Vol. 234 No.12
Stork Technical Services, a global provider of knowledge-based asset integrity management services has announced a further $3.2-million investment in its new daughter craft, the Edradour. The vessel was delivered to the Subsea division in November, and will provide additional operational support to meet the expanding needs of Stork’s diving operations. The vessel’s addition complements the company’s fleet; daughter craft, the Aberlour; a mother vessel, the SIEM Stork; and three dive intervention crafts.
LINN Energy, LinnCo and Berry Petroleum Company have announced that their boards of directors have unanimously approved an amended merger agreement. The companies have executed an amendment to the existing merger agreement, to provide for an increase in the exchange ratio that each outstanding share of Berry common stock would receive in the merger, and an extension of the end date to Jan. 31, 2014. Under the amended terms of the agreement, LinnCo has agreed to increase the number of common shares it is issuing to 1.68 common shares, from 1.25 common shares, for each common share of Berry outstanding prior to the merger, for total consideration of approximately $4.9 billion, including the assumption of debt.
Lamprell, a provider of diversified engineering and contracting services to the onshore and offshore oil and gas industry, has successfully completed and delivered the first of two Caspian Sea jackup rigs to its client. The rig was recently towed out from the Astrakhan re-assembly yard, to commence operations on its first contract elsewhere in the Caspian Sea. The group is making progress on its on-going, second Caspian Sea project, which is already underway, and is expected to be delivered in fourth-quarter 2014.
Vallourec will provide a range of offshore solutions to the CLOV deepwater oil and gas project, operated by Total E&P in Angola. The project is expected to start production in second-quarter 2014. CLOV is a cluster of four oil and gas fields—Cravo, Lirio, Orquidea and Violeta—in the northwestern sector of Angola’s offshore Block 17, with water depths ranging from 1,100 to 1,400 m. Vallourec will equip the 34 subsea wells with approximately 15,000 t of OCTG products, featuring VAM premium connections. Constructed in South Korea, the CLOV FPSO reached Paenal Yard in Porto Amboim, Angola, on Nov. 8.
Empyrean Energy, an independent onshore E&P company with assets in Texas and California, has provided updates on its flagship Sugarloaf AMI in the Eagle Ford shale. Empyrean has a 3% working interest in the project, which is operated by Marathon Oil. As of September 2013, Empyrean had 101 gross producing wells on Sugarloaf, an increase of 10 wells since the end of June 2013. Through those three months, production at the property averaged approximately 544 boed (before separating NGLs) net to Empyrean. This production output represented a 2% increase (equivalent to 1,029 net boe) over the previous quarter, and a 60% increase compared to third-quarter 2012 for the company.
Hornbeck Offshore will employ GE Power Conversion’s latest generation DP technology for its four new multipurpose supply vessels (MPSVs). In their role as MPSVs, they can operate as either a subsea construction vessel, capable of performing complex subsea construction operations, or as a resupply and support vessel to ultra-deepwater drilling in the GOM, or anywhere else in the world as required by their charterers. GE will power, propel and position the new ships by delivering the integrated diesel-electric system.
OSM Offshore has agreed to enter into a six-year contract with Statoil to operate the Heidrun FSU. The FSU is being built by Samsung Heavy Industries, at the shipyard in Geoje Island, South Korea. It is expected to be on location at Heidrun field in first-half 2015. The contract between OSM Offshore and Statoil, for full management of the FSU, is a long-term contract, with options for further extensions of 13 years. The Heidrun FSU will be permanently connected to a buoy, and the oil will be lifted from the FSU via shuttle tankers.
Expro has expansion plans into Saudi Arabia, following two contract wins worth $50 million. Expro has a two-year deal with a major Saudi operator, which includes an option to extend for a further 12 months. The contracts will focus on providing integrated service procedures on 160 wells across four different sites in Udhailiyah, an eastern province of Saudi Arabia.
GE Oil & Gas has introduced innovative flexible pipes to address challenges found in Brazil’s pre-salt Santos basin, by developing new materials for piping required to bring hydrocarbons to the surface. During the past three years, the GE Oil & Gas team in Niterói has developed new flexible pipe technologies to meet the specific conditions of Santos basin oil. As a result, the company now is one of only two accredited providers of advanced flexible pipes to be used in this location. Each pipe layer is made with a specific material.
ITF, a global technology facilitator, together with subsea and pipeline engineering and project management company Subsea Engineering Associates (SEA) in Perth, Australia, has recently launched a joint industry project (JIP) that will explore and demonstrate a new approach to assessing pipeline span issues on the seabed. Phase I of the JIP is expected to run for six months and cost around $240,000, and involve four regional oil and gas operators. The aim of the JIP with SEA is to demonstrate that the creation of an enhanced partial safety approach with the delivery of more accurate data may negate the need for often unnecessary, costly intervention.
Delta Rigging & Tools has begun construction on a 27,000-sq-ft multipurpose building on 3.7 acres of land in Pasadena, Texas. The new facility will consolidate Delta Rigging & Tools’ Pasadena branch location, and the corporate office building, in Pearland, Texas, into one location. The current Pasadena branch houses 29 employees in 10,000 sq ft, and is mainly used as a rigging production shop and sales distribution office. The new facility will feature a total of 22,000 sq ft of rigging shop and warehouse, in addition to an expanded 5,000-sq-ft corporate office space.
COOPER Valves has acquired Accuseal, a manufacturer of severe service, metal-seated ball valves. Accuseal will conduct future business as a brand of COOPER Valves, under the name COOPER Accuseal. Financial terms were not disclosed. Accuseal, headquartered in Houston, has served the global energy and mining markets since 2005. The company manufactures advanced, optimally engineered, severe service, metal-seated ball valves that meet Class VI zero-leakage shut-off standards.
Hoover Container Solutions, a subsidiary of Hoover Group, has acquired the assets of Tote Systems LLC, Liquid Division, a provider of stainless steel intermediate bulk containers (IBC) in the U.S. Headquartered in Fairhope, Ala., with offices in Nashville, Tenn., and Burleson, Texas, Tote Systems’ assets include a fleet of 350- and 550-gal stainless steel IBCs, as well as various custom designed stainless steel units. Hoover will continue to provide its full range of IBC products and services to Tote Systems’ customers.
TESCO Corporation has acquired automated catwalk technology from Custom Pipe Handlers Canada. The acquired catwalk models offer customers the ability to service drilling rigs using state-of-the-art rig mechanization technology. The catwalk designs are highly mobile, and adaptable to various rig structures, for handling pipe from the ground to the rig floor. These catwalks, the Brutus, Zeus and Hercules models, increase the safety and efficiency of pipe handling.
AMEC has been awarded the hook-up and commissioning (HUC) support contract for GDF SUEZ E&P UK’s Cygnus gas field development, the UK southern North Sea’s largest gas discovery in the last 25 years. The HUC contract for the four Cygnus platforms follows the FEED and detail design work executed by AMEC from London. This phase, with first gas scheduled for fourth-quarter 2015, will be delivered by AMEC’s Aberdeen offshore North Sea team.
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