Halliburton Energy Services News

The Offshore Technology Conference (OTC), which takes place May 4-7 in Houston, has announced 17 technologies that will receive the Spotlight on New Technology SM Award. The 2015 awards will be presented May 4, in the NRG Center Rotunda Lobby. The Spotlight on New Technology Awards—a program for OTC exhibitors—showcase the latest and most advanced hardware and software technologies that are leading the industry into the future. In support and recognition of innovative technologies being developed by small businesses…

Fastnet Oil and Gas plc the E&P company focussed on exploration acreage in Africa and the Celtic Sea, announced appointment of Will Holland to the Board of Directors as Chief Financial Officer, with immediate effect. Will has over 20 years of experience in the oil and gas business, primarily gained in Africa and Europe. He started his career as a cementing and 'frac' engineer at Halliburton Energy Services before moving into business development roles based in Africa. After 2 years leading internal audit teams at Halliburton, he joined Macquarie Bank in London in 2007 where he originated, structured and managed equity and debt investments in small-cap E&P companies. Will holds a B.Eng (Mech) from Warwick University and an MBA from Heriot-Watt University.

Halliburton Pleads Guilty to Destruction of Evidence in Connection with Deepwater Horizon Disaster and Is Sentenced to Statutory Maximum Fine; Former Halliburton Manager Is Charged. Halliburton Energy Services Inc. (Halliburton) pleaded guilty today to destroying evidence pertaining to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster and was sentenced to the statutory maximum fine, the Justice Department announced. In addition, a criminal information was filed today charging a former Halliburton manager, Anthony Badalamenti, 61, of Katy, Texas, with one count of destruction of evidence.

Halliburton Energy Services Inc. has agreed to plead guilty to destroying evidence in connection with the Deepwater Horizon disaster, the Department of Justice announced today. A criminal information charging Halliburton with one count of destruction of evidence was filed today in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Louisiana. Halliburton has signed a cooperation and guilty plea agreement with the government in which Halliburton has agreed to plead guilty and admit its criminal conduct. As part of the plea agreement, Halliburton has further agreed, subject to the court’s approval, to pay the maximum-available statutory fine, to be subject to three years of probation and to continue its cooperation in the government’s ongoing criminal investigation.

Gulfstream Services, Inc. (GSI), an oilfield rental company providing high pressure equipment for the international oil and gas industry, has named Dale Broussard as Manager – Quality Assurance (QA) and Health, Safety and Environment (HSE), announced Gulfstream Services President Mike Mire. Prior to his appointment with GSI, Broussard gained notable management experience through 38 years in various roles within Halliburton Energy Services - most recently, as a Facilities/Location Manager. Broussard is an ISO 9001:2008 Certified Lead Auditor.

Halliburton has signed an agreement with Vanco Energy Company for the provision of engineering and consulting services in several deepwater regions offshore West Africa. The agreement comes as Vanco, the largest holder of deepwater exploration licenses in Sub-Saharan Africa, prepares for a major drilling program offshore West Africa, beginning in late 2002. The operator expects to drill at least six deepwater exploratory wells offshore Equatorial Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire, Morocco, and Namibia. Halliburton is providing Vanco with a LNG project screening study, software licenses, and screening tools. Halliburton's business unit, Halliburton Energy Services, is scheduled to begin engineering related work within the next few weeks.

It is little secret that as offshore oil production moves further from shore, the boats that service these offshore units must be bigger, stronger and more capable than their ancestors. Here's a peak at emerging technologies and the boats that house them. The technology to cost efficiently discover and recover oil and gas in increasingly deeper part of the Gulf of Mexico has quickly led to the development of bigger, stronger and more ruggedly equipped Offshore Service Vessels, not only on drawings boards but operating on the waterways. The discovery of oil and gas fields such as Auger, Marlim and Mars, have among others, highlighted the vast potential for drilling success and the inadequacy of the current fleet of OSVs to perform the job as cost effectively as possible.

Subsea 7, the new company formed as a result of the combination of Halliburton Subsea, a business unit of Halliburton's Energy Services Group, and the subsea activities of DSND Subsea ASA (OSE:SFJ), officially started trading. The company already has a worldwide order book in excess of $800 million, firmly establishing it as a global service provider for subsea engineering and construction, and is poised to win additional business from projects it is currently bidding. The company was formed by the two parties contributing all tangible assets associated with their subsea businesses as well as leases, on-going contracts and intellectual property. It will have offshore operations supported out of the UK, Norway, Singapore, Brazil, United States and the Caspian.

McMoRan Exploration Co. and Halliburton Company have announced the formation of a strategic alliance to conduct operations for McMoRan's recently announced major new oil and gas exploration and development program in the Gulf of Mexico. As previously announced, McMoRan has acquired from Texaco Exploration and Production the right to explore 89 oil and gas tracts and McMoRan purchased Shell Offshore Inc.'s, interest in 56 exploratory leases, all in the Gulf of Mexico. These two transactions, together with its current lease inventory, provide McMoRan exploratory rights to 160 blocks covering approximately 750,000 gross acres and the foundation for an aggressive exploration and development program.

Halliburton Company's board of directors, elected David J. Lesar, 47, to the board of directors and named him the company's chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer. Lesar replaces Dick Cheney, who resigned to be George W. Bush's Republican Party vice presidential running mate. Lesar, currently the company's president and chief operating officer, joined Halliburton in 1993 as executive vice president and chief financial officer of the Halliburton Energy Services business unit. Subsequently, he served the company in a variety of senior management positions including executive vice president and chief financial officer of Halliburton Company and president and chief executive officer of Brown & Root, Inc.

Halliburton’s Energy Services Group was awarded a contract to provide its EZ-Gauge monitoring system technology on projects for Petrobras in Brazil. “Petrobras selected the EZ-Gauge system technology because it provides a cost-effective, accurate pressure data collection system that is free of downhole electronics,” said Cidar Mansilla, operations manager, Latin America South, Halliburton. “The reliability and longevity of the system is significantly greater most other monitoring technologies.” The EZ-Gauge system is designed to reduce cost, improve reliability and improve longevity over conventional electronic systems, particularly in downhole environments exceeding 300 degrees Fahrenheit.

In an unpublished decision, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the ruling of the trial court that, under the facts of the case, violation of various Coast Guard regulations by the master of a tug did not result in the tug being liable for damage to a barge being towed by the tug. In the instant case, a barge loaded with barite was being towed on the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO) when it suddenly listed to port, submerging the port bow and discharging a quantity of cargo into the waterway. The owner of the barge and the cargo brought suit against the tug owner for damage to the barge, loss of cargo, and removal costs under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA).

R&B Falcon Confirms U.S. Reading & Bates Development Co. (DEVCO), a wholly owned subsidiary of R&B Falcon Corporation, announced its Boomvang Project in deepwater offshore Texas is proceeding rapidly. DEVCO concurs with previously announced reserve estimates of 70-100 million boe in several oil reservoirs extending across portions of East Breaks Blocks 642, 643, 688 and 732. Platform, production facilities and pipeline contracts are being evaluated, and development drilling is scheduled to begin in the second quarter of this year. The partners anticipate first production in the first quarter of 2002. DEVCO owns a 50 percent working interest in the Boomvang Project. Kerr-McGee Oil & Gas Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Kerr-McGee Corp. is operator and owns a 30 percent working interest.

A contract for the construction of a deepwater construction vessel was signed by Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co., Inc., and Torch, Inc. The Guido Perla & Associates-designed 340 x 85 x 31 ft. M/V Midnight Warrior is a current generation construction vessel, equipped to provide offshore flowline installation, offshore umbilical installation and subsea construction and is capable of worldwide operations. Midnight Warrior is to be ABS-classed, Maltese Cross A1, Maltese Cross AMS, DP-2 Circle E for unlimited international service. The 15,000 hp vessel will be diesel electric, SCR, with three 3,000 hp azimuthing thrusters on the stern and two 2,000 hp tunnel thrusters in the bow. The U.S.

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.

Halliburton Energy Services, a business unit of Halliburton Company, introduced Stim Star, its new deepwater stimulation vessel, to more than 400 customers in Houston and New Orleans. The vessel is commercially available for service in the Gulf of Mexico. Stim Star is the latest addition to Halliburton's existing state-of-the-art deepwater stimulation fleet, which includes War Admiral and Man-o-War. All three vessels are equipped to deliver Halliburton's latest stimulation technology solutions - Delta FracPac service, water packs, and Sandstone 2000 service - to both deepwater and shelf customers. "The addition of Stim Star expands the rough sea capabilities of Halliburton's Gulf fleet to better handle the deepwater environment," stated HES president Edgar Ortiz.

Halliburton Energy Services has deployed a new vessel, M/V Cape Hawke, to Carmen, Mexico to enhance its contract longstanding with PEMEX. The new vessel replaces M/V 221, which has been providing services for PEMEX in the Gulf of Mexico for the last 19 years. M/V Cape Hawke is the second totally new state-of-the-art vessel unveiled by Halliburton this year for work in the Gulf of Mexico. M/V Stim Star, launched in February, serves the frac pack deepwater market, while Cape Hawke will serve the acidizing market. Some of the new vessel's features include below deck storage of bulk additives, primarily acids and xylene; dynamic positioning capability; and 6,750 hydraulic hp pumping capability.

Oilfield service companies were not nearly as lucky as their oil producing counterparts. While net income in the oil producing industry was up over the 1998 third-quarter, oilfield service companies were still feeling the pain of the low oil prices from earlier in the year. While the stock market - the global business measuring stick - has generally been positive on the offshore oilfield sector throughout much of the year, there has been a relapse of sorts in October, as uncertainty surrounding OPEC output quotas has largely dampened the year's progress. In fact, a major tracker of offshore industry stocks, Warburg Dillon Read, in mid-October cut its ratings of four oilfield equipment and services companies.

MarineNews: How long has your current safety training program been in place? Tom Knode: Halliburton Energy Services and its predecessor companies have conducted safety training for employees for at least the past three decades. MN: How much money is spent annually on the safety program? Knode: The safety program, including safety professionals, equipment, training, and auditing, runs into the tens of millions annually. MN: Is the program conducted in-house? Or are the employees sent to an off-site facility? Knode: The majority of safety training is conducted in-house. MN: If in-house, is the program taught by staff members? Or is a third party brought in for instruction? Knode: The training is primarily conducted by our training and safety professionals.

The offshore oil industry market, by its very nature, is a challenging work environment that poses many safety hazards, particularly for individuals and companies which lack adequate safety training. Maritime Reporter & Engineering News sought the insight of two offshore industry leaders — Schlumberger and Halliburton — to discover how the industry leaders set the stage for a work environment that is safe for workers, equipment and investment. Note: Participants in the survey were Bruce Adams, the QHSE manager for Schlumberger Oilfield Services; and Tom Knode, the HSE Manager for the Business Development segment of Halliburton Energy Services. MR/EN: How long has your current safety training program been in place?