Gas Field Development News

Shell has authorized contractor McDermott International to start engineering work on its Manatee gas field development project off Trinidad and Tobago's east coast, the contractor disclosed on Tuesday.Trinidad is Latin America's largest LNG exporter, but its flagship Atlantic LNG project and its petrochemical plants have been operating at reduced capacity due to a shortage of natural gas.McDermott said it got the green light to proceed on an engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) contract pending an investment decision.

Ocean Installer has been awarded a contract for 3rd Party Verification and Engineering Support work for the Liuhua 29-1 Gas Field Development located in the South China Sea.The work scope encompasses 3rd party verification of detailed design and subsea construction engineering, as well as various other support functions to the client’s engineering team.This is the company’s first job in China, and Ocean Installer will conduct the work as a subcontractor to COOEC Subsea Technology Co., Ltd., which is responsible for the deepwater SURF (Structures, Umbilicals, Risers, Flowlines) EPCI scope towards end-client Husky Oil China Ltd. Work has already begun…

Subsea 7 S.A. announced the award of a  contract by Wintershall for the Nova (formerly known as Skarfjell) oil and gas field development. Nova is located in the north-eastern part of the North Sea, 16 kmfrom the Gjøa field, in a water depth of approximately 360m. The Nova field development is a subsea tie-back to the existing Gjøa semi-submersible production facility. The contract award comprises the Engineering Procurement Construction Installation (EPCI) delivery of the pipeline and riser systems, and the transport and installation of subsea production systems and umbilical system. Fabrication of the pipeline will take place at Subsea 7’s spoolbase at Vigra, Norway. Project Management and engineering will commence immediately at Subsea 7’s offices in Stavanger, Norway.

Gibraltar shipyard Gibdock said a surge in offshore vessel repair and maintenance work has included a special project for Norwegian offshore vessel owner and operator Solstad, to ensure that Normand Reach meets the hull cleanliness standards set by Australia’s National Biofouling Management Guidelines for commercial vessels. The 120.85-meter-long Solstad CSV entered the yard for a special wash and brush up on its way to Western Australia, where it has been reported as due to enter charter in the coming weeks to work in the Ichthys gas field development project.

NYK has acquired a 25 percent share of EMAS Chiyoda Subsea Limited (ECS), based on an agreement signed on June 10 with Ezra Holdings Limited (Ezra) and the Chiyoda Corporation (Chiyoda). ECS is a global player in the engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (EPCI) of subsea facilities — essential components in offshore oil and gas field development. After this acquisition, ECS’s shareholding structure will shift to Ezra 40 percent, Chiyoda 35 percent, and NYK 25 percent. Based on its medium-term management plan emphasizing differentiation through the use of creative solutions, NYK has been expanding its business in offshore oil and gas exploration/development, such as seismic, drilling, production, and shuttle transportation services.

Japanese shipping giant Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) has agreed to invest in EMAS Chiyoda, a subsea services joint venture between oilfield services firm Ezra Holdings Ltd and Chiyoda Corp. NYK has reached an agreement with Ezra Holdings Limited (Ezra) and Chiyoda Corporation (Chiyoda) to acquire a 25 percent share of EMAS Chiyoda Subsea Limited (ECS). After NYK’s participation, the shareholding structure of ECS will change to Ezra 40%, Chiyoda 35%, and NYK 25%. ECS is a global player in the engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (EPCI) of subsea facilities — essential components in offshore oil and gas field development.

Energy majors BP and Eni on Thursday announced a significant natural gas discovery off the Egyptian coast. The discovery is in the Baltim southwest exploration prospect in the East Nile Delta. It is 10 km north of the Nooros gas field which was discovered in July last year and has a production rate of 65,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, the companies said. Italy's Eni, through its subsidiary IEOC, holds a 50 percent stake in the licence of Baltim South and BP holds the other 50 percent. The new discovery "further confirms the significant potential of the so called Great Nooros Area, which is now estimated to hold 70-80 billion cubic metres of gas in place," Eni said in a statement. BP said that appraisal activities will be required to understand its full resource potential.

Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd (Keppel O&M)'s local and overseas subsidiaries continue to win strong support from repeat customers by securing four contracts worth a total of about S$125 million. In Singapore, Keppel O&M's wholly-owned subsidiary Keppel Shipyard Ltd (Keppel Shipyard) secured two conversion contracts - the first is for a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Floating Storage Unit (FSU) vessel awarded by Armada Floating Gas Storage Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bumi Armada Berhad (Bumi Armada); the second is for a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel awarded by Yinson Production (West Africa) Pte Ltd (Yinson), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yinson Holdings Berhad. Work on the LNG FSU conversion for Bumi Armada is scheduled to be completed in 3Q 2016.

Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd (Keppel O&M)'s local and overseas subsidiaries continue to win support from repeat customers by securing four contracts worth a total of about $88.5 million. In Singapore, Keppel O&M's wholly-owned subsidiary Keppel Shipyard Ltd (Keppel Shipyard) secured two conversion contracts - the first is for a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Floating Storage Unit (FSU) vessel awarded by Armada Floating Gas Storage Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bumi Armada Berhad (Bumi Armada); the second is for a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel awarded by Yinson Production (West Africa) Pte Ltd (Yinson), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yinson Holdings Berhad. Work on the LNG FSU conversion for Bumi Armada is scheduled to be completed in 3Q 2016.

Classification society ClassNK has released its Guidelines for Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Carriers. Global economic and population growth is bringing about increased energy production and consumption. In its latest forecast, CEDIGAZ, an international not-for-profit association dedicated to natural gas information, predicts that global natural gas demand will grow by 1.8 percent a year from 2013 to 2035 with the largest portion of this growth coming from Asia-Oceania and the Middle East. Natural gas share in world primary energy supply is projected to increase from 21.3 percent to 23.6 percent over the same period. As the demand and supply of natural gas increases, the volume of transportation of natural gas will also expand.

Development of Iraq's Akkas gas field has been delayed because of the latest crisis in the OPEC member nation, South Korea's energy ministry said on Sunday, quoting project owner Korea Gas Corp. An official at the state-run gas company who is familiar with the matter also told Reuters the delay began last week as those who worked on pipeline tasks near the battles had fled to safe areas. "If the civil war expands and the U.S. military joins, it is likely that the development will be halted temporarily...In the worst case, it is possible for us to withdraw," said the KOGAS source, who declined to be identified because the matter was sensitive.

On May 27-29, 2014 in Astrakhan, Russia, Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RS) held a seminar on shipbuilding and offshore oil and gas field development for experts representing RS offices in Russia and abroad. The seminar covered latest amendments to the procedural requirements of the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) and European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) concerning survey procedure, survey of ships, offshore structures and subsea pipelines under construction as well as documentation control. The event took place on the eve of the new phase of the V. Filanovsky field development, RS taking an active part in this project.

Keppel supported Baku Shipyard has won a first major contract from BP Exploration (Shah Deniz) Ltd, the operator of the Shah Deniz gas field development, to design and build a Subsea Construction Vessel (SCV). The contract is worth US$378-million, say the shipyard. When completed, the SCV will be deployed for the Stage 2 development of the Shah Deniz field, which lies some 70 kilometres offshore in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea. The Shah Deniz Stage 2 project requires a subsea installation vessel to install the subsea structures over 11 years between 2017 and 2027. The vessel will include dynamic positioning to allow for work in 2.5 metres significant wave height (Hs)…

Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RS) said it has certified the Caspian Sea Oil Fleet quality management system for compliance with the requirements of ISO 9001:2008, ISO 14001:2004, OHSAS 18001:2007 standards, as well as the Azerbaijan State Marine Academy for compliance with ISO 9001:2008 standard. The classification society said it actively interacts with the Maritime Administration and port state control bodies, participates in offshore oil and gas field development projects, cooperates in R&D and education with specialized higher educational institutions of Azerbaijan. According to RS, the strengthening of business contacts…

Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RS, the Register) is going to participate in the International Conference on Development of Oil-and-Gas Resources of the Russian Arctic and CIS Continental Shelf (RAO/CIS Offshore). The event will take place at the LenExpo Congress Halls, St Petersburg, September 10-13, 2013. Vladimir Evenko, Head of RS Classification and Development Directorate will act as a co-chairman of the roundtable "Rules and Regulations Lying at the Base of Shelf Hydrocarbon Resources Exploration." Within the framework of the roundtable "Key Problems of Pipe System Design, Construction and Operation on the Arctic Shelf" the register experts will share the experience of RS Rules application to materials and products developed for subsea pipe lines.

China Offshore Fugro Geosolutions (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd. (COFG) orders two Ranger 2 underwater tracking systems from Sonardyne Asia. The contract, part of the pre-installation phase of the Liwan 3-1 gas field development, includes the supply of Sonardyne’s new pre-calibrated GyroUSBL transceiver, establishing COFG as the first company in the region to benefit from its operational cost-saving features. Discovered in 2006, Liwan 3-1 is located in the South China Sea, 350 kilometres south-east of Hong Kong in an average water depth of 1,300 metres.

DNV has launched a recommended practice (RP) for the entire life cycle of shale gas extraction, based on risk management principles. The recommended practice provides a reference document for the independent verification of shale gas projects. The objective is for the RP to form the basis for a globally recognised standard for safe and sustainable shale gas extraction. DNV’s recommended practice applies risk management principles, to ensure that threats related to shale gas activities are effectively and efficiently managed in an accurate, balanced, transparent and traceable way. “The overall objective of this Recommended Practice is…

The growing importance of deepwater exploration and production developments offshore China led classification societies ABS and CCS (China Classification Society) to conduct a joint “Deepsea Developments in the China Offshore Industry” meeting on June 17. The meeting, which was held in Beijing, brought together leading offshore industry professionals to discuss a wide range of energy development issues. More than 100 representatives from the Chinese government, shipbuilders, designers, research institutes, energy corporations and universities attended. Topics included a discussion of the global energy market outlook from research firm Infield Systems…

Technip was awarded a full EPIC(1) contract by RWE Dea, for the Clipper South gas field development in the North Sea. The field is located 70 kilometers North-east of the Bacton gas terminal in 25 meters of water. The contract covers full project management, detailed pipeline design, installation and tie-in of a 15.5 kilometer 12" production line and 3" methanol piggyback line from the new Clipper South platform to the existing LOGGS (Lincolnshire Offshore Gas Gathering system) platform.

Hydro has entered into an agreement to sell its 10 percent stake in production licences PL064, PL077, PL078, PL097, PL099, PL100 and PL110 in the Norwegian offshore sector, including the Snøhvit gas field development. The buyer is Statoil ASA. At the same time Hydro also entered into another agreement: The purchase of a two per cent interest from Statoil in the PL134B and PL199 licences, including the Kristin field. The Snøhvit transaction is expected to result in an estimated accounting gain for Hydro of approximately NOK 100 million, after tax. "We are very satisfied with the agreements. This is a result of Hydro's active management of the company's oil and gas portfolio, and in line with Hydro's strategic positions.

Led by Alexander Ananenkov, Deputy Chairman of Gazprom Management Committee, the company’s delegation continues its business trip to Saint Petersburg. The delegation is composed of Oleg Aksyutin, Member of the Management Committee – Head of the Gas Transportation, Underground Storage and Utilization Department, Yaroslav Golko, Member of the Management Committee – Head of the Investment and Construction Department, Vasily Podyuk, Member of the Management Committee – Head of the Gas, Gas Condensate and Oil Production Department, as well as heads and specialists from Gazprom specialized subdivisions and subsidiary companies – Gazprom VNIIGAZ…

Technip has been awarded a contract for the Cili Padi gas field development by Shell Oil and Gas Malaysia LLC. Shell, a production sharing contract (PSC) contractor to Petronas, is the operator for the field, with Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd and Nippon Oil as partners. 91m. the contract. platforms, a new 30km pipeline including a subsea T-piece for the tie-in of the Selasih field, and a new electrical power generation and distribution system. The project is scheduled to be completed in the second quarter 2008.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) completed development related to floating production, storage and offloading units for liquefied natural gas (LNG-FPSO), and has obtained two kinds of approval in principle (AIP) from major international ship classification societies. In tandem with intensified activity in medium- and small-scale offshore gas field development, demand for LNG-FPSOs, a new method of gas production offering movable capability, has been increasing globally. Boosted by the new recognition of the safety and reliability of its proposed units, MHI will now begin aggressive marketing activities toward construction of the world's first LNG-FPSO.