Gom News

Esgian reports on the many rig movements that occurred last week in its Week 16 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.Report SummaryContractsADES Holding Company has received a letter of award from an international oil company for a one-year firm drilling contract for a jackup offshore Qatar.TotalEnergies has exercised a three-well option for Transocean 12,000-ft drillship Deepwater Skyros offshore Angola at a rate of $400,000, keeping the rig working into December 2025.After initially beginning a short-term job in the US GOM in January 2024…

Esgian reports various drilling contractors disclosing details of discussions with Saudi Aramco regarding jackup contract suspensions in its Week 14 Rig Analytics Market Roundup. These contractors include Shelf Drilling, ADES, Borr Drilling, Arabian Drilling, COSL, and ARO Drilling.Meanwhile, Transocean, Noble, and COSL rigs have firmed up new work in the US Gulf of Mexico, Suriname, and the North Sea, respectively.Report overview:ContractsShelf Drilling has received a notice of suspension of operations on four jackup rigs from a customer in the Middle East.

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…

Esgian reports rig-related updates from Dolphin Drilling, Diamond Offshore, and Seadrill in its Week 9 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.Report Outline:ContractsDespite Tullow Oil’s recent announcement that it would take a break from drilling offshore Ghana, Noble Corp. has stated that there has been no contract termination announcement and that its 12,000-ft drillship Noble Venturer is currently still contracted to Tullow into March 2025.Masirah Oil Ltd has signed a rig contract with…

NOAA Marine and Aviation Operations will hold two hiring events in the Gulf Coast region to recruit professional mariners to work aboard NOAA’s ocean research ships. The first event will be in Mobile, Alabama on Jan. 23 and the second is in New Orleans on Jan. 25.NOAA operates a fleet of 15 hydrographic survey, oceanographic research and fisheries survey vessels. NOAA ships operate in the U.S. and around the world. The ships are run by a combination of NOAA commissioned officers…

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.

DOF Group announced it has struck a deal to charter a Jones Act-compliant offshore support vessel (OSV) for work in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.The Norwegian-based company said it is time chartering Bordelon Marine's ultra light intervention vessel Connor Bordelon for a one-year period starting in March 2024. The deal includes an option for an additional year.Built by Bordelon Marine Shipbuilders in 2013, the 257-foot-long DP2 vessel is equipped with a SMST 60-ton active heave compensated (AHC) crane with 3,000 meters water depth capabilities.

Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry are co-leading an international initiative to accelerate reduction of emissions from the shipping sector, and on December 1, during COP28, they chaired a new round of announcements under that initiative, the Green Shipping Challenge.Various countries and organizations proposed measures to reduce emissions from shipping. This year’s announcements include:• Amazon: Amazon and other…

The U.S. Coast Guard said on Wednesday it was responding to an oil discharge near the Main Pass Oil Gathering (MPOG) Co's pipeline system in the Gulf of Mexico, while the main pipeline and several surrounding ones remained shut in."The reported sheen is being investigated and has not been confirmed to be associated with the November 16 observed initial discharge," the Coast Guard said.The Coast Guard had not yet identified any damage or indication of a leak after surveying the entire length of the pipeline along with 22.16 miles (36 km) of surrounding pipelines.

Crew fatigue led to an offshore supply vessel striking an oil and gas production platform in the Gulf of Mexico in 2021, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Thursday.The offshore supply vessel (OSV) Elliot Cheramie was on its normal route between Port Fourchon, La. and the oil and gas production platform VR-397A in the Gulf of Mexico on June 25, 2021, with a crew of four and five offshore workers. While transiting, the Elliot Cheramie struck the oil and gas production platform EI-259A.

The market for offshore support vessels has been through a rather rough few years since offshore exploration and production activity took a nose-dive in 2015 following the oil price crash the year before.The newbuild order boom that came with the ever-greener pastures imagined in the industry ensured that not only was the supply- and demand balance off by an insurmountable degree in the years that followed, but at its peak, in 2017, the oversupply of anchor handling tug supply…

Offshore drilling firms Seadrill Limited and Aquadrill (ex-Seadrill Partners) on Thursday announced a definitive merger agreement under which Seadrill will acquire Aquadrill in an all-stock transaction. When the transaction is completed, Seadrill shareholders and Aquadrill unitholders will own 62% and 38% of the common shares in the new company, respectively. Based on Seadrill's 30-day volume-weighted average share price of US$31.25 on the NYSE as of December 22, 2022, the deal…

U.S. based marine services firm TDI-Brooks announced it has installed the Starlink Maritime platform on two of its four research vessels, with plans to equip the remaining vessels at a later date.The two vessels, Brooks McCall and Miss Emma McCall, are currently working on the U.S. East Coast performing G&G surveys for offshore wind programs. Installation of the Starlink Maritime platform is next planned for installation on the Proteus currently working in the Northern GOM and Gyre working off Trinidad.Richard Byno…

Subsea 7 has signed four long-term vessel charter agreements in the Gulf of Mexico with Otto Candies and Bordelon Marine to boost offshore construction, inspection, maintenance, and repair (IRM), ROV survey, and pipe/umbilical laying support activities. in the Gulf of Mexico. Grant Candies, Wyatt Candies, and Ross Candies are IRM, survey, and light construction vessels under charter with Otto Candies LLC. The Connor Bordelon is a multipurpose supply vessel under charter with Bordelon Marine LLC. The contracts have differing start dates and durations, with options for extensions.

The global oil and natural gas markets are contending with rebounding energy demand on top of supply disruptions from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. As a result, activity and business sentiment in the floating production sector have seldom been stronger. Brent crude has been trading above $100 over the past three months, generating record profits for E&P operators -- providing an incentive to increase capital expenditures on new development projects.Several FPSO projects have moved into the near-term contract queue…

BP’s latest floating production facility, ARGOS, has been successfully moored in the US Gulf of Mexico. The mooring tensioning system includes Bardex Corporation Chain Jacks used to haul in and tighten 12 lines of 171mm R4S top chain. Bardex mooring chain jacks were the first to be used for deep water floating production units since the early 1990s.

Oslo-listed Subsea services company DOF Subsea has entered into an agreement with Otto Candies for the charter of the Jones Act compliant vessel Chloe Candies for a firm period of two years. The deal follows on from the charter of the Ross Candies, DOF Subsea, a subsidiary of DOF ASA, said."The charter period commenced in May, with the intent to utilize the vessel to support operations for existing North American clients in the GOM," DOF Subsea added. In addition, DOF's subsidiary DOF Rederi has sold the vessel Skandi Sotra vessel to an international buyer with delivery in first half of 2022.

NOAA released two Atlases compiling the best available science to inform the identification of Aquaculture Opportunity Areas (AOAs) in the Gulf of Mexico and Southern California. NOAA previously identified these regions for their potential to host sustainable commercial aquaculture development in the United States. Areas in the Atlases will have characteristics expected to support multiple types of aquaculture industries including finfish, shellfish, seaweed, or some combination."The aquaculture Atlases apply the latest ocean data and information to advance sustainable business development…

Near-term prospects for the deepwater sector are excellent. That’s the conclusion of an in-depth market analysis of the floating production market just completed by IMA/WER in the August 2021 Floating Production Systems Report.Asked what is driving the positive sentiment, WER’s Chairman Jim McCaul explains that, “Oil demand growth is expected to continue at a strong pace, OPEC+ appears  to be able to successfully keep oil supply under control, and crude  inventory has been falling…

The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP), the largest deepwater oil import and export terminal on the U.S. Gulf Coast, has found no major damages to its marine operations during an initial review [of the impact of the hurricane Ida], but operations remain offline as assessments continue, according to a person familiar with the matter.Louisiana Offshore Oil Port Llc - a joint venture of Marathon Petroleum Corp, Phillips 66 and Valero Energy Corp - has a crude oil loading and unloading facility 18 miles (29 km) off the coast of Louisiana.

Offshore installation company McDermott has won a contract with oil firm BHP for a marine installation campaign for the Shenzi Subsea Multiphase Pumping Project (SSMPP) in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.The project is located around 138 miles (222 kilometers) offshore in the Gulf of Mexico at a water depth of 4,400 feet (1341 meters)."We look forward to continuing our partnership with BHP through this latest contract award," said Mark Coscio, Senior Vice President for McDermott's North, Central, and South America region.

Lockport, La. based offshore support and subsea services provider Bordelon Marine said it has promoted Mike Belanger to chief operating officer and Chris Martin to general manager.Having served as Bordelon's general manager for 15 years, Belanger brings more than 40 years of industry experience to the COO position. During his tenure as GM, the company transitioned from operating utility vessels to opening a shipyard and building a trio of 260-foot DP2 subsea vessels that have been operated by Bordelon Marine for more than five years. Belanger is a military veteran serving seven years as an active-duty Marine. Furthermore, he is a third-generation oilfield worker who started from the age of 15 in various areas including on land rigs and offshore drilling and production…

The U.S. offshore safety regulator BSEE has formed a panel to investigate a fatal incident that happened earlier this month at a Fieldwood Energy-operated oil platform, in the Gulf of Mexico, offshore Louisiana.As previously reported, an offshore worker died on Saturday, May 15, in an incident that, according to Fieldwood, happened during a non-emergency casing pressure test on a shut-in well, at Eugene Island Block 158, Platform #14.The platform sits around 125 miles southwest of New Orleans in the Gulf of Mexico.Now…