Companies in the news
Fugro, in conjunction with long-time associates, Diavaz, has been awarded an extension of the ongoing, offshore geophysical and geotechnical campaign by the Mexican national oil company, PEMEX. Geotechnical field operations, laboratory testing and geoconsulting activities are expected to support exploration drilling activities in Campeche Bay and deepwater locations in the Perdido area. The field program was scheduled to begin in October, from the ultra-deepwater geotechnical and well services vessel Fugro Synergy, while the geoconsulting program continues through 2016. The contract extension is valued at approximately $13 million.
InterOil Corporation will increase its interest in two key licenses following the withdrawal of Pacific Exploration & Production Corporation from Papua New Guinea. Consequently, InterOil has expressed interest in PRL 39, which contains the Triceratops discovery, and in PPL 475, which contains the Raptor discovery. InterOil CEO, Dr. Michael Hession, said, “We are pleased, we will now own more than 78% of the Triceratops and Raptor discoveries. Pacific’s withdrawal simplifies license ownership for any commercialization discussions with other strategic players.”
Centrica Energy Norway has adopted a drilling method that is believed to have never been used before in the oil and gas industry. According to Centrica, the solution used on Butch field in the North Sea is safer, and considerably cheaper, than traditional rig drilling. Instead of using a rig to drill the pilot hole, a well intervention vessel was chartered, and coiled tubing drilling (CTD) was used. The method was first tested on a road construction project in Rogaland County, Norway, in 2014. By using a vessel and flexible tubing, possible gas blowouts are believed to be avoided more easily. Because a flexible coiled tube was used as a drillstring, contact could be maintained with the well, and thereby prevent the possibility of a blowout.
Wood Group has been awarded a contract by Fairway Energy Partners, LLC, to provide engineering, design and procurement services for the Pierce Junction Crude Storage facility, to be built in the Pierce Junction salt dome in Houston. Wood Group Mustang is providing these services to Fairway, as they build out the surface facilities that support the project. The initial project phase has been designed to allow for storage of three segregations of crude oil, for a total capacity of approximately 10 MMbbl in existing caverns at the site. Overall, Fairway has expansion rights, up to approximately 20 MMbbl, at Pierce Junction.
GE Oil & Gas has signed a $610-million agreement with Corpus Christi Liquefaction, LLC, a subsidiary of Cheniere Energy, Inc. Under the agreement, GE will provide spare parts and planned inspections, maintenance services and 24/7 technical support for the gas turbines and refrigerant compressors on the first two LNG trains under construction at Cheniere’s LNG export facility in Corpus Christi, Texas. Each train will have six gas turbines, and is expected to have nominal capacity to produce up to approximately 4.5 MMtpa of LNG. Construction of GE equipment on site will start in January 2017, with production scheduled to commence as early as 2018. The contract, which covers 20 years, incorporates all major maintenance for the LNG trains, including parts, repairs and field services.
Landmark, a Halliburton business line, and CGG have announced a geosciences technology collaboration. This collaboration will allow shared customers to access best-in-class interpretation and reservoir characterization technologies, as well as geoscience data from both companies, using the E&P enterprise class platform, Landmark’s DecisionSpace. A series of unique workflows enabled by the platform will be delivered through connectivity of geoscience applications and data. Additionally, the companies will engage with customers to develop a new class of E&P workflows, to meet existing and emerging industry challenges.
Rangeland Energy said that the largest frac sand unit train shipped in North America has arrived at the company’s RIO hub near Loving, N.M. The record, 150-car unit train carried 16,500 tons of frac sand, and was powered by five diesel locomotives. It originated in Ottawa, Ill., and was operated by BNSF Railway Company, which transferred operation of the train in Clovis, N.M., to its short line railway partner, Southwestern Railroad Inc., for direct delivery to the RIO hub. The sand will supply an operator with a large quantity of sand for high-volume, hydraulic fracture jobs in the Delaware basin.
DynaEnergetics has entered into an agreement with Weatherford International. Under the agreement, Weatherford becomes the first oilfield service company to deploy DynaEnergetics’ DynaStage product, a well perforating system, which incorporates the safety features of the company’s advanced detonator technologies. The agreement ensures that DynaEnergetics will meet pre-determined inventory and pricing commitments, as Weatherford incorporates DynaStage into its U.S. well completion operations and advances its expansion objectives. It also will provide technical, logistical and field support, as well as training, sales and marketing assistance. The agreement follows a six-month field-testing partnership conducted by both companies.
RSK Group and the University of Basrah have entered into a partnership to help train the next generation of Iraqi engineers, and to give them practical experience, which will help them obtain jobs in the Iraqi oil industry. The partnership will give students access to oil field work experience, internships and, for some, jobs at RSK’s Iraq Energy City base. It also will enable RSK to recruit Iraqi employees trained as specialist engineers for the oil and gas industry. By working with the University of Basrah’s College of Engineering, RSK plans to help design specialist vocational training courses, targeted at particular employment opportunities within Iraq’s oil fields.
ABS has entered into a memorandum of understanding with Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME), and Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) to establish a JIP with leading operators, drilling contractors and engineering companies, to develop new international design standards for offshore projects. It will establish new global design standardization procedures, based on relevant industry standards, international regulations and class requirements across the offshore industry. ABS will lead the standardization process to verify technical compatibility of the developed standards; conduct safety and risk assessments; and provide a gap analysis report.
Ashtead Technology has secured a global asset management agreement with Blue Ocean Monitoring to store, maintain and supply underwater gliders for ocean data monitoring. The agreement will see Blue Ocean expand its service offering globally, with Ashtead providing asset management services and project support from its offices in Aberdeen, Houston and Singapore. The gliders are capable of transmitting data in real time. This lowers both project costs, and health, safety and environmental risks.
The Heerema Innovation Center has opened near the headquarters of Heerema Fabrication Group (HFG) in Zwijndrecht, Netherlands. The center will aid the company in working faster and more efficiently, to remain one of the leading engineering and fabrication contractors for complex offshore structures. The center has more than 1,000 m2 dedicated to test rigs and training purposes. Additionally, the facility will play a key role in sharing knowledge, by establishing and maintaining links with institutes of technology and universities of applied sciences.
