Hurricane Ian Shuts 157,706 BPD of Oil Output in U.S. Gulf of Mexico
About 157,706 barrels, or 9%, of oil production in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico were shut on Wednesday by Hurricane Ian, said offshore regulator Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.Hurricane Ian was lashing Florida's Gulf Coast with powerful winds and drenching rain, but the Category 5 storm steered clear of the Gulf's richest oil production areas. A total of 16 oil and gas production platforms were evacuated by Ian on Wednesday, compared to 14 the day before, the regulator said.Some 128 million cubic feet, or 6%, of gas production in the U.S.
How to Stop Injured Vessel Crew from Calling My Law Firm
For 20 years, I represented operators of OSVs, jack-ups, semi-submersibles, oil and gas production platforms, harbor tugs, towboats and barges in state and federal court personal injury litigation arising in the Gulf of Mexico, across the Great Lakes and on the inland waterways. For the last decade or so, I have been representing injured crew. In the case of a death or serious injury, sometimes there is little a vessel operator can do to prevent being sued. In my experience, though, many expensive lawsuits could have been avoided had the marine employer handled the situation differently.1.
Over 80% of U.S. Gulf of Mexico Oil Output Still Offline
More than 80% of oil production in the Gulf of Mexico remains shut in after Hurricane Ida, a U.S. regulator said on Monday, more than a week after the storm made landfall and hit critical infrastructure in the region.Energy companies have been struggling to resume production after Ida damaged platforms and caused onshore power outages. About 1.5 million barrels per day of oil production, or 84%, remains shut, while another 1.8 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas output, or 81%âŚ
Sovcomflotâs New Icebreaker Named
A ceremony raising the flag of the Russian Federation and naming a new multifunctional icebreaking platform supply vessel, Yevgeny Primakov, took place on February 3, 2018 in Saint Petersburg. The vessel was built by Arctech Helsinki Shipyard, a subsidiary of the United Shipbuilding Corporation; technical supervision was carried out by the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RS), which assigned the vessel a high ice class â Icebreaker6. Yevgeny Primakovâs design and constructionâŚ
Are South Korean Shipbuilders Back from the Abyss?
Sparks light up the night-shift at giant shipyards on Koreaâs southeast coast, as welders and fitters at some of the worldâs biggest marine engineers forge next-generation container ships, oil rigs and even ice-breaking tankers in a bid to clamber out of a global industry abyss. Sunk by drastic cuts in orders from customers hit by the 2008 financial crisis, South Koreaâs shipping landscape has been littered with bankruptcies and billion-dollar losses. But some, like Busanâs DSME, are adding innovation to craftsmanship to tap new demand for nimbler ships and offshore energy platforms.
New Fuel Regs Drive Scrubber Business
The Exhaust Gas Cleaning Systems Association and its members are preparing to meet higher demand for gas scrubbing systems to bring SOx emissions in line with the targets set by the IMOâs 2020 fuel sulfur content proposals. As previously reported by this correspondent in Maritime Reporter and Engineering News (December 2016 issue, page 24; January 2017 issue, page 28), the IMO has come in for some severe criticism over its proposals to introduce a global marine fuels sulfur content cap of 0.5 percent (mass/mass) by the year 2020.
PAO Sovcomflot Lays Keel for New Supply Vessel
Arctech Helsinki Shipyards Oy (part of United Shipbuilding Corporation) held a keel laying ceremony last week (17 December) for a new icebreaking platform supply vessel ordered by PAO Sovcomflot under a long-term agreement with Sakhalin Energy. Originally signed in April 2014 following an international tender held by Sakhalin Energy, the agreement provides for the operation of one multifunctional icebreaking platform supply vessel (ice class Ice-15) and three ice class platform supply vessels for 20 years under the Sakhalin-2 Project.
Motion Compensation Crane Delivered
Barge Master has delivered its first Barge Master T40 (BM-T40) motion compensated knuckle boom crane, the company announced. The BM-T40, installed on Wagenborgâs âWalk to Workâ vessel the Kroonborg, compensates for sea induced vessel motions in roll, pitch and heave directions at the base of the crane, up to three meters significant wave height. The BM-T40 is designed for offshore support vessels that are used to transfer small loads and personnel to (unmanned) offshore oil and gas platforms or wind turbines.
Barge Master Installed on Walk-To-Work Vessel
On October 14 the Barge Master BM-T40 system motion-compensated knuckle boom crane pedestal was installed on the new Wagenborg Walk-to-Work vessel, designed and built by Royal Niestern Sander. The vessel and Barge Master system will be delivered in the first quarter of 2015. NAM will use the motion compensated crane for service and maintenance of gas production platforms in the Southern North Sea. Offshore platforms have become smaller and more flexible during the last forty years.
RS Holds Offshore O&G Field Development Seminar
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.
Barge Master Provides Stable Platform for Crane, Offshore Ops
Innovation is a theme rippling through Hollandâs robust maritime industry. From ropes and winches to hull and crane design, Dutch marine engineers repeatedly answer the call for safe, efficient marine operations. An exemplary display of genuine Dutch innovation can be found at Barge Master, a company that develops and produces motion compensation platforms designed primarily for cranes and supply barges in the marine offshore and nearshore construction sectors. When a barge is operating on open waterâŚ
First Barge Master T40 Purchased for Use in the North Sea
Barge Master has received a Letter of Award from Niestern Sander bv for employment of the Barge Master motion compensated crane on their new Walk-to-Work vessel, to be built for Wagenborg. The vessel including the Barge Master system will be ready in the first half of 2015. NAM will use the motion compensated crane to service and maintain gas production platforms in the North Sea. Oil and gas platforms have become smaller and more flexible during the last forty years. They noâŚ
âIdle Ironâ Mandate to Plug Wells Could Save Some GOM Jobs
Yesterday Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement Director Michael R. Bromwich announced a mandate â effective October 15, 2010 â that oil and gas companies operating in the Gulf of Mexico will be required to set permanent plugs in nearly 3,500 nonproducing wells that are currently completed with a subsurface safety valve in place and dismantle about 650 oil and gas production platforms if they are no longer being used for exploration or production. While the move could cost well owners billions, it should also help to keep workers and vessel in the Gulf of Mexico â idled by the moratorium on drilling â at work.
MMS Reports on Ike Damage Assessments
Minerals Management Service (MMS) reports that as of September 15, 2008, 28 of the 3,800 offshore oil and gas production platforms in the have been destroyed by Hurricane Ike. Several other platforms have been reported as significantly damaged; information on those facilities is being compiled and will be released in the near term. Initial estimates are that the destroyed production platforms produced a total of 11,000 barrels of oil per day and 82 million cubic feet of gas per day. (See table below.) The damage has been reported through over flights by MMS, the oil and gas industry and the U.S. Coast Guard. Additional damage reported includes three jack-up drilling rigs destroyed and one jack-up drilling rig with extensive damage.
MMS Monitoring Two Adrift Rigs
The Minerals Management Service has two confirmed reports of drilling rigs adrift in the central . The MMS, industry, and the U.S. Coast Guard are working together to monitor the paths of the two rigs. MMS has determined through a pre-hurricane season risk analysis that there is minimal infrastructure in the areas surrounding these two rigs. The MMS conducts risk assessments of every mobile drilling rig location plan prior to hurricane season before granting approval of each plan. The assessments consider the proposed locationâs proximity to critical oil and gas infrastructure, condition of seafloor, and stationâkeeping (mooring) capabilities of each specific rig. Once the weather in the clears, over flights by MMS staff, the U.S.
First S. African Oil and Gas Shipyard Opens
South Africa's first shipyard to construct oil and gas production platforms was recently opened, according to a Reuters report. The shipyard will provide a foothold for the country to take advantage of a booming oil sector in Angola and other West African countries. South Africa is hoping the $30.4m plant, part of a $258.3m investment by Germany-based MAN Ferrostaal AG, will act as a service hub for Africa's burgeoning oil industry. The facility in Saldanha, about 100 km (62 miles) north of Cape Town, will manufacture components, such as bridges, decks and hulls for offshore oil platforms, largely to service fields in Angola and Nigeria to the north. [Source: Reuters]
U.S. Oil and Gas Production Still Recovering
Oil and natural gas production from the storm-battered Gulf of Mexico continues to recover, Reuters reports. Around 727,000 barrels per day, or 48.47 percent of the Gulf's 1.5 million bpd of crude production, remained shut, along with 3.742 billion cubic feet per day, or 37.42 percent of the region's natural gas output, the report said. The complete recovery of the region's energy operations will take until the middle of 2006, about three months longer than previously estimated. Oil and gas production platforms and undersea pipelines took a severe beating from hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Since Aug. 26, hurricanes have shut more than 85 million barrels of crude production -- the equivalent of about four days of U.S. consumption. Source: Reuters
J. Ray McDermott Wins Offshore LNG Contract
McDermott International, Inc. announced that a subsidiary of J.Ray McDermott, S.A. has been awarded a contract by Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company Limited (3) to provide engineering, procurement, construction and installation services for new facilities in Qatarâs North Field, as part of the Phase 2 Offshore Expansion Project. Contracts of this type are typically valued at approximately $0.5 billion. âRasGas is a valued client of J. Ray and its trust in our management, operations and quality of services explains the repeatability in our project work and the longevity of our relationship,â said Bob Deason, President and Chief Operating Officer of J. Ray.