Every day, the world uses around one hundred million barrels of oil. The term “big oil” is used pejoratively to describe the industry’s lobbying power. But is big always better? This week, we look at both the biggest and the best, and the biggest and the worst of the oil industry. Big finds:...
Offshore Drilling & Extraction
COLUMN | Looking to the future: Petrobras newbuilds; James Fisher; Saudi Arabia’s NEOM plans; TotalEnergies and Sapura; wind bust timing [Offshore Accounts]
“Brazil is the country of the future,” goes the cliché that the Austrian writer Stefan Zweig declared in 1941 as the opening line of his book Brazil, Land of the Future. Zweig wrote in exile there, and a year later, he and his wife deliberately killed themselves with a drug overdose. Brazilians then began joking […]
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COLUMN | Correcting course: Aramco and jackups; Siem Offshore and Kristian Siem; Ferguson Marine; MMA Offshore; Maersk/Svitzer [Offshore Accounts]
Harold Macmillan was supposedly once asked what the most troubling problem of his time as British Prime Minister was. “Events, my dear boy, events,” was his reply. I thought I had this week’s column nailed well in advance, but offshore is an industry especially susceptible to unexpected and hard to predict “events”. So, we must […]
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COLUMN | Reaping what you sow: McDermott, Seatrium, Gunvor and Trafigura [Offshore Accounts]
It seems appropriate to get all biblical this week, just after Easter. When Saint Paul wrote in his letter to the Galatians that “a man reaps what he sows,” he probably wasn’t thinking about corruption in the oil and gas industry two millennia later. But the last month has seen no less than four...
COLUMN | Quick updates: PSVs changing hands; subsea newbuilds; Guyana booming; rigs fixing higher [Offshore Accounts]
Money is being made in offshore once again, but tragically lives are also being lost unnecessarily. Earlier this week, we examined how Perenco’s dysfunctional safety culture in Gabon, leading to six people dead or lost in an explosion. This is a sad backdrop for an industry booming at last. Stop...
COLUMN | Perenco’s shame and Gabon’s lax standards: a fatal combination [Offshore Accounts]
In an industry is awash with cash and record profits, it is tragic to see five people confirmed dead in an accident on a Perenco platform offshore Gabon, and one other worker still missing, presumed also killed, as per the most recent update. Last Wednesday, there was a fire on the Becuna platform...
COLUMN | Petrofac-ed, the Wood Group and Petroserv: restructurings and transformation [Offshore Accounts]
“Fix the balance sheet before you fix the business.” This was the sage advice we gave two weeks ago when we compared Tidewater to its moribund and indebted competitors. We noted that Hornbeck, Bourbon, and Edison Chouest still have some way to go in resolving their balance sheet problems. But if...
COLUMN | Where the wind blows part 1: Borealis, IT Telecoms, TotalEnergies, Ørsted and Vestas [Offshore Accounts]
One of the warmest winters on record seems to be drawing to a close in Europe, and the North Sea spot market is roaring back. On Friday, the 251 tonnes bollard pull anchor handler Maersk Mariner was spot chartered by Anasuria Operating Company at the princely day rate of £45,000 (US$57,000) for...
VESSEL REVIEW | Stena Evolution – Ultra-deepwater vessel for Stena Drilling’s Gulf of Mexico operations
Stena Drilling has taken delivery of a new drillship from South Korean shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries. The ultra-deepwater capable Stena Evolution has a length of 233 metres, a beam of 42 metres, a depth of 19 metres, an operating draught of 11 metres, a displacement of 89,792 tonnes, and...
COLUMN | Quick updates: Total buys a rig; Trident cans a rig; Standard sales succeed and fail; Saipem wins and loses corruption battles; Sapura hit with wind arbitration [Offshore Accounts]
Gong Xi Fa Cai, Kung Hei Fat Choi, and Chúc mừng Năm Mới! Happy Lunar New Year to all our readers, and welcome to the Year of the Dragon. At least, this is one time of year where nobody will be sneaking abandoned offshore rigs and supply vessels out of Chinese shipyards to the market […]
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