MOL Group has successfully completed a deal to acquire Ithaca Petroleum NorgeMOL Group announced the successful completion of a deal to acquire 100% ownership of Ithaca Petroleum Norge (IPN) from Ithaca Petroleum Ltd. The deal doubles the size of MOL Group’s exploration portfolio, adding 600 million barrels of net un-risked best estimate prospective reserves. Entry into the Norwegian market also takes the company a step closer towards becoming an offshore operator in the North Sea.
Entry into Norway is a measured step for MOL Group, reflecting the company’s active approach to portfolio development. The move balances and grows MOL Group’s global upstream portfolio and includes 14 licenses in the Norwegian Continental Shelf, three of which are currently operated by IPN.
The investor-friendly nature of Norway and its political and fiscal stability were key reasons MOL Group decided to acquire IPN. Closure of the deal now extends MOL Group’s presence in the North Sea and builds on last year’s entry into the UK.
Alexander Dodds, Group Executive Vice President for Upstream added: “Entering Norway as one of the most investor friendly countries is an important milestone in our E&P Strategy. Norway will become a key exploration hub for MOL Group in the future and will help us achieve our goal of becoming an offshore operator in the North Sea. We believe Norway has a best in class approach to exploration, and we know that the new MOL Norge has an excellent team in place.”
While MOL Group will provide additional operational resources and support where needed, MOL Norge continues as a Norwegian company, and all staff will become part of the new entity.
DNV GL, the technical advisor to the oil and gas industry, has been selected by Wintershall Norge AS to provide a frame agreement for global inspection services for its developments offshore Norway. The overall contract is expected to exceed NOK 10 million (approx USD1.2 million).
The term of the contract is five years, with an option for two, two-year extensions and covers all Wintershall’s projects on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS). It will initially be used for the ongoing Maria development.
DNV GL will perform inspection, test and surveillance activities on a worldwide basis as instructed by Wintershall Norge AS. The scope of services includes: review of the Inspection and Test Plan (ITP), examination of materials, products, manufacturing processes, work procedures and/or services at Wintershall’s contractor’s premises. DNV GL will also examine contractor’s procedures, documents, quality performance and compliance with governing standards and specifications.
The frame agreement will be coordinated by the DNV GL Stavanger office with resources from the Inspection Division.
“Wintershall Norge AS is a new and important operator on the Norwegian Continental Shelf,” said Kjell Eriksson, Regional Manager – Norway, DNV GL - Oil & Gas. “We are involved with the Maria field across several assignments and this agreement for all Wintershall developments globally will further strengthen our relationship. It reinforces the high quality and value of our broad range of inspection services and expertise to the oil and gas industry and our ability to deliver services to meet project timelines and budgets.”
The frame agreement is now underway and inspection and surveillance work is planned to be carried out across a number of locations including Germany, Italy, Greece, Norway and Malaysia, where subsea equipment components and structures will be manufactured.
DNV GL is also the sole supplier for the combined role of Independent Verification Body (IVB) and Third Party Design Verification scope for the subsea, umbilicals, risers and flowlines (SURF) part of the Maria field development project. The contract is expected to run until the end of 2018, with a potential value of 30 million NOK (approx USD3.95 million).
The Maria oil discovery is located in 300 to 350m of water in the Haltenbanken region of the Norwegian Sea. Maria will be developed using a subsea facility tied via rigid flowlines and flexible risers to Kristin with gas lift being supplied from Åsgard B via Tyrihans and sulphate reduced sea water supplied with injection pressure from Heidrun. The discovery is expected to produce around 188 million barrels of oil equivalent oil and gas. First oil is planned in Autumn 2018.
The International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) has published its annual safety and environmental statistics. Drawn from 264 IMCA contractor members and based upon 798 million man-hours of work overall (558 million man-hours relating to offshore work) the 2014 dataset shows that the overall ‘flat line’ tendency in lagging safety indicators has continued in the longer term.
“Direct causes of Lost Time Injuries (LTIs) continue to be the ‘usual candidates’ – with struck by moving/falling objects the highest accounting for 110 incidents (26%); falls on the same level (including slips and trips) in second place with 88 incidents 21%) and struck against, entrapment, and falls from height accounting for 37 (9%), 34 (8%) and 33 (8%) incidents respectively. In all there were 424 LTIs recorded by IMCA members,” reports IMCA’s Technical Director and Acting Chief Executive, Jane Bugler.
“We actively continue to urge members, and non-members alike to make good use of our extensive collection of safety posters, pocket cards and DVDs all designed to increase awareness and lower incident levels as we continue to strive for the ‘holy grail’ of zero incidents.
“There were fewer fatalities (six rather than nine the previous year). Causes were cardio/respiratory failure; crewman hit by a blind flange and died of injuries; vessel master swept overboard by a parting rope and drowned; crewman hit in neck and fatally injured by snapping taut wire; man overboard – drowning; and crewman killed when nearby crane boom struck by lightning.
“We continue to work closely with our members and other trade associations to ensure that all marine contracting industry work-place fatalities are properly recorded, our focus remains on lessons learnt and information sharing to ensure that these incidents never recur. To this end we publish brief and anonymous information on each of the fatality incidents reported each year.
Useful insight
“Safety and environment statistics remain a useful insight into the performance of a company and industry sector in the areas of health, safety and environment,” she adds.
“The purpose of these statistics is to record the safety and environment performance of IMCA contractor members each year and to enable IMCA members to benchmark their performance. Statistics were provided by 264 companies and organisations, representing around 60% of the contractor membership, excluding drilling contractors and contractors who report as part of a greater group with 62 contractors taking part for the first time. IMCA would like to thank all those who took part in this important annual benchmarking exercise.
“For the purposes of comparison, the safety statistics recorded by IMCA members are consistent with those of other main industry trade associations, International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (IOGP) and International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC).”
Downloadable report in preparation
This year, IMCA will publish a short summary leaflet or downloadable report summarising the 2014 statistics, whilst continuing to publish a detailed statistical analysis of the safety data as a separate information note for members. As in previous years, data are separated into offshore and onshore activity to improve consistency in the data collected. The offshore statistics cover offshore work only, whereas the inclusion of onshore work covers such areas as fabrication yards and office work. For the purposes of these safety statistics, “inshore” work (for example in the renewables sector) is considered to be offshore rather than onshore.
Environmental data
The statistics also include environmental data of one form or another that was provided by 59% of members. This is the third year that IMCA has collected information from contractor members on their environmental performance. Listed or publically traded companies are in many cases required to provide annual information of this sort for their stockholders.
The information IMCA has sought to collect has been broadly based on IMCA SEL 010 – Guidelines for the use of environmental performance indicators and covers:
• Number of oil spills per million man-hours worked;
• Litres of oil spilt per million man-hours worked;
• Bunkers used (either in tonnes or in cubic metres) per million offshore man-hours worked;
• Megawatt-hours (not kilowatt-hours) electricity used per million onshore man-hours worked;
• Tonnes (not kilogrammes) of non-hazardous waste per million overall (offshore and onshore) man-hours worked;
• Tonnes (not kilogrammes) of hazardous waste per million overall (offshore and onshore) man-hours worked.
For the ninth consecutive year, Eni confirms its presence in the FTSE4 Good Index , one of the world's most respected corporate social responsibility stock-market indexes.
Eni, a member of the index since 2007, has been recognized for its excellence in environmental sustainability, respect for human rights, corporate governance and transparency and its relationship with stakeholders and local communities. It is with the help of these parameters that an independent committee from the FTSE Group, founder of the FTSE4Good, selects which companies are to be included in the excellence index.
This achievement confirms Eni’s consistent commitment to sustainable development and ensuring the responsible management of its business, promoting social and environmental development of the communities in which Eni operates.
The FTSE Group, wholly owned by the London Stock Exchange Group, is one of the leading companies in index creation and management, widely acknowledge by the international financial community and present on the main stock exchanges around the world.
Subsea 7 S.A. (Oslo Børs: SUBC, ADR: SUBCY) announces that it has signed an agreement establishing a worldwide non-incorporated alliance with Houston-based OneSubsea®, a Cameron and Schlumberger company, to jointly design, develop and deliver integrated subsea development solutions through the combination of subsurface expertise, subsea production systems (SPS), subsea processing systems, subsea umbilicals, risers and flowlines systems (SURF) and life-of-field services.
The alliance will bring together Subsea 7's experience and technology in seabed to surface engineering, construction and life-of-field services with OneSubsea's unique reservoir expertise and state-of-the-art subsea production and processing systems technologies. The alliance will combine both companies' resources to collaborate on selected projects, engaging early to improve field development planning from the reservoir to the production facility. By combining the complementary capabilities and market-leading technologies of OneSubsea and Subsea 7, the alliance will work collaboratively with clients to design, develop and deliver integrated SPS and SURF solutions which will enhance project delivery, improve the recovery, and optimize the cost and efficiency of deepwater developments for the life of the field.
Jean Cahuzac, Subsea 7 Chief Executive Officer, said: "This combination of subsurface, SPS, SURF and life-of-field expertise is unique in its breadth of integrated service offering and provides clients with the opportunity to significantly improve subsea field economics over the lifetime of the development. I am looking forward to developing further our relationship with OneSubsea as we will be able to capitalize on the synergies between our strong technology portfolios and develop joint technologies to improve our offering for our clients.
Mike Garding, OneSubsea Chief Executive Officer, said: "The technology and expertise from Subsea 7 perfectly complements OneSubsea's 'Pore to Process' business strategy to offer a holistic approach to subsea development solutions. Our established competencies in subsurface modeling and production systems engineering will be further strengthened by integrating the SURF expertise provided by Subsea 7. By integrating these key areas of expertise, we can reduce further risk and uncertainty to deliver the optimal solution for our clients to produce cost-effectively from subsea reservoirs."
EnerMech has been awarded a 12 month extension of a five year cranes and lifting contract by BP Exploration (Caspian Sea) Ltd.
The contract, which includes a further two one-year options, will see mechanical engineering group EnerMech continue to provide cranes operation and maintenance personnel, materials, equipment, engineering and mechanical handling services for up to another three years.
The contract covers all seven BP-operated platforms in the Caspian Sea and 16 offshore pedestal cranes operating in the Chirag, West Chirag, Central Azeri, West Azeri, East Azeri and deepwater Gunashli platforms, as well as the Shah Deniz gas development project.
The original five year contract was valued at approximately $50 million (£33 million) and the extended agreement will generate a further $10 million (£6.5 million) per annum for Aberdeen-based EnerMech.
As part of its well-established nationalization policy, EnerMech has trained in excess of 40 Azerbaijani nationals in crane operations and employs more than 60 Azerbaijani personnel on the BP contract.
EnerMech Cranes & Lifting Director, John Morrison, said: “BP is a valued client and the award of this contract extension underlines our credentials in providing frontline cranes and lifting services on major international projects.
“Having a strong local infrastructure in place, allows us to provide a tailor-made integrated package of our seven business lines, which complement the core cranes and lifting services which BP require.”
NYC-based PIRA Energy Group reports that North American crude differentials were mixed in June, with little change in outright prices. In the U.S., both crude and product stocks posted a build. In Japan, crude runs jumped, crude stocks built, yet finished products drew. Specifically, PIRA’s analysis of the oil market fundamentals has revealed the following:
North American Midcontinent Oil Forecast
North American crude differentials were mixed in June, with little change in outright prices. Rising pipeline takeaway capacity and shrinking production generally strengthened differentials in the Rockies, Permian Basin and Cushing area. At the same time, an end to wildfires and oil sands upgrader maintenance brought Canadian differentials back down from very strong springtime levels.
Another Large U.S. Stock Build
Both crude and product stocks posted a build last week, and weekly commercial stocks stand at 145 million barrels, or 13% above year-ago levels. Some of this excess is for infrastructure expansion. While moderating, demand growth remains strong, with total product demand growth estimated to be up 1.06 MMB/D versus last year, over the last four weeks. Our construct domestic crude supply – reported production plus balance item – has moved up in recent weeks, after seemingly peaking a few months ago.
Japanese Crude Runs Jump, Crude Stocks Build, Yet Finished Products Draw
Crude runs posted a significant rise as maintenance continues to wind down and unplanned outages began to restart. Crude imports increased and stocks built. Finished product stocks drew, due to lower jet-kero, gasoline, and fuel oil stocks more than offsetting builds in naphtha and gasoil. The indicative refining margin remained good, though it was somewhat softer on the week as all the major cracks again gave ground.
Strong Air Traffic Growth Means Robust Jet Fuel Demand
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) recently released their data on global air travel through May. On a global basis, Revenue Passenger Kilometers (RPKs) grew 6.3% for the year through May, when compared with the same period in 2014. Available Seat Kilometers (ASKs) are a better indication of jet fuel demand by eliminating the impact of changing load factors, and this measure of global air travel was up 5.9%. This strong growth in air travel indicates robust demand for jet fuel. PIRA's World Energy Demand model shows jet fuel consumption growing 3.6% in 2015, followed by a gain of 3.1% in 2016, with volumetric growth averaging more than 190 MB/D per year.
Smaller-Than-Expected 2Q Stock Build in Latest 3 Major OECD Data
Preliminary data indicate commercial onshore inventories in the three major OECD markets - - United States, Europe and Japan - - built 48 million barrels (525 MB/D) in the second quarter with crude stocks flat and the entire build essentially occurring outside of the major products. The overall stock increase is less than last year’s 66 million barrel stock build (725 MB/D) in the second quarter. The stock data are consistent with PIRA’s just released World Oil Market Forecast (June 30) and PIRA’s estimate of 260 million barrels of surplus global commercial inventory accumulated over the last four quarters, a far smaller figure than market analysts were generally expecting. Gasoline stocks are especially low, after adjusting both for higher 3Q demand in these markets and export demand.
U.S. LPG Prices Stand Strong in Flat Price Rout
The U.S. NGL complex outperformed the broader energy complex by a wide margin. July propane at Mt Belvieu was only 1¢ lower, settling near 43.5¢/gal Friday. Propane prices increased from below 30% of WTI to near 35% in this week’s price action. Contango in the front three months of the Mt Belvieu forward curve narrowed to the tightest levels in over a month – just under 3.5¢/gal, a remarkable reversal from nearly 8¢ prior to June expiry. Butane at the market center managed to increase 0.5% on the week to settle near 58.2¢/gal.
U.S. Ethanol Prices Jump
Ethanol prices soared the week ending July 3, following a spike in corn values. Lower output and inventories, as well as higher production of ethanol-blended gasoline, provided support.
U.S. Output and Inventories Increase
U.S. ethanol production climbed to 987 MB/D from a six-week low 968 MB/D the week ending July 3, continuing the saw-toothed pattern that began in late May. Stocks built by 309 thousand barrels to 19.8 million, reversing the nearly identical draw that occurred one week earlier.
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.
Oceaneering International, Inc. (NYSE: OII) has announced the appointment of Steve Barrett as Senior Vice President, Subsea Products, with worldwide responsibility for Oceaneering's Subsea Products segment.
Mr. Barrett started his career in the oil and gas industry in 1980. In 1982 he joined FMC Technologies, Inc., where he progressed from Design Engineer to his most recent role as Global Subsea Services Director. Steve holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Texas A&M University and an M.B.A., Finance and Entrepreneurship, from Rice University.
Rod Larson, President and Chief Operating Officer, stated, "Steve's leadership and successful track record in subsea products will add depth and capabilities to our management team. We expect to benefit from his exceptional experience, extensive industry knowledge and perspective as we develop plans to grow our subsea products business, including the expansion of our product line offerings. In his new role at Oceaneering, Steve will report to Senior Vice President Clyde Hewlett."
Schlumberger has achieved SEMS certification to Center for Offshore Safety Program expectations and 30 CFR 250 Subpart S requirements. Schlumberger is the first service/supply contractor to achieve this voluntarily, further demonstrating their commitment to SEMS, assurance of their safety management system, and to ensure they know where is best to focus their continuing work on safety management.
SEMS is intended as a continuous learning and improvement system for safety and environmental management. A key feature of SEMS is the focus on establishing, managing and measuring barriers that protect against escalation to a major incident. The voluntary COS certification program for contractors that is delivered via Audit Service Providers (ASP) requires participation in a COS program SEMS audit using independent verification by third-party auditors that have been assessed and accredited by COS. COS focuses on the importance of combining SEMS Leadership and effective SEMS to deliver a good safety culture.
DNV GL Business Assurance USA, a COS-accredited (ASP), has approved Schlumberger for COS SEMS Certification based on the outcome of the COS SEMS audit. The audit scope included Schlumberger's Head Office, onshore manufacturing/service facilities, and verification of SEMS implementation at an offshore location where Schlumberger was active. A total of 12 locations were visited during the SEMS audit.
"While Schlumberger has had a comprehensive management system in place since the late 1980's, the SEMS certification audit provided a great opportunity to verify that our system meets the regulatory requirements of the US outer continental shelf. The exercise not only highlighted the numerous strengths of our organization but also identified opportunities for improvement. This process of continuous assessment and progression ensures that our system is maintained to the highest standards in the industry," said Rob Cummings, Schlumberger HSE Manager – North America Offshore.
Tom Teipner, Schlumberger President – North America, added, "While the current regulations apply only to operators on the outer continental shelf, I believe that voluntary participation in the SEMS audit process demonstrates Schlumberger's unwavering commitment to the safety and integrity of our industry. Leadership is about transforming a vision into a reality. This audit was another step forward in that vision of transforming the outer continental shelf into an area in which the safety of our people and respect for the environment is critical in everything we do."
"We are proud to work with Schlumberger on SEMS compliance," says Faith Beaty, President of DNV GL Business Assurance USA, Inc. "They have shown tremendous leadership in pursuing SEMS certification which — though mandatory for offshore operators — is not yet required for service providers. Clearly, they are making a move toward the future, and a strong statement about their commitment to safety and supply chain integrity."
"By successfully completing its SEMS audit, Schlumberger is sending a message to its customers and to the rest of the supplier community," says Chandran Ilango, Lead Auditor /Integrated Systems Sector Manager for DNV GL - Business Assurance. "Interest in SEMS is growing rapidly as a way of harmonizing audits among operators and service providers, to bring the industry toward a more uniform safety and certification platform that can boost confidence and ultimately increase safety performance across the board."
Charlie Williams, Executive Director for COS, stated "Schlumberger's voluntary COS SEMS Certification is an important achievement that indicates their continuing commitment and dedication to SEMS. Voluntary participation and certification of SEMS by a contractor like Schlumberger is a clear display of the importance they place on safety and environmental management and the relationship between contractors and operators. Contractors play a critical role in the SEMS process; therefore contractors who certify their management system provide numerous benefits to all stakeholders including operators and regulators. The COS hopes this trend continues to ensure continuous improvement in safety and offshore operational integrity."
The Center for Offshore Safety is an industry group that promotes continuous safety improvement for offshore drilling, completions, and operations through effective leadership, communication, teamwork, disciplined management systems, and independent third-party auditing and certification. The Center draws on expertise and input from the U.S. oil and natural gas offshore industry and the regulatory community.
Oil and gas industry skills organization OPITO has reported a 250% rise during the first two quarters of 2015 in the number of North Sea energy firms investing in the systems which assess, develop and demonstrate workforce competence.
BP has become the latest major operator to achieve approval for its in-house competence management system (CMS) after a series of independent audits carried out by OPITO found the processes within BP met all 20 best practice points of the criteria necessary to help ensure competence.
The accreditation makes the operator one of only three organizations in the UK Continental Shelf to achieve an auditor’s recommendation of approval outright following a comprehensive audit of its CMS.
Gaining OPITO approval demonstrates BP’s commitment to mitigating risk through achieving and maintaining industry CMS criteria and ensuring the continual development of its workforce. BP will also use OPITO CMS criteria to benchmark their contractors, facilitating a consistent approach to measure how effectively competence is assessed and demonstrated internally, and across their supply chain.
OPITO managing director John McDonald said the increasing number of companies electing to have a more formal and independently audited CMS is directly related to the current industry climate.
“In the current climate, rising costs and tight budgets have made the retention of existing personnel imperative to business sustainability. Identifying gaps and cultivating skills enables managers to develop a safe and competent workforce and properly map out succession plans while employees develop attainable career paths,” he said.
“We have seen a tremendous rise in the number of companies in the UK seeking OPITO CMS approval over the past six to 12 months and BP is one of only a few to have completed the audit and gained approval without any recommendations for change to its internal competence structure.
“This is a very clear demonstration of the commitment and importance the operator places on setting and maintaining high standards in their working practices and to ensure all personnel employed are of the same high quality, across all operations.
“This assurance of a skilled and competent workforce is vital to the future of the UKCS. By working together with industry, we can continue to deliver robust systems for companies who in turn can support their staff which will ultimately benefit the industry as a whole.”
The scope of the OPITO approval applies to maintenance, production and control room technicians, working across BP’s onshore and offshore across the North Sea.
As strained negotiations between the Greek government and European financial ministers enter the end-game, the impact on energy markets remains uncertain. Setting aside both the deeply troubling social impact for Greek citizens and other major forces – from Chinese equities to an Iranian nuclear deal – the threat of Greece leaving the Euro is already dampening crude prices. The concern for oil markets centers around two factors: the consequences for economic stability and growth in Europe, and strengthening of the US dollar.
Greece herself consumes less than 0.4% of global crude, produces fewer than 9,000 barrels per day and had an economy of $240bn last year – around 0.3% of the global total. An exit from the Euro, however, threatens the breakup of the Eurozone itself, a major global economy and consumer of 9.7 million barrels of oil per day. Should Greece ‘walk away’ from her debts, exposure to the debt in other member states, coupled with premiums for borrowing (particularly in Southern Europe) could be expected to usher in another period of recession. Estimates from the IMF suggest a contraction of between 2% and 5% is possible. While this picture remains highly uncertain, historical linkage of oil consumption and GDP growth would imply a potential reduction of 360 kboe/d per year in consumption. Tiny indeed, but in an over-supplied market, every portion of demand is important.
Ever-deeper uncertainty within Eurozone economies however, is likely to increase the flight of capital to dollar-based equities, The Euro has already fallen 18% against the dollar in the past 12 months and a Greek exit would likely dampen this significantly as investors look nervously at other debt-laden Euro members. A strong dollar weakens international oil demand as the commodity, traded in USD, is more expensive on a relative basis.
If ‘Grexit’ becomes a reality it will serve to further dampen the recovery in oil price – It will be interesting to see the impact of the weekend’s ‘In-Out’ meetings in Athens and Brussels on oil prices in the week ahead.
AnTech Ltd, provider of specialist products and services for the upstream oil and gas industry, is pleased to announce the appointment of Jan Ward CBE, as new Chair of the company’s Board of Directors. The announcement comes as AnTech continues to strengthen its position on an international basis, with the recent announcement of record product sales.
Jan has taken up the post bringing over 30 years’ experience in the oil and gas, petrochemical and power industries to AnTech’s Board of Directors. With a mechanical engineering background, Jan is founder and CEO of Corrotherm International Ltd and has been an enthusiastic promoter of international trade and women in engineering since the outset of her career.
Photo Caption: Jan Ward, Chair of AnTech’s Board of Directors
Having held a number of influential positions within the UK Chamber of Commerce network, Jan currently acts as government advisor on the subject of international trade and SMEs, as well as having previously held the role of non-executive Director of the Board of UKTi. In the last 5 years, Jan has been closely involved with the Manufacturers’ Association and is a judge for a number of high profile awards, including the Manufacturer of the Year Award and the Queens Award for Enterprise. A previous winner, she is also a judge for the Nat West Everywoman award.
AnTech Managing Director, Toni Miszewski, is delighted to welcome Jan to the AnTech board: “It is a privilege to have Jan take up the position of Chair within our Board of Directors. She brings extensive experience in the oil and gas industry; experience she has used to successfully build overseas markets and develop long-term customer relationships, especially in the Middle East. Jan’s knowledge will be hugely valuable to our company as we continue to pursue our international growth strategy in our target markets.
“Jan replaces Tony Everett, who is standing down as Chair due to retirement and we thank him for his valuable service and commitment to the company over the years.”
Founded in 1992, AnTech operates globally across its Services and Product divisions. It provides cost-effective Directional Coiled Tubing Drilling services, utilising AnTech’s proprietary drilling tools, teams and equipment. AnTech’s Products division supplies permanent monitoring products that are heavily focused on meeting the highest industry standards in the completions market and are supported by specialist training.
Demand for AnTech’s range of services, patented products, wellhead equipment and state-of-the-art DCTD equipment (including its COLTTM Bottom Hole Assembly (BHA) for smaller diameter, thru-tubing drilling and its gyro-steered POLARIS™ BHA for larger side-tracks and grassroots wells) continues to rise. This expansion both in the UK and overseas is supported by a continued focus upon an increase in AnTech’s workforce across all divisions, including operations, sales, engineering and production.
The company has equipped its trenching vessel, Fugro Saltire (photo), with a compact, custom-made, cable-lay spread that comprises a reel drive system to store the cables, a tensioner to lay them, twin winches and a quadrant deployment system on rails. The equipment is fitted to the rear deck of the vessel alongside the existing trenching equipment.
In operation the cables are initially pulled into the base of the wind turbine generators (WTG) and then laid along the seabed using Fugro Saltire’s dynamic positioning system to line them up accurately with the destination WTG. They are then pulled in using the quadrant system to manage the cable during over-boarding and pull-in. The quadrant’s compact design and deployment allows Fugro to control the cable very precisely while pulling in the second end.
An important additional innovation introduced to the system is new 3D sonar technology to supplement ROV support, and monitor precisely, onsite, cable touch down during the cable-lay and pull-in operations, where the daily hazard of very high currents can limit the use of an ROV.
The initial concept for the new cable-lay capability was developed during trenching operations at the Humber Gateway Offshore Wind Farm, when E.ON asked Fugro to investigate laying some cables from the Fugro Saltire. Fugro’s engineers fitted the cable-lay equipment in only six weeks, ahead of E.ON’s deadlines, and cable-laying was completed by February 2015.
“The mobilization of the cable-lay spread on the Fugro Saltire has widened our successful working relationship with E.ON on the Humber Gateway project. As well as trenching 77 array cables, we installed eight array cables along with second end pull-ins of cables already laid by other contractors,” said Mike Daniel, Trenching Business Line Manager at Fugro Subsea Services. “We can now offer clients simultaneous cable-laying and burial from a single vessel, or alternatively our larger subsea construction vessel Fugro Symphony can be laying cables, while the Fugro Saltire is trenching them, speeding up operations and saving time for our customers.”
Wellsite Rental Services, LLC (“Wellsite”), a leading provider of drilling and completion rental equipment, and Viking Oil Tools (“Viking”), a specialty fishing, thru tubing and remedial services company, have agreed to merge to form Wellsite Fishing and Rental Services, LLC. Both companies are majority owned by NGP Energy Technology Partners (“NGP ETP”), an energy private equity firm.
“The Wellsite and Viking service offerings are very complementary in completion and remedial applications, so we see this combination as a great strategic opportunity for both companies. We are also very excited to have two proven management teams with deep industry experience partner together,” says Michael LeBourgeois, managing director of NGP ETP.
“Wellsite offers high quality tubulars and associated handling tools along with a variety of other rental items, so combining Viking’s first-class thru tubing, fishing and remedial service lines with our expansive rental portfolio is a strategic move for both companies,” says Kirby Arceneaux, chairman and CEO of the combined company. “This allows Wellsite to provide complete packages of equipment and field service after fracturing operations are completed and enables us to more broadly compete in the drilling, workover and completions markets.”
Following the completion of the merger, Wes Heiskell, former president and CEO of Viking will serve as Wellsite’s President. “The Viking team is excited to be merging with Kirby and his Wellsite team,” says Heiskell. “This strategic merger is a great opportunity for both companies to expand our product and service offerings and deepen our relationships with existing and potential customers across several markets, including the Permian, Marcellus, Utica, Eagle Ford, East Texas and the Gulf Coast.”
Mark Johnson, current president of Wellsite, will serve as the Chief Operating Officer of the combined company.
“We are looking forward to working with Wes and his team at Viking to bring together the best of both companies,” says Johnson. “Together, we will continue to provide quality products and services to our customers and will strengthen our value in an increasingly competitive market.”
Hercules Offshore, Inc. (Nasdaq: HERO) (the "Company" or "Hercules"), announced on July 13, that it commenced a solicitation of votes for a prepackaged plan of reorganization from holders of its 10.25% senior notes due 2019, 8.75% senior notes due 2021, 7.5% senior notes due 2021, 6.75% senior notes due 2022, 7.375% senior notes due 2018 and 3.375% convertible senior notes due 2038 (the "Noteholders"). Votes on the prepackaged plan must be received by Prime Clerk, the Company's voting agent, by August 12, 2015, unless the deadline is extended. The record date for voting has been set for July 13, 2015. Solicitation materials will be mailed on or about July 13, 2015 to creditors of record that are entitled to vote.
The prepackaged plan of reorganization (the "Plan") provides that claims of trade creditors, suppliers and employees will be paid in full.
As previously disclosed, on June 17, 2015 the Company entered into a restructuring support agreement (the "Agreement") with Noteholders who held approximately 67% of the aggregate outstanding principal amount of the Company's notes. The terms of the consensual financial restructuring would support a substantial deleveraging transaction pursuant to which approximately $1.2 billion of the Company's outstanding notes would be converted to 96.9% of new common equity, and $450 million in new backstop debt financing would be provided, which would fully fund the remaining construction cost of the Hercules Highlander and provide additional liquidity to fund the Company's operations. The Company's current shareholders, despite being substantially "out of the money" as described in the Plan, would have the opportunity to receive their pro rata portion of the remaining 3.1% of the new common equity, as well as certain warrants described in Plan and the Agreement, subject to the requirements of the Plan. The Company and the consenting Noteholders agreed to complete the restructuring through a prepackaged plan of reorganization. Assuming the Company receives the required acceptances, the Company intends to commence a prepackaged Chapter 11 case shortly after the conclusion of the solicitation period.
The Company recommends that Noteholders refer to the information and the limitations and qualifications discussed in the Solicitation and Disclosure Statement, including the attached Plan. Information contained in the Solicitation and Disclosure Statement, including the attached Plan, is subject to change, whether as a result of amendments, actions of third parties or otherwise. There can be no assurances that the Plan will be approved or confirmed pursuant to the Bankruptcy Code.
Royal Dutch Shell plc (Shell) announces the final investment decision (FID) to advance the Appomattox deep-water development in the Gulf of Mexico. This decision authorizes the construction and installation of Shell’s eighth and largest floating platform in the Gulf of Mexico. The Appomattox development will initially produce from the Appomattox and Vicksburg fields, with average peak production estimated to reach approximately 175,000 barrels of oil equivalent (boe) per day. The platform and the Appomattox and Vicksburg fields will be owned by Shell (79%) and Nexen Petroleum Offshore U.S.A. Inc. (21%), a wholly-owned subsidiary of CNOOC Limited.
“We have again delivered a globally competitive investment scope for another significant deep-water project,” said Marvin Odum, Shell Upstream Americas Director. “Appomattox opens up more production growth for us in the Gulf of Mexico, where our production last year averaged about 225,000 boe per day, and this development will be profitable for decades to come. With its competitive cost and design, Appomattox is next in our series of deep-water successes.”
During design work for Appomattox, Shell reduced the total project cost by 20% through supply chain savings, design improvements, and by reducing the number of wells required for the development. This includes advancements from previous four-column hosts, such as the Olympus tension-leg platform (TLP), as well as ensuring a high degree of design maturity before construction. With these and other cost reductions, the go-forward project breakeven price is estimated to be around $55 per barrel Brent equivalent.
Shell is currently the only operator in the Gulf of Mexico with commercial deep-water discoveries in this formation (Norphlet), which dates back 150-200 million years ago to the Jurassic period. The company continues active exploration in the area.
The sanctioned project includes capital for the development of 650 million boe resources at Appomattox and Vicksburg, with start-up estimated around the end of this decade. The development of Shell’s recent, nearby discoveries at the Gettysburg and Rydberg prospects remains under review. These could become additional, high-value tiebacks to Appomattox, bringing the total estimated discovered resources in the area to more than 800 million boe. Shell Pipeline Company LP also made a final investment decision on the Mattox Pipeline, a 24-inch corridor pipeline that will transport crude oil from the Appomattox host to an existing offshore structure in the South Pass area and then connect onshore through an existing pipeline. Last year in the Gulf of Mexico, Shell started production from the Mars B development, through the new Olympus TLP, and from the Cardamom subsea tie-back to the Auger platform. Shell is also currently developing the Stones project, which is expected to produce approximately 50,000 boe per day.
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