Offshore articles from March 2002

Offshore archives from March 2002

Poised to recover. (Comment).(drilling contractors, supply boat companies)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2002... What if actions by individual companies in this industry led to a trend that, in turn, actually accomplished what the companies set out to do originally? Sounds far fetched? In most cases it is, or rather has been, but occasionally things just...

Global Data.(rigs under contract, drilling activity, oil and gas prices)(Brief Article)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2002... Rigs under contract by area This Month Last Month Last Year Eastern Canada 4 4 4 U.S. Gulf of Mexico 127 120 182 Latin America 102 ...

In February, Eni SpA unit Agip Energy, started production at the Okono field offshore. (Global E&P Briefs: Africa).(Nigeria)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... In February, Eni SpA unit Agip Energy, started production at the Okono field offshore Nigeria after signing a contract with the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) a year earlier. The Okono Field is scheduled to reach a production...

Early this year, Amerada Hess announced another significant oil discovery in the Rio. (Global E&P Briefs: Africa).(offshore Equatorial Guinea)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Early this year, Amerada Hess announced another significant oil discovery in the Rio Muni Basin offshore Equatorial Guinea. The Ebano discovery is in Block F in 2,052 ft water depth. The well is about 10 miles northeast of Amerada's Ceiba...

Unable to satisfactorily resolve a boundary dispute in the offshore. (Global E&P Briefs: Americas).(Guyana, Suriname consider joint exploration venture)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Unable to satisfactorily resolve a boundary dispute in the offshore, Guyana and Suri-name are now considering a joint venture for oil and gas exploration. A joint statement issued by Surname's President Ronald Venetiaan and Guyana's...

At the end of January, Technip-Coflexip announced that it had been awarded its first contract by Brunei Shell Petroleum. (Global E&P Briefs: Asia/Pacific).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... At the end of January, Technip-Coflexip announced that it had been awarded its first contract by Brunei Shell Petroleum for the Egret Phase 1 Gas Development Project, offshore Brunei. Technip-Coflexip will be responsible for project management,...

In late January, Duke Energy International began work on the $205 million. (Global E&P Briefs: Asia/Pacific).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... In late January, Duke Energy International began work on the $205 million, 735-km pipeline that will deliver gas beneath Bass Strait to Tasmania. First gas is due in the middle of the year. The pipeline will fully integrate the gas markets of...

Russia Yukos is looking to exploit petroleum in the Shatski region of the Black Sea. (Global E&P Briefs: Central Asia).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Russia's Yukos is looking to exploit petroleum in the Shatski region of the Black Sea in a joint venture (JV) effort with TotalFinaElf. The plan is for the JV to extract reserves from deposits that lie 1.5 km to 2.5 km below sea level in...

The Caspian littoral states could finally be taking a step toward resolving the issue of dividing the riches generated by the reserves that lie beneath the Caspian Sea. (Global E&P Briefs: Central Asia).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Maksoud, Judy The Caspian littoral states could finally be taking a step toward resolving the issue of dividing the riches generated by the reserves that lie beneath the Caspian Sea. This may be worked out at a meeting scheduled for April...

Rosneft, Russia state-owned oil company. (Europe).(working to breathe life back into exploration in Barents Sea Prirazlomnoye region)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Rosneft, Russia's state-owned oil company, is working to breathe life back into exploration and development in the offshore Prirazlomnoye oilfield in the Barents Sea. Sevmorneftegaz, a joint venture of Rosneft and Gazprom, gained approval at a...

Statoil has taken over operatorship and a 20% stake from ExxonMobil. (Europe).(prospect in Barents Sea)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Statoil has taken over operatorship and a 20% stake from ExxonMobil in the F-prospect of the Barents Sea, 150 km east of the Snohvit field. The prospect comprises three exploration licenses. Statoil also received an 11.1% share in an...

Burlington Resources awarded an engineering contract worth over $78 million for the Rivers Fields natural gas venture in the Irish Sea in the middle of 1Q 2002. (Global E&P Briefs: Europe).(Allseas UK and Genesis Oil and Gas Consultants)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Burlington Resources awarded an engineering contract worth over $78 million for the Rivers Fields natural gas venture in the Irish Sea in the middle of 1Q 2002. Allseas UK and Genesis Oil and Gas Consultants will perform the work jointly. The...

The government of Yemen began talks at the beginning of the year with Occidental Petroleum Corp. (Global E&P Briefs: Middle East).(regarding new oil concessions)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The government of Yemen began talks at the beginning of the year with Occidental Petroleum Corp. about obtaining new oil concessions. Occidental is attempting to expand investment in the Arab state, where foreign investment has been limited....

Diamond Offshore gets upgrades. (New Vessels & Rigs).(Ocean Bounty and Ocean Rover)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The Ocean Bounty completed her special survey in Fremantle, Australia, at the end of last year. The semisubmersible spent about 28 days in the yard undergoing rig crane replacement that decked her out with a new Seatrax 6032 crane. The semi...

CNOOC gets FPSO. (New Vessels & Rigs).(China National Offshore Oil Corp. contracts with China State Shipbuilding Corp. for floating production, storage, and offloading vessel)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) signed a contract with the China State Shipbuilding Corp. (CSSC) to build an advanced floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel with 150,000 tons of storage capacity. The FPSO will have...

Jackup leaves yard. (New Vessels & Rigs).(Nanhai IV drilling machine)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The Nanhai IV jackup, which has been in the Dalian shipyard for a year, is under tow from Dalian to China, where it will begin operations with Nanhai West. The Nanhai IV is scheduled to drill several wells this year. The first well was to be...

NKK launches tankers. (New Vessels & Rigs).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2002... In late December 2001, NKK's Tsu shipyards launched a 300,000 MT double-hulled tanker built for Aquamarine Shipholding Maritime S.A., operating out of Panama under a Panamanian flag. The tanker is 333 meters long, 60 meters wide, and 29.6...

Shell launches a new carrier. (New Vessels & Rigs).(10,000-deadweight product carrier named Asprella)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The newly built 10,000-deadweight product carrier Asprella, which has been chartered by Shell companies for three years, was officially named in mid-December at a ceremony held in the Frisian Shipyard, Welgelegen, Netherlands, The...

Nabors launches a workover/drilling rig and upgrades jackups. (New Vessels & Rigs).(Nabors Offshore )(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2002... Late last year, Nabors Offshore completed a new platform workover/drilling rig called the Super Sundowner XVIII, a larger version of Nabors' Super Sundowner[TM] design. The new rig can handle 440,000 lbs hook load and pipe in trebles. The rig...

Jackup becomes production platform. (New Vessels & Rigs).(Maritime Industrial Services to convert BP jackup)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... BP's 250 ft jackup DMS Venture will undergo conversion to production mode at Marine Maritime Industrial Services (MIS) in Jebel Ali. The MIS contract includes fabrication, installation of new machinery, installation of new legs,...

Shell gets bigger in Nigeria deepwater. (West Africa).(new oil discovery puts Shell in lead regarding Nigeria)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2002... A new oil discovery has shot the Anglo Dutch Giant Shell into unrivalled leadership of deepwater Nigeria Shell reported 6,000 b/d drill stem test (DST) results in one level in Bolia-1 in OPL 219 and gave a conservative reserves estimate of...

ExxonMobil abandons a string of appraisal wells. (West Africa).(wells failed to meet objectives)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... ExxonMobil's Nigerian subsidiary has plugged and abandoned a string of appraisal wells in the country's shallow offshore continental shelf in the last month, mostly for failure to meet the objectives. Etoro 3ST was plugged and abandoned for...

Two leading independents invest in Equatorial Guinea. (West Africa).(Vanco Equatorial Guinea Ltd., Ocean Equatorial Guinea Corp.)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The Ministry of Mines and Energy for Equatorial Guinea awarded a production sharing contract for Block N in the Corisco Bay area of the Rio Muni Basin in early February. Independent Ocean Energy's subsidiary, Ocean Equatorial Guinea...

Sao Tome and Nigeria push ahead on Joint Development Zone. (West Africa).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Of the maritime disputes that Nigeria has had with oil-rich neighbors, the one with Sao Tome and Principe (STP) has turned into a huge opportunity The two countries are implementing an ambitious and far reaching agreement on hydrocarbon...

Angola: BP follows up in Block 31. (West Africa).(offshore oil well developments)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... BP plans to drill two wells in 2002 in ultra-deepwater lease Block 31, off Angola. The semisubmersible rig Leiv Eiriksson will drill the two wells on the lease in April/May 2002 (Pluto 1 nfw) and September. Block 31 adjoins TotalFinaElf's...

TFE steps out of comfort zone. (West Africa).(TotalFinaElf to drill oil wells offshore Angola)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... TotalFinaElf is stepping out of its comfort zone to drill a well outside of Block 15 offshore Angola. As of mid-February, the French giant had lined up wildcat Mariposa 1 in deepwater Kwanza Basin Block 19 for spud in the second half of the...

More investment in Sakhalin. (Asia/Pacific).(by ExxonMobile Corp.)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Although oil production at the Sakhalin-II integrated oil and gas project is expected to fall nearly 33% this year during the Molikpaq platform modernization, the far-reaching project is moving forward. Construction of production sites, a...

Woodside finds new oil province. (Asia/Pacific).(offshore northwest Western Australia)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... In late January, Woodside Petroleum Ltd. announced that its Enfield-4 appraisal well in permit area WA-271-P offshore northwest Western Australia had found oil. A month later, Woodside announced that the discovery shores up the company's belief...

Exploration wells for deepwater Malaysia. (Asia/Pacific).(drilling plans for Murphy Oil Corp., Royal Dutch-Shell Group of Cos.)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Royal Dutch/Shell Group and Murphy Oil Corp. are planning to drill ten deepwater wells offshore Malaysia this year out of the 35 exploration wells that are planned for the region. Shell Malaysia will continue exploration drilling with one well...

Firsts for China. (Asia/Pacific).(news from China National Offshore Oil Corp., ExxonMobil E and P Malaysia Bhd.)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... China National Offshore Oil Corp.'s (CNOOC) jackup, Bohai IX, left Dalian Port the first of the year en route to West Africa, where it will be under contract for a year. This marks CNOOC's first contract for overseas service as an independent...

Skarv well leaves questions. (Offshore Europe).(for BP Norge)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... BP Norge's latest appraisal effort on Skarv in the Norwegian Sea may not have solved its development dilemma. Well 6507/5, drilled by the semisubmersible West Alpha, found oil in Jurassic sandstone at a test rate of 5,910 b/d. Early prognosis...

Shell sanctions three projects. (Offshore Europe).(development in North Sea)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2002... Shell and BP have gained government approval for the $244 million development of Madoes and Mirren in the Central North Sea. Effectively, this project is Eastern Trough Area Project (ETAP) Phase II -- Phase I brought together numerous oil and...

Baltic pipelines on hold. (Offshore Europe).(by Denmark, Poland)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Denmark and Poland have pushed back plans for the BalticPipe gas project by a year. Earliest start-up date for the proposed new line is 2005, according to Danish state oil and gas concern DONG. The deferral is due to a recent downgrade of...

PGS moves in for Varg. (Offshore Europe).(Petroleum Geo-Services ASA)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... PGS is the latest Norwegian contractor to try its luck as an operator. PGS will purchase Norsk Hydro's 42% controlling interest in North Sea production license 38, which includes the Varg Field, inherited from Saga. Other partners in the...

Buzzard soaring. (Offshore Europe).(EnCana reserves in UK North Sea)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2002... EnCana (formerly PanCanadian) has upped its estimate of reserves from the Buzzard oil discovery to over 400 MMbbl recoverable. Buzzard, the largest new find in the UK North Sea since Nelson in 1988, was discovered last summer in the central...

Abandoned, but not forgotten. (Offshore Europe).(Argyll, Innes, and Duncan fields in UK Block 30/24)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Two newly-formed independents, Tuscan Energy and Acorn Oil and Gas, won government sanction to reactivate the Argyll, Innes, and Duncan fields in UK Block 30/24. All were abandoned by Hamilton Oil & Gas in the early 1990s before their full...

Hacker prompts judge to shut down DOI sites. (Gulf of Mexico).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Months after a hacker wormed his way into the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) website, other agencies under the US Department of the Interior (DOD umbrella are feeling the sting. A major hindrance to doing duties in the office is the lack of...

Unocal's Trident appraisal encouraging. (Gulf of Mexico).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Unocal called its first Trident appraisal well in the US Gulf of Mexico encouraging. Located in Alaminos Canyon 903 about 1.5 miles northwest of the original discovery, the $32 million appraisal well was drilled to a total depth of 20,500 ft in...

Pemex has find off Veracruz. (Gulf of Mexico).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2002... Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) made a natural gas discovery off Mexico's Gulf coast, although the size of the reserves is undetermined, the state oil monopoly said. Company Chief Raul Munoz said Pemex found gas at Lankahuasa, off Veracruz. "The...

New umbilicals facility for Gulf. (Gulf of Mexico).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Kvaerner will invest $11 million in a new umbilicals production facility for the subsea segment of the oil and gas industry in the Gulf of Mexico area. "As the financial challenges of Kvaerner now are about to be solved, I'm happy to...

First oil flows at Nansen. (Gulf of Mexico).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The deepwater Nansen Field reached first production earlier this year from the first of three subsea wells, Kerr-McGee said. Production from the Nansen Field, in 3,700 ft water depth, is expected to reach a peak rate of 40,000 b/d and 80 MMcf/d...

Stolt completes Einset installation. (Subsea/Surface Systems).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2002... Stolt Offshore completed a deepwater subsea-to-subsea installation, including one flowline and one umbilical, for Shell's single-well Einset project in the Gulf of Mexico. Bjorn Koi, stolt's project manager, said such installations are unusual...

Atlantia awards Gulf Marine Matterhorn contract. (Subsea/Surface Systems).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2002... Technip-Coflexip Group said Aflantia Offshore limited awarded Gulf Marine Fabricators a fabrication contract for the Matterhorn dry-tree tension leg platform (TLP) topsides facility and foundation piles in the US Gulf of Mexico. GMF is an...

FMC tapped for Gunnison trees. (Subsea/Surface Systems).(Gulf of Mexico)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2002... FMC Energy Systems business has been chosen by Kerr-McGee Corp. to provide subsea trees and associated services for the Gunnison Field area project in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. Located in water depths greater than 3,100 ft. Gunnison...

New Cabett Subsea facility. (Subsea/Surface Systems).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Cabett Subsea Products is in the final construction phase of a new subsea umbilical manufacturing facility in the Port of Freeport, Texas. The facility will incorporate state-of-theart equipment and controls along with three, 1,000-metric-ton...

Halliburton wins umbilicals work. (Subsea/Surface Systems).(for Shell's Coulomb project)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Halliburton Subsea has been awarded a contract for the transportation and installation of a steel tube umbilical for Shell's Coulomb project on Mississippi Canyon in the Gulf of Mexico. The contract will be performed in conjunction with the...

Subsea well abandonment tool. (Drilling & Production).(Amerada Hess)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... A four-well abandonment campaign for Amerada Hess using the innovative subsea well abandonment tool (SWAT) has been completed. This tool was developed by the UWG Group that was recently awarded the Institute of Petroleum's prestigious...

Company designs and manufactures artificial lift Y-tool. (Drilling & Production).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... A successful start with an installation in Shell Expro's Tern Field has launched a new oil and gas specialist company in Aberdeen. Pumptools has entered the electrical submersible pump (ESP) systems accessories market. Set up at the end of...

Compact repeat formation pressure tester. (Drilling & Production).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... A new testing device called the Compact Repeat Formation Pressure Tester (MFT) launched following well trials carried out in the UK and the subsequent completion of successful operations in Europe and the US. The MET developed by Reeves...

Long-term protection from scale deposition. (Drilling & Production).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... A novel scale prevention service offering long-term protection from scale deposition has been introduced. The ScalePROP service is a single treatment. It minimizes the need for a series of subsequent squeeze treatments by effectively placing...

NAPE. (Geosciences).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... After a winter of low oil and gas prices and painfully slow business, it was refreshing to mix with the prospects and potential revealed during the recent NAPE Expo at Houston's G.R. Brown Convention Center. The gathering celebrated its...

Q-vessel. (Geosciences).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... WesternGeco announced that the Western Neptune began a large, multiclient survey in the Gulf of Mexico. "The Western Neptune is not only our Q flagship, but is also the first vessel to be launched under the WesternGeco joint venture," said...

Exploration. (Geosciences).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Survey schedule Petroleum Geo-Services ASA (PGS) announced several new surveys for the coming season: STREAMER SURVEYS * South Africa: In a joint cooperation agreement with The Petroleum Agency SA, PGS will collect a 3,750 line-km...

Technology: Internet ASP. (Geosciences).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Petris Technology Inc. released, PetrisWINDS NOW!, an on-demand (ASP/VSP) software application and services platform for the energy industry. The new service claims to help oil and gas companies shorten project cycle times and increase...

Exploration moving into deepwater offshore Newfoundland: Terra Nova comes from behind to out produce estimates. (Eastern Canada).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The $1.8 billion Terra Nova Field came on like gangbusters in early 2002 after nearly a year of widely publicized setbacks. "Start-up has gone exceptionally well. We actually bit our peak allowable throughput of 125,000 b/d in about nine days,"...

LNG schemes taking shape for deepwater Mediterranean gas: Water body holds 72% of Egypt's reserves. (Middle East/Caspian Sea).
March 1, 2002... Egypt is pressing ahead with plans for new liquefied natural gas (LNG) and gas-to-liquids plants, sourced largely from deepwater fields in the Mediterranean. It also remains on track for a long distance, overland gas export line to Turkey,...

Two yards proposed for Iranian drillship: Transport a consideration in design selection. (Middle East/Caspian Sea).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... A British-Iranian consortium plans to build the Caspian Sea's first deepwater drillship. The vessel is a re-design of the DSV Orelia. It would be built in sections at a yard in Banderabbas on the Persian Gulf coast. The sections would then be...

Wave equation PreSDM advances subsalt imaging: New technique critical for Hickory Field, Gulf of Mexico. (Seismic Technology).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Prestack depth migration has proven to be a critical process in subsalt exploration of the Gulf of Mexico. This technology provides the geophysicist with a means of compensating for the strong seismic refraction effects that occur at...

Market demands drive consolidation: New technologies shape future innovations and better returns. (Seismic Technology).
March 1, 2002... The world of marine seismic is in the throes of major change. The process began in 2000 with the formation of WesternGeco, the joint venture of Schlumberger Geco-Prakia and Baker-Hughes Western Geophysical. This brought approximately 60% of the...

Classifying facies using converted wave AVO attributes: a more direct measure estimating shear properties. (Seismic Technology).
March 1, 2002... Multicomponent converted shear wave seismic data offers better imaging and understanding of reservoirs. It is well known that shear wave information, together with P-wave data, can be useful in discriminating lithologic and pore fluid...

Cemented completion and TTRDs prove out in North Sea: New methods still face technical challenges. (Construction Technology).
March 1, 2002... In the North Sea, cemented completions and through tubing rotary drilling (TTRD) are considered emerging methodologies. The North Cormorant drilling team has performed six cemented completions and four TTRD seeing a variety of benefits. TTRDs...

Extensive testing drives success on first dual-gradient well: Technology may impact drivers in deepwater. (Production Technology).
March 1, 2002... The dual-gradient SubSea MudLift Drilling (SMD) system will be used in 4,000-10,000-ft water depth, but the prototype system was installed on a second-generation semisubmersible contracted to drill a test well in 910-ft water depth. This test...

Saturated product market slowing pipeline installations in Gulf of Mexico: Technical complexity in deepwater a factor. (Pipeline Technology).(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2002... Back in 2000, the US Minerals Management Service (MMS) predicted 300-500 miles of exclusively deepwater pipelines would be installed in the Gulf of Mexico annually, up to the year 2010. If that pipeline installation figure was attained in 2001,...

ROV-based solution simplifies pipeline commissioning: Moving pumps subsea reduces costs, simplifies process. (Pipeline Technology).(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2002... Commissioning deepwater pipelines is a standard part of any subsea installation, but as operators look for ways to reduce expenses, a small firm has developed a process to commission these pipelines from the seafloor, reducing the need for...

Double enveloping gear improves advanced rack chock operating system: Relocating system above water line reduces HSE concerns. (Equipment/Engineering).
March 1, 2002... The Advanced Rack Chock Operating System (ARCOS), designed by Friede & Goldman Ltd. (F&G), is faster and more efficient than its predecessors. The most significant innovation in the mechanism of the ARCOS is the double enveloping gear. This...

West Africa giant first of two; host to many, but is 200,000 b/d enough? Freestanding development offers flexibility. (West Africa).(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2002... TotalFinaElf (TFE) has a lot planned for Block 17 offshore Angola. Even if the current Girassol field were the extent of the operator's production plans it would be impressive. TFE, partnered with ExxonMobil, BP, Statoil, Norsk Hydro, and...

Bonga, Kizomba set benchmark for large FPSO vessels. (West Africa).(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2002... Floating production is the system of choice for all deepwater developments off West Africa to date. The absence of pipelines, the extent of the giant reservoirs and the mild metocean conditions all favor use of spread-moored floating...

Alloy annular plugs effective for casing annular gas flow remediation: Sustained casing pressure potential threat. (Materials Science).(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2002... Sustained casing pressure (SCP) is a growing problem among offshore wells, leading to expensive shut-ins and remediations on many wells. Poor primary cementing, inadequate cement coverage, gas/water influx during or after cement placement,...

New surfactants offer disperancy, emulsification in oilfield use: Anti-foulants and substrate solubilization. (Materials Science).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2002... A number of interesting technologies and a wide range of beneficial products for the oilfield have been developed. Some of these products are specialty surfactants that have gained widespread market acceptance and are used in every...

North Sea platforms in demand for Bohai Bay expansion: CNOOC adding 50 platforms by 2010. (Asia/Pacific).(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2002... Platforms no longer in use can be removed anti modified for service on other fields, as was proven last year in the Dutch North Sea. The redundant K-10C gas platform was redeployed on Clyde Petroleum's Q-4A development, following adjustments to...

pH-controlled fluid can build viscosity quickly without breakers: Preventing conductivity loss. (Fracturing Technology).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2002... The use of a visco-elastic fluid system with the accompanying MicroPolymer[TM] material resulted in a 25-30 times smaller polymer requirement, compared with conventional treatment To develop viscosity, the fluid links and delinks based on pH,...

Horizontal gravel packing record set in small operating window: Controlling fluid loss in section. (Completions Technology).
March 1, 2002... Another horizontal gravel packing record was set with a 7,324 ft completion in the Texaco-operated Captain field in the UK North Sea, in which Korean Captain Company Ltd. is a partner. The event surpassed the previous horizontal gravel packing...

GVA to aid Halliburton with semi-based EPC projects: Consultant also chasing Caspian rig contracts. (Semisubmersible Design).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2002... GVA Consultants, the semisubmersible platform specialist, has begun a new era as part of the giant Halliburton group. The move is likely to keep the company busy, as it will continue to seek contracts on its own account while being available to...

Emtunga exporting North Sea-standard living quarters to major Caspian projects. (Accommodation Modules).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2002... Offshore operators are increasingly specifying North Sea-standard accommodation units for projects throughout the world. This trend is helping Emtunga, part of the PharmaduleEmtunga group, to expand its market share outside North West Europe....

Record diameter Grade 4 chain for shallow water installation. (Mooring Technology).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... An order for 3,600 tons of Grade 4 mooring chain has been delivered by Scana Ramnas to Advanced Production and Loading Systems (APL). The chain was due to be supplied this month as 12 lines of 560 meters comprising 156 mm diameter links, each...

Higher torque Compact motor improves winch drive options. (Hydraulic Motors).(from Hagglunds Drives AB)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Hagglunds Drives has launched a new addition to its Compact range of hydraulic motors which provides higher torque for the same rpm when compared with other models in the range. The improved power output is expected to make the new motor...

Rugged motor engineered for heavy-duty offshore service. (Hydraulic Motors).(hydraulic motor from Integrated Drives)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Offshore applications are being sought for what is claimed to be the world's largest hydraulic motor, with a virtually unlimited torque range. One of the larger in the Hercules range of motors developed by Integrated Drives of Ornskoldsvik,...

Diesel monitoring system simplifies maintenance, cuts fuel consumption. (Engine Performance).(ABB Automation Technology Products tests Clymate system)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Cylmate, the world's first continuous diesel engine monitoring system that can guarantee a power calculation better than 2%, has been introduced by ABB Automation Technology Products of Vasteras, Sweden. The system, currently completing a...

Pollutant treatment process cuts water storage requirement. (Water Purification).(BenRad offers new process)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... A water purification process has been introduced that removes all organic pollutants without the use of chemical additives. Developed by BenRad of Stockholm and supplied under license by BenRad Marine Technology for marine applications, the...

Gas visualization technology provides efficient leak detection. (Inspection/Maintenance).(GasOptics offers new service)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... A new gas leak detection service has been introduced by GasOptics of Lund, Sweden, that can quickly monitor an entire plant or length of pipeline and visually identify any leaks. The new technology enables escaping gases to be identified and...

VOC recovery modules in action on Navion shuttle tankers. (Emissions Technology).(volatile organic compound)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Allards Verkstader has completed an order worth around [pounds sterling]1 million for the manufacture of three Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) recovery process module components. The systems were ordered in response to recent legislation from...

HIP manufacture extending from subsea to downhole applications. (Powder Metallurgy).(hot isostatic processing)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Powder metallurgical processes were recently adopted for the manufacture of six seabed manifold sections for BP Norge's Valhall Field. The 6 meter long components were installed late last year using a manufacturing process that minimizes the...

Deformation hardening technique expands options for stainless steels. (High Strength Steels).(AvestaPolarit Prinox)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... A process developed by AvestaPolarlit Prinox enables complex shapes to be formed from HyTens ultra-high strength stainless steels. The difficulty of shaping and working with high tensile steels had previously limited their application offshore,...

Sandvik introduces applied solutions web-portal for project partners. (Stainless Steel Developments).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Sandvik Steel has introduced an applied solutions web-portal on its web-site, aimed at finding partners for new steel materials development projects in the offshore sector. The intention is to improve the way the company relates to its...