Rigs & Vessels

Saipem wins FPSO contracts in Brazil, Angola worth a total $600 million

July 15, 2014 | Angola, Contracts, Rigs & Vessels

Milan, Italy | –  Italian multinational oil services company Saipem said on Tuesday it had won contracts in Brazil and Angola worth a combined $600 million. Under the Brazilian contract, Saipem will lease its Cidade de Vitoria floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel to Brazil’s state-owned oil company Petrobras for an additional four years and will also carry out work to upgrade the vessel. Saipem, which is 43 percent owned by oil major Eni, was also awarded a lease extension and operation contract for …

China sends four oil rigs to South China Sea amid regional tensions

June 24, 2014 | Asia, Rigs & Vessels

Beijing, China | – China has sent four more oil rigs into the South China Sea in a sign that Beijing is stepping up its exploration for oil and gas in the tense region, less than two months after it positioned a giant drilling platform in waters claimed by Vietnam. The announcement comes at a time when many countries in Asia are nervous at Beijing’s increasing assertiveness in the potentially energy-rich waters, where sovereignty over countless islands and reefs is in dispute. Coordinates posted on …

Seadrill signs $1.1billion rig deal with Total Nigeria

June 03, 2014 | Nigeria, Rigs & Vessels

London, United Kingdom | – Leading offshore deepwater drilling company, Seadrill signed a five-year, $1.1 billion contract with Total for work offshore Nigeria, it said on Monday. The contract, for Seadrill’s newly built ultra-deepwater West Jupiter drillship, is worth around $600,000 per day, including mobilisation, according to Reuters calculations. The vessel will be delivered from Samsung Heavy Industries’ shipyard in Geoje, South Korea in August. Reuters.

Chinese oil rig finishes first phase of drilling in waters claimed by Vietnam

May 27, 2014 | Asia, Drilling / Completions, Rigs & Vessels

Hong Kong, China | – A giant Chinese oil rig has finished its first round of drilling in South China Sea waters also claimed by Vietnam and moved to another site in the area, the rig’s operator, China Oilfield Services Ltd (COSL), said on Tuesday. In a statement, COSL said exploration would still take place off the Xisha islands, China’s name for the disputed Paracel chain, suggesting the rig was not moving far. In early May, the rig was deployed between the Paracel islands and …

Total’s Egina deepwater project to attract $15 billion investment to Nigeria

May 16, 2014 | Nigeria, Rigs & Vessels

Houston, Texas | – The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Andrew Yakubu, estimate that  Total Upstream company’s Egina deep water project  could attract over $15 billion foreign direct investment to Nigeria. Mr Yakubu, who gave the estimate at a dinner jointly organized in Houston, Texas by NNPC and the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN) for the Nigerian business community, said the project would contribute its quota in shoring up the daily oil output as well as the national oil …

Poor management led to Shell rig grounding offshore Alaska

April 04, 2014 | Legal, Rigs & Vessels, United States & Canada

London – Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell ignored warnings over the risks posed by storm-tossed seas in the run-up to the grounding of an oil rig off Alaska in late 2012, according to a report by the US Coast Guard (USCG). The investigation claimed that the company’s plan to tow the Kulluk – which had been used as part of its Arctic drilling operations – across the Gulf of Alaska “were not adequate.” Though it does not have the power to issue any fines, the report recommends regulators …

Bumi Armada receives LOI for FPSO work offshore Angola

April 02, 2014 | Angola, Contracts, Rigs & Vessels

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Malaysia-based international offshore oilfield services provider Bumi Armada Berhad has received a letter of intent from Eni Angola SpA, a wholly owned subsidiary of eni SpA. Eni Angola has stated its intention to award a contract for the chartering, operation, and maintenance of an FPSO to a consortium of Bumi Armada Offshore Holdings Ltd. and Angoil Bumi JV Ltda. (an Angolan joint venture company of BAOHL, Angoil Exploracao Petrolifera SA, and Cosmarg Limitada) for deployment at block 15/06 in the East Hub offshore Angola. …

Eniram unveils optimisation tool for LNG carriers

March 27, 2014 | Products, Services & Techniques, Rigs & Vessels

South Korea – Eniram has launched an LNG-specific version of its Vessel Performance Manager (VPM), an optimisation tool which monitors energy consumption and offers guidance on how to save fuel. The Finnish company unveiled its new product yesterday at Gastech 2014. Vessel Performance Manager (VPM) uses the Eniram Vessel Platform (EVP) installed onboard a vessel and integrated with other onboard systems (such as the bridge and automation systems) to collect performance data using sensor network technology. The LNG version collects specific data such as boil-off …