Drilling ///
ConocoPhillips announced a 10-year plan to buy back $30 billion of shares, equivalent to about half of its current market capitalization, as the oil producer attempts to distance itself from the troubled U.S. shale industry.
i-Tech 7, Subsea 7’s Life of Field business unit, has successfully completed an underwater inspection in lieu of dry-docking (UWILD) project for Borr Drilling in the North Sea.
Global drilling and engineering contractor KCA Deutag announced that its land drilling operation has won new contracts worth approximately $460m in the Middle East, Africa and Europe.
"The program is a pivotal enabler of our plans to substantially increase drilling for conventional oil and gas as well as considerably ramp up the number of unconventional wells," said Abdulmunim Saif Al Kindy, ADNOC's upstream executive director.
The contract, which contains five additional one-well options, has an estimated duration of 171 days and is expected to commence in Q1 2020.
Carbo Ceramics Inc. plunged 47% after warning investors it may fail as a going concern in part because its largest frac-sand customer halted purchases.
Halliburton released its PixStar High-Resolution Ultrasonic Imaging Service, a new logging-while-drilling technology that provides real-time images of the borehole to help operators identify fractures, improve wellbore stability and optimize completion design.
Northern Drilling's West Mira is an ultra-deepwater semisubmersible designed by Moss Maritime, operating a hybrid power plant using Lithium-ion batteries as spinning reserve in dynamic positioning (DP) operations and to supply power during peak load times.
The new facilities will provide purpose-built space to support Gator’s bottom hole assembly tool rental, repair and manufacturing capabilities.
Sparrows Group has doubled the size of its operations in the UAE after securing contracts worth in excess of £55 million in the past three months. The awards have resulted in more than 150 new positions being created in the region.
Oxy pledged to slash spending by 40% next year after quarterly profit fell short of forecasts due in part to the oil explorer’s $37 billion takeover of Anadarko.
Paradigm Drilling Services has recently expanded their teams in the Middle East and Mexico to service increasing drilling equipment demand.
Vicki Hollub is set to face investors for the first time since leading Occidental Petroleum Corp.’s controversial $37 billion purchase of Anadarko Petroleum.
Exxon Mobil and Chevron executives spoke out publicly against the proposals for the first time on Friday, saying they would shift profits from production from the U.S. to other countries, increasing prices for consumers while doing nothing to reduce oil demand or greenhouse-gas emissions.
The move, just weeks ahead of a general election, effectively bans new wells using hydraulic fracturing technology.
Independent shale producer Concho Resources Inc. said it’s tapping federal acreage for drilling now in case the U.S. elects a president who favors a fracing ban.
Churchill Drilling Tools announced four successful drill-string severs using its HyPR HoleSaver, following stuck pipe events across the Middle East, including two in the UAE.
Dolphin Drilling has announced a two-month contract extension with i3 Energy for use of the Borgland Dolphin semi-submersible drilling rig and agreed to enter into a four-year strategic operations agreement between both companies.
Ron Bitto, Contributing Editor
Leading producers plan to increase output, replace reserves
“Responsible natural gas and oil development continues to bring incredible economic and conservation benefits to communities across the nation,” said API manager of upstream and industry operations Stephanie Meadows.