Oil Rig News

The U.S. Coast Guard said Sunday it had rescued three boaters from an offshore oil platform after their vessel sank near Freeport, Texas, Sunday."Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston watchstanders received a report at approximately 3 a.m. from Matagorda County Sheriff's Office that three men were stranded on an offshore oil rig platform with no position after their vessel began taking on water," the U.S. Coast Guard said.Watchstanders issued an urgent marine information broadcast…

When most people discuss energy sources such as fossil fuel and green energy, it is from an “either-or” perspective. Some favor the former while others advocate for the latter. However, what is often lost in the arguments on both sides is that regardless of the type of energy being extracted or generated, those platforms that are offshore, especially oil rigs, oil and gas pipelines, and wind farms, are incredibly vulnerable to anyone who wants to attack these sources in wartime…

An oil rig supervisor who earned more than $200,000 a year working for Houston-based Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc is entitled to overtime pay, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday in a decision with costly implications for the oil and gas industry.The court in a 6-3 decision authored by liberal Justice Elena Kagan decided that because the rig supervisor, Michael Hewitt, was paid a daily rate of $963 and not a salary, an overtime pay exemption in federal wage law for highly paid workers did not apply to him.The justices affirmed a 2021 ruling by the New Orleans-based 5th U.S.

Indonesia has deployed a warship to its North Natuna Sea to monitor a Chinese coast guard vessel that has been active in a resource-rich maritime area, the country's naval chief said on Saturday of an area that both countries claim as their own.Ship tracking data shows the vessel, CCG 5901, has been sailing in the Natuna Sea, particularly near the Tuna Bloc gas field and the Vietnamese Chim Sao oil and gas field since Dec. 30, the Indonesian Ocean Justice Initiative told Reuters.A warship…

The Coast Guard called off its search for four passengers onboard a downed helicopter about 10 miles off the coast of Southwest Pass, Louisiana, at 6:15 p.m. Thursday.At around 8:40 a.m., Coast Guard District Eight watchstanders got a call from Rotorcraft Leasing Company personnel indicating that a company helicopter with four people aboard had gone down in the Gulf of Mexico while departing an oil platform.Sector New Orleans watchstanders coordinated the launch of a Coast Guard…

An ailing worker was medevaced from a Gulf of Mexico oil rig, about 14 miles south of Dauphin Island, Ala., the U.S. Coast Guard said.The Coast Guard said its watchstanders at Sector Mobile received a call at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday from an oil rig requesting a medevac for a 58-year-old male who was suffering from chest pain.The watchstanders coordinated the launch of a Coast Guard Station Dauphin Island 45-foot Response Boat-Medium boatcrew to assist.The boatcrew crew arrived on…

Singapore's Sembcorp Marine (Sembmarine) scrapped a deal to merge with Keppel Corp's offshore and marine unit and form new company, in favour of directly buying the unit for S$4.50 billion ($3.19 billion), the Temasek-backed oil rig builder said on Thursday. The new structure also lowers the value of Keppel's unit by S$378 million from the S$4.87 billion valuation it got according to the terms of the previous agreement struck in April, Sembmarine said. This deal gives Sembmarine's shareholders a bigger stake –– of 46% stake…

Singapore's Sembcorp Marine Ltd (Sembmarine) said on Friday its half-year loss narrowed 78% from a year earlier, as the oil rig builder finished delayed projects after pandemic curbs were eased while also benefiting from cost management.The company said its overall order visibility has improved on the back of rising oil prices and renewed concerns about energy security amid geopolitical tensions.Sembmarine has been a loss-making business since it posted an annual loss in 2018, in an industry plagued by oil price volatility, a drop in new orders, and the pandemic's impact.The company on Friday

Singapore's Sembcorp Marine (Sembmarine) has agreed to a multi-billion dollar merger with Keppel Corp's larger offshore and marine unit, a year after the Temasek-backed firms began deal talks to cope with an industry downturn.The loss-making oil rig builders have been whiplashed by years of oversupply and oil price volatility as well as a drop in new orders.Such troubles have been exacerbated by the global transition towards renewable energy, consolidation at Chinese and South Korean rivals…

Keppel Corp's offshore and marine (O&M) arm and smaller rival Sembcorp Marine are working towards having an agreement over their business unification in place by the end of April, the companies said on Thursday.The companies had first announced plans to combine their loss-making O&M businesses in June last year. The deal would see Keppel spin off the new business into a listed entity, with Singapore state investor Temasek becoming the largest shareholder in the combined company.

Oil prices surged to seven-year highs on Friday, extending their rally into a seventh week on ongoing worries about supply disruptions fueled by frigid U.S. weather and ongoing political turmoil among major world producers.Brent crude rose $2.16, or 2.4%, to settle at $93.27 a barrel having earlier touched its highest since October 2014 at $93.70.U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude ended $2.04, or 2.3%, higher at $92.31 a barrel after trading as high as $93.17, its highest since September 2014.Brent ended the week 3.6% higher…

An oil production and storage vessel exploded off the coast of Nigeria early on Wednesday with 10 crew members on board though it was not yet clear if there were any casualties or how much crude might have spilled into the sea.Nigeria's Shebah Exploration & Production Company Ltd (SEPCOL) said on Thursday that flames had engulfed the Trinity Spirit floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel following the blast a day earlier."At this time there are no reported fatalities…

A large oil spill off the southern California coast left fish dead, birds mired in petroleum and wetlands contaminated, prompting local officials to call it an environmental catastrophe.The U.S. Coast Guard, heading a clean-up response involving federal, state, and city agencies, said on Sunday there was an around-the-clock investigation into how the spill occurred.An estimated 126,000 gallons, or 3,000 barrels, had spread into an oil slick covering about 13 square miles of the Pacific Ocean since it was first reported on Saturday morning…

A U.S. appeals court on Thursday said workers who use cranes attached to boats to load equipment onto offshore oil rigs are not "seamen" exempt from overtime pay under federal wage law, reviving a collective action against liftboat operator All Coast LLC.The full 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals voted 15-2 to deny en banc review to All Coast and reinstated a three-judge panel's unanimous February ruling that said the workers were engaged in industrial activities that had no bearing…

An ailing crew member was medevaced from an oil platform approximately 150 miles east of Corpus Christi, Thursday, the U.S. Coast Guard said.The Coast Guard said its watchstanders at Sector/Air Station Corpus Christi received a call at 10:20 p.m. Wednesday from personnel on ExxonMobil's Hoover-Diana oil platform stating a a 54-year-old crew member was experiencing a cardiac event. Watchstanders consulted with the duty flight surgeon, who recommended a medevac.An HC-144 Ocean Sentry…

Temasek-backed Singapore conglomerate Keppel Corp and smaller rival Sembcorp Marine are exploring a potential tie-up which would see them combine their struggling offshore and marine (O&M) businesses after years of losses in an industry downturn.A successful deal would see Keppel spin off the new business into a listed entity and ultimately exit from the legacy business. Temasek would become the largest shareholder in the combined unit, while Sembcorp will also own a stake in it.Keppel's O&M unit…

Golar LNG said on Monday Hygo Energy Transition Ltd, a joint venture between Golar and U.S. private equity firm Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners, has appointed Paul Hanrahan as chief executive officer after Eduardo Antonello stepped down, following a corruption investigation in Brazil.Antonello has been accused by Brazilian federal prosecutors of bribery in a massive Car Wash corruption probe that in six years has led to the jailing of two former Brazilian presidents and hundreds of executives and politicians, with Brazilian and Dutch police executing dozens of search warrants.Operation Car Wash: Seadrill Served with Search and Seizure…

Golar LNG said on Tuesday Hygo Energy Transition Ltd Chief Executive Officer Eduardo Antonello has taken leave of absence with immediate effect, following a corruption investigation involving him in Brazil.Golar said Antonello's leave was in no way linked to any action or misconduct during his tenure at Hygo Energy, a liquefied natural gas transport and infrastructure operator formed with U.S. private equity firm Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners.Antonello's functions will be taken over temporarily by Hygo's board, Golar said.Last Thursday, Brazilian federal prosecutors accused Antonello of bribery in court filings outlining a new phase of the massive Car Wash graft probe…

A Chinese ship embroiled in a standoff with Vietnamese vessels last year has returned to waters near Vietnam as the United States accused China of pushing its presence in the South China Sea while other claimants are pre-occupied with the coronavirus.Vietnamese vessels last year spent months shadowing the Chinese Haiyang Dizhi 8 survey vessel in resource-rich waters that are a potential global flashpoint as the United States challenges China's sweeping maritime claims.On Tuesday, the ship, which is used for offshore seismic surveys, appeared again 158 km (98 miles) off Vietnam's coast, within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ), flanked by at least one China Coast Guard vessel…

A Chinese government survey ship embroiled in a standoff with Vietnamese vessels moved south near Malaysia, shipping data showed Thursday, amid accusations that China is using the pandemic to assert its presence in the South China Sea.The Haiyang Dizhi 8 was spotted off Vietnam this week, returning after being closely tracked last year in the resource-rich waters, a potential global flashpoint as the United States challenges China's sweeping maritime claims.The ship appeared to have started a survey in waters 352 kilometers (218 miles) off the coasts of Brunei and Malaysia on Thursday…

Equinor reported the oil industry's first coronavirus infection on an offshore installation on Wednesday, highlighting the challenge in preventing contamination for thousands of workers living in the close quarters on rigs and platforms.A worker was in isolation on the Norwegian energy firm's Martin Linge oil and gas platform off Norway where production is due to start at the end of this year, the company said. It said it would cut activity at the field, but personnel would remain at installations, while workers would reduce meetings and sit further apart in canteens to prevent further contamination. It has 776 people working on the project spread across three installations, Martin Linge, the Maersk Intrepid drilling rig and the Floatel Endurance accommodation rig.

A Chinese oil survey vessel that has been embroiled in a tense standoff with Vietnamese vessels in the South China Sea left Vietnamese-controlled waters on Thursday after more than three months, marine data showed.The Chinese vessel, the Haiyang Dizhi 8, was speeding away from Vietnam's exclusive economic zone towards China on Thursday under the escort of at least two Chinese ships, according to data from Marine Traffic, a website that tracks vessels.China claims almost all the energy-rich waters of the South China Sea but neighbors Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims.Tension between Hanoi and Beijing…

Seatankers, the powerful holding company of Norwegian-born billionaire John Fredriksen, said on Thursday it had hired a veteran fund manager to broaden the group’s portfolio and bring in outside capital in a new unit.Vegard Soeraunet, until recently an investment director at Norway’s ODIN Fund Management, will be in charge of “long-term and active ownership” outside of Seatankers’s shipping and offshore oil services industries, the company said.“Getting the opportunity to take this to the next level with a new structure under Seatankers, is a great opportunity,” Soeraunet said in a statement.It was the second key appointment at Seatankers in recent days following the August 28 naming of a hedge fund manager as its new chief executive.While Fredriksen initially built his fortune from shippi