The International Well Control Forum (IWCF) has launched a new training standard in drilling and well intervention for top achieving candidates and is urging operators to get involved.

The move is in direct response to the Oil and Gas Producers (OGP) guidelines following the Macondo and Montara incidents and aims to drive up competency standards and improve safety for those working with wells. Thousands of contractors and workers have to pass exams in drilling and well intervention every two years to enable them to work at offshore and onshore well sites.

Photo: Dave Price, CEO IWCF

The Enhanced Standard is only available to candidates who have achieved at least an 80% pass mark on previous exams and demonstrate significant experience of undertaking well control training in their past. The content is primarily based on real industry well control incidents involving simulated exercise, team work and peer-to-peer review and feedback.

It focuses on enhancing technical knowledge using case studies in a team based environment. Candidates are assessed in a similar manner as on a standard course and can be expected to achieve higher results.

IWCF is the independent organization that sets global training standards for well control.

David Price, CEO of IWCF said: "Introducing the enhanced training will encourage candidates to strive to be the best and will challenge them in new ways in a replicated well site environment. After a successful pilot scheme, we are now looking for operators and training providers to sign-up as ultimately it will help create a safer environment at offshore and onshore well-sites. We are making strides to create a step change in well control competency to help the industry avoid another significant well-related tragedy, but we need operators and contracting companies to get behind these changes."

Founded by the oil and gas operators in 1992, IWCF administers well control training, assessment and certification programs and is committed to creating a step-change in well control knowledge. Since then, IWCF has certified over 160,000 people in almost every continent through more than 220 accredited training centers.

IWCF is investing in new facilities at its headquarters in Montrose, UK to improve training for well control assessors and instructors who address drilling operations and well intervention activities. The organization is also introducing new levels to well control training including a new level 1 introductory online course, which will be available free to anyone with an interest in the industry.

To help enhance users' online experience, IWCF has re-launched its website this week which includes a fresh design, easier navigation, better functionality and will also be fully responsive to mobile devices so it can be viewed on the move.

Deep Casing Tools is pleased to announce the establishment of new branch office in the Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA) area in the United Arab Emirates. Local sales and operational services have contributed to the company's success and the establishment of a new regional base underpins the commitment to new and existing customers.

John Rider, Vice President, Middle East and Asia Pacific for Deep Casing Tools

As well as serving the company's established Middle East market, the combined office and warehouse facility will also provide a supply base for the growing demand for tools in the Far East, where supply agreements have recently been signed with major contractors in Malaysia and Vietnam.

The facility underpins the strong reputation that the company has established with major operators in the Middle East and reinforces its ambitious growth plans. To support this growth, a new post has been created and John Rider has been appointed as Vice President, Middle East and Asia Pacific, based in UAE. John has previously worked in the UAE, USA, Caspian, Russia UK and Africa.

Deep Casing Tools' CEO Lance Davis said: "I am delighted that John has decided to join us. His considerable industry knowledge of field operations and his global commercial and technical sales experience will be invaluable in strengthening Deep Casing Tools' growth strategy."

Deep Casing Tools doubled its revenue year-on-year to £9m in 2014.

Oceaneering International, Inc. (NYSE:OII) announced that it secured a contract in December 2014 from Hess Corporation (NYSE: HES) to supply the umbilicals and umbilical distribution hardware for the Stampede Project located in the Green Canyon area of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. This hardware will be used to transmit hydraulic control fluids, chemicals, and electrical power signals to operate and monitor subsea wells and manifolds.

The order is for electro-hydraulic, steel tube umbilicals totaling approximately 14.3 kilometers (8.9 miles) in length, umbilical termination assemblies, hydraulic and chemical distribution units, electrical distribution units, flying leads, and junction plates. Oceaneering plans to manufacture the umbilicals at its plant in Panama City, Florida and to manufacture the distribution hardware at its facilities in Houston, Texas. Umbilical production is expected to commence in the second quarter of this year, with delivery scheduled for mid-2016.

Frontier International, specialists in international oil and gas resourcing, has announced a service sector contract portfolio increase from 6 client contracts to 13 client contracts in this sector during 2014.

Well known for providing personnel and associated services to the industry's major operators, the company says the increase can be attributed to recent expansion into the local and international oil and gas service sector. Whilst continuing to work on a substantial number of global contracts with the major operators, this constitutes over a 100% increase for Frontier in its activity within the service sector.

Photo: L-R Mark Clarke, chairman and Paul Radcliffe, managing director, Frontier International

Frontier chairman, Mark Clarke explains that the diversification into the service sector was a clear strategic move: "We are delighted to report on this successful expansion into the supply sector. Over the past two years, a key business development driver for us has been the anticipated long term decline in the UK operator sector, which we are aiming to mitigate by increasing our overall overseas activity and specifically our service sector activity in the UK.unparalleled understanding of the roles for which we recruit. To continue the company's growth, it made sense for us to turn our skills towards the service sector. Blending the disciplines of expert engineering and recruitment allows us to offer a resourcing service like no other, meaning we truly speak our clients' language."

As well as working with the service sector, Frontier also works with the majority of operators, on both a local and international basis. In addition, international client demand has led the company to successfully expand in several key regions, with wholly owned subsidiaries established in India, Tanzania and Trinidad and Tobago.

PIRA Energy Group, a leader in global energy market analysis, announced today that Gemma Postlethwaite, the company's current COO, will assume the role of Chief Executive Officer effective immediately. Dr. Gary N. Ross, PIRA's founder and current CEO, will become Executive Chairman and will continue to lead the company's oil group.

"Since Gemma came on board as COO in early 2014, she has had a transformational impact on the business," said Dr. Ross. "She has a keen sense of how clients' needs are changing and how best to address those needs. In a short period of time, we've rebuilt our online platform and created a roadmap for better delivering data and analysis to more types of energy professionals. With Gemma onboard and with our newly expanded management team, the future is extremely bright for PIRA and its clients. I am now able to focus primarily on making our oil group and its products even stronger."

Dr. Ross built PIRA to help clients understand the entire energy market through rigorous fundamentals analysis. Today, PIRA has grown into one of the world's leading energy analysis companies, covering all energy commodity areas. Its "total view of the energy market" takes a bottom-up, fundamentals analysis of supply and demand as well as a top-down macroeconomic approach. PIRA's team of experts and comprehensive data tools serve a full range of worldwide clients, from upstream to downstream companies, physical players to investors, government to private entities, and those focused on the short term to those that need long-term perspectives.

"As PIRA approaches its 40th year of operations, I am thrilled to move into this new role," said Ms. Postlethwaite, who over her 15-year career has held leadership positions at major information-services companies. "Gary's vision and passion for the business have made PIRA the leader in our industry and an invaluable source of information and advice to our clients. I firmly believe no other entity understands the complexities of this market better than the incredible team of experts at PIRA.

At a time when our clients face very volatile market conditions, we are renewing our commitment to them — the commitment to provide the most expert, objective and integrated analysis of worldwide energy markets. We take this commitment seriously. It shapes the way we work every single day. I am excited to share what's coming next with our clients."

Acteon has announced the start-up of Clarus Subsea Integrity Inc., a new Group company created from 2H Offshore's subsea integrity business segment. Based in Houston, USA, the new company will commence operations in January 2015 and plans to expand globally.

Paul Alcock, executive vice president, Acteon, said, "Clarus is a service with its own brand identity, which will broaden the strong integrity capability developed at 2H over the past ten years. Clarus will support and enhance the subsea mechanical and electrical infrastructure segment of Acteon's global business and will support growing Opex-oriented markets, particularly in the global context of ageing deepwater fields."

Clarus will be led by John MacDonald and Dharmik Vadel, who previously managed subsea integrity activities within 2H Offshore. Vice president, MacDonald, said, "Clarus aims to become a unique pacesetter in global subsea integrity engineering by focusing on the essential operator objectives of compliance, uptime and efficiency. Clarus provides engineering solutions by efficiently interpreting data to help operators make better-informed decisions in operating their assets. Our goal of providing clarity to clients inspired the name we have chosen: Clarus, which is the Latin word for 'clear.'"

Clarus service offerings will include data management, risk based integrity assessment, anomaly management, fitness for service, subsea condition monitoring, key performance indicators and corrosion analysis. The initial subsea equipment specialty focus will grow to include integrity of all in-water equipment including hull and moorings.

AVEVA has announced the opening of its new office in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The new office strengthens its presence in the Middle East and further enhances its growing global network. The office will offer sales and support for all of AVEVA's solutions and services, with particular focus on Owner Operators (OOs) and Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPCs) contractors in the very important oil & gas and power sectors.

'This strategic location in Saudi Arabia positions AVEVA to add even greater value to our growing client base in the Middle East', said Richard Longdon, CEO, AVEVA Group. 'The new office is another example of our continued investment to deliver local sales and support where our customers operate. We will be focused on helping our OO and EPC customers improve their businesses through predictable project delivery and reliable operations.'

'At AVEVA we recognise how important it is to provide service and support in local language and in accordance with local culture,' Helmut Schuller, Executive Vice President, Group Sales, AVEVA added. 'Saudi Arabia represents a key market. It has the world's largest crude oil production capacity and the plan to increase electricity generating capacity to 120 gigawatts (GW) by 2032. We will be on the ground to offer solutions that can be used across the project and asset life cycle, ensuring our customers can anticipate changing technology needs and business objectives.'

Northern Offshore, Ltd. (the "Company") (Oslo Bors: NOF.OL) announces that on January 2, 2015 it issued a Notice of Contract Termination to Oceanic Consultants Nigeria Ltd. (Oceanic), an affiliate of Houston, Texas based CAMAC Energy Inc. (CAMAC) for the Energy Searcher drilling contract. CAMAC guaranteed Oceanic's obligations under the drilling contract.

The Company believes that Oceanic breached various terms of the drilling contract and will be filing a claim for in excess of $50 million associated with this matter pursuant to the arbitration provisions of the contract.

The Company hopes to have the rig demobilized out of Nigeria by late January.

With a strong focus on health and safety, Aquatic Engineering & Construction Ltd, an Acteon company, has achieved 1,000 consecutive days without a lost-time incident.

The photo shows a typical mobilization of an 11.4 m reel. This is a contract lift carried out under strict supervision, and as such there would be a lift plan in place prior to the start of the lift operation. In addition, there would be a method statement prepared, a risk assessment and tool box talk, which would be signed by all participants in the activity.

Aquatic's president, Chris Brooks, said, "I am proud to announce that, on Sunday, 14 December 2014, Aquatic reached the health and safety milestone of 1,000 days without a lost-time incident. This remarkable achievement is the result of the hard work and commitment of everyone at Aquatic. Both the professionalism of our health, safety, environment and quality team and the dedication of everyone who receives training and support from them have enabled us to reach this milestone.

"1,000 days without an incident means we have consistently safeguarded all our people, on- and offshore, and the people we work with on clients' vessels," he continued. "We are diligent about safety, and we work with awareness at all times to stay safe. We are committed to avoiding any incidents in our global operations."

Aquatic will share the news with customers and suppliers in a special issue of HSEQ e-AquatiCall; Aquatic's corporate newsletter. This will highlight the company's health and safety focus across a range of projects and achievements.

The MacArtney Group is pleased to announce the entry of an exclusive representative agreement with Alakaluf Ltda - a leading marine technology provider based in Chile. The agreement represents another important leg in MacArtney's ongoing thrust to increase its local presence in all South American markets for underwater technology.

Alakaluf Ltda.
Founded in 1994, in Punta Arenas, by marine biologist and M. Sc. Oceanography Sergio Andrade, Alakaluf Ltda. has achieved extensive expertise in supplying marine scientific and renewable energy solutions for all relevant industries and operators in Chile. Moreover, Alakaluf also supplies solutions for regional oil and gas in the Magellan Strait, underwater mining, coastal tourism, seaports, aquaculture and fisheries applications.

One-stop marine technology
With additional warehouse facilities and offices located in Santiago, Valparaiso and Concepcion, Alakaluf has grown to become a major vendor of marine solutions across Chile. During its existence, Alakaluf has developed several strategic alliances with leading providers of underwater equipment, including WET Labs, Rockland scientific, Sea Bird and many more. Through the agreement with MacArtney, Alakaluf will not only be the regional representative for SubConn® connectors, but also significantly extend its capacity of providing more full-scale solutions all the way from surface to seabed. Specifically, MacArtney winch handling solutions, telemetry and comprehensive connectivity solutions coupled with the multitude of sensor and data acquisition options already offered, will aid to render Alakaluf a true one-stop supplier of marine technology. Meanwhile, MacArtney is bound to benefit from the vast network of contacts and local expertise held by Alakaluf.

Tecnologías y Ambiente
Translatable to 'Technology and Environment' - the slogan of Alakaluf grants evidence to the central role that renewable energy technology plays within the company. To promote renewable energy in Chile, Alakaluf has partnered with several leading global developers - especially within the field of tidal energy. "Together - the depletion of fossil energy resources, the advancement of non-conventional marine energy technology and the increase in energy demand from coastal communities and the industry enable a viable increase in the development of renewable projects in Chile" says Alakaluf CEO, Sergio Andrade.

This focus area is hugely interesting to MacArtney, which has participated in several pioneering and industry scale projects with non-conventional marine renewables over the past decade. "With our rugged and advanced GreenLink inline terminations, subsea hubs and general connectivity solutions, we hold the capacity to effectively interconnect several tidal, wave or wind units and safely transfer the harnessed energy back to shore. We are confident, that in close cooperation with Alakaluf and its other partners, we can create great results for- and boost further advancement of - marine renewables in Chile" Says MacArtney Sales and Marketing Director, Marco MacArtney.

As of January 5, 2015, Imtech Marine has appointed Fergus Campbell as the new Director of Imtech Marine USA.

Fergus has worked for the Imtech Martine company previously (Radio Holland USA) from 2000 to 2010 as respectively Branch Manager Florida, National Service Manager and National Sales manager. Before Radio Holland, Fergus worked amongst others at Consilium Marine as sales and service manager and at Caledonian MacBrayne as superintendent. In 2010, he pursued his career as General Manager at C-MAR America Inc. in Houston, a leading global marine offshore and DP services provider. Fergus holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering and amongst others studied at the Glasgow College of Nautical Studies.

André Meijer: "We are happy that Fergus returns to our company. With his wide knowledge and experience of our company, both in sales and service management as well as international business development, and adding to that his experience at C-MAR in the offshore segment, he is a welcome addition to our team. He will lead our US team in our drive to be the service provider of choice, specifically focusing on our service & maintenance, connectivity and nav/com business."

Fergus Campbell: "I am very excited to be a part of the Imtech Marine family again, and to be given this opportunity to lead the US organization at this pivotal time. Particularly, with the re-introduction of the Radio Holland brand into the market place. I have always had the greatest respect and admiration for the services that the RH organization provides to the shipping community, ever since experiencing such services during my time at sea, and having witnessed first-hand the dedication of my colleagues during my previous years within the organization. I am very fortunate to have a great team of engineers, support and administration staff in the US and I look forward to the continued success of our company in the future."

BMT Nigel Gee (BMT), a subsidiary of BMT Group Ltd, the leading international maritime design, engineering and risk management consultancy, is pleased to announce the appointment of Jason Steward as Business Development Manager.

Jason's new role at BMT will see him support the continued expansion of the business in both new and existing markets delivering design and engineering services within the Commercial, Offshore Energy, Defence and Yacht Sectors.

A University of New South Wales graduate in naval architecture, Jason has over 20 years' experience in the marine market. His previous roles have included Regional Manager for Austal Ships, Consultant to Defence at professional technical services firm Jacobs Australia and most recently Business Development Manager at BMT Design & Technology based in Melbourne, Australia. Jason is a Chartered Professional Engineer (CEng MRINA), a member of the Professional Affairs Committee of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects, and has an MBA in Marketing.

John Bonafoux, Managing Director at BMT Nigel Gee commented: "We are delighted to welcome Jason to the team at an exciting time for the business. He will play a key part in building market share in our existing markets as well as spearheading our diversification into new markets, based around our existing core capabilities and design portfolio."

he world's largest ship and offshore classification society DNV GL has opened up a new office in Nanjing. It will support business growth in the area and be the centre for operations in Central China. Headed by Area Manager Chen Keng, DNV GL Central China covers most of the Jiangsu Province and follows the Yangtze River upstream to Chongqing and Sichuan.
"Central China is home to dozens of shipyards, many industry manufacturers and is therefore one of the most important areas for DNV GL to focus on in China. The launch of our expanded new office demonstrates our commitment", says Torgeir Sterri, Vice President and Regional Manager for Greater China at DNV GL.

"More expertise and competence in all ship types and offshore units as well as a strong focus on research, technology and innovation enables DNV GL to support the transformation and development of Central China's maritime industry more effectively. Together with our customers, we will contribute to a safer, smarter and greener future", Sterri adds.

The expanded office accommodates all staff from both legacy DNV and legacy GL. "Our customers now have easier access to our services. This puts us in a much better position to support them, strengthen our existing cooperations and generate more business in the area", says Area Manager Chen Keng.

DNV GL has been involved in many advanced newbuilding projects in China, such as 10,000 TEU container ships, 25,000 DWT Duplex chemical tankers, high-end OSVs and multi-purpose dry cargo vessels.

"We are proud and grateful for the trust and good cooperation built and maintained with our customers and partners in the area. With the support from our regional and global resources, I am very confident that we will be able to meet the even higher expectations from our customers on quality, technology and innovation development", concludes Chen Keng.

DNV GL in Central China
The Nanjing office was established in 2008 to support China's fast development in the maritime sector. With 130 professionals in three stations in Nanjing, Wuhan and Jiangyin, DNV GL provides a complete maritime service portfolio to more than 20 shipyards carrying out newbuilding and repair projects, over 100 manufacturers requiring certification services, and many shipowners, requiring fleet in service and newbuilding support

CGG has confirmed that its new Multi-Physics Business Line is now up and running within its Acquisition Division. The new Business Line combines all of CGG's Airborne capabilities with its GravMag Solutions business.

The Multi-Physics Business Line offers clients timely and cost-effective solutions encompassing gravity, magnetic, electromagnetic and radiometric surveys with the most comprehensive and advanced range of airborne fixed-wing and helicopter systems.

Multi-Physics is also able to leverage CGG's decades of expertise in applying these geophysical methods offshore with gravity and magnetic data acquisition from a broad range of marine platforms and onshore with particular specialization in near-surface Multi-Physics to enhance onshore seismic imaging.

The internationally renowned interpretation geoscientists working for this new Business Line integrate multi-physics data with geologic, seismic and well data to add insight to the natural resource evaluation process. They develop and commercialize specialized software to process, invert and interpret potential field and electromagnetic data which are then used to model a large variety of geologic environments. These capabilities extend to the delivery of specialized magnetic models for use in geo-steering by the drilling industry.

The Business Line's multi-client library of gravity and magnetic data also helps to further reduce exploration risk by contributing to an integrated understanding of basin architecture and hydrocarbon potential in most of the world's petroleum basins.

Benoit Ribadeau Dumas, Senior Executive Vice President, Acquisition, CGG, said: "Our creation of this new Multi-Physics Business Line was a logical next-step for CGG as a fully integrated geoscience leader specializing in a unique combination of geological and geophysical techniques. We believe it offers our petroleum, mining, land management and governmental clients a unique resource of capabilities, experience, knowledge, software and data library, all available from a single source."

Subsea Services/Diving Support: Offshore Seen from Sea Depths

A module containing technicians, and you have to use an airlock to get out of it to work in a challenging environment: an orbiting space station? Not quite, although the living and working conditions are similar... The module is on the deck of the Bourbon Evolution 806, for a new diving support mission off the coast of Saudi Arabia.

Subsea construction and maintenance work on oil facilities can be performed by saturation divers working at depths of up to 200 m, operating from an IMR vessel.

The principle: divers are kept at a constant pressure equal to the pressure at the sea bottom (up to 20 bars), enabling them to live and work over a long period - up to 4 weeks in a row - without having to undergo a decompression period with each dive. 3 teams of divers work in shifts at the intervention site, which they get to using a pressurized capsule, or diving bell, that acts as an elevator between the sea bottom and the vessel.

Work at the bottom becomes almost continuous (3 x 6hr shifts) and there is only one single decompression phase at the end of these 4 weeks. This single decompression is longer than usual, since it takes nearly 3 days to bring divers back to atmospheric pressure. Among the missions performed:

Taking measurements prior to interventions,
Connecting pipes,
Cleaning, maintenance, or repair work.

Bourbon Evolution 800, The Safety Advantage
"Diving support differs from other missions because of the human stakes," says Jean-Charles Audouin, Subsea Project Manager. "Divers work under risky conditions, so we need to ensure maximum safety for them. In this context, class 3 dynamic positioning (DP 3) is one of our advantages." Indeed, the Bourbon Evolution 800 series is equipped with DP 3. This system, highly redundant, allows the vessel to maintain its position in the event of a failure, but also in case of a fire or a leak. It's an important guarantee of safety for all types of subsea operations, but even more so when divers' lives may depend on it.

In the worst-case scenario of an evacuation of the vessel, divers can take refuge in a pressurized capsule, called the HRC (Hyperbaric Rescue Craft), which is launched and recovered by a second vessel, the safety vessel, constantly holding in the area to take charge of it within 30 minutes. The capsule will then be brought back to land, to be depressurized safely. .

A Bustling Vessel
During the operation, which can spread out over a period of 2 to 6 months, the vessel becomes a beehive of activity. Nearly a hundred people are working on board. On its own, the station housing the divers is managed by three command posts: one for handling pressurization, another for handling the daily lives of divers, and one for subsea operations.

The 1,000 m2 deck of the Bourbon Evolution 800 is well suited to integrating these systems and makes it possible to maintain clear deck space for storing the parts to be installed. In addition to the diving system, the capsule, and the essential equipment for a subsea intervention, the vessel also houses an ROV on deck. The ROV ensures both the monitoring of the operation and provides assistance to divers during certain tasks. At these depths, nothing can be left to chance...

Quick, Efficient Installation
In the past few months, BOURBON has conducted several such operations in Malaysia, New Caledonia, and China, thus taking advantage of the versatility of its vessels. After the mission is accomplished, the diving system is dismantled and the vessel can be reconfigured for any other subsea operation.

In this market segment, efforts are now being focused on optimizing the mobilization time for the diving system. Halved over the last two operations managed by our vessels – 7 days instead of 15 – Studies are underway to move towards a system similar to plug & play, with a vessel mobilization time reduced to a few days

Paragon Offshore plc ("Paragon") (NYSE: PGN) has announced that Julie A. Ferro has been appointed Vice President – Human Resources with responsibilities that include human resources, administration, learning and development, performance management, employee relations, recruiting and retention.

Ms. Ferro has more than 18 years of human resources experience working for both public and private companies in the energy and commercial real estate industries including her most recent role as Vice President – Human Resources at Endeavour International Corporation. She also spent three years as a Managing Director for a leading compensation consulting firm in Houston. Ms. Ferro has a BA degree from the University of Houston, and is a Certified Compensation Professional (CCP), a Certified Executive Compensation Professional (CECP), a Certified Equity Professional (CEP), and a certified Professional in Human Resources (PHR).

"We are extremely pleased that a professional of Julie's caliber has joined our management team," said Randall D. Stilley, President and Chief Executive Officer of Paragon. "She brings a wealth of experience to the role which will be critical in ensuring Paragon maintains and enriches the quality and capabilities of our global employee base, key differentiators of Paragon in both our competitive business and a challenging macro environment."