Deepwater Applications News

The National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) Board of Directors has elected Kevin McEvoy as Chairman and Dave Welch as Vice Chairman for the upcoming 2016-2017 term. McEvoy and Welch assumed their positions at the NOIA Annual Meeting today in Washington, D.C. Since 2011, McEvoy has served as Chief Executive Officer of Oceaneering International, Inc., global provider of engineered services and products, primarily to the offshore oil and gas industry, with a focus on deepwater applications. He also serves on the company’s board of directors, and was the NOIA Vice Chairman for the 2015-2016 term. “I am honored for the opportunity to serve as Chairman of NOIA.

UK giant BP will end a contract off Angola with Oceaneering International about eight months early. Oceaneering International has announced that BP has exercised its right to terminate its use of the chartered vessel Bourbon Oceanteam 101 at the end of May 2016. Prior to this notice, the work was scheduled to extend through the end of January 2017. Under the terms of the contract, the costs incurred by Oceaneering associated with the early release and demobilization of the vessel are expected to be reimbursed by BP. Following the release of the vessel, Oceaneering intends to redeliver it to the vessel owner. Project management, engineering…

The National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) Board of Directors has elected Cindy B. Taylor as Chair and Kevin McEvoy as Vice Chairman for the upcoming 2015-2016 term. Taylor and McEvoy assumed their positions at the NOIA Annual Meeting today in Washington, DC. Since 2007, Cindy has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Oil States International, Inc., a publicly traded diversified oilfield services company headquartered in Houston. She also serves on the company’s board of directors, and has been NOIA’s Vice Chair for the 2014 -2015 term. “The oil and natural gas industry is tough and resilient. Since I first joined NOIA…

Innovative LNG fueled drillship project will promote energy efficiency and environmental sustainability in offshore operations. ABS, a provider of classification services to the global offshore industry, has entered into a joint development project (JDP) with South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) to develop the industry's first LNG fueled drillship. The JDP will address challenges associated with storing and managing cryogenic LNG safely by combining DSME's experience developing and applying LNG technology to floating structures with ABS' technical standards and experience working on a number of gas-fueled, LNG and regasification unit projects.

International oilfield services company, Expro, has deployed its new design ExACT (Expro Annulus-Operated Circulating and Test Tool) in its first live offshore well. The successful operation, a tubing conveyed perforating ‘shoot and pull’, took place on the Vermillion field offshore in the Gulf of Mexico following trial work onshore in Brazil last year. The tool, one of the most advanced of its kind, combines downhole shut-in and circulating functionality. Rated at 15,000 psi and temperatures of up to 400˚F…

ABS, a provider of maritime and offshore classification services, appointed Dr. Richard Korpus as Chief Scientist, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). In the Chief Scientist role, Korpus will support the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and the organization through his focus on developing and applying CFD technology. "We see technology as the road forward," said ABS Chairman and CEO Christopher J. Wiernicki. The creation of this Chief Scientist position is the most recent step in the continuing process of technology investment at ABS.

Aker Solutions' agreement with Shell is for delivery of subsea umbilicals and cables globally. The size of the frame agreement is dependent on call-offs and the number of projects that Shell decides to execute. However, Aker Solutions estimates that the frame agreement could generate revenues between USD 200 and USD 400 million. Order intake will be booked whenever the specific contracts are signed. The Enterprise Framework Agreement (EFA) with Shell is signed for the duration of five years with an option for an additional five years. Aker Solutions will deliver dynamic and static steel tube umbilicals for both shallow and deepwater applications. The EFA has a global scope.

Aker Solutions has been selected to supply two production control umbilicals and three umbilical termination assemblies (UTAs) to Murphy Exploration & Production Company - USA. The products will be delivered to the Murphy operated Dalmatian field in the De Soto Canyon located in the Gulf of Mexico which is jointly owned by Murphy and Ecopetrol America Inc. Contract value is undisclosed. The main control and injection umbilical will tie the host facility to Murphy's De Soto Canyon Block 4 well for a distance of 21 miles (34 km). The second umbilical is an infield umbilical that will connect two blocks 5 miles (8 km) apart. The umbilicals will be used in water depths of approximately 6 000 feet (1 800 metres). Installation is planned for the fourth quarter of 2013.

Oceaneering International, Inc. (NYSE:OII) announced it has secured a one-year term contract with estimated revenue in the range of $25m to $30m for use of the MSV Ocean Intervention and other related services, commencing early February 2009. The contract contains a customer option for a one-year extension. The customer has contracted Oceaneering to conduct inspection, repair, and maintenance (IRM) of deepwater subsea facilities in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). Examples of this work include changing out pods and chokes, installing flowline jumpers and control umbilical flying leads, remediating hydrates, and supporting diving operations on deepwater floating facilities.

Coflexip Stena Offshore, along with Kvaerner, is finalizing the acquisition of the business of Houston-based pipeline engineering company Kvaerner R.J. Brown (KRJB). Closing was expected to occur on March 31. Known as a pipeline engineering company specializing in the design and installation of pipeline bundles and risers for deepwater applications, KRJB is renowned for its offshore pipeline design and towing techniques for more than 30 years. Operating as a separate engineering company under the R.J. Brown Deepwater name within the CSO Group, and working closely with CSO's Deepwater Field Development Division. RJB Deepwater will provide FEED engineering services on an independent basis.

Coflexip Stena Offshore, along with Kvaerner is finalizing the acquisition of the business of Houston-based pipeline engineering company Kvaerner R.J. Brown (KRJB). Closing was expected to occur on March 31. Known as a pipeline engineering company specializing in the design and installation of pipeline bundles and risers for deepwater applications, KRJB is renowned for its offshore pipeline design and towing techniques for more than 30 years. Operating as a separate engineering company under the R.J. Brown Deepwater name within the CSO Group, and working closely with CSO's Deepwater Field Development Division. RJB Deepwater will provide FEED engineering services on an independent basis.

Noble Drilling Corporation's reported net income increased 143 percent for the fourth quarter of 2000 to $51.9 million, or $0.38 per diluted share, on operating revenues of $241.2 million, compared to net income, excluding the effects of non-recurring items, of $21.4 million, or $0.16 per diluted share, on operating revenues of $173.5 million for the fourth quarter of 1999. The quarterly results for 1999 included a restructuring charge of $7.5 million ($4.9 net of tax) related to early retirement packages offered to a number of employees and the relocation of the Company's Gulf Coast Marine division office in Lafayette, Louisiana to the centralized office in Sugar Land.

Conoco and Aker Kvaerner, part of Kvaerner, the international oil services, engineering and construction, pulp and paper and shipbuilding group, announced the establishment of a new company, DeepWater Composites AS, that will manufacture and sell composite products for use in the deepwater exploration and field development segments of the oil and gas industry. Conoco and Aker Kvaerner will each hold 50-percent interest in Deepwater Composites AS. Conoco and Aker Kvaerner have co-operated under a technology alliance since 1995 to develop, test and qualify two carbon fiber composite products that provide a technological and economic breakthrough to facilitate the exploitation of oil reserves in deep water.

VetcoGray, a GE Oil & Gas business, is supplying its latest MS-700 system deepwater technology to Shell Group Companies for the deepwater BC-10 project, recently named Parque das Conchas, located in Brazil's Campos Basin. The contract with Shell includes the supply of 12 MS-700 slimbore subsea wellhead systems and seven 42-inch liners, with delivery beginning in July of 2007. Once installed, the MS-700 slimbore wellhead systems will enable Shell to drill and complete wells in conjunction with their reduced bore riser and a surface blowout-preventer (BOP), thus exploiting the drilling capabilities of rigs with conventional operating envelopes, typically less than the actual water depth at Parque das Conchas (up to 1930m water depth).

Aker Kvaerner will officially open its new North Sam Houston Parkway facility in Houston on April 25. The new purpose built facility will include operational support of three main activities; drilling equipment, well intervention technology and subsea systems. It will be the primary centre for assembly, testing and aftermarket activity for Aker Kvaerner's oil field operations in the Gulf of Mexico. The facility includes advanced laboratories for assembly of electronic and hydraulic technology, pressure testing for ultra-deepwater applications and a pit for underwater testing of deepwater trees and pumps. While the main activity at the facility will be aftermarket support of drilling and subsea equipment new technology…

Coflexip Stena Offshore has announced that the board of directors of Coflexip approved the upgrade of the CSO Constructor which will allow the group to offer its clients a heavy duty subsea construction vessel, capable of rigid or flexible pipelay in deepwater. This investment, to exceed $30 million, will significantly expand the capabilities of the CSO Constructor. The hull and the deck will be lengthened by 49 ft. and widened by 16 ft. to bring its pipeline payload to 3,000 metric tons. It will also be equipped with a 300 metric ton lift crane. After conversion, the vessel will be able to install rigid lines with the patented M-J Lay system, or flexible lines, stored in a carousel under deck, using the patented Vertical Laying System (VLS), down to 1,500 m (6,500 ft.) water depth.