offshore operations

Snapshot of UK shipping disruption amid COVID-19

Following COVID-19’s impact on the shipping industry, the British Ports Association has been in close contact with the government, assessing the impacts, providing a summary of which sectors have been mostly affected.

Specifically, the BPA’s Policy & Economic Analyst, Phoebe Warneford-Thomson has been assessing the impacts and she has prepared a snapshot of activity below.

Ports

Ports are already facing challenges, from both a downturn in customer activity, as well as pressure to offer rent...

https://safety4sea.com/snapshot-of-uk-shipping-disruption-amid-covid-19/

LR conducts remote audit to offshore company amid COVID-19 travel restrictions

Lloyd’s Register conducted a six-day, three-person audit for a marine and offshore company through remote technology, due to the COVID-19 travel restrictions and challenges that the offshore sector is dealing with.

Specifically, LR conducted the remote audit for Whittaker Engineering Ltd.

The audit was implemented by two on-site auditors and one lead assessor working remotely completed the combined audit which involved a range of internationally recognised standards including the latest health...

https://safety4sea.com/lr-conducts-remote-audit-to-offshore-company-amid-covid-19-travel-restrictions/

Worldwide offshore rig count drops in March

The international offshore rig count for March 2020 was 244, down by one from the 245 in February 2020, and down 3 from the 247 in March 2019, according to data by Baker Hughes company.

Overall, the international rig count for March 2020 was 1,059, down 26 from the 1,085 in February 2020, and up 20 from the 1,039 in March 2019.

The average US rig count for March 2020 was 772, down 19 from the 791 in February 2020, and down 251 from the 1,023 in March 2019.

Meanwhile, the average Canadian rig count...

https://safety4sea.com/worldwide-offshore-rig-count-drops-in-march/

Shell cuts costs to balance its financial strength amid COVID-19 pandemic

In light of the current market environment, oil major Shell decided to decline its operating costs by up to $4 billion in 2020 and to cut its capital expenditure from $25 billion to $20 billion.

Specifically, in a statement, the oil major stated that they have embarked on a series of operational and financial initiatives that are expected to result in:

  • reduction of underlying operating costs by $3-4 billion per annum over the next 12 months compared to 2019 levels;
  • reduction of cash capital...

https://safety4sea.com/shell-cuts-costs-to-balance-its-financial-strength-amid-covid-19-pandemic/

UK offshore union calls Government to take immediate action to manage COVID-19

RMT, UK’s offshore union is calling for urgent action to protect the UK’s energy supply sector from collapse amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Specifically, the Union highlighted that the oil price wars and the public health at risk could lead the North Sea oil and gas sector to an overall damage, placing tens of thousands of offshore workers out of work, increasing the UK’s reliance on imported fossil fuels and extinguishing prospects of a just transition for oil and gas workers.

RMT General...

https://safety4sea.com/uk-offshore-union-calls-government-to-take-immediate-action-to-manage-covid-19/

Global offshore wind industry installs record 6.1 GW in 2019

The Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) reported that the offshore wind industry achieved a record of  6.1 GW installations of new capacity in 2019, bringing the overall capacity to 29 GW.

Specifically, eight markets that reported new offshore wind installations in the year that passed are:

  1. China – 2395 MW
  2. United Kingdom – 1764 MW
  3. Germany – 1111 MW
  4. Denmark – 374 MW
  5. Belgium – 370 MW
  6. Taiwan – 120 MW
  7. Portugal – 8 MW (floating)
  8. Japan – 3 MW (floating)

It is stated that Europe remained the largest...

https://safety4sea.com/global-offshore-wind-industry-installs-record-6-1-gw-in-2019/

Offshore sector faces the impact of COVID-19

Although the COVID-19 has already disrupted the shipping industry in several ways, the offshore sector is also feeling the impact of the pandemic, as many offshore companies are experiencing lower prices or COVID-19 cases.

Concerning lower prices, Brent is set to mark a drop of around 25%, meaning the biggest decline since December 2008, when it fell nearly around 26%. For the records, Brent crude was up by 2.5% to trade at $34.04 per barrel, following its drop of more than 7% last week. The US...

https://safety4sea.com/offshore-sector-faces-the-impact-of-covid-19/

MOL Norge completes oil and gas discovery in North Sea

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) announced that MOL Norge completed an oil and gas discovery close to the Balder field in the North Sea – 25/8-19 S and 25/8-19 A. Namely, the wells were drilled 8 kilometers northwest of Ringhorne on the Balder field in the central part of the North Sea and 200 kilometers west of Stavanger.

In fact, the exploration well in the 820S licence area was drilled to a maximum depth  of 2.652 m below sea surface, while the oil and gas discovered, successfully...

https://safety4sea.com/mol-norge-completes-oil-and-gas-discovery-in-north-sea/

Watch: Deep Dig-it carries out trial

A strange vehicle will be driving on the bottom of the harbor in the western port area of the Port of Rotterdam, on a trial basis. It is the Deep Dig-it, an unmanned trencher of 17 meters long and 138,000 kilos clean on the hook.

Deep Dig-it will play an important role in the construction of the new offshore wind farm Hollandse Kust Zuid. The electricity that the wind farm will generate first goes to a large offshore transformer station or the electronic socket at sea.

The Deep Dig-it must lay...

https://safety4sea.com/watch-deep-dig-it-carries-out-trial/

Inpex inks MoUs for Abadi LNG project off Indonesia

Inpex, Japanese oil and gas firm inked memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with PT PLN Persero (PLN) and PT Pupuk Indonesia for the long-term domestic LNG and pipeline natural gas supply from the Abadi LNG project offshore Indonesia.

Specifically, it was reported that the MoUs were signed by the company’s subsidiary Inpex Masela, and on behalf of its joint venture partner Shell Upstream Overseas Ltd, in the presence of Indonesia’s Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources Arifin Tasrif in...

https://safety4sea.com/inpex-inks-mous-for-abadi-lng-project-off-indonesia/

+ More