Origin Energy to Defer Shale Drilling in Australia
Origin Energy will defer shale exploration drilling in Australia's Northern Territory until the second half of this year in a bid to protect workers from a coronavirus, the company said on Thursday.Origin, operator of a joint venture with Dublin-based Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd, resumed drilling in the Beetaloo Basin last year after a three-year break when drilling was banned, and had hoped to get first test results around July this year.It has estimated the Beetaloo Basin contains…
OP/ED: Offshore Wind
Set to Soar, Taking Offshore Support Industry With it.Offshore energy development is opening a new front in the United States -- the Atlantic seaboard, with strong winds, a shallow continental shelf and a proximity to dense population centers is driving strong interest in offshore wind development. The offshore oil and gas supply chain stands to benefit in a big way from billions in coming investment. In fact, it is already playing a role. Companies in the Gulf of Mexico, which traditionally support the offshore oil and gas sector…
Film-Ocean Orders 10th Saab Seaeye Falcon
Independent subsea contractor, Film-Ocean, has ordered its 10th Saab Seaeye Falcon.Film-Ocean have developed and patented a chain measuring system for FPSO and Offshore Wind Farm mooring systems which is easily deployed with the Falcon providing results in real time and is accurate to 0.1mm.Saab Seaeye says that the versatility shown by Film-Ocean’s engagement of the Falcon, demonstrates the success of the design’s concept that has made it the most popular underwater robotic vehicle of its class in the world.The Falcon’s winning concept comes from creating a highly reliable vehicle…
OMSA Announces Formation of Wind Committee
Open to all OMSA Members, the Committee Seeks to Further the Domestic Offshore Wind Industry and the Jones Act.New Orleans, LA – Today, the Offshore Marine Service Association (OMSA) announced the formation of the OMSA Wind Committee and announced that membership on the Committee is now open to all OMSA members.OMSA President, Aaron Smith said, “Over the past 46 years, OMSA has done a tremendous job in promoting public policy that benefits the vessels, operators, and mariners engaged in the offshore oil and gas industry.
Boskalis to Install Cables for Hornsea 2
Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. (Boskalis) said it has been awarded a €100 million ($111.6 million) contract from Ørsted to install three export cable circuits for the Hornsea 2 offshore wind farm.The wind farm will consist of up to 165 turbines with a maximum capacity of 1.4GW and is located approximately 90 kilometers off the Yorkshire coast.Boskalis said its project scope includes the preparation of the offshore export cable route (geophysical survey, boulder clearance and seabed leveling through dredging), and the installation and protection of the cables.
Fred. Olsen Windcarrier, Seacor Team Up for US Offshore Wind Market
Falcon Global, a subsidiary of Seacor Marine Holdings and Fred. Olsen Windcarrier a wholly owned subsidiary of Bonheur ASA announced that they have reached a cooperation agreement whereby each party will exclusively contribute vessels and marine/installation crews to the market and operate a full spread of offshore wind installation and feeder vessels for the US offshore wind market. The Falcon Global fleet consists of one of the largest existing US-flag and Jones-Act compliant lift boats in the U.S.
South Africa Mulls First Shale Gas Exploration Licences
South Africa's government may award its first shale gas exploration licences by the end of September, after environmental objections delayed the process, a senior government official said on Monday. The five licence applications under review are for exploration in the semi-arid Karoo basin. Environmentalists criticised plans to work in the sparsely populated region, known for its rugged scenery and home to rare species such as the mountain zebra and riverine rabbit. Royal Dutch Shell…
Ex-BP Executive to Face Bribery Charges
A former executive at oil company BP in Singapore was charged on Thursday with obtaining $3.95 million in bribes in what the city-state's anti-corruption agency called one of the largest corruption cases in the country. Clarence Chang Peng Hong, a former regional director for marine fuels with BP, was charged with taking bribes from an executive at a petroleum products supplier in order to advance the company's business interests with BP, according to the charge sheet from Singapore's Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB).
CGG Completes Industry-First FalconPlus Survey BAPCO
CGG has completed the acquisition and processing of the first ever Airborne Gravity Gradiometry (AGG) survey of the Kingdom of Bahrain. Conducted on behalf of the Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco), this was the first commercial survey to be acquired worldwide using Falcon Plus, the newest release in CGG’s highly successful suite of Falcon AGG systems and the lowest-noise AGG system available. A data set of around 18,000 km of high-resolution, low-noise AGG and magnetic data is now available over approximately 7…
South Africa to Start Shale Gas Exploration in Next Year
South Africa will give the green light in the next 12 months to companies looking to explore for shale gas under the semi-arid Karoo basin, the government said on Tuesday, more than six years after firms such as Shell applied for licences. Royal Dutch Shell, Falcon Oil & Gas and Bundu Gas & Oil are among five companies which have applied for exploration licences being reviewed by South Africa's Petroleum Agency, the regulator said on Tuesday. The Petroleum Agency will submit its recommendations to the government by early May.
Venezuela detains three vessels for suspected fuel smuggling - navy
Three vessels suspected of smuggling subsidized fuel from Venezuela's refinery-rich Paraguana peninsula were detained this week by the country's navy, a local commander said on Saturday. Sources told Reuters on Monday that seven people had been arrested for allegedly attempting to smuggle diesel in a tanker owned by state oil company PDVSA. Admiral Andres Gomez, commander of a local navy unit, confirmed tanker 'Negra Hipolita' was found with an excess load of 50,000 barrels of diesel fuel at the Cardon refinery.
ISS Bags Tanzania's Paragon project
Inchcape Shipping Services (ISS) has been appointed by Paragon Offshore, Houston, as marine and logistic services provider for a new drilling campaign off the Songo Songo Islands, Tanzania – the first new commercial drilling project in Tanzania in a number of years. ISS is providing a range of services for Paragon Offshore including full husbandry, crew logistics, visa assistance and arranging marine and air charters. A leading provider of standard specification offshore drilling services…
Small U.S. Frackers Failing Amidst Drilling Drought
Oil field work was coming in fast when GoFrac doubled its workforce and equipment fleet at the beginning of last year, just one of hundreds of small oil service companies thriving on the revival of U.S. drilling. Founded in November 2011 with a loan of around $35 million, the Fort Worth, Texas-based company was by 2014 making nearly that much in monthly revenues, providing the crews and machinery needed by companies including ExxonMobil to frack oil and gas wells from North Dakota to Texas.
Supertankers Set to Take North Sea Crude to Asia in June
As many as four VLCC tankers could take North Sea crude oil to Asia this month, shipping fixtures show, after an Atlantic Basin supply glut forced prices to multi-year lows. The Samco Europe, Bunga Kasturi Empat, Britanis and Starlight Venture VLCCs - very large crude carriers - have been lined up for the shipments, according to the fixtures, equivalent to around 8.4 million barrels of Forties crude oil. The tankers have been booked by Unipec, Glencore's shipping arm ST Shipping, Trafigura and Vitol respectively.
BOURBON Installs Submarine Cable for Sabella D10 Project
BOURBON is participating in a tidal turbine connection project off the island of Ushant (Brittany, France), a first in France. A pioneer in the towing and installation of the first floating wind turbine off the coast of Portugal, BOURBON is committed in the field of renewable energies and is now supporting SABELLA1. Our mission: to lay the electrical cable for connecting the first tidal turbine to the national grid. The challenges: a narrow corridor, strong currents, 30 tons of cable. A team of over 30 experienced professionals, including engineers, seafarers, divers and ROV pilots.
Homeless Atlantic Oil Cargoes Deepen Glut
Millions of stranded barrels underscore glut; elevated freight rates complicate search for buyers. A shadowy build up of oil has intensified in the Atlantic Basin with homeless cargoes of crude turning into unintentional floating storage - another sign the global surplus has some way to go before clearing. Off the coast of West Africa and in the waters of the North Sea, vessels holding millions of barrels of oil have become, in effect, accidental storage, as their owners fight for buyers.
South Africa Prepares to Give Shale Gas go ahead
South Africa will gazette final regulations for shale gas exploration by June, two years after releasing draft rules and as companies reconsider investments due to volatile oil prices and delays in awarding licenses. In March, Royal Dutch Shell said it was pulling back from its shale projects in South Africa's semi-arid Karoo region which is believed to hold up to 390 trillion cubic feet of technically recoverable reserves. "We have finalised the regulations... It would be gazetted in a month's time…
Eni Starts Production from Cinguvu Field, offshore Angola
Eni started production two weeks ahead of schedule at the Cinguvu oil field, from the West Hub Development Project in Block 15/06 in the Angolan Deep Offshore, approximately 350 kilometers northwest of Luanda and 130 kilometers west of Soyo. The start-up follows the achievement of West Hub’s first oil through Sangos field start-up, during last November 2014. The West Hub Development Project encompasses the development of Sangos, Cinguvu, Mpungi, Mpungi North and Vandumbu fields in a water depth ranging from 1,000 to 1,500 meters.
Threat Intelligence Sharing for the Energy Sector
CrowdStrike Inc., a provider of endpoint protection, threat intelligence and 24/7 monitoring and incident response services, announced the availability of CrowdStrike Intelligence Exchange (CSIX) for industry verticals. Under the CSIX initiative, partners and end users are able to take advantage of the full spectrum of intelligence capabilities delivered by CrowdStrike Falcon Intelligence to gain deep insight into adversaries’ identity, motives and techniques. “CSIX is an…
N'Goma FPSO Producing & On Hire
SBM Offshore this morming received formal Production Readiness Notice (PRN) for N'Goma FPSO from client Eni, operator of Block 15/06 on behalf of the Joint Venture which also includes Sonangol Pesquisa e Produção, SSI Fifteen Limited and Falcon Oil Holding Angola SA. Following successful first oil in November 2014 and completion of the 72 hour continuous production test in early December 2014, PRN goes into effect retroactively to November 28, 2014 and the vessel is on hire from that date onwards.
