Volume 57, Issue 8

Grey-scale view of scanned data highlighting pipe anomalies. [5,439 bytes] Following the de-merger of British Gas in February this year, Pipeline Integrity International, based...

Aerial view of Aker McNulty's expanding premises in South Shields where the Galley semisubmersible (top) is currently being upgraded. [68,502 bytes] Aker McNulty was the first...

The North Sea Producer, recently converted by SLP and Maersk for service on Conoco's MacCulloch Field. [13,101 bytes] Floating production design specialist Armstrong Technology...

Typical Framo multiphase flow meter [17,558 bytes]. Framo Engineering has emerged as a world leader in marginal field technology. The company is engaged in several major projects...

Phillips's Ekofisk Chalk Exploration Project (CEP), a massive multidisciplinary effort by Phillips, its partners Agip, Elf, Fina, and Total, and Landmark Graphics, has produced...

With subsea solutions increasingly being recognized as the most suitable method of developing marginal fields, there is a growing need to protect sub sea installations such as...

One of the world's leading independent research centers for drilling and well technology is Rogaland Research in Stavanger. It has a staff of 250, including 50-60 Ph.Ds, and...

Mech tools blast walls. [10,873 bytes] Darlington-based Mech-Tool Engineering has been looking at ways of strengthening blast walls using both conventional and composite materials...

Comparison between an ANSI standard gasketed type flange (right) and a Verax compact flange (left) on a pipe joint of similar dimensions. The Verax flange is less than one fifth...

Coating and cathodic protection systems from Jotun Paints will protect the world's largest newbuild FPSO. The vessel, built by Harland and Wolff in Belfast for BP's Schiehallion...

Valued at near $5 billion, the Reading & Bates - Falcon merger leaves other Gulf of Mexico deepwater players, including now former deepwater leader Diamond Offshore, playing catch...

Laser drilling in open spaces is a wonderful technology that can liquefy and penetrate rock quickly with no vibration. However, applications fall apart when spaces become confined...

The Euro-Seas Centre for Offshore Technology in Blyth, Northumberland started two years ago as a joint private and public-funded initiative for subsea technology. The center concentrate...

With the acquisition of an offshore fabrication base, Reinertsen Vigor has positioned itself to serve the boom in development activities off mid Norway. Reinertsen Vigor is the...

The Norne FPSO, the first for permanent production on the Norwegian shelf, is an example of Norway's capability in floating production technology. [56,675 bytes] Norway'...

Current block holders in the Falklands. [29,228] Dragon's head brick with traces of bitumen mortar. From Babylon's Ishtar Gate, 1000BC. [17,809] Elf's new Rockall ...

Successful trials have been performed off the Belgian coast with a new type of trenching method called flow dredging. For these tests, the hopper suction dredger Antigoon was ...

The yellow framework of the Pre Assembled Unit (PAU) was installed in between the two sections of the K14-FA-1 gas production platform. (Photo courtesy NAM) [16,565 bytes] Elf...

Areas in the Main Porcupine Basin have been extensively surveyed. [19,936 bytes] Pre-stack migration on Atlantic Margin. [97,678 bytes] Pre-stack migration on Atlantic Margin....

Well testing setup for Hermod. An extended well test (EWT) was successfully planned and carried out on the Hermod Field, now known as Grane, commencing in July 1996, in order ...

The Castero 10 is trenching a pipeline north of the Lennox field in Liverpool Bay. A welding station on the firing line aboard the Castero 6 in Liverpool Bay. The lay vessel prepares...

Anchor-handling vessels reset the anchors as LB 200 pulls its way across the North Sea. [18,101 bytes] Another 25-meter section of the NorFra pipeline on its way to the bottom...

FBS turbodrill with bent housing [14,879 bytes] FBS steerable trubodrill achievements [30,558 bytes] Turbodrill rotors and stators are shown being assembled, along with an assembled...

PART II: Part II of this two-part series on composites involves coiled tubing research. Part I in the June issue focused on drilling and production risers, drillpipe, and facilities...

Compact nitrogen skid units make foamed cements a viable alternative offshore (photo courtesy Halliburton). [22,918 bytes] Flow meters indicate actual flow levels lagging behind...

Schematic showing the field development version of the Atlantis system. [21,206 bytes] A new solution to reduce the cost of development in deep waters is being jointly marketed...

Laying of the keel for the Discoverer Enterprise newbuild drillship at Astano's yard in Ferrol, Spain, March 1997. [27,495 bytes] Artist's impression of the Discoverer...

The Captain newbuild FPSO at Astano's yard in Ferrol, northern Spain prior to launching in 1996. [55,312 bytes] Erection and fit-out of the turret for Texaco's Captain...

The Able Group of companies has been involved with decommissioning for 30 years, adapting its techniques for offshore abandonment since 1985. Catering today for all decommissioning...

Norsk Hydro has a fairly relaxed approach to the Troll C development following the approval of the project by Norway's parliament (Storting) this past June. This followed ...

Following nearly 25 years of experience with cable handling systems on seismic vessels, Odim has developed an offshore mooring and offloading concept for FPSOs and FSUs. The system...

Elf Petroland's K5-EN/C gas production platform was installed by the Stanislav Udin crane vessel in June. (Photo courtesy Elf Petroland) [8,863 bytes] A significant reduction...

Topside and subsea hardware and pipeline routes for the ETAP development. [14,985 bytes] The Mungo wellhead platform jacket at Kvaerner's Methil yard in Scotland. [18,871 ...

As deepwater developments proliferate, more specialized workover vessels will be needed to service the remoter subsea wells. No such vessels operate off West Africa currently,...

Phillips has pioneered the use of sophisticated fiber optics technology in bringing onstream its new subsea well in the Little Dotty satellite gasfield in the UK Southern Gas ...

Noordhoek Diving has successfully tested its new diamond wire cutting tool in the Oosterschelde, in readiness for a busy well decommissioning program this summer. The tool was...

A new type of untethered underwater vehicle (UUV) - Hugin - promises to bring much greater precision to such tasks as seabed mapping and inspection in deep waters than conventional...

Staubli, based in Faverge, France, is to launch a new quick-release subsea coupling at Offshore Europe. The company has been working on this technology for the past 10 years, ...

One year after its merger with Houston-based Noble Drilling, Dutch rig contractor Neddrill has been renamed Noble Drilling (Nederland). In line with a tradition at Noble, the ...

"Continuous change - learning from the 21st century" is the designated theme for the four-day Offshore Europe '97 conference in Aberdeen next month. The concurrent exhibition...

Without hull stress monitoring systems (HSMS) there would be no way of recording the dynamic level of stress absorbed by a vessel's hull or the fatigue limit. Safety-One, ...

The development of the tripod catenary mooring and loading system, also known as TCMS, arose out of Victoria Oilfield Development's desire to enhance the early production ...

A modular system for installing flexible flowlines, risers and umbilicals is being designed, fabricated and tested by Rotterdam-based Huisman-Itrec on behalf of Rockwater. The...

Schlumberger Wireline & Testing announced the opening of a client center for advanced studies in formation evaluation in Sugar Land, Texas. This first of its kind facility will...

Lionweld Kennedy's Access Engineering Division, formed around 10 years ago, supplies industrial flooring, handrail systems and associated steelwork. Around 25% of its UK business...

At Offshore Europe '97, monitoring system specialist Scan-Sense will be exhibiting two new products. The EGS-2000 is a portable electronic strain gauge designed for field ...

The mean time failure for SCSSVs improved over the four phase of IKU's SCSSV database development (WR = wireline retrievable valves, TR = tubing retrievable valves. A significant...

R.Jargelius Pettersson Swedish Institute for Metals Research Compilation of failure/non-failure lines for 22Cr (broken lines) and 25Cr (solid lines) duplex stainless steels and...

Cote d'Ivoire's aquatory. Ashland said at the beginning of July that it had requested a meeting with Nigeria's oil minister after the ministry revoked the Kentucky...

Increased emphasis on turnkey contracting in Norwegian field developments has benefited the Umoe group, allowing it to claim a place among Norway's leading contractors. Its...

General TOV module organization for a xmas tree. [5,570 bytes] The TOV skid being lowered into the water during testing. [15,923 bytes] The skidded TOV assembly for the recent...

A lot of experienced drillers are feeling like newcomers around some rig floors lately. Iron roughnecks, automated pipe handling systems, and air-conditioned drillers' cabins...

Unable to influence low oil and gas prices or expand opportunities over the past decade, the petroleum industry moved to control the only thing available - costs. Costs were attacked...

Government and port authorities in The Netherlands are revising their view of the offshore dismantling market following the failed attempt of a local industrial alliance to establish...

Cameron risers [14,448 bytes]. Cameron says it is setting a new industry measurement standard for riser deliveries. Instead of measuring the amount of riser delivered in feet,...