Subsea 7 Joins Shareholder Base Of Airborne Oil & Gas

Thermoplastics composite pipe manufacturer Airborne Oil & Gas said Subsea 7 has joined its shareholder base.

“The investment by Subsea 7 entails a partnership of strategic importance to both parties providing the oil and gas industry with cost-effective pipe technology solutions that are non-corrosive, lightweight, simpler and faster to install,” Airborne said in a news release.

Subsea 7 contributes to Airborne’s value proposition, and its presence in Brazil supports Airborne’s deepwater business opportunities, Airborne CEO Marnix Boorsma said in a news release.

Chevron, Saudi Aramco, Shell and Evonik are also part of Airborne’s shareholder base.

3D at Depth, iQ3 Collaborate To Deliver Subsea LiDAR Virtual Reality Data Platform

3D at Depth Inc. and iQ3Connect Inc. have teamed up to deliver a new data visualization tool aimed at helping clients build, maintain, map and monitor subsea assets, environments and resources, according to a news release,

The partnership will feature use of 3D at Depth’s subsea LiDAR data and iQ3’s augmented reality and virtual reality (VR) platform.

“Powered by iQ3’s cloud-based software platform, customers can access 3D at Depth’s subsea LiDAR data through a secure, optimized web-based portal,” the release said. “The technology creates an immersive VR environment with true 1-to-1 3-D scale models generated using repeatable, millimetric subsea LiDAR data inputs.”

Companies Form Partnership To Unlock Smaller Offshore Gas Assets

Add Energy has partnered with Transborders Energy and joined forces with TechnipFMC and MODEC to create a fast deployment business model for the floating LNG (FLNG) industry that will free up small-scale stranded resources around the world and establish a new concept in global gas field development, a press release stated.

The new business model targets discovered gas resources of about 0.5 Tcf to 2 Tcf (56.6 Bcm) of gas that have little value to their current owners because they are either in remote locations where tieback is capital intensive or lack an economically viable development concept. Key to the model is the deployment of a small-scale FLNG vessel. Rather than investing up to five years in identifying a gas resource, understanding its size and potential and creating a bespoke development concept, the new model establishes a predefined concept incorporating the use of a about 1-million-ton-per-annum FLNG vessel and applies it to fields that fit the concept. This low-cost concept is designed to unlock hundreds of the world’s previously uneconomic smaller natural gas plays.

Acteon Group Completes Viking Seatech Acquisition

Subsea services group Acteon has completed its purchase of the Viking Seatech Group.

As part of the move Mirage Machines will be sold to U.S.-based Actuant.

The deal is expected to extend Acteon’s global reach with Viking Seatech’s services complimenting those of mooring services specialist InterMoor, an Acteon company.

“The synergies between Viking Seatech and InterMoor, in terms of our complimentary assets and aligned values, mean we can enhance our offering to clients with locations in key hubs around the world, combining global strength with local expertise,” Mark Jones, global CEO of InterMoor, said in a company statement.

Tamar Petroleum In Talks To Buy Noble Energy Stake In Gas Field

Israel’s Tamar Petroleum said it is in talks to buy a 7.5% stake in the Tamar natural gas reserve and the Dalit Field from Noble Energy for cash and equity.

The cash portion would be financed by a public bond offering without harming the company’s credit rating, Tamar Petroleum said in a statement to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. The deal, which The Marker financial newspaper said could be worth as much as $900 million, would be subject to regulatory approvals.

Texas-based Noble owns 32.5% of the Tamar Field, Israel’s primary supply of natural gas, and must reduce its holding to 25% by 2021 under government plans to open the market to competition.

Tamar Petroleum was created in July when Israel’s Delek Drilling spun off a 9.25% stake in the Tamar reserve into a new company.

Delek Drilling still holds 22% of the Tamar reserve, which it must also sell by 2021.

Ashtead Appoints Regional VP For Americas To Drive GoM Growth

Steven Trasher has been appointed regional vice president for the Americas for subsea equipment specialist Ashtead Technology.

Bringing almost 20 years’ experience in the subsea industry, Thrasher will lead Ashtead’s U.S. operation as it gears up for further growth in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) and neighboring markets. He will be based in Houston.

Prior to joining Ashtead, Thrasher held a number of senior and technical positions at FTO Services, C-Innovation and Schilling Robotics.

The company also announced Chris Echols will take on the new role of vice president of sales for the Americas. With more than 20 years’ experience with Ashtead, Echols will focus on delivering growth in existing and new markets across the region.

Global Marine Seals Fugro Trenching, Cable Lay Business Acquisition

Global Marine Group (GMG), an offshore engineering services provider, has completed its previously announced acquisition of Fugro’s trenching and cable lay services business.

The acquisition bolsters GMG’s offerings to the market with a range of integrated services, a news release stated.

The transaction also adds 23 Aberdeen-based employees with subsea engineering experiences to GMG along with the M/V Symphony multipurpose vessel, two Q1400 trenchers and two work class ROVs.

Diamond Offshore CFO Heads To BJ Services

Kelly Youngblood will join Texas-based BJ Services Inc., a pressure pumping services provider, as the company’s executive vice president and CFO, according to a news release.

With 29 years of experience, Youngblood recently served as senior vice president and CFO of Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. In November Youngblood notified Diamond Offshore of his intention to resign to accept a job at another company, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. He had joined the company in May 2016 following the retirement of its CFO Gary T. Krenek, who was retiring after 33 years of service to Diamond Offshore and its predecessors.

Diamond Offshore is conducting a search for Youngblood’s replacement. In the interim, the company appointed Scott L. Kornblau, vice president and treasurer, to serve as Diamond Offshore’s acting CFO until said replacement is found, the filings said.

Prior to his time at Diamond Offshore, Youngblood held a variety of executive and leadership positions with Halliburton Co.

Decom North Sea Appoints Well P&A Expert As Interim CEO

Decom North Sea has appointed Tom Leeson as interim CEO, the membership organization for the oil and gas decommissioning sector said in a news release.

Leeson, who immediately took on the role, brings nearly 30 years’ industry experience—including 15 in the decommissioning sector, to the role.

Most recently, Leeson served as well abandonment global business manager for Halliburton and as principal consultant of well abandonment for Aberdeen-based Reverse Engineering Services. He is also a former vice chair of Decom North Sea’s board.

M2 Subsea Names Business Development Manager For European Business

M2 Subsea has appointed David Sinclair as business development manager – renewables and decommissioning.

Based in Aberdeen, Sinclair will be responsible for leading the company’s business acquisition strategy for both these sectors in the U.K. Continental Shelf and Europe.

Sinclair last served as the engineering and innovation manager for Bibby Offshore.

He brings to M2 Subsea more than 10 years of industry experience, having also worked as a project engineer at Global Pipelay Operations Group and holding several senior engineering roles at Subsea 7 and Technip Offshore Wind.

Aker BP Forms Separate Alliances With Maersk, Odfjell, Halliburton

Aker BP ASA has entered agreements to form two separate drilling and well alliances with Maersk Drilling and Halliburton for jackup drilling rigs, and with Odfjell Drilling and Halliburton for semisubmersible drilling rigs.

The framework agreements are five-years firm with the option to extend for another five years. Aker BP said the intent is that the alliances will plan and execute sanctioned production and exploration drilling activities by using an integrated well delivery model.

As part of the agreements, Halliburton will provide Aker BP’s well construction activities performed from either a jackup (Maersk) or semisubmersible (Odfjell) drilling unit, provided the model is approved in the respective licenses.

The Norwegian oil firm said that both alliances were formed under "one for all, all for one" collaboration model where the partners align around common goals to drive continuous improvement and create greater value for all.

Trelleborg Makes Operations Changes, Business Area President Steps Down

Trelleborg said that it has decided to gradually discontinue the manufacturing of subsea buoys for drilling equipment in deepwater environments in Houston.

Production equipment will be transferred and consolidated with the company’s operations in Skelmersdale, England; however, the U.S. sales and engineering organization will be retained, the company said in a news release.

The restructuring will be recognized as a fourth-quarter 2017 expense, which amounts to about $69 million, according to a news release. Trelleborg said the changes are expected to improve operations earnings by about $12 million annually under today’s market conditions.

“The planned structural changes will make the Group’s earnings potential and organic sales trend more stable and predictable,” Trelleborg CEO Peter Nilsson said. “At the same time, the business area’s structure will be simplified, ensuring that Trelleborg will remain the only truly global supplier of both deep-water buoys and other engineered polymer solutions in the offshore oil and gas segment.”

The company also announced changes in the Trelleborg Offshore & Construction business area, saying Fredrik Meuller will leave his position as business area president Dec. 31. Nilsson will take on duties of the position. Meuller will, however, remain within the group during a transitional period to assist in the handover. President and CEO Peter Nilsson will become acting Business Area President for Trelleborg Offshore & Construction.

In other news, Landing String Solutions has signed an agreement with Trelleborg to manufacture its patented landing string buoyancy system that features composite materials, a separate news release stated. Both companies are targeting a wider customer base.

Deep Down Lands More Than $4 Million In Subsea Equipment Orders

Deep Down Inc. has received orders for subsea equipment valued at more than $4 million from two West African operators.

The orders include a full suite of the company’s Multi-Quick Connect (MQC) plates. All of the equipment is scheduled to be delivered in first-half 2018 for deployment off the west coast of Africa, Deep Down said in a news release.

The company did not name the two West African operators but said one was a new customer.

PartnerPlast Taps Orca Subsea For Buoyancy Products

Engineering services specialist Orca Subsea has been appointed the sole U.K. supplier for PartnerPlast, an offshore equipment manufacturer, according to a news release.

As part of the deal, Orca will provide buoyancy and other products, focusing on offshore and subsea, rotational molding and aquaculture, the company said.

“We are excited about the opportunity to work in partnership with such a well-respected firm as PartnerPlast,” Callum Masson, commercial director at Orca Subsea, said in a company statement. “Especially in the current climate, this move strengthens our existing capability and service offering to new and existing clients, while providing a significant competitive edge.”