SERPENT a great success but more help needed

Posted on 14 May 2009 in News

Scientists behind the SERPENT visual data project, which relies on the use of spare ROV capacity to study the deepwater marine environment where the petroleum industry is active, welcomes visual data of all kinds from volunteers working offshore.

Andrew Gates of the UK’s National Oceanography Centre, Southampton said ad hoc materials are already sent in with reasonable regularity but that more would be welcome. He spoke at the 2009 IADC Environmental Conference on 12 May in Stavanger, Norway.

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'The Green Dividend' – it pays to practice good HSE

Posted on 14 May 2009 in News

Good HSE practice does deliver bottom-line benefit for companies that make the effort, according to research analyst Michael Urban of Deutsche Bank Securities (DBS).

Revealing the findings of fresh DBS research at the 2009 IADC Environmental Conference & Exhibition in Stavanger, Mr Urban noted that a focus on the environment is clearly in vogue right now, and numerous companies in many industries speak to the notion of being “green.”

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Norwegian NGO: Companies must take environmental responsibility

Posted on 14 May 2009 in News

Gunnell Sandanger of Norwegian NGO Future in Our Hands said that drilling contractors, as a component of the petroleum industry, have a duty to behave responsibly and heed environmental concerns. Ms Sandanger spoke at the 2009 IADC Environmental Conference on 12 May in Stavanger, Norway.

With climate change now an irrefutable fact, she said, it ill-behooves the industry to plan an attack on Arctic resources as the ice melts. Additionally, she said Norwegian NGOs would be vigilant in their opposition.

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When protecting environment, 'everywhere is sensitive'

Posted on 14 May 2009 in News

Transocean’s Dr Ian Hudson said the drilling sector is in a completely different place to 50 years ago, with huge progress made across the HSE front. Moreover, being responsible is good business, he pointed out in remarks made at the 2009 IADC Environmental Conference on 12 May in Stavanger, Norway.

However, he warned that there was no such thing as a “one-size-fits-all” approach to getting it right and making further progress and that there is a great deal of confusion outside upstream petroleum as to what drilling companies actually do.

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Slip joint performance highlighted, improvements urged

Posted on 14 May 2009 in News

In 2008, the offshore industry lost more than 230 barrels of oil to the marine environment in 22 separate incidents, leading to cumulative downtime of 48 hours and lost revenues of more than $600,000 due to problems with slip joints, the design of which has advanced little over the decades.

But, over a period of five years, Colin Craig, operations performance adviser at Transocean, reckons more than 1,500 barrels were lost over the prior five years via 105 slip joint failures – an average of more than 300 barrels and 22 incidents per annum.

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Semi mobilization provides lessons on invasive marine species

Posted on 14 May 2009 in News

Franco dos Santos is deeply involved in relocating the semisubmersible Noble Farrington from West Africa to the Mediterranean and told the IADC Environmental Conference & Exhibition in Stavanger that it has been a steep learning curve.

He said the decision at Noble to take the semi through a full assessment for invasive marine species was both arduous and a wake-up call.

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MAY/JUNE 2009 DRILLING CONTRACTOR NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE!

Posted on 14 May 2009 in News

The May/June 2009 edition of Drilling Contractor, the only magazine exclusively dedicated to drilling and completion, is now available online. The online edition offers exclusive web features not available in the print version.

Now available for download in both PDF and HTML formats.

The May/June DC explores multiple topics:

• • Onshore Drilling
• • Offshore Drilling
• • Brazil
• • Completions
• • Health, Safety and Environment
• • Technology Showcase

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Noble wins third consecutive MMS SAFE Award

Posted on 14 May 2009 in News

Noble Drilling Corp was the winner in the Safety Award for Excellence (SAFE) drilling contractor category, presented on 7 May by the MMS during OTC in Houston. Additionally, A.J. Guiteau of Diamond Offshore Drilling was the only drilling contractor winner among recipients of the Offshore Leadership Award (OLA).

SAFE recognizes companies for outstanding safety and pollution prevention performance. The selection criteria consist of inspection and incident data and input from MMS district and regional offices.

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Survey: Where does the biggest technology gap lie in deepwater drilling?

Posted on 14 May 2009 in News

• • Drilling risers
• • Blowout preventers
• • MWD/LWD/SWD
• • Drilling rigs
• • Real-time data acquisition/interpretation
• • Pore pressure management
• • Subsea systems
• • Other (leave your comments on DC's Forum)

Visit our homepage to complete the survey, or click here.

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Line management accountability key to leading behavioural change

Posted on 23 April 2009 in News

NDC works closely with client ADMA-OPCO to define and understand roles and accountability of key positions like drilling supervisor and rig manager.

Dupont didn’t like it when its dynamite factories blew up. Hurt people. Bad for business. Then they came up with a breakthrough: They ordered each plant’s manager and his family to move into the plants. Guess what? The explosions stopped.

So goes the story of Dupont some two centuries ago, related by Eamon Gorman, director-well engineering and logistics, Petroleum Development Oman, serving as moderator for the panel discussion “Leading Behavioural Change” at IADC Drilling HSE Middle East on 21 April in Abu Dhabi. Saudi Aramco was the platinum sponsor for IADC Drilling HSE Middle East 2009.

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