Ursa News

Frank Manning has quickly risen through the ranks during his eight years in the shipyard business, today serving as president and COO at Diversified Marine, Inc. (DMI) in Portland, Ore. Crucial along the way has been a passion for the business itself and the people that make it all possible.“The first day I walked in a shipyard I knew that I was in the right industry,” Manning said. “DMI has always been a relationship-based business. All of our customers are close friends, and we have relationships that are second to none,” he said.

Crews were expected to replace a damaged oil pipeline piece by the end of the day on Friday, a Louisiana port official said, allowing for the resumption of production at seven offshore U.S. Gulf of Mexico oil platforms.A failed flange connecting two pipelines operated by Shell in Louisiana caused about two barrels of oil to leak, said Chett Chiasson, executive director of Greater Lafourche Port Commission. The oil has since been removed.Shell on Thursday shut its Mars, Ursa, and…

Top U.S. Gulf of Mexico oil producer Shell said on Thursday it halted production at three U.S. Gulf of Mexico deepwater platforms after a leak shut two pipelines connecting the platforms, adding it expected pipeline service to resume on Friday.A failure at an onshore pipeline junction in Louisiana leaked about two barrels of oil, said Chett Chiasson, executive director of Greater Lafourche Port Commission. A fix is expected to take about a day, he added.A Shell spokesperson said the leak…

Shell said on Friday it had restarted production at its offshore Mars and Ursa in the Gulf of Mexico and began exporting oil and gas through a transfer facility, which was shut due to damage from Hurricane Ida.The oil major was the hardest-hit producer from Ida, which tore through the Gulf of Mexico in August and removed 28 million barrels from the market.Shell's West Delta-143 offshore facility, which transfers oil and gas from three major fields for processing at onshore terminals…

A shipload of Spanish cattle that had been drifting for months due to concerns over the bovine bluetongue disease docked in Spain on Thursday, the government said, but the fate of the animals remains unclear.The Karim Allah left the Mediterranean port of Cartagena on December 17 carrying 895 cattle destined for sale in Turkey. A second ship, the ElBeik, set sail the next day from Tarragona with a cargo of nearly 1,800 cows.Even though the cattle had clean veterinary certificates, according to Spain’s government, Turkish authorities rejected both vessels and suspended live animal imports from Spain after an outbreak of the insect-borne…

A naming ceremony was held October 20 for a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier jointly ordered by Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) and China COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited (China COSCO Shipping), at Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) Co., Ltd.

Japan’s shipping major Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) held a naming ceremony for a conventional LNG carrier, jointly ordered by MOL and China COSCO Shipping Corporation, was held at Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding.Featuring a capacity of 174,000 m3, the newly built vessel was named LNG Dubhe after a star in the constellation Ursa Major. The vessel is the first of four newbuilding conventional LNG carriers for the Yamal LNG project.The LNG DUBHE is scheduled to go into LNG transportation service for the Yamal LNG project following its delivery at the shipyard in Hudong at the end of October.MOL delivered three ice-breaking LNG carriers to the Project between 2018 and 2019…

As spot prices in the region have remained near or below zero, natural gas flaring and venting in the Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico reached a new all-time high in the first quarter of 2019, averaging as much as 661 million cubic feet per day (MMcfd).According to research conducted by Rystad Energy,  this widespread waste of a valuable commodity is the result of persistent infrastructure challenges, a lack of sufficient takeaway capacity and an unexpected outage on a key pipeline in the area.“We anticipate that basin-wide flaring will stay above 650 MMcfd before the Gulf Coast Express pipeline comes online in the second half of 2019…

The provider of marine transportation of dry bulk commodities, Scorpio Bulkers announced that it has agreed to sell and leaseback three Ultramax vessels (SBI Pegasus, SBI Subaru and SBI Ursa) and four Kamsarmax vessels (SBI Lambada, SBI Macarena, SBI Carioca and SBI Capoeira) to CMB Financial Leasing.Upon completion, which is estimated to take place in the second quarter of 2019, the Company’s liquidity is expected to increase by $57.2 million in aggregate, comprising $45.4 million upon closing after the repayment of outstanding debt and an additional tranche of up to $11.8 million for installation of exhaust gas cleaning systems (scrubbers) on the seven vessels.As part of the agreements, Scorpio will bareboat charter-in the vessels for a period of seven years.

Royal Dutch Shell on Thursday announced the start of production at the Kaikias field in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, around one year ahead of schedule.Production from the subsea deep water development, which will reach 40,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, comes after Shell reduced its costs by around 30 percent to allow it to generate profit at less than $30 a barrel, the company said."We believe Kaikias is the most competitive subsea development in the Gulf of Mexico and a prime example of the deep-water opportunities we're able to advance with our technical expertise and capital discipline…

Royal Dutch Shell has given the go-ahead to develop its Kaikias deepwater field in the Gulf of Mexico, the first such project the oil and gas company has approved in 18 months. Oil companies around the world are emerging from one of the longest downturns in recent decades amid warnings that the drop in investment in recent years may lead to a supply deficit by the end of the decade. Shell said the Kaikias oil and gas project, located some 210 kilometres (130 miles) from the Louisiana coast, will start production in 2019 and generate profits with oil prices lower than $40 a barrel after the company slashed its costs by around 50 percent due to simplified design plans. Oil prices were around $56 a barrel on Tuesday.

Statement from BSEE, April 16, 2012 as of 2:30 p.m. The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) has confirmed that a modest amount of oil is being released from a natural seafloor seep previously suspected as the source of an oil sheen reported last week in the Gulf of Mexico. BSEE, along with natural seeps experts from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, viewed videotape from a remote operated vehicle survey deployed by Shell to make the final determination confirming the on-going release of oil from the natural seep.

On many of Europes inland waterways, the limit to cargo capacity is not so much about horsepower but it is the limit imposed on the vessel by the size of the locks that it has to transit. With the largest vessels, along with their additional barges, designed to maximize available space in the locks it is necessary to get the unit into the lock and stopped up without damage to the lock or vessel as promptly as possible. On the Mains-Danube system, regulations limit vessel size to 190 by 11.45 meters.

Average crude oil prices for July were little changed from June. The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) spot average for July was $30.75 per barrel compared to $30.66 in June. EIA’s Outlook is for prices to remain firm through the rest of 2003, or at least until autumn, when OECD oil inventories may rebuild above observed 5-year lows. Once inventories have been rebuilt, WTI oil prices may slide gradually to $26 per barrel during 2004, as Iraqi oil exports return to near pre-war levels. U.S.

The U.S. Coast Guard will establish safety zones around seven of Shell Oil's Gulf of Mexico high-production oil and natural gas platforms, at the company's request, to protect them from being hit by vessels operating outside normal shipping channels. "Placing safety zones around the platforms will significantly reduce the threat of...oil spills and releases of natural gas," the Coast Guard said in a notice published in Thursday's Federal Register. The new regulations, which take effect on May 1, prevent most vessels from coming within 500 m of the platforms. Only attending vessels, ships under 100 ft. authorized by the Coast Guard that aren't engaged in towing and vessels would be allowed near the platforms. Shell, the U.S.

1956: Elvis released his first album; the film debut of Invasion of the Body Snatchers was frightening American audiences; My Fair Lady opened on Broadway; and J. Ray McDermott began operations at the offshore industry's first dedicated steel fabrication yard near Morgan City, Louisiana. Among the major events of early 1956, many are now trivia, but the Morgan City "fab yard" continues to have a profound and lasting effect on the region and the world. Since its humble beginnings on April 1, 1956, J. Ray's Morgan City fabrication facility has built more offshore structures than any other fabrication facility and has served as the model for new offshore fabrication yards around the globe.

Halliburton Energy Services' well vessel, M/V Stim Star, was used to stimulate production from one well at Shell Offshore Inc.'s Ursa deepwater development in the Gulf of Mexico, southeast of New Orleans. Bettering the previously set record, which was also a Halliburton completion, one of the wells at the Ursa tension leg platform has produced more than 50,000 bpd to become the Gulf of Mexico's highest production rate well in history. Located in 3,800 ft. of water, the well has out-produced the previous record-setting well by almost 4,000 bpd. Using Halliburton's seawater-based Delta FracPac service, Stim Star personnel performed the treatment at a rate of 38 bbl/min through two flexible hoses connected to the rig, putting 95,000 lbs. of proppant into the formation.

Ultra-deepwater plays in the Gulf of Mexico offer vast potential for oil and gas production. There are now more than 1,650 active leases in the Gulf of Mexico in water depths exceeding 5,000 ft. and, with 24 drill rigs capable of drilling at this depth now working in the Gulf, activity on these leases is about to take off. In a recent study, we have identified more than 160 fields in ultra-deepwater that are likely to be explored over the next 5 to 10 years and expect at least a third of these will ultimately be developed. Until now, pipeline has been used to transport oil from fields in the Gulf of Mexico to refineries along the Gulf.

Shell Exploration production at the Ursa project located under 4,000 ft. of water in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico started in March, four months ahead of schedule. Current production was at 13,000 bpd of crude oil and 20 million cu.-ft. of natural gas from the first well. Shell estimates total recovery of about 400 million barrels of oil equivalent from the field. Shell Deepwater Production, a unit of Royal Dutch/Shell, is the operator, controlling a 45 percent interest in Ursa. BP Amoco has a 23 percent interest, and Conoco and Exxon each hold 16 percent in Ursa. Ursa's tension leg platform is located about 130 miles southeast of New Orleans on Mississippi Canyon Block 809 and is the largest structure in the Gulf.

The first tanker to carry Iraqi oil exports under the next phase of the U.N. "oil for food" deal has been chartered subject to the program being extended, according to shipping brokers. The Panamanian-registered VLCC Kristhild has been fixed to Russian trader Ursa to sail from the Gulf port of Mina al-Bakr to the U.S. Gulf, provided the United Nations and Iraq reach an accord to continue exports beyond Nov. 20. The 258,075-dwt ship has been fixed at Worldscale 40 assessed rate equivalent to around $6.55 per ton.

Conoco said higher crude oil and natural gas prices, as well as continued growth in oil and natural gas production volumes, will result in earnings appreciably higher than current analysts' estimates for the third quarter. Conoco Chairman, President and CEO Archie W. Dunham said earnings would be in a range of about four to seven cents higher than First Call's current consensus estimate of 33 cents of underlying earnings per share for the third quarter. "We're on target to produce production growth of about 10 percent in 1999, in line with earlier estimates," he said. Conoco Executive Vice-President for worldwide upstream Rob McKee said the added production was primarily due to increased volumes from the giant U.K.

A resumption in Middle East oil exports to the U.S. is required to drag VLCC tanker rates off the floor, shipping brokers said. A late start to seasonal westbound oil shipments from the Middle East is making tanker brokers ask when relief will arrive. VLCC tanker rates out of the Middle East have nose-dived again in the last two weeks due to a lack of activity, to around W42 east (around $4 per ton) and west (about $7.00 per ton). Even when there has been strong tanker demand from Asia over the last month, large tanker rates have failed to take off because of the lack of oil going west, brokers said. "It is a simple formula. The Red Sea-East journey is much shorter than to the West, and allows a build up of vessels returning to the Middle East.

North Sea oil tanker rates surged spectacularly again on Dec. 13 on a shortage of vessels available before Christmas, shipping brokers said. Aframax 80,000 ton vessel rates shot up a further 25 Worldscale points to W150 ($5.50 per ton) from a highest seen of W125 ($4.25) on Friday, they said. "The North Sea has gone bananas. It is very tight on tonnage for modern ships up until loading dates of around December 27," a broker said. However, he said the second half of the week could go flat again as charterers completed fixing their December cargoes. Rates were also firming in the Mediterranean as pressure was exerted from the North Sea with cross journey rates of W105-110 ($3.60-3.75) the norm, brokers said.