GE to provide close to $600 million in turbomachinery equipment for Russia’s Yamal LNG megaproject

GE (NYSE:GE) has received a contract to provide key turbomachinery equipment for the Yamal liquefied natural gas (LNG) “megaproject” that is being developed on the Yamal Peninsula in Russia’s northern Siberia region. The LNG produced at the site will be used to help meet the growing energy needs, primarily of Asia and Pacific Region countries.

“GE is supporting some of the world’s largest LNG projects, and the Yamal LNG megaproject is an exciting example of how our deep expertise in integrated LNG technology and life cycle services is helping the Russian/CIS region secure its energy future”

The LNG megaproject is owned by JSC Yamal LNG, a joint venture between Russia’s largest independent gas producer OAO Novatek (80 percent) and France’s Total SA (20 percent). The project is being implemented in the Arctic zone of Russia, in the Yamal Peninsula, near Sabetta port. The joint venture is building a gas liquefaction facility that will have a production capacity of 16.5 million tons per year, based on the feedstock resources of the South Tambeyskoye gas condensate field. Proved and probable reserves of natural gas (PRMS) of the South Tambeyskoye field exceed 900 BCM (32 tcf).

Petroleum Engineering Professionalism and Ethics

Engineering professionalism and ethics

  
A great deal has been written about professionalism and engineering ethics. This material along with expanded examples and detailed discussions of engineers as expert witnesses appears in the book Advanced Reservoir Engineering and Management. Highly recommended reading includes “Good Ethics Makes Good Business Sense” and “Building a Best-in-Class Compliance Program.”

Inocean won the CAT I drillship design contract from Statoil

Inocean has been awarded the contract for the Concept and option for FEED for the Statoil CAT I Drillship.

The most important contract for Inocean ever, says Jon Erik Borgen, CEO of Inocean. – Being developed for arctic operations, we are probably speaking of the most advanced and sophisticated unit evolved within drilling operations. Having this opportunity to develop the drillship of tomorrow is a big recognition of our design and engineering capabilities. We also appreciate that a Norwegian designer was chosen by Statoil in a strong competition with several major international players, says Jon Erik Borgen.

The CAT I Drillship will be tailored for the Statoil Arctic Step-up program through suitable winterization, increased capabilities and a hull suitable for operations in ice infested waters.  It is designed to minimize the environmental footprint and arranged with maximum focus on HSE. The design is based on the INO-80 Drillship.

Significant oil discovery offshore Canada

Statoil (OSE:STL, NYSE:STO) Canada and co-venturer Husky Energy have announced that the first Bay du Nord exploration well has discovered between 300 and 600 million barrels of oil recoverable.

The Bay du Nord discovery, located approximately 500 kilometres northeast of St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, was announced in August. A sidetrack well has been completed this week and confirms a high impact discovery. Additional prospective resources have been identified which require further delineation.

The Bay du Nord discovery is Statoil's third discovery in the Flemish Pass Basin. The Mizzen discovery is estimated to hold a total of 100-200 million barrels of oil recoverable. The Harpoon discovery, announced in June, is still under evaluation and volumes cannot be confirmed at this stage.

The Bay du Nord well encountered light oil of 34 API and excellent Jurassic reservoirs with high porosity and high permeability.

"It is exciting that Statoil is opening a new basin offshore Newfoundland," says Tim Dodson, executive vice president of Statoil Exploration. "This brings us one step closer to becoming a producing operator in the area."

"With only a few wells drilled in a large licenced area, totalling about 8,500 square kilometres, more work is required," adds Dodson. "This will involve new seismic as well as additional exploration and appraisal drilling to confirm these estimates before the partnership can decide on an optimal development solution in this frontier basin."

Offshore Solutions signs north sea contract with Maersk Oil UK

Offshore Solutions BV (OSBV), the joint venture between AMEC and Cofely Nederland NV, has signed a North Sea contract with Maersk Oil UK to provide marine access support to the floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit Global Producer III.

Located 185 miles north east of Aberdeen, Scotland, OSBV’s Offshore Access System (OAS) will support the shutdown operations for a minimum of 110 days, with options to extend.

The walk to work system is deployed on the REM Installer, a new-build offshore subsea construction vessel chartered by Canyon Offshore, the marine contracting business unit of Helix Energy Solutions. Sea trials for the project were completed in North Sea waters in July with operations starting later the same month.

Lindsay Young, managing director of OSBV, said: “OAS equipped vessels provide safe and cost effective marine transfer and offshore accommodation allowing for greater access to offshore installations than by crew vessels or helicopters. By using the OAS, additional offshore man-hours are made available, enhancing production whilst ensuring that workers are transported in a safe manner.

Rob Armstrong, walk to work project manager for Maersk Oil UK added:

“Having personally investigated several walk to work options, the Offshore Access System (OAS) proved to be the most reliable, with a track record of high connection rates and excellent operability. Maersk Oil UK undertook an intensive hazard identification procedure to select the safest system for the project and the OAS heave compensated marine access system that we examined complies with Maersk's very stringent safety standards. Fitted on-board the REM Installer, which is a new build, state of the art DPII vessel, we are expecting even greater performance than previously experienced.”

Source: Offshore Solutions

Statoil ASA announces gas discovery in Iskrystall

Well 7219/8-2, drilled by the drilling rig West Hercules, has proved an approximately 200 metre gas column. Statoil estimates the volumes in Iskrystall to be between 6 and 25 million barrels of oil equivalents (o.e.).

Iskrystall was the second of the four prospects to be drilled in the Johan Castberg area this year with the aim of proving additional volumes for the Johan Castberg field development project. The first prospect Nunatak resulted in a small gas discovery.

"Our main goal was to

Watchful experts at your side, GE’s power conversion business can’t control the weather but allows the mariner to control the ship

                             

 As much as we hate to admit it, success is based on how well we adapt to situations we simply can’t control. That’s why, when it comes to holding a drill ship on-site, as winds whip the sea and the underwater currents into a frenzy, oil companies and their contractors turn to GE’s Power Conversion business (NYSE: GE). It’s what we do.

We are your watchful experts on the bridge with a full knowledge of the ship putting one of the industry’s most powerful dynamic positioning systems at the mariner’s fingertips, and we do it efficiently saving operators up to 10 percent in fuel usage.