NAVTOR has reached a landmark agreement with the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO) to offer the ADMIRALTY Vector Chart Service (AVCS) to mariners on a 'pay as you sail' (PAYS) basis. The Norwegian e-navigation pioneer, which introduced the world's first DNV type-approved PAYS service in 2012, launches the NAVTOR PAYS with AVCS solution today.
AVCS is the world's leading ENC service for ECDIS, offering the widest coverage in the marketplace. With over 12,500 Electronic Navigational Charts (ENCs), AVCS allows mariners to navigate an unparalleled number of international shipping routes. Delivering AVCS on PAYS will transform its accessibility to the market.

Business and Communication Manager Willy Zeiler explains: "PAYS allows navigators to instantly access the ENCs they need for planning purposes, levying charges only for the charts they actually use during voyages. It's a flexible, user-friendly and efficient way to navigate, making it easier to order and manage an ENC portfolio."

He continues: "It is something that the market has eagerly been waiting for. This collaboration between NAVTOR and the UKHO marks a significant step forward in the way that e-navigation solutions are delivered to the end user. We're proud to be working with the UKHO and using NAVTOR's advanced technology to connect with its customers."

The NAVTOR PAYS with AVCS solution will be distributed to users on a pre-loaded NavStick USB device, which when inserted into a ship's ECDIS will instantly install the required AVCS coverage. The latest AVCS charts and updates can then be regularly retrieved using NAVTOR's online programme NavSync, ensuring that all vessels are kept up to date easily.

Jason Scholey, UKHO's Senior Product Manager – Charts, comments: "AVCS is the world's preferred ENC service for ECDIS. We're very pleased Navtor are launching the NAVTOR PAYS with AVCS solution to provide customers with additional choice when purchasing their ENCs."

Navtor says the majority of its customers now opt for a PAYS solution, with vessels such as ferries and liners that sail set routes usually signing up to a standard subscription model based on set geographical areas.

Zeiler is keen to stress that it's not only ECDIS-mandated vessels, such as passenger ships, that are signing up with NAVTOR.

He notes: "Many ship owners appreciate the tangible benefits of a service that provides safe, efficient and predictable operations, whether they are subject to IMO regulations or not. Norwegian offshore support vessel owners are an interesting case in point, with ship owners who control more than 70% of the national offshore fleet now utilising NAVTOR. This boils down to their desire for effective ship management, rather than any regulatory requirement."

Statoil has signed an agreement to farm down a 15% interest to WRG Angola Block 39 Limited ("WRG") in the Statoil-operated block 39 offshore Angola in the Kwanza pre-salt basin.
WRG is a 50/50 joint venture comprising White Rose Energy Ventures and Genel Energy plc.

"This is part of Statoil's active portfolio management. The farm-down reflects the attractiveness of Statoil's acreage in Angola and having WRG onboard allows us to share exploration risk, while retaining a significant working interest. WRG brings technical experience to a challenging geological setting, and we look forward to a productive relationship with them in Angola," says Gareth Burns, senior vice president for exploration strategy and business development in Statoil.

Statoil operates block 39 and retains a 40% interest after the farm down. The remaining 30% interest is held by Sonangol P&P, 15% interest by Total and 15% interest by WRG.
WRG has also acquired from China Sonangol International Holdings Limited its 15% interest in the Statoil-operated block 38. Following the acquisition Statoil's 55% interest remains unchanged. The remaining 30% interest is held by Sonangol P&P and 15% interest by WRG.

The deals are subject to approval by Sonangol E&P, the Angolan minister of petroleum and the licence partners.

In addition to the Statoil-operated blocks 38 and 39, Statoil is partner in blocks 22, 25 and 40 in the Kwanza basin. The blocks were awarded by Sonangol in December 2011.

Statoil with Total and BP completed the world's largest 3D survey across the licenses covering blocks 24, 25, 40, 38 and 39 in January 2013. The survey covered 26,300 square kilometres.
The partnership in the Statoil-operated blocks 38 and 39 is now well advanced with the in-house processing of seismic data and the prospect evaluation for the future drilling programme.
Statoil will start drilling in its Kwanza-operated portfolio during the second quarter of 2014. Dilolo-1 is the first high-impact prospect to be drilled in block 39.

Following the drilling of Dilolo, Statoil will operate its second commitment well in Block 38 to the north of Block 39. In the next two to three years, Statoil will in total participate in eight commitment wells in the Kwanza basin.

Statoil is also partner and has shares in blocks 4/05, 15, 15/06, 17 and 31 in the Congo Basin offshore Angola.

"The Angolan continental shelf is the largest con­tributor to our oil production outside Norway and a key building block in our international strategy. Angola yielded approximately 200,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in equity production in 2013, which is around 28% of our total international oil and gas output," says Steinar Pollen, Statoil's country manager in Angola.

NYC-based PIRA Energy Group believes that stronger economic headlines are ahead. In the U.S., we had the largest stock build of the year.  In Japan, crude stocks jumped, but products drew. Specifically, PIRA’s analysis of the oil market fundamentals has revealed the following:

Stronger Economic Headlines Ahead

Physical crude oil markets will struggle with stock builds. PIRA sees a renewed interest in financial investment in commodities. The oil shale revolution in North America has directionally moved the oil price setting point to the United States. The gasoline season this year looks set to be healthy. Political risks have been balanced but are skewed bullish ahead.

Largest Stock Build of the Year

With runs picking up now that the lows for the refinery maintenance season are in, product inventories fell this past week. This was less than the prior week product inventory decline as reported demand fell while product supply from higher imports and aforementioned runs increased. Despite the increase in runs, the weekly crude stock build was the largest of the year. Both the product and crude year-over-year stock deficits narrowed.

Japanese Crude Stocks Jump, but Products Draw

Total commercial stocks rose 3.0 MMBbls, with crude rising 3.3 MMBbls due to higher crude imports. Product draws were most notably registered for gasoline and gasoil. Kerosene stocks transitioned to stock building mode. The indicative refining margin was modestly lower.

Low Storage as Entering Shoulder Season

The collision in the Houston Ship Channel this past week delayed outbound LPG shipments. Nevertheless, propane stocks are expected to still draw for March, leading to quite low storage entering the shoulder season. Inventory will continue to sharply lag year-ago levels. Also ethane inventory reached below 30 MMBbls this January for the first time in 22 months. Stocks will continue to decline during the course of the year. Delays in USGC exports as well as outbound from Europe cargoes has tightened the European market just as feedstock demand is gaining momentum

Biofuels Programs Continue To Proceed Actively in Many Countries

Canada is expected to need about 2.2 billon liters (580 million gallons) of ethanol this year to satisfy its 5% ethanol mandate. The country has imported over 1 billion liters of ethanol per year over the past three years, nearly all from the United States.

The information above is part of PIRA Energy Group's weekly Energy Market Recap, which alerts readers to PIRA’s current analysis of energy markets around the world as well as the key economic and political factors driving those markets.

26th March 2014 marked the 25th anniversary of Veripos with its continuing success and growth under new owners, Hexagon AB. From humble beginnings, the Aberdeen-based company has become a strong, widely-respected and truly global provider of precise satellite positioning services.

Veripos started in March 1989 as a joint venture between Brown & Root Survey and Ormston Technology, a specialist marine electronics company based in Hull, UK. Initially, it provided a Differential Global Positioning Service (DGPS) for users in the North Sea based on HF radio transmitters and subsequently extended the partnership to include Osiris, a subsidiary of Boskalis in the Netherlands and TopNav, a subsidiary of CGG in France.

In 1994, Veripos formed an alliance with its Dutch and French partners under the auspices of its then parent organisation, Subsea Offshore, introducing a much broader satellite-based DGPS service which was extended to cover the Gulf of Mexico followed by a progressive expansion of the network and coverage for Brazil, West Africa, the Mediterranean and the Caspian Sea.

Following acquisition of its alliance partners by a competitor in 2002, Veripos subsequently became wholly-owned by its then parent group, Subsea 7, who authorised major expansion plans in late 2004. These led to full global coverage of services in early 2005 that rapidly established the company as the world's second largest supplier of precise satellite positioning services within the globalised marine industry.

In July 2012, Veripos was subsequently spun-out of its parent group and listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange and its later continuing success was formally recognised in November 2013 with the honour of "Rising Star" accorded at the European Stock Exchange Awards. At the same time, the company began a major diversification initiative with the launch of its TerraStar service to address the land and nearshore business sectors.

With leading exploration seismic, construction, survey, OSV and drilling contractors among its many clients, Veripos now has over 130 specialist personnel based in eleven sites around the world. Commenting on this milestone, Chief Executive Officer Walter Steedman says "We are immensely proud of our long history in the exciting and quickly- developing industry in which we operate. We look forward to the next 25 years under the guidance of new owners, Hexagon, who have demonstrated their strong commitment to technology and world-leading R&D efforts. The Veripos journey is a remarkable success story which is based on quality products and the superior support services provided by our staff."

NYC-based PIRA Energy Group reports that Cushing stocks decline; WTI rises. In the U.S., a more typical U.S. stock draw returns.  In Japan, Japanese crude stocks correct downward. Specifically, PIRA’s analysis of the oil market fundamentals has revealed the following:

Cushing Stocks Decline; WTI Rises

The decline in Cushing crude stocks continued for a third straight month, while Gulf Coast stocks continued to rise, reducing the discount of WTI to Brent and LLS. Canadian differentials improved modestly from very weak levels, while rising stock levels in the Rockies and West Texas caused differentials for crudes in those regions to weaken.

A More Typical U.S. Stock Draw Returns

This past week has closed out the first quarter with a stock decline. We had just four weeks of stock builds during this year's first quarter and we also matched the largest inventory decline since 2009.

Aramco Announces Crude Price Differentials for May

Saudi Arabia's formula prices for May were recently released. European differentials were lowered, relative to April, while U.S. and Asian differentials were tightened. The European reductions were greatest on the lightest of grades, and slightly less for the heavier grades such as Arab Medium and Arab Heavy. After two months of "no change", U.S. differentials were tightened fairly significantly, with the biggest adjustment coming on Arab Heavy.

Heating Season Is Ending with U.S. Propane Stocks Low

The shoulder season is beginning with U.S. propane inventory relatively low. Stock building will be commencing but with exports remaining high the comparison to the year ago will be quite favorable. Ethane usage will be affected by a high level of steam cracker downtime over the next couple of months. Increased cargo flow especially to the East of Suez markets has led to sharply increasing VLGC freight rates.

Ethanol Prices Spike

U.S. ethanol prices increased sharply to an eight-year high Monday, and inventories dropped to a 15-week low during March as the lack of railcars to transport ethanol forced manufacturers to reduce output. As a result, manufacturing margins at PIRA’s model ethanol plant jumped to a record of nearly $2 per gallon by the end of the month.

U.S. Ethanol Production Rises

U.S. ethanol production increased sharply to a fourteen-week high 922 MB/D the week ending March 28 from 885 MB/D during the previous week as manufacturers sought to take advantage of near-record prices. Storage and transportation problems have eased for some manufacturers, but the issues still persist for many producers. Inventories rose for the second consecutive week, by 222 thousand barrels to 15.9 million barrels.

The information above is part of PIRA Energy Group's weekly Energy Market Recap, which alerts readers to PIRA’s current analysis of energy markets around the world as well as the key economic and political factors driving those markets.

As part of President Obama's Climate Action Plan to create American jobs, develop clean energy sources and cut carbon pollution, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has announced the publication of its environmental assessment (EA) of an application for a wind energy resource assessment lease offshore Tybee Island, Georgia.

Southern Company would like to lease an area covering three Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) blocks, approximately three to 11 nautical miles off the coast of Tybee Island, with the intent to deploy a meteorological tower and/or buoys during a five-year lease term. The purpose of these devices is to characterize the wind resources (e.g., wind speed, direction) and collect other data regarding the lease area and surrounding region.

As required under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), BOEM conducted an EA to consider environmental and socioeconomic impacts associated with issuing such a lease and subsequent site characterization activities, such as geophysical, archaeological and biological surveys conducted prior to constructing the meteorological tower and/or deploying the buoys.

Southern Company submitted to BOEM the application to lease the proposed area offshore Georgia in April 2011. Southern Company provided supplemental filings in 2012, which included additional data collection and technology testing activities to be conducted on the proposed lease. On December 14, 2012, BOEM published a Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an EA and requested public comments on alternatives for consideration in the EA, as well as identification of important environmental issues associated with issuing the lease and related activities (77 FR 74512). BOEM considered these public comments in drafting the alternatives and assessed reasonably foreseeable environmental impacts associated with them. Comments received in response to the NOI can be viewed at http://www.regulations.gov by searching for Docket ID BOEM-2012-0074.

BOEM is now requesting public input on the recently completed EA, including comments on the completeness and adequacy of the environmental analysis, and on the measures and operating conditions in the EA designed to reduce or eliminate potential environmental impacts. BOEM will consider public comments on the EA before determining whether to issue a Finding of No Significant Impact, or conduct additional analysis under NEPA. The EA can be found by clicking here.

A 30-day comment period follows the April 2 Federal Register publication of BOEM's Notice of Availability of an Environmental Assessment for the lease application submitted by Southern Company. Comments on this EA must be postmarked or received by May 2.

Comments may be submitted to BOEM via the BOEM website at: http://www.boem.gov/About-BOEM/Public-Engagement/Public-Engagement-Opportunities.aspx (click on the "Open Comment Documents" link) or deliver to the following address. Office of Renewable Energy Programs Bureau of Ocean Energy Management 381 Elden Street, HM 1328 Herndon, Virginia 20170-4817 In addition to the request for written comments, BOEM is hosting two open house poster sessions to discuss the EA at the following locations. Wednesday, April 23 (6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.) Coastal Georgia Center 305 Fahm Street Savannah, GA 31401 Thursday, April 24 (6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.) Old School Cafeteria 204 Fifth Street Tybee Island, GA 31328 For more information about this project, go to http://www.boem.gov/State-Activities-Georgia/

Songa Offshore SE is pleased to announce that the documentation for the previously announced USD 1,014 million loan facilities for the financing of the first two Cat D drilling rigs, Songa Equinox and Songa Endurance, have been finalized and the loan agreements have been signed by all parties.

The new facilities are split into senior loans of USD 774 million and junior loans of USD 240 million and have an average amortization profile of 10.5 years. The junior loans include a pre-delivery tranche of USD 104 million. Drawdown of the pre-delivery tranche is expected to take place in early May 2014.

Award-winning subsea installation contractor, Bibby Offshore, has further expanded its operations in Westhill, Aberdeenshire, with the opening of a purpose built workshop and warehouse facility this month.

Named, The Hangar, the building has been leased for 15 years and has in excess of 50,000 square foot, including storage, workshops, warehouse, office space, a yard and maintenance facilities.

In addition to the lease agreement, the firm has further invested in the facilities; fitting it out with a 16 tonne Gantry Crane, and five separate workshops for various specialties including fabrication, hydraulics, electronics, dive hats and diver umbilical's. The Hangar allows Bibby Offshore to have full control of these functions, which was previously outsourced.

John Black, Supply Chain Manager, Bibby Offshore, said: "The Hangar is a significant investment by Bibby Offshore to ensure we are continuing to offer the best in class facilities for our staff and clients. Taking the facility on a long term lease further proves our commitment to this area and the growth of the business. The workshop and warehouse facility is the next major milestone for the business and complements our purpose built headquarters, Atmosphere One, which is already based in Westhill."

In May 2013, Bibby Offshore relocated to its new multimillion pound, purpose built headquarters at Prospect Park, Westhill. The company had previously been based at the Harbour area in Aberdeen. In addition to The Hangar, the company will retain its current facility at the Harbour area's Nord Centre.

Earlier this year, Bibby Offshore won the Company of the Year award at the 2014 Subsea Expo Awards. Bibby Offshore and Bibby Remote Intervention Limited, has grown from 10 employees in 2003 to now employ more than 1,300 people onshore and offshore worldwide, with offices in Aberdeen, Liverpool, Newcastle, Houston, Singapore and Trinidad. The company has an international fleet of eight subsea support vessels and 15 Remote Operating Vehicles (ROV) and will continue to add to their fleet to meet demand.

Trelleborg's marine systems operation has opened a new sales and business development office in Houston.

Citing growth in the region as a strategic priority, Trelleborg Marine Systems' U.S. president, Faiyaz Kolsawala, will relocate to Houston as will a number of its global sales team. Among them will include a specialist docking and mooring representative and an oil and gas transfer and vessel technology salesperson to provide a closer relationship with customers in the area. Trelleborg will further strengthen its Houston-based sales team with several new appointments.

"At Trelleborg Marine Systems, our long-term strategy relies heavily on investment in markets with strong growth potential," said Richard Hepworth, business unit president of Trelleborg Marine Systems. "We will join colleagues from Trelleborg's offshore operation in its facility, enabling us to work more collaboratively across functions.

"As a global company, we strongly believe that it's important to have local 'feet on the ground' within the regions that our customers operate, said Hepworth. "In particular, we remain committed to growing our business in the fast-moving global Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) industry. Therefore, establishing a presence in Houston – the long-established capital of the global oil and gas industry – is essential."

Based within Trelleborg's Houston facility, the new office will enable both businesses to capitalize on the synergies their complementary product areas provide.

The regional sales office will serve the local U.S. and Mexican region across all five product areas of Trelleborg's marine operations: marine fender systems, oil and gas transfer technology, vessel technology, docking and mooring and marine products.

The new Houston office will be supported by the Americas' headquarters of Trelleborg's marine operation in Clear Brook, Va., which includes a polyurethane- and foam-based marine products manufacturing facility serving North American and global customers. Additionally the Houston office will be supported by Trelleborg's engineering and design center of excellence in Ahmedabad, India.

Ecopetrol America Inc. placed bids partnering with Murphy Exploration and Production Company -USA and Venari Offshore LLC

- With the results from this round, Ecopetrol America Inc. could raise its share to 149 blocks in one of the most attractive areas for exploration in the world

Ecopetrol S.A. (BVC: ECOPETROL; NYSE: EC; TSX: ECP) announces that its U.S. affiliate (Ecopetrol America Inc.) placed the most competitive bids for 11 blocks in the "Central Planning Area Lease Sale 231" round held in New Orleans on March 19, as disclosed by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the governmental authority in charge of the process in the U.S.
In this lease sale, Ecopetrol America Inc. partnered with Murphy Exploration and Production -USA in 7 blocks and with Murphy Exploration and Production -USA and Venari Offshore LLC in 4 blocks.

The official awarding of the blocks will be conducted by BOEM in the coming months after the checking of bids and ascertaining that the companies fulfill the conditions required for the round.

The economic bids placed by Ecopetrol America and its partners in the 11 blocks add up to approximately US $73.2 million with Ecopetrol America's share consisting of approximately US $33.7 million.
In case of being granted, these blocks allow deep sea hydrocarbon exploration in water depths of over 221 meters for a 10-year period. Further, Ecopetrol America Inc. would increase its participation in the U.S. Gulf Coast basin to 149 blocks.
The results obtained strengthen Ecopetrol's position in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, which it considers a focus area in its internationalization process.

Ecopetrol is Colombia's largest integrated oil & gas company, where it accounts for 60% of total production. It is one of the top 50 oil companies in the world and the fourth largest oil company in Latin America. The Company is also involved in exploration and production activities in Brazil, Peru and the United States Gulf Coast, and owns the main refineries in Colombia, most of the network of oil and multiple purpose pipelines in the country, petrochemical plants, and is entering into the biofuels business.

On March 28, InterOil began drilling at the Raptor-1 site, as part of its US$300 million oil and gas exploration campaign in Papua New Guinea. This will be InterOil's third exploration well started in PNG since the beginning of March.

Raptor is about 20km south-west of Wabo in the Gulf Province. The other two exploration wells begun this month are Bobcat-1, about 20km north of Raptor-1, and Wahoo-1, which is near the coast about 180km south-east of Raptor-1.

InterOil expects to drill up to five additional exploration and appraisal wells in PNG in the coming 12-15 months, across almost 4 million acres in the south of the country.

The well will be drilled to a total depth of 4500 meters (2.8 miles). InterOil will announce results when the well is completed.

Together with partner ConocoPhillips, Statoil has been awarded a deep-water exploration block in the Myanmar waters of Bay of Bengal.

Block AD-10 cover more than 9,000 km2, and is located 200 km from the coast in water depths of approximately 2,000 meters. The license has been awarded to Statoil and ConocoPhillips, each with a 50% equity share and with Statoil as the operator.

Erling Vågnes, senior vice president for Statoil's exploration in the Eastern hemisphere. (Photo: Ole Jørgen Bratland)

"This is a large and virtually unexplored area in a basin with a proven petroleum system and thick sedimentary deposits. With this award, we have accessed at scale in another frontier acreage with significant upside, in line with our exploration strategy," says Erling Vågnes, senior vice president for Statoil's exploration in the Eastern hemisphere.
The award represents a new country entry for Statoil, now operating in 34 countries.

"We have been following the development in Myanmar closely since 2011. Through several visits we have established a good relationship with the authorities in Myanmar, and we have had a continuous dialogue with Norwegian authorities and drawn upon experience from other Norwegian companies present in the country. We look forward to contributing to the further development of the energy sector in Myanmar with our competence and capacity," says Vågnes.

Statoil has committed to environmental and social impact studies and acquiring new 2D seismic during the first study period of 2,5 years. After this the partnership will decide whether or not to enter a three year exploration period.

"Our first steps will be to engage with the appropriate agencies and stakeholders and conduct the studies necessary for safe and secure acquisition of new seismic data. This is a long-term opportunity with high subsurface risk, but with high-impact potential," says Vågnes.

GNSS positioning specialists Veripos has moved to new purpose-built headquarters in Dyce, Aberdeen. The new building incorporates a state-of-the-art network control centre, a research and development laboratory, workshops, a warehouse and dedicated training facilities in addition to an operations centre for the company's Europe, Africa and Middle East Region. The building also houses offices for all other Veripos global and corporate functions.

Commenting on the development, Veripos CEO Walter Steedman said the new premises had been specifically fitted out to meet the requirements of the company's growing client base while ensuring sufficient capacity for future expansion. As such, he added, the investment would enable the company to meet customer expectations for high quality services and superior support well into the future, helping them to work wherever and whenever they needed precise satellite positioning.

Danelec Marine has announced the introduction of its third-generation marine Voyage Data Recorder (VDR).

The new Danelec DM100 VDR fully complies with the new International Maritime Organization (IMO) VDR standard, which comes into effect July 1, 2014. It also incorporates Danelec's revolutionary SoftWare Advanced Protection (SWAP) technology – a totally new approach to shipboard servicing of marine electronics.

SWAP Technology Saves Time and Costs in Shipboard Repairs
"Danelec's exclusive SWAP solution is nothing short of revolutionary when it comes to servicing shipboard electronics," said Danelec CEO Hans Ottosen. "It saves time by removing the repair from ship to shore, reduces labor costs for service calls, protects valuable shipboard data and eliminates in-port delays for repairs."

Danelec has designed the compact VDR data acquisition unit for easy plug-and-play replacement, with all system programming and configurations stored on a hot-swappable memory card. The service technicians bring a new unit when boarding the ship. They simply disconnect and remove the old unit, insert the new one in its place and slide the memory card from the old VDR into the slot on the front of the replacement. The old unit can then be taken ashore for repair without holding up the ship's departure.

"This is a paradigm shift in shipboard service," said Ottosen. "With traditional techniques, it can take days to make repairs to a ship's critical electronic systems. In some cases, Port State Control authorities may hold up the ship's sailing. Even if the ship is allowed to sail, it means another expensive service call at the next port to accomplish the repairs. With SWAP technology, the entire process is completed in hours, not days."

"We are incorporating SWAP into all our products moving forward," Ottosen added.

IMO Compliant – and Beyond
The Danelec DM100 VDR meets all the new VDR requirements as defined in MSC.333(90) and IEC 61996-1 Ed. 2, including a float-free capsule, 48-hour data storage in both the protective fixed capsule and float-free capsule, separate audio track for outdoor microphones, as well as data recording from the ship's ECDIS, both radars, AIS and inclinometer. All VDRs placed into service after July 1, 2014, must comply with the new standards.
"The DM100 VDR provides a solid, safe and simple solution for new ships, as well as retrofits to existing vessels," said Ottosen. "In addition to the minimum IMO requirements, we have designed our new-generation VDRs for the future, with new features such as playback software for real-time monitoring and replay of recorded data, along with remote access for maintenance, annual performance tests and remote data capture and analysis."

Danelec was one of the first companies to bring to market IMO-compliant VDRs and Simplified VDRs (S-VDRs) in 2002. More than 5,500 vessels today are equipped with a VDR or S-VDR designed and manufactured by Danelec. The company has an extensive service network with certified sales and service representatives in more than 50 countries worldwide.

UTEC Survey – one of the world's largest independent survey companies – has announced an exclusive, collaborative partnership.

UTEC StarNet, part of the UTEC group of companies, has announced the partnership with Sky Futures for 3D inspection and onshore and offshore asset management. The move further enhances both companies' positions as leaders in the oil and gas, renewable and telecommunications markets.

The relationship will provide clients with a total solution utilizing Sky Futures' advanced unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) inspection and measurement services combined with UTEC StarNet's IMDC and laser scan capabilities. These will be delivered through UTEC StarNet's market-leading i-Site™ integrated 3D web-based software package.

Commenting on the announcement, UTEC StarNet's Director of Operations & Business Development, Bill Miller, said: "This partnership reinforces UTEC StarNet and Sky Futures' focus on innovation and technology to enable knowledge-based decision making in complex and challenging environments."

James Harrison, Director, Sky Futures added: "By partnering with UTEC we are able to provide a unique, world-leading service that can be delivered directly to existing and new clients. We're very excited about this, and are looking forward to working with the UTEC family globally."

Sky Futures is a UK-based company providing UAV inspection services to clients globally in the oil and gas, renewable and utilities sectors with world-leading expertise in engineering inspection and reporting using HD video and thermal camera imagery. They have also recently developed proprietary DTL-VU software that is used to measure defects and corrosion.

UTEC StarNet is part of the UTEC group of companies which provides a wide range of survey services including offshore positioning and construction support, metocean, geophysical and AUV surveys, geotechnical sampling and consulting services to the oil, gas and energy industries. With a focus on people, performance, excellence and ethics, the company also offers dimensional control surveys, laser scanning, 3D modeling and the iSITE™ asset management software. UTEC has offices located around the world including: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Indonesia, Italy, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and United States.

Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) announced on Wednesday, its Myanmar subsidiary, Unocal Myanmar Offshore Co., Ltd., has been granted exploration rights in a block located offshore Myanmar, in the Rakhine basin.

Block A5, which spans more than 2.6 million acres (10,600 sq. km), is located approximately 125 miles (200 km) northwest of Yangon. Unocal Myanmar Offshore Co., Ltd. will be the operator of the block with a 99 percent interest. Royal Marine Engineering (RME), a Myanmar-based company, will hold the remaining interest in the block.

"This award expands Chevron's leading position in Asia and complements the company's portfolio of exploration opportunities," said George Kirkland, vice chairman and executive vice president, Chevron Corporation. "The exploration of this block is aligned with Chevron's long-term strategy to seek opportunities to provide energy to a growing region."

"We are pleased with the result of this bid round and the opportunity to evaluate the potential of this strategic acreage," said Melody Meyer, president of Chevron Asia Pacific Exploration and Production Company. "We have a 20-year history in Myanmar, and we look forward to supporting the continued development of the nation's energy sector through the exploration of this prospective block."

Chevron subsidiaries hold a 28.3 percent non-operated working interest in a production sharing contract for the production of natural gas from the Yadana and Sein fields within Block M5 and M6 in the Andaman Sea. The company also has a 28.3 percent non-operated interest in a pipeline company that transports the natural gas from Yadana to the Myanmar-Thailand border for delivery to power plants in Thailand.