Norway News

Norwegian oil firm Okea is looking at four options to develop its North Sea North Sea Grevling oil discovery, which in turn could impact on the company's valuation in a deal with Thai investor Bangchak Corporation PCL (BCP), it said on Tuesday.BCP has agreed to invest 939 million Norwegian crowns ($112.25 million) in Okea to partly finance the company's 4.5 billion crowns acquisition of Royal Dutch Shell's stakes in the Draugen and Gjoea fields.Okea, which plans to list on the Oslo stock market in the next 12 months, said the deal between BCP and Okea's majority owner, private equity firm Seacrest Capital, values the Norwegian oil firm at 860 million Norwegian crowns.The valuation could fall, however, to 778 million crowns, or rise to 940 million, depending on whether or not the company is

Following the path of oil prices, consolidation also follows myriad financial crises. What happens next isn’t altogether clear, but the long, deep trough for offshore energy may finally be in our choppy wake.In mid 2017, financial turnaround and financial repairs specialist Alix Partners made a bold statement regarding the beleaguered Offshore Service Vessel (OSV) marketplace. In a July 2017 report, following an analysis of 44 participants in the business, the restructuring team wrote: “The industry faces grave financial pressure…

Austal Limited has delivered a 30-meter high-speed aluminum catamaran for VS Grand Ferries of the Philippines. The vessel was designed by Incat Crowther and built at Austal’s shipyard in Balamban, Cebu.The new vessel, named MV Seacat, provides capacity for 300 passengers at speeds up to 25 knots. The new ferry is first locally operated vessel to be built to achieve Pioneer status, an enhanced safety standard rating in the Philippines, with the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA).Austal said it secured the A$5.5millon contract to build the vessel in August 2017…

DNV GL, the world’s largest resource of independent energy experts and certification body, today announced that it has joined forces with Swedish atmospheric science experts, WeatherTech.The combined expertise of both companies will enable the development of the most advanced icing model for wind turbines available on the market, allowing customers to better predict the performance of turbines in cold climates.In cold climates, the performance of wind turbines is significantly reduced by ice accretion, the gradual build-up of ice on the turbine blades.

Oil production at Eni's Arctic Goliat field off the coast of Norway was shut on Monday for planned maintenance, a company spokeswoman told Reuters.The outage is expected to last for about 10 days, she added.Goliat, the world's northernmost producing oilfield, has a capacity of close to 100,000 barrels of crude per day.(Reporting by Terje Solsvik, editing by Camilla Knudsen)

Earlier this summer Maritime Reporter & Engineering News ventured to Ålesund/Sunnmøre area of western Norway visiting local manufacturers and suppliers serving the global maritime industry and featuring a series of business and technology presentations by leading sector companies including Inmarsat, VARD Group, Ulstein Group, Brunvoll, Ulmatec, Jets, ABB Marine & Ports, Fostech AS and Rolls-Royce Marine. Tom Mulligan reports on new business developments and technology innovations…

The international conference on maritime security and defense (MS&D), held for the seventh time in Hamburg during the SMM maritime trade fair, focused on current and future challenges to maritime security and defense. Twenty naval, industrial and science experts discussed topics such as how to protect international ocean trading routes, when and how to deploy naval forces on crisis missions, as well as cyber security issues.The welcome address opened the event with somber words as Rear Admiral Thorsten Kähler…

Europe’s chemical tanker operator Essberger Tankers has entrusted its ship agency requirements to Gulf Agency Company (GAC) companies in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland.Under the agreement, GAC will handle an estimated 600-800 port calls a year for Essberger Tankers’ fleet of vessels carrying a wide range of high-grade chemicals.The deal comes after more than 20 years of successfully managing Essberger’s port calls in Finland. The shipping and logistics service provider’s ability to deliver the same high level of support from its expanding network of offices in Sweden…

Norway's gas exports hit a new high of 36.8 billion cubic meters (bcm) this summer and the annual deliveries will be on a par with the record annual figure achieved in 2017, gas system operator Gassco said on Friday.Between May and August, which is normally a season with fewer gas exports, Norway's deliveries almost matched a normal winter level as European importers needed to refill depleted gas storages which drained during last year's cold winter."It's too early to say exactly where we'll end up this year…

Aker BP, a partner in Norway's giant Johan Sverdrup oilfield, expects a fast ramp-up of production when the initial development phase ends in late 2019, its chief executive said on Thursday."I think it will be done in a few months, because the production per well is so high," Karl Johnny Hersvik told Reuters on the sidelines of an energy conference.Johan Sverdrup Phase 1 will have capacity to produce 440,000 barrels of oil equivalents per day (boed), while the second phase, starting production in 2022, is expected to further boost output to 660,000 boed.Sweden's Lundin Petroleum, another partn

For the past few years, depressed commodity prices, stricter regulatory requirements and competition from onshore development at home and from other countries offering attractive offshore lease and royalty terms have had severe impacts on new exploration in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. Thankfully, the tide appears to finally be turning.In August, Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 251 drew increased competition for offerings and $178 million in high bids, $53 million more than previous sale held in March.

Prysmian Group, world leader in the energy and telecom cable systems industry, announces the successful commissioning of the inter-array cable system for the Wikinger offshore wind farm, located within the West of Adlergrund cluster in the German Baltic Sea.According to a press release, Prysmian secured this project in February 2015 with a contract awarded by Iberdrola, the world-leading renewable energy developer and operator.“This important project marks a further significant milestone for the Group…

Offshore driller Rowan Companies has been awarded a two-well contract for its Rowan Norway jack-up rig in the Mediterranean Sea by Turkish Petroleum.Rowan Companies announced that the Rowan Norway, an N-Class ultra-harsh environment jack-up rig, has been awarded a two-well contract in the Mediterranean Sea by Turkish Petroleum with an estimated duration 100-140 days.The contract is expected to commence in late 2018. The Rowan Norway is currently warm-stacked in the United Kingdom sector of the North Sea.

Norway's Havyard Ship Technology said it has secured orders to build up to three vessels for a foreign customer in the offshore renewable energy sector.The contract includes two firm vessel orders for delivery to the unnamed customer in Q3 2020 and Q1 2021, plus an option for a third sister vessel.The vessel design was developed by Havyard Design & Solutions.

The global liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) bunkering market is expected to witness a CAGR of 62.5% over the forecast period 2017-2023, and is projected to reach USD 24,684.7 million by 2023.The key factors driving the growth of LNG bunkering market are increase in LNG demand in order to reduce the carbon footprint in the shipping industry stringent international emission policy, the best cost- effective alternative fuel and significant rise in government initiatives supporting LNG adoption.According to a research report from Energias Market Research…

U.S. companies expect to begin delivering liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Germany in four years at the latest and will challenge Russia which now accounts for 60 percent of German gas imports, the deputy U.S. energy secretary told a German newspaper."U.S. liquefied natural gas is coming to Germany. The question is not if, but when," Dan Brouillette told the mass circulation daily Bild in an interview published on Monday.U.S. President Donald Trump in July accused Germany of being a "captive" of Russia due to its energy reliance and urged it to halt work on the $11 billion…

Danish shipowner ESVAGT and offshore wind farm developer MHI Vestas have sealed long-term contracts for the delivery of two new service operation vessels (SOVs) for separate wind farms off the Netherlands and the U.K.The wind farm service vessels will work the fields Borssele 3-4, located 22 km off the coast of Zeeland in the Netherlands, and Triton Knoll, which is 33 km off the coast of Lincolnshire in England, which together will produce 1,600 MW green energy from 2021. An option for an additional SOV for servicing the farm Moray East off the U.K. is also included.

When the owners of Norwegian oil firm Aker BP decided to digitise its assets and operations, they searched high and low for the right software company. But they failed to find a suitable one.So instead they set up their own, Cognite, to create digital maps of Aker BP's oil industry assets, integrating data from equipment such as pumps, heat and pressure sensors, maintenance records and even staff rotas to improve efficiency and safety.Less than two years later, Cognite is selling its software to Aker BP's rivals and one competitor…

At gmec, the global maritime environmental congress (gmec) during SMM in Hamburg, high-profile business and science experts discussed how the global shipping industry can achieve the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) environmental goals while continuing to provide its services at competitive prices.“We are at the beginning of a new chapter in the history of shipping,” said Tian-Bing Huang, Deputy Director - Marine Environment Division at the IMO, in his opening keynote.There is no question that the shipping sector is facing huge challenges…

Following deliveries of crew transfer boats and other ProZero workboats to Norway, Danish boatbuilder Tuco Marine said it has concluded another delivery of a 15m high-pressure cleaning boat to Norwegian AKVA Marine Services.The workboat is the second 15-meter high pressure cleaning boat that AKVA Marine has taken from Tuco. It was sold in collaboration with Tuco Marine’s local partner on the fish farming market.The 15m ProZero HPC boat is built from composite materials, reducing the structural weight of the vessel and ensuring low maintenance and superior durability.

Norway based dry bulk shipping company Golden Ocean Group Limited IGOGL) has announced that Ulrika Laurin and James O'Shaughnessy have been elected as new board members.Ulrika Laurin has been the Executive Chairman of ship-owning company Anglo-Atlantic Steamship Co. Ltd. and the Chairman of Laurin Shipping AB, an international ship-management company.She has served as the CFO of Anglo-Atlantic Steamship Co. Ltd. and as Commercial Manager of Laurin Maritime (UK) Ltd. Prior to that, she worked with fund manager Tufton Oceanic Ltd. and with management consultant Karlöf & Partners.

Equinor has awarded Transocean a contract for drilling six wells on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) by use of the Transocean Norge mobile rig. Drilling start-up is scheduled for the summer of 2019.The rig has also been awarded a contract option for drilling four additional wells and is intended for subsequent continuing options. Transocean has previously signed a framework agreement with Equinor.Transocean Spitsbergen was the company’s first rig to be included as per the framework agreement terms…

Germany's Uniper on Tuesday said it favors a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at the Wilhelmshaven deep sea port on the North Sea coast, less than a week after peer RWE said it secured access to capacity should a rival project at Brunsbuettel go ahead."Wilhelmshaven in particular can be a suitable location, there are many arguments in favour of it," spokesman Leif Erichsen said in a written statement.He cited the port's ability to offer infrastructure for LNG vessels of all sizes and its proximity to the German long-distance gas pipeline grids and underground storage caverns in the norther