MMO) businesses of the former Aker Solutions, which has been split into two separate entities to reduce complexity, realize synergies and bring down costs. The other company formed in the separation is Akastor, an oilfield services investment business that will develop the former group's other units, including Drilling Technologies. "The…

Delta SubSea Secures U.S.-Flagged DP-2 IMR/Construction Support Vessel for Deepwater ROV Operations in the GoM. Delta SubSea, LLC (DSS) has entered into an agreement with a subsidiary of Hornbeck Offshore Services, Inc. (HOS) for the HOS Bayou, one of Hornbeck’s recently constructed 300 class HOSMAX DP-2 multipurpose service vessels (MPSVs). The HOS Bayou is the newest U.S.-flagged Jones Act-compliant MPSV on the market today. Equipped with two Delta SubSea Schilling HD 150 HP work-class remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) from DSS’s fleet of ROVs…

McDermott International, Inc. says that one of its subsidiaries has entered into an agreement with Anadarko Petroleum Corporation to provide construction and decommissioning support services employing Derrick Barge 50 (“DB50”) on the Red Hawk project, located in Garden Banks 876. The DB50 will remove mooring lines for the Red Hawk spar and provide accommodation and decommissioning support services. Mobilization is expected during the third quarter 2014. “This project is yet another example of our efforts to improve asset utilization beyond the requirements of our existing backlog,” said Dominic Savarino, Vice President and General Manager, Americas. The DB50 is a dynamically positioned (DP2) premier heavy-lift vessel with deepwater lowering capabilities that can accommodate 320 personnel.

Lerwick Harbour has again demonstrated its deep-water capacity and capabilities,  this time by simultaneously accommodating two giant support vessels and the successful offloading of a 10,000 tonne subsea oil storage tank, destined for west of the Shetland Islands. The sheltered port’s facilities and proximity to the Solan Field, being developed by Premier Oil 90 kilometres into the Atlantic, meant is was perfectly placed for final preparation of the tank ahead of installation. The tank was delivered to the port on 26 July from the construction yard in Dubai by Cosco (Chinese Ocean Shipping) Heavy Lift’s transport vessel, Xiang Yun Kou.

Drydocks World & Dubai Maritime City, the international service provider to the shipping, maritime, offshore, oil, gas and energy sectors, announced its participation in Posidonia from June 2-6, 2014, at Metropolitan Expo, Athens, Greece. The exhibition is one of the largest industry shows in Europe.Drydocks World & Maritime World has been a regular participant at the exhibition as it provides an unique access to Greek and international ship owners and buyers. According to His Excellency Khamis Juma Buamim, Chairman of Drydocks World & Maritime World, “We are really pleased to be back once again at Posidonia, an event that takes place every two years in which we participate on a very regular basis.

McDermott International, Inc. apprise that the Derrick Barge 101 was recently mobilized to Indonesia to perform fast-track heavy-lift work for a client offshore Indonesia. Response time to fast-track work is just one of the key elements to a successful project outcome,” said Hugh Cuthbertson, Vice President and General Manager, Asia Pacific. “Our Project Management and Offshore Resources teams expedited the planning process, while ensuring compliance to safety throughout, to achieve mobilization within just a few days. McDermott adds that this contract is included in its first quarter 2014 backlog. McDermott is a leading provider of integrated engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) services for upstream field developments worldwide.

McDermott International, Inc. informs that one of its subsidiaries has been awarded a large engineering, procurement, construction and installation (“EPCI”) project by an operator in the Arabian Gulf. The award is included in McDermott’s fourth quarter 2013 backlog. The contract includes the engineering, fabrication, transportation and installation of four new offshore topsides facilities, plus modification of two existing production facilities to extend the current deck space and maximize the size of modules. The combined total weight of the structures will exceed 3,500 metric tonnes.

Brazil’s Petrobras has been one of the leading players in deepwater, subsea development projects since the turn of the century. These projects include pre-salt and post-salt plays, which require extensive and complex subsea engineering and construction efforts. It would be impossible for Petrobras to develop all of its projects alone, therefore much is done by specialized companies, mostly of foreign origin. “We could not have advanced in this project (pre-salt) conventionally, developing the production individually. We needed a global vision of the projects, starting from a high level plan,” said José Formigli, Petrobras’ Executive Director of E&P, speaking of the primary plan for the development of the pre-salt at the Santos Basin, the Plansal, which was created in 2008.