Offshore SeisNews©


••• 29.03.21 - No New Exploration Permits Offshore Greenland?
Greenland’s recently elected government will be cautious about issuing new offshore oil and gas exploration licences, Reuters has reported, citing the country’s new energy minister who will take his position in April.
Jens Erik Kirkegaard, the next mining and oil minister at the newly chosen government, told Reuters that the current number of licences is enough for the country, and added that the existing agreements will not be affected.
The news has, according to The Associated Press, been welcomed with joy at Greenpeace, which has been trying to put all Arctic drilling operations to a halt.
To remind, in 2011, Greenpeace activists climbed aboard the Leiv Eiriksson rig, off the coast of Greenland, trying to prevent the Scottish oil company Cairn from drilling in the waters of the world’s largest island. They were charged with trespassing and fined 20,000 DKK.
Source: Offshore Energy Today

••• 29.03.21 - Oceanographic Survey Ship christened at VT Halter Marine.
VT Halter Marine’s Halter Moss Point facility was the scene of the christening of T-AGS 66, USNS Maury.
Construction began in September 2010, the keel laying ceremony was held in February 2011, and delivery is expected in January 2014.
The vessel has an additional 24 feet in length to the previous T-AGS 60 design which will accommodate a moon pool for deployment and retrieval of autonomous underwater vehicles.
Designed to perform acoustic, biological, physical and geophysical surveys, T-AGS 66 will provide the U.S. military with essential information on the ocean environment.
The ship’s sponsor is the Honorable Lisa P. Jackson, former Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), who as Administrator focused much of her efforts on the BP oil spill that ravaged the Gulf Coast area.
T-AGS 66 was named in honor of Cmdr. Matthew Fontaine Maury, nicknamed "Pathfinder of the Seas," and also known as the "Father of Modern Oceanography." The vessel is 353 feet in length with an overall beam of 58 feet, and will be operating under the Military Sealift Command.
Source: MarineLink

••• 28.03.21 - Helicopter crash off Brazil.
A supply helicopter carrying three workers to a Campos basin platform went down off Brazil on Wednesday, but the trio was rescued after a lifeboat was deployed, a local union reported.
The Lider HUW Bell 412 aircraft fell Wednesday morning near Petrobras' P-7 platform, but the crew members are now safe on the platform, according to a statement from local union Sindipetro-NF.
Petrobras said in a statement later Wednesday that the craft made a "controlled landing" after taking off from the Cidade de Rio de Janeiro floating production, storage and offloading system en route to the P-7 platform about 100 kilometres off the coast in the Bicudo field.
The crew members came through the incident "well" and were waiting to leave the platform, Petrobras added.
The company said the helicopter remained on the surface of the ocean thanks to flotation equipment. Initial reports had said the craft had sunk.
Petrobras said that oil regulator ANP as well as other appropriate regulators had been identified, and a committee will be formed to investigate the incident. Lider Aviacao says it has Brazil's largest market share of offshore supply services, with a fleet of more than 60 aircraft. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Upstream.
Source: Upstreamonline

••• 27.03.21 - Royal Research Ship Discovery nears completion.
Work is nearing completion on the new Royal Research Ship (RRS) Discovery, which is being built by CNP Freire Shipyard in Vigo, Spain. This Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)-commissioned vessel is currently undergoing a series of Harbour Acceptance Tests on the winches and overside handling equipment.
Once these are completed, she will undertake a period of final sea trials in early May before being handed over to NERC in June. The vessel will start work on scientific operations later this year and will be officially named in Southampton in October.
At almost 100-metres in length, and with a displacement of 6,075 tonnes, Discovery will carry a marine crew of 24 crew and has accommodation for 28 scientists and technicians.
Discovery’s role will be to support scientific missions worldwide that enable us to understand the role of the oceans in the Earth system. The ship is fitted with a comprehensive suite of laboratories, handling systems, and sensors that will enable her to carry out research spanning a wide range of ocean issues that impact on society, including climate change, ocean acidification, earthquakes, tsunamis and underwater landslides.
Source: WorldMaritimeNews

••• 27.03.21 - Transas Marine launches Remote Worker Tracking System.
Transas Marine launches its brand-new Remote Worker Tracking System (RWTS), enabling clients to substantially increase OHS levels in construction works on offshore structures such as wind and wave generators or any other offshore platform, by offering an innovative and easy-to-use personnel tracking system.
RWTS makes it possible to monitor and control personnel movements to/from offshore facilities and detect their location. The system is easy to deploy. There is no need to install any equipment or communication links at construction site, which makes it suitable for use during any construction phase.
All information on workers’ movements is stored in a database and can be displayed on electronic chart or in a tabular form. Remote Worker Tracking System is fully integrated with Transas VTS.
"Knowing where your workers are is particularly important at sites which are remote, hard to access, or at locations where the environment is difficult to control", - comments Christopher Loizou, Director, Shore-Based Systems Business Division, Transas Marine. - "Transas Remote Worker Tracking System was developed in close cooperation with our offshore customers and has proven to be a highly effective and reliable tool".
Source: Transas Marine

••• 26.03.21 - MMT: Ongoing survey for the Baltic 2 Offshore Wind Park.
MMT has been appointed by Siem Offshore Contractors GmbH to conduct a pre lay survey and ROV inspection of the IAG at the Baltic 2 Offshore Wind Park.
This project is now ongoing and MMT uses the survey & ROV vessel IceBeam, equipped with a Kongsberg EM2040 Dual Head Multibeam and a Sub-Atlantic Mohican ROV, to identify boulders that interfere with the proposed inter array grid cable routes.
The survey includes a high resolution multibeam survey, app 50 meters wide of the cable route. A target list will be established from the high resolution multibeam data and the targets will subsequently be visually inspected by the ROV.
Source: MMT

••• 26.03.21 - Big oil for Denmark.
Wintershall is looking at a major new development in the North Sea offshore Denmark after its Hibonite exploration well revealed reserves of up to 100 million barrels oil.
Germany's Wintershall says its 5504/1-3 well drilled offshore Denmark in license 5/06 on the Hibonite structure has hit a major shallow water find after being drilled by the Noble George Sauvageau jackup.
Preliminary estimates suggest the field could contain at least 100 m bbls of oil, Wintershall declared.
The find is about 337 kilometres (270 miles) offshore from Den Helder in The Netherlands, in the Danish sector of the North Sea, and 278 km (174 miles) offshore west of Esbjerg in Denmark.
This new find is just 7km (4.3 miles) from the Ravn oil discovery drilled in 2009 and which was successfully appraised with the Ravn 3 well, Wintershall says. "The commercial viability of the Hibonite discovery as well as further upside potential will now be evaluated. A synergy with the nearby Ravn discovery may lead to a cluster development approach," the operator has stated.
Martin Bachman, Wintershall's head of Exploration and Production added: "The Hibonite discovery is an exciting and important step towards becoming a producer in the Danish North Sea."
After plugging and abandoning the Hibonite well, the Noble rig is to move to a neighbouring Danish licence, 4/06, to spud on a Spury 1 exploration well, which will also be operated by Wintershall Noordzee.
Wintershall operates the Hibonite licence area with 35% and its partners are Bayerngas Petroleum Denmark, Nordsofonden and EWE Vertrieb GmbH 15%, which hold equity of 30%, 20% and 15%, respectively.
Source: Offshore.no

••• 26.03.21 - SHC Wavedancer presents New Revolutionary Catamaran Design.
At the dawn of a new era in offshore support vessels, SHC Wavedancer™ provides a world-first with its new patents pending design making it the only vessel on the world capable of transforming from a high speed catamaran to a semi-submersible platform.
This innovation has enormous global potential for use in the offshore energy markets, such as platform personnel transfers and wind farm maintenance, offshore survey, inspection and installation works. The patents pending Submersible Hull Vessel (SHV ™) concept is owned by OSSeas Ltd and is the only vessel which can change its own internal volume.
One application of the technology is the Submersible Hull Catamaran (SHC ™). Named the "SHC Wavedancer"™ this is essentially a high speed catamaran similar to large ferries of that class. It can transit to and from a site at around 50 knots (90 Km/h) and once on site can transform by jacking the superstructure up on vertical struts and ballasting down the two hulls. This moves the superstructure up above the wave tops and the hulls below the wave energy zone, resulting in a very stable work platform in sea conditions other vessel would find unworkable.
Recently the Submersible Hull Catamaran (SHC ™) concept received great interest and many positive comments during exposure to the maritime market. Its potential was fully recognised by all the companies and individuals concept was presented to during a Middle East trade tour by Missionkraft, who are licensed to market the concept. It was also displayed on the Missionkraft stand at the prestigious British Innovate U.K. 2013 Exhibition in London.
The inventor, Dennis Knox, (OSSeas Consulting) is experienced in senior management in the offshore oil, gas and renewable energy, installation and construction industry. A mariner for over forty years Dennis had first-hand experience in managing offshore projects and believes that the Submersible Hull Catamaran will become the vessel of choice for the offshore energy industry.
Source: WorldMaritimeNews

••• 25.03.21 - Norway: Better preparedness at Svalbard.
Norway strengthens its management of the Arctic archipelago with a new state-of-the-art service vessel and better helicopter preparedness.
The new vessel, to be ready for duty in 2014, will have enhanced capacity to engage in rescue and emergency situations, a press release from the Norwegian government reads. It will be equipped with sophisticated environmentally-friendly technology, powerful machinery and top modern navigation facilities.
The ship is built by the Havyard company and will be leased to the Svalbard Governor’s office on a long-term contract. The contract sum amounts to 32,9 million NOK (EUR 4,4 million) per year, the Svalbard authorities inform.
Today, the Svalbard Governor’s office applies the MS Nordsyssel vessel for management and preparedness operations at the archipelago.
In addition, the Governor's office will get an enhanced helicopter capacity. From 2014, the office will possess two big-size helicopters. The local authorities today control one big and one medium-sized helicopter.
The Svalbard Governor is the Norwegian Government’s top representative at the archipelago. The governor's office makes sure that all countries represented at the islands observes the Svalbard Treaty, the agreement from 1920 securing Norwegian sovereignty over the archipelago.
Source: BarentsObserver

••• 22.03.21 - Dolphin awarded two new 3D seismic contracts in Norway.
Dolphin Geophysical has received a letter of award for two new 3D seismic contract surveys in Norway, for an undisclosed client of approximately 2.300 sq. km. in total.
The surveys are located in the North Sea and the Norwegian Sea and will be acquired by the high capacity 3D seismic vessels, Polar Duke and/or the Polar Duchess during the summer of 2013.
These two contract surveys follow a previously announced contract award for the same undisclosed client for utilising the Artemis Arctic on another 1.000 sq.km survey during the summer.
Source: Dolphin Geophysical

••• 22.03.21 - Dolphin Geophysical and Shell pull together to rewrite the seismic record books.
On October 25th 2012 the Polar Duchess mobilised with a configuration of seismic equipment that had never been seen before.
The firm created the 'world's largest floating object' - eight streamers measuring 8km in length and separated by a distance of 200m, constituting a moving width of 1.4km of equipment through the water. As such the total area of the apparatus being towed by the Duchess was 11.2km2 (or the surface area of roughly 1,569 football pitches). Prior to this point the largest surface area of streamer equipment that had been utilised was between 8 and 9km2. Read more...
Source: Dolphin Geophysical

••• 21.03.21 - Arctic offshore vessel Aleksey Chirikov on sea trial.
Arctic offshore vessel Aleksey Chirikov has left Helsinki Shipyard on sea trial for four days on 19 March 2013. Arctech Helsinki Shipyard is building two identical offshore icebreaking supply vessels for Russias largest shipping group Sovcomflot (SCF Group). The first vessel of the serial, Vitus Bering, was delivered in December 2012 and has reached its destination at Sakhalin area in Far East Russia.
Aleksey Chirikov is the second vessel of the series and will be delivered in April 2013. The building of the vessel has proceded in schedule. The sea trial is part of the test use of the ship, which is done to assure the functionality of the vessel systems before delivery.
After the sea trial the finalising works of Aleksey Chirikov will continue at Helsinki Shipyard.
Source: Arctech Helsinki Shipyard

••• 21.03.21 - Spectrum and EMGS have entered into a cooperation agreement in the Foz de Amazonas basin in Brazil.
Spectrum ASA already has over 21,000 kilometers of MC 2D seismic data coverage of this highly prospective area of the equatorial margin. EMGS ASA has been given access to this data for planning and improved imaging purposes and will soon start the acquisition of MC 3D resistivity data in a regional, multi-client program covering approximately 8000 km2 of the Foz de Amazonas basin. The program, which has generated broad industry interest, covers offshore blocks that have been included in the 11th licensing round.
"This is the first project of its kind and we are delighted to team up with Spectrum in this exciting frontier basin," says David Hicks, president of EMGS's multi-client business unit. "The combined data offering will add insights to reservoir location and size, and highlight new leads, thereby providing customers with a competitive advantage in their licensing and exploration strategies."
"Together, the two companies will provide the industry with a unique opportunity to use high-quality 2D seismic and 3D resistivity data at an early stage in the exploration cycle. We believe the two datasets form a powerful set of exploration tools that can reduce risk and create new opportunities," said Richie Miller, Spectrum's EVP Multi-Client North & South America.
Source: Spectrum

••• 20.03.21 - MultiClient Geophysical ASA commences multi-client 2D survey in the Barents Sea.
MCG announced the commencement of a new multi-client 2D survey, MCG1301, in the southwestern Norwegian Barents Sea.
This is the fifth consecutive year MCG acquires multiclient 2D in the western Barents Sea. The survey is a consistent 4x4 km grid and will be around 8,400 km. This will bring MCG's high quality, long offset, multi-client 2D library in this region up to a total of 35,000 km.
The survey covers a fairly under-explored area where Upper Cretaceous low stand fans and wedges and Tertiary play types are the main targets. Exciting wells to be drilled this year in the area are the Darwin and Bonna.
The seismic data will be acquired by M/V Geolog Dmitri Nalivkin using a 10km solid streamer.
The processing will be performed by PSS-Geo in Oslo.
Source: MCG

••• 20.03.21 - TGS intends to conduct a 2D seismic survey in the Chukchi Sea.
TGS intends to conduct a 2D seismic survey in the Chukchi Sea during the open water season of 2013.
They propose to conduct surveys along approximately 9,600 km of predetermined lines in Alaskan and international waters. They intend to begin surveys sometime between 15 July and 5 August. Seismic operations would likely occur on 35 days, over a 45- to 60-day period in Alaska, and another 33 days of seismic operations in international waters. The actual number of days of seismic operations will depend on ice and weather conditions.
Two vessels are planned to be used, a seismic source vessel, which will tow the airgun array total discharge volume of 4,100 in3 and a single 8,100 m long hydrophone streamer, and a smaller vessel that will be used to visually search for marine mammals and scout for ice and other hazards in front of the source vessel.
Source: NOAA Fisheries

••• 20.03.21 - The NPD’s new seismic data in the southeastern Barents Sea and Jan Mayen.
In 2011 and 2012, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate acquired seismic data off Jan Mayen and in the southeastern Barents Sea.
In the southeastern Barents Sea, Dolphin Geophysical acquired 6766 line-kilometres during the periods of 26 April – 15 June and 1 – 6 July 2012, using the survey vessel Artemis Atlantic.
PGS acquired 2D seismic with the survey vessel Nordic Explorer. In 2012, 9508 line-kilometres were acquired off Jan Mayen during the period of 5 June – 9 August.
"All of acquisition projects last year were carried out in an optimal way," comments Sissel Eriksen, Director of Exploration at the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate.
In February, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate presented its first resource estimates for the waters off Jan Mayan and the southeastern Barents Sea. These estimates are also based on this new seismic data.
The survey overview maps and line coordinates from these surveys can be dowloaded from NPD' web-site.
Source: NPD

••• 19.03.21 - CGG to conduct Largest Ever 3D Seismic in Celtic Sea.
Fastnet, the listed E&P company focused on near term exploration acreage in the Celtic Sea and Morocco, has executed a seismic contract with CGG to acquire, using the R/v Veritas Vantage vessel, 1,710 sq. km. of 3D seismic in the Celtic Sea beginning in mid-April 2013. The total value of the programme is up to US$18 million. The programme is likely to last for approximately 50 days, depending on weather and standby time.
510 Km2 of 3D seismic will first be acquired over the "Deep Kinsale Prospect" beneath the producing Kinsale Head gas field. Seismic operations will include an undershoot of the Kinsale Alpha and Bravo platforms, which are protected by a 500 meter safety exclusion zone. This will require, under the existing seismic contract, mobilising a second 3D seismic vessel for a short period of time during the acquisition of the data by the R/v Veritas Vantage. The geological target will be the same reservoir section that has been successfully tested at Barryroe by the 48/24-10z appraisal well.
1,200 sq. km. of 3D seismic will then be acquired over Licensing Option 12/3 ("Mizzen") and adjoining areas. Several large structures have been identified on existing 2D seismic data that are prospective for Triassic, Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous reservoir targets.
The 3D seismic surveys are the largest ever to be undertaken in the Celtic Sea.
There is flexibility to accommodate up to two additional contingent 3D seismic surveys over other acreage subject to the level of interest from potential farminees.
"A farm-out process has commenced and initial expressions of interest have already been received from a range of multi-nationals, mid-caps and small-caps," said Fastnet in a press release.
Paul Griffiths, Managing Director of Fastnet, said: "This is the first large-scale 3D seismic programme to be acquired in this part of offshore Ireland. Whilst we are targeting proven hydrocarbon systems around the Kinsale and Barryroe fields, we are also evaluating a prospective part of the Celtic Sea Basin covering approximately 4,250 km2 that has seen only one well drilled in 1975 by Esso, which encountered oil shows. 3D seismic is the first step to creating material, "drill ready" prospects.
"Even at this very early stage in the farm-out process we are very encouraged by the level of interest being shown by a broad spectrum of companies and, despite our cash position of US$35 million, it is our intention that any partner would pay an appropriate proportion of the costs of this large seismic survey."
Source: Offshore Energy Today

••• 19.03.21 - TGS commences 2D Multi-client Seismic Survey Offshore Sierra Leone.
TGS has commenced acquisition of a 2D multi-client survey offshore Sierra Leone. The survey, SL13, will add 9,191 km of new 2D data to infill the existing 5,784 km of 2D data acquired in 2001. Upon completion of the SL13 survey, TGS will have approximately 15,000 km of contiguous 2D multi-client data and 6,268 km2 of 3D data offshore Sierra Leone.
The seismic data is being acquired by the M/V Geo Arctic.
Data processing will be performed by TGS and will be available to clients in Q4 2013.
The survey is supported by industry funding.
Source: TGS

••• 18.03.21 - EMGS: update on BOA Galatea.
The BOA Galatea will today complete the multi-client program in the Ceara area in northern Brazil. The vessel will immediately after a scheduled port call mobilise for a multi-client program covering approximately 8000 km2 in the highly prospective equatorial margin of Brazil. The program, which has generated broad industry interest, covers blocks that have been included in the 11th licensing round. Further details will be provided in a separate news release within the next few days.
EMGS had earlier expected that the BOA Galatea would perform a one-month survey in Brazil after the Ceara multi-client program. This contract opportunity has now been replaced by the new multi-client program.
Source: EMGS

••• 18.03.21 - TGS announces Commercial Agreement to Sell Fugro's 2D Multi-client Library.
TGS-NOPEC Geophysical Company ASA announced a commercial agreement to sell Fugro's 2D multi-client library. As a result of this agreement, Fugro provides TGS with an exclusive right to licence and market the majority of Fugro's multi-client 2D library and receive commission fees on the sales of this data.
The agreement covers more than 1,000,000 km of seismic data in areas of great strategic interest for TGS. While the brokerage agreement provides TGS with more data coverage in existing focus areas such as Northwest Europe, it also provides access to a broad range of new client contacts and exposure to seven new countries/areas where TGS is not active today.
This agreement is effective immediately.
Source: TGS

••• 15.03.21 - Skills Shortage Boosts Oil Industry Wages.
A survey of more than 900 Oil and Gas companies has revealed that they are concerned that the average wage in the industry will rise 15% this year from GBP 64,000 to 73,600.
The survey, undertaken by Oilandgaspeople.com, the world’s leading Oil and Gas jobs board, found that 70% of oil and gas companies were worried that wages were rising too fast.
The survey also found that all the respondents blamed a skills shortage in the industry for pressure on wages.
Another study by OilandGasPeople.com of more than 5,000 oil and gas workers found that terms and conditions are improving as well, with 10% receiving higher pensions, 7% more holiday and 21% more flexible working hours. Yet the vast majority, 61%, had received higher wages in the last few months.
The survey of oil and gas companies found they blamed different reasons for the skills shortage, with 32% suggesting it has been caused by too little investment in apprenticeships due to an assumption that North Sea Oil was in decline. 11% suggested that industry did not expect the success of new technology to pump low-grade oil, so recent growth and investment was unexpected, while 44% suggested the skills shortage in the UK had been caused by growing demand for UK staff to work abroad.
Source: Offshore Energy Today

••• 15.03.21 - Offshore workers 3D body scanning project launched.
Groundbreaking research to measure offshore workers' body size with 3D scanners to inform the future design of safety equipment, survival clothing and space requirements on offshore installations has been launched in Aberdeen.
The research, which will generate an ongoing capability for measuring the size and shape of the offshore workforce, is the first of its kind in more than 25 years and is being led by researchers at Robert Gordon University’s Institute of Health and Welfare Research (IHWR) in collaboration with experts from Oil and Gas UK.
The project’s aim is to design and implement a systematic assessment of three-dimensional measurements on a sample of around 600 offshore workers. The data will then be used to inform all aspects of offshore ergonomics and health and safety, from emergency helicopter evacuation and survival suit design to space availability in corridors and work environments.
Source: Scandoil

••• 14.03.21 - China plans first commercial trip through Arctic shortcut in 2013.
A Chinese shipping firm is planning the country's first commercial voyage through a shortcut across the Arctic Ocean to the United States and Europe in 2013, a leading Chinese scientist said on Tuesday.
Huigen Yang, director general of the Polar Research Institute of China, told Reuters that the trip he led last year on the icebreaker Xuelong (Snowdragon) to explore the route had "greatly encouraged" Chinese shipping companies. "One commercial voyage by a Chinese shipping company may take place this summer," he said.
For China, the world's No. 2 economy after the United States, the route would save time and money. The distance from Shanghai to Hamburg is 2,800 nautical miles (5,185 kms) shorter via the Arctic than via the Suez Canal, Yang said.
Despite ice risks on a route that is opening because of climate change, shipping as well as oil and gas exploration and mining businesses are being drawn to the Arctic region.
Beijing sent the Xuelong across the Arctic Ocean to Iceland last year, the first Chinese ship to use a route between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans that was used by almost 50 commercial vessels from other nations in 2012.
Yang showed delegates at a conference about the Arctic in Oslo organised by The Economist magazine longer-term scenarios under which between five and 15 percent of China's international trade, mostly container traffic, would use the route by 2020. Ten percent of China's projected trade by 2020, for instance, would be worth $683 billion, he said. "If the route is constructively prepared ... then the demand is there, it could be a huge number," he said.
Ice on the Arctic Ocean shrank to a record low last September since satellite observations began in the 1970s. Many experts expect it will vanish in summers by mid-century due to climate change caused by human emissions of greenhouse gases.
"We see a potential there but it will not be the new Suez Canal," said Christian Bonfils, managing director of Denmark-based Nordic Bulk Carriers which sent 10 ships through the route in 2012 carrying products such as iron ore. "You will not see a boom in the construction of ice-class vessels - the season is too short," he said of a shipping season that lasts from about July to November, referring to ships needing specially hardened hulls.
Sergei Frank, head of Russia's Sovcomflot shipping company, said that there had been a steady gain in the numbers of vessels using the route in recent years. "We expect a small rise this year," he said.
The thaw will also make it easier to reach remote regions in the Arctic, without crossing from the Pacific to the Atlantic. That could mean more tourism on cruise ships and access to coastal communities and minerals.
Source: Maritime-connector

••• 14.03.21 - Skipsteknisk wins Design Contract for New Research Vessel.
Skipsteknisk AS has signed a contract with the Institute of Marine Research(IMR) in Bergen for the design and engineering of the "Dr. Fridtjof Nansen" replacement ship. The "Dr. Fridtjof Nansen" is owned by NORAD and operated by IMR. The ship operates mainly in southern waters, from Asia in east to South America in west, and is part of the "EAF Nansen program".
Skipsteknisk AS won the contract after an international tender, and has a wide experience in the design and engineering of this type of vessels. Previously the company has designed similar vessels for countries such as England, Scotland, Ireland, Chile and Norway. The latter was the research vessel "GO Sars", which was delivered in 2003. The special features of this type of vessel is in addition to the many different tasks to be carried out onboard, very extensive noise reduction measures. The vessels will conduct extensive acoustic measurements of fish stocks, which requires minimal emission of noise to the sea.
The new ship to be built is of ST-369 design, and will be delivered in February 2016. The first phase of the design work will begin immediately and continue until end of September, followed by a shipyard tender. A construction contract is scheduled for December this year. The design will then proceed and continue throughout 2014 and parts of 2015. In addition to the design and engineering of the vessel, the contract also includes construction management and supervision, all up to the end of the warranty period.
The task is thus very extensive and significant for Skipsteknisk. It is particularly significant in terms of continuing the company’s position and traditions in the design of this particular type of ships.
Source: Skipsteknisk AS

••• 13.03.21 - Dolphin commences 3D Multi-Client survey in UK Quads 29 and 30.
Dolphin Geophysical's high-end 3D seismic vessel the Polar Duke will shortly commence acquisition of their remaining UK Quads 29 & 30 SHarp BroadBand High-Resolution 3D Multi-Client survey.
It is estimated that it will take approximately 5 months to complete the current planned survey coverage which was partially acquired last year. Dolphin's "sister vessel" the Polar Duchess will complete the survey after the Polar Duke leaves the area due to committed contract work.
Phase-1 acquired last year, about twenty percent of the now programmed SHarp BroadBand 3D coverage, has already undergone extensive PSTM processing tests which were overseen by several companies using Dolphin's in-house proprietary OpenCPS software at their UK Centre. AVO and Inversion testing was also commenced last month and these results will be reviewed with committed clients during March.
Dolphin will deliver to all committed clients a High End Fast-Track volume, as well as the final full PSTM datasets later this year. AVO, Inversion and possibly PSDM datasets will be defined with involvement from clients.
"This is another milestone for Dolphin Geophysical who rapidly entered the 3D Multi-Client market last year. Dolphin's UK Quads 29 and 30 SHarp BroadBand High-Resolution MC 3D places us in a strong position to expand our data coverage further in this region. The processing results from Phase-1 acquired in 2012 confirmed the anticipated need for 75m streamer separation rather than the traditional 100m in order to preserve the full SHarp bandwidth for imaging the steep dip salt flanks and detailed faulting within the survey area."
"Dolphin's BroadBand acquisition and processing techniques allow us to compete on a more even playing-field with the major seismic contractors as well as placing us ahead of others. We continue to see a good level of pre-funding and support for our Multi-Client surveys" said Ian T Edwards, Dolphin's Vice President of Global Multi-Client Surveys and New Ventures.
Source: Dolphin Geophysical

••• 13.03.21 - GSP Offshore Provides Services to Gazprom Neft, Russia.
Operations are scheduled to start at the beginning of June and will be carried out in Dolginskoye oil field, located in the Pechora Sea, in the south eastern part of the Barents Sea, the continental shelf of the Russian Federation.
MODU GSP Jupiter shall perform the drilling, logging, completion and testing of North-Dolginskaya № 3 well. A fleet of four offshore support vessels including two owned by GSP will assist the rig during the drilling operations scheduled in the Pechora Sea.
GSP Jupiter is currently being mobilized to operate offshore Tunisia, to drill Hammamet West-3 within the Bargou Exploration Permit.
"It is well known that the exploration of Arctic fields is more technically challenging than any other environment. So this project in the Pechora Sea comes as a recognition of our expertise in drilling operations and marks GSP's debut in the Arctic offshore operations. Since 2004, our company has invested 1.35 billion USD (approx. one billion EUR) in the acquisition and modernization of its vessels and drilling rigs, including the extensive upgrade of GSP Jupiter, which is now ready to face the challenges of the harsh weather conditions, said Gabriel Valentin Comanescu, President and CEO of GSP (Grup Servicii Petroliere)".
"The development of offshore projects is a strategic priority of Gazprom Neft. Rig selection is one of the major milestones in the project implementation process that the company joined a few months ago. We have got actively involved in the work and within a short period of time we have been able to complete rig contracting process, that usually takes much more time. Continuing survey works at Dolginskoye oilfield, Gazprom Neft will extend its competence in the execution of offshore projects, which in the future will become a framework for the development of the whole industry," - declared Vadim Yakovlev – Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of Gazprom Neft.
Source: GSP Offshore

••• 12.03.21 - No Offshore Rig Deal between Keppel and Naftogaz of Ukraine.
Singapore's Keppel today announced that a conditional contract, signed by the company with Naftogaz of Ukraine last year, for the construction of two semi-submersible drilling rigs will not take effect.
The company said in a press release that "the contract will not be taking effect as certain conditions within the timeline set were not met."
"Keppel will continue to seek opportunities where we can support Naftogaz in their E&P activities," Singapore’s rig builder further said.
Under the conditional agreement, Keppel was expected to construct two semi-submersible drilling rigs of Keppel’s DSSTM 38U design,which would be customised for the Black Sea environment. The harsh weather conditions of the Black Sea include extreme freezing temperatures, storms with strong winds and heavy seas.
Source: Offshore Energy Today

••• 12.03.21 - JOGMEC has successfully extracted gas from methane hydrate deposits off Japan's central coast.
Japan has achieved the world’s first gas extraction from offshore methane hydrate deposits, said energy explorer Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp (JOGMEC), who is targeting commercial production within six years.
A Reuters report on Tuesday stated that since 2001, several hundred million dollars have been invested in developing technology to tap methane hydrate reserves, estimated to equate to about 11 years of gas consumption, off Japan’s coast.
State-run JOGMEC said the gas was tapped from deposits of methane hydrate, a frozen gas known as "flammable ice", near Japan's central coast.
Japan imports almost all of its energy needs and is the world's top importer of liquefied natural gas. The lure of domestic gas resources has intensified following the Fukushima nuclear crisis two years ago, which triggered a shake-up of the country's energy sector.
According to Reuters, Japan's trade ministry said the production tests would continue for about two weeks, followed by analysis on how much gas was produced.
Methane hydrate is formed from a mixture of methane and water under certain pressure and conditions.
Methane is a major component of natural gas and governments including Canada, the US, Norway and China are also looking at exploiting hydrate deposits as an alternative source of energy.
JOGMEC used depressurisation to turn methane hydrate to methane gas, a process the government believed was more effective than using the hot water circulation method the country had tested in 2002.
In 2008, JOGMEC successfully demonstrated for the first time a nearly six-day continuous period of production of methane gas from hydrate reserves held deep in permafrost in Canada, using the depressurisation method.
A Japanese study has estimated that at least 40 trillion cubic feet of methane hydrates exist in the eastern Nankai Trough off the country's Pacific coast – the equivalent of about 11 years of Japanese gas consumption.
Japan's LNG imports hit a record 87.3 million tonnes last year after Japan shut down most of its nuclear power plants following the Fukushima nuclear disaster two years ago.
Source: News Wires

••• 11.03.21 - Searcher Seismic: Finnmark Platform Super-Tie™ 2D PSTM Reprocessing.
The Finnmark Platform Super-TieTM comprises 12,318 km of multi-vintage PSTM reprocessed seismic data over the Finnmark Platform in the Barents Sea, immediately adjacent to the soon to be opened "New Norway". The project has identified data sets that were acquired by the NPD during the 1970's and 1980's that will benefit significantly from reprocessing from field tape.
A modern PSTM workflow and attention to detail in velocity analysis is what makes the Searcher Seismic brand of Super-TieTM recognisable in industry as being the superior 2D reprocessed dataset available. Reprocessing from field tape allows our Super-TieTM brand to have considerable uplift in data quality and a regionally consistent processing workflow so that the multi-vintages of seismic data selected for the project can be interpreted as a single Super-TieTM data package for evaluation of the Finnmark East Platform.
Source: Searcher Seismic

••• 11.03.21 - Dolphin Geophysical commence the Finnmark Platform 3D Multi-Client Project.
Dolphin Geophysical in partnership with Searcher Seismic announced the 1,407km2 Non-Exclusive 3D MC seismic project on the Finnmark Platform, Barents Sea, Norway.
Processing has commenced in Dolphins UK Processing Centre using our proprietary OpenCPS software. The processing sequence has been designed to enhance the imaging of the primary Jurassic targets located at around 1sec TWT. In addition, processing will focus on providing improved definition of the deeper Triassic and Permian Clastics.
With planned infrastructure in Veidnes outside Honningsvag in Finnmark recently announced by Statoil, the survey area is receiving a renewed interest from the industry. Therefore, these Data will be available for participating companies from Q3 or earlier in preparation for the Norwegian 23rd round nomination process.
Source: Dolphin Geophysical

••• 11.03.21 - MMT awarded new long term contract with DONG.
MMT (Sweden) has been awarded a long term service agreement with DONG Energy Exploration and Production.
Since 2008, MMT has successfully performed the annual inspection on the DONG pipelines in the North Sea. In January 2013 MMT have been awarded the survey period 2013 to 2014 with an option to prolong the services to 2015-2017.
The acoustic and ROV survey scope in this agreement will be conducted with the survey vessel Franklin.
The vessel will be equipped with a hull-mounted EM710 multibeam echo sounder and both an ROV and an ROTV. MMT's ROTV will have high resolution Edgetech 4200 (300/600 kHz) side scan sonar. The ROV inspection survey will be conducted with a Sub Atlantic Comanche, equipped with a MBES system and high resolution digital colour camera.
MMT believes that their survey platforms, survey systems and experienced personnel are the key to provide accurate and safe offshore services for the oil and gas companies. And foremost, MMT is very pleased and excited with the continued confidence from DONG and is looking forward to this annual project.
Source: MMT

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