Schlumberger has achieved SEMS certification to Center for Offshore Safety Program expectations and 30 CFR 250 Subpart S requirements. Schlumberger is the first service/supply contractor to achieve this voluntarily, further demonstrating their commitment to SEMS, assurance of their safety management system, and to ensure they know where is best to focus their continuing work on safety management.

SEMS is intended as a continuous learning and improvement system for safety and environmental management. A key feature of SEMS is the focus on establishing, managing and measuring barriers that protect against escalation to a major incident. The voluntary COS certification program for contractors that is delivered via Audit Service Providers (ASP) requires participation in a COS program SEMS audit using independent verification by third-party auditors that have been assessed and accredited by COS. COS focuses on the importance of combining SEMS Leadership and effective SEMS to deliver a good safety culture.

DNV GL Business Assurance USA, a COS-accredited (ASP), has approved Schlumberger for COS SEMS Certification based on the outcome of the COS SEMS audit. The audit scope included Schlumberger's Head Office, onshore manufacturing/service facilities, and verification of SEMS implementation at an offshore location where Schlumberger was active. A total of 12 locations were visited during the SEMS audit.

"While Schlumberger has had a comprehensive management system in place since the late 1980's, the SEMS certification audit provided a great opportunity to verify that our system meets the regulatory requirements of the US outer continental shelf. The exercise not only highlighted the numerous strengths of our organization but also identified opportunities for improvement. This process of continuous assessment and progression ensures that our system is maintained to the highest standards in the industry," said Rob Cummings, Schlumberger HSE Manager – North America Offshore.

Tom Teipner, Schlumberger President – North America, added, "While the current regulations apply only to operators on the outer continental shelf, I believe that voluntary participation in the SEMS audit process demonstrates Schlumberger's unwavering commitment to the safety and integrity of our industry. Leadership is about transforming a vision into a reality. This audit was another step forward in that vision of transforming the outer continental shelf into an area in which the safety of our people and respect for the environment is critical in everything we do."

"We are proud to work with Schlumberger on SEMS compliance," says Faith Beaty, President of DNV GL Business Assurance USA, Inc. "They have shown tremendous leadership in pursuing SEMS certification which — though mandatory for offshore operators — is not yet required for service providers. Clearly, they are making a move toward the future, and a strong statement about their commitment to safety and supply chain integrity."

"By successfully completing its SEMS audit, Schlumberger is sending a message to its customers and to the rest of the supplier community," says Chandran Ilango, Lead Auditor /Integrated Systems Sector Manager for DNV GL - Business Assurance. "Interest in SEMS is growing rapidly as a way of harmonizing audits among operators and service providers, to bring the industry toward a more uniform safety and certification platform that can boost confidence and ultimately increase safety performance across the board."

Charlie Williams, Executive Director for COS, stated "Schlumberger's voluntary COS SEMS Certification is an important achievement that indicates their continuing commitment and dedication to SEMS. Voluntary participation and certification of SEMS by a contractor like Schlumberger is a clear display of the importance they place on safety and environmental management and the relationship between contractors and operators. Contractors play a critical role in the SEMS process; therefore contractors who certify their management system provide numerous benefits to all stakeholders including operators and regulators. The COS hopes this trend continues to ensure continuous improvement in safety and offshore operational integrity."

The Center for Offshore Safety is an industry group that promotes continuous safety improvement for offshore drilling, completions, and operations through effective leadership, communication, teamwork, disciplined management systems, and independent third-party auditing and certification. The Center draws on expertise and input from the U.S. oil and natural gas offshore industry and the regulatory community.

Hercules Offshore, Inc. (Nasdaq: HERO) (the "Company" or "Hercules"), announced on July 13, that it commenced a solicitation of votes for a prepackaged plan of reorganization from holders of its 10.25% senior notes due 2019, 8.75% senior notes due 2021, 7.5% senior notes due 2021, 6.75% senior notes due 2022, 7.375% senior notes due 2018 and 3.375% convertible senior notes due 2038 (the "Noteholders"). Votes on the prepackaged plan must be received by Prime Clerk, the Company's voting agent, by August 12, 2015, unless the deadline is extended. The record date for voting has been set for July 13, 2015. Solicitation materials will be mailed on or about July 13, 2015 to creditors of record that are entitled to vote.

The prepackaged plan of reorganization (the "Plan") provides that claims of trade creditors, suppliers and employees will be paid in full.

As previously disclosed, on June 17, 2015 the Company entered into a restructuring support agreement (the "Agreement") with Noteholders who held approximately 67% of the aggregate outstanding principal amount of the Company's notes. The terms of the consensual financial restructuring would support a substantial deleveraging transaction pursuant to which approximately $1.2 billion of the Company's outstanding notes would be converted to 96.9% of new common equity, and $450 million in new backstop debt financing would be provided, which would fully fund the remaining construction cost of the Hercules Highlander and provide additional liquidity to fund the Company's operations. The Company's current shareholders, despite being substantially "out of the money" as described in the Plan, would have the opportunity to receive their pro rata portion of the remaining 3.1% of the new common equity, as well as certain warrants described in Plan and the Agreement, subject to the requirements of the Plan. The Company and the consenting Noteholders agreed to complete the restructuring through a prepackaged plan of reorganization. Assuming the Company receives the required acceptances, the Company intends to commence a prepackaged Chapter 11 case shortly after the conclusion of the solicitation period.

The Company recommends that Noteholders refer to the information and the limitations and qualifications discussed in the Solicitation and Disclosure Statement, including the attached Plan. Information contained in the Solicitation and Disclosure Statement, including the attached Plan, is subject to change, whether as a result of amendments, actions of third parties or otherwise. There can be no assurances that the Plan will be approved or confirmed pursuant to the Bankruptcy Code.

Royal Dutch Shell plc (Shell) announces the final investment decision (FID) to advance the Appomattox deep-water development in the Gulf of Mexico. This decision authorizes the construction and installation of Shell’s eighth and largest floating platform in the Gulf of Mexico. The Appomattox development will initially produce from the Appomattox and Vicksburg fields, with average peak production estimated to reach approximately 175,000 barrels of oil equivalent (boe) per day. The platform and the Appomattox and Vicksburg fields will be owned by Shell (79%) and Nexen Petroleum Offshore U.S.A. Inc. (21%), a wholly-owned subsidiary of CNOOC Limited.

“We have again delivered a globally competitive investment scope for another significant deep-water project,” said Marvin Odum, Shell Upstream Americas Director. “Appomattox opens up more production growth for us in the Gulf of Mexico, where our production last year averaged about 225,000 boe per day, and this development will be profitable for decades to come. With its competitive cost and design, Appomattox is next in our series of deep-water successes.”

During design work for Appomattox, Shell reduced the total project cost by 20% through supply chain savings, design improvements, and by reducing the number of wells required for the development. This includes advancements from previous four-column hosts, such as the Olympus tension-leg platform (TLP), as well as ensuring a high degree of design maturity before construction. With these and other cost reductions, the go-forward project breakeven price is estimated to be around $55 per barrel Brent equivalent.

Shell is currently the only operator in the Gulf of Mexico with commercial deep-water discoveries in this formation (Norphlet), which dates back 150-200 million years ago to the Jurassic period. The company continues active exploration in the area.

The sanctioned project includes capital for the development of 650 million boe resources at Appomattox and Vicksburg, with start-up estimated around the end of this decade. The development of Shell’s recent, nearby discoveries at the Gettysburg and Rydberg prospects remains under review. These could become additional, high-value tiebacks to Appomattox, bringing the total estimated discovered resources in the area to more than 800 million boe. Shell Pipeline Company LP also made a final investment decision on the Mattox Pipeline, a 24-inch corridor pipeline that will transport crude oil from the Appomattox host to an existing offshore structure in the South Pass area and then connect onshore through an existing pipeline. Last year in the Gulf of Mexico, Shell started production from the Mars B development, through the new Olympus TLP, and from the Cardamom subsea tie-back to the Auger platform. Shell is also currently developing the Stones project, which is expected to produce approximately 50,000 boe per day.

Left to right – Michael Scott (Business Development Manager), Donna Stewart (Internal Sales Manager), Anand Puthran (Managing Director), Ian Allan (Global Product Manager)

EFC Group, a leading designer and manufacturer of instrumentation, monitoring, handling and control systems for the global oil and gas industry, is proud to announce that it has won the ‘Business Success Over Three Years’ category at the Elevator Awards 2015.

Previously entitled The Grampian Awards for Business Excellence, the Elevator Awards were relaunched this year. Winners were announced at a black tie ceremony at the Mercure Aberdeen Ardoe House Hotel and Spa on Thursday, 25 June 2015.

The award win comes in recognition of EFC Group’s strong growth and record sales figures over nearly three decades of business. In February, the Group announced that it was one year ahead of schedule for reaching its 2016 turnover target of £30million.

CEO of EFC Group, Bob Will, said: “I am delighted that the business achievements of EFC Group have been recognised by the local business community. Our success in this year’s Elevator Awards is directly attributable to the hard work and dedication of the whole EFC team.

“Since the inception of EFC Group, we have experienced significant growth and we have continued to build upon our strong reputation for delivering a high standard of service and product quality. We pride ourselves on offering innovative solutions to the global energy industry and having a personable approach with clients. I see this as the driving force behind our success. I look forward to building on these achievements in the future.”

The Elevator Awards celebrate outstanding achievements by businesses across the North East of Scotland, in categories which include Most Promising New Business, The Grampian Award for Innovation, Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year, and Employer of the Year.

Organiser of the awards, Elevator (previously known as Enterprise North East Trust), is a social enterprise dedicated to supporting the entrepreneurs, business leaders and employees of today and tomorrow by providing expert business advice and teaching entrepreneurship and enterprising behaviour. The Elevator Awards acknowledge entrepreneurial companies and individuals that are capable of leading the future prosperity of Grampian.

EnerMech has been awarded a 12 month extension of a five year cranes and lifting contract by BP Exploration (Caspian Sea) Ltd.

The contract, which includes a further two one-year options, will see mechanical engineering group EnerMech continue to provide cranes operation and maintenance personnel, materials, equipment, engineering and mechanical handling services for up to another three years.

The contract covers all seven BP-operated platforms in the Caspian Sea and 16 offshore pedestal cranes operating in the Chirag, West Chirag, Central Azeri, West Azeri, East Azeri and deepwater Gunashli platforms, as well as the Shah Deniz gas development project.

The original five year contract was valued at approximately $50 million (£33 million) and the extended agreement will generate a further $10 million (£6.5 million) per annum for Aberdeen-based EnerMech.

As part of its well-established nationalization policy, EnerMech has trained in excess of 40 Azerbaijani nationals in crane operations and employs more than 60 Azerbaijani personnel on the BP contract.

EnerMech Cranes & Lifting Director, John Morrison, said: “BP is a valued client and the award of this contract extension underlines our credentials in providing frontline cranes and lifting services on major international projects.

“Having a strong local infrastructure in place, allows us to provide a tailor-made integrated package of our seven business lines, which complement the core cranes and lifting services which BP require.”

For the ninth consecutive year, Eni confirms its presence in the FTSE4 Good Index , one of the world's most respected corporate social responsibility stock-market indexes.

Eni, a member of the index since 2007, has been recognized for its excellence in environmental sustainability, respect for human rights, corporate governance and transparency and its relationship with stakeholders and local communities. It is with the help of these parameters that an independent committee from the FTSE Group, founder of the FTSE4Good, selects which companies are to be included in the excellence index.

This achievement confirms Eni’s consistent commitment to sustainable development and ensuring the responsible management of its business, promoting social and environmental development of the communities in which Eni operates.

The FTSE Group, wholly owned by the London Stock Exchange Group, is one of the leading companies in index creation and management, widely acknowledge by the international financial community and present on the main stock exchanges around the world.

Bibby Offshore’s Asian division, Bibby Offshore Singapore (BOS), has expanded its foothold in the Southeast Asian oil and gas sector by securing multimillion dollars (US) worth of contracts in the first half of 2015.

Drawing on its international fleet of subsea support vessels and work class ROVs, the past six months have seen the division being appointed to perform ROV pipeline inspection, remedial and project management work for companies including Moattama Gas Transportation Company (MGTC) offshore Myanmar, and Singapore based Seascape, a Mermaid Subsea Services company.

Most recently, in April 2015 BOS completed work for Indian-based Larsen & Toubro, a major technology, engineering, construction, manufacturing and financial services company that appointed BOS to perform ROV inspection work on its Yetagun D Platform offshore Myanmar. The project involved a cathodic protection survey, anode survey and flooded member inspection in water depths of up to 110meters.

Peter Hughes, Managing Director at BOS, said: “We are committed to supporting the continued development of the region’s energy sector, and provide efficient and successful delivery of subsea projects to the Asia Pacific region and India. We strive to be seen as a leading supplier of specialist ROV equipment, and experienced personnel, and look to further position Bibby Offshore Singapore as the partner of choice.”

Bibby Offshore now employs more than 1,450 people onshore and offshore worldwide, with offices in Aberdeen, Newcastle, Singapore, Trinidad, Houston, and Norway.

De Nora announces the completion of the acquisition of the Water Purification group of Severn Trent Services. The new business line, called De Nora Water Technologies, will be focused on delivering sustainable and innovative water and wastewater technologies for municipal, marine and energy related water treatment applications.

De Nora Water Technologies, together with Ozono Elettronica Internazionale, a global leader in ozone technologies acquired in May, will be integrated into the De Nora business. De Nora customers and partners will now have access to a full range of disinfection solutions for water and wastewater treatment spanning gas feed, chlorine dioxide, ultraviolet, electrolytic and ozone disinfection from the world’s best known brand names such as Capital Controls®, SEACLOR®, ClorTec® and OMNIPURE in addition to the award winning TETRA® and UAT filtration lines.

According to Lawrence Quinn, CEO of De Nora Water Technologies, De Nora Water Technologies now has one of the most complete lines of technological solutions in the industry. The combination of the expertise and solutions will provide for almost any water and wastewater disinfection need, giving us a tremendous competitive advantage in the markets we serve. And our full range of technologies will certainly strengthen our hand when it comes to entering emerging and fast-growing markets such as China, Brazil and India, where the De Nora group is already well established.”

The completion of this acquisition, and the creation of the De Nora Water Technologies business line as part of a Group of almost 0.5bn in turnover, represents an exciting time for De Nora.” Stated Paola Dellachà, Chief Executive Officer of De Nora, “We are fully committed to leveraging the expertise from De Nora as a technological pioneer and from the Severn Trent Water Purification side as experts in water treatment applications with a strong history of reliable and reputable products, to meet our vision as a world leader in this field.”

Electrolytic technologies for the on-site generation of sodium hypochlorite from seawater or brine, will experience especially big benefits as a result of the new set-up; there will be an even closer collaboration to improve the performance and the competitiveness of SEACLOR, CECHLO®, OMNIPURE, ClorTec, SANILEC® and BALPURE®. The exclusive access to De Nora’s proprietary self-cleaning electrodes for ballast water applications is certainly a unique feature that only De Nora Water Technologies can offer to this growing need of the marine industry” said Luca Buonerba, Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer of De Nora.

Oil and gas industry skills organization OPITO has reported a 250% rise during the first two quarters of 2015 in the number of North Sea energy firms investing in the systems which assess, develop and demonstrate workforce competence.

BP has become the latest major operator to achieve approval for its in-house competence management system (CMS) after a series of independent audits carried out by OPITO found the processes within BP met all 20 best practice points of the criteria necessary to help ensure competence.

The accreditation makes the operator one of only three organizations in the UK Continental Shelf to achieve an auditor’s recommendation of approval outright following a comprehensive audit of its CMS.

Gaining OPITO approval demonstrates BP’s commitment to mitigating risk through achieving and maintaining industry CMS criteria and ensuring the continual development of its workforce. BP will also use OPITO CMS criteria to benchmark their contractors, facilitating a consistent approach to measure how effectively competence is assessed and demonstrated internally, and across their supply chain.

OPITO managing director John McDonald said the increasing number of companies electing to have a more formal and independently audited CMS is directly related to the current industry climate.

“In the current climate, rising costs and tight budgets have made the retention of existing personnel imperative to business sustainability. Identifying gaps and cultivating skills enables managers to develop a safe and competent workforce and properly map out succession plans while employees develop attainable career paths,” he said.

“We have seen a tremendous rise in the number of companies in the UK seeking OPITO CMS approval over the past six to 12 months and BP is one of only a few to have completed the audit and gained approval without any recommendations for change to its internal competence structure.

“This is a very clear demonstration of the commitment and importance the operator places on setting and maintaining high standards in their working practices and to ensure all personnel employed are of the same high quality, across all operations.

“This assurance of a skilled and competent workforce is vital to the future of the UKCS. By working together with industry, we can continue to deliver robust systems for companies who in turn can support their staff which will ultimately benefit the industry as a whole.”

The scope of the OPITO approval applies to maintenance, production and control room technicians, working across BP’s onshore and offshore across the North Sea.

Oceaneering International, Inc. (NYSE: OII) has announced the appointment of Steve Barrett as Senior Vice President, Subsea Products, with worldwide responsibility for Oceaneering's Subsea Products segment.

Mr. Barrett started his career in the oil and gas industry in 1980. In 1982 he joined FMC Technologies, Inc., where he progressed from Design Engineer to his most recent role as Global Subsea Services Director. Steve holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Texas A&M University and an M.B.A., Finance and Entrepreneurship, from Rice University.

Rod Larson, President and Chief Operating Officer, stated, "Steve's leadership and successful track record in subsea products will add depth and capabilities to our management team. We expect to benefit from his exceptional experience, extensive industry knowledge and perspective as we develop plans to grow our subsea products business, including the expansion of our product line offerings. In his new role at Oceaneering, Steve will report to Senior Vice President Clyde Hewlett."

McDermott International, Inc. announced it has been selected by Saudi Aramco as one of the winners of a global competition for a new Long Term Agreement (LTA) for future brownfield work in various fields in offshore Saudi Arabia.

The LTA, which was signed on June 10, 2015, at Saudi Aramco headquarters in Saudi Arabia, establishes the terms and conditions by which McDermott can bid on future engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) opportunities in various fields in offshore Saudi Arabia.

The signing is the second LTA between McDermott and Saudi Aramco. Currently, McDermott executes work under an existing LTA with Saudi Aramco, which has been in place since June 28, 2007.

“As a long-time partner and service provider, we understand Saudi Aramco’s offshore fields, standards and specifications – and the value that Saudi Aramco places in McDermott’s fully-integrated EPCI solutions,” said Tom Mackie, McDermott’s Vice President, Middle East. “Our close relationship with Saudi Aramco is important and reflects 45 years of operational and technical success, project delivery and execution, and experience in Saudi Aramco’s offshore fields.”

BMT Group, the leading international maritime design, engineering and risk management consultancy, has announced the appointment of Sir John Hood KNZM as Chairman of BMT Group Ltd with effect from 1 October 2015, following the retirement of Dr Neil Cross at the end of BMT’s financial year on 30 September.

Sir John Hood is a non-executive Director of BG Group plc and WPP plc, Chairman of Urenco Ltd (from which he will retire later this year), Matakina Ltd, and Study Group Ltd; President and Chief Executive Officer of the Robertson Foundation; and Chair of the Rhodes Trust and Teach For All. For five years Sir John served as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford and, before that, as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Auckland after a successful career at Fletcher Challenge, New Zealand’s largest industrial conglomerate.

With a Bachelor of Engineering and a PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of Auckland, Sir John was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to study at the University of Oxford where he read for an MPhil in Management Studies. He was appointed a Knight Companion to the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2014.

Peter French, Chief Executive, BMT Group comments: “We are delighted that Sir John is joining BMT as Chairman in the new financial year. The group will benefit significantly from his wealth of experience of international business and analytical rigour. I am sure that he will bring an original perspective to our business and help us to remain at the forefront of innovation and design in maritime engineering

“I shall, of course, be sad to see the retirement from BMT of our current Chairman, Dr. Neil Cross. Neil has been with BMT for a total of 18 years and has for the last nine years been our Chairman, in which time the Board has implemented strategies that have seen us weather challenging times, nearly double our turnover to £165m and make distributions of £44m to our staff. The Board and the staff of the whole group wish Neil a very happy and long retirement.”

Wellsite Rental Services, LLC (“Wellsite”), a leading provider of drilling and completion rental equipment, and Viking Oil Tools (“Viking”), a specialty fishing, thru tubing and remedial services company, have agreed to merge to form Wellsite Fishing and Rental Services, LLC. Both companies are majority owned by NGP Energy Technology Partners (“NGP ETP”), an energy private equity firm.

“The Wellsite and Viking service offerings are very complementary in completion and remedial applications, so we see this combination as a great strategic opportunity for both companies. We are also very excited to have two proven management teams with deep industry experience partner together,” says Michael LeBourgeois, managing director of NGP ETP.

“Wellsite offers high quality tubulars and associated handling tools along with a variety of other rental items, so combining Viking’s first-class thru tubing, fishing and remedial service lines with our expansive rental portfolio is a strategic move for both companies,” says Kirby Arceneaux, chairman and CEO of the combined company. “This allows Wellsite to provide complete packages of equipment and field service after fracturing operations are completed and enables us to more broadly compete in the drilling, workover and completions markets.”

Following the completion of the merger, Wes Heiskell, former president and CEO of Viking will serve as Wellsite’s President. “The Viking team is excited to be merging with Kirby and his Wellsite team,” says Heiskell. “This strategic merger is a great opportunity for both companies to expand our product and service offerings and deepen our relationships with existing and potential customers across several markets, including the Permian, Marcellus, Utica, Eagle Ford, East Texas and the Gulf Coast.”

Mark Johnson, current president of Wellsite, will serve as the Chief Operating Officer of the combined company.

“We are looking forward to working with Wes and his team at Viking to bring together the best of both companies,” says Johnson. “Together, we will continue to provide quality products and services to our customers and will strengthen our value in an increasingly competitive market.”

AnTech Ltd, provider of specialist products and services for the upstream oil and gas industry, is pleased to announce the appointment of Jan Ward CBE, as new Chair of the company’s Board of Directors. The announcement comes as AnTech continues to strengthen its position on an international basis, with the recent announcement of record product sales.

Jan has taken up the post bringing over 30 years’ experience in the oil and gas, petrochemical and power industries to AnTech’s Board of Directors. With a mechanical engineering background, Jan is founder and CEO of Corrotherm International Ltd and has been an enthusiastic promoter of international trade and women in engineering since the outset of her career.

Photo Caption: Jan Ward, Chair of AnTech’s Board of Directors

Having held a number of influential positions within the UK Chamber of Commerce network, Jan currently acts as government advisor on the subject of international trade and SMEs, as well as having previously held the role of non-executive Director of the Board of UKTi. In the last 5 years, Jan has been closely involved with the Manufacturers’ Association and is a judge for a number of high profile awards, including the Manufacturer of the Year Award and the Queens Award for Enterprise. A previous winner, she is also a judge for the Nat West Everywoman award.

AnTech Managing Director, Toni Miszewski, is delighted to welcome Jan to the AnTech board: “It is a privilege to have Jan take up the position of Chair within our Board of Directors. She brings extensive experience in the oil and gas industry; experience she has used to successfully build overseas markets and develop long-term customer relationships, especially in the Middle East. Jan’s knowledge will be hugely valuable to our company as we continue to pursue our international growth strategy in our target markets.

“Jan replaces Tony Everett, who is standing down as Chair due to retirement and we thank him for his valuable service and commitment to the company over the years.”

Founded in 1992, AnTech operates globally across its Services and Product divisions. It provides cost-effective Directional Coiled Tubing Drilling services, utilising AnTech’s proprietary drilling tools, teams and equipment. AnTech’s Products division supplies permanent monitoring products that are heavily focused on meeting the highest industry standards in the completions market and are supported by specialist training.

Demand for AnTech’s range of services, patented products, wellhead equipment and state-of-the-art DCTD equipment (including its COLTTM Bottom Hole Assembly (BHA) for smaller diameter, thru-tubing drilling and its gyro-steered POLARIS™ BHA for larger side-tracks and grassroots wells) continues to rise. This expansion both in the UK and overseas is supported by a continued focus upon an increase in AnTech’s workforce across all divisions, including operations, sales, engineering and production.

• To supply production chemicals and services to Statoil
• Eight-year base contract duration with four-year option
• Significant contract value, including option period

Clariant, a world leader in Specialty Chemicals, signed a framework contract with Statoil, representing the Johan Sverdrup partnership, on June 3, 2015 to supply production chemicals and services for the Johan Sverdrup oil field. The contract has a length of eight years with a four-year option, totaling 12 years. The contract’s start-date is July 1, 2015 and has a significant value, including the option period.

“We are excited to expand on our close relationship with Statoil, which has been built over many years. This long-term contract, especially with the highly contested bid process, shows the confidence Statoil has in Clariant’s capabilities to provide supply of innovative chemicals and services to meet their needs,” says Frode Bekkestad, managing director of Clariant Oil Services Scandinavia AS. “We look forward to continuing our partnership with Statoil to provide high quality products, expertise and services for the Johan Sverdrup field.”

The largest offshore oil find in the Norwegian continental shelf in 30 years, the Johan Sverdrup field is estimated to hold between 1.7 billion and 3.0 billion barrels of oil equivalents. It’s expected to produce 550,000 to 650,000 barrels of oil per day when fully developed. Statoil – Stavanger, Norway – has been named the operator for all phases of field production by the Johan Sverdrup partnership, which consists of Statoil, Lundin Norway, Petoro, Det Norske Oljeselskap and Maersk Oil.

“This agreement provides the foundation for a long-term, successful relationship between our organizations, with the goal of delivering enhanced performance over the full term of the contract,” adds Bekkestad. “This will continue to strengthen Clariant Oil Services’ position as a major supplier in the oil production chemicals market in the North Sea.”

Wild Well Control, Inc., a Superior Energy Services company and a global leader in firefighting and well control, introduces its exclusive well control training certification program designed to meet the ever-changing needs of the industry by offering a complete selection of action-oriented well control training curricula, which includes both team and individual well control simulator exercises. A first in the industry, Wild Well’s well control training certification program can provide, at the student’s / company’s request, a Competency Report based on the individual simulator exercises, which can be forwarded to the company for their internal HR documentation and to identify additional training requirements if needed.

While continuing to offer IADC and IWCF well control certification options, Wild Well enters the certification arena with a strong 40-year history as an industry-recognized leader in global well control operations, engineering and training services. In 2014, Wild Well trained more than 13,000 students at its well control training centers located throughout the US, UK and Middle East.

The Wild Well certification program meets the standards of other well control certification programs yet further enhances its offerings by focusing on job-specific tasks that provide skill-specific competencies through the use of individualized computer simulations, team-based solution development for well control scenarios and student-driven discussions. Moreover, the Wild Well program offers instruction geared toward regional operations, providing a more efficient use of class time. When they successfully complete the program, students earn a two-year well control certificate similar to other well control certification programs. In addition to an adult training methodology for skill evaluation, the Competency Report, which is exclusive to our certification program, provides students with detailed feedback from completed simulator exercises.

Wild Well clients will now have the option of taking well control certification training for driller and supervisor levels under the IADC WellCAP®, IADC WellSHARP™, IWCF or Wild Well program as determined by their specific well control training needs.

Wild Well certification program classes begin July 6. For online registration and a complete listing of upcoming IADC WellCAP, IADC WellSHARP, IWCF and Wild Well certification program training, visit www.wildwell.com.