Vantage Drilling announced that its ultra-deepwater drillship, the Platinum Explorer, has received a letter of award for a three-year contract from Oil and Natural Gas Company (ONGC). The Platinum Explorer is planned to mobilize to India in the fourth quarter of 2017. Expected revenues over the three-year contract term, exclusive of service tax, are approximately $118 million...

The US Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has proposed a delay in the electronic reporting compliance date of the rule, Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses, from 1 July 2017 to 1 December 2017. The proposed delay will allow OSHA an opportunity to further review and consider the rule. The agency published the final rule on 12 May 2016 and has determined that a further delay of the compliance date is appropriate for the purpose of additional review into questions of law and policy. The delay will also allow OSHA to provide employers the same four-month window for submitting data that the original rule would have provided. OSHA invites the public to comment on the proposed ...

Noble Corp has awarded AFGlobal a contract for the provision of an integrated deepwater managed pressure drilling (MPD) system. The scope of the award will culminate in the supply and installation of an integrated, next-generation MPD system. The equipment specified is the most advanced of its kind supplied to date by AFGlobal. Noble recognizes MPD as an important next step in bringing continuous improvement to the drilling process. “The addition of MPD systems to our rig fleet will provide a valuable competitive advantage with an expected higher level of safety and performance,” said Scott Marks, Senior Vice President of Engineering at Noble. “AFGlobal’s decades of manufacturing experience, combined with a deep understanding of pressure management drilling technology, has positioned us at the center of ...

The US total rig count hit 941 this week, a seven-rig increase from one week ago, according to the Baker Hughes weekly rig count. Of these, 758 rigs are drilling for oil and 183 are gas rigs. Last year at this time, there were only 421 total rigs in the US – 397 onshore, 21 offshore and three in inland waters.

The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced the availability of $20 million for cost-shared oil and gas research projects to increase recovery efficiency from unconventional oil and gas wells and to prevent offshore spills and leaks. This new funding opportunity seeks projects that will advance DOE’s objective to support a more environmentally responsible, secure, and resilient US energy infrastructure, while enhancing economic competitiveness and national security...

Maersk Drilling has been awarded a contract for the high-efficiency jackup Maersk Resolve by Wintershall Noordzee. The one-well contract will have a duration of approximately 86 days, with further options included...

Nine Energy Service and MorphPackers announced jointly that they have entered into an agreement whereby Nine will be the exclusive provider of MorphPackers’ STORM and CENTURION completion product line for the re-frac market in the United States and Canada...

Encana's cube development approach combined with advanced completion practices have significantly enhanced its Permian well performance and led to a 20% increase in the company's Permian type curves and 700 new premium return locations. The 700 new premium return locations is five times the quantity the company will drill this year and brings total premium return locations in the play to 3,450. Encana expects it will develop less than 30% of its Permian premium inventory through 2021....

Schlumberger introduced the Pulsar multifunction spectroscopy service at the SPWLA 58th annual symposium. The new service provides the industry’s first complete cased-hole formation evaluation and reservoir saturation monitoring with open-hole logging quality...

The US land rig count grew by six this week, reaching 908 rigs, according to the Baker Hughes weekly rig count. There are now 933 total rigs in the US, including offshore and inland waters. Of these, 747 are oil rigs and 186 are gas rigs. Last year, those numbers stood at 337 and 86, respectively.