Uk Continental Shelf News

Retrofit specialist GLO Marine has secured hydraulic system upgrade job on Bluewater’s Haewene Brim floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit, following the successful delivery of the project’s first phase.The contract builds on the collaboration between GLO Marine and Bluewater in  Phase 1 of the FPSO upgrade program, where GLO Marine delivered the full feasibility and engineering scope, including detailed technical analysis, prototype validation, and a complete set of engineering deliverables.Aa part of the second phase…

A Scottish court has invalidated Britain's approvals for two major North Sea oil and gas projects, delivering a significant victory to environmental groups and raising uncertainty over future fossil fuel developments in the UK.The Court of Session in Edinburgh found that the government had unlawfully granted approval for Shell's Jackdaw gas field and Equinor's Rosebank oil and gas field by failing to consider the emissions generated when the extracted fuels are burned—known as downstream emissions.

Esgian reports an eventful week with contract confirmations, terminations and suspensions in its Week 18 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.Report SummaryContractsBurullus Gas Company, the self-operated joint venture between Shell Egypt, the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS), the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) and Petronas, has agreed to move forward with the development of Phase 11 in Egypt's Nile Delta in the Mediterranean Sea.QatarEnergy has exercised a one-year option for Borr Drilling 400-ft jackup Groa…

Norway-based offshore vessel owner Rem Offshore said Wednesday it had secured multiple long-term contracts for its vessels. "The contracts have been signed on market terms and will ensure high fleet utilization in the coming years," Rem Offshore said.The 2013-built Rem Inspector subsea vessel has been awarded contracts for work on offshore wind projects in Taiwan. The contracts have a total duration of just over one year with start-up in the fourth quarter of 2023, with an undisclosed client.Since 2019…

British union Unite on Friday said several Sparrows offshore services workers have voted to strike at dozens of platforms on the UK continental shelf including those of BP and Shell.Around 150 Sparrows workers across more than 20 oil and gas platforms have voted for strike in a dispute over pay, the union said in a press release.This comes after the union last week announced its Sparrows members working on BP’s Andrew, Clair, Clair Ridge, ETAP, Glen Lyon and Mungo installations backed strike action in a separate dispute over pay and conditions.The strike action will hit BP’s platforms from Mar

Dubai's shipbuilding and shiprepair company Drydocks World and Norwegian offshore engineering and construction firm Aker Solutions have established a joint venture to upgrade the Petrojarl Knarr FPSO for Equinor's Rosebank offshore oil and gas field in the UK, the Government of Dubai media office confirmed Friday.The joint venture signed its first contract with FPSO owner Altera Infrastructure to upgrade, refurbish, and electrify the FPSO. The vessel will be redeployed at Rosebank field…

Norway's Aker Solutions will upgrade Altera Infrastructure's Petrojarl  Knarr floating production storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) to be redeployed at Equinor's Rosebank field development, offshore the UK. Petrojarl Knarr was built by Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea and delivered in 2014. It was operating on the Knarr field offshore Norway from 2015 until May 2022.The development concept for the Rosebank field includes the redeployment and reuse of the existing Petrojarl Knarr FPSO owned by Altera.Under a 'substantial' contract with Altera…

UK-based offshore vessel operator North Star has secured a £140 million (currently around $171 million) financing package.The company, building a fleet of service operation vessels for offshore wind operations, said Tuesday it would use the funds to support the next phase of its ambitious offshore wind growth plan.The investment includes a £50 million commitment from the Scottish National Investment Bank (The Bank), as well as IFM Investors, Edmond de Rothschild’s BRIDGE, and RBC Capital Markets."The Bank’s investment aligns with its mission to support Scotland’s transition to net zero…

UK-based offshore vessel owner North Star has said it has recently secured new Emergency Response and Rescue Vessel (ERRV) contracts totaling more than £100 million (around $133.7 million).Under the contracts, North Star said it would support new and existing clients in the UK Continental Shelf with its fast-response emergency fleet, purpose built to protect personnel working on offshore oil and gas platforms.

As offshore market activity recovers and continues to increase through the next decade, as we expect it to, oilfield service (OFS) capacity is expected to tighten.As offshore market activity recovers and continues to increase through the next decade, as NorthStone Advisors expect it to, oilfield service (OFS) capacity is expected to tighten. In NorthStone Advisors’ view, this will create a period of increased scarcity and cost inflation, presenting significant cost and schedule risk to decommissioning programs.Many eyes are on the UK…

Norway's Equinor has confirmed to Offshore Engineer that it has signed an agreement with FPSO owner Altera Infrastructure that could see the Petrojarl Knarr FPSO redeployed at the long-stalled Rosebank project in the UK North Sea. The FPSO is currently producing oil from Shell's Knarr field, offshore Norway, where it has been since early 2015. In April 2020 Shell extended the Knarr contract to March 2022.The Rosebank field, apparently Petrojarl Knarr FPSO's next location, is located 130 km northwest of the Shetland Islands in 1115 m water depth…

Offshore seismic survey contractors PGS and Shearwater GeoServices have been awarded framework agreements with Equinor for 4D towed streamer seismic acquisition on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) in what Equinor said was a new way of working with seismic contractors.The agreements have a total estimated value of around NOK 700 million (~USD 82,7 million).“This is a new way of working with seismic suppliers. We are moving away from annual tenders towards a more long-term collaboration model.

Offshore vessel operator DOF Subsea has said it has secured several new contracts in the North Sea, Mediterranean, and Africa, however, without sharing the clients' identity.DOF Subsea said Friday that contracted work included a number of turnkey subsea projects within its core service lines - Survey, Inspection, Maintenance & Repair (IMR) and Construction.The vessels Skandi Acergy, Skandi Skansen, Skandi Neptune, and Skandi Seven will be used to deliver work totaling more than 180 vessel days excluding any options.All works under the new contracts are expected to be carried out between the fourth quarter of 2020 and the second quarter of 2021."All awards include Project Management…

Gas produced from the offshore platforms in the UK North Sea is less carbon-intensive than LNG imported in the UK, the UK oil and gas regulator OGA said Tuesday.According to the OGA analysis, the production of natural gas from the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) creates less than half as much greenhouse gas as imported Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).Per the OGA, gas extracted from the UKCS has an average emission intensity of 22 kgCO2e/boe; while imported LNG has a significantly higher average intensity of 59 kgCO2e/boe.Worth noting…

UK oil and gas industry regulator Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) has revealed that it has launched a year-long UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) “mediation pilot”.According to the OGA, the pilot aims to test the extent to which mediation can resolve certain disputes between oil and gas licensees, operators and infrastructure owners in the UKCS.The OGA has found that disputes have generally arisen due to entrenched licensee behaviors or communication breakdowns. They can be costly and time consuming for the companies involved, as well as threatening the delivery of MER UK.While the OGA has a number of formal powers which can be used to resolve disputes, some matters could be better addressed by the parties themselves through mediation.

Increased integration between offshore wind and other marine renewables and offshore oil and gas production can help deliver the UK’s net zero target through technologies such as carbon capture and storage (CCS), said a study.According to a new report from the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA), titled ‘UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) Energy Integration: Interim Findings’, innovative partnering between oil and gas, renewables, hydrogen and carbon capture can accelerate energy transition.The report discusses the first phase of the UKCS Energy Integration project which is led by the OGA, working with BEIS, The Crown Estate and Ofgem, considering options to help feed into a new strategic vision of the UKCS as an integrated energy basin.

AET, a petroleum tanker owner and operator, has named its newest vessels, two of the world's first LNG Dual-Fuel Dynamic Positioning Shuttle Tankers (DPSTs). The vessels, the cleanest DPSTs ever built, will emit 40-48% less carbon than equivalent vessels built in 2008, meeting the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) target of reducing carbon (CO2) emissions by 40% against 2008 baselines by 2030, and halving CO2 emissions by 2050.These LNG Dual-Fuel DPSTs also emit 85% less SOx…

Norwegian vessel provider DOF Subsea has been awarded a contract to decommission subsea infrastructure within the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS).The Oslo-listed  subsea operating company said in a press note that the contract in the decommissioning sector offshore with a ‘major operator’ was for decommissioning of the infrastructure in the third quarter of 2019. The works will be undertaken by the Skandi Skansen together with DOF owned Anchor Handling Tug Supply (AHTS) vessels.Skandi Skansen is an anchor handling vessel designed for field installation operations, and is also classified as a construction support vessel well.This is the second award with the same operator in as many months in the decommissioning segment, it said.

Teekay Offshore Partners, midstream services provider to the offshore oil production industry, said that the agreement with Alpha Petroleum signed in October 2018 for Teekay’s Petrojarl Varg vessel to operate on Alpha’s 100%-owned Cheviot field was terminated.Teekay revealed that deal was off, claiming Alpha had been unable to satisfy key conditions.The floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) contract to operate on the Cheviot oil field on the UK continental shelf was for a seven-year fixed term from first oil, which was targeted for the second quarter of 2021, after a life extension and upgrade phase for the Petrojarl Varg…

British industry regulator, Oil & Gas Authority (OGA) will soon publish an industry report detailing the cost of decommissioning on the UK Continental Shelf and the progress being made by industry, government and regulators to reduce costs by more than 30 per cent.The annual UKCS Decommissioning Cost Estimate Report  will give a deeper insight into the landscape of the sector as well as highlight the opportunities and challenges currently facing the market.Joe Leask, Decommissioning Manager at OGUK, said: "I look forward to hearing more about the progress industry has made in achieving the 35 per cent cost reduction target."“The UK is a first mover in the decommissioning of complex…

North Sea operators and contractors are investing across people, R&D, technology and new markets to support continued growth, said a new report.The 30th Oil and Gas survey, conducted by Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the Fraser of Allander Institute and KPMG UK, pointed out that around 45% of contractors have increased investment spend in the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) in the past 12 months.Almost half (47%) report they have either started to use artificial intelligence or will do so in the next five years.The survey highlights a welcome trend in R&D investment with the highest proportion of firms reporting…

The provider of offshore mooring and subsea services, Delmar Systems said it completed an eight-line disconnect of the mooring system on Seadrill’s West Phoenix semi-submersible drilling rig on the UK Continental Shelf, using its RAR Plus Technology.The rig disconnection was performed in two and a half hours without needing anchor handling tug supply (AHTS) vessel assistance. The West Phoenix is currently under contract with Equinor for a three well campaign, all of which are using Delmar’s Releasable Anchor Mooring System.Delmar’s RAR Plus is the first ever dual-release action (acoustic and mechanical) rig anchor release. It allows for immediate rig transit after release with the RAR Plus’ nested in their trigger sleeves against the rig fairlead.

The National Decommissioning Centre (NDC) is opened by Lord Duncan, UK Government Minister for Scotland and Paul Wheelhouse MSP, Scottish Energy Minister, in Newburgh, in North-East Scotland’s Energetica Corridor.The Centre aims to work in partnership with companies to become the global leader in research and development (R&D) focused on reducing costs, extending field and asset life, and transforming the traditional approach to decommissioning.100 offshore platforms and 5,700km of pipeline are forecast to be decommissioned or reused over the next decade on the UK Continental Shelf. With the Oil and Gas Authority estimating the total cost of oil and gas decommissioning to be £58bn…