People

Hayata has appointedSteve Yap as sales manager for the Asia-Pacific region.

T&T BISSO has appointedMauricio Garrido as president.

Companies

Noble Energy is set to assume operatorship of the deepwater Rhone Maritime concession offshore the Rhone delta in the French sector of the Mediterranean Sea.

ABB has won an order worth $20 million to provide complete power systems, drilling drive and propulsion systems for a new deepwater drilling rig to be built by Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) at its shipyard in South Korea. The end customer is Brazilian ship owner Petroserv, who will operate the drilling rig for Petrobras. The rig is scheduled to be commissioned by early 2012.

Eni has signed a strategic framework agreement with Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum. The accord covers development of joint initiatives in exploration, production, and transportation of hydrocarbons.

Centrica says its Rough gas storage facility in the southern North Sea continues to perform well, making an important contribution to the UK gas supply network. Investment in the facility over the past few years has delivered improvements in injection capability, enabling the reservoir to be filled and depleted to higher levels.

CRC-Evans has integrated cold metal transfer technology with its P450 automatic welding machine. The company says this creates new parameters of quality and speed for work on small-diameter pipe. CRC-Evan’s CMT robotic technology controls all functions digitally with software that instantly processes welding data.

Noble Corp. has closed its acquisition of FDR Holdings Ltd., and now has a drilling fleet of 69 units.

MS Industrial Services’ Group has established a subsidiary in Ghana, MSIS West Africa.

Teledyne Impulse announced they achieved the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) 9001:2008 certification from Intertek Testing Services NA, Inc.

Aqua-Chem Inc. has acquired SPECIFIC, a fluid-handling systems provider that includes the petroleum industry among its clients.

Expro has acquired Production Testers International, a well services business providing fasttrack production systems to the upstream oil and gas industry.

According to a study released byIHS Global Insight and commissioned by Cobalt International Energy,the impact of possible new regulations governing oil and gas operation in the Gulf of Mexico that shut-out independent operators would mean a loss of more than 200,000 jobs and more than $10 billion in federal, state, and local revenues and royalty payments to 2020 in the Gulf region from Texas to Alabama.

Offshore Solutions B.V. has won the GDF SUEZ Grand Prix de L’innovation award in the field operations category for its Offshore Access System. The system is a heave compensated telescopic gangway, enabling the safe transfer of personnel from a vessel to an offshore installation in sea states to 2.5 m Hs.

Reservoir Group has acquired Enigma Data Solutions, an information management software and consultancy services provider to the oil and gas industry. Enigma Data Solutions will retain its own corporate identity and operations including its management.

China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) has signed a framework agreement for the sale and purchase of natural gas to Zhejiang Natural Gas Development Co. (Zhejiang Gas) from the LS 36-1 gas field in the South China Sea.

CGGVeritas has opened a new Geology & Geophysics Center in Angola to join its existing Processing & Imaging Center. The new facility aims to provide training, interpretation, and reservoir monitoring. Opened in collaboration with SONANGOL EP Exploration, the G&G center will house more than 25 geoscientists and offer a range of expertise including Hampson-Russell software and services. CGGVeritas University also will use the facility.

SOCO International is set to sell its subsidiary SOCO Exploration Thailand to Salamander Bualang, a division of Salamander Energy. Its chief asset is a 40% interest in license B8/38 in the Gulf of Thailand, which Salamander Bualang currently operates with a 60% stake.

SBM has awarded VME Process a contract to provide complete EPC services, and project management for a gas treatment module for the FPSO Espadarte. The FPSO, operated by SBM Production Co. for Petrobras, is slated for production in the Baleia Azul field, Espirito Santo basin, Brazil. Delivery is scheduled for July 31, 2011.

Nucoastal Ltd. has awarded a nine-month contract extension to the Vicksburg, an Atwood Oceanics Pacific Ltd. operated rig offshore Thailand. With the extension, the rig’s current contract commitment (with a day rate of $90,000) will extend through June 30, 2011.

Sensidyne has released SensAlarm Plus, an all-in-one gas detection system for monitoring oxygen, toxic, and combustible gases. SensAlert Plus is a single transmitter that offers test-on-demand and predictive sensor failure features, and accepts oxygen, electrochemical, catalytic bead, or infrared sensors.

HB Rentals has agreed to provide a three-building accommodations package worth over $1.2 million for a spar platform in the Gulf of Mexico.

The U.S. Department of Justice and the European Commission have cleared unconditionally the proposed merger ofSchlumberger and Smith International. Smithsays that its stockholders will consider and vote on the plan of merger at its Aug. 24 annual meeting. If the merger is approved by Smith, the company will become a subsidiary of Schlumberger Ltd.

Total has agreed to acquire Chevron’s 45.9% interest in block 1 in the Joint Development Zone (JDZ) in the Gulf of Guinea. The JDZ is governed by a treaty signed by Nigeria and Sao Tomé and Principe in 2001 and is in force for 45 years. The transaction is subject to approval by relevant authorities.

Total will operate block 1 in partnership with Addax Petroleum, Dangote Energy Equity Resources, and Sasol Exploration and Production Nigeria. The license covers an area of nearly 700 sq km (270 sq mi) in water depths ranging from 1,600-1,800 m (5,249-5,905 ft). It includes one discovery, the 2006 Obo-1 well.

Ascent Resources Netherlands (ARN) has increased its interest in the M10/11 block in the Dutch North Sea. Following the transfer of McLaren Resources’ 27% stake in the block, ARN now holds a 54% interest. Other partners are Dutch state company EBN with 40% and GTO with 6%. The M10/11 appraisal project is in shallow waters off the northern Netherlands coast. NAM discovered gas with the M11-1 well in Rotliegendes sandstones in 1985.

SSP Offshore has received an arbitration award of $2,672,313 from South Riding Point Holding. The cash payment arises from an action filed in 2006 by SSP in regards to a dispute with a client of the subsea engineering division that was sold by the SSP in 2009.

Reflex Marine is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its FROG crew transfer device. The FROG includes four-point harnesses, protective shell, shock-absorbing landing feet, and self-righting capability. The device was developed to counter risks such as falling, collisions, hard landings, and immersion associated with traditional rope baskets for personnel transfer.