Tidal and free-flow water turbines designer and manufacturer, Tocardo, has forged what is described as a "strategic long-term partnership" with Huisman, which is renowned for its prowess in heavy-lift and offshore construction systems for the offshore oil and gas industry.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) claims it is possible to double global hydro-electricity output by 2050.
China's Ministry of Land and Resources (MLR) has received 152 bids for 19 of the 20 shale gas blocks put up for bid in September during the first licensing round open to foreign companies.
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has advised that the Australian federal government has not established a plan to deal with oil and gas exploration offshore Western Australia in the Ningaloo Reef World Heritage Site, a major migratory area for several species of whales.
Providence Resources, together with 50:50 partner Petronas of Malaysia, have secured the licence for an area in the Kish Bank Basin offshore Dublin that will at last enable it to drill the Dalkey Island oil prospect off Dublin.
BP has agreed to share the technical information it used to build its global deepwater well-capping equipment with Pemex of Mexico.
Chariot Oil & Gas has contracted a 3,500 sq km 3D seismic survey over Block C19 offshore Mauritania to be carried out by Fugro-Geoteam in water depths ranging 30-2,000m
KBR has been awarded a contract by the Tanzania unit of Statoil to perform pre-front end engineering and design (pre-FEED) studies for a prospective liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility in Tanzania. The work package is expected to be completed during 2013.
Electromagnetic Geoservices (EMGS) has expanded its multi-client basalt mapping project in the West of Shetland area to include the Voring Basin in the Norwegian Sea.
Statoil has been given clearance by Norway's Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) to employ the West Elara jack-up drilling rig for drilling and well operations on the Valemon field in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea
STX Offshore & Shipbuilding's Jinhae Shipyard in South Korea has been awarded a $700million contract to construct a new drillship for delivery during the second half of 2015.
Transocean has bagged a 20-month contract worth $360million with ENI for its deepwater semi-submersible drilling rig Sedco Express.
Interactive learning firm Atlas has appointed Kevin Short as director of sales. Aberdeen-based, he will lead the company's global sales teams. His is a newly created position which has been created to deliver increased customer support.
Naalakkersuisut, Greenland's Government, has approved Maersk Oil's farm-out of a 40% interest in its licence covering block 9 (Tooq) in Baffin Bay, offshore Greenland, to Tullow Oil.
Petrobras has unveiled plans to slash operating costs by $2.5billion to $7.5billion next year in the face of flagging output and the first loss for 13 years.
Adam Bruce of Mainstream Renewable Power has accepted the position of chairman of the UK's new Offshore Wind Programme Board. He is a former chairman of RenewableUK. His task is to steer the organisation in its quest for greater efficiency and lower costs offshore.
Mozambique's Ministry of Mineral Resources has revealed that plans are being finalised to put 12 exploration blocks up for bid during Q1 next year. The new concessions, thought to be heavily gas-prone, lie off the northern coast of Mozambique. The blocks to be offered lie east of the present concessions in the deepwater Rovuma Basin as well as in the Zambezi River Delta.
Paul Warwick is now executive VP international operations west for Talisman Energy. He had been UK and Africa president for ConocoPhillips, with whom he had been due to take up a post as president of Asia-Pacific earlier this year.
Is it time for a rethink?
The famous Nigg yard on the Cromarty Firth has joined the tiny, exclusive club of European yards with dry docks capable of accepting semi-submersible drilling rigs for overhaul.
Over 470 platforms, many thousands of kilometres of pipelines and thousands of wells and other subsea infrastructure will be wholly or partially removed from the North Sea in next 30 years at a cost in excess of £47.5billion, with more than half being spent in the UK sector.
Later this month, ITF's CEO for six years, Neil Poxon, heads for pastures new . . . in the US where he is to run and grow a young oilfield service company. It's a mid-life opportunity he simply does not want to miss.
Next year marks the 40th anniversary of the first Offshore Europe oil show . . . a perfect excuse if one were needed to celebrate the at times staggering achievements of oil and gas companies out there in the North Sea and beyond and the role that Aberdeen has played throughout.
YPF is hiring from Nabors Industries of the US and Chinese energy major Sinopec a fleet of 14 drilling rigs to be employed in Argentina's shale exploration programme.
Fairfield Energy says it is on track to boost production from its Dunlin field to around 10,000 barrels of oil per day by the end of this year and then to sustain that level for some time ahead. This compares with some 5,000bpd prior to the $100million (£70million) upgrade programme initiated after Dunlin changed hands.
