Chet Morrison Contractors is now certified as a Licensed Inspection & Repair Service Provider for GE Oil and Gas. Specifically, the company’s Deepwater Riser Services’ facility in Houma is qualified for disassembly, inspection and repair of GE Oil & Gas marine drilling risers. It is one of only two such facilities in the state of Louisiana.

“As an approved GE Channel Partner, Chet Morrison Contractors is qualified to perform a variety of inspection and repair services for marine drilling risers on behalf of GE Oil & Gas,” said John DeBlieux, vice president of Deepwater Riser Services. “This certification allows us to issue Original Equipment Manufacturer Certifications of Compliance (OEM COC), enhancing customer confidence in the high quality of our work.”

Chet Morrison Contractors offers a variety of services throughout the riser life cycle, including transportation and maintenance. With an API Q1 Registered Quality Management System, Chet Morrison Contractors’ in-house team of quality and NDT inspectors completes all work on-site under the strictest protocols for quality and safety. The Houma Riser facility is OEM-certified for GE Oil & Gas as well as Trelleborg repair work.

Wood Group has been awarded an evergreen master services agreement (MSA) by Statoil to support the life cycles of its offshore and onshore facilities. Work and services covered by the MSA include engineering studies, detailed engineering, procurement services and management assistance services.

“This MSA reflects Wood Group’s strong relationship with Statoil,” stated Robin Watson, chief executive. “We look forward to leveraging our global knowledge and expertise to provide Statoil with the best technical services for its facilities.”

Wood Group has supported Statoil for many years. Recent work includes four subsea contracts, support for the Statoil Technical Efficiency Program (STEP), and providing maintenance and modification services to four installations on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS).

Dynamic Industries International LLC. (Dynamic), a full service brownfield construction, fabricator, hook-up and commissioning contractor to the global offshore oil and gas industries, has announced that their Angolan affiliate, Dynamic Angola Contractors (DAC) based in Luanda, Angola has been awarded a contract to provide general construction and fabrication services in support of ongoing operations for a major oil and gas operator. The contract is expected to kickoff 4Q16 and last four (4) years.

Pierre Allard, Country Manager for DAC said, “This award is a great win for DAC and will provide another platform for DAC’s continued development and growth of our skilled Angolan workforce and investment for additional local infrastructure to support this activity”.

Since 2014 Bibby Offshore has invested heavily on its commitment to the workforce of tomorrow by their ongoing support and training of six young ROV apprentices. The apprentices have experienced a variance of training, internally at Bibby Offshore`s workshop facility and externally through the vast network of suppliers and customers. This has allowed the apprentices to gain a great overall insight into the range of offshore services that Bibby Offshore provide. Aleron Subsea has recognised these efforts and is now engaged in supporting Bibby Offshore with their ongoing training.

Managing Director Mike Bisset said: “We understand the need for high quality training of younger staff members and wanted to assist Bibby offshore where we could. We take the apprentices on a rotation in pairs where they spend time working on our ROV’s and ROV Tooling under the direction of our senior technician’s. We have also set up hour long structured lunch and learn sessions each day with Dan Fjellroth who was the senior ROV trainer at Technip Offshore, previously involved in setting up Technip's ROV technicians competence scheme and source in conjunction with the ROV Resource manager complementary courses suitable for ROV Personnel's professional development.

The training partnership has been ongoing successfully since Q4 2015 as is due to continue throughout 2016.

Offshore Technical Compliance (OTC) has introduced two new IADC-accredited regulatory compliance training programs: an offshore drilling and a marine regulatory compliance training.

OTC’s Offshore Drilling Regulatory Compliance Training is a five-day, 40-hour course held in Covington, La., designed to give participants fundamental knowledge on offshore drilling regulatory requirements and inspection methodology and skills, allowing them to easily identify, explain and resolve potential regulatory and compliance related deficiencies.

OTC’s Marine Regulatory Compliance Training is a three-day, 24-hour course held in Covington, La., intended to provide participants with a deep understanding of marine regulatory compliance and inspection methodology and skills for oil and gas vessels, MODUs, FPSOs and floating production facilities operating in the Gulf of Mexico and in international waters.

“With federal compliance regulations constantly changing, it is more important than ever to ensure not only that your company is operating in compliance with these guidelines, but that your crew has been properly trained to perform their jobs safely,” said Mike Bethea, CEO, OTC. “These courses are designed to provide participants who already possess a basic knowledge of oil and gas related safety guidelines with a deeper understanding of government regulatory agencies and their offshore drilling and marine regulatory requirements to improve the efficiency and safety of your company’s operations as a whole.”

Both interactive training courses are instructor-led via classroom and workshop-style settings using slideshows, handouts and case studies to provide participants the knowledge and resources needed to demonstrate their proficiency in domestic and international regulatory guidelines with an 80 percent pass rate as required by the IADC at the courses’ end.

The first Marine Regulatory Compliance Training course will take place June 27-29th, and the first Offshore Drilling Regulatory Compliance Training course on July 25-29th.

For individual training, please visit OTC’s website at www.otcompliance.com or call 985-727-7400 for enrollment, class dates and more information.

Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. (NYSE:HLX) has announced that the Q5000 commenced operations and is working on contracted rates after resolving the previously disclosed start-up issues related to certain subsea equipment.

Although commercial discussions regarding this matter are not concluded and therefore there is still uncertainty surrounding the full financial impact of the equipment start-up issues, the Company currently believes that the range of its previously issued guidance should accommodate this impact. The Company will update guidance at its next earnings release.

McDermott International, Inc. (NYSE:MDR) has joined with 14 other leading offshore companies in signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to establish engineering industry standards.

Known as the Standardization Unified Joint Industry Project (JIP), the one-year agreement sets out the terms and conditions upon which the signing parties shall establish industry standards for offshore engineering. The objective is to reduce cost and increase predictability without compromising safety in international offshore oil and gas engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) topside projects by using standardized bulk materials and equipment, construction and qualification procedures, and documentation requirements.

Vaseem Khan, Professional Engineer and McDermott Vice President, Global Engineering, signs the Joint Offshore Engineering Standardization Agreement

As part of the agreement, all parties also agreed to comply with all applicable laws, rules and regulations in the performance of the MOU and in particular with all applicable anti-trust, anti-competition and anti-bribery laws.

Joining McDermott for the signing ceremony at Offshore Technology Conference, Houston, Texas were officials from offshore engineering companies Wood Group Mustang, DNV Korea Limited, Technip, Samsung Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (SHI), Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co., Ltd. (DSME), Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (HHI), Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron and MODEC International. Classification societies signing the agreement were American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), Bureau Vitas (BV), Korea Offshore & Shipbuilding Association (KOSHIPA), Korea Marine Equipment Research Institute (KOMERI) and Lloyd’s Register.

Vaseem Khan, Vice President, Engineering for McDermott, said that McDermott welcomes the opportunity to partner with stakeholders, customers and industry peers ”to craft standards that deliver sustainable cost reductions without compromise to safety or operability.”

“McDermott, with its unique and worldwide engineering-through-installation expertise is well placed to understand the challenges of standardization and has built its reputation for engineering excellence over the past 94 years,” Khan said. “As the industry moves to arrest and reverse the cost and schedule inflation of the past decade, a core element is offshore and subsea product standardization with a move to agnostic solutions which are industry specific but operator independent.”

3sun Group, a specialist provider of products and services to the global energy industry, has opened a new base in Hull which aims to provide up to 50 jobs locally. The expansion strengthens the Group’s strategy to become a leading supplier of installation, inspection and maintenance services for the offshore wind industry in the UK and Europe.

3sun Group will support local energy firms such as Siemens who have recently invested in the region as part of their commitments following a number of the up and coming offshore wind contracts off the UK coast.

3sun Group Technician

Commenting on the evolution of 3sun Group, CEO Graham Hacon, said: “Our premises in Hull allows us to continue to advance our strategic growth plans in the UK. We’re looking forward to an exciting new chapter, strengthening our position as experts in the offshore wind industry. By providing a local base, we are ensuring that we continue to exceed our customers’ expectations and meet the demand for services in the region.”

Recruitment will begin this July, with the aim to provide positions for 50 local 3sun Group employees. The Group will provide specialist training to the new employees at their Hull base through in-house training provider 3sun Academy.

Graham added: “We are committed to employing and developing a local workforce and our core electrical/mechanical technician roles will require the expertise of those who live in close proximity to Hull.”

Since inception in 2007, 3sun Group has grown rapidly to now employ over 280 people across the group, and has earned a global reputation for resolving some of the key energy engineering challenges facing the energy sector. The opening of the Hull base coincides with the two-day offshore wind event, Offshore Wind Connections (OWC) 2016 held at the Bridlington Spa where 3sun Group is exhibiting.

Dynamic Industries Saudi Arabia Ltd. (DISA) announces that on April 3, 2016 Saleh Al-Jewair joined their team as the DISA Operations Manager.

Saleh has over 40 years of experience in the Oil & Gas Industry working in Saudi Arabia for the private and semi-private sectors. His experience includes Vice President of Management Services, Accounting, Training & Career Development, and Contracting. Saleh’s additional experience includes General Management, Business Ethics and Compliance, Director of Human Resources Administration, the installation, testing and commissioning of the Enterprise Resource Planning, (ERP).

During the last 10 years, Saleh worked as a consultant providing Management services for various oil & gas construction companies. Saleh has also worked as a member of merger steering committees for two merger initiatives of construction companies in the Saudi Arabian market place. Saleh also provided training Services to Sabic, Royal Commission, Nesma Group, Shoaiby Group, Riyadh Bank and the Dubai HR Authority UAE.

Saleh’s main focus at DISA will be the recruitment and training of our national work force for EPCI project execution, helping to develop the different disciplines of construction services DISA will offer the Upstream and Downstream market sectors and administrating governmental regulatory requirements.

Saleh is fluent in Arabic and English and has a Bachelor of Science, Accounting from California State University, Fresno.

Neptune announces it has been awarded a contract for the provision of 350 concrete mattresses by McDermott Australia Pty Ltd (McDermott International (NYSE: MDR)).

The mattresses, which will be utilized for flowlines walking mitigation on the INPEX operated Ichthys LNG project, will be manufactured at Neptune’s yard in Batam utilizing heavy density concrete and will weigh approximately 60 ton each in the air. Works commenced in April 2016 under an accelerated production schedule.

Neptune Chief Executive Officer, Robin King, said “the award of this contract follows the successful completion of other related scopes of work for McDermott on the Ichthys project by our stabilization service line. Additionally, Neptune has also performed survey and ROV campaigns on this project in recent years and we are pleased to provide ongoing support to McDermott on this milestone development.”

Subsea IMR provider, N-Sea and Subsea Projects and Engineering provider, DOF Subsea have entered into a two-year cooperation agreement to provide an Integrated Saturation (SAT) Dive Service.

The Cooperation agreement reflects both companies’ strategic decision to increase their overall service offering through Saturation diving across Europe, Africa, and Mediterranean.

Skandi Achiever

The principles of the agreement are set out with DOF Subsea providing the Dive Support Vessel, Skandi Achiever, whilst N-Sea will provide saturation diving resources. Project Management, Engineering and Diving Manual/Procedures will be provided through an integrated team. N-Sea chief operating officer Roddy James said: “This Cooperation agreement with DOF Subsea reinforces N-Sea’s key objective; to fully appreciate our clients’ requirements and provide them with the safe, sound and swift service they have come to expect.

“The MOU allows both N-Sea and DOF Subsea to offer an integrated - and highly efficient - SAT diving service to our client; something we regard as particularly important in the context of current market conditions.”

Commenting on the agreement, Robert Gillespie, managing director of DOF Subsea UK Ltd Services said: “We are very excited to work with our partner N-Sea. Teaming up with N-Sea to provide an Integrated Diving Solution will enable us to provide yet another service offering from one of our high specification vessels, namely the Skandi Achiever.

“This Cooperation Agreement exemplifies both N-Sea and DOF Subsea commitment to the Subsea market and reflects our desire to collaborate with companies to the benefit of our respective organisations and clients.”

U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Penny Pritzker, has presented LAGCOE (Louisiana Gulf Coast Oil Exposition) with the President’s ‘E’ Award for Export Service at a ceremony in Washington, DC. The President’s ‘E’ Award is the highest recognition any U.S. entity can receive for making a significant contribution to the expansion of U.S. exports.

In her congratulatory letter to the company announcing its selection as an award recipient, Pritzker said, “LAGCOE has demonstrated a sustained commitment to export expansion. The ‘E’ Awards Committee was very impressed with LAGCOE’s work to promote sales opportunities for oil and gas companies in international markets. The company’s extensive support of matchmaking activities was also particularly notable. LAGCOE’s achievements have undoubtedly contributed to national export expansion efforts that support the U.S. economy and create American jobs.”

From left to right: U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Penny Pritzker, presents President’s ‘E’ Award for Export Service to Angela Cring, Executive Director, LAGCOE, and Claire Thom, Industry Relations Director, LAGCOE.

LAGCOE, located in Lafayette, Louisiana, is a non-profit organization which supports the stability and growth of energy companies (in the U.S. and globally) through a biennial exposition and conference and ongoing programs. LAGCOE’s presentations, receptions, luncheons and programs promote education about new technologies and ventures, and provide invaluable opportunities for energy companies to display their products and network with potential buyers.

Angela Cring, executive director, LAGCOE, said, “We are thrilled to receive this recognition of our hard work in assisting U.S. companies with their international business development efforts; reducing barriers to foreign markets and opening the door to more trade around the world. The combined efforts of our international committee, LAGCOE volunteers, staff and community partners play a major role in effectively serving our companies. We look forward to continuing to grow our international business development programming to further assist energy companies with export efforts.”

LAGCOE has increased the focus on international expansion annually since 2003 and has been selected to participate in the Department of Commerce International Buyer Program since 2007. Statistics from LAGCOE’s most recent biennial exposition tracks increasing efforts to support U.S. companies’ export success. As a result of this extensive outreach, countries with international buyers attending LAGCOE grew from 26 in 2011 to 40 in 2015. At the most recent exposition in 2015, international buyers from 40 countries attended LAGCOE and 71 counseling sessions were held with 28 U.S. companies. Additionally, 95 international companies met in 286 business-to-business meetings with U.S. exporters.

In 1961, President Kennedy signed an executive order reviving the World War II ‘E’ symbol of excellence to honor and provide recognition to America's exporters. Secretary Pritzker honored 123 U.S. companies with the President’s ‘E’ Award for their outstanding work to reduce barriers to foreign markets and to open the door to more trade around the world.

In 2015, U.S. exports totaled $2.23 trillion, accounting for nearly 13 percent of U.S. GDP. Nationally, exports contributed to the U.S. economy, supporting an estimated 11.5 million jobs.

U.S. companies are nominated for the ‘E’ Awards through the Department of Commerce’s U.S. Commercial Service office network, located within the Department’s International Trade Administration, with offices in 108 U.S. cities and more than 70 countries. Criteria for the award is based on four years of successive export growth and case studies that demonstrate valuable support to exporters, resulting in increased exports for the company’s clients.

For more information about the ‘E’ Awards and the benefits of exporting, visit www.export.gov.

Technip (Euronext: TEC) and FMC Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: FTI) have announced that the companies will combine to create a global leader that will drive change by redefining the production and transformation of oil and gas. The combined company, which will be called TechnipFMC, would have an equity value of $13 billion based on pre-announcement share prices.

Photo credit: FMC

The companies have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and expect to execute a definitive business combination agreement to combine the companies in an all-stock merger transaction. Under the terms of the MOU, Technip shareholders will receive two shares of the new company for each share of Technip, and FMC Technologies shareholders will receive one share of the new company for each share of FMC Technologies. Each company's shareholders will own close to 50 percent of the combined company.

The transaction brings together two market leaders and their talented employees, building on the proven success of their existing alliance and joint venture, Forsys Subsea, uniting innovative technologies, common cultures and values, enabling rapid integration. The combined company will offer a new generation of comprehensive solutions in Subsea, Surface and Onshore/Offshore to reduce the cost of producing and transforming hydrocarbons. TechnipFMC's flexible commercial model will provide both integrated and discrete solutions to customers across the value chain. With more than 49,000 employees operating in over 45 countries, TechnipFMC generated 2015 combined revenue of approximately $20 billion and combined 2015 EBITDA of approximately $2.4 billion. As of March 31, 2016, the two companies together had consolidated backlog of approximately $20 billion.

John Gremp, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of FMC Technologies, said, "This is a compelling combination that will create significant additional value for clients and all shareholders, by expanding the success that FMC Technologies and Technip have achieved through our alliance and joint venture, to capitalize on new opportunities and drive accelerated growth." Thierry Pilenko, Technip Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, who will serve as Executive Chairman of TechnipFMC, stated, "Technip and FMC Technologies both have long track records of innovation and commitment to helping their clients meet the challenges of the oil and gas industry. A year ago, we were at the forefront of recognizing the importance of a broader view of our clients' challenges and seized the opportunity that working together in our alliance could bring. Today we want to take this strategy further and across the full footprint of the two companies. We have complementary skills, technologies and capabilities which our customers can access on an integrated basis or separately as they prefer. Together, TechnipFMC can add more value across Subsea, Surface and Onshore/Offshore, enabling us to accelerate our growth. I am confident that we can quickly demonstrate the power of TechnipFMC to our clients, our people and our shareholders."

Doug Pferdehirt, President and Chief Operating Officer of FMC Technologies, who will serve as the CEO of TechnipFMC, added, "Our alliance has shown that as customers evaluate solutions, they are involving us in the process earlier and to a greater degree than ever before. The more they seek our recommendations and new products, the more we differentiate ourselves from the competition. This transaction will allow us to deliver even greater benefits to our customers through a broadened portfolio that provides a unique set of integrated technologies and competencies that are underpinned by a history of developing rich partnerships and creating customer success. We look forward to rapidly bringing together the outstanding employees and cultures of both companies, as well as the complementary capabilities of our organizations, to position the combined company at the forefront of a new generation of solutions for the oil and gas industry."

JDR, a leading UK based supplier of subsea umbilicals and power cables to the offshore energy industry, has been awarded a contract by GE Oil & Gas, on behalf of operator ONGC, for the Vashishta & S1 project.

The Vashishta & S1 fields are located in the KG Basin, 30 – 35 kilometers off the east coast of India, at water depths of 250 to 700 metres. JDR’s scope of supply includes the engineering, design and manufacture of 12 steel tube flying leads and associated hardware. JDR’s technical services team will also provide design analysis for the project including flow and structural analyses and free spanning vortex induced vibration (VIV) analysis.

JDR CEO, David Currie, said: “This contract highlights our world-leading expertise in the supply of specialist umbilicals and cables to the offshore energy industry. We are delighted to support GE and ONGC by providing the critical links to their subsea control system. This contract award is testament to our expert teams who are leading the charge in developing advanced and innovative technologies for the offshore energy sector.”

Flying leads are used to connect subsea trees to umbilical termination arrangements, manifolds and subsea distribution units. They will be manufactured at JDR’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Hartlepool, UK, where the company is currently undertaking a major site expansion, including the commissioning of a world-leading helical assembly machine and additional covered large capacity carousels.

Metocean Services International (MSI) has recently completed the first annual service of McDermott Australia Pty Ltd’s (MAPL) AXYS WatchMate™ current and wave buoy. The buoy was sold to MAPL in 2014 accompanied by an installation and service contract for an initial 3 years.

The buoy is installed in 270m of water in the ICHTHYS field. The INPEX operated ICHTHYS LNG Project in the Browse Basin offshore Western Australia is ranked amongst the most significant oil and gas projects in the world. In field, construction is well underway with the first production targeted at third quarter 2017.

Weight on deck: Photo courtesy: McDermott

Real-time meteorological, current and directional spectral wave data is telemetered back to MSI via Inmarsat satellite and posted onto a client specific website. Data is also posted to an FTP site to allow MAPL personnel to use it to support the ongoing infield construction where accurate, reliable and timely data is essential to ensure safe operations.

The WatchMate™ buoy is a solar powered precision instrument incorporating advanced technologies that make it an easy to use, reliable and rugged buoy for accurate measurement of directional waves. The wave sensor unit comprises three accelerometers, three rate gyros, a fluxgate compass, and the proprietary TRIAXYS™ Processor. Current data is provided via a fully integrated Nortek 600KHz profiler whilst meteorological data can be measured using a variety of sensors.

The WatchMate™ was specifically proposed to MAPL at the tendering stage due to the extreme local metocean conditions at site meaning a standard wave buoy was unlikely to survive. The WatchMate’s™ additional flotation combined with a site specific mooring designed by AXYS make it an ideal solution for these trying conditions proved by the exceptional data return provided over the last 12 months.

The project is expected to last 3 years before the buoy is recovered by MAPL following completion of their offshore work.

A spokesperson for MAPL commented “Reliable and accurate data from the WRB was essential for our offshore operations, as limiting sea states were critical for a number of the structure and spool installations. The WRB provided by Metocean Services International has been very reliable, provided the accurate data required, and the support provided from Metocean Services International for maintenance and any troubleshooting has been very professional and punctual.”

MSI owns and operates a number of similar systems so was confident in its recommendation of the Watchmate. Having been AXYS’s exclusive representative for marine environmental monitoring systems in Australia since 2009, MSI has extensive 'hands on' experience, as both an owner and user, with the AXYS product line and is therefore well qualified to fully support the end user. MSI systems are available on either a purchase or a rental basis and all measurement equipment can be deployed individually or integrated as part of a larger metocean system.

LQT Industries, LLC, a full-service provider of high quality accommodation facilities, design-build construction services, and support services to the oil and gas industry, has been awarded the construction of modular buildings from four (4) companies in the upstream and downstream market.

“We are pleased to continue to be a key supplier to our clients in a difficult market,” said John Alford, President of LQT Industries. “We appreciate the confidence our customers show in us and continue to gain customers due to our design-build capabilities and our on-time delivery of projects.”

The fabrication and outfitting of these customized buildings will be completed at LQT’s Fabrication Facility in Abbeville, LA, which specializes in designing and fabricating various types of modular structures including blast rated buildings, MCC buildings, and accommodation buildings.