Companies in the News

Royal Dutch Shell and Petrobras have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to institute a long-term collaboration for the development of Brazil’s pre-salt fields. Through the established five-year partnership, Petrobras will tender its technical solutions and contract management expertise, while Shell applies its global understanding of deepwater operations. It also will see the companies share best practices on safety and governance management, technical and operational solutions, contract management, logistics and well construction.

WesternGeco has completed a hybrid seismic acquisition survey using Schlumberger’s newly deployed multi-purpose vessel (MPV), the WG Vespucci. According to Schlumberger, the survey is the first of its kind. The 340-km² 3D seismic survey was acquired offshore Sarawak, Malaysia, for Roc Oil. It reportedly used a triple-source array with simultaneous recording by ocean-bottom nodes and a towed-streamer spread. This was all accomplished from a single vessel.

DNO ASA has assumed operatorship of the Baeshiqa license, in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. DNO also has acquired half of ExxonMobil’s position in the license. Following the transaction, DNO holds a 40% paying interest, ExxonMobil retains 40%, and the Turkish Energy Co. holds 20%. The Baeshiqa license—which is situated 60 km west of Erbil and 20 km east of Mosul—contains two undrilled structures, which are said to contain several stacked target reservoir systems.

Energean Oil & Gas has received approval from the Hellenic Hydrocarbons Resources Management for the development of Kataloko field in western Greece. According to Energean, approval of the field development plan (FDP) will allow the exploitation of the field through extended-reach wells from an onshore location in the area. The $50-million development plan will target approximately 11 MMboe of recoverable oil that was first discovered in the early 1980s. Energean holds a 100% working interest in the block.

Wood Group has been awarded a five-year contract with Inpex Operations Australia. Under terms of the agreement, Wood Group will provide subsea engineering services for the integrity of the Ichthys LNG project, offshore western Australia. The contract, which includes two, one-year options for extension, reportedly is a continuation of the company’s 12-year support of the LNG project.

Maersk Oil has awarded a contract to John Crane Asset Management Solutions (JCAMS) for the supply of data services at Culzean field in the UK North Sea. The company will provide data build services and institute a maintenance plan for the HPHT field’s topside equipment. According to JCAMS, a detailed criticality analysis and maintenance definition strategy will be established to comprise high-criticality equipment with generic procedures being used for non-critical appliances. The field reportedly is expected to commence production in 2019. 

CAN Group has won an important contract for topsides inspections and integrity support services on the UKCS. The agreement, which is a two-year extension to an existing contract with Apache North Sea, will see the company provide corrosion, structural and inspection engineering support services for the integrity management of topsides pressure systems and structures. The services reportedly will be delivered by CAN’s engineering specialists, ENGTEQ.

Repsol Sinopec Resources UK has awarded a five-year master services contract to Expro. The contract, valued at $8 million, includes well intervention services across all of the company’s UK North Sea assets for production assurance and enhancement, well integrity, subsea, reservoir, and decommissioning and abandonment applications. According to Expro, wireline and cased-hole logging services will include personnel to supervise all offshore intervention activity.

Baker Hughes, a GE company (BHGE), has won a subsea contract from Petrobel for Phase II of the giant Zohr gas field, offshore Egypt. BHGE reportedly will supply project management, engineering procurement, fabrication and construction, as well as testing and transportation of a subsea production system, which includes seven manifolds, tie-in systems, long offset subsea and topside control system, SemStar5 HIPPS Systems, and workover systems and tools. It also will support all installation, commissioning and start-up operations.

The State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbeijan (SOCAR)—along with co-venturers BP, Chevron, Inpex, Statoil, ExxonMobil, TP, ITOCHU and ONGC Videsh—has amended and restated the PSA agreement for the development of Azeri, Chirag and deepwater Gunashli fields in the Caspian Sea. The contract reportedly is now subject to ratification by the Parliament of Azerbaijan. Additionally, it will see a bonus of $3.6 billion paid to the State Oil Fund by the international co-venturers.

Centrica North Sea Limited has secured a contract from Plexus Holdings for the supply of its POS-GRIP “HG” 10,000-psi, adjustable production wellhead. The wellhead represents the company’s first order for a gas production well in the UK southern North Sea. The order reportedly extends its application of the technology beyond jackup exploration, where it has been employed on more than 300 wells. Under terms of the supply agreement, Plexus will not only supply the wellhead, it also will control the interface with an existing Christmas tree. Additionally, it will supply its Tersus CS casing support system and associated running tools and services.

Ashtead Technology has agreed to a five-year global collaboration contract with Technical Software Consultants Limited (TSC), part ofEddyfi Technologies. The contract is for TSC’s Alternating Current Field Measurement (ACFM) instruments, which can be utilized topside and underwater. The equipment also can be deployed remotely. Under terms of the companies’ agreement, Ashtead will combine the ACFM equipment with its own rental fleet. It also will manage all rental activity for the Amigo and U31 subsea systems, as well as the latest PACE instrument.