Mexico needs to attract significant interest to salvage a bidding round hampered by delays and low oil prices, with Phase 4 of the current Round 1 licensing process offering the country’s first deepwater assets, says research and consulting firm GlobalData.

The company’s latest report* states that a total of 13 exploration blocks will be open for bidding, together with several deepwater discoveries, with the general expectation that the assets will be offered under a royalty/tax contract called a license.

Adrian Lara, GlobalData’s Senior Upstream Analyst, says that evolutionary evidence from shallow-water terms suggests that the Mexican government is likely to change the adjustment mechanism to reduce the maximum additional royalty rather than accepting lower bids.

Lara explains: “To account for higher costs and exploration risks in deepwater areas, the additional royalty will need to be lower than that envisaged onshore.

“While this would ease the overall tax burden for potential investors, the government may still be able to mandate a reasonable minimum additional royalty rate.”

GlobalData’s report also found that exploration and production companies with over 1.6 million barrels of oil equivalent per day of production may no longer be restricted from partnering, and changes to unpopular corporate guarantee rules are also being considered.

Despite these attempts to make the current phase more attractive, Round 2 is expected to be more popular amongst bidders.

Lara adds: “Many companies are happy to wait to invest in Mexico if the Round 1 terms are not right, as a number of blocks in the Perdido area for Round 2 are possibly more attractive than those on offer this time around.

“The more important element of licensing in Round 1 is the farm-out of deepwater discoveries Exploratus, Trión and Maximino in the Fold Belt, which could contribute production within a much shorter time frame. Outside of the farm-outs, the government only risks the political capital it has invested if the terms are deemed unattractive,” the analyst concludes.

*Mexico’s Round 1 to Rebound with Deepwater Bidding

On behalf of the Peregrino license partners, Statoil is awarding a contract to Wood Group to provide four-year operations and maintenance for our two wellhead platforms (Alpha and Bravo) and modification services for both units and the FPSO Peregrino.

A well head platform on the Peregrino field (Photo:Statoil)

The contract’s scope includes offshore services and covers all production processes and equipment except drilling services and introduces a new operating model for the field, as for the first time the company is bundling all these services in one single contract in order to boost integration and simplify the contract management.

“We have decided to group these contracts in line with our corporate strategy of simplification, cost optimization and production efficiency. We have been working closely with Wood Group in Peregrino field and we look forward to strengthening our partnership for the next four years”, says Pål Eitrheim, senior vice president for Development Production International South America and Brazil Country Manager.

Wood Group has been operating the two wellhead platforms since 2009 and has supported the Peregrino project throughout its development.

“The bundling of the contracts will bring significant cost savings to Statoil Brazil, in addition to simplification to our operations. It’s essential to take the best of what the market can offer to us and further strengthen the relationship with our key suppliers”, says Jon Arnt Jacobsen, chief procurement officer of Statoil.

The Peregrino field is Statoil´s first and largest operatorship outside the Norwegian Continental Shelf. It started production on April 2011 and produces today around 90 000 bpd.

The field is located 85 kilometers offshore Brazil in the Campos basin at about 100 meters water depth in licenses BMC-7 and BMC-47. Statoil holds 60% ownership and the operatorship of the field and Sinochem the remaining 40%.

The past three decades have seen several major offshore disasters in the oil and gas sector. The EU Directive 2013/30/EU, which was introduced into national regulations in EU member states, aims to minimize the risk of such accidents and limit their consequences, whilst tackling the problem of fragmented regulation throughout the EU.

At Offshore Europe 2015, experts from Lloyd’s Register Energy were on hand to help organizations understand the requirements and the pathways to compliance. Ian Mackay, Technical Manager of Compliance Operations, was giving an overview of the risks and opportunities associated with the implementation - and what help is available.

“The main aim of SCR is to reduce the risks from major accident hazards to the health and safety of those employed on offshore installations. It also aims to increase the protection of the marine environment against pollution and ensure the correct mechanisms are in place if such an event were to happen,” described Mackay.

“Lloyd’s Register were involved with the UK Government technical committee which formulated the UK Safety Case Regulations in the early 90s. We have remained one of the major providers of safety case verification services in the North Sea,” explained Mackay, “We want to share our knowledge and experience with ministries and newly formed competent authorities, not just in the UK but in all affected states.”

Ian Thomas, Department Manager of Consulting Operations in Aberdeen, presented on the required verification schemes for Safety and Environmentally Critical Elements (SECEs), which in the UK are addressed via SCR.

Thomas said: “The requirement to include environmentally critical elements within the verification scheme is already promoting much debate and is seen to be driving innovation. For example, environmental practitioners are now starting to apply techniques common to safety specialists such as Bow Tie studies to achieve a more systematic and objective method for the identification and management of the ‘environmental component’ of Safety and Environmentally Critical Elements and Performance Standards.”

“At Offshore Europe, Lloyd’s Register shared some of the knowledge gained around the Directive whilst working with independent verifiers and certifiers of environmental management systems and specialist consultants developing SECEs assurance schemes Lloyd’s Register will offer guidance on how to interpret the requirements and share their considerations for the identification, classification and management of SECEs” stated Thomas.

The Directive is a goal setting regime largely based on the UK Safety Case model. For some, this regime will be unfamiliar but even UK operators will be required to modify existing arrangements and provide additional documentation.

Ahead of Tuesday’s congressional hearing in New Orleans, API highlighted the importance of offshore oil and natural gas development to the region's economic development.

"The oil and natural gas industry supports hundreds of thousands of Gulf Coast jobs," said Erik Milito, API upstream group director. "Offshore energy has driven Louisiana's economy for generations, and building on that growth requires a regulatory approach that embraces safe, responsible development."

API recently issued a request that the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) arrange workshops with each of the eight industry workgroups involved with analyzing respective sections of BSEE's proposed well control rule in order to address fundamental technical and economic flaws in the proposal that could increase risks to people and the environment.

"We are committed to working with government officials to ensure that America's offshore energy development is the safest in the world," said Milito. "Industry standards and smart regulatory oversight are key to our success, but the well control rule, as proposed, does not meet this commitment and could ultimately reverse existing improvements to offshore safety."

Further exploration and production of offshore oil and natural gas in the U.S. Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), the U.S. Pacific OCS and the Eastern Gulf of Mexico could create hundreds of thousands of jobs, boost U.S. energy security, increase domestic investment and grow government revenue, according to recent studies.

API represents all segments of America's oil and natural gas industry. Its more than 625 members produce, process, and distribute most of the nation's energy. The industry also supports 9.8 million U.S. jobs and 8 percent of the U.S. economy.

Statoil and its partners last week put the first subsea gas compression facility on line at Åsgard in the Norwegian Sea. Subsea compression will add some 306 million barrels of oil equivalent to total output over the field’s life.

This subsea technology milestone opens new opportunities in deeper waters, and in areas far from shore.

“This is one of the most demanding technology projects aimed at improving oil recovery. We are very proud today that we together with our partners and suppliers have realized this project that we started ten years ago,” says Margareth Øvrum, Statoil’s executive vice president for Technology, Drilling and Projects.

Recovery from the Midgard reservoir on Åsgard will increase from 67 percent to 87 percent, and from 59 percent to 84 percent from the Mikkel reservoir. Overall, 306 million barrels of oil equivalent will be added.

“Thanks to the new compressor solution we will achieve increased recovery rates both at Midgard and Mikkel, extending the reservoirs’ productive lives until 2032,” says Siri Espedal Kindem, senior vice president for Åsgard operations.

Demanding technology development

As a field gets older, the natural pressure in the reservoir drops. In order to recover more oil and gas, and get this to the platform, compression is required. The closer to the well compression takes place, the more oil and gas can be recovered.

Traditionally compression plants are installed on platforms or onshore, but this plant is located in 300 meters of water.

Due to the challenging location, quality in all parts of the project has been essential, and will help ensure high regularity, maximum recovery and robust production.

The project started in 2005, and the plan for development and operation (PDO) was approved in 2012.

An estimated eleven million man-hours have been spent from the start until completion. More than 40 new technologies have been developed and employed after prior testing and verification. Some of this work has taken place at Statoil’s Kårstø laboratory in Western Norway.

Overall, project cost were just above NOK 19 billion. Many small and big suppliers have helped to develop the sophisticated underwater compressor system.

Establishing the necessary support functions onshore has been an important and substantial part of the project. A spare compression train will be stored in custom designed halls at the onshore supply base Vestbase in Kristiansund.

“High-quality, regular maintenance of the subsea modules will also be performed here, helping ensure operational excellence for Åsgard,” says Espedal Kindem.

Technology for the future, and new potentials

The Midgard and Mikkel gas reservoirs have been developed using subsea installations. The two gas compressors now installed on the seabed are located close to the wellheads.

Moving the gas compression from the platform to the wellhead substantially increases the recovery rate and life of the fields. Prior to gas compression, gas and liquids are separated out, and after pressure boosting recombined and sent through a pipeline some 40 kilometers to Åsgard B.

In addition to improving recovery subsea gas compression will be more energy efficient than the traditional topside solution. The technology reduces significantly energy consumption and CO2 emissions over the field’s life.

Today almost 50 percent of Statoil’s production is recovered through some 500 subsea wells. Statoil’s subsea expertise is essential to successful production efficiency improvement and increased oil recovery efforts.

“Subsea gas compression is the technology for the future, taking us a big step closer to our ambition of realizing a subsea processing plant, referred to as the subsea factory”, says Øvrum.

Such a plant will facilitate remotely controlled hydrocarbon transportation. Current topside operations will thus be moved to the seabed, allowing oil and gas to be recovered that would not otherwise be profitable. This is an important element of increased recovery on the Norwegian continental shelf.

Ovivo Inc. ("Ovivo") has been awarded a major contract to design and supply modular fresh water makers for an offshore oil production platform located in the North Sea. Ovivo's scope of work includes the supply of a filtration plant and a custom engineered fresh potable water maker package, through its heritage brand Caird & Rayner Clark, which is based upon reverse osmosis technology to treat seawater. The contract value is approximately $8 million Canadian and the equipment is scheduled for delivery in December 2016.

"This large contract is the latest of a series of orders booked in the energy market since January, which bodes well for the remaining of the current fiscal year in this key segment," said Marc Barbeau, President and Chief Executive Officer. "Our global platform continues to be a key advantage for us in order to reach our customers across the world and supply our high specification water treatment technologies," added Mr. Barbeau.

Bibby Offshore, a leading subsea services provider to the oil and gas industry, has this year delivered two multimillion pound decommissioning contracts to the UK Continental Shelf.

Endeavour Energy appointed Bibby Offshore to perform operations in the Renee and Rubie fields located in blocks 15/27 and 15/28 of the Central North Sea, approximately 115km east of Aberdeen.

The 60 day agreement, which was completed in Q3 of this year, involved Bibby Offshore’s dive support vessel (DSV) Bibby Sapphire and construction support vessel Olympic Ares, completing the recovery of subsea equipment including cross-over structures, umbilicals and protection mattresses.

Bibby Sapphire in port during mobilization

Barry Macleod, Managing Director of Bibby Offshore UKCS said: “Decommissioning work has been a key area of focus for Bibby Offshore for many years and as a result, we have built up a strong track record. Production from the Renee and Rubie fields ceased in 2009 and, following a site survey we completed last October, we were contracted to be part of this extensive project.

"UKCS decommissioning costs are forecast to reach in excess of £50billion over the next 35 years. Decommissioning operations in particular are specialist by nature in order to ensure that all materials and often complex infrastructure are removed and disposed of safely and responsibly, with minimal environmental impact.”

Derek Neilson, Managing Director of Endeavour Energy UK said “When we tendered this work we were pleased to see that Bibby had a clear understanding of our requirements. We established a strong working relationship with Bibby which enhanced the effectiveness and efficiency throughout the programme and resulted in the safe and successful completion of the subsea facilities decommissioning work this year”.

Bibby Offshore also successfully completed work for Tullow Oil SK (TOSK) throughout April and May 2015, utilising DSV Bibby Topaz to perform decommissioning operations at the Orwell and Wissey subsea installations, including the tie-ins at the Thames and Horne and Wren platforms, in block 49/28 of the Southern North Sea.

“Both scopes of work have been a cross-business effort, drawing on the skills and expertise of the entire Bibby Offshore team to deliver safe and competitive services. These contracts not only demonstrate the breadth of our capabilities, but they also help solidify our position as leaders in subsea services,” concluded Barry Macleod.

The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Aberdeen Section will launch its 2015-2016 events programme this next week with a presentation from the oil and gas industry regulator, the Oil & Gas Authority (OGA), on the topic of Maximising Economic Recovery (MER).

Drawing upon 28 years of industry experience, Ms Brenda Wyllie, Northern North Sea and West of Shetland Area Manager at the OGA, will outline the importance of MER in the UK, the key areas which should be prioritised by the industry and the best ways to drive future investment and improve efficiency.

The OGA was set up by the UK Government to supervise the offshore oil and gas licensing regime and ensure maximum collaboration between operators. The OGA became an Executive Agency of the Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) on 1 April 2015.

Shankar Bhukya, SPE Aberdeen chairman, said: “The formation of the OGA will, hopefully, improve the regulation of the UK oil and gas industry. It has been granted the governmental powers and resources required to increase production and co-operation efficiency and drive future investment in the UKCS.

“Securing Ms Wyllie as the speaker of our first evening meeting of 2015-2016 session is a real privilege and we are grateful that she will be sharing the OGA’s action plan with our members and non-members.”

Prior to joining the OGA, Ms Wyllie was a production manager with Oil & Gas UK where she managed the PILOT agenda, a joint forum between the UK Government and industry which aims to secure the long-term future of the UKCS and maximise economic recovery of hydrocarbons.

Ahead of her presentation, Ms Brenda Wyllie said: “The OGA has moved quickly to establish the new regulator, build a strong and experienced leadership team and take action to address the immediate challenges facing the sector.

“By striking the right balance between utilising the new regulatory powers with a more proactive and engaged approach, we can encourage greater collaboration and achieve maximum value from the economic reserves in the UKCS. Greater collaboration and more cooperative behaviours are essential to create a sustainable future for the UKCS and SPE Aberdeen’s technical meeting is the ideal platform to share our plans with those operating in the industry.”

The SPE Aberdeen technical meeting will take place on Wednesday 23 September from 6.30pm - for more information or to book a space please visit: http://www.spe-uk.org/aberdeen/event/building-the-oil-gas-authority-brenda-wyllie-northern-north-sea-west-of-shetland-area-manager-oil-gas-authority/.

Claxton, an Acteon company, has successfully installed a high-pressure drilling riser system as part of a multimillion-pound contract for the Catcher area field development in the Central North Sea.

Owen Lewis, project engineer, Claxton, said, “Claxton was the only company to offer Premier Oil a fully-forged riser design option in the early tender stages of the project, and they recognized the value of it. Each joint was forged from a single billet of material with no joining welds, which makes the riser stronger than traditional systems. The riser’s fatigue life far exceeds the duration of the drilling phase of this project. We also provided optimum deployment times for the riser package, through the use of hydraulic handling tools and bolt tensioning equipment.”

The system was installed for Premier Oil’s Catcher area field development, which includes the development of the Catcher, Varadero and Burgman fields in Block 28/09a in the UK’s central North Sea.

Claxton’s scope of work includes providing the subsea connector to latch the riser with the subsea wellhead; riser tensioning interface from the riser to the rig’s tension system; all riser handling tools and a suite of custom-designed bolt tensioners, which will facilitate flange make-up. Acteon sister company, 2H Offshore, provided the riser analysis for the Catcher development.

Claxton secured the contract last year and began mobilization in late July 2015. The contract is for three-and-a-half years, with a possible extension.

“This project has been an exciting challenge throughout, with the design undertaken in-house to integrate a fully-forged system with a new flange design,” said Lewis. “One challenge was incorporating the tubing hanger alignment mechanism within our stress joint assembly. Claxton succeeded in delivering a unique guide frame design attached to the stress joint, which provided consistent and repeatable positioning of the tubing hanger in the wellhead. The riser has been installed successfully, with the first well nearing completion.”

As part of President Obama’s all-of-the-above energy strategy to continue to expand safe and responsible domestic energy production, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Abigail Ross Hopper announced on September 11, that the bureau will offer 40 million acres offshore Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama for oil and gas exploration and development in sales that will include all available unleased areas in the Central and Eastern Gulf of Mexico Planning Areas.

Proposed Gulf of Mexico Central Planning Area Lease Sale 241 and Eastern Planning Area Lease Sale 226, scheduled to take place in New Orleans, Louisiana, in March of 2016, will be the ninth and tenth offshore sales under the Administration’s Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2012-2017 (Five-Year Program). These sales build on the first eight sales in the current Five-Year Program, which have offered more than 60 million acres and netted nearly $3 billion for American taxpayers.

“As one of the most productive basins in the world, the Gulf of Mexico is a cornerstone of our domestic energy portfolio, offering vital oil and gas resources that further economic growth and continue to reduce our dependence on foreign oil,” said Hopper. “This lease sale is another important step in promoting responsible domestic energy production through the safe, environmentally sound development of the Nation’s offshore energy resources, while ensuring a fair return to the American people.”

Proposed CPA Sale 241 will include approximately 7,919 blocks, covering 42.1 million acres, located from three to 230 nautical miles offshore, in water depths ranging from nine to more than 11,000 feet (three to 3,400 meters). BOEM estimates the proposed lease sale could result in the production of 460 to 894 million barrels of oil and 1.9 to 3.9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

Proposed EPA Sale 226 will offer approximately 175 blocks, covering 595,475 acres. The blocks are located at least 125 statute miles offshore in water depths ranging from 2,657 feet to 10,213 feet (810 to 3,113 meters). The area is bordered by the Central Planning Area boundary on the West and the Military Mission Line (86º 41’W) on the East. It is south of eastern Alabama and western Florida; the nearest point of land is 125 miles northwest in Louisiana. BOEM estimates the proposed lease sale could result in the production of 71 million barrels of oil and 162 billion cubic feet of natural gas.

The sales’ fiscal terms will continue to ensure a fair return to taxpayers, and include conditions to encourage diligent development as well as ensure an appropriate balance of orderly resource development with protection of the human, marine and coastal environments.

All proposed terms and conditions for CPA Sale 241 are detailed in the Proposed Notice of Sale information package, which is available at: http://www.boem.gov/Sale-241/.

All proposed terms and conditions for EPA Sale 226 are detailed in the Proposed Notice of Sale information package, which is available at: http://www.boem.gov/Sale-226/.

In addition, BOEM has published the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) prepared for these sales. It updates several previously published environmental reviews covering the Gulf of Mexico and incorporates the latest available scientific information. The Final SEIS Gulf of Mexico OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sales: 2013-2014 (OCS EIS/EA BOEM 2013-0118) is available to view online: http://boem.gov/nepaprocess/. It is also available through BOEM's Gulf of Mexico Region's Public Information Office, and can be requested at 800-200-GULF (4853).

The Notice of Availability of the Proposed Notices of Sale is available today for inspection in the Federal Register.

Jotachar JF750, the industry’s first mesh-free Passive Fire Protection (PFP) epoxy coating system for structural steel, is rapidly setting new standards in the oil and gas sector – in terms of both its benefits and sales volumes. Launched just two years ago by Jotun, the ground breaking performance coating has already attracted substantial orders from some of the biggest names in the industry.

Jotun is happy to confirm that “many millions of kilograms” of Jotachar JF750 have already been installed since launch, now protecting key assets. One recent project award will consume over half a million kilograms for a major Middle-East operator choosing Jotachar to protect two large offshore units against a broad range of fire scenarios, including jet fires.

“These significant volumes are an indication of the interest Jotachar JF750 has generated in the market,” states Global PFP Sales Director Performance Coatings, Andy Czainski. “Third party data and customer experience has shown that Jotachar reduces risk, time and cost during installation and increases safety during operation. Major Oil & Gas companies are approaching us to protect their high-value assets.”

Adding to a long list of third party approvals and certifications, Statoil, known to posses one of the industry’s most stringent safety standards, recently approved Jotachar JF750 in their governing document TR 0042.

“Although Jotachar was already a tested, proven and certified technology, winning the confidence of the most conservative and safety conscious operators, endorsements of this importance open up new opportunities with some of the industry’s best-known companies,” states Czainski, pointing out that Jotachar’s capacity to withstand the highest heat flux jet fires exceeding 350 kW/m2 – the only mesh-free PFP epoxy to be successfully tested to this extreme requirement – has been critical in gaining such third party assurance.

“There is a drive in the industry to provide protection for higher risk assets against the most intense high heat flux jet fire scenarios. Jotachar has proven that it is more than capable exceeding these extreme requirements through rigorous independent tests, actually outlasting the high heat flux test facility during a recent witnessed test,” he adds.

While increased safety and reduced risk continue to be the primary objectives among operators, the current cost focus in the oil industry underlines the appeal of technologies that are proven to help meet project budgets and schedules. Recent project wins confirm this, says Czainski.

“With oil hovering around the USD 50 mark, reducing downtime is more critical than ever. This is especially the case on maintenance projects, where operators are seeking every opportunity to fast track their assets back to production. In this climate, a fire protection system that is proven to cut application time by up to 60%, while improving safety, is very attractive to asset owners and installers alike.”

“We are excited about the opportunities in the near future,” declares Czainski, “as Jotun look to solidify its position as a leader in mesh-free PFP epoxy coatings”.

Leading international oilfield services company, Expro, has strengthened its operations in the North Sea with $25m in contract wins secured in the UK and Norway, where it will officially open a new facility later this month.

The company has been awarded a subsea contract for oil and gas producer, Wintershall Norway, in the Haltenbanken area of the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS). The five-year contract, for Wintershall’s Maria project, includes multi-well completions with two optional two-year extensions.

The scope of the contract includes the supply of a complete workover riser system including surface test tree and subsea landing string systems. Operations, maintenance and engineering support services will also be provided for the system including global riser analysis and life cycle fatigue monitoring.

In the UK Central North Sea, the company has won a contract with Premier Oil plc for its Catcher development to provide surface well testing and fluid analysis services on 22 subsea wells for three years, with options for three one-year extensions.

Expro have been the leading supplier of well testing services to Premier Oil since 2009, and are currently undertaking work in the Solan field development, west of the Shetland Isles.

These wins have been followed by further contract extensions with key clients across the UK Continental Shelf for well test, clean-up and slickline services.

Expro’s work in Norway will be supported by a major new base in Tananger set to officially open later this year. The 19,000 sqm facility will house several of the company’s key product lines including Drill Stem Testing and Well Testing, and will comprise an office building, yard and workshop with the capability to rig-up four well test packages, and service a further six, simultaneously.

Neil Sims, Expro’s Vice President – Europe CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) comments:

“These contract wins are testament to the strong relationships Expro maintain with key clients across Europe. Our flexible solutions, commitment to safety, customer service and quality field performance in the region ideally position us to support these contracts.

“Expro’s world-renowned subsea technology and fluids expertise have been applied in similar successful projects across the North Sea, and we have provided over 2,000 well tests and 150 well testing packages to the global oil and gas industry.

“In the UK, developments such as Catcher are integral to the future of the North Sea, and these contracts will see Expro utilise local expertise and the supply chain in Aberdeen and Great Yarmouth.

“In Norway, we have underlined our commitment to projects in the region with significant investment in our new base and technology – including over $10m in capital expenditure for new equipment to services well test projects since 2012.”

Expro will be exhibiting at the SPE Offshore Europe Conference & Exhibition in Aberdeen at Stand 2C130 from 8-11 September 2015.

Chief Executive Officer, Charles Woodburn, is this year’s Technical Chairman and will focus on the conference technical programme, whilst Alistair Geddes, Executive Vice President, will lead a technical session on ‘Developing Talent to Meet Demand – I’.

In combination with daily technical presentations, Expro will feature a range of integrated products and services including Subsea Safety Systems, Well Test, SafeWells, Fluids, Well Intervention, Meters, Wirless Well Solutions, DST/TCP and Production.

For more information, please click here.

In response to the decline in crude oil prices since mid-2014, the number of active offshore rigs has declined worldwide, dropping close to 20%—304 offshore rigs were operating in August 2015, down from 377 in August 2014. During this period, the number of active offshore rigs in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GOM) dropped more rapidly, falling by 46%. Over the past 15 years, the U.S. GOM's share of active offshore rigs worldwide has declined significantly—from almost half of all active offshore rigs worldwide in 2000 to less than 20% since 2008.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, based on Baker Hughes Inc.

In the U.S. GOM, technology advancements accelerated the development of the deepwater (areas where the water depth is greater than 1,000 feet). The move to deeper waters prompted the departure of rigs operating in the shallow waters of the U.S. GOM. Natural gas prospects in the U.S. GOM have also become less profitable, as the largely shale-driven increase in onshore natural gas supply contributed to decreases in U.S. natural gas prices. The number of active offshore rigs in the U.S. GOM declined from 122 in January 2000 to 41 in January 2010, before falling to 19 in June 2010 following the Deepwater Horizon offshore explosion and blowout. The U.S. GOM active offshore rig count recovered to 57 by December 2014, and currently the number is 33.

From 2000 to 2006, the share of active rigs operating offshore in Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Latin America grew significantly. That share remained steady over the past decade. The expansion of offshore drilling in India and China largely accounted for the growth in offshore rigs in the Asia Pacific region. During the early 2000s, Qatar and Iran accounted for much of the growth in active offshore rigs in the Middle East, with Saudi Arabia accounting for a large portion of the regional growth since 2006. Mexico accounted for the growth in active offshore rigs in Latin America in the early 2000s, as national oil company Pemex increased its offshore activity to arrest declining production from aging fields.

Since 2006, Brazil has been responsible for much of Latin America's growth. Most of the more recent growth in active offshore rigs outside the United States has occurred in Africa. Angola and Nigeria account for much of the growth in the region after 2010. Angola has more than 10 offshore oil projects expected to come online within the next five years. Nigeria's offshore activities have been focusing on the deepwater and ultra-deepwater; at least three deepwater projects are in development and are projected to come online within the next five years.

In today’s cost constrained climate, the subsea and pipeline sectors are actively looking at alternative means to drive down costs, cut complexity and reduce project overruns. DNV GL, the leading technical advisor to the oil and gas industry, is launching two joint industry projects (JIPs) to investigate affordable composite components for the subsea sector and qualify technology for more efficient linepipe production processes. It is estimated that the JIPs could deliver a combined saving of £6.75 million.

The DNV GL Affordable Composites for the oil and gas industry JIP aims to reduce the cost of qualifying composite components for subsea use by replacing large scale tests with ‘certification by simulation’. Statoil, Petrobras, Petronas, Nexans, Airborne and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim, are participating in the project. The project is partly funded by the Research Council of Norway.

The project, which could potentially deliver a 40 to 50% cost saving for certification and qualification of subsea composite components, will seek to validate new advanced material models by experimentation, with the main focus on predicting chemical ageing.

“Composite components require full-scale testing to document long-term properties to achieve certification,” said Jan Weitzenböck, Principal Engineer, DNV GL - Oil & Gas. “A typical qualification campaign for a subsea composite component can cost in the region of ten to 100 million NOK. The results of this JIP could potentially save up to 16 million NOK for re-certificaiton of existing components.”

DNV GL will also develop processes to accept mathematical material models in the certification process. This will be documented in a revised edition of the DNV GL offshore standard for composite components (DNV OS-C501).

The driver for the New Material Solutions for Flowlines JIP is to explore cost savings by use of HFW/SAW (high frequency welded/submerged arc welded) pipes. Within the envelope of production parameters, these may be a very attractive alternative to the traditional seamless pipes, due to their lower cost and shorter delivery time.

The JIP has drawn the interest from pipe manufacturers, installation contractors and operators such as: Corinth PipeWorks, EMAS, JFE-Steel, Sumitomo, Tata steel, Tenaris/Tamsa and Woodside. The JIP is still open to additional partners.

“Though there is a considerable amount of research and full-scale reeling trials for the use of HFW or SAW linepipe, as well as a good track record in terms of executed projects, a joint systematic approach to optimize the design of these linepipe for reeling is lacking2. There is much to be gained through this project - we estimate that it could deliver a 20-30% reduction in pipeline material cost, corresponding to £4—5.5 million saving potential for a 30 km flowline,” said Leif Collberg, Vice President - Pipeline Technology, DNV GL Oil & Gas.

The JIP will be run as a Technology Qualification (TQ) project and is expected to result in a qualification plan that will require qualification testing by the manufacturers.

Craig International, the new name for Craig International Supplies (CIS), has evolved from an oilfield supply company to a provider of out-sourced procurement services. These services are resulting in major savings for oil companies in time and resources, combined with considerable savings on spend on oilfield products.

Out-sourced procurement management now accounts for almost 90% of Craig International’s revenues and this is anticipated to grow dramatically in the next 12 months. By providing a complete procurement service, from raising the requisition, obtaining quotes for best price and issuing the purchase order to organizing receipt and delivery of the goods, Craig International guarantees major savings on administrative time as well as the best price for the service or product.

Craig International’s research has revealed that typically oil company buyers spend 85% of their time on managing only 15% of their spend. This small percentage of overall spend is largely related to oilfield consumables including chemicals, oils and paints, pipe and fittings, tools, electrical and welfare items and services such as travel and accommodation, project management, data management and processing, hospitality, facilities management and general repair and maintenance.

Out-sourcing the procurement of these goods and services results in major cost-savings, reducing expensive overheads and freeing up personnel to focus on the company’s core business.

Jill MacDonald (photo), joint managing director of Craig International explained: “Historically we have been seen as simply a supplier of oilfield consumable products, but we now have a recognized track-record in delivering a much wider procurement service which allows companies to out-source their entire procurement function.

“With the current, pressing need to make savings across the oil and gas supply chain, we felt the time was right to re-brand and demonstrate how we can act as a full trading house for the industry globally. By being part of our customer’s business, not just a supplier, we can better serve that business and guarantee savings. Our people and processes are driven by efficiency and in passing this on to our customers.”

In addition, Craig International’s consolidated global buying power allows them to pass on further savings to customers. They also operate a gain share model with several key clients where the cost savings of their combined spend are shared across them all equally. Further efficiencies are delivered through smart use of cutting edge e-procurement, reducing administration resources. Craig International’s electronic, on-line processes integrate fully with internal systems used by their customers.

Steve Johnson, director of Simply Joined Consulting Limited, Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply and formerly a steering committee member of FPAL said: “I have been very impressed with Craig International and, as a former customer, have seen how they effectively combine smart processes with smart buyers who are motivated to source the best products and services at the best price for their customers, resulting in reduced costs and real value creation.”

Craig International has a global network of pre-qualified suppliers, over 70 experienced and qualified buyers in six countries covering every continent, proven out-sourcing experience, recognized international accreditations and on-line procurement tools and processes.

“With access to a wide variety of market sources for goods and services, we can satisfy the full range of sourcing strategies from low cost country sourcing initiatives through to specific local content demands,” added Ms. MacDonald.

“We can streamline a client’s vendor list and take care of the pre-qualification of second tier vendors. We are able to benchmark vendor pricing to make sure our customers get the product or service for the best price and then provide detailed reports on-line and in real-time. Our processes integrate seamlessly with our customer’s procurement systems.”

With bases in Houston, Calgary, Cape Town, Warsaw and Hamburg, Craig International saw its turnover rise from over £48million in 2013 to almost £66million in 2014. It is a division of Aberdeen head-quartered global shipping and energy service firm, Craig Group.

Craig Group remains one of Scotland’s top 100 companies, is in the Sunday Times TopTrack 250 list of UK private mid-market companies and the top 20 of offshore service companies in the North Sea.

Xodus Group has been awarded a contract with Nexen Petroleum U.K. Limited to provide Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) services in support of the decommissioning of the Ettrick and Blackbird fields in the central North Sea.

The workscope will assess the best practice decommissioning methods for the main items of field architecture, including the structures, flowlines, umbilicals and risers. The work involves developing the decommissioning methodology for the field taking account of current industry best practice to ensure a technically robust decommissioning solution is developed.

Andrew Wylie, Scotland Subsea Operations Manager

Xodus offers a fully integrated FEED solution by leveraging the company’s wider capabilities such as process and facilities engineering, subsea, pipelines, risk management, and environmental services. The company has, to date, delivered more than 50 decommissioning projects for North Sea operators.

Andrew Wylie, Scotland Subsea Operations Manager, said: “Decommissioning in the current economic climate requires a mindset which is open to change. At Xodus, we deliver this by challenging the ‘norm’ and constantly using our clever thinking to drive innovation.

“While offshore infrastructure is complex, a logical approach to decommissioning which makes the most of operational data, lessons learned and latest technologies can reduce costs at every stage of the process.”