Liquefied Natural Gas Limited has made progress with its Magnolia LNG project in Louisiana as two key steps have been taken in readiness for the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning phase. The company has agreed on contract terms and conditions with the Kellogg Brown & Root LLC and SK E&C Group joint venture (KSJV).
Petsec has begun drilling at its Mystic Bayou Field. Work on the 16,700 RA SUA Williams #2 alternate well in Louisiana started earlier this week. The well is being drilled to a vertical depth of of 17,035 ft to test the oil and gas potential in Lower Miocene age Planulina sand reservoirs in a fault closure up-dip from production in the Planulina interval in Mystic Bayou Field.
The Irish-Scottish Links on Energy Study (ISLES) project partners are set to announce their key emerging findings from the second phase of their research at All-Energy 2015. The project is a collaboration between the Scottish Government and its counterparts in both Ireland and Northern Ireland. It aims to both facilitate and stimulate investment in an offshore transmission network to support the integration of renewable energy resources.
Saudi Arabia needs to take significant measures to curb public spending and reduce its reliance on oil revenue as it reacts to the last year’s slump in crude prices, according to the International Monetary Fund. “There will be a need for significant fiscal consolidation to be able to bring spending and revenues more in line with each other,” Masood Ahmed, director of the Middle East and Central Asia department at the IMF, said in an interview in Dubai on Tuesday. The world’s leading oil exporter must “ensure that there is an equitable sharing of oil wealth across future generations,” he said.
More than 450 exhibitors from over 20 countries are set to descend on Glasgow for All-Energy 2015 which begins tomorrow. The event, which orignally began in Aberdeen, has moved to the central belt for the first time in its history. There will be more than 440 speakers, including Energy Minister Fergus Ewing, who will speak at the opening plenary session.
Ophir Energy has singed an agreement with Golar LNG for a project in Block R in Equatorial Guinea. The binding heads of terms for a midstream chartering and operating services agreement outline the terms for Golar to build operate and maintain the floating liquefication and storage vessel and facilities on the Ophir-operated Fortuna floating liquefied natural gas project in Block R.
Tethys Petroleum said a planned sale of assets in Kazakhstan will no longer proceed. The company had planned a prposed divestment to a Chinese buyer, SinoHan. The move was made after the country's ministry of energy had failed to approve the transaction before a deadline which had been set by the potential buyer.
Oil major Shell could face delays in its bid to return to Arctic drilling after a ruling in Seattle that the city's port must apply for a permit for the company to use it as a hub for its drilling rigs. The region has previously been a hub for equipment used in energy drilling in Alaska and could be used as a space as Shell makes its first stride back into the Arctic in three years. The company has been planning to return to Arctic oil and gas exploration since 2012, however it is still waiting for the US Interior Department to issue a full blessing.
With Siberia’s aging oil fields slowly running dry, Russia is turning to a natural gas by-product to help maintain crude production and meet President Vladimir Putin’s target of 10 million barrels a day. As companies including OAO Gazprom, OAO Novatek and OAO Rosneft get new Siberian gas fields up and running, they’re also boosting output of condensate, a prized, ultra-light form of crude that’s a common component of underground gas reserves. Condensate is especially important now because it’s not covered by sanctions on Russia’s oil industry that have targeted Arctic drilling and shale projects.
Low oil prices and high costs are not just our problem, it’s a global problem. Respect to those who have not travelled to the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston this month, either to conserve cash or to express solidarity with those struggling at home. However, nobody can deny those of us here in Texas have a collective job to do.
Shell has completed a technlogy first after deploying a subsea CT scanner to its Gulf of Mexico deepwater flowlines.
Michele McNichol doesn’t believe in glass ceilings. She does the believe in the industry’s success depending on its ability to foster a boundless “engineering curiosity”.
Mexico’s commitment to the reform and opening up of its energy sector was underlined by President Enrique Peña Nieto visit to Aberdeen in the run up to this year's Offshore Technology Conference (OTC).
Ceona has landed a contract to carry out deepwater work in the Gulf of Mexico.
Pemex confirmed it’s on the hunt for North Sea alliances.
Last month’s arrival of the Goliat floating production unit in Norwegian waters on the back of a Dockwise heavy lift ship is a milestone for a project that is running around two years behind schedule and massively over budget ... at least 50%. It had been expected onstream late 2013, then this slipped into 2014 and now it is supposed to be later this year, fully 15 years since the oilfield was discovered in 2000. Goliat is located on production licence 229, which was awarded in the Barents Sea Round in 1997. The licensing round was initiated by the authorities in order to promote interest in the Barents Sea as an oil & gas region.
Oil major Chevron has successfully completed one of the largest offshore platform installations in the company's history. The Wheatstone topside marked a major milestone for the project which is almost 60% complete. It will be Australia's first naturl gas hub.
Having been made redundant as a result of the oil price collapse in 1986, colourfully determined James McCallum is no stranger to the personal and corporate pain caused by volatility in commodity price. However, it was redundancy that encouraged him to eventually set up his own company, so unleashing his own entrepreneurial streak. This was to lead to the creation of the building blocks for Senergy, now LR Senergy – a global diversified energy services business with over 600 people. Here he explores with Energy why the current crisis is a defining moment in time for the oil & gas industry; it is a time when others may be pushed into their own adventures . . . by getting fired by an employer bent on slimming down . . . cost cutting. McCallum: “As the oil price hovers around $50, we are embarking on a crucial period that will define the industry’s future. Spiralling costs of exploration and production in the industry are price differentiating energy plays and it is clear the current cost base cannot be sustained.
Aberdeen marketing and communications specialist Fifth Ring has teamed up with a Brazilian counterpart in a move which both firms hope will lead to new business in the international oil and gas market. The strategic alliance with Rio-based Zoom Out will see the companies co-operate on digital media, public relations and brand strategy projects for a wide variety of clients and on both internal and external campaigns. It also sees Fifth Ring extend its operations from its current bases in Aberdeen, Houston, Dubai and Singapore.
Scottish engineer Weir Group has teamed up with Rolls-Royce Power Systems (RRPS) company MTU for a new joint-venture to produce a power system to make hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, more efficient. Weir manufacturers hydraulic fracturing pumps, while MTU describes itself as a market leader in heavy-duty industrial diesel engines. The joint-venture – announced at the OTC oil and gas show in Houston – involves Glasgow-based Weir’s oil and gas division, whose global operations include a sales office in Aberdeen.
A trio of accountants from Aberdeen firm Johnston Carmichael (JC) is currently in Houston in the US as part of efforts to spread north-east oil and gas expertise around the world. Granite City office joint managing partners Niall Farquharson and Andrew Walker along with new recruit and tax director Richard Britten are attending the world’s biggest oil show, OTC. Mr Britten only joined JC in April but is already playing a key part in building the firm’s employer solutions practice, which targets companies with internationally mobile employees.
Logistics firm Peterson used its presence at the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) to launch its new real-time tracking software to the offshore oil and gas industry. The Aberdeen and Netherlands-based firm demonstrated is “intelligent" supply chain system, VOR, on its stand at the OTC Scottish pavilion. Peterson believes VOR will deliver the cost reductions sought by an offshore oil and gas sector grappling with the oil price crash.
Baker Hughes launched its latest technology aimed at improving recovery factors at this year’s Offshore Technology Conference.
Underwater Integrity Solutions, which was launched at this year's Offshore Technology Conference, has revealed plans for a subsea roadmap.
Andrew Millar wants to thank his teenage wayward self.