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Enquest News

10 Mar 2024

Esgian Week 10 Report: Additional Backlog Secured

© freddytb Foto / Adobe Stock

Esgian reports that offshore drilling contractors secured additional backlog in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, Egypt, Nigeria, and Brazil and operators confirmed new discoveries in Indonesia, Côte d’Ivoire, and China in its Week 10 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.ContractsDiamond Offshore has executed a two-year contract extension with a subsidiary of bp in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico for the 12,000-ft drillship Ocean BlackHornet.Shelf Drilling’s 250-ft jackup Rig 141 has secured a two-year…

29 Dec 2023

Esgian: New Contracts, Drilling Activities and Rig Moves Across the World

Borgland Dolphin drilling rig (Credit: Dolphin Drilling)

Esgian's last roundup of the year for the Week 52 puts spotlight on new developments for Dolphin Drilling semisub, Seadrill drillships, as well as Shell’s plans for Australia and ONGC’s new tender for jackups in India.ContractsDolphin Drilling has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with an undisclosed operator for the 1,500-ft semisubmersible Borgland Dolphin to undertake a 500-day drilling campaign in the UK. The drilling campaign is planned to begin directly after the firm part of the contract period with EnQuest, which was announced in late November 2023.

05 Dec 2023

Drilling Roundup: New Contracts and New Carbon Storage Activity

West Vela courtesy of Seadrill

Esgian has published its Week 48 Rig Market Roundup highlighting that new contract awards were revealed for a Velesto Drilling jackup, two Seadrill drillships and a Dolphin Drilling semisub. Meanwhile, Wintershall Dea is planning to drill a new carbon storage well in Norway.ContractsMalaysia’s Velesto Drilling has agreed on an extension of a contract with Carigali Hess Operating Company for another year and six months.Seadrill has secured a short-term contract for 12,000ft drillship West Vela in the US Gulf of Mexico with QuarterNorth Energy…

21 Jul 2023

Armada Kraken FPSO's Production Climbs After Shutdown

Bumi Armada's Armada Kraken FPSO, a production unit operating at EnQuest's Kraken offshore field in the UK North Sea, has increased operational performance following a shutdown in early June.As Offshore Engineer previously reported, the Armada Kraken FPSO was shut in in June following the failure of critical hydraulic submersible pump (HSP) transformers.The Kraken FPSO is deployed at Kraken field under a bareboat charter contract.During the first four months of 2023, the average net production from the Kraken field was 15,910 barrels of oil equivalent per day.On June 21, Bumi Armada said that production had resumed from the FPSO and was at around 60% of pre-shutdown levels.In an update on Thursday…

17 Mar 2023

GEOS Wins UK, Norway Contracts for Energy Duchess Offshore Vessel

Norwegian offshore vessel owner Golden Energy Offshore Services AS (GEOS) has secured bring to work (B2W) contract for its offshore vessel  Energy Duchess and a medium-term contract in direct continuation.The 83.4-meter vessel of Ulstein PX121 design will be mobilized with a Z-Bridge Bring to Work system (B2W), and its role will be to accommodate and bring technicians and equipment to offshore work locations. Several of the vessel's MPSV capacities and capabilities will be utilized throughout, GEOS said.According to GEOS, the job is up to 14 days in duration, and mobilization in Rotterdam will start next week after the completion of its current spot job. GEOS website info shows the vessel is currently working for EnQuest Heather Ltd. on a contract set to expire on March 20.

24 Jun 2021

Solstad Offshore Bags UK North Sea PSV Charter

Credit: Solstad Offshore

Norway-based Solstad Offshore has secured an 18-month charter for its platform supply vessel Sea Falcon.The offshore vessel owner said the contract, with an unnamed client, included a one-year extension option.Solstad did say that the client was a UK operator and that the platform supplier would support the operator's assets in the UK North Sea.The charter will begin during the third quarter of 2021."Sea Falcon will join sister vessel Sea Forth and work for the same UK operator," Solstad said.Solstad said in January that it had obtained a one-year charter for the Sea Forth PSV in the UK North

17 Dec 2019

EnQuest Selects Esvagt as ERRV Provider

Offshore vessel provider Esvagt has been awarded a new contract with the United Kingdom-based petroleum exploration and production company EnQuest for the provision of emergency response and rescue vessels (ERRV).According to the provider of safety and support at sea, under this contract, four ESVAGT vessels will support EnQuest Heather Ltd’s operation in the UK.The contract includes a continued support on the Kraken oil field and Kittiwake and, since December 2019, ERRV duties on Magnus and EnQuest Producer.‘The multiple-year contract award is a significant milestone for ESVAGT’s continued efforts to further strengthen our long-term commitment in the UK production market’…

11 Mar 2019

Vestland Offshore to Manage Ocean Duke

Norwegian vessel owner Vestland Offshore announce that it has taken Management on yet another Vessel.The Ocean Duke is currently being converted to a Seismic Source Vessel and has a firm 2 year contract secured with SBGS.Last month, Vestland has won contracts for two of its offshore vessels, the Vestland Artemis and the Norsea Fighter.The Vestland Artemis has been awarded a 12 months contract with the UK-based oil company Enquest, commencing 1st of February 2019 in a direct continuation of the already long term operation with them.

04 Dec 2018

Enquest Acquires Remaining Stake in Magnus

United Kingdom-based petroleum exploration and production company Enquest said it had completed the acquisition of the remaining 75% stake in Magnus, an additional 9.0% stake in the Sullom Voe Oil terminal and supply facility and additional interests in associated infrastructure from BP.The Magnus transaction, as previously announced, is expected to add approximately 60 MMboe of 2P reserves (equating to approximately 30 percent of the Group’s reserve base) as at 1 January 2018 and approximately 10 MMboe of 2C resources (equating to approximately 6 per cent of the Group’s resource base) as at 1 January 2018.The  oil and gas production…

05 Jul 2018

Aegean Marine Shares Soar as Mercuria Provides $1 bln Lifeline

Energy trader Mercuria Group has agreed to provide a $1 billion trade finance facility to Greece's Aegean Marine Petroleum Network, the marine fuel logistics and supplies company said on Thursday, sending Aegean's stock up more than 150 percent.New York-listed Aegean Marine underwent a major leadership change this year after losses prompted an activist investor revolt to sever ties with the company founder, shipping and oil tycoon Dimitris Melissanidis.Aegean announced a $200 million write-off in early June after a new chairman, Donald Moore, was appointed in May to lead a strategic review.Shares in Aegean were up 127 percent at $1.43 as of 1359 GMT, having risen as high as $1.53.Swiss-based Mercuria will initially inject at least $30 million in cash, Aegean Marine said.Aegean Marine also

03 Aug 2016

New Welding Procedure helps Avoid Drydocking

Whittaker Engineering, an independent Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) company, has developed a unique water-backed welding procedure for vessels which can save companies millions of pounds from the prevention of dry docking and resultant loss of production. Traditional welding specifications used for the design and manufacture of FPUs (Floating Production Units) and oil rigs do not take into account the cooling effects of seawater. Whittaker Engineering’s procedure uses high-powered induction heating coils to maintain a preheat temperature whilst welding water-backed plate, mitigating the heat loss through a ship’s hull into the cold temperature of the sea. It was successfully deployed by EnQuest on the Northern Producer FPU during routine work.

04 Jul 2015

Aberdeen Pupils Peek into Subsea Oil & Gas Technology

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.

27 Jun 2015

EnQuest Appoints Holland as Non-Ex Director

EnQuest PLC has appointed Phil Holland as a Non-Executive Director with effect from 1 August 2015. Phil has very significant international project management experience in the energy sector, in particular in oil & gas. He held a number of senior positions at the Shell Group, including that of Executive Vice President, Shell Projects and Technology. Prior to Shell, Phil led the management of large scale Oil & Gas projects in a range of international locations for the Bechtel Corporation. James Buckee, Chairman of EnQuest, “I am delighted to welcome Phil to EnQuest as a Non-Executive Director. This announcement is made pursuant to paragraph 9.6.13R of the Listing Rules of the UK Listing Authority (‘UKLA’).

02 Mar 2015

Cheap Oil Threatens Debt Squeeze for Smaller North Sea Producers

Photo: EnQuest

Small and mid-sized independent oil producers in the British North Sea could face a financing squeeze this year as banks cut lending linked to the value of oil reserves, following last year's oil price sell off. Unlike the oil majors, which can slash headcount and delay projects, smaller firms tend to be reliant on few fields, and those that are mid-project have little choice but to continue with their capital expenditure. "Where companies have committed to projects when the oil price was $100-plus and their capital budget was set in advance…

02 Feb 2015

EnQuest Exits Tunisia

EnQuest PLC  announced today that it has exited from its small investment in Tunisia. In May 2013, EnQuest announced an agreement to acquire interests in the Didon producing oil field and the Zarat permit, from PA Resources AB and certain of its subsidiaries (‘PAR’), PAR was to retain a partial interest in the assets following EnQuest’s acquisition. In August 2014, EnQuest announced that the acquisition of Didon had completed in mid-July and the consideration of $23 million was to be kept in escrow pending an appropriate response from the Tunisian authorities. The backstop date for the transaction has now passed and the parties have elected not to extend it.

28 Oct 2014

EnQuest Selects Technip for Mega Subsea Contract

Technip was awarded by EnQuest earlier this year a large(1) engineering, procurement, installation and construction (EPCI) contract for the Kraken development located in the North Sea,  400 kilometers North-East of Aberdeen and 130 kilometers East of Shetland, at a water depth of approximately 120 meters. - pipeline flooding, hydro testing and leak testing. Technip’s operating center in Aberdeen, United-Kingdom, will execute the contract. The Group will leverage its unique vertical position in the subsea business. The Group’s spoolbase in Evanton, United-Kingdom, will weld and load-out the rigid pipe and Technip Umbilicals, Technip’s wholly-owned subsidiary in Newcastle, United-Kingdom, will manufacture the umbilical.

18 Jun 2014

Urgent Need to Cut Costs in UK North Sea

A STatoil rig in the North Sea (Photo courtesy of Statoil)

Britain's North Sea oil and gas industry faces a bleak future where more fields are likely to become uneconomic and shut in as platforms close - unless costs can be controlled, operators say. For some elderly platforms in the Northern North Sea, time is running out. If the industry does not get to grips with costs quickly, fresh investment is likely to dry up, forcing unsaleable rusting rigs to be abandoned. "From a cost point of view, the chickens are coming home to roost," said Tim Walsh, senior vice president, asset integrity services at Lloyd's Register Energy.

15 Jun 2014

EnQuest Eyes ExxonMobil Malaysia Assets

EnQuest PLC, through its wholly owned subsidiary EQ Petroleum Production Malaysia Ltd, agreed to acquire ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Malaysia Inc.’s interest in the Seligi oil field and the PM8 PSC, located offshore Malaysia. The agreement is subject to the approval of Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS) and satisfaction of certain conditions precedent. This acquisition is another step in the execution of the Company’s strategy to extend its international footprint in Malaysia. Following completion, the acquisition will contribute approximately 5,000 Boepd of net production and 11.0 MMboe of net 2P reserves to EnQuest. EnQuest has extensive experience in creating value from late stage maturing assets in the North Sea…

10 Mar 2014

Divorce Costs Could Sour Scotland's North Sea Hopes

Scottish nationalists are betting $2.5 trillion of hydrocarbons trapped miles beneath the North Sea could bankroll an independent Scotland, but winning control of the European Union's largest oil reserves would be no blank cheque. Scotland says the bulk of Britain's North Sea oil and gas reserves are in its waters, while London says any division would be subject to negotiations should Scots vote to end their 307-year-old union with England in a referendum on Sept. 18. Oil is the punch in Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond's pitch for independence: he accuses London of squandering the North Sea's mineral wealth and says Scotland would be one of the world's richest countries if it took control of its own destiny.

07 Feb 2014

Deltamarin Designs FPSO for Bumi Armada

Deltamarin signed a contract with Bumi Armada, for the basic design of a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit. In November 2013, the Malaysia-based international offshore oilfield services provider, Bumi Armada, announced that they have secured a contract to supply the unit to operate in the oil company EnQuest's Kraken field, which is located in an area with challenging environmental conditions in the U.K. sector of the North Sea. Deltamarin had earlier provided Bumi Armada with technical support for the conversion of an existing oil tanker into an FPSO in the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) phase. The FEED phase included development of a robust FPSO design for the harsh North Sea environment that fulfils the UK rules and regulations in all aspects.

10 Jan 2014

What’s New with Floating Production?

Jim McCaul, International Maritime Associates

Currently, 319 oil/gas floating production units are now in service, on order or available for reuse on another field. FPSOs account for 65% of the existing systems, 75% of systems on order. Another 24 floating LNG processing systems are in service or on order. Liquefaction floaters account for 13%, regasification floaters 87%. No liquefaction units are yet in service – all 3 are on order. Also, 98 floating storage units are in service, on order or available. Trend in Inventory…

11 Dec 2013

Mintra Lands Training Management Contract with EnQuest

Managing director of Mintra, Peter Conner.

Mintra Training Portal Limited, a provider of learning and competency solutions for the oil and gas industry has secured a contract to deliver training management services to EnQuest’s U.K. employees. The three year deal will see Mintra deliver practical, e-learning and classroom training for over 200 industry-critical courses to the operator’s onshore and offshore workforce across the U.K. Continental Shelf. Managing director Peter Conner said, “We deliver over 500,000 industry courses for up to 300 oil and gas companies every year.

19 Nov 2013

Massive UK Long-term North Sea Energy Project Welcomed

UK offshore industry welcomes the news that EnQuest’s £4-billion Kraken development is to go ahead, a project set to recover around 140 million barrels of oil from the North Sea, secure thousands of jobs and generate billions of pounds of revenue for the Treasury over the next 25 years. The project, EnQuest’s sixth production hub in the UK North Sea, will benefit from heavy oil allowances which the Government has provided to stimulate investment in the UK North Sea. “This is yet another clear sign that opportunity remains in the North Sea. This project reiterates the importance of the measures that need to be taken to secure the continued success of our industry.