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Houston TX: Chevron to Build Office Building in the World’s Energy Capital
Chevron U.S.A. Inc. announced plans to construct an office building in downtown Houston to accommodate its business growth and expanding workforce in the world’s energy capital.
The 50-story, 1.7 million-square-foot building will be located at 1600 Louisiana Street at Pease. Together with Chevron’s existing properties at 1500 Louisiana and 1400 Smith, the buildings will comprise an urban campus with indoor and outdoor common areas, enhanced dining facilities, a fitness center, training and conference facilities, and additional parking.
“This announcement underscores Chevron’s long-term commitment to Houston and its role as the epicenter of the global energy industry,” said Bereket Haregot, president of Chevron’s Business and Real Estate Services division. “Houston plays a vital and growing role in Chevron’s global business. The new building and expanded urban campus will provide a first-rate work environment for our employees and help us remain the employer of choice.”
The headquarters of Chevron Corporation, the parent company of Chevron U.S.A., will remain in California, where they have been located for more than 130 years.
Final investment decision for the project, designed by HOK, is expected in the second quarter of 2014. Groundbreaking will follow final investment decision, and occupancy is anticipated to begin in the fourth quarter of 2016.
Press Release, July 4, 2013
Mexico: Pemex Awards Cal Dive $188 Mln Worth of Offshore Contracts
Cal Dive International, Inc. has been awarded two additional contracts from Pemex Exploración y Producción that are expected to generate combined total revenues of approximately $188 million.
The first contract is for the procurement, installation and commissioning of 47 kilometers of 20 inch subsea pipeline and associated tie-ins to an existing platform. This contract is expected to generate revenues of approximately $129 million and will utilize two of the Company’s vessels as well as a third party vessel. The offshore construction is expected to commence in the third quarter 2013 with a portion of the work expected to be performed during the first quarter 2014.
The second contract is for the procurement, installation and commissioning of nine kilometers of two medium diameter subsea pipelines and associated tie-ins to existing platforms. This contract is expected to generate revenues of approximately $59 million and will utilize a third party vessel and a Company dive support vessel. The offshore construction for this contract is expected to commence in the fourth quarter 2013 and is expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter 2014. On a combined basis, approximately 50% – 60% of the contracts are expected to be performed during 2013.
Quinn Hébert, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cal Dive, stated, “With the $63 million Pemex contract we announced in March, total contract awards with Pemex this year currently stand at $250 million. These awards increase our total Company backlog to over $400 million, our highest level in five years. We believe these awards demonstrate Pemex’s confidence in Cal Dive as a reliable contractor. These recent contract awards not only secure work for the second half of 2013, but also provide significant visibility for the first half of 2014 when our domestic business is historically slow due to the winter work season. Also, we continue to bid for additional work in Mexico that would mostly benefit our 2014 results.”
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 salvage, and light well intervention services to the offshore oil and natural gas industry on the Gulf of Mexico OCS, Northeastern U.S., Latin America, Southeast Asia, China, Australia, West Africa, the Middle East and Europe, with a diversified fleet of surface and saturation dive support vessels and construction barges.
Gulf of Mexico: Balltec to Supply Subsea Mooring Connectors for Tubular Bells Project
Balltec Ltd, Morecambe,UK, has been contracted by Houston Offshore to supply and install 10 off MoorLOK™ subsea mooring connectors for the Tubular Bells project, located in the Mississippi Canyon area of the Gulf of Mexico.
The contract covers the manufacture of 10 off 15,000kN MoorLOK™ connectors for the mooring of the Williams floating production system (FPS), Gulfstar GS1 on the Tubular Bells field at a water depth of 4,500ft. The connectors will be manufactured in accordance with the ABS Guide for the Certification of Offshore Mooring Chain, 2009, and are due to be installed during the first half of 2013.
Martin Bell, Sales and Marketing Director at Balltec Ltd said:
‘Balltec is proud to have been awarded this significant mooring connector contract. The Tubular Bells project has been under development for some time and we are very much looking forward to working with Houston Offshore Engineering and Williams to play our part in bringing this project to first oil.’
Russell Benson, Managing Director, Balltec Ltd said:
‘The award of the Tubular Bells mooring connector package is another significant contract gain in 2012. With Tubular Bells and several other projects due to be completed next year as well as new products ready to be launched, 2013 is going to be another exciting year for Balltec.’
The Balltec MoorLOK™ is a disconnectable, subsea mooring connector designed for the temporary and permanent mooring of floating structures.
Houston,TX: BP Hires Helix’s Q5000 Semi
Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. announced today that it has entered into a five-year contract with BP to provide well intervention services to BP in the US Gulf of Mexico with Helix’s deepwater well intervention semisubmersible vessel, the Q5000, currently being constructed in Singapore.
The contract is for a minimum 270 days each year and is expected to commence between April and August 2015 following the delivery of the vessel from the shipyard. The contract also includes a first right of refusal for additional days each year and an option to extend for two successive one-year terms.
“We appreciate the confidence BP has shown in our Company’s well intervention services, and look forward to this integral step in further executing our business strategy,” said Helix President and Chief Executive Officer Owen Kratz.
Representing a $585 million investment, the dynamically positioned Q5000 will be a bigger version of Helix ESG’s proven Q4000 semisubmersible MODU.
Helix Energy Solutions Group, headquartered in Houston, Texas, is an international offshore energy company that provides key life of field services to the energy market.
InterMoor Completes IRIS Installation and Recovery for Apache in Gulf of Mexico, USA
InterMoor, an Acteon company, has completed an installation and recovery project for Apache Deepwater LLC (Apache) in Mississippi Canyon Block 148, Well 5 in the Gulf of Mexico.
The work scope included the overboard, wet transfer, deployment and recovery of a 30-ton interchangeable riserless intervention system (IRIS) owned by Blue Ocean Technologies. InterMoor undertook the work in water approximately 168 meters deep from Cal Dive’s Uncle John semisubmersible vessel.
InterMoor delivered the project using its compensated anchor handler subsea installation system (CASIM) which reduces heave motions relative to vessel motions. CASIM units are pre-charged at the surface to deliver the needed heave compensation for the load at depth. InterMoor’s proprietary CASIM method requires less deck space and demands fewer deck operations than the traditional buoy-based heave-compensated landing system. The company also provided the associated rigging equipment and a technician to help facilitate the subsea compensation.
“Apache selected InterMoor for this project on the basis of our service record, the fact that we had the necessary equipment available and because of our experience in subsea operations of this kind,” said InterMoor project manager Jacob Heikes. “Although we have used CASIM to deploy and recover many types of subsea equipment, this is the first time that we have used CASIM for IRIS deployment and recovery, and the project’s success shows that this proven installation method is suitable for a wide range of subsea equipment.”
USA: Weight Key Issue for LNG Trucks, Conference Concludes
With fuel savings between $1.50 and $2.00 per diesel gallon equivalent (dge), LNG-fueled trucks are being used by fleets for their most demanding routes: heavy haul, double-shift operations where truckers can consume 200 gallons per day, the World LNG Fuels conference concluded in January.
By using domestic LNG, operators can save as much as $75,000 annually in fuel costs, enough to pay for the cost of LNG equipment in 18 months.
Hindering this, however, is the higher weight of the LNG-fueled trucks, which weigh between 1,800 and 2,000 pounds (820 and 910 kg) more than their diesel counterparts. By law, most tractor-trailer combinations are limited to 80,000 pounds. Once the weight of the truck and trailer are deducted, payload capacity can be as little as 35,000 pounds. Thus, an increase in truck weight of 1,800 to 2,000 pounds can wipe away profits.
Truckers like Hoopes Transport President Preston Hoopes would like the U.S. DOT to consider waivers for the extra weight, given the benefits of the cleaner, domestic fuel.
“We need the government to allow extra weight. If the government wants us to use domestic LNG and CNG, they’ve got to give us weight help on our trucks,” Hoopes told World LNG Fuels 2013, held in Houston.
“We’re trying to get another trucking company in Pennsylvania to use LNG. They said ‘we can’t afford the extra weight, 2,000 extra pounds, which over a year’s time costs $20,000 in lost revenue,’” he said.
Hoopes operates some 50 trucks, 16 of which are LNG fueled, for a variety of cargos. In recent months, management has assigned their LNG units to their most fuel-intensive routes. They would like to move into the LNG-fuel supply business if the issue of weight can be resolved.
USA: Weight Key Issue for LNG Trucks, Conference Concludes LNG World News.
Helix Completes Sale of ERT (USA)
Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. has closed the previously announced sale of Energy Resource Technology GOM, Inc. (ERT), the Company’s oil and gas subsidiary, to Talos Production LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Talos Energy LLC, a privately held Houston-based oil and gas company.
Proceeds from the transaction were approximately $620 million in cash, as well as overriding royalty interests in ERT’s successful Wang discovery and certain exploration prospects. Jeffries & Company, Inc. served as the exclusive financial advisor to Helix in conjunction with the transaction.
A portion of the cash proceeds from the sale of ERT will be used to repay the Company’s term loans and revolving credit facility indebtedness as required by the governing credit agreement.
Owen Kratz, President and Chief Executive Officer of Helix, stated that “the sale of ERT is an important milestone in the Company’s previously announced strategic plans to grow its Well Intervention and Robotics businesses.”
Related: Helix Sells Oil and Gas Subsidiary for up to $700 Mln
Helix Completes Sale of ERT (USA)| Offshore Energy Today.
- Talos Buys Energy Resource Technology (pehub.com)
- Helix Energy (HLX) to Divest Energy Resource Tech in ~$700M Deal (streetinsider.com)
- Helix Energy sells oil and gas subsidiary to Talos (bizjournals.com)
Helix Reports Oil Discovery at Wang Well in U.S. Gulf
Helix Energy Solutions Group today announced an oil discovery at the Wang exploration well in the Phoenix Field located in Green Canyon Block 237, approximately 93 miles off the Louisiana coast. The Wang exploration well encountered more than 100 feet of high quality net oil pay.
Johnny Edwards, President of Energy Resource Technology GOM (ERT), a wholly owned subsidiary of Helix, stated, “Preliminary data from down-hole test tools confirmed oil in the Wang well with over 11,800 psi of bottom-hole pressure. We are moving ahead to complete the well.”
The Wang exploration well was drilled to a total depth of approximately 18,300 feet, in water depths of approximately 2,300 feet. The well is currently being completed and will be developed via a subsea tie back system to our Helix-owned Helix Producer I floating production unit. First production from Wang is expected early second quarter of 2013.
The Company recently disclosed it has entered a definitive agreement to sell ERT to Talos Production LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Talos Energy LLC, for a base purchase price of $610 million plus contingent consideration. The ultimate success of the Wang exploration well is the primary component of the transaction’s contingent consideration.
ERT (Operator) holds a 70% working interest in the exploration well jointly with Sojitz Energy Venture, Inc., who owns the other 30% working interest.
Helix Reports Oil Discovery at Wang Well in U.S. Gulf| Offshore Energy Today.
- Helix Energy sells oil and gas subsidiary to Talos (bizjournals.com)
- Helix to sell oil & gas assets (fuelfix.com)
- Noble Energy Makes Oil Discovery at Big Bend Prospect in U.S. Gulf (mb50.wordpress.com)
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