CGG and Magseis Fairfield has announced their completion of the 2020 acquisition of the largest OBN survey ever acquired in the North Sea.

AqualisBraemar ASA (“AqualisBraemar”) has entered into an agreement to acquire 100 percent of the shares in LOC Group, thereby creating an even more complete service provider to the upstream oil and gas industry. 

McDermott International, Ltd  has been awarded a Pre Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) contract from Tata Steel B.V. for the Enhancing Value by Emissions Reuse and Emission Storage (EVEREST) Project. Tata Steel has launched the preparatory plans for a project to capture CO2 from its blast furnaces in IJmuiden, the Netherlands, and transport it for storage in empty gas fields under the North Sea. The project is planned for implementation at the Tata Steel facilities in IJmuiden, which is located 19 miles (30 kilometers) West of Amsterdam.

"The combination of our innovative carbon capture and storage solutions with our unparalleled engineering capabilities demonstrate McDermott's strategic role in reducing emissions and advancing the energy transition," said Tareq Kawash, Senior Vice President, Europe, Middle East, Africa. "Together, we will progress Tata Steel's strategic roadmap toward carbon-neutral steel production by 2050."

"This intended construction is a very important step for our future," said Annemarie Manger, Tata Steel Europe Director of Sustainability, Health, Safety, Environment and Quality. "We feel a strong responsibility to build a sustainable and connected society for the generations of tomorrow. If we realize this, we will be one of the first steel companies to capture CO2 with its storage. We see this as the essential transition solution with which we contribute significantly to the required emission reduction by 2030. The potential of this is enormous. This technology is already being used in other countries and industries, but not yet in this form and size."

The engineering and design will be executed from McDermott's office in The Hague, the Netherlands.

Sparrows Group has been awarded a five-year contract by Spirit Energy for the provision of crane maintenance and lifting services across its Morecambe Hub assets in the East Irish Sea (UK Continental Shelf).

As Lisa McCrory, Product Manager, at Oceaneering explains, truly remote UWILDs address the challenges of vessel inspection during COVID and beyond, provided accountability and guaranteed uptime are in place.

Aker Solutions won a framework agreement with Equinor to provide maintenance and modifications services at the Peregrino field, offshore Brazil. The contract has a fixed period of four years and includes an option for a two-year extension.

Hydrographic survey technology provider Subsea Europe Services GmbH has introduced a new compact version of its unique integrated Hydrographic Survey System (iHSS). Called iHSS-Compact, it meets the growing demand for shallow-water ‘gap-filler’ marine surveys and simplifies the acquisition of commercial grade marine data for users of any experience.

TechnipFMC has received a Notice to Proceed for a major⁽¹⁾ Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contract by Sempra LNG and Infraestructura Energética Nova, S.A.B. de C.V. (IEnova) at their Energía Costa Azul (ECA) liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility in Baja California, Mexico.

Oil and gas well decommissioning specialist Well-Safe Solutions has ramped up its digital infrastructure by installing a cloud-based ERP system, deploying tech giant IBM’s Maximo software in partnership with offshore tech specialist SRO solutions.

Load-out of the first semi-submersible hull for the Ling Shui 17-2 gas field project has been successfully completed in southern China. This was also the first transverse hydraulic shoe load-out of this grade weight to be completed in the country, with a hull structure weighing at 34,000t.

Mammoet’s extensive offshore expertise has seen it break many records; recently loading out Vietnam’s largest jacket and decommissioning both the 24,000t Brent Delta and 25,000t Brent Bravo topsides. The experience gained during these projects was again vital as Mammoet’s engineers planned the load-out in fine detail, working within fine mooring and ballasting tolerances to achieve a level skidway.

Mammoet’s team started by unloading the skid track containers in a designated laydown area using 80t cranes. Forklifts of 5t to 15t and a custom-engineered electric trolley positioned the skid track sections. Thereafter, heavy-duty skid shoes and other equipment was installed onto the skid lanes using 80t to 250t cranes, and pulled into position by means of winches.

Once all skid shoes and push-pull cylinders were positioned in the correct location, the team then installed all hydraulic hoses and data cables. At a later stage, the skid tracks on the heavy transport vessel were laid into position using a lattice-boom crawler crane.

The heavy transport vessel was floated alongside the quay and moored into position. Once this was complete, a trail fit of the link-beams took place. Subsequently with the link-beams in place, the hinge points were welded on both the quay and the heavy transport vessel.

The load-out then took place with the hull skidded for a total distance of 90m. The entire skidded load-out took 24 hours for completion and skidding was finished in approximately 15 hours. The skidding system itself consisted of 48 800t and 24 650t skid shoes. All equipment was designed by Mammoet.

As of standard offshore project executions, the team adapted to daily changes in schedules and on-site requirements. This was to ensure the maximum site area can be used for operational activities during the skidding operation, and for successful completion of work by the agreed deadline.

Equipment and manpower were both mobilized on-site despite coronavirus restrictions. Daily toolbox briefing sessions were given to provide clear direction on safety and interoperation between Mammoet and client teams, making sure all workers were kept informed on adaptions made to the site. Risk assessments on all site activities were made regularly and provided to the client’s management team.

All works were completed safely and efficiently, while meeting the client’s expected deadline. “We are pleased to express our satisfaction and appreciation for the skidding load-out operation. We appreciate Mammoet’s good quality of work, high level of safety awareness, professional skills, commitment, and dedication to successfully complete the operations especially during the challenging restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic.” remarked China Offshore Oil Engineering & Co, a subsidiary of China National Offshore Oil Corporation who operates the Ling Shui 17-2 gas field project.

Work now continues at China’s Lingshui 17-2 development, which will be the country’s first deep-water gas field project and is expected to produce approximately 3 billion cubic meters of gas output annually.

Mammoet has announced the award of a major steel catenary riser (SCR) and umbilical pull-in contract by Subsea 7. The scope of work included in this contract is for engineering, procurement, fabrication and offshore pull-in operations.



National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) President Erik Milito issued the following statement after the conclusion of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s Gulf of Mexico Area Wide Lease Sale 256: 

Silixa has announced the launch of Carina® CarbonSecure™, its distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) based solution for continuous or on-demand monitoring of all stages of carbon capture and storage (CCS) operations.

Talos Energy Inc. (NYSE: TALO) is the apparent high bidder on two deepwater blocks in the recent Outer Continental Shelf ("OCS") Federal Lease Sale 256, held on November 18, 2020. Talos placed a sole bid on Viosca Knoll 1000 as well as a joint bid with an affiliate of bp on Green Canyon 866. When approved, the blocks will provide an additional 11,520 gross acres for future exploration acquired at an average cost of less than $300 per gross acre.

President and Chief Executive Officer Timothy S. Duncan commented: "We are happy with the results of our bidding efforts in the most recent lease sale, and look forward to adding the additional acreage and exploration prospects to our portfolio. We continue to believe that our basin offers attractive investment opportunities across a uniquely wide range of resource size, risk and cycle time characteristics. The Viosca Knoll 1000 block contains a technically mature prospect located approximately five miles from the Talos-operated Ram Powell facility, greatly enhancing potential project economics due to the quick cycle time, short tie-back distance and 100% Talos infrastructure ownership. The Green Canyon 866 lease expands our collaboration with bp around the Puma West prospect area and offers low-cost option value in the event of a commercial discovery at the Puma West prospect. As one of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico's largest independent operators, we're proud of the role we play in exploring for and developing our rich domestic energy resources to provide secure, affordable energy supply while also being an industry leader in safety and environmental performance."

Building on the success of OCS Federal Lease Sale 256, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced on November 17, 2020 that OCS Federal Lease Sale 257 will be held on March 17, 2021 and will offer over 78 million acres across 14,594 unleased blocks, which comprises all of the available unleased areas in federal waters in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. Lease Sale 257 will be the eighth offshore sale under the 2017-2022 OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program, the program required by federal law under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.

Aberdeen-based, oil and gas production technology business, Pragma, has combined innovative design and additive manufacturing (AM) techniques to bring the industry’s first 3D metal printed, ultra-high expansion, bridge plug to market.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) proposes to offer approximately 78.2 million acres for a region-wide Gulf of Mexico lease sale scheduled for March 2021.