Xodus Group has landed a project to a deliver a suite of more than 40 offshore operating manuals for the Ichthys LNG project operated by INPEX and located off the coast of Western Australia.

The Ichthys field was the largest discovery of hydrocarbon liquids in Australia for 40 years. The Ichthys LNG project is currently under construction and includes some of the largest offshore facilities in the industry, a state-of-the-art onshore processing facility, with an 889 km pipeline uniting them.

Specialists from Xodus Group’s Perth operation are drafting these key training and reference materials to be used by the offshore operations crew. The project is on track for completion by the end of the year.

Neil Coutts, Process & Facilities Manager of Xodus Group

Neil Coutts, Process & Facilities Manager, of Xodus Group said: “Our dedicated team of engineers brings extensive hands-on experience from UK North Sea and Australian oil and gas facilities and is focused on ensuring that the Ichthys manuals are of the highest quality and will help to assist the offshore crew to carry out their work safely. We are proud to be supporting Ichthys as it transitions to the operational phase. Xodus has a track record of producing clear, concise and robust operations documentation and has been involved in a number of similar projects covering subsea systems, offshore facilities and LNG plants in Western Australia.”

Xodus provides independent, integrated thinking to solve complex challenges. From field development planning to supporting asset integrity, operations and maintenance, the team works as trusted advisors at every stage of the asset lifecycle. The Perth based team is focused on helping clients to achieve operational excellence on new and existing assets.

First production from Ichthys is scheduled for 2017 and the project is expected to produce 8.9 million tonnes of LNG and 1.6 million tonnes of LPG per annum, along with approximately 100,000 barrels of condensate per day at peak. Gas and condensate from the Ichthys field will undergo initial processing on the offshore facilities, prior to being transported to the onshore LNG plant near Darwin. Most of the condensate will be directly shipped to global markets from an FPSO facility permanently moored near the Ichthys field in the Browse Basin.

Danos has added to its leadership team by promoting James Callahan, Mark Danos, Stacey Gisclair and Reed Peré to executive roles within the company.

“These four outstanding individuals bring a wealth of talent and more than 70 years of industry experience to our executive leadership team,” said CEO and President Hank Danos. “I am confident that James, Mark, Stacey and Reed will enhance the strategic direction of Danos.”

As vice president of finance, James Callahan is responsible for overseeing the company’s domestic and international administration, finance and accounting activities. Prior to joining Danos in 2013, Callahan served as chief executive officer for Superior Shipyard and Fabrication, as well as chief operating officer for SJI LLC, a privately held telecommunications company.

Mark Danos serves as vice president of project services, supervising the company’s project management, construction and fabrication divisions. He is responsible for all domestic and international deepwater, subsea, shelf and onshore projects. Prior to joining the company, he worked in project management for ExxonMobil, supporting large capital projects around the world. Mark Danos is a third-­‐‑generation owner of the company and member of its board of directors.

Stacy Gisclair brings over two decades of human resources experience to her position as vice president of human resources. Through her oversight and management of the company’s human resources and recruiting activities, Gisclair ensures that Danos continues its commitment to a high‑performance culture. In 2015, she received the company’s “Quality Person of the Year.” Gisclair worked for Edison Chouest Offshore prior to joining Danos in 1999.

Vice President of Production Services Reed Peré is responsible for the quality of work and adherence to safety policies of the company’s global production workforce. He has been with Danos since 2006, and in 2012 received the “Quality Person of the Year” award. His background in secondary education and 10 years in the energy industry make Peré well suited to managing Danos employees in locations around the world.

Leading UK engineering solutions provider Costain has been instrumental in helping Ithaca Energy save several millions of pounds, thanks to its sound management of subsea contracts in the operator’s Greater Stella Area (GSA) Development in the central North Sea.

Costain has been working on the project, which is driven by the recovery of approximately 60 million barrels of oil equivalent of proven and probable reserves for the GSA co-venturers, since 2010 and will be supporting the project to first oil, which is anticipated in mid-2016.

Costain’s involvement started at the concept selection phase, continuing through the definition phase, developing project budgets and assisting in placement of the major contracts.

The Company then project-managed the subsea facilities, including the design, procurement, fabrication and installation of all of the subsea equipment, as well as the installation of the Floating Production Facilty-1 (FPF) moorings and assisting with the forthcoming tow-out and hook-up.

Peter Kirkbride, project sponsor at Costain

Peter Kirkbride, project sponsor at Costain, said: “Being involved in this project through the select, define and execute phases is a great achievement for the team. Together with Ithaca Energy and our contracted partners, we are proving the value of North Sea development activity and, by setting and working to realistic budgets, have saved our client millions of pounds in the process.

“Soundly delivered cost saving solutions are more pertinent now than ever, and we look forward to continuing to help achieve these savings for those operating within a new oil price environment in the North Sea.”

Mike Travis, Greater Stella Area Asset Manager of Ithaca, said: “Ithaca asks for safe and efficient execution of the work, and with Costain Upsteam, that’s exactly what we get – as well as technical excellence, creativity and professionalism. The continuity benefits of a long term relationship have also been very apparent and Costain will continue to work with us on the developments plans for the satellite developments around the Stella hub.”

Costain’s capabilities extend across design and consultancy, project management, delivery and operations and maintenance in the energy sector. The Company's philosophy is to provide innovative and commercially attractive solutions to many of the challenges faced across a range of sectors.

Dynamic Industries, Inc., a leading fabrication and service provider to the global Oil, Gas and Energy industries, announced that its specialty craft division, Dynamic Construction Services (DCS), has been awarded a key contract to provide fabrication, offshore construction and scaffolding services as part of a program to upgrade existing drilling rigs in the Gulf of Mexico.

Matt Oubre, DCS President, said; “Dynamic greatly appreciates this award, the opportunity to be a part of this important program, and the opportunity to extend its service’s with this key international client.

About Dynamic Construction Services

Dynamic Construction Services (DCS) is a full service Construction Division of Dynamic Industries, Inc. - providing light fabrication, site construction and maintenance, and specialty craft services for offshore and onshore projects. DCS provides a broad variety of complementary services either stand alone or bundled into a turnkey offering, such as structural, piping, electrical & instrumentation, automation, fire & safety, blasting & coating, insulation, scaffolding, and project staffing services.

About Dynamic Industries, Inc.

Dynamic Industries, Inc. was founded in 1985 as an offshore services company, specializing in interconnecting pipe fabrication, associated pipe installation, and commissioning & offshore maintenance services. Through a change of ownership in 1998 Dynamic quickly grew to become one of the premier hook up & commissioning contractors in the Gulf of Mexico. Today Dynamic has expanded its services and footprint globally and now operates in West Africa, Mexico, Caribbean, South America and the Middle East.

About Dynamic Energy Services International, LLC

Dynamic Energy Services International Company (DYNESI) Headquartered in New Orleans, LA, DYNESI; through its four major business units, provides fully integrated EPCIM services globally to the upstream and downstream markets.

Ingen Ideas, an Amec Foster Wheeler company, announces today the award of a contract worth approximately £8million by Marathon Oil. The five-year multi-discipline engineering contract covers Marathon Oil’s Brae Complex in the North Sea.

The contract started in October 2015 and will run for five years, with the potential for two further five-year extensions. It covers subsea and topsides, including onshore operations support, projects and modifications engineering, as well as technical consultancy.

Ingen will call upon engineering services from across the Amec Foster Wheeler group. This will provide the ability to rapidly mobilize and demobilize engineering resource with the flexibility to suit the workload needs as well as access to alternative similar high quality resources when availability, timing and duration demands.

Ingen General Manager, Wayne Strachan said: “This is the first contract award of this scale for Ingen. It signifies how in the current economic climate, Ingen’s approach to consultancy engineering, with the global support of Amec Foster Wheeler, can add value by being agile, responsive and proportionate to the exact requirements of the project.”

Some 20% of the remaining UK oil reserves are expected to be West of Shetland, a challenging environment on the surface and subsea.

In February 2013, Bibby Offshore was awarded a contract by Premier Oil to provide subsea support during the installation phase of its Solan field development project, in Block 205/26a of the UK Continental Shelf, in 135m water depth.

The facility at the Solan field has been designed to produce a flow rate of 28,000 b/d, peaking at up to 35,000 b/d across a 20-year lifeline.

The production facility has been developed as a not permanently manned installation (NPMI), and will be operated remotely from an onshore control room in Aberdeen. The topsides facility supports produced fluid separation, gas treatment, all necessary utilities and power generation.

The field infrastructure also includes a 10,000-tonne subsea oil storage tank (SOST) capable of storing 300,000 bo. Produced oil is sent to the SOST before being exported, via a single anchor loading system (SAL), to shuttle tankers.

Bibby Offshore was brought in to perform installation of the subsea infrastructure and, recognizing the challenging environment, came up with a plan to minimize downtime caused by short weather windows.

Preparation is Key

To mitigate the impact of this, Bibby Offshore completed detailed weather analysis prior to mobilisation to allow a realistic expectation on the potential downtime that could be experienced. The project team also gathered regular forecasts from various sources to help build an accurate picture in the short term on how the weather would impact over a two to five day window.

Bibby Offshore was also able to take a flexible multi vessel approach to the project, making use of several of the vessels in its fleet. The Dive Support Vessel (DSV) Bibby Polaris was used extensively to complete much of the dive works. The DSV Bibby Sapphire and DSV Bibby Topaz and the Construction Support Vessel (CSV) Olympic Ares also made a significant contribution to the project. Further to this the company used short term chartered Remotely Operated Vehicle Support Vessel (ROVSV) and a third party DSV.

This multi vessel approach helped Bibby Offshore tailor the various vessel capabilities to the technical challenges presented by the development and the flexible timeline required to complete the task in line with the clients programme. Crucially, it also helped to prevent any schedule slippages in order to maintain progress towards achieving first oil.

A Phased Approach

The subsea aspect of the project was planned in two phases. Phase one saw the Olympic Ares carry out installation activities for the single anchor loading system (SAL), metrology, lay through spool removal, flexible and umbilical installation and wet storing of fabricated spools, . Phase two consisted of the diving support operations to complete installation, tie in, stability/protection and recommissioning of the flexible, umbilicals, spools and storage tank.

Each phase of the project had its own challenges. Due to adjustments in the schedule, Bibby Offshore successfully change managed the scheduled fleet workloads to accommodate its client’s requirements, resulting in the project becoming multi phased with, as mentioned previously, additional vessel support.

During the campaign, a 72” structure pile was installed which required a large ninety ton ‘Fast Frame’ to be deployed to the seabed. The loading hose itself presented a range of engineering considerations to the project team due to the inflexibility of the product and the fact it could not be pre-installed on a deployment reel onshore prior to installation on this occasion.

After completing the acoustic metrology, the Bibby Polaris was deployed to connect the pipeline to the SAL spool and the SAL to the offloading hose.

During the offshore operations, the project team configured an optimised deck layout on the Olympic Ares, thus creating the required working space. This was necessary due to a multi reel drive system taking up a significant amount of deck space and also the additional equipment required to install flexible and umbilical products before completing metrology between the newly installed platform and subsea oil storage tank. In subsequent campaigns, two DSVs and one ROVSV were mobilised to carry out spool installations, flexible and umbilical tie-ins, mattressing and general storage tank works.

Bibby Offshore’s track record meant it was ideally positioned to execute the work. However, this particular project posed a number of environmental and installation challenges that allowed the

Key facts

MacArtney has accepted responsibility for the in-field sales and after-sales support of Focal products in the commercial marine markets of the north-west region of North America via its office located in Victoria, BC in Canada.

Moog Focal Technologies Corporation and the MacArtney Group have agreed to intensify their multi-service partnership aiming at expanding their long-term business cooperation in favor of their extensive customer portfolio.

Trained MacArtney Inc.technicians servicing a Focal slip ring

Representing a wealth of marine experience and knowledge and having many years of experience attending to Focal products, the MacArtney Group considers the strengthening of their Focal business relations quite essential. An increase in global sales and servicing capacities fortifies the foundation for a strong business alliance between the two companies.

Paul Danos, executive vice president of Danos, has been chosen to serve on the board of directors for the National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA). The appointment was announced at NOIA’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

Paul Danos is experienced in a variety of industry segments, having previously worked in operations, disaster response and recovery, and offshore construction and fabrication for the company. He also served as a senior consultant for Plains All American and Arthur Andersen (Protiviti Consulting). As executive vice president, Paul leads the company’s strategic planning, business development, and sales and marketing efforts.

“NOIA plays an important role in ensuring that America has access to the safe development of offshore energy, said Danos. “It is an honor for me to join NOIA as a board member and to help further this mission.”

NOIA is a national trade association representing all segments of the offshore industry with an interest in the exploration and production of both traditional and renewable energy resources on the nation’s outer continental shelf.

The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Aberdeen Section Board has elected Ian Phillips, chief executive of the Oil and Gas Innovation Centre (OGIC), as its new chairman.

Mr Phillips assumes the position from Shankar Bhukya, who has stepped down ahead of a move to Singapore.

Mr Phillips, an MBA qualified Chartered Petroleum Engineer with more than thirty years’ experience in the oil and gas industry, has played an instrumental part in the growth of the SPE Aberdeen Section over the last 30 years. With the SPE Aberdeen Section he has held positions including chairman, treasurer and Continuing Education committee chair. In addition, he has served as the North Sea Regional Director on the SPE International Board. Most recently, he has been the director on the SPE Aberdeen board and held responsibility for the Section’s prestigious Offshore Achievement Awards.

New SPE Aberdeen Chairman Ian Phillips

Prior to his current full-time role of chief executive of the Oil and Gas Innovation Centre (OGIC), Mr Phillips has held a number of positions in the UK oil and gas industry, including vice president of project development at Ramco Energy and project director at BP. Latterly, his career has focused on innovation in carbon capture and storage with roles including founding director of CO2DeepStore and business development director at Pale Blue Dot Energy.

Mr Phillips is also an external lecturer in Oil and Gas Management at Robert Gordon University giving students an insight into the industry.

Commenting on his appointment, Mr Phillips said: “I have been a member of SPE for nearly thirty years and I am honoured to have been selected as chairman of the Aberdeen Section.

“The oil and gas industry has experienced huge change in recent months. The survival of the North Sea industry depends on effective collaboration, technology innovation and knowledge sharing. To support this, SPE provides opportunities for professionals to network, learn and realise their technical and professional potential.

“The focus of my work at OGIC is bridging the gap between industry needs in the UKCS and the knowledge pool of Scottish universities. I believe this background will be extremely beneficial to the Section’s activities moving forward.

“I’m looking forward to working with the SPE Aberdeen board and committees to ensure our Section continues to be known as one of the most effective in the world.”

New SPE Aberdeen Chairman Ian Phillips

HARKAND and its local consortium partner TOS Angola Lda has secured a three-year contract to deliver inspection, repair and maintenance (IRM) services in Angola for a major international oil company operating in the West Africa region.

The recently upgraded multi-purpose dive support vessel (DSV) Swordfish has been mobilized to support the project and provide air, surface gas and saturation diving services for the work in Cabinda, Angola.

Following the recent $10.5million upgrade to the diving systems, the DSV Swordfish is fully compliant to the highest standards of the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) including a 15-man diving system, 3-man bell, self-propelled hyperbaric lifeboat (SPHL) and a dedicated hyperbaric rescue facility (HRF).

Harkand’s managing director for North America and Africa, AJ Jain said: “This is a new consortium for Harkand in another West Africa region; we are extremely proud to have been selected by our client to support their IRM activities offshore Cabinda.

“The block we will be working in is of extreme importance to Angola’s petroleum industry therefore we understand the importance of maintaining production to our client and expect to fully support all their subsea inspection, repair and maintenance needs in the safest and most cost efficient manner utilizing the DSV Swordfish.”

Harkand’s recently appointed general manager for Africa, Doug Fieldgate has extensive experience in this region and has a clear understanding of the challenges involved in delivering a world class safe service to the block as well as the region.

Doug said: “Harkand is working closely with our consortium partner and client to ensure we develop local capacities by maximizing the use of nationals and implementing skills transfer programs. Our efforts to achieve this goal has been demonstrated in the execution of projects in Ghana and Nigeria and will remain a top priority as we move into Angola.

“Group TOS Lda is a local Angolan company which specializes in marine and offshore sectors. TOS will provide all local logistical efforts, including all local personnel required to complete this work program safely.”

Harkand has a global fleet of IMCA compliant multi-purpose subsea construction vessels which are equipped with active heave compensated (AHC) cranes, heavy duty workclass remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and full survey spreads – each of Harkand’s vessels is exceptionally proficient in providing IRM and light construction work in the harshest environments including the North Sea, Gulf of Mexico and Africa.

MacGregor, part of Cargotec, creates a new division 'Advanced Offshore Solutions' by merging its two Norway-based divisions and combining the strengths in offshore mooring, loading and load handling businesses. With the new joint division MacGregor aims to gain synergies and improve the operations as well as customer service. Høye G. Høyesen has been appointed to lead the new Advanced Offshore Solutions division, which will become operative on 1 January 2016.

MacGregor continues to develop its offshore operations based on its strengths in engineering and strong commitment to customer service. MacGregor customers will benefit from the stronger team of totally over 450 dedicated new building and service professionals in Arendal and Kristiansand in Norway. The new division will offer technologically advanced solutions, develop new products and is agile to serve our world-wide customers throughout the lifecycle.

Høye G. Høyesen joined MacGregor earlier this year from APL Norway/NOV, where he held several key positions, the latest one being Vice President, Business Development. "I am confident that with his long and valuable industry experience he will lead the merger successfully and develop the operations for the benefit of our customers," says Michel van Roozendaal, President, MacGregor.

As previously announced on July 15, 2015, Songa Offshore received notices of arbitration from DSME in respect of the construction contracts for the Cat D rigs.

On November 16, 2015, Songa Offshore received claim submissions from DSME related to Songa Equinox, the first Cat D rig, in which DSME asserts a claim of USD 179 million, along with a request for repayment of liquidated damages in a total amount of USD 22 million. The claim that is asserted relates to alleged cost overruns and additional work in relation to Songa Equinox rig due to what DSME alleges were inherent errors and omissions in the design documents (as often referred to as the FEED package).

Songa Offshore has performed an initial review of the claim and does not consider that there is any substance to the claims asserted by DSME. The Company is confident of its position, since it is of the view that DSME is responsible for the delays and any attempt to recover cost overruns is of no merit due to the "turn-key" nature of the construction contract. Songa Offshore has obtained legal opinions from highly reputable law firms in the UK and Norway and from a Queen's Counsel all of which confirm the Company's position.

Further details will be provided as and when appropriate.

BMT Designers & Planners, a subsidiary of BMT Group, the leading international maritime design, engineering and risk management consultancy, has named Rick Cox as its newest Vice President of Business Development.

Rick fills a key role in the firm’s growing business development organization, responsible for leading client relations, capture, and market strategy for the firm’s diverse range of environmental services, which include testing & remediation, environmental health, site assessment, permitting & regulatory compliance, IT management, and related services.

With decades working for large government contractors, Rick brings senior-level experience, knowledge, and contacts. He has managed multi-million-dollar programs for military, civilian, and commercial customers, and has advised US Government representatives operating in locations throughout the world.

Kai Skvarla, President, BMT Designers & Planners commented: “I’m excited to have Rick as a part of our business development team. His quality-minded, results-oriented demeanor will drive higher performance and help us achieve the ambitious goals we’ve set for our environmental markets.”

Fugro has been awarded a contract by Ophir Equatorial Guinea (Block R) Limited for the provision of survey services for the development of large scale assets and infrastructure offshore Equatorial Guinea.

Under the contract Fugro will deploy three of its specialist vessels - Fugro Searcher, Fugro Scout and Fugro Frontier – to perform autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) surveys as well as geotechnical, environmental and metocean surveys.

The 65-meter high spec. survey vessel, Fugro Searcher, is one of three specialist vessels deployed by Fugro on the contract at the Fortuna Project

The significant survey programme will take place at the Fortuna Project to the west of Bioko Island, where Ophir is planning a large FLNG installation and associated subsea structures. With the surveys beginning in November, the offshore operations are scheduled for completion in January 2016.

Conductor Installation Services Ltd (CIS), an Acteon company that provides hammer services to install conductors and drive piles, announced that it successfully completed its second subsea piling campaign for Technip in Norway.

CIS used its remotely operated Subsea Piling System, which makes it possible to drive piles as large as 36-inches in diameter, in water depths to 300 meters. In August, the piles were driven remotely to secure the subsea Boa Extension Manifold, which makes up an integral part of the Alvheim development, approximately 225 km west of Stavanger. The development, which transports oil to the UK Scottish Area Gas Evacuation System, is designed to increase oil recovery by enhancing current production rates via three new subsea well step-outs at East Kameleon, Kneler A and Boa.

CIS - Technip Alvheim - back deck with manifold

Although the seemingly impenetrable soil formation encountered at the Alvheim manifold site made the final five meters of each individual driving operation more difficult than a previous operation carried out on nearby Boyla field, the Subsea Piling System performed flawlessly. Each pile was successfully driven into the seabed to its respective target depth of 11.25 meters. The subsea operation was successfully completed in seven hours in half of the time originally planned. All four piles were driven with a 90kJ hydraulic hammer in just 160 minutes.

“Our Subsea Piling System performed reliably, allowing us to drive the piles subsea very efficiently,” said Andy Penman, Group Managing Director of CIS. “We have now completed two successful subsea piling campaigns for Technip in just 14 months: one on Alvheim and another on Bøyla field last year. Looking ahead, we hope to be in a position to drive more subsea piles for Technip as our relationship continues to develop.”

CIS, a member of Acteon’s Conductors, Risers and Flowlines group, provides conductor and pile installation services associated with construction projects carried out in the global oil and gas industry. These services are carried out both onshore and offshore to, for example, create foundations for new wells, platforms, bridges and jetties.

The range of services provided by CIS supports the Acteon Group’s commitment to defining subsea services across a range of interconnected disciplines.

Atwood Oceanics, Inc. (NYSE: ATW) announces that one of its subsidiaries agreed to an extension and rate adjustment to its existing contract with Noble Energy, Inc. for the ultra-deepwater rig, the Atwood Advantage, effective November 9, 2015. The agreement is to extend the contract for the purposes of a plugging and abandoning four well program in the Gulf of Mexico that has an estimated duration of one hundred and twenty (120) days during the contract term and is anticipated to occur in 2016. This extension adjusts the operating day rate to approximately $240,000 per day only during the four plug and abandon wells and makes the new contract expiry date approximately August 2017.

Atwood Oceanics, Inc. also announces that one of its subsidiaries has received a letter confirming that it has been chosen to enter exclusive negotiations with an undisclosed operator to conclude agreement on a drilling program offshore Brazil commencing in the third quarter of 2017. The letter specifies that either the Atwood Admiral or Atwood Archer, ultra-deepwater drillships currently under construction at the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd yard in South Korea, would be contracted to drill the program. The letter specifies a number of contractual items that have been agreed by the parties, including the commercial rates, well count, minimum term length, and rig acceptance criteria.