Danos, a family owned oil and gas service company, announced plans to expand its fabrication capabilities, by opening a 120,000 square-foot fabrication facility in Amelia, La. The new facility, set to begin operations in October 2014, sits on about 45 acres of waterfront property and will create employment opportunities for about 150 workers.

"The demand for our services is growing rapidly, and the size, location and condition of the Amelia facility allows us to better meet the needs of our customers," Eric Danos, executive vice president, said. "The fabrication facility is about four times the size of our current facility, and its strategic location on Bayou Boeuf provides direct access to the Gulf of Mexico, allowing Danos to go from producing truckable projects of 40 tons or less, to projects of 500 tons or greater."

The company's current fabrication shop, a 14,000 square-foot, 50 employee operation located in Larose, La., will remain open in order to continue offering rapid response to clients in the Fourchon area, as well as handling piping and smaller structural projects – a service Danos has successfully provided for more than 40 years.

In addition to taking on overflow work from the Larose shop, the Amelia facility will allow Danos to take on larger, multi-phase projects, including: fabrication, non-destructive testing, coatings, instrumentation and electrical and integrated project support services.

"We will need to hire a team of qualified, results-driven employees to work at the Amelia facility," Danos said. "Initially, we have 50 positions to fill, and we plan to hire an additional 100 employees over the first 12-18 months of operation. It's exciting to be able to provide great job opportunities for the region."

Wild Well Control, Inc., announces the hiring of Wayne Stennes(left) and Christian Haustead (right) to further increase the company's service offerings and presence in the Asia Pacific region. Stennes and Haustead, formerly with Impact Response Group, have been named managing director and area manager, respectively. They will be based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, at the Wild Well regional office.

In addition to enhancing emergency well control operations, Stennes and Haustead will be assisting development of the market for non-emergency well control engineering services. These services include emergency response planning, risk analysis, gap analysis, relief well planning and modeling, well kill modeling, well integrity assessments, emergency well control drills/exercises and other risk management and engineering services to support well control.

"The addition of Wayne Stennes and Christian Haustead will greatly enhance Wild Well's response and engineering capabilities for our clients throughout the Asia Pacific region," said Freddy Gebhardt, president of Wild Well Control. "Wayne and Christian both bring a wealth of knowledge regarding the emergency response processes required when dealing with emergency well control incidents. Their experience in this field will provide our clients with the most comprehensive and heightened level of response to a well control emergency, onshore and offshore."

As the world's leading provider of emergency well control response and well control engineering services, Wild Well is dedicated to strengthening its well control response and engineering capabilities globally.

Stennes said, "This strategic move by Wild Well to expand into the region will enable us to provide first response capabilities as well as emergency preparedness and emergency response support services for the industry here in Asia Pacific. Both Christian and I are very excited to be part of the Wild Well team."

Stennes will serve as a first responder to all well control emergencies in the region while receiving support from Wild Well's Houston office.

Hoover Container SEA SDN BHS, a subsidiary of Hoover Group, Inc., has opened a new regional distribution center in Port Klang, Selangor, Malaysia, and relocated its Southeast Asia (SEA) office to Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.

The new regional distribution center was opened to support customers in key markets such as Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam and China. This facility provides chemical tanks and cargo carrying units (CCU’s). Hoover has reduced its delivery time by an average of four weeks due to its close proximity to Port Klang, the largest port in Malaysia with trade connections to more than 210 countries and 500 international ports.

Previously located in Kuala Lumpur, Hoover’s new office in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia, provides more room for operational growth. The floorplan is comprised of individual offices and an open-concept work space. Its new location still allows for easy access to the capital city as well as access to the Port, where Hoover’s yard is located.

“We are pleased to open a new regional distribution center in Port Klang as we seek to continually provide efficient and convenient support our Southeast Asia customers,” said Arash Hassanian, VP international sales. “This new facility, coupled with the new location of our Southeast Asia office, will allow our team to continue offering industry-leading containers and support to global clients while meeting international regulatory standards and providing cost-effective and customized solutions.”

Survivex, a market leader in the provision of offshore survival training and safety skills courses to the global energy industry, announces Andrew Green (photo) as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) [August 2014], replacing former CEO George Green, who is appointed as non-executive director.

Established in 2011, Survivex has since trained over 130,000 candidates, seen employee numbers rise to 100 and has trebled its turnover in the last three years. Previously, as Managing Director, Andrew Green played a key role in establishing Survivex and building its reputation as a leading provider of survival training within the industry.

Following his appointment as CEO, the ambitious 30 year old will lead the company into its next phase of growth, with a focus on developing its portfolio of industry safety skills courses to complement its existing offshore safety training capabilities, whilst driving Global initiatives.

Speaking of his recent appointment Andrew Green, CEO Survivex said: "Survivex has become a clear leader in the provision of survival and safety training, with a reputation for the delivery of quality courses in realistic environments. We have established our world-class training facility in Aberdeen and future strategies will continue to focus on flexibility and value; meeting customer training requirements onsite at their premises, overseas or offshore.

"Our success to date is testament to our commitment to developing a vast portfolio of training courses, in response to industry demand for enhanced safety in every element of offshore operations. As the experts in what we do, Survivex is dedicated to setting standards for safety, with the extensive knowledge and expertise of our skilled staff and specialist trainers key to our continued growth."

Survivex is OPITO, STCW, HSE, CAA, RYA, HSE, FPAL, BAC, RTITB and IOSH approved. Its range of courses include: Survival (including BOISET and EBS), Fire, Forklift, Helideck Operations, Lifting Operations, Working at Height, Mobile Access, Gas detection and Confined Space.

McDermott International, Inc. (NYSE:MDR) ("McDermott") has announced that Stuart Spence has been appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer following the departure of Perry L. Elders, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, effective August 23, 2014. Mr. Elders will be pursuing other opportunities.

Mr. Spence, age 45, has approximately 19 years of combined financial and operational management experience with companies in oilfield products and services and engineering and construction businesses. Immediately prior to joining McDermott, Mr. Spence served as Vice President, Artificial Lift for Halliburton Company, where he had overall strategic and operational responsibility for Halliburton's artificial lift product and service line. Previously, he served as Senior Director, Strategy and Marketing for Halliburton's Completion and Production Division. Mr. Spence joined Halliburton following Halliburton's acquisition of Global Oilfield Services Inc. in November 2011. He served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Global Oilfield Services from 2008 to 2011 and as Executive Vice President, Strategy, in 2011 in connection with the sale to Halliburton. His prior experience also includes positions of increasing financial and management responsibility at: Green Rock Energy, LLC; and Vetco International Ltd. (holding company for Aibel Ltd., an oilfield facilities maintenance and construction company, and Vetco Gray, Inc., a subsea production and drilling equipment company). In his role as Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Spence will be McDermott's principal financial and accounting officer.
Mr. Spence stated: "I am joining McDermott at both a challenging and exciting time, and I am looking forward to working closely with a management team dedicated to returning McDermott to sustainable, profitable growth and focused on shareholder returns."

Mr. Elders stated: "With the successful completion of the refinancing and new financing transactions in the second quarter of this year and the other positive steps we have taken to direct the turnaround of McDermott's operations, I feel the time is right for me to transition to other opportunities and challenges. I wish the McDermott management team the best in their continuing efforts."

David Dickson, President and Chief Executive Officer of McDermott, stated, "The Company is grateful for Perry's contributions to McDermott over the past four years and his leadership role in the Company's transition following the spin-off of The Babcock & Wilcox Company to our shareholders in 2010 and our recently completed refinancing and new financing arrangements. We wish him well in his future endeavors. Stuart brings a new perspective to McDermott, with not only a demonstrable track record of operational-results focus and financial discipline, but also in the area of strategic planning. As McDermott continues its focus on returning to profitability, Stuart's skill set and leadership will be instrumental in shaping our near-term results and future strategy. I am looking forward to working closely with him."

Online well control course to be offered free-of-charge by IWCF

LODDON, Suffolk, England – 18 August 2014 – Oilennium™ Ltd., a Petrofac Training Services (PTS) company that provides eLearning training services to the oil and gas industry, has been retained by the International Well Control Forum (IWCF) to produce a new eLearning course to explain the life cycle of a well, with primary emphasis on well control.

The IWCF, which sets international training standards for well control, commissioned Oilennium to create the user-friendly course which will offer an engaging and informative overview of this topic.

The course is being designed to raise awareness of well control amongst those working in the global oil and gas industry, and those considering a career in the sector. IWCF plans to make it available free-of-charge on its website as part of this drive.

The online offering is the latest initiative in IWCF’s ongoing campaign to increase understanding of what triggers a well control incident, the impact and how such incidents can be prevented. It is based on specific recommendations made by the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (OGP) in the wake of the Macondo tragedy.

Kevin Keable, Managing Director of Oilennium, stated, “Given that the course will be made available worldwide by IWCF at no cost and will play a key role in helping IWCF to improve safety globally, it must provide a highly compelling and effective learning experience. In view of this, we are extremely pleased to have been given the opportunity to work with IWCF on this project. It demonstrates the confidence that they have in us to produce a course that will not only educate participants about the life cycle, but drive home the importance of proper well control and how critical it is, not only to the well-being of oil and gas workers, but to all life in the surrounding environment.”

Utilising colourful 3D animation technology, voice-overs and striking visual images, the fully interactive course will open with an explanation as to how reservoirs are formed, which leads to an overview of the well life cycle, from drilling to interventions. It also sheds light on potential hazards, methods of prevention and how kicks and blowouts are addressed by drawing upon actual incidents, such as Macondo and others. Upon completion of the course, the user will have a solid knowledge of the well life cycle, and basic well control.

The new Well Control eLearning course is scheduled for completion in Q4 2014.

HOUSTON (Aug. 6, 2014) – Artificial Lift Company (ALC) has changed its name to AccessESP to better communicate the value proposition of the company’s unique and practical electric submersible pump (ESP) conveyance technologies. The company unveiled its name, logo and website.

AccessESP’s new name reflects the industry’s need to radically simplify the process of deploying ESPs while providing easy full bore access to the reservoir in ESP lifted wells.

For remote well sites with challenging logistics as well as offshore locations, maximizing the value of ESP wells while simplifying the conveyance of ESPs without a costly workover rig is crucial. Since 2008, AccessESP’s streamlined technological focus has provided simplified rigless conveyance solutions that greatly reduce intervention cost, non-productive time and lost production. The company has conveyed ESPs using its technology for international and national oil companies around the world.

“I am pleased to announce our company’s name change to AccessESP, a name that accurately reflects our unique technology. This also serves as an opportunity to reintroduce our approach where we partner with ESP providers to deliver a rigless, slickline deployable, through tubing, full bore access ESP solution that provides all the functionality of a conventional ESP,” said David Malone, president and chief executive officer (CEO), AccessESP.

AccessESP’s management team is based at its headquarters in Houston and includes seven executives including Malone; Ahmed Allouache, vice president and chief financial officer; Todd C. Wray, vice president of marketing and sales; Greg Nutter, vice president of operations and QHSE; Dwayne Leismer, vice president of engineering; Graham Anderson, region manager; and Dan Theriault, manufacturing manager.

Seattle and New Orleans offices welcome new talent

EBDG is pleased to welcome two new Marine Engineers to its team: William Summers (Bill) in its New Orleans office and Eileen Tausch in its Seattle office.

Summers is a seasoned marine professional with more than three decades experience in the offshore and oilfield industry. His varied background encompasses the development and planning of marine engineering vessel modifications and new construction vessel operations. He holds a MBA from Tulane University and a BS in Marine Engineering from the United States Merchant Marine Academy.

Tausch graduated with a BS in Naval Architecture from the University of Michigan (U‐M) and minored in Electrical Engineering. She previously worked as an intern at EBDG's Seattle office and was part of the project teams working on a multipurpose supply vessel for one of the firm's offshore clients.

The additions of Summers and Tausch bring the total number of EBDG employees to 63. This includes 17 Professional Engineers, many of whom are registered in the states of Washington, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Alaska, Texas and Louisiana.

Bristow Group Inc. (NYSE: BRS), the leading provider of helicopter services to the offshore energy industry, announced today that it has appointed Chet Akiri to the position of Senior Vice President and Chief Corporate Development, New Ventures and Strategy Officer. As of September 2, 2014, Mr. Akiri will lead the company's corporate development efforts, including new business incubation, venture investing activities, identification of merger and acquisition opportunities, potential government and joint venture development streams and long-term corporate level strategy, financial planning and analysis. 

Bristow Group's President and CEO Jonathan Baliff stated, "Chet has extensive experience in senior management roles in successful global businesses. He has helped them enhance their customer focus, expand their operations, and achieve significant financial growth. He led strategic planning and M&A activities, introduced new products and services, and built high performance teams. He has a track record of strong leadership, innovative thinking and proven experience transforming businesses in highly complex environments in close coordination with government authorities. We are delighted to have him join our senior management team to focus on our strategic business plan for external growth in alignment with our core values."

Mr. Akiri comes to Bristow Group from General Electric (GE), which he joined in 2001 and most recently served as Chief Operating Officer (COO) for Global Nuclear Fuels America in Wilmington, North Carolina. Before becoming COO in 2013, he served as Vice President and General Manager of GE Hitachi Parts Services, where he was accountable for sales and margin growth, portfolio management and investment, product and service solutions, operations, manufacturing and supply chain, and regulatory compliance. Before joining the nuclear business in 2010, Chet served in senior management roles in GE Aviation, Consumer and Industrial, Industrial Solutions and in Global Business Development at GE's corporate headquarters.

Prior to this time, he held vice president and senior vice president roles in several entrepreneurial ventures, served as an associate in Corporate Finance with Goldman Sachs & Co., and was a management consultant with Corporate Decisions, which was acquired by Mercer Management Consulting. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from Brown University and his Masters of Business Administration from Harvard Business School.

MacArtney is pleased to announce the opening of a dedicated slip ring service facility in Singapore.

Operating out of a new and purpose designed in-house workshop equipped with the latest tools and equipment, the new service facility is capable of performing complete refurbishment, repair and maintenance of all standard Moog Focal slip ring models.

Trained technicians and state of the art equipment
All jobs at the MacArtney Singapore slip ring service facility are executed by fully trained and experienced technicians supported by the latest technology - including inductive soldering machinery and advanced test equipment. Whether performing basic slip ring maintenance or a complete system overhaul, MacArtney technicians work to ensure that official manufacturer procedures and instructions are meticulously followed.

One stop slip ring service for the Asia Pacific region
During its mere few weeks in operation, the MacArtney Singapore slip ring service facility has experienced a terrific amount of interest in the services offered, and numerous orders for complete slip ring refurbishment are already being processed.

While these initial orders originate from Singapore based Moog Focal slip ring users within subsea, survey, ROV and seismic sectors, the new facility is expected to serve as a one stop slip ring service hub for the entire Asia Pacific region. "This way, the new facility will provide local and regional slip ring users with short lead time system service without the constraints of time zone differences and complex logistics - and at the end of the day, this will mean less system downtime" says MacArtney Singapore managing Director, Steen Frejo and continues: "We have high expectations for the new facility which we will continuously expand alongside our Asia Pacific operations in general."

Global slip ring expertise
While the new MacArtney slip ring service facility is certainly among the first of its kind in the Asia Pacific region, MacArtney holds extensive experience, expertise and a profound track record as a Moog Focal slip ring service provider with dedicated workshops already in place at MacArtney Group operations in Denmark, Norway, the United Kingdom, USA, France and the Netherlands.

Multiple contracts awarded with a total value of approx. NOK 830 million.

DOF Subsea, a subsidiary of DOF ASA, has been awarded multiple contracts, with a total value of approx. NOK 830 million.

In the Asia Pacific region, DOF Subsea has been awarded several contracts including project management and engineering, IMR services and subsea installation work. The contract awards will secure utilization of the vessels Skandi Singapore, Skandi Hercules and Skandi Hawk.

In the Atlantic region, DOF Subsea has been awarded several contracts, including a contract for completing two construction projects offshore West Africa, utilizing the Skandi Singapore. The contract awards will improve utilization of the regional vessels.

In the North America region, DOF Subsea has been awarded several contracts including IMR services and subsea installation work, increasing the utilization of the regional vessels.

CEO, Mons S. Aase stated "I am very pleased with the contract awards, improving utilization of our onshore engineering and project management teams as well our vessels for second half 2014 and Q1 2015."

Aquatic Asia Pacific Pte Ltd, an Acteon company and a subsidiary of Aquatic Engineering & Construction Ltd, has relocated its regional headquarters. The new office suite is part of the existing operations base on the east coast of Singapore, where all Asia-based Aquatic equipment is stored and mobilized.

This move brings the local Aquatic team closer to key clients and the equipment, enabling them to oversee key processes in the operations side of the business, and offering clients a first-hand look at a vital part of the business.

Nick Dale, regional manager Asia Pacific, said, "This new office location enables us to provide a more immediate service to our clients, while benefitting from the offshore-focused services that the supply base brings. The move is a major step forward in our growth strategy, which is to offer a complete local service supported by our existing range of reel drive and tensioner rental equipment and flagship 1,500-te modular carousel system."

The new office address is:
Aquatic Asia Pacific Pte Ltd
Loyang Offshore Supply Base
25 Loyang Crescent
Mailbox No. 5046
Tops Avenue 1
Block 103 #04=03
Singapore 508988
Tel: +65 6681 5633

2H Offshore, an Acteon company, has appointed Paul Hopkins as principal engineer, to develop 2H Offshore's growing client base in Norway.

Hopkins worked for 2H Offshore from 2001 - 2006 on a diverse range of riser projects, including Exxon's Kizomba A and B developments and BP's Shah Deniz project. Hopkins then worked for two subsea engineering contractors, developing experience in concept selection and detailed design, with a strong focus on risers, subsea pipelines and structures.

Alex Rimmer, director of 2H Offshore's London office, said, "Paul is a strong addition to the 2H team, with a wealth of offshore experience and problem solving skills. He will take primary responsibility for 2H's clients in Norway to further strengthen our presence and our client support capabilities in the region. Additionally, Paul will use his extensive technical expertise to support the UK engineering team in executing exciting and technically challenging riser and conductor engineering projects, which were recently awarded to 2H in Norway and beyond."

Hopkins commented, "I am delighted to return to 2H, and I look forward to the many opportunities ahead to further grow 2H Offshore's business in Norway."

Reflex Marine continues to expand its extensive global network of Accredited Service Centres with its latest addition, Fano Kran-Service A/S (Fano Kran) located in Denmark.

Reflex Marine is the global leader in safe marine transfer solutions to the offshore, marine and renewable industries and has largely specialised in crane transfer and offshore access with its two key products, FROG and TORO, driving forward improved safety standards. The company has set new standards and expectations for these industries, changing the perspective of crew transfer from being seen as inherently high-risk, to being accepted as a manageable activity that can be performed safely and cost effectively. This ensures continuity in offshore operations, either in day-to-day transfers or as a contingency arrangement.

Reflex Marine’s global operations continue to grow with the company experiencing increasing demand for its crane transfer devices. The company now has a network of six Accredited Service Centres operating globally in Europe, Asia, North America, the Middle East and Australia, enabling Reflex Marine to provide high-quality expertise and first-class operational support to its clients worldwide.

Fano Kran’s core business is the service and maintenance of offshore cranes which positions the company perfectly to offer operators comprehensive support for Reflex Marine’s crane transfer devices.

Reflex Marine’s sales manager for Europe, Charlie House, said: “Having an Accredited Service Centre in Denmark allows for a strategically placed Reflex Marine representative to service customers based in that region as well as the rest of continental Europe. High levels of knowledge coupled with quality of service have led Fano Kran to become well established within the industry and frequently used by major operators.

“Reflex Marine is excited to build on this relationship and to work closely with Fano Kran in order to introduce our brand new product range, the FROG-XT to the region.”

Henrik Andersen, service coordinator at Fano Kran, said: “Our impression is that Reflex Marine products are state of the art with regards to personnel transfer using cranes in an offshore environment. The high level of quality and dedication to safety embedded in the product, matches our company approach and the clients we serve in Denmark and Europe in general.”

Fano Kran not only hold a stock of Reflex Marine crane transfer devices, accessories and spare parts but also has fully trained services technicians in place to both inspect and maintain Reflex Marine products.

If you are interested in finding out more about Reflex Marine’s crane transfer devices please visit http://www.reflexmarine.com/

To find out more about Fano Kran please visit http://www.fkservice.dk/ 

The RPSEA Ultra-Deepwater (UDW) Program is proud to announce the annual Technology Conference to be held on Wednesday, September 3 through Thursday, September 4, 2014 at the Norris City Center in Houston, Texas.

The RPSEA UDW Program conducts research that targets technologies that are beneficial to offshore operators working in the Gulf of Mexico and other deepwater environments. The mission of the UDW Program is to identify and develop technologies, architectures, and methods that ensure safe and environmentally responsible exploration and production of hydrocarbons from the ultra-deepwater portion of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) in an economically viable (full life cycle) manner. Ultra-Deepwater is defined as water depth that is equal to or greater than 1,500 meters (~5,000 feet). The program also includes technologies applicable to formations in the OCS deeper than 15,000 subsurface.

The annual UDW Technology Conference presentations address the research results of 32 projects with topics ranging from autonomous underwater 3D laser imaging and deepwater monitoring technologies to improved cementing technologies, advanced seismic modeling; and design criteria for intervention, specialized materials, HTHP environments; as well as hurricane prediction. The projects focus on preventing safety risks and environmental protection of the marine ecosystem.

RPSEA's UDW Program aims for the integration of technologies that address the challenges of exploration for, or production of, natural gas or other petroleum resources located at ultra-deepwater depths. One of the goals of the research is to develop enabling technologies that help to lower overall cost and risks, and technologies that leapfrog over conventional strategies.

Registration includes continental breakfast, lunch buffet and breaks on both days and a reception on September 3rd following the day's presentations.

The workshop cost is $100 for RPSEA members and $500 for non-RPSEA members.

Pulse Structural Monitoring Inc., (Pulse), an Acteon company, has opened a new, purpose-built facility in Katy, Texas, that will provide modern office, production and testing facilities in an established industry hub.

The modern 740-m2 facility will support Pulse's expansion plans in the North American market, while enabling the company to maintain exceptional levels of customer service for all its integrity monitoring projects.

Staff at the new facility will be responsible for Pulse's engineering, project management and testing operations in the USA and Canada, including ongoing drilling and production riser monitoring projects in the Gulf of Mexico.

Wolfgang Ruf, vice president, Pulse Structural Monitoring, said, "The new fully integrated facility provides modern and state-of-the-art office, assembly and testing facilities with room for future growth. This prime location, close to our clients and in the extended energy corridor, will provide us with the space and utilities we need to deliver excellent customer service and develop long-term growth."

The address of the new facility is 22330 Merchants Way, Suite 190, Katy, Texas 77449, USA.