Accelerating the company's growth in the Brazilian market, Archer has secured a two-year platform drilling and well intervention contract with Trident Energy do Brasil, amounting to US$20mn.
The contract also leaves scope for an extension by an additional one year upon mutual agreement. This new award supports Archer’s growth in the Brazilian market and underscores our commitment to high-quality, innovative solutions in the energy industry.
Under the contract, Archer will provide comprehensive platform drilling services, including well interventions for regulatory requirements, workover and drilling operations, well maintenance and drilling facilities engineering, to enhance Trident Energy’s offshore assets in Brazil. The platform drilling services are set to commence during second quarter this year, initially on the Pampo PP1 platform, which follows a period of rig reactivation and recertification managed through Archer’s Platform Operations group.
Dag Skindlo, CEO of Archer, said, “We are pleased to be chosen by Trident Energy as their partner for their drilling programme. We look forward to a successful collaboration with Trident Energy and are confident in our ability to contribute to the success of their offshore operations.
"This contract builds on our continued growth as we continue to strengthen our position in the growing energy market in Brazil. Our legacy in Brazil stretches back to 2010, when we commenced our work for Equinor on the Peregrino fields, followed by the successful establishment and growth of our well services division over the last few years. We are excited about the Brazilian market and how our core services offering can support the broad spectrum of client well programmes in Brazil.”
Irish company TerraThermo Ltd and alfa8 Colab Ltd (alfa8) have announced the signing of an Investment Agreement to financially support the development of Projekt Thermo, a 12MW deep geothermal power plant project in Germany.
The investment made by alfa8 covers the provision of up to EUR€1mn in working capital to advance Projekt Thermo to a financial close, and up to EUR€32.5mn in future financings for the project.
TerraThermo will use the working capital to undertake technical and financial due diligence on the project, with the intention of reaching financial close in Q4 2024/Q1 2025. The company is also in discussions with the European Investment Bank EIB for a potential parallel investment to fund up to EUR€32.5mn for the project, in addition to the investment already provided by alfa8.
The first stage of Projekt Thermo is to develop a 12MW ‘Hot Dry Rock’ geothermal power plant in Lower Saxony, Germany, marking the first of many deep geothermal generation and energy storage projects to be developed by TerraThermal in Europe.
John Ashbridge, CEO of TerraThermo, is “extremely pleased” to welcome alfa8 as an investor in the project, given the company’s “focus on first-of-a-kind technology and our matching visions and expectations of what can be achieved in the geothermal energy industry in the coming years.”
Erin Glen, COO of alfa8, commented, “TerraThermo is focused on delivering a first-of-a-kind, deep hot dry rock geothermal project in Europe. We are excited to team up with them to accelerate the development of geothermal technology in Europe. At alfa8, we are on a mission to deploy catalytic capital into the energy transition and promising first-of-its-kind technologies that can accelerate the path to net-zero.”
Wells and subsurface specialist, Elemental Energies, has announced the acquisition of Norway-based well management and consultancy company, Well Expertise AS.
Expected to generate revenues surpassing £50mn in 2024, the acquisition also adds significant growth to Elemental's North Sea expansion ambitions in Norway.
The Well Expertise acquisiton is the latest in a series of strategic acquisitions by Elemental Energies, including Vysus Senergy Wells in December 2022, Norwell Engineering in May 2023 and Sentinel Group in February 2024.
The acquisition established the companies' shared growth ambitions in well management services across oil and gas, decommissioning, geothermal, and carbon capture and storage projects.
Mike Adams, CEO of ElementalEnergies, said, “Norway is a pivotal region for us through its stable energy policy that prioritises both security and transition, aligning with our core ambitions as a business. As a mature market, Norway faces the challenge of managing new production with decommissioning and energy transition which present significant opportunity. This deal marks the start of the next chapter for both companies, as we build a strategic global wells and subsurface partner that will allow operators to outsource larger and more diverse projects with confidence.”
Sigve K. Næsheim, who will continue as CEO of Well Expertise and head up Norway operations, said, “This acquisition marks a significant milestone, underscoring our commitment to providing best-in-class well engineering and project management services. From the outset, our strategic alignment with Elemental Energies has fostered a shared vision to become the go-to global well management partner for projects spanning exploration,production, decommissioning, CCS, and geothermal. As part of Elemental Energies, we are able to expand the development opportunities for our team, bring new perspectives to our projects,and deliver expanded capabilities to our clients.”
Stig Seland, Commercial Manager of Well Expertise and one of its founders, said, "At Well Expertise, we have built long-term relationships with our customers through our collaborative and customer-first approach, which has been the cornerstone of our success. I am very pleased to announce that we can now offer an even broader range of services to our clients. Rest assured, our commitment to putting customers first will remain our primary focus as we continue to support the future of Norwegian energy."
Backed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment and Salon Kaukolämpö Oy, Lounavoima is developing a geothermal heat well storage at its waste-to-energy (WtE) plant at the Lounapuisto circular economy park in Salo.
Following good test run from the first well, three additional wells are now being constructed. The final heat well is expected to be completed by the summer of 2025.
Upon completion, the WtE plant will have six geothermal heat wells with a combined output of 6MW.
Waste heat produced by the WtE plant is stored at a depth of more than 2 kms in the geothermal heat wells to cover the district Salo's heating requirements during the winter.
The first well which was tested last winter runs 1,600-metre-deep, producing 450 MWh of energy from January to March.
A second heat well, which is undergoing tests, was drilled in the autumn of 2023 and a third was drilled in the winter of 2024. Its pipework will be completed in the late summer.
Finnish company Geomachine Oy deployed new drilling equipment which were specially designed for the exploration of the heat wells, achieving a target depth of 2,000 metres. The heat pump process was delivered by Calefa Oy.
Once all the heatwells are brought onstream, the six new geothermal heat wells will have a combined output of as much as 14 GWh a year, which is equivalent to the annual heating need of approximately 700 single-family homes.
“The heat well production will always be used first if the district heat output of the WtE plant isn’t enough. This allows us to primarily replace the need for starting oil heating plants and, in many cases, we can also avoid the need to start a backup power plant,” said Lounavoima and district heating company Salon Kaukolämpö's Managing Director Petri Onikki.
“We have such top expertise here in Finland. Even though the new technology development project has not always gone smoothly, the results have exceeded our expectations. The geothermal heat wells have a multiplying effect on heat production in Salo,” said Onikki. “The project is a successful example of concrete circular economy work at Lounapuisto,” he added.
SLB, a global technology company, has announced the award of a contract by TotalEnergies to SLB OneSubsea, a joint venture between SLB, Aker Solutions and Subsea7. The project includes a 13-well subsea production system scope, including associated equipment and services, in the development of the Kaminho project, offshore Angola.
TotalEnergies will work with SLB OneSubsea to deliver a sustainable project that will improve production in Angola. During the Kaminho project’s first phase of development for the Cameia field, SLB OneSubsea will collaborate with TotalEnergies to deploy a highly configurable subsea production platform with standardised vertical monobore subsea tree, wellhead, and controls system.
“We are excited for this opportunity to unlock the large potential of the Kaminho project together with TotalEnergies,” commented Mads Hjelmeland, CEO of SLB OneSubsea. “Our collaborative contract model enables us to leverage both standardisation and highly configurable subsea production platforms, creating greater efficiencies and long-term value for this and future projects in Angola and around the world.”
The Kaminho project overall will involve more than 10 million man-hours in Angola, mainly with offshore operations and construction at local yards. SLB OneSubsea will play a significant role in supporting the Kaminho project locally in Angola for offshore operations including assembly, manufacturing of modules, installation, commissioning, and life-of-field services.
SLB and TotalEnergies have announced a 10-year partnership to co-develop scalable digital solutions to enable access to energy resources with improved performance and efficiency while establishing a flexible framework to address key challenges including carbon capture, utilisation, and sequestration (CCUS).
The companies will integrate advanced digital capabilities, including the use of AI with new and existing applications on SLB’s extensible Delfi digital platform. SLB and TotalEnergies will combine digital and domain expertise to accelerate the development and deployment of these solutions at scale, benefiting TotalEnergies’ global operations and SLB’s worldwide customer base.
The partnership will initially focus on subsurface digital solutions for reservoir engineering and geoscience modelling and interpretation, leveraging Delfi on-demand reservoir simulation (ODRS).
Rakesh Jaggi, President of SLB’s Digital & Integration business, said, “Collaboration and knowledge sharing are key for our industry to continuously develop more effective ways of unlocking energy access. With this visionary partnership, we are combining the know-how and expertise of both companies to accelerate the delivery of new digital capabilities that will benefit the whole industry.”
Namita Shah, President, OneTech at TotalEnergies, commented, “Through this digital partnership we will develop cutting-edge next-generation software, digital applications and new algorithms applied to geoscience.
“Thanks to these innovative modelling technologies, we will not only be better able to utilise the analyses of geological reservoirs and basins in the oil and gas sector, to reduce emissions, but also make further progress in geological carbon storage.”
Fervo Energy has announced the execution of two power purchase agreements (PPAs) with one of the US’ largest utility companies, Southern California Edison (SCE), for the provision of 320MW worth of geothermal energy to 350,000 homes across the state’s southern region.
SCE will purchase the power from Fervo Energy’s 400MW Cape Station project currently under construction in Utah, with the first 70MW phase of the project scheduled to be operational by 2026.
California Energy Commission Chair, David Hochschild, commented how the 15-year agreement marks “another milestone in California’s commitment to clean, zero-carbon electricity” and the enhanced geothermal systems will “complement our abundant wind and solar resources by providing critical baseload when those sources are limited.”
In 2021, the California Public Utilities Commission issued a mid-term reliability (MTR) mandate which requires utilities to produce 1,000MW of non-weather-dependent, non-battery, zero0emission energy to increase the reliability of the state’s electric grid. This movement catalysed demand for geothermal energy within California.
Dawn Owens, VP and Head of Development & Commercial Markets for Fervo Energy, said, “Geothermal stands as the dependable and adaptable solution for California’s journey towards a fully decarbonised grid. As electrification increases and climate change burdens already fragile infrastructure, geothermal will only play a bigger role in the US power markets.
“Fervo looks forward to continuing to meet these needs, providing firm, clean power to help balance California’s energy portfolio.”
Leveraging Halliburton's global reputation, Abu Dhabi-based energy tech provider AIQ has partnered with the oil service company's open architecture platform Landmark to expand access of its RoboWell autonomous well control (AWC) solution
"The combination of AIQ’s AI technology and Halliburton’s extensive industry expertise will help enable greater efficiency and maximise value for our customers’ assets," said Nagaraj Srinivasan, Senior Vice President, Landmark, Halliburton Digital Solutions, and Consulting. “This project exemplifies how Halliburton’s open architecture can help support enhanced efficiency, optimised operations, and drive future growth in the oil and gas industry."
Especially designed for gas lifted wells, RoboWell enables autonomous well operations to maximise production within specified conditions. The AI-supported advanced process control solution, which already has a market presence, boasts of a record achievement by up to 30% optimisation in gas lift consumption, with increased production of existing wells by 5%. Its well stability goals attained through real-time data utilisation also promotes not only good HSE practices but also reduced CO2 emissions.
AIQ CEO, Christopher Cooper said, "This collaboration will help progress our shared vision of how advanced AI solutions can transform the energy industry globally. Collaborating with Halliburton is part of AIQ’s wider strategy to accelerate the availability of our transformative AI products globally to support the sector through autonomous and other AI-based innovations."
The well control solution will now be made available through Halliburton’s Landmark iEnergy hybrid cloud to customers worldwide.
Landmark’s iEnergy is designed to deploy, integrate, and manage sophisticated exploration and production (E&P) applications, and connect assets in public or private cloud environments.
Shell UK Ltd has signed a contract with Mermaid Subsea Services Ltd to utilise the offshore company's services for a multi-year engineering, preparation, removal and disposal (EPRD) well head severance (WHS) project in the North Sea.
Planned in three annual batches, the first phase of the decommissioning project is scheduled to begin later this year. The WHS solution will be delivered by a bespoke vessel for which Mermaid will be accumulating key stakeholders accross the supply chain.
The initial campaign will involve the removal of well head protection covers from the sea floor, before lifting them to the surface for transportation onshore.
The well head flow base structures will then be retrieved using specialist tooling.
The final activity will cover well head severance and recovery operations, for which bespoke underwater cutting tooling and techniques will be deployed by Mermaid.
Each stage of the project will be followed by clearance of debris, as well as seabed and over trawl surveys where necessary. All the recovered materials from the project will be put to reuse and recycling.
Scott Cormack, Regional Director for Mermaid Subsea Services (UK), said, “This a milestone contract for Mermaid and we are very grateful to Shell for putting their faith in our team. We look forward to kicking off work this year.
“The North Sea is on the cusp of a multi-decade decommissioning boom and Mermaid plans to be front and centre of that with our bespoke solutions and leading expertise.”
Bhagwan Marine has partnered with Linch-pin to deliver the Thevenard Island Offshore Decommissioning Project contract for Chevron Australia.
With special focus on environmental sustainability, the retirement project involves safe removal and the repurposing of nine offshore platforms as reefs.
While Bhagwan Marine will be supplying the marine and diving spreads, Linchpin will cover engineering aspects and deploy skilled construction personnel.
A major win for Bhagwan Marine, the offshore services provider is aiming a seamless and successful execution of the project for Chevron. The company is confident of its expertise and ability to deliver complex projects of this nature.
SLB and Ormat Technologies have entered into a strategic collaboration to develop integrated geothermal projects which reduce the associated risks while improving overall economics and ensuring long-term reliability.
The integrated offering will provide developers with a comprehensive suite of solutions, including exploration and resource assessments to power plant commissioning and operation.
Both SLB and Ormat will provide operators with traditional and next-gen geothermal solutions, such as enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) and advanced geothermal solutions (AGS), with SLB obtaining a license of Ormat’s ESG patent.
The collaboration combines Ormat’s expertise in geothermal fields and project development, power plant design, manufacturing, operations, and engineering, procurement and construction capabilities with SLB’s expertise in reservoir characterization, well construction, completions and production technologies.
Irlan Amir, Vice President of Renewables and Energy Efficiency for SLB, said, “Geothermal energy represents a significant opportunity for the energy transition, providing clean, baseload renewable power. By combining our expertise with Ormat’s, we can help customers unlock the full potential of geothermal resources and accelerate the deployment of this sustainable energy source.”
Paul Thomsen, Vice President of Business Development at Ormat Technologies, commented, “Ormat’s world class geothermal development and technology expertise perfectly complements SLB’s significant reservoir knowledge and well construction technologies and expertise. Together, we can deliver more projects, offering exceptional value to our developers and contributing to a cleaner energy future.”
The Ministry of Energy has awarded Equinor the Albondigas and Kinno licenses in the North Sea for CO2 storage development.
Considered important building blocks for developing the Norwegian Continental Shelf into a leading area for CO2 storage in Europe, each of the licenses are expected to have a storage capacity of 5 million tons of CO2 annually.
"We are very pleased to see the Norwegian authorities have made new CCS storage acreage available for exploration and that we have been awarded these two licenses. We see that demand for CO2 storage is increasing in several countries, and it is crucial to bring forward new CO2 storages quickly, so that we can offer industrial solutions that can support large scale decarbonisation of hard-to-abate industries in Europe," said Grete Tveit, Senior Vice President for Low Carbon Solutions in Equinor.
Equinor expect 4-8% real base project returns for its early phase CO2 storage business, and further value uplift potential when commercial markets are developed.
Equinor is maturing a ship-based solution and a massive pipeline to connect industrial emissions in Europe with storage opportunities at the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The planned pipeline named CO2 Highway Europe will have capacity to transport 25-35 million tons of CO2 per year from Belgium and France.
The Albondigas and Kinno licenses will serve as additional storage opportunities to the Smeaheia storage license which was awarded to Equinor in 2022. Smeaheia will be used as the anchor storage for this pipeline development.
Equinor is also about to complete the first phase of the Northern Lights CO2 transport and storage facility together with Shell and Total Energies. It will be ready to receive CO2 by the second half of this year.
"Scale-up of CO2 transport and storage is essential to meet the interest and demand for this type of services. Gaining access to more CO2 storage capacity aligns well with our ambition of having 30 to 50 million tons of CO2 transport and storage capacity per year by 2035," said Tveit.
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