Blog Archives
KBR to Design Bonaparte FLNG Vessel for GDF Suez
KBR has been selected by GDF SUEZ Bonaparte Pty. Ltd. (GDF SUEZ), operator of the Bonaparte LNG project, to execute floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) production vessel design work for its project offshore Darwin, Australia.
This award is one of two contracts being let by GDF SUEZ as part of an initial concept definition design competition for the vessel. The award also pre-qualifies KBR as a contender for the EPC delivery phase of the project. The concept definition work is already underway in KBR’s London operations centre in Leatherhead, and is expected to last up to 12 months.
KBR has developed an extensive global FLNG engineering capability in recent years, and draws on its experienced resource pool with capabilities in FPSO and onshore LNG EPC delivery.
“KBR is delighted to be working with GDF SUEZ on this project. We look forward to working together in a new relationship which we hope will prove valuable for both companies as this project moves towards the EPC phase,” said Roy Oelking, Group President, Hydrocarbons.
This work follows KBR’s recent FLNG front-end projects in London, Houston and Perth. FLNG represents a new market for the industry and KBR’s engineering capability is already being utilized in several FLNG projects around the world.
KBR to Design Bonaparte FLNG Vessel for GDF Suez| Offshore Energy Today.
- Australia: KBR Secures Bonaparte FLNG Design Work (worldmaritimenews.com)
- Australia: Floating LNG Facility Receives Environmental Approval (worldmaritimenews.com)
- Need LNG? Yemen Is Looking for Buyers (gcaptain.com)
Cal Dive Secures Saturation Diving Jobs in Mexico and Australia
Cal Dive International, Inc. announced that it has recently commenced a two-year charter of the DP saturation diving vessel Kestrel to a major contractor in Mexico to perform repair and maintenance work for Pemex.
The charter started in mid-October and has a fixed term of two years with an additional one-year option. The charter is expected to result in EBITDA of approximately $10 million per year during the two-year charter term. The vessel is expected to generate approximately break-even EBITDA in 2012.
In addition, Cal Dive has been awarded three saturation diving contracts in Australia. Two of the projects will utilize one of Cal Dive’s portable saturation diving systems while the third contract will be performed from a third party vessel utilizing a built in saturation diving system. These three contracts are expected to generate total revenue of approximately $20 million during 2013 and the first project is expected to commence in the first quarter 2013.
Quinn Hébert, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cal Dive, stated, “We are pleased to announce the saturation diving contracts in Australia and the charter of the Kestrel in Mexico. Both awards demonstrate the continued execution of our strategy to geographically diversify outside the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The charter of the Kestrel is also consistent with our strategy to commit certain assets to long-term contracts that improve visibility. The charter is of additional significance due to the EBITDA improvement it will generate in 2013.”
Cal Dive International, Inc., headquartered in Houston, Texas, is a marine contractor that provides an integrated offshore construction solution to its customers, including manned diving, pipelay and pipe burial, platform installation and platform salvage services to the offshore oil and natural gas industry on the Gulf of Mexico OCS, Northeastern U.S., Latin America, Southeast Asia, China, Australia, the Middle East, West Africa and the Mediterranean, with a diversified fleet of surface and saturation diving support vessels and construction barges.
Subsea World News – Cal Dive Secures Saturation Diving Jobs in Mexico and Australia.
Total Selects AGR’s RMR for Exploration Offshore Australia
TOTAL E&P Australia (Total) has signed up to use AGR’s Riserless Mud Recovery (RMR®) system. The contract is for two exploration wells to be drilled over the next year in the Browse Basin off North West Australia.
Bernt Eikemo, AGR’s Vice President of the Enhanced Drilling Solutions (EDS) division (Asia Pacific), said: “AGR is delighted to be part of Total’s drilling team during the forthcoming exploration campaign. We hope that this is the start of a long, successful relationship with Total E&P Australia.”
He added: “Our previous experiences with several operators in the Browse Basin and the North West Shelf have shown that unconsolidated sand formations become much more benign when drilled with RMR® using a proper mud system.”
RMR® has been used by Total on several other projects internationally but this is the first time that the operator has used the system in Australia.
The main reason for using RMR® on these wells is to be able to drill through the unconsolidated sands of the Grebe Formation. It is renowned for stuck-pipe problems when drilling riserless using seawater and sweeps.
RMR® (system example attached) enables the use of weighted, engineered mud in the top-hole section. All mud and cuttings are returned to the rig with no discharge to the seabed. The top-hole section can be drilled more safely, quickly and with less impact on the environment.
RMR®, together with its sister technology the Cutting Transportation System (CTS™), has been deployed on more than 500 wells worldwide to date.
Related articles
- USA: AGR Signs Two Agreements with Chevron (mb50.wordpress.com)
- Better Days Ahead for Drilling Companies (businessinsider.com)
Atwood Osprey Rig Stays with Chevron in Australia Until 2017
Chevron Australia Pty Ltd has decided to extend the contract for the semisubmersible rig Atwood Osprey for three more years
The Atwood Osprey, owned by the international drilling contractor Atwood Oceanics, started its first three year drilling services contract with Chevron on May 27, 2011 for operations offshore Australia inclusive of the Greater Gorgon field development project. With this contract extension, the Atwood Osprey is now committed through May 2017.
The operating day rate for the initial three year period remains unchanged. The operating day rate at the start of the extension period is estimated to be approximately $470,000, exclusive of the total cost escalation adjustments which occur during the initial term and will be additive to the operating day rate during the extension period. The contract provisions during the extension period provide for continued annual cost escalation adjustments, enhanced rig equipment maintenance and repair time allowances, and other adjustments to the initial contract’s terms and conditions.
Related articles
- Atwood Beacon to Drill Offshore Israel (mb50.wordpress.com)
- USA: Statoil Extends Maersk Developer Contract for GoM Work (mb50.wordpress.com)
- USA: Anadarko Contracts ENSCO 8506 Semi (mb50.wordpress.com)
Aker Solutions to Build Umbilical Plant in Malaysia
Aker Solutions will build a new state-of-of-the-art umbilical manufacturing plant in Pekan, Malaysia, to meet the anticipated growth and the needs of their Asia Pacific customers. The total investment of USD 60 million will expand Aker Solutions’ manufacturing capacity and strengthen their position as a leading producer of steel tube umbilicals.
The new manufacturing facility close to Kuantan, on the east coast of Malaysia, will complement the existing umbilicals manufacturing plants located in Moss, Norway, and Mobile, Alabama, US.
“I am very excited about the opportunities that will be created by our new manufacturing plant in Malaysia and the added capabilities it ensures. This new plant increases Aker Solutions’ footprint in Asia and our capability to serve customers in the Asia Pacific region,” says Tove Roskaft, head of Aker Solutions’ umbilical business.
She adds: “The umbilical market has robust fundamentals and this strong growth is expected to continue. This investment gives us a strategic advantage in the already booming oil and gas market in the region. As a technology and market leader, we are now ready to take on the opportunity of having umbilical manufacturing hubs in three major oil and gas regions of the world.”
Over the past few years, Aker Solutions has invested heavily in Malaysia, which is the company’s hub for the Asia Pacific region. This includes their first-class manufacturing centre for subsea production technologies and drilling risers in Port Klang, close to Kuala Lumpur. The company also has a 600-strong front-end, design and engineering hub in Kuala Lumpur.
Subsea umbilicals are deployed on the seabed to supply necessary controls and chemicals to subsea oil and gas wells, subsea manifolds and any subsea system requiring a remote control. Over the past 15 years, Aker Solutions has delivered more than 400 umbilicals to some of the world’s most challenging fields, from harsh environment to ultra-deep, high-pressure water conditions.
Aker Solutions has already opened its regional head office for umbilicals in downtown Kuala Lumpur managed by Mr. Crawford Tennant who is an industry veteran and former head of the Aker Solutions facility in Port Klang. The Pekan facility is scheduled to begin operations in the fourth quarter of 2013.
Related articles
- Happy Dragon Ships 8 Manifolds to Goliat Field Offshore Norway (mb50.wordpress.com)
- Shell Orders Subsea Connection Systems from Aker Solutions (Norway) (mb50.wordpress.com)
- USA: Aker Solutions to Provide Umbilicals for Anadarko’s Lucius Development (mb50.wordpress.com)
- Ghana: Aker Solutions Signs Well Service Contract with Tullow (mb50.wordpress.com)
- Aker Solutions to Design World’s Largest Spar Platform for Statoil (mb50.wordpress.com)
- Norway: Aker Solutions Secures Draupne FEED Contract (mb50.wordpress.com)
- Norway: Aker Solutions Secures Draupne FEED Contract (appliedagrotech.net)
- Norway: Aker Solutions Delivers Subsea Templates for Skuld Fast-Track Development (mb50.wordpress.com)
The US Prepares To Open Up One Of The Most Exciting Untapped Energy Troves In The World
U.S. secretary of state Hilary Clinton has reportedly said that the U.S. is prepared to move send a ‘full ambassador’ to Myanmar, and establish a US aid office in the country, according to Reuters.
The U.S. will also begin the process of easing away sanctions that have so far banned exports of U.S. financial services and investment to Myanmar in response to its democratic transition.
This comes after Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party won a landslide victory in parliamentary by-elections.
The easing of sanctions has massive implications for the U.S. since Myanmar is a country rich in resources from oil and gas to teak.
The country recently auctioned off 10 onshore oil and gas blocks that U.S. companies couldn’t partake in because of American sanctions on the country. Myanmar had 11.8 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves at the end of 2010 and has been tapped by energy hungry Asian giants like China and India.
Earlier this year we wrote that Myanmar’s economic isolation from the West was beginning to end. At the time Dr. Thein Swe, Senior Professor of Economics, Finance and Globalizationat South East Asian Institute of Global Studies said Western countries had been sending their companies to look for investment opportunities in Myanmar in anticipation of an easing up of sanctions.
Myanmar is also expected to be important from a stratetgic point of view as the Obama administration is looking at the Asia-Pacific region as a priority. Myanmar’s democtratic transition could also be one of the Obama administration’s only successful foriegn relations achievement in Asia, according to Myanmar specialisty David Steinberg.
And Myanmar’s been on the radar for many investors. When we spoke with investment guru Jim Rogers last month, he said with every day that goes by, he gets increasingly excited about opportunities in Myanmar. Rogers had previously said that those that invest in the country could be rich in the next 20 – 40 years and had opined, “Unfortunately I’m a citizen of the land of the free and we from the land of the free are not allowed to invest in Myanmar, it’s illegal. You could invest there, but I cannot.”
DeepOcean Group Wins Trenching Job for COOEC in China
CTC Marine Projects, Ltd., a subsidiary of DeepOcean Group Holding AS, announced the award of a major trenching contract for COOEC on the Liwan 3-1 Project in China located 350 kilometres offshore Shenzhen, China.
CTC will be responsible for the trenching of approximately 174 kilometres of 30-inch pipeline from the Shallow Water Host Platform of the Liwan field development in water depth of 205 metres. For this workscope, CTC will use the MSV Volantis equipped with two ROVs and the world’s most powerful jet trenching ROV, the 2.1 Megawatt UT-1 Trencher.
Tony Stokes, Director of CTC’s Asia Pacific operations, states, “This project, along with the recently completed project with the Volantis and UT-1 in South Korea, shows the demand for CTC’s trenching technology in the thriving South East Asia region. We look forward to a successful campaign and are very pleased to cooperate with COOEC Subsea on such an epic project.”
Related articles
- Australia: DeepOcean Wraps Up Kipper Tuna Turrum Trenching (mb50.wordpress.com)
- T1200 Trenching Unit Nearing Completion in the UK (mb50.wordpress.com)
INPEX Orders USD 2 bln FPSO from DSME (South Korea)
The second largest shipbuilder in the world, Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, Co, announces that it has received an order to construct a giant Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessel (FPSO).
The order comes from a Japanese oil giant, INPEX and is a part of the company’s Ichthys project, offshore Australia.
Daewoo made the announcement on the Korea Exchange, saying that the estimated worth of the project is $2 billion.
The FPSO will serve for offshore storage and export of condensate from the Ichthys field. The condensate will be transferred from the CPF to the FPSO and, further, it will be exported from the FPSO via a floating loading hose to offtake tankers.
The vessel will also treat and dispose of produced water. It will be located approximately 2 km from the Central Processing Facilitiy and will contain liquid (condensate and water) treatment facilities, living quarters and associated utilities.
South Korea’s shipbuilders have benefited greatly from the INPEX’s Ichthys project. Samsung Heavy Industries Co Ltd has recently received a $2.71 billion order for the construction of an offshore central processing facility (CPF) for the Ichthys project.
Related articles
- Australia: Heerema Wins Subsea Installation Contract for Ichthys Project (mb50.wordpress.com)
- Australia: Technip Wins Wheatstone Platform Design Contract from DSME (mb50.wordpress.com)
- Ichthys: The Largest Subsea Gig for McDermott (Australia) (mb50.wordpress.com)
- European Client Cancels Order, Says DSME (mb50.wordpress.com)
- Australia: Saipem Lands Ichthys LNG Work (mb50.wordpress.com)
- Singapore: Dyna-Mac Receives LOIs from Leading FPSO Operators (mb50.wordpress.com)
- Total and Inpex Launch $34 Billion Ichthys LNG Project Offshore Northwestern Australia (gcaptain.com)
- UK: Largest Contract in Odfjell Drilling’s History (mb50.wordpress.com)
Continents of the World
Mb50's "Liquid Mud" Rant 