Offshore News - The Maritime Executive

Report: More Upstream Projects Meeting Targets

By MarEx 2018-08-14 00:38:03

A new Wood Mackenzie report indicates that upstream oil and gas projects are starting to meet delivery targets after a period characterized by being behind schedule and overbudget. The global downturn in the industry forced companies to critically evaluate and improve how they manage their major capital investments after a period where Wood Mackenzie says the top 15 project blowouts of the last decade were a cumulative $80 billion over budget. "The scale of under-performance was staggering," said Angus Rodger, research director, Wood...

Norway to Map Deep Sea Mineral Deposits

By MarEx 2018-08-12 20:56:07

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate is readying to map potential deep sea mineral deposits in the Norwegian Sea, with an expedition due to get underway this month. The Directorate has engaged Swire Seabed, which partners with Ocean Floor Geophysics, to carry out mapping of potential sulfide minerals on the seabed over the Mohns Ridge in the western Norwegian Sea. This is a spreading ridge in the Atlantic Ocean that separates two oceanic plates, where potential valuable minerals have been formed through...

Google Street View Tours Offshore Platform

By MarEx 2018-08-11 19:30:30

Google has launched a world-first Google Street View tour of an offshore platform. The tour features Cygnus, the largest single producing gas field in the North Sea commissioned by operator Neptune Energy and its partner Spirit Energy. It is the first time that Google Street View has ventured to an offshore oil and gas platform and it allows users to tour Cygnus, click on explanatory notes and watch some of the workforce talk about their jobs and life on a...

Oil Find Boosts Outlook for Australia

By MarEx 2018-08-08 20:38:57

Carnarvon Petroleum and Quadrant Energy have announced additional oil discoveries in the Crespin and Milne Members of the Dorado-1 well, offshore from the Pilbara coast in Western Australia. The results, which follow the completion of the wireline evaluation as part of the Phoenix Project, are in addition to others announced in July, and the results are seen as significant for opening up a new oil basin for Australia's offshore oil and gas industry. Carnarvon’s Managing Director, Adrian Cook, said that...

New York to Study Offshore Wind Transmission Technology

By MarEx 2018-08-08 19:07:52

New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has announced a memorandum of understanding has been signed by New York power agencies and partners to conduct a study of successful offshore wind transmission models - with a specific focus on large-scale European projects - to guide the state's procurement of offshore wind generation. The New York Power Authority will lead the study, which aims to learn from European infrastructure design and best practices in connecting wind-generated power to transmission networks and the...

Vietnam Finds New Partners for S. China Sea Drilling

By MarEx 2018-08-03 14:46:26

Vietnam has signed an agreement with two Japanese firms to develop gas reserves in the South China Sea in partnership with two Japanese oil firms, despite abandoning similar projects due to objections from China. On Tuesday, state-owned PetroVietnam signed with Idemitsu Kosan and Teikoku Oil to develop and sell gas from lease blocks at the Sao Vang-Dai Nguyet project, which are near the boundary of China's "nine-dash line" claim to the South China Sea. The deal calls for production to...

Transocean Posts $1 Billion Impairment for Four Floaters

By MarEx 2018-08-01 11:56:57

On Wednesday, leading offshore rig operator Transocean posted an impairment totaling $1 billon from writedowns for four deactivated floaters and goodwill, leading to a net loss of $20 million for the second quarter despite strong revenue numbers. Transocean decided to recycle four more of its rigs - Deepwater Discovery, Deepwater Frontier, Deepwater Millennium and Songa Trym - last quarter, creating a $560 million charge as it took the assets' previous value off its books. It has now retired 43 rigs...

Gas Production Starts at Ichthys

By MarEx 2018-07-30 19:55:07

The Inpex-operated Ichthys LNG Project has commenced production of gas, marking the start of approximately 40 years of operations for this large-scale Australian LNG development. Located about 220 kilometers (140 miles) offshore Western Australia, Ichthys represents the largest discovery of hydrocarbon liquids in Australia in 40 years. The $40 billion project will produce approximately 8.9 million tons of LNG and approximately 1.65 million tons of LPG per year, along with approximately 100,000 barrels of condensate per day at peak. The...

U.K. Chamber of Shipping Warns on Offshore Wind

By MarEx 2018-07-28 19:16:09

With the U.K. Government poised to approve millions of pounds' worth of new offshore wind developments, the U.K. Chamber of Shipping has warned that coordination and forward planning is necessary to ensure new windfarms do not endanger vessels, lives or the environment. The Government has announced a new round of contracts for May 2019 and intends to run subsequent auctions every two years after that. At the same time, eight applications have been received to extend existing windfarms. Such developments...

SBM Offshore Settles Brazilian Case

By MarEx 2018-07-28 18:15:32

SBM Offshore has reached a settlement agreement in the Brazilian corruption, agreeing to pay approximately $189 million to Brazilian authorities and Petrobras. SBM Offshore was accused of paying bribes to government officials to secure contracts with Petrobras. As a result of the agreement, SBM Offshore and Petrobras will normalize business relations in respect of tenders and is now able to effectively compete for new business opportunities. The agreement provides for a cash payment by SBM Offshore to Petrobras within 90...