The Offshore Technology Conference is in full swing and the press room abuzz with the gossipy remarks of international oil-and-gas industry journalists. Below are just a few of the announcements exhibitors at the show would like to bring to the attention of offshore aficionados. Framo Engineering AS and StatoilHydro ASA have entered into a formal contract to further develop and qualify a subsea boosting system based on Framo’s subsea wet gas compressor technology. The Framo multiphase compressor technology enables boosting of gas that contains condensate and water, which for conventional compressors would have to be removed upstream. The contract between StatoilHydro and Framo, the companies say, represents a step towards the realization of a subsea multiphase compressor unit, in addition to associated qualification activities. The contract period is 24 months and will make it possible for StatoilHydro and partners on Gullfaks to select the Framo subsea multiphase compressor for implementation and start-up at Gullfaks in 2013. The business case is to maintain the plateau production on Gullfaks C beyond 2013 and to increase the total recovery from the Gullfaks South Brent reservoir. The development solution is based on a subsea compressor template tied back to the Gullfaks C platform and will be developed in competition with a topside compressor solution. GE Oil & Gas announced that it has been awarded a five-year contract to deliver subsea operations services to StatoilHydro. The contract has a estimated value of between $25 to $30 million per year and will be managed by GE oil & Gas in Dusavik, Stavanger, Norway. The scope of services to be provided under the agreement relate mainly to the installation and operations phases of StatoilHydro’s subsea fields, including engineering, procurement, and production of equipment and tools, and electro and mechanical workshop services for corrective and planned maintenance in subsea drilling. Servicing and maintenance of tools and equipment will involve a team of between 100-120 people and will be performed from both the GE Oil and Gas Stavanger facility and across multiple customer sites onshore and on the Norwegian continental shelf. Artificial Lift Co. (ALC) announced that a 3.8” electrical submersible pump (ESP) system was successfully redeployed in a ConocoPhillips well, using an ALC downhole wet connect design. The ALC system is able to be deployed inside a 4.5” tubing by wireline and can produce power up to 400 HP using industry conventional drives. ALC and ConocoPhillips say they’ve spent five years developing and testing this ground breaking system which could radically change the costs incurred in deploying ESPs and open many more worldwide opportunities for their use. Petroleo Brasileiro SA, the Brazilian international energy company, has standardized on Intergraph SmartPlant Instrumentation software as its instrumentation solution for all of its upstream projects. An existing Intergraph customer that had already standardized on Intergraph solutions for design and modeling, Petrobras began using SmartPlant Instrmentation on oil platform projects, such as its P-50 series platforms. The resulting productivity gains and global access to experienced users and contractors convinced Petrobras to implement the system on all upstream projects. US Synthetic Corp., a Dover Co., and the leading provider of polycrystalline diamond cutters for oil and gas exploration announced today availability of the industry’s first commercially viable radial bearing line based on synthetic diamond technology. Coming out of the field trials with major manufacturers, this technology has garnered the 2009 Spotlight on New Technology Award from the Offshore Technology conference, and was also recognized by the 2009 Utah Innovations Awards, presented by Stoel Rives LLP and the Utah Technology Council. Compared to tungsten-carbide technology, US Synthetic Radial and Thrust Bearings are said to extend bearing life by four to ten times in the harshest real-world environments. The fully customizable bearing line offers design engineers and tooling manufacturers durable bearings for drilling tools, pumps, and heavy equipment. ITS Group, a global supplier of oilfield products and services, announced the formation of a new company, ITS Arabia Limited, following a joint venture agreement with Shoaibi Group, one of the leading Saudi players in the oil and gas industry. ITS Limited, based in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia, will provide a wide range of drilling equipment and associated services to regional oil and gas organizations. ITS has been operating in Saudi Arabia for the past three years and has now partnered with the Shoaibi Group in a bid to accelerate its expansion in the Kingdom. Plans are already underway to establish a machine shop facility for manufacturing, repair, and inspection activity, which will support further investment in equipment and personnel over the next 18-24 months.