Offshore driller Odfjell Drilling has been awarded a contract by the Austrian oil firm OMV for the Deepsea Bergen semi-submersible drilling rig. Further to a letter of intent announced back in March, Odfjell Drilling on Friday signed a firm contract with OMV’s Norwegian unit, OMV (Norge) AS, for one
The world is awash with more offshore rigs than it will ever need. But established rig owners can ignore that and focus on the market recovery. By David Carter Shinn Certain trends which signify a rig market recovery have emerged insidiously over the past four months. Now they’re obvious enough to
Prosafe, an owner and operator of semi-submersible accommodation rigs known as flotels, has decided to sell another one of its units for scrap. In a Friday operational update for the first quarter of 2017, Prosafe said it has taken the decision to sell the Safe Regency unit for scrap. The flotel, wh
Offshore drilling contractor Noble Corporation has decided to cold stack one of its drillships. In its latest fleet status report on Thursday, the driller said that the drillship Noble Bully I is en route to Curaçao, preparing to cold stack. The drillship has been working for Shell in the U.S. Gulf
Norway’s Statoil has received consent from the Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) to drill an exploration well in the Barents Sea with the Songa Enabler drilling rig. The well is located in block 7219 in production license 532 in the Barents Sea where Statoil is the operator. The offshore safety body
Offshore drilling contractor Rowan Companies has been awarded more work for its jack-up drilling rigs in Saudi Arabia, Norway, and the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. According to its latest fleet status report on Wednesday, Rowan has been awarded a contract extension for the Gilbert Rowe jack-up drilling rig
A CHC helicopter that crash-landed last week on the Petrobras-operated Sevan Brasil drilling rig off Brazil has been removed from the helipad. Following a “rough landing” by the helicopter owned by CHC’s Brazilian unit, BHS, a video emerged this week showing its landing on the rig’s helideck. The ri
Vietsovpetro, a Russian-Vietnamese joint company for oil and gas exploration, has reportedly hired one of Aban Offshore’s jack-up drilling rigs. According to information provided by VesselsValue, Vietsovpetro, a JV company between Zarubezhneft and PetroVietnam, hired the Deep Driller 8 jack-up drill
Chinese oil explorer CNOOC Limited has reportedly awarded a five-month drilling contract to the Hai Yang Shi You 981 (HYSY 981) drilling rig. According to data from VesselsValue, the sixth generation semi-submersible ultra-deepwater rig will start working for the Chinese oil company on May 1. The en
Spanish oil company Repsol has reportedly hired the Ensco 52 jack-up drilling rig, owned by the UK driller Ensco. According to VesselsValue, the contract fixed on April 18, 2017, is for two months and for an undisclosed fee. Offshore Energy Today has reached out to Repsol, seeking confirmation and m
ASX-listed oil and gas company Nido Petroleum will drill a sidetrack well on the Galoc field, in the Palawan Basin offshore Philippines, following inconclusive results from the appraisal well Galoc-7. On behalf of the Galoc Joint Venture, Nido Petroleum informed on Tuesday that on April 13, 2017, th
The U.S. weekly offshore rig count fell down a notch compared to last week, Baker Hughes, one of the world’s largest oilfield services firms said in its report on Thursday. The report, usually out on Friday, is early this week due to the Easter holiday. The overall rig count is up again, marking a 1
Captain Neil Johnston has shared with Offshore Energy Today this beautiful photo of a semi-submersible drilling rig basking in the sun, offshore Spain. The rig named Alaskan Star, is a veteran in the industry. Built in Japan back in 1976, this forty-year old is counting its final days, as it is now
E&P company Aker BP has received consent from the Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) to drill an exploration well in the Frigg Gamma Delta prospect, offshore Norway, with the Island Innovator drilling rig. Aker BP is the operator of production license 442 in the North Sea. Aker BP has made a discovery
