North Energy News

Wilhelmsen has acquired a 21% stake in Reach Subsea ASA, and together the firms will form a strategic partnership to commercialize the Reach Remote concept, bringing Reach Subsea into new industry verticals and geographical regions.Jan Eyvin Wang, Executive Vice President, New Energy at Wilhelmsen says, “We have been actively assessing the subsea market to find a company that could add complementary scale to our ambition within renewables. We see potential to grow within emerging sectors such as offshore wind…

Norwegian Energy Company ASA (Noreco) has agreed to transfer its 30 per cent ownership in PL484 in the Norwegian Sea to North Energy ASA (North). The transfer is subject to government approval. Further, the companies have agreed that Noreco, under certain conditions, has a right to re-enter the licence with a reduced equity share in the future. The transfer of ownership in PL484 was originally part of an asset swap deal announced in summer 2014, which also included PL616 in the North Sea. This part of the agreement has been cancelled, and Noreco will consequently continue owning 20 per cent in this licence, where an exploration well will be drilled on the Haribo prospect later this year.

Operator Statoil has together with PL713 partners made a gas discovery in the Pingvin prospect in the Barents Sea. The discovery is a play opener in a frontier unexplored area of the Barents Sea northwest of Johan Castberg. The discovery well 7319/12-1, drilled by the drilling rig Transocean Spitsbergen, proved a 15-metre gas column in the well path. Statoil estimates the volumes in Pingvin to be in the range of 30-120 million barrels of recoverable oil equivalent. The discovery is currently assessed as non-commercial.

Norwegian oil company Statoil has had to stop drilling at the Arctic Pingvin prospect because of an appeal against its environmental permit, North Energy, a partner in the project, said on Friday. "The top hole on Pingvin has been drilled," North Energy said in a statement. Environmental groups have challenged Statoil's plans to drill in the far north, its most ambitious Arctic exploration programme to date. The company was forced to halt work briefly at another well in May pending a review. A challenge, brought by Greenpeace, was rejected by authorities within a few days and Statoil completed the well on the Apollo prospect in the Barents Sea without any incident.

Electromagnetic Geoservices ASA's (EMGS) reported revenues of USD 42.5 million in the second quarter 2014, down from USD 61.3 million in the first quarter this year and from USD 44.4 million in the corresponding quarter last year. Contract sales totaled USD 35.5 million, while multi-client sales were at USD 7.0 million this quarter. The Company had an EBITDA of USD 10.9 million and a net loss of USD 2.5 million. Revenues for the first half year 2014 came in at USD 103.8 million, compared with USD 76.1 million for the corresponding period last year. The increase in revenues is related to more contract work this year. The Company had two vessels operating in Norway in the quarter…

Divestment fully in line with ABB’s commitment to continuous portfolio optimization. ABB has divested five businesses with limited synergies in the past 11 months raising about $1 billion. Zurich, Switzerland, August 20, 2014– ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, announced it has signed an agreement to divest the ABB Full Service business for an undisclosed amount. The sale is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2014, subject to regulatory approval. The ABB Full Service business provides fully outsourced industrial maintenance services. ABB Full Service was developed as an adjacent business to ABB’s life-cycle service business and has become a successful stand-alone business unit.

18th of August, Rosneft together with Norwegian company Statoil Petroleum AS started exploration operations at the Pingvin License PL713prospect in the Norwegian section of the Barents Sea. The first exploration well Pingvin-1 will be drilled by the Transocean Spitsbergen rig. The water depth is 422 meters and the drilling target total vertical depth (TVD) is 1516 meters. The companies expect to analyse the drilling results until the end of 2014. RN Nordic Oil AS is partner in the licence (PL713) with Statoil (that is the operator), North Energy ASA and Edison International Norway Branch. RN Nordic Oil AS, a subsidiary of Rosneft, will be involved in the operations on the project.

Electromagnetic Geoservices ASA (EMGS) releases information on vessel activity and utilisation 4-5 working days after the close of each quarter. The Company defines "vessel utilisation" as the percentage of the vessel charter period spent on contracted or multi-client data acquisition. Vessel utilisation for the second quarter 2014 came in at 75% compared with 78% for the second quarter 2013. In the second quarter this year, the Company's vessels were allocated 38% to contract and 37% tomulti-client programmes, whereas the allocation was 32% and 46% respectively in the corresponding quarter last year. EMGS recorded 12.0 vessel months this quarter, compared with 11.5 in the second quarter of 2013.

Electromagnetic Geoservices ASA (EMGS), the marine EM market leader, has received a signed contract from North Energy ASA worth NOK 10 million (USD 1.7 million) for 3D EM data acquisition in the North Sea. The survey is expected to commence early May, using the vessel BOA Thalassa. EMGS

Rex International Holding said its 65% indirectly owned subsidiary, Lime Petroleum Norway AS, has received approval from the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy for the acquisition of 10% interest in each of the two offshore licenses, PL 707 and PL 708, from North Energy ASA. Lime’s 10% interest in each of PL707 and PL708 will become effective from November 29, 2013. The acquisition of the 10% interest in the two licenses is a result of the cooperation agreement between Lime and North Energy. Both concessions are located in the Barents Sea, in proximity to the coast on the Finnmark East platform. PL707 covers an area of about 982 square kilometers while PL708 covers an area of about 507 square kilometers.

The most thorough analysis of the North Sea oil and gas skills landscape ever undertaken will commence next week with nine of the U.K.’s leading energy, business and skills organizations involved. The major study is the first to examine in depth exactly how many people and what skills are needed in order to address the critical shortage in the industry both now and in the future. Senior representatives from more than 1,000 operators, contractors and organizations throughout the…