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Helix ROV Support Vessel Ready for North Sea
Helix Energy Solutions Group’s newbuild charter ROV support vessel, Grand Canyon, recently completed sea trials and is ready to begin operations in the North Sea. During the sea trials the vessel’s propulsion system, dynamic positioning system and all her cranes were tested.
The vessel recently completed its outfitting in Norway after the initial hull construction was completed in Turkey. Grand Canyon is capable of launching five ROVs at once and will be operated by Helix ESG’s robotics subsidiary, Canyon Offshore.
The vessel will be the new home for another recently completed asset, the T1200 trenching unit. Used primarily to bury large diameter power cables leading from offshore windfarms, the T1200 is also capable of working on oil and gas projects to bury production pipelines.
The Grand Canyon was designed to provide a high capacity, stable working platform for lay, burial and general offshore construction work while still retaining a shallow draft, which is crucial when operating close to the coastline, and common in the renewable energy sector.Grand Canyon’s DP3 capability allows her to operate in any sector, providing offshore support in a wide variety of roles.
The vessel’s deck structure is specifically designed to accept trenching and flexible pipe or cable lay systems for safe and efficient mobilizations. A key focus throughout the design and build of Grand Canyon was to optimize the vessel and equipment design to facilitate efficient mobilizations.
Helix ROV Support Vessel Ready for North Sea | Offshore Energy Today.
- ROV Support Vessel Grand Canyon Completes Sea Trials (Norway) (worldmaritimenews.com)
- North Sea Rig Rates May Push Higher as Midwater Market Heats Up (gcaptain.com)
- UK: Helix Well Ops Charters Skandi Constructor from DOF Subsea (mb50.wordpress.com)
Zarubezhneft Getting Ready for Drilling Offshore Cuba
Russia’s Zarubezhneft is getting ready to begin its oil and gas exploration campaign offshore Cuba.
Songa Mecur, the semi-submersible rig to be used for the campaign, is expected to arrive to Trinidad next week, where it will undergo preparations work before setting sail to Cuban waters.
The drilling program is expected to start in November.
Zarubezhneft in 2009 signed production sharing contracts with the communist country’s oil company Cubapetroleo for two offshore blocks located in the Cuban sector of the Gulf of Mexico. In the upcoming exploration campaign the company hopes to unlock hydrocarbons hidden in Cuba’s offshore Block L.
Cuba estimates that its offshore fields hold approximately 20 billion barrels of oil, which could, once unlocked provide a major boost to its economy.
In May this year, the Spanish oil company, Repsol, after a failed attempt to discover oil in a well offshore Cuba, decided to abandon any further offshore drilling plans in the Caribbean nation’s waters.
Earlier this week, Cubapetróleo (Cupet) informed the local media that Catoche 1X well drilling offshore Cuba was unsuccessful. The well was drilled by a consortium established by Malaysia’s Petronas and Russia’s Gazprom. The consortium then released the Scarabeo 9 rig to Venezuela’s PDVSA which will try it’s luck at the Cabo de San Antonio 1x offshore well.
Related articles
- Petronas, PDVSA Searching for Oil Offshore Cuba (mb50.wordpress.com)
Saudi Aramco Ready to Spud its First Deepwater Well in Red Sea
Saudi Arabia’s state run oil giant, Saudi Aramco, has decided that the company is ready for deepwater exploration in the Red Sea.
At the Ceraweek 2012 conference in Houston, Amin H. Nasser, Senior vice president, Upstream Operations in Saudi Aramco, unveiled the company’s plans to start the Red Sea deepwater drilling operations by the end of 2012.
“We are optimistic about the potential for significant discoveries. We expect to start drilling in the deepwater by the end of this year,” Dow Jones quotes Nasser as saying.
Nasser, who joined the company in 1982, said that Saudi Aramco was working to increase its oil recovery levels from 50% to 70% in the years to come. He also highlighted the importance of deepwater and shallow water drilling in the company’s long-term plan to unlock “at least 100 million barrels of energy resources within the Saudi Arabian kingdom in the next several decades,” Dow Jones reports.
Related articles
- Saudi Aramco Announces Deepwater Drilling Ambitions in the Red Sea (gcaptain.com)
- Demand for oil fuels tech investments (mysanantonio.com)
- Baker Hughes Opens Unconventional Resources Research and Technology Center in Dhahran (prnewswire.com)
Songa Eclipse Getting Ready for Contract with Total in Angola
Songa Offshore, Cyprus-based offshore drilling company, today provided a fleet update for October 2011.
Songa Venus remained on location for Petronas Carigali, Malaysia through-out the period. The rig was shut down during the majority of the period and completed earlier announced repairs and testing of re-worked BOP components on December 19. The unit achieved 100% operating efficiency for the remainder of the period after re-commencing operations.
Songa Mercur completed its de-mobilization and load off from Sakhalin, Russia to Labuan Malaysia end of October and the rig has undergone extensive contractual acceptance testing and installation of third party equipment through November and December. The rig is now fully accepted and scheduled to depart for commencement of its two well program in Malaysia with Petronas Carigali.
Songa Dee continued its program for Statoil at the Gulfaks field, and the rig achieved an average operating efficiency of 99% during the period.
Songa Delta completed its scheduled SPS and rig upgrade yard stay at CCB base outside Bergen, Norway during the period. The yard stay was extended from an original 40 days to 56 days mainly due to extended work scopes and additional work related to the BOP system. The rig was then further delayed by weather and remained in sheltered waters until 6th January and is currently in process of anchoring up at location in order to re-commence the contract with Wintershall / Det Norske Oljeselskap.
Songa Trym achieved an operating efficiency of 99% during the period. The rig continues to operate for Statoil in Norway.
Songa Eclipse completed its mobilization to Angola during the period, and the rig is currently undergoing final rig contractual acceptance testing which is expected to be completed during second half of January. The rig will thereafter commence its one well plus 18 month contract with Total E&P Angola
Related articles
- South Korea: Songa Offshore Orders Two Rigs from DSME (mb50.wordpress.com)
- Israel: DSME Signs Tamar Deal (mb50.wordpress.com)
- Norway: Island Offshore Charters Two Vessels to Schlumberger (mb50.wordpress.com)
- Norway: DOF Subsea to Provide Offshore Survey & Construction Services to Statoil (mb50.wordpress.com)
- Oceaneering Bags Angola Gig from BP (mb50.wordpress.com)
USA: Initial Well Containment Response System Completed and Ready for Use
The Marine Well Containment Company today announced the completion and availability of an initial well containment response system that will provide rapid containment response capabilities in the event of a potential future underwater well control incident in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.
(read more)
USA: Initial Well Containment Response System Completed and Ready for Use | Offshore Energy Today.
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