StatoilHydro makes double discovery

StatoilHydro discovered hydrocarbons in two wells in the Oseberg area in the Norwegian offshore sector of the North Sea.

The first discovery was made in a long-reach exploration well from the Oseberg C platform, targeting the Cook Formation in the Theta structure. Oseberg Petech Project Leader Trond Eide said, "The well is designed to be converted to a producer within 45 days after the discovery, giving an extremely quick turnover from prospective resources to producible reserves." Prospect mapping and well planning was a collaborative effort between the Oseberg Petech team and the North Sea infrastructure-led exploration team, with the former unit being responsible for the drilling operation. Bjorn Inge Braathen, leader of the exploration team working in the Oseberg area, said, "Work is currently underway to determine the optimal production solution." Depending on the development solution, preliminary expected volumes are around 5 million barrels of oil. Shortly after the Theta discovery, oil and gas was also found in the Delta S2 structure in the Oseberg South area. The discovery was made with well 30/9-21S, which targeted the Brent Group. Drilled by semisubmersible Transocean Winner, the discovery is believed to contain about 16 million recoverable BOE. The rig is now drilling a second branch to test the nearby Richards prospect. The Delta S2 discovery may be tied to the nearby Delta template within a few years and continued exploration success in the area may trigger new development solutions.

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Singapore to the fore at inaugural Seatrade Asia Awards

More than 600 people flocked to the Island Ballroom of the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore to see Singaporeans scoop the lion's share of 19 gongs at the inaugural Seatrade Asia Awards.

Singapore-based entities notched up an impressive 10 awards. The gala evening, with guest of honour Mrs Lim Hwee Hua, Senior Minister of State for Finance and Transport and hosted by Mishal Hussain of BBC World News, was capped off with the Personality of the Year going to Kang Duk-Soo, chairman of fast-emerging Korean conglomerate STX, and Tan Sri Frank Tsao, founder of IMC Group, taking home the Lifetime Achievement Award. Christopher Hayman, chairman of Seatrade, said "Tan Sri Frank Tsao has fitted more into his lifetime than most other shipping moguls. His dedication to shipping is unsurpassed. We are honored to have him here this evening." \

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COSL bags Yellow Sea drilling gig

China Oilfield Services (COSL) is primed to drill one shallow-water exploration well for Devon Energy in Block 11/34 in the Yellow Sea.

COSL said that it has signed a turnkey drilling services deal with Devon recently. The drilling rig is understood to be the under-construction jack-up COSL 942. Devon recently said it is drilling two exploration wells in China this year. The first is the deep-water BY6-1-1 probe in Block 42/05 in the South China Sea, which is currently being drilled by the semi-submersible Transocean Legend. COSL operates 15 drilling rigs, including 11 jack-ups and three semi-submersibles, plus one leased jack-up rig.

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GL/HELMEPA release ‘Ship's Manual'

Germanischer Lloyd and HELMEPA have recently released a publication titled "Ship's Manual: Voluntary Guidelines for the Safe Management of Vessels and the Prevention of Marine Pollution".

The publication is based on a similar publication by HELMEPA from 1992, which was produced with the aim to assist member companies to develop the Safety Management Manual for their vessels, just one year before the adoption of the ISM Code at the International Maritime Organization. The objective of the publication is to become a valuable tool for the continuous training of officers onboard ships as well as the adoption of best practices on a broad range of shipboard operations and maintenance works and of methods to respond to emergencies. Retaining its initial structure, the Ship's Manual was revised and significantly enriched to cover new requirements and operations of vessels. Conference on Port State Control in Athens, show a significant number of deficiencies on the code's requirements, a fact that makes this publication ever more relevant. At their presentations at this conference, the Secretary of Paris MoU, Richard Schiferli and the Head of Activities Europe of the United Coast Guard, Capt. John Koster noted that the Ship's Manual, "comes at an appropriate time" to assist with the compliance to ISM Code, on which weaknesses have been identified.

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SBITC launches new container terminal at Subic Freeport at Philippines

The Subic Bay International Terminal Corp. (SBITC) officially launched the New Container Terminal-1 (NCT-1).

Subic's latest terminal and container handling facility is located at the Subic Bay Freeport, Philippines. SBITC was recently awarded a 30-year concession to operate, manage and develop the NCT-1. The NCT-1, a 300,000TEU capacity container terminal, is now ready to serve the northern Philippine trade.

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Qingdao Qianjin Shipyard to build Swire Pacific Offshore AHTS

IMT Marine Consultants has announced that it is to design a series of eight IMT 957 AHTS/Utility Vessels to be built at Qingdao Qianjin Shipyard in Qingdao, China.

The vessels, which are scheduled for delivery to owner signed a contract with Swire Pacific Offshore beginning 2010, will have 4,800 HP, delivering 60 tonnes bollard pull on a vessel of 57 m length overall. "These are powerful and flexible vessels and we are pleased that a leading owner such as Swire has entrusted the design to us,” says Neil Patterson, MD at IMT, which is a partner in the Offshore Ship Designers group. “It is the first time we have built these vessels in China, and we shall be able to make use of the resources of our OSD Shanghai design office for detailed engineering work and liaison with the yard," says Neil.

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India's Aban dropped from Russian gig

Indian driller Aban Offshore said the jack-up rig Murmanskaya is primed to start a $10 million gig with Husky Oil’s Chinese offshoot after ExxonMobil’s Russian unit terminated the rig’s contract that was set to start next month.

Aban Offshore informed the Bombay Stock Exchange that ExxonMobil has terminated its contract with Beta Drilling regarding the rig Murmanskaya. The deal was worth $34 million for a two well campaign that was expected to last 160 days off Russia. The outfit added that it has received a letter of intent for a one well contract with Husky Oil for around 50 days with estimated revenues of $10.53 million. The 1991-built jack-up is an independent-leg cantilever unit capable of operating in water depths up to 300 feet. Norwegian rig contractor Sinvest owns Beta Drilling, which currently holds the rights to charter the jack-up drilling rig Murmanskaya, which belongs to Russian state-owned outfit Arcticmorneftegazrazvedka (AMNGR). Aban Offshore owns Sinvest through its various subsidiaries. Aban Offshore has a market capitalization of $500 million. The outfit currently owns eight rigs, one drillship and one floating production unit, all hooked up on long-term deals.
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