Competence testing, true independent oversight and a stronger focus on the human element are the lessons from Macondo, argues Lloyd's Register energy director Dr Iain Light. --The offshore industry has just had the dubious distinction of鈥
For Fluor, America is only one land of opportunity. Recent contract wins for work offshore Australia, Southeast Asia and the Middle East have buoyed Fluor's backlog. Jennifer Pallanich talks to Fluor executives about recent contract wins and Fluor's offshore strategy鈥
With wellbores drilled in ever deeper waters penetrating further into the earth and clients demanding improved performance from all parts of the drilling process, VAM Drilling has focused on two aspects of the drillstem it believes deliver on the reliability front鈥
Norwegian mechanical engineer Julius Espedal had his first real brush with the forces of nature when undergoing offshore safety induction and emergency training in the UK back in 1999. Now he is getting reacquainted with them as his company鈥
Norwegian-based Brude Safety has expanded its gangway portfolio to cover a range from 2-14m. The two latest developments, the 11m and the 14m gangways, are knuckled versions, giving the shipowner the opportunity to use it for crew-change as well as for standard deck-quay solutions鈥
Following two years of development, Aberdeen Drilling Consultants recently launched its new ADC Virtual Academy division, offering what they believe is the world's first online course focused on drilling equipment for the oil & gas industry鈥
Once in a while I would like to look inward and discuss technical advances in the industry or how things have evolved. In the case of hydraulic fracturing, the process has emerged as the premier production enhancement technique in oil and gas鈥
The current state of development of methane hydrate resources 鈥 鈥榝rom Mallik to the Nankai Trough' 鈥 was examined by an international symposium in Japan late last year. Two of the participants, Professor Andrew Palmer and Simon Falser from the鈥
Mercon Steel Structures in Gorinchem started work at the beginning of February on its first riser access tower (RAT) under a framework agreement signed with Shell UK and NAM last autumn. The 800t structure, due for delivery mid- August, is for NAM's K/15 field鈥
The world's largest cargo barge 鈥 Heerema's H-851 鈥 announced its arrival on the offshore scene in 1988 when installing the 44,785t jacket for Shell's Bullwinkle platform in a then daunting 412m of water in the Gulf of Mexico. Now, following鈥
Netherlands-based lightweight fibre specialist DSM Dyneema believes a recent ultra-deepwater recovery operation amply justifies its trademarked claim to have 鈥榯he world's strongest fibre'.A salvage operation on a ship wreck in 3200m of water鈥
Investments in the region of NKr65 billion are on the cards over the next few years following ConocoPhillips' recent submission of its plans for the further development of the Ekofisk and Eldfisk fields to the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum & Energy鈥
Decommissioning and abandonment specialist Cutting Underwater Technologies (Cut) assisted Heerema's Thialf with the removal of the Norpipe 37/4A booster platform's eightlegged steel jacket as part of Norway's Ekofisk cessation project. The 5500t platform stood in 85m of water鈥
DNV expects shortly to issue the first ISDS (Integrated Software Dependent Systems) class certificate to Dolphin Drilling. This new state-of-the art class notation has been under development since 2008 and the class society says it is already in demand鈥
OPITO, the Aberdeen-headquartered body serving as the focal point for skills, learning and workforce development in the UK energy sector, estimates that over 15,000 new posts will be required over the next five years to deliver UK offshore project plans鈥
