Companies in the news

Fugro’s Seafloor Drill 2 (SFD2) has successfully completed a multi-site investigation across the Australian North West Shelf, encountering variable calcareous sediments and delivering results to support a jackup drilling campaign. The work was performed in 112 m of water, and required in situ testing and sampling to a total length of 323 m. The investigation proved effective in sampling some of the world’s most difficult seabed sediments. Its success can be attributed to a number of factors, including flexibility provided by the proprietary wireline system, the innovative approach to mud supply and a proactive approach by geotechnical drillers. 

Statoil has awarded Technip two lump sum contracts for infield pipeline construction, for the Johan Sverdrup development and Oseberg Vestflanken 2 project. The contracts cover fabrication and installation of 29 km of plastic-lined, 16-in. water injection flowlines for Johan Sverdrup, as well as fabrication and installation of 7.5 km of 14-in. production pipeline and 9 km of 10-in. gas injection pipeline for Oseberg Vestflanken 2. Both projects will be executed by Technip’s operating center in Lysaker, Norway.

Wärtsilä Corp. has signed a long-term maintenance agreement with Prosafe. The 10-year agreement covers the diesel engines onboard Prosafe’s newbuild flotel, Safe Boreas. Maintenance agreements for Prosafe’s three other newbuild flotels—Safe Notos, Safe Zephyrus and Safe Eurus—are expected to be signed in late 2016. The agreements include all services, from the supply of spare parts and maintenance work, to online support and assistance for Prosafe vessels. Additionally, it contains components from the new Wärtsilä Genius services portfolio, as it covers condition-based maintenance to optimize performance of the vessel’s diesel engines.

Through a transaction with Petrofac, Safety Management Systems (SMS) is establishing a training facility in Houston, where major emergency management (MEM) training and additional HSE training will be offered. Based in Lafayette, La., the company already has established training facilities in Shreveport, La., and San Antonio, Texas, as well as onsite training for customers around the world.

Trelleborg Sealing Solutions has opened a climate-controlled, swivel stack, seal inspection facility for the validation of bespoke seals. The global facility is based in Barendrecht, the Netherlands, and provides a temperature-controlled environment to avoid fluctuations in the dimensions of seals, as well as specialist storage racks, allowing the seals to be acclimatized prior to inspection. A bespoke inspection table also was installed, on which seals up to 3,000 mm can be measured with special lighting to aid visual inspection. The company’s FPSO focus group, made up of a team of trained inspection experts, is based at the new facility.

Premier Oil has awarded SBM Offshore the FEED contract for an FPSO, for Phase 1 of its Sea Lion development in the North Falkland basin. The 18-month contract covers the FEED elements of the proposed FPSO, with a throughput capacity of approximately 85,000 bopd, and ability to operate in a water depth of 450 m. This first phase is subject to a final investment decision targeted for the end of the FEED in the second half of 2017. Subsequent phases to developing Sea Lion and the wider North Falkland basin reserves, utilizing FPSOs, are foreseen.

C&J Energy Services has opened a new Casedhole Solutions facility in Giddings, Texas. The facility, which is expected to employ 80 workers from Lee County and surrounding areas, will support regional pumping and acid services. The buildings were constructed on eight acres, at a cost of roughly $2.8 million. Onsite capabilities include a bulk acid plant and lab support for acid and stimulation services. The location of the facility was chosen strategically to better serve customers in the Austin Chalk and the Barnett, Eaglebine and Eagle Ford shale plays. 

Kongsberg Oil & Gas Technologies AS has been awarded a three-year contract by Wintershall Holding GmbH for provision of its hosted SiteCom real-time data aggregation and visualization solution for well construction. All real-time, planned and historical data from all of Wintershall’s drilling activity will reside in a central SiteCom repository, facilitating monitoring, distribution, visualization, analysis and interaction, as well as exchange with its existing portfolio of third-party D&C applications. This is intended to give Wintershall’s global team of engineers and geologists the ability to collaborate, whether they are at the rig site, a local office or at main support hubs. The use of Kongsberg’s SiteCom platform is expected to allow further mitigation of operational and financial risk.

GE and Statoil have announced the winners of their Open Innovation Challenge. Businesses, institutions and individuals were invited to submit proposals for new solutions to both reduce freshwater usage, and treat and reuse water from shale production activities, while improving operational productivity. The challenge received more than 100 submissions from across the globe. Of these, four winners were selected. The winning solutions included an integrated technology that first removes organic compounds, before separating those remaining by creating ice crystals; a nano sponge, which is injected into hydraulic frac wells to soak up halite ions; a low-pressure, low-temperature mechanical evaporation technology; and a high-powered laser technique used to alter the surface of the inner walls of downhole production pipes. Each winner was awarded a cash prize of $25,000.

ABS has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Marine Design & Research Institute of China (MARIC) to expand collaboration, focusing on operational efficiency and environmental performance in both the offshore and marine sectors. Through this agreement, ABS and MARIC will collaborate on technical support, classification, certification, training and statutory guidance for merchant vessels and offshore units.

San Leon Energy has agreed to an extension on the timelines required to complete its onshore production obligations under the Mart Resources Inc. arrangement agreement. Originally, the company arranged for the Mart Resources purchase price to be delivered into escrow on or before Feb. 17. Since then, San Leon has provided Mart with confirmation from its investors that they will fund the agreed escrow account. A further extension to the agreed funding timing was agreed between the parties to facilitate this.