Offshore articles from May 2008

Offshore archives from May 2008

The state of the industry.(COMMENT)(Industry overview)
May 1, 2008... It's that time again--the annual Offshore Technology Conference in Houston. And as the Houston event and this issue of Offshore both reflect, the offshore oil and gas industry is in great financial health. As the lead articles in this...

Active rig fleet, April 2008.(GLOBAL DATA)
May 1, 2008... Active rig fleet, April 2008 Floaters Jackups US GoM 37 (-1) 76 (+2) Mex GoM 3 (-1) 35 (0) North Sea 39 (0) 33 (-1) East Atlantic ...

GoM drilling permits issued.(GLOBAL DATA)
May 1, 2008... GoM drilling permits issued Drilling permits Sept. 35 Oct. 55 Nov. 56 Dec. 31 Jan. 53 Feb. 56 Mar. 49 Source: US Minerals Management Service Note: Table made from bar graph.

Worldwide offshore day rates.(GLOBAL DATA)(Statistical table)
May 1, 2008... Worldwide offshore day rates Month/Year Minimum Average Maximum Drillship April 08 $43,000 $223,968 $420,000 May 08 $43,000 $232,854 $425,000 June 08 $43,000 ...

Offshore summary of projected field developments 2008-2012 rates.(GLOBAL DATA)(Statistical table)
May 1, 2008... Offshore summary of projected field developments 2008-2012 No. shallow- No. Shallow- water deepwater water Deepwater field ...

Husky Energy plans to expand its development and exploration drilling activities offshore Canada.(Canada)
May 1, 2008... Husky Energy plans to expand its development and exploration drilling activities offshore Canada. Husky and Petro-Canada have reached a rig sharing agreement with StatoilHydro to bring the Henry Goodrich semisubmersible to Newfoundland and...

The FPSO Petrojarl Cidade de Rio das Ostras has received first oil from Petrobras' Siri field offshore Brazil.(Latin America)
May 1, 2008... The FPSO Petrojarl Cidade de Rio das Ostras has received first oil from Petrobras' Siri field offshore Brazil. The FPSO has a total crude oil storage capacity of approximately 214,000 bbls and is capable of producing 15,000 b/d of...

Venture Production has brought a second production well in the Chiswick gas field onstream using the Noble Kolskya jackup.(North Sea/Europe)
May 1, 2008... Venture Production has brought a second production well in the Chiswick gas field onstream using the Noble Kolskya jackup. Overall production from the Chiswick field is currently over 70 MMcf/d, although this rate is restricted by the...

EnCore Oil has begun drilling operations on the Cobra appraisal well on Southern North Sea block 48/2c.(North Sea/Europe)
May 1, 2008... EnCore Oil has begun drilling operations on the Cobra appraisal well on Southern North Sea block 48/2c. The main objective of the 48/2c-5 well will be to establish whether the reservoir is capable of flowing at commercial rates. The well is...

Production has started on the Candax Energy-operated El Biban field, from well EBB-4, offshore Tunisia.(Africa)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... Production has started on the Candax Energy-operated El Biban field, from well EBB-4, offshore Tunisia. Oil production rates have so far been variable due to onshore plant commissioning and offshore tie-in delays due to bad weather, both of...

Aminex has drilled the Kiliwani North -1 (KN-1) well, offshore Tanzania in the Nyuni/East Songo-Songo license area.(Africa)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... Aminex has drilled the Kiliwani North -1 (KN-1) well, offshore Tanzania in the Nyuni/East Songo-Songo license area. KN-1 has intersected a gas column in Lower Cretaceous sandstones, the same reservoir that produces gas commercially in the...

Lundin Petroleum has started mobilization and installation of the marine drilling complex that will drill the Morskaya-1 exploration well in the Lagansky block, northern Caspian Sea.(Caspian Sea)
May 1, 2008... Lundin Petroleum has started mobilization and installation of the marine drilling complex that will drill the Morskaya-1 exploration well in the Lagansky block, northern Caspian Sea. Drilling will begin on the well after final approval of...

Stratic Energy has begun gas production from its Ayazli gas field in the Black Sea offshore Turkey.(Middle East)
May 1, 2008... Stratic Energy has begun gas production from its Ayazli gas field in the Black Sea offshore Turkey. Ayazli is the third gas field to start production under Phase 1 of the South Akcakoca sub basin development. The Akkaya and East Ayazli gas...

ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Malaysia Inc. and the Malaysian national oil company, Petronas, will continue to work together under a new 25-year production-sharing contract.(Asia)
May 1, 2008... ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Malaysia Inc. and the Malaysian national oil company, Petronas, will continue to work together under a new 25-year production-sharing contract. The contract includes commitments to implement enhanced...

Chevron Corp. and its partners will construct the Platong Gas II natural gas project in the Gulf of Thailand.(Asia)
May 1, 2008... Chevron Corp. and its partners will construct the Platong Gas II natural gas project in the Gulf of Thailand. Total development cost of the field is $3.1 billion with startup scheduled for 1Q 2011. The Platong Gas II development, located in...

Santos announced the final investment decision for the Reindeer Gas Project offshore Western Australia.(Asia)
May 1, 2008... Santos announced the final investment decision for the Reindeer Gas Project offshore Western Australia. The Reindeer gas field was discovered in 1997 in the Carnarvon basin, offshore Western Australia within exploration permit WA209-P. ...

Prosafe's FPSO Umuroa has produced 10 MMbbl of oil on the Tui field in the Taranaki basin offshore New Zealand since start up in July 2007.(New Zealand)
May 1, 2008... Prosafe's FPSO Umuroa has produced 10 MMbbl of oil on the Tui field in the Taranaki basin offshore New Zealand since start up in July 2007. In November 2005, Prosafe was awarded a contract by New Zealand Overseas Petroleum Ltd. for the...

The Kupe Gas Project plans to undertake exploration drilling of the Momoho prospect in the Kupe permit area, 6 km (3.7 mi) south of the Kupe gas field, in the Tasman Sea, offshore New Zealand.(New Zealand)
May 1, 2008... The Kupe Gas Project plans to undertake exploration drilling of the Momoho prospect in the Kupe permit area, 6 km (3.7 mi) south of the Kupe gas field, in the Tasman Sea, offshore New Zealand. With drilling of the Kupe development wells...

Heerema to resume work on Buzzard.(OFFSHORE EUROPE)
May 1, 2008... Nexen has ordered a fourth platform for its Buzzard oil field, the UK's largest new North Sea development of recent years. Heerema Fabrication Group, one of the Phase 1 contractors, will build the 6,000-ton (5,443-metric-ton) deck and 500-ton...

TAQA takes on northern UK fields.(OFFSHORE EUROPE)(Abu Dhabi National Energy Co.)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... Shell and ExxonMobil are set to exit another group of mature fields in the UK northern North Sea. Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. (TAQA) is in exclusive negotiations with the companies for their equity interests in the North and South Cormorant,...

Jackup in prospect for Froy redevelopment.(OFFSHORE EUROPE)(Det Norske Oljeselskap A/S)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... Det norske oljeselskap has submitted a plan to redevelop the Froy field in the North Sea to Norway's Ministry of Petroleum and Energy. Assuming approval, this will be the first operated development for the Trondheim-based company, created...

Newcomers boost Dutch E&P.(OFFSHORE EUROPE)
May 1, 2008... Operators in the Dutch sector focused their efforts last year on optimizing production and maintenance, according to the latest review from the Netherlands E&P association Nogepa. Gas output from small fields stabilized at around 35 bcm (1.2...

Bains in line for storage role.(OFFSHORE EUROPE)
May 1, 2008... Centrica, the owner of British Gas, is working on plans for the UK's first new offshore gas storage facility for over 25 years. The project would involve converting the Bains field in the East Irish Sea off northwest England into a seasonal...

Deepwater Nautilus contract extended.(GULF OF MEXICO)
May 1, 2008... Shell has awarded Transocean a minimum three-year contract extension for the semisubmersible Deepwater Nautilus. Shell has the right to elect, by June 30, to extend the contract by an additional year, to a total of four years. ...

TLP hull anomalies identified.(GULF OF MEXICO)
May 1, 2008... Structural anomalies were identified in the Neptune TLP hull during commissioning of the facility, according to operator BHP Billiton. Inspection and assessment was under way to determine the appropriate course of action to correct the problem....

Shenzi delivered.(GULF OF MEXICO)
May 1, 2008... Samsung Heavy Industries has delivered the Shenzi TLP hull to BHP Billiton. The hull was transported by Dockwise's heavy-transport vessel Mighty Servant 1 from the shipyard in Geoje, South Korea, via Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, to Kiewit...

Helix to sell interest in deepwater fields.(GULF OF MEXICO)
May 1, 2008... Helix subsidiary Energy Resource Technology GOM Inc. (ERT) has agreed to sell a 30% working interest in its Danny and Noonan discoveries (Garden Banks blocks 463, 506, and 507) and other OCS oil and gas properties (East Cameron blocks 371 and...

East Bay well exceeds estimate.(GULF OF MEXICO)
May 1, 2008... Energy Partners Ltd. (EPL) has drilled a development sidetrack in its 100%-owned East Bay field on the shelf that uncovered oil potential exceeding its pre-drill expectations, according to the company. The well found bypassed oil, penetrating...

Energy XXI to earn Blackbeard interest.(GULF OF MEXICO)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Energy XXI has signed an agreement with McMoRan Exploration to earn working interests in the South Timbalier block 168 No. 1 exploration well, formerly known as Blackbeard West No. 1, on the shelf. The agreement...

Independence Hub shut-in.
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Production at the Anadarko-operated Independence Hub natural gas floating production platform at Mississippi Canyon block 920 was shut-in on April 9 as a result of a leak on the Independence Trail export pipeline,...

Equipment orders.(SUBSEA SYSTEMS)
May 1, 2008... Aker Kvaerner has signed a $223-million, three-year frame agreement with Petrobras to supply subsea trees and related equipment in Brazil. The contract comprises 45 subsea trees, six tool sets with related accessories, and spare parts. The...

Field work.(SUBSEA SYSTEMS)
May 1, 2008... TDW Offshore established its hydro test pressure isolation record of 375 bar (37.5 MPa) in a 20-in. (51-cm) line during a tie in of Caravel and Shamrock fields to the Corvette field pipeline system. TDW says the pressure is equivalent to an...

Seadrill secures LOI for jackup, takes delivery of deepwater rigs.(VESSELS & SURFACE SYSTEMS)
May 1, 2008... Seadrill has won a letter of intent for the jackup newbuild West Ariel. The one-year contract for drilling operations in the Southeast Asia region is for 872 million, including mobilization fee. West Ariel is under construction at Keppel...

Transocean Winner keeps busy schedule.(VESSELS & SURFACE SYSTEMS)
May 1, 2008... StatoilHydro will conduct exploration drilling at well 30/9-21S and -21A, southwest of Oseberg Sor in the northern North Sea with the semisubmersible Transocean Winner. The 104-day drilling program is expected to begin after the Transocean...

Hercules gets green light to acquire jackups.(VESSELS & SURFACE SYSTEMS)
May 1, 2008... Hercules Offshore Inc. will acquire three jackup drilling rigs from Transocean Inc. The acquisition of the Adriatic III and the High Island I and related equipment has closed for $220 million. The acquisition of the High Island VIII and...

Sinopacific awards Converteam $15-million contract.(VESSELS & SURFACE SYSTEMS)
May 1, 2008... Sinopacific Shipbuilding Group Co. Ltd. has placed a $15-million order for multiple Class 3 dynamic positioning (DP) systems with Converteam. The order was placed for French owner BOURBON. The systems are to feature on board 10 GPA696 IMR...

WilForce delivered.(VESSELS & SURFACE SYSTEMS)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... Awilco Offshore has received its new WilForce jackup from PPL Shipyard. The Baker Marine Class 375 rig can drill high-pressure/high-temperature wells to 30,000 ft (9,144 m) drilled depth in 375 ft (114 m) of water, Awilco says. The...

Hercules to provide two jackups to Aramco.(VESSELS & SURFACE SYSTEMS)
May 1, 2008... Hercules Offshore has signed contracts to provide Saudi Aramco with two jackup drilling rigs for three-year terms plus one-year fixed price options at the same rate. The Hercules 300 and Hercules 261, currently known as the High Island I...

Floating production report forecasts record year in 2009.(VESSELS & SURFACE SYSTEMS)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... Capital expenditure for the global floating production market will exceed $34 billion over the next five years, an increase of 25% over the previous five years, according to Infield Systems forecasts. The report says that 2007 was seen as a...

Optimizing reservoir performance.(DRILLING & PRODUCTION)(Statoil ASA collaborate with Schlumberger Information Solutions)
May 1, 2008... StatoilHydro and Schlumberger Information Solutions (SIS) joint R&D-collaboration on technologies for production and process optimization, initiated two years ago, has resulted in solutions that will improve reservoir performance, the companies...

Intelligent well completion system installation.(DRILLING & PRODUCTION)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... Baker Oil Tools says it has installed an optimized natural gas lift intelligent well completion system in the Zuluf field offshore Saudi Arabia. The system combined the Equalizer optimized openhole completion with a cased-hole intelligent...

Expandable casing patch.(DRILLING & PRODUCTION)(TIW (UK) Ltd.)
May 1, 2008... TIW (UK) says it has installed its first XPatch expandable casing patch system in the UKCS. Specifically, the XPatch system was installed on behalf of CNR International (UK) in the northern North Sea to provide a cost-effective method to...

Technology advancements.(GEOSCIENCES)
May 1, 2008... GX Technologies Imaging Solutions has improved its reverse time migration (RTM) data assessment technique for application in the complex azimuth marine acquisition while also reducing analysis turnaround time, says ION Geophysical Corp. In...

Survey status.(GEOSCIENCES)(briefs)(PGS Australia Pty Ltd.)(Karoon Gas Australia Ltd.)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... MEO Australia Ltd. has contracted PGS Australia Pty Ltd. to acquire and process 3D seismic data over the Blackwood prospect in exploration permit NT/P68 off Australia. The 350-sq km (135-sq mi) survey was scheduled to begin April 20 using...

Escalating offshore expenditure, production expected.(INTERNATIONAL REPORT)
May 1, 2008... Record levels of offshore spending are telling indicators of how demanding the quest for new oil and gas production has become. Since 2003, capital and operating spends dedicated to all operations related to the offshore oil and gas industry...

Deepwater interest, mass lease expiry boost GoM sale to record level.(INTERNATIONAL REPORT)
May 1, 2008... Continued interest in the US Gulf of Mexico reserve potential, particularly in the subsalt Lower Miocene and Lower Tertiary deepwater plays, has pushed lease sale results to record levels. The MMS's Central Sale 206 drew $3,667,668,246 in...

Brazil continues to make largest waves in Latin America: Mexico, Venezuela cloud the future.(INTERNATIONAL REPORT)
May 1, 2008... The upstream oil and gas business offshore Latin America is all over the map. Brazil continues pushing the deepwater envelope, Trinidad and Tobago are progressing nicely, Mexico and Argentina struggle to stem production declines, and Venezuela...

Exploration bringing swift returns in UK, Norway.(INTERNATIONAL REPORT)
May 1, 2008... Nigh levels of activity in the UK and Norwegian sectors of the North Sea look set to continue, assisted by high oil prices and recent exploration success. Some 220 exploration and appraisal (E&A) wells are planned for the UK in 2008-10,...

West Africa shows promise.(INTERNATIONAL REPORT)
May 1, 2008... West Africa remains one of the most promising and most difficult offshore operating arenas. Huge successes off Angola are balanced with the deepwater production and logistics issues. Infield's prediction of new fields to come onstream in...

Middle East oil producers continue to see high demand.(INTERNATIONAL REPORT)
May 1, 2008... Offshore oil and gas exploration activities in the Middle East continue to intensify. Activity has doubled in the last five years, with growth fueled by the development of very large oil and gas fields. The rising price of oil has also...

Asia-Pacific region continues significant growth: surging economy boosts demand.(INTERNATIONAL REPORT)
May 1, 2008... State-owned and international oil companies in Asia continue to increase E&P spending. The global market for offshore operations, currently estimated at $136 billion, is expected to hit $159 billion by 2010, according to Fusion Consulting....

Spectacular potential remains to be realized offshore Alaska.(INTERNATIONAL REPORT)
May 1, 2008... The North Slope and adjacent Beaufort Sea and Chukchi Sea shelves have the potential to add billions of barrels of oil and trillions of cubic feet of gas to US reserves, with exploration, development, and production into the middle of the 21st...

PTTEP builds hydrocarbon reserves for Thai market.(INTERNATIONAL REPORT)
May 1, 2008... Thailand has launched an international campaign to build long-term oil and gas reserves, given the strong 13% energy demand growth recorded since 1981. The government regularly reviews energy policies and since the 1990s has built international...

New visualization centers reach market: MMS, RSK both install multi-use rooms.(E-TECHNOLOGY)(United States. Department of the Interior. Minerals Management Service)(RSK (UK) Ltd.)
May 1, 2008... To help its technical asset teams better identify and analyze oil and gas resources and offshore reserves, the US Minerals Management Service (MMS) Gulf of Mexico Regional Office (GOMR) in New Orleans has added a custom-made visualization...

Modeling improves Niger Delta CSEM results: integration with logs, seismic data increases confidence.(GEOLOGY & GEOPHYSICS)
May 1, 2008... The recent explosion of activity in controlled source electromagnetic (CSEM) exploration in offshore West Africa has shown theoretically and in practice that CSEM is a viable and cost-effective oil exploration technique. When integrated with...

ROP and durability challenge drill bits.(DRILLING & COMPLETION)(rate of penetration)
May 1, 2008... As more wells are drilled deeper and into harder and more-abrasive formations, challenges for drill bits in terms of rate of penetration (ROP) and durability are more demanding. The worldwide increase in drilling activity has led to increased...

Riserless mud recovery moves into deepwater.(DRILLING & COMPLETION)(AGR Subsea Inc.)
May 1, 2008... The advantages of a riserless mud recovery system have been limited to shallower waters until recently. Now, a joint industry project with a focus on the Gulf of Mexico is addressing the use of such systems and their advantages. AGR Subsea...

Total turns to subsea separation problematic Pazflor crude.(FIELD DEVELOPMENT)
May 1, 2008... Total has launched its third stand-alone development in Angolan deepwater block 17. Pazflor will combine production from one Oligocene and three Upper Miocene fields on the block's edge, spanning a total area of 600 sq km (232 sq mi). Like...

North Sea operators monitoring stability, uptime record of Sevan platforms.(FIELD DEVELOPMENT)(floating production storage and offloading vessel)
May 1, 2008... With Sevan FPSOs installed both in the North Sea and off Brazil, Sevan Marine is starting to gather the operational experience to support its claims that the cylindrical platform concept offers a competitive edge. The first unit in the...

Ice management dominates Shtokman platform planning: Spar, FPU in frame for first production phase.(FIELD DEVELOPMENT)
May 1, 2008... Development of the giant Shtokman gas field in the Barents Sea has moved a step closer, following the recent award of three front-end engineering design (FEED) contracts. Doris Engineering, in partnership with Russia's Central Design...

Bureau Veritas classes record-breaking floating production systems.(FIELD DEVELOPMENT)
May 1, 2008... Last September, the hull of Petrobras' P-53 floating production platform arrived in Brazil, following conversion at Keppel shipyard in Singapore. The topsides currently are being integrated with the hull at the QUIP yard in Rio Grande, southern...

Contractors seeking improved clarity over FPSO performance targets.(FIELD DEVELOPMENT)
May 1, 2008... The majority of FPSOs operating worldwide are leased from specialist contractors under Production Services Agreements (PSAs). Under such contracts, the contractor owns and manages the FPSO, providing a range of services required by the...

New generation TLPs for West Africa.(FIELD DEVELOPMENT: FIELD OPERATIONS)(Tension leg platform)
May 1, 2008... Tension leg platform (TLP) design drivers for West Africa are both similar and different to those areas where TLPs have been a platform choice for many years. The differences include requirements such as platform drilling, inshore topsides...

First riser-deployed ESP in the GoM.(PRODUCTION OPERATIONS)
May 1, 2008... After producing 1.7 MMbbl of oil, pressure depletion at the East Breaks 690 No.1 dictated the need for artificial lift to capture substantial remaining reserves. Various artificial lift technologies to overcome slugging and liquid load at a...

Treatment chemical handling critical in deepwater: maintaining purity essential to successful application.(PRODUCTION OPERATIONS)
May 1, 2008... Rigorous quality assurance has emerged as the linchpin in preparing production-critical, low-dosage chemicals to treat subsea oil and gas wells in deep and ultra deepwater. Companies have borrowed fluid cleanliness standards created for the...

All-electric subsea production system brings advantages in ultra deepwater, long step-outs.(SUBSEA)
May 1, 2008... In 1999, Cameron, noting the subsea completions trend toward increasingly long step-outs and deeper water depths, also recognized the limitations of electro-hydraulic control. This led the company to initiate studies for an all-electric...

Module upgrades existing subsea controls: adds functions to enhance capabilities.(SUBSEA)
May 1, 2008... Operators of mature subsea fields face a growing challenge to maximize hydrocarbon recovery off marginal reserves. By upgrading subsea functionality and instrumentation, production can be both enhanced and extended. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]...

Subsea gas compression technology nears reality.(SUBSEA)
May 1, 2008... With subsea pumping and separation a reality, subsea gas compression is the next logical step in the development of subsea processing. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Developing the compressor for long-life in such harsh subsea environments is...

Technip expanding fleet, pipe capacity as deepwater goes global: new flexibles plant targets growth in Southeast Asia.(TRANSPORTATION & LOGISTICS)
May 1, 2008... Engineering group Technip is committing 1 billion [euro] ($1.58 billion) to expand its pipelay vessel fleet and flexible pipe production capacity. The program includes construction of a new flexibles plant in Malaysia, serving the Asia-Pacific...

High performance flexible pipe can be designed to fit: water depth, internal pressure, temperatures considered.(TRANSPORTATION & LOGISTICS)
May 1, 2008... The need for composite flexible fiber reinforced pipe (FFRP) becomes more critical as the industry moves out to 3,000 m (9,842 ft) water depths. Earlier generations of fiberglass reinforced plastic bonded pipe systems have been in use for over...

The politics of offshore energy in an evolving political environment.(NATIONAL OCEAN INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION)
May 1, 2008... "Inside the Beltway," it is often remarked that change can best be undertaken in odd-numbered years when policy makers can tackle major initiatives without looming elections consuming all their attention--or at least most of their attention....

Breaking the policy logjam with global demand on the rise.(NATIONAL OCEAN INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION)
May 1, 2008... The story of energy policy in the US begins with a basic review of the fundamentals: supply and demand. There can be no question that demand is on the rise, both in the US and globally. At current projections of world GDP growth, this global...

NOIA represents all phases of offshore energy: association comprises more than 300 companies.(NATIONAL OCEAN INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION)
May 1, 2008... The National Ocean Industries Association is the only national trade association representing every segment of the offshore energy exploration and production industry. Comprising more than 300 companies, NOIA represents offshore drillers,...

GEP forging trading links in emerging oil and gas sectors.(FRANCE)
May 1, 2008... Offshore contractors and service groups in France are working "at full stretch and beyond," according to Dominique Michel, president of the oil and gas suppliers' association GEP. Most of the companies, however, remain alert to new business...

West African reservoir fluids intensify demands on separation design.(FRANCE)
May 1, 2008... Deepwater development is picking up pace, increasing the demands on process systems designers. Each project brings different challenges in terms of gas/crude/water composition, materials specifications, and topsides space constraints. Aker...

Bourbon expanding vessel fleet to manage long-haul projects.(FRANCE)
May 1, 2008... Support vessel/marine services group Bourbon plans further investment in its global offshore fleet, to meet long-term demand for more modern tonnage. In late 2005, the company announced a comprehensive vessel overhaul/construction program,...

Tender-assist semi offers major rig time/cost savings.(FRANCE)
May 1, 2008... Horse Shoe is a new semisubmersible rig concept from Dietswell Engineering, designed to reduce rig-up time and costs associated with tender-assist drilling. Following a request from Thailand's PTTEP. Paris-based Dietswell adapted the design...

Defense vehicles in line for new roles in survey and inspection.(FRANCE)
May 1, 2008... Toulon-based ECA has introduced two new remotely controlled vehicles for shallow water survey and inspection tasks. Inspector, an unmanned surface vehicle (USV), and the K-Ster were both developed initially for defense applications, but oil...

Eiffel looking to extend niche fabrication skills beyond West Africa.(FRANCE)
May 1, 2008... Despite the global surge in fabrication opportunities, tendering remains as tight as ever, according to Eiffel Offshore Division Director Arnaud de Villepin. The strength of the euro is partly responsible. The company's facility in...

Eupec to manage Nord Stream pipeline coating process.(FRANCE)
May 1, 2008... Earlier this year, Dunkerque-based Eupec signed a letter of intent to supply concrete weight coating and logistics services for the Nord Stream pipeline project. This will take gas from Russia across the Baltic Sea to mainland Europe via two...

MWD tool design advances with high-temperature batteries.(FRANCE)
May 1, 2008... MWD (measurement while drilling) tools provide the operator with real-time information about the tilt and position of the wellbore--particularly important in directional drilling. They also supply detailed information about the conditions at...

Esab.(Swedish technology)
May 1, 2008... Esab's commitment to shipbuilding and the offshore sector dates to 1904, when Swedish engineer Oscar Kjellberg founded the company. He developed the first flux-coated MMA electrode to solve a problem related to ship and boiler repairs. Today...

Hagglunds Drives.(Swedish technology)
May 1, 2008... Hagglunds Drives is a leader in hydraulic drive systems, specializing in heavy duty applications that demand high torque, low speed, and variable rpm. Production is based in Mellansel, Sweden, and the company has wholly owned sales and service...

Kohlswa Gjuteri.(Swedish technology)
May 1, 2008... Kohlswa has been manufacturing steel for 460 years. The company works to the requirements of numerous classification societies, including DNV, LRS, ABS, Bureau Veritas, GL, and RMS. It is also approved by the Achilles Joint Qualification System...