Venture to harvest Chestnut with "round rig", Wood Group to FEED in Valhall with friends, Operator flights go Norsk at CHC's expense, FMC Technologies to fit "K" template to Norne, Drill ships complete first stage of Chinguetti, Norway’s Epcon Offshore delivers Montrose water treatment, Total nears Talisman offer for offshore off-time AND Imperial stimulus ups Soviet-era flow rates. Just some of last week´s big news.

CONTRACTS::.

Venture to harvest Chestnut with "round rig"
Aberdeen independent Venture Production signed with Sevan Marine ASA for the use of its un-built floating production unit, the SSP 300 FPSO, at the Chestnut field in the central U.K. North Sea. A fixed, 30-month stay for the “round rig” in 120-metres water is slated for 2007. Sevan will earn $64 million. The SSP 300 FPSO will possess process plant for 30,000 barrels of oil per day, water-injection plant for 20,000 bpd and an oil storage capacity of 300,000 bbls.

Wood Group to FEED in Valhall with friends
BP awarded Wood Group and Stavanger-based Fabricom AS the front-end engineering and design workload, or FEED, for the newly picked, $977.4 million Valhall field centre off Norway. Wood Group affiliates Mustang Engineering and JP Kenny are also along for the design, procurement and project services. Wood Group can extend its tenure to include the supervision of building. Five companies were pre-qualified for the work with Fabricom and Wood Group joining forces. Valhall FEED work will be carried out in Norway and Houston. The platform will be powered from shore.  

Operator flights go Norsk at CHC's expense
In a blow to CHC Helicopter Corp., Norsk Helikopter won two new contracts for most flights with ConocoPhillips and a joint BP-Talisman. Norsk will fly all ConocoPhillips staff and gear between Ekofisk and Sola air base for five years, starting Sept. 1, 2005. The contract is worth NOK730 million. Newly delivered Sikorsky S-92As will do the hauling. BP and Talisman, meanwhile, will pay NOK560 million for flights from Sola to Valhall, Gyda, Ula and the Petrojarl Varg floating producer. The flights will be aboard new Sikorsky S-92As. CHC will still earn C$88 million for five years flying ConocoPhillips to Ekofisk aboard Europcopter Super Puma Mk IIs and standing by for search and rescue. In all, two contracts with Conoco, BP and Talisman for regular, offshore fly-outs will be curtailed to Sept. 1, 2006 and Dec. 31, 2005. The extra business went Norsk.

MOS cranes making Keppel kit list
Oilfield equipment maker MOS International plc will supply two “twin-chain-hoist, blow-out-prevention” handling systems to Keppel FELS. The cranes will be fitted on the Ensco 108 jack-up rig, part of ENSCO’s fleet renewal in the high-specification jack-up market. The $400,000 order is the fourth for handling equipment awarded to MOS by Keppel FELS since April 2004.

Technip, JP Kenny gorge on $11-B Gorgon
A 50-50 joint venture of Technip and JP Kenny were awarded by Chevron the Greater FEED contract. Technip’s upstream work 140 kilometres offshore would take place in 220 to 1,300 metres of water and include the Gorgon and Jansz fields. LNG plant will treat flows at Barrow Island. Greater Gorgon is costing $11 billion to develop and involves partners Shell and ExxonMobil.

Maersk orders two Singapore semis
Singapore yard, Keppel FELS, is building two, deepwater semi-submersible drilling platforms for AP Moller-Maersk and S$780 million in a rare deal for semis. Maersk will supply the drilling equipment, a cost-lowering element that would also apply to an option for a third rig, which Maersk has a year to exercise. The rigs are to be launched in 2008 and 2009. The Danes chose the DSS 21 design of Keppel’s Deepwater Technology Group and Marine Structure Consultants. The rigs will be able to drill from atop 3,000 metres of water, as well as positioning themselves and docking alongside existing mooring systems. West Africa, Brazil, the Gulf of Mexico and Southeast Asia are the target markets for the rigs, each of which houses 180 people. The Maersk Explorer's Caspian deployment is said to have inspired certain design features in the ordered rigs. The A.P. Møller - Mærsk Group, based in Copenhagen, is a major international enterprise with activities covering diverse areas such as shipping, exploration and production of oil and gas, shipbuilding, aviation, industry and retail.
The Group Fleet comprises more than 250 vessels with a total deadweight of about 12,000,000 tons and includes container vessels, tankers, car carriers, supply ships, special vessels and drilling rigs.

FMC Technologies to fit "K" template to Norne
Houston-based FMC Technologies, Inc. signed a contract with Statoil to supply an all-electric sub-sea system, a "Template K", to the Norne field in the Norwegian Sea. The $28- million deal includes two sub-sea trees, a manifold, a template and two sub-sea control modules. The agreement includes retrofitting an electric sub-sea control module, which operates eight electric gate valves and one electric pig valve for the control of manifold functions for an existing template.

Royal Navy to send ROVs into beachhead
Britain's Royal Navy will begin using remote operating vehicles, or ROVs, to track down deadly sea mines, long a threat to North Sea divers and oil and gas activity. Dubbed REMUS - short for remote environmental monitoring units -- instead of ROV, the battery-powered craft will scan the seabed in water up to 100 metres deep.
Detecting obstacles to seaborne invasion is the stated aim of the craft. Navy divers were formerly entrusted with the risky mission. In a £2.75-million spree, 10 vehicles will be bought by the Defence Procurement Agency for service next year. The supplier was not revealed.

WEATHER::.

Continuing cold weather pattern

If you are waiting for warm and sunny weather, you still have to wait - at least until middle of June. Despite a high pressure area is building up over the Brittish Isles and Tuesday moving into s-parts of the North Sea, this improvement is short lived. A new low-pressure centre from areas southwest of Iceland expected to move into the Norwegian Sea on Wednesday and towards next weekend moving across Troms and Finnmark. Cold west or northwesterly airstreams with showers expected to move southwards and penetrates the North Sea during Thursday and Friday maintaining the cool weather pattern. At times winds may reach near gale force, especially in the Norwegian Sea and along the coast of Vestlandet. At the moment this cold weather pattern looks to continue also in the beginning of next week.

EXPLORATION::.

MedOil, TGS-NOPEC win toehold off Tunisia
Norway-based TGS-NOPEC and U.K. prospecting oil company MedOil plc have secured exploration rights that could lead to Tunisian production after penning a deal in Tunis for the offshore Louza permit. MedOil will hold 95 percent of the acreage, TGS five percent. The 4,100-square-kilometre tract abuts Lundin’s Isis oil field and is 60 km from BG’s Miskar gas-production facility. MedOil and its geophysics block partner proposed a 3-D seismic shoot over the discovery and four other prospects.

Statoil spuds deepwater wildcat, Tulipan
The first exploration well on Statoil’s Tulipan prospect in the Norwegian Sea was been spudded by the Eirik Raude drilling rig. The drilling in block 6302/6, just west of Hydro’s Ormen Lange gas field, is in 1,250 metres of water could last up to three months. A wildcat in 3,000 metres of seabed is planned, although Statoil intends two more wells near the block this year.

FIELD DEVELOPMENT::.

Asset-swapping brisk off Norway
Asset-swapping off Norway is on course to match last year's interest, with new numbers showing 38 license bits changing hands this year, including exchanges brought about by company fusions and buy-ups. Fresh numbers show asset deals on course to match 2004’s 79 deals. No deals last year were the result of mergers and acquisitions. E&P outfit, Revus Energy, was the most active, having bought into blocks on 10 licenses over 17 months.

Drill ships complete first stage of Chinguetti
The drill ship Stena Tay finished a first step of the Chinguetti field off Mauritania: five oil-producing wells, five water-injection wells and a well on the Banda discovery where associated gas will be packed away. Six wells are to be completed by drill ship West Navigator. With sand completion equipment installed on seven of 10 new wells, only tubing and sub-sea trees await connection to the floating production ship, Berge Helene. Chinguetti, which is pressing the finances of some participants, is now “71-percent” complete and targets first oil in early 2006.

COMPANY NEWS::.

Norway’s Epcon Offshore delivers Montrose water treatment
Norwegian company Epcon Offshore will deliver a water-treatment unit for Paladin Resources’ Montrose platform. The unit will have capacity to treat 35,000 barrels of produced water daily. Petrofac Facilities Management in Aberdeen, which has signed the letter of intent, is to perform associated engineering, procurement and construction activities under its Brownfield division. Under the OSPAR legislation for 2006 the total content of hydrocarbons in discharge has to be reduced. Grenland Offshore will manufacture the unit, while Grenland Framnaes will deliver engineering services to the project. Commissioning of the new unit is scheduled to begin in mid-September.

Petroceltic secures place atop Algerian gas
Irish oil company Petroceltic gained exploration and production rights to a part of Algeria the size of 43 North Sea bocks. A production sharing contract with Sonatrech is in place for the southern Illizi basin of 380 billion cubic feet of gas and 28 million barrels of oil. Up to 4.6 trillion cubic feet of gas has attracted the likes of Statoil, Repsol and other national oil companies and super-majors. Into the mix was thrown First Calgary.

Northern secures Manati money for Brazil gas
Norway-based oil company Northern Oil ASA locked up a $37-million loan to fulfil its part of the Manati shallow-water gas development in Brazil. The field could double Northern’s production despite its smallish equity in the development.  
A 10-percent interest in a gas discovery, three exploratory wells, process plant and 18 percent in two other exploration licenses make up Northern’s Manati financial needs.
Reserves of 77 billion cubic feet of natural gas plus light oil are at stake, with 20,000 cf per day set flow in 2006.

Dockwise moves housing 10,000 nautical miles
Dutch heavy-move expert, Dockwise Shipping, delivered the 6,100-tonne accommodations rig, Atlantic Esbjerg, to Rotterdam for fitting after a 10,000-nautical-mile journey. The Breda-based Dockwise was awarded the contract for sea transporation by Atlantic Marine Offshore Services of Dubai, The United Arab Emirates.
Mighty Servant 3 and its 40-metre beam had its hands full with the 62-m wide rig. It traveled from Sharjah, The U.A.E., to Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Atlantic Marine Services is committed to Maersk Oil & Gas for three years of housing support in the Maersk fields offshore Esbjerg, Denmark.

Statoil opens in Houston
Days after buying EnCana out of the Gulf of Mexico, Statoil opened an office in Houston for all the E&P upside. Sixty employees are envisaged working in the offices, 35 by year-end. The Westchase site is smack in the middle of the “energy corridor”, Houston's golden mile of Statoil business contacts.

FINANCIAL::.

DNO to fire-up U.K. summer with $100M
North Sea pro DNO ASA will raise $100 million through bonds to finance its return to the U.K. sector. Payback ostensibly begins in seven years. A first loan against the bonds will help the oil company get rolling by June 2005. The bond should eventually be put on the Oslo Stock Exchange, although institutional investors in Iceland, Norway and the United Kingdom have temporarily gobbled it up.

Expro feels demand for late-cycle well kit
Oilfield outfitter Expro International Group plc posted profit before tax that was up $12.9 million to $21 million and cited an improving market for its “late-cycle” products. Turnover was up seven percent to $423.6 million on sales of cased-hole services, down-hole sensors and sub-sea connectors and Expro’s biggest contract ever: the provision of an early production system for ExxonMobil’s Chayvo project at Sakhalin Island.

TECHNOLOGY::.

New "heavy-light" OilFlow eyes $6-T market
Production consultancy Vienco and technology outfit AGT Energy founded new company, OilFlow Solutions Ltd., to “revolutionize the production and transportation of heavy oil and waxy crudes”, a market said to be worth $6 trillion. OilFlow will market Proflux 200 and Proflux 300, products that improve the flow of viscous oil via their chemistry. The products are aimed at left-over tough, gooey oil, and their genius is owed leading scientists at Bradford University and AGT Energy Ltd.
“Proflux 200 reduces the viscosity of low API heavy oil from a thick and slow flowing liquid to a free flowing state, while Proflux 300 stabilises waxy crudes allowing them to be pumped well below their original pour point temperature.”  Commercial trials are ongoing in Columbia and India.

XsunX unveils solar-powered plastic, glass
ALISO VIEJO-, California-based XsunX, Inc., maker of glass windows that harness solar power, now makes plastic windows that produce electricity. The Power Glass tradmark lead to low-temperature manufacturing techniques and a first transparent solar cell on inexpensive plastic. Select manufacturers are said to be jockeying for production rights.

Halliburton buys water-control technology
Two years after trying it out, Oilfield services giant, Halliburton, bought the intellectual property for the trademark Thermatek water-tracing technology,
The invasion of water in maturing reservoirs is especially acute in the North Sea, but a growing problem that promises a market. Thermatek controls water down-hole at its source, and has helped the contractor stem high levels of water production in “long, horizontal, screened completions and control lost circulation.”

GAS/ENERGY::.

First Calgary finds still more Algerian gas
First Calgary Petrloleums Ltd. found more gas in Algeria, where well ZCHW-1 detected 28 metres of hydrocarbons before being capped, its path marking a point 9.6 kilometres from the ZCH-1 find of Algerian oil company Sonatrech. First Calgary chief executive and president Richard Anderson said the well confirmed “the southwest extension of a structural trend which, from 3D seismic data, is mapped over more than 125-square-kilometres on block 406a. The 3D seismic data and these drilling results indicate a large area to be prospective for further drilling on this trend.” Speculation over First Calgary intentions has recently lead to company talks with Spanish company Repsol for 50 percent of one field, although Statoil is still believed interested in a First stake.

BG begins “gas-lift” from Egypt’s train No. 1
BG Group broadcast the first pick-up of liquefied natural gas from Egyptian LNG Train 1, adding that Petronas subsidiary Asean LNG Trading Company Ltd. was the Mediterranean Idku terminal’s first customer. Of the six LNG cargoes available, BG Group is expected to take on three. Sale of Train 1’s 3.6 million tonnes a year to Gaz de France will begin its 20-year once the six first cargoes are taken away. Egyptian LNG Train 2 will produce LNG by year’s end.

Shell, Dutch hire Vestas to harness wind
Danish wind giant, Vestas, will line the Dutch coast off Egmond aan Zee with 36 three-megawatt turbines, after a giant order from Noordzee Wind. Shell and Dutch utility Nuon own Noordzee Wind, the business that’ll own the wind farm and the power generated from 15 kilometres offshore. It’s a first large-scale offshore wind project for Shell. “Until now, the major offshore projects have been built in UK and Denmark, and it is very satisfactory that the first offshore project is now on its way in the Netherlands,” Vestas chief executive, Ditlev Engel, was quoted as saying. Dutch offshore construction company, Ballast Nedam, is along as Vestas’s partner. The 108 MW of offshore power plant will cover the annual electricity needs of over 100,000 Dutch homes.

Hydro forms wind-energy powerhouse
Hydro and compatriot utility, Nord-Trøndelag Elektrisitetsverk, founded new wind-power company Sarepta Energi AS, ostensibly to bring an alternate power sources to central Norway. The new outfit will be based in Steinkjer, near Trondheim, and builds on previous collaboration between the two on wind power in three municipalities. NTE will pool 90 megawatts from its last concession and Hydro 90 MW from one of its own allotments in the new entity. All new projects will be the new business's.

SHIPPING::.

Africa-bound ships carry Aberdeen’s oil booty
Oil companies are using continental European ports less, Aberdeen more, in the great logistical exercise of getting drill casing, hoses, umbilical and other giant loads to West Africa, according to Aberdeen Harbour. The loading of two Universal Africa Lines vessels -- the Rebecca and the Rodach -- at Aberdeen this week continues a 25-year tradition for the company, although Aberdeen has become a more frequent port of call. The Rebecca will deliver her cargo to Lobito, Luanda;  Soyo, Angola, and Point Noir, the Congo. The Rodach will steam into Port Harcourt, Nigeria; Malabo, Equatorial Guinea and Port Gentil, Gabon UAL calls twice a month at Aberdeen, while Norwegian and U.S. oil-industry payloads continue to grow.

Golar LNG gains, warns of tougher future
Golar LNG cited a reorganization of its fleet-management business and a new debt payment schedule in posting higher first-quarter net profit than in 2004.
Net income in the quarter was up $4.3 million over a year ago to $17.7 million. The company made $6.1 million more from its share of Korea Line Corp.’s net income.
Revenues in the quarter were up $12.2 million over the same stretch last year to $44.2 million. Meanwhile, Golar management warned several factors could hinder future profit growth. They suggested new-build financing might become scarce for LNG carriers. Rates could fall with more ships out there. Politics might limit port access; tighter rules governing LNG shipping might be come down.

OTHER NEWS::.

Aker Kvaerner Caspian deal good for 500 jobs
Aker Kvaerner's fabrication yard in Eigersund, near Stavanger, is hiring 550 workers to help build an oil platform destined for duty in the Caspian Sea.
The billion-kroner contract will keep Egersund well-staffed until the spring of 2007.

Total nears Talisman offer for offshore off-time
Oil company Total followed the lead of Talisman and gave an extra week of time off to around 110 staff and contractors, making the two-weeks-on, two-off shift-regime more like Norway’s two-four. Total will go to a two-on, two-off, two-on, three-off for all except drilling contractors and catering crews. Talisman has offered a real two-on, three-off arrangement. The three weeks off after regular shifts on the Alwyn, Dunbar and Elgin/Franklin platforms was “an attempt to accommodate the four weeks paid leave entitled workers by the European Working Time Directive,” Jake Malloy of oil union, OILC, told OilPort.net. Talisman announced earlier this week that 500 staff were to begin enjoying the 2/3 shift. The unions, however, pointed to the lack of a similar deal for drilling contractors and caterers in the Total offer, although both OILC and Amicus appeared to applaud the move. “Any movement in the direction of striking a better work balance has to be welcomed. It’s progress. But Total only operates three facilities. We’re looking for movement from the big players,” Malloy said. Shell has offered contract workers two weeks holiday, but reserves the right to decide when, and has apparently settled on Christmas and unpaid periods of regular platform shutdowns. U.K. sector drilling contractors get only Christmas off. “At the end of the day it doesn’t remove the ongoing legal battle, because it’s all from the goodness of operators’ hearts. What we need are statutory provisions that determine the working year.”

Ocean Rig spies $400,000/day off Norway
Competition for oil rigs off Norway has Ocean Rig’s Eirik Raude clear to set a worldwide day rate record — $400,000 a day for longer contracts — according to a Norwegian newspaper. Business daily Dagensnæringsliv wrote that the high-spec, deepwater rig is a rare bird and oil companies know it. It now makes $250,000 per day, but rates area seen going higher, along with the number of forgotten exploration bids.
Despite a number of accidental discharges of fluids in ecologically sensitive areas, the rig is still deemed unique for its foul weather, deep-drilling modernity and resistance to spills.

Anti-terror ops wind up offshore Norway
Mock anti-terrosism operations off Norway are wrapping up with politicians saying they "feel safe" from the sidelines.  A multinational effort headed from Stavanger involved a 1,000 strong engagement with terrorists attempting to put platforms out of production. The annual Gemini exercise is put on jointly by police, the military the oil and gas industry.

Imperial stimulus ups Soviet-era flow rates
Imperial Oil’s four-well campaign in the Russian Federation is transforming the company with a “100-percent” success rate that’s set to bring light oil by early 2006. Mouthful names like Maiskaya, Allianceneftegas, Festivalnaya and Snezhnaya are showing good rates from lower Tyumen geology: So good, that four new wells will begin spudding this week, as Imperial begins drilling that’ll extend into the Russian autumn at Snezhnaya block 77. New well Snezhnaya 135 delivered oil to the surface and stimulation is expected to bring “good commercial flow rates.”