Latin America

C-Innovation, LLC (C-I), an affiliate of Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO) and its family of companies, has been awarded a multi-year contract for Riserless Light Well Intervention (RLWI) services with a major operator in the Gulf of Mexico.

The contract is for the provision of RLWI services onboard the M/V Island Venture, C-I’s flagship intervention vessel commissioned in 2017. The 160 m, DP3 vessel is ideally suited to perform deepwater riserless interventions in the Gulf of Mexico. It is expected to perform intervention activities on eight to ten wells per year, including wireline and stimulations.

C-I’s Vice-President David Sheetz said, “This new contract is a direct result of our accomplishments with the same operator over the last two years. I am extremely proud of our teams and partnerships with both Halliburton and Baker Hughes to deliver the kind of success that allows us to continue to be the leaders with our Single Source Solution for deepwater RLWI in the Gulf of Mexico.”

“These are exciting times for our industry,” commented Dino Chouest, President of C-I, “and the forward thinking and innovative ideas our teams have developed over the last two years are setting new standards in deepwater riserless well interventions. We look forward to expanding our offerings with additional vessels and advanced solutions in the near future.”

Frank's International (Frank’s), a global oil services company that provides a broad and comprehensive range of highly engineered tubular running services, tubular fabrication, and specialty well construction and intervention solutions, has received the inaugural 2021 Most Valuable Partner (MVP) Award from a major operator in recognition of its work in Guyana.

This award recognises Frank's work in helping their customer meet important operational goals both safely and efficiently. Frank's Tubular Running Services, Cementing and Well Integrity teams developed a customised solution involving multiple casing technologies, which eliminated the need to alternate tools and accommodated different casing types.

The solution enabled faster run times and removed the need for personnel to enter the hazardous red zone. Frank's first-rate operational planning and execution led to a record-setting casing string run, with a total of five hours saved and zero rejected connections with a fully nationalised night crew.

Specifically, the MVP award recognises the following categories and achievements:

-Safety, Security, Health and Environment (SSHE) Excellence: recognised as strong leaders and contributors in pre-tour and rig-floor meetings

-Reliability: excellent Non-Productive Time (NPT) performance demonstrating 99.8% up time

-Adaptability and Proactivity: onshore personnel engaged early and effectively collaborated

-Truly Working as a Partner: offshore personnel consistently demonstrated commitment to supporting activities on the rig outside of their base work scope.

"Congratulations to our Tubular Running Services, Cementing, and Well Integrity teams, including local crew members in Guyana," said York McCauley, Frank’s Senior Operations Manager, Caribbean. "These talented and dedicated team members consistently demonstrate operational excellence both onshore and offshore. This award is a testament to their hard work and dedication to delivering superior value, safety, and efficiency to our partners. We appreciate their outstanding contributions to Frank's operations."

Michael Kearney, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, added, "Innovating to help our customers and going above and beyond is what distinguishes our talented team at Frank's. Thank you to our employees for living our core values of Safety, Integrity, Innovation, Diversity and Excellence every day."

Ocyan, one of the largest drilling contractors in Brazil with an offshore fleet in service for major operators in the area, has selected Kongsberg Digital’s SiteCom software to supply real-time drilling data from their rigs.

Ocyan’s rigs will be using Kongsberg Digital’s SiteCom solution to collect and convert data from different data sources making standard data available for Ocyan's main data platform Ocyan SMART. Besides the drilling control system, rigs are configured to receive marine data, data from dynamic positioning systems, ocean current meter systems and will be integrated with third parties for calculating drilling riser fatigue.

Kristian Hernes, SVP Digital Wells, Kongsberg Digital, commented, “As an operator, having access to complete, standard data in one system is a prerequisite to digitalise and automate processes in scale. Ocyan’s requirements for real-time data shows the robustness and versatility of SiteCom as a data collection software for the industry.”

The benefits of the SiteCom solution include safer and more efficient drilling due to a clear “bigger picture” of activities from data monitoring; accurate positioning provided by real-time information used in conjunction with historical and plan data; reduced risk of stuck pipe from the monitoring of casing runs; and confirmed cementing with the quality of cement placement monitored by integrated well-site data.

Rodrigo Chamusca Machado, Technology and Innovation Manager, Ocyan, added, “SiteCom is helping Ocyan to have a reliable and robust system onboard, connected to multiple sources and different protocols, converting data to WITSML standards in order to meet our client’s requirements.”

Equinor (operator), ExxonMobil, Petrogal Brasil and Pré-sal Petróleo SA (PPSA) have agreed to develop phase one of the Bacalhau field located in the pre-salt Santros area offshore Brazil.

The Bacalhau field, situated across two licenses, BM-S-8 and Norte de Carcará, is a high-quality carbonate reservoir, containing light oil with minimal contaminants. The development will consist of 19 subsea wells tied back to a floating production, storage and offloading unit (FPSO) located at the field. This will be one of the largest FPSOs in Brazil with a production capacity of 220,000 barrels per day and two million barrels in storage capacity. Estimated recoverable reserves for the first phase are more than one billion barrels of oil.

“The development of the Bacalhau field is a strategic investment in our global portfolio and has the potential to bring high returns for ExxonMobil, our partners and the Brazilian people,” said Juan Lessmann, Lead Country Manager for ExxonMobil in Brazil. “This project has progressed due to the strong collaboration between ExxonMobil, Equinor, Petrogal and the government.”

Subsea Integration Alliance

For the engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) of the subsea pipelines (SURF) and production systems (SPS), Equinor has awarded a contract to Subsea Integration Alliance, a nonincorporated strategic global alliance between Subsea 7 and OneSubsea.

The development will include 140 kilometres of rigid risers and flowlines, 40 kilometres of umbilicals and 19 trees, as well as associated subsea equipment, in water depths of approximately 2,050 metres.

Project management and detailed engineering will take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with support from Subsea 7’s Global Project Centre in UK and France and various OneSubsea offices. Offshore activities will take place from 2022 to 2023 using Subsea 7’s reel-lay, flex-lay and light construction vessels.

Stuart Fitzgerald, CEO Subsea Integration Alliance, commented, “The award to Subsea Integration Alliance of the EPCI contract is a result of our strategy for early engagement and track record of major integrated projects. It underlines the strength and breadth of our global project management capabilities which underpin our delivery of large and complex integrated projects.”

Limiting climate impact

The development plan was approved by the Brazilian National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) in March 2021.

Significant efforts have been made to reduce emissions from the production phase, including implementing a Combined Cycle Gas Turbine system to increase the energy efficiency of the power station.

Lifetime average CO2 intensity is expected to be less than 9 kg per barrel produced, significantly lower than the global average of 17 kg per barrel. Work will continue through the lifetime of the field to reduce emissions and increase energy efficiency.

The entire investment for the development is approximately US$8bn, with first oil planned in 2024. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and related uncertainties, project plans may be adjusted in response to health and safety restrictions.

Baker Hughes has been awarded a subsea oilfield equipment contract from Petrobras as part of the Marlim and Voador field revitalisation plan in the Campos Basin, offshore Brazil.

The contract includes several key technologies from Baker Hughes’ Subsea Connect portfolio and will provide Petrobras with a connected suite of solutions to help drive efficiencies, reduce costs and improve execution speed.

Baker Hughes will supply up to five subsea production and injection manifold systems, which benefit from a lightweight and compact design for installation from smaller vessels and include integrated hydraulic connection systems and retrievable choke modules to realise life of field cost savings. The manifold systems will also include Baker Hughes’ field proven vertical mechanical clamp connection system which increases installation efficiencies.

In addition to the manifold systems, Baker Hughes will provide 32 modular, structured, subsea control modules (called Modpods) which are powered by SemStar5 technology, manufactured in the company’s Nailsea facility in Bristol, UK. The modules have extensive field deployment history with a mean time between failures of more than 150 years.

Neil Saunders, Executive Vice President of Oilfield Equipment at Baker Hughes, commented, “This order is an important example of how Subsea Connect is bringing structured technology to improve execution certainty. We are able to deliver world-class subsea solutions with a breadth of expertise and skills to bring flexibility, scalability and versatility to complex projects. We are proud to partner with Petrobras on the revitalisation of Marlim and Voador and offer our latest subsea technologies for Brazil.”

The contract will include a global team of experts delivering the subsea production and injection manifold systems, subsea control modules, subsea connection systems and field installation support. The manifold systems will be fabricated, tested and assembled in Baker Hughes’ Centre of Excellence facility in Jandira, Brazil.

Adyr Tourinho, Vice President of Brazil and Oilfield Equipment for Latin America at Baker Hughes, said, “This contract is a culmination of our multi-year engagement with Petrobras and builds on our history supplying subsea production systems to deepwater projects in Brazil. Our lightweight, compact technology is engineered to combat the most demanding conditions found in today’s deepwater environments.”

A bright future ahead

Baker Hughes’ recent Q1 2021 results show that the company had faced a challenging year, suffering year on year declines in areas such as orders and revenue. However this is a squeeze being felt unanimously across the energy industry and Lorenzo Simonelli, Chairman and CEO of Baker Hughes, noted that he envisioned a bright future for the company, which will no doubt be aided by the recent agreements with Petrobras and other major players such as Saudi Aramco.

Simonelli commented, “We are pleased with our first quarter results as we generated strong free cash flow, continued to drive forward our cost-out efforts, and took further meaningful steps in the execution of our strategy. During the quarter, TPS delivered solid orders and operating income while OFS continued to execute cost-out programmes to help drive another strong quarter of margin performance. We also advanced our position in the energy transition, investing in strategic areas for growth and entering important partnerships to advance new energy frontiers including hydrogen and carbon capture, utilisation and storage.”

“As we look ahead to the rest of 2021, we remain cautiously optimistic that the global economy and oil demand will recover from the impact of the global pandemic. We expect spending and activity levels to gain momentum through the year as the macro environment improves, likely setting up the industry for stronger growth in 2022.”

Karoon Energy Ltd has contracted the Maersk Developer rig, operated by Maersk Drilling, for the 2022 Baúna workover campaign with the option to retain the rig for the potential development of the Patola field, located adjacent to Baúna within the BMS-40 Production Licence, and drilling of a control well on the nearby Neon light oil discovery.

The rig, currently located in the Caribbean, will mobilise to Baúna following the completion of its present drilling programme and is expected to arrive in Brazil in the first half of 2022. The value of the contract is approximately US$34mn, including rig modifications and a mobilisation fee.

Baúna

For the Baúna well workover campaign, the rig will target an increase in production of 5-10kbopd by replacing the downhole pumps in two wells, installing a gas lift in one well and re-opening an oil zone in one final well.

Patola

The development of the Patola Field, which is located adjacent to the Baúna Field, involves the drilling and completion of two vertical wells which would be tied back to the Baúna floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, the Cidade de Itajaí. This development has the potential to produce more than 10kbopd and add incremental reserves to the Baúna asset. A final investment decision on Patola is expected to be taken in Q2 2021.

Neon

Karoon also holds the option to extend its contract with Maersk Drilling to drill a control well on the Neon light oil discovery, located approximately 60km North-East of Baúna. Subsurface and engineering studies are currently underway to assess whether this is a viable option.

Maersk Drilling in demand

Karoon Energy’s Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Julian Fowles, commented, “We are delighted to have signed this contract with Maersk Drilling, a global leader in offshore drilling, with one of the youngest and most advanced rig fleets in the industry. The contract marks another significant milestone in the evolution of Karoon into a substantial production and development company with material near term growth potential.”

“The arrival of the Maersk Developer rig will enable Karoon to implement a workover programme at Baúna, which is expected to add materially to our production, and is an important step in getting to a final investment decision (FID) for the Patola Development. Karoon also retains flexibility under the contracts with Maersk Drilling to drill the Neon control well.”

“The Karoon team looks forward to working closely with Maersk Drilling to deliver the Baúna workover campaign safely and efficiently. The programme is expected to commence in the first half of 2022 and, subject to FID, activities on the potential Patola development would follow immediately after the workover campaign is complete,” concluded Fowles.

It appears that the services of Maersk Drilling are in high demand with the company receiving a number of high-profile contracts including an exploration contract for Aker BP offshore Norway, a similar contract offshore Gabon awarded by PC Gabon Upstream, and an agreement for a long term drilling campaign offshore Ghana with Tullow Oil. 

Ashtead Technology, an integrated subsea technology and services provider, has penned a deal with Zetechtics, a leader in subsea control systems for ROV tooling intervention, to offer customers a range of new ROV tooling technologies.

The deal gives both organisations the scope to add further specialist equipment based on demand and will allow Ashtead Technology’s nine customer service hubs to offer an array of torque tools, control systems and associated peripherals from the subsea control systems specialist.

Ashtead Technology noted this was part of their strategy to continually develop and expand their capability to meet the diverse needs of their customers around the world, who operate in all areas of the global energy industry.

David Mair, Business Development Director for Ashtead Technology commented, “These new technologies offer improved performance, reliability and efficiency, as well as a greater level of user-friendliness. Zetechtics has 27 years of experience for us to draw on and this collaboration is set to add undeniable value to our customer’s operations.”

Alan Duncan, Commercial Director of Zetechtics, added, “Customers prefer to use modern, easily-supported equipment, with the type of technical features they would have access to if buying new. We are excited to collaborate with Ashtead Technology and by introducing a wide range of new equipment to the market in this way will enable their customers to unlock the potential of our market-leading solutions.”

Equinor, together with license partners Repsol Sinopec Brasil and Petrobras, have approved the development concept for BM-C-33, a gas/condensate field located in the Campos Basin pre-salt in Brazil.

“BM-C-33 is a key project in our portfolio and concept select is an important milestone in our effort to mature the project. It is important to further optimise and improve the project business case to make it more robust for the future market,” said Geir Tungesvik, Senior Vice President for Projects at Equinor.

The well streams will be sent to a floating production, storage and offloading unit (FPSO) located at the field, which will process both gas and oil/condensate to sales specifications and then exported. Crude will be offloaded by shuttle tankers and shipped to the international market after ship-to-ship transfer. A new-build hull has been selected to accommodate for 30 years lifetime of the field.

The gas export solution is based on an integrated offshore gas pipeline from the FPSO to a new dedicated onshore gas receiving facility inside the Petrobras TECAB site at Cabiúnas, before connecting to the domestic gas transmission network.

"BM-C-33 holds substantial volumes of gas. A completion of the ongoing liberalisation of the natural gas market in Brazil in line with the current plan, is key for the further development of the project. BM-C-33 is an asset that can generate value for the society, both through the creation of direct and indirect jobs, ripple effects, and through a gas supply that can induce industrial growth, as has happened in other countries,” commented Veronica Coelho, Equinor’s Country Manager in Brazil.

Gas export capacity is planned for 16mn cu/m per day with average exports expected to be 14mn cu/m per day, which represents a significant volume based on current Brazilian gas demand. Daily oil processing capacity is of 20,000 cu/m.

The concept select is a conclusion of a technical and commercial assessment of various developing concepts and landfalls. The chosen concept provides the most robust solution to develop the BM- C-33 project and gas value chain.

Details on project timeline towards next decision gates and start of production are still to be concluded.