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BP Brings Two Rigs to Deepwater Gulf of Mexico
BP has added two drilling rigs to the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, bringing its fleet to a company record nine rigs as it continues to develop its strong portfolio of assets in the key U.S. offshore basin.
One of the rigs is a new ultra-deepwater drillship known as the West Auriga that is under long-term contract to BP from Seadrill Ltd, a leading international offshore drilling contractor. The vessel, capable of operating in up to 12,000 feet of water, has begun development drilling work at BP’s Thunder Horse field.
The other is a reconstructed drilling rig on BP’s Mad Dog oil and gas production platform. It replaces the original rig on the platform that was badly damaged and left inoperable by Hurricane Ike in 2008. With the new, state-of-the art rig, the platform recently resumed development drilling at the massive Mad Dog field complex.
“The addition of these two rigs reflects the vital importance of the deepwater Gulf of Mexico to the future of BP,” said Richard Morrison, Regional President of BP’s Gulf of Mexico business. “It also clearly demonstrates BP’s commitment to the American economy and to U.S. energy security.”
BP currently anticipates investing on average at least $4 billion in the Gulf of Mexico each year for the next decade. The company plans to concentrate future activity and investment in the Gulf on growth opportunities around its four major operated production hubs – Thunder Horse, Na Kika, Atlantis and Mad Dog – and three non-operated production hubs – Mars, Ursa and Great White – in the deepwater, as well as on significant exploration and appraisal opportunities in the Paleogene and elsewhere.
BP is also advancing a strong pipeline of future development projects in the deepwater Gulf. In April, the company started up the Atlantis North expansion, the first of seven additional wells to be tied back to the existing Atlantis platform. At Na Kika, another field expansion is planned, following the successful startup last year of the Galapagos development, a subsea tieback to the Na Kika production facility. BP is also pursuing plans for a second phase of the Mad Dog field.
Hercules Offshore Buys More Shares in Discovery Offshore S.A.
Discovery Offshore S.A. announced today that Hercules Offshore Inc. has on 8 August 2012 acquired 2,658,500 shares in Discovery Offshore at an average price of approximately NOK9.50 per share.
Following the acquisition, Hercules Offshore holds 21,012,834 shares in the Company, corresponding to 32.1% of the share capital. Two members of the Discovery Offshore Board are executives of Hercules Offshore. Discovery Offshore is a Luxembourg-based public limited liability company incorporated in January 2011 for the purpose of owning new ultra high specification jackup drilling rigs.
The Company’s main assets are two Keppel FELS Super A high specification harsh environment jackup rigs currently under construction, with delivery scheduled for the second quarter and fourth quarter of 2013, respectively.
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USA: EQT Starts Pilot Program of Converting Drilling Rigs to LNG
EQT Corporation today announced the launch of a pilot program to begin converting drilling rigs to liquefied natural gas (LNG), displacing the diesel used to power equipment at the well site. This program marks the first LNG rig conversion in the Marcellus Shale and will provide a cleaner burning alternative fuel for the region’s drilling operations.
“We want to be a leader in reducing the environmental impacts related to drilling and we are proud to be the first operator in the Marcellus to launch such a program,” states Steve Schlotterbeck, President Exploration and Production for EQT. “Along with safety, protection of the environment is top-of-mind for our employees, contractors, and of course communities. We continually look for opportunities to improve our operations and displacing diesel, by introducing the use of alternatives such as LNG and field gas, is one way of doing so,” Schlotterbeck continued.
LNG is natural gas in its liquid form and from a physical property standpoint is as safe as, or safer than, using traditional fuels, such as propane or diesel. LNG, if exposed, evaporates quickly and leaves no residue on water or soil. Compared to diesel, natural gas emits between 20% and 30% less carbon dioxide and has a fraction of the emissions of nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, and particulates.
There are other LNG benefits, such as a reduction in fuel costs — with LNG being about 40% less expensive than diesel. The use of LNG also provides another means of reducing our dependence on foreign oil imports — with sourcing coming from various U.S. shale plays. The LNG being used for EQT’s pilot program is produced locally from Marcellus natural gas reserves.
EQT’s initial rig conversion is now operating in Northern West Virginia; and pending evaluation of the pilot program, the Company hopes to convert additional rigs in West Virginia and Pennsylvania.
Related articles
- EQT Converts Shale Gas Drilling Rigs to LNG (environmentalleader.com)
- Natural-gas prices force down number of Marcellus drilling rigs (philly.com)
- Natural Gas: Where Endless Money Went to Die (mb50.wordpress.com)
India: Cochin Shipyard Delivers New AHTS to SCI
Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) delivered a 120T Bollard pull Anchor Handling Tug Supply Vessel (AHTS), “SCI Kundan”, to M/s Shipping Corporation of India, Mumbai (SCI). This is the Second of the series of 4 Nos of 120T Bollard pull AHTS being built by CSL for M/s Shipping Corporation of India.
The vessel is of AH03 type, designed by STX OSV, Norway (ex- Aker Yards) and is certified under dual class by the Rules and Regulations of American Bureau of Shipping & Indian Register of Shipping and is registered under Indian flag.
This 65.2 x 16.0 Meter vessel is a high end Anchor handler with a capacity of 120 T Bollard pull which is equipped with 2 Nos of 4000 KW Diesel Engines and 2 Nos of Controlled pitch propeller in Kort Nozzles. The vessel is having Grade I Dynamic Positioning feature along with compliance to ERRV class ‘C’ and also having capability of Fire Fighting class I.
The vessel is built to accommodate 29 persons with all the capabilities of a Platform Supply Vessel in addition to the Anchor Handling facility. These vessels are used as support platforms to Rigs/Oil platforms. The shipyard is presently constructing another 4 nos of offshore vessels for M/s Shipping Corporation of India which are all in advanced stages of construction.
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- Otto Marine Entrenches Deeper into West Africa with 3-year Multi-Million Dollar Contract (gcaptain.com)
Baker Hughes Rig Counts: International Offshore Rigs Up by 11 (USA)
Baker Hughes Incorporated announced today that the international rig count for February 2012 was 1,204, up 33 from the 1,171 counted in January 2012, and up 15 from the 1,189 counted in February 2011.
The international offshore rig count for February 2012 was 320, up 13 from the 307 counted in January 2012 and up 11 from the 309 counted in February 2011.
The US rig count for February 2012 was 1,981, down 27 from the 2,008 counted in January 2012 and up 282 from the 1,699 counted in February 2011. The Canadian rig count for February 2012 was 701, down 19 from the 682 counted in January 2012 and up 78 from the 623 counted in February 2011.
The worldwide rig count for February 2012 was 3,886 up 25 from the 3,861 counted in January 2012 and up 375 from the 3,511 counted in February 2011.
The Baker Hughes Rotary Rig Counts are counts of the number of drilling rigs actively exploring for or developing oil or natural gas in the United States, Canada and international markets. Baker Hughes has issued the rotary rig counts as a service to the petroleum industry since 1944, when Hughes Tool Company began weekly counts of US and Canadian drilling activity. Baker Hughes initiated the monthly international rig count in 1975.
FEG Orders Two GustoMSC Design Jack-Up Rigs from CMHI, China
Chinese yard China Merchants Heavy Industry (CMHI) has recently signed an order for two jack-up rigs with Singapore-listed Falcon Energy Group (FEG) . The order includes options for two repeat rigs.
The rigs are of the GustoMSC CJ46-X100-D design, capable of drilling in a water depth of about 375 ft. Rig construction is expected to take about two years. They will be built at CMHI’s shipyard on Shenzhen’s Mazhou Island.
GustoMSC has signed the license agreement with CMHI and will also deliver the GustoMSC rack and pinion jacking systems, fixation systems and X-Y skidding system for the patented GustoMSC X-Y cantilever.
Special features of the CJ46-X100-D are:
– Drilling derrick: 170 ft, 1500 kips
– Mud pumps: 3 x 2,200 HP
– X-Y cantilever: large reach (70 x 40 ft) high load (2,500 kips)
Related articles
- Bermuda: AOD to Increase Water Depth Capacity for its Jack-ups (mb50.wordpress.com)
- Fairmount Marine Brings Ocean Yorktown Rig in U.S. Gulf of Mexico (mb50.wordpress.com)
- South Korea: Songa Offshore Orders Two Rigs from DSME (mb50.wordpress.com)
- World’s Biggest Crane TAISUN assembles drilling rig (mb50.wordpress.com)
- High-Spec Jackup Market: Hercules Offshore increases stake in Discovery Offshore (mb50.wordpress.com)
- Push for permits in Gulf of Mexico (mb50.wordpress.com)
South Korea: Songa Offshore Orders Two Rigs from DSME
South Korea’s Daewoo Shibuilding & Marine Engineering said on Wednesday that it had won an $1.1 billion deal to build two submersible drilling rigs from Norway’s Songa Offshore .
The rigs would be chartered to Norwegian state-run oil company Statoil from Songa for eight years after the delivery planned in the second half of 2014, Daewoo said.
Daewoo added in a statement that the firm agreed to an option for additional two vessels of the same type.
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Mb50's "Liquid Mud" Rant 