All articles by Adam Leach
Adam Leach
Maximising Marginal Fields with normally unmanned installations
Kongsberg Maritime and ABT Oil and Gas have signed a collaboration agreement to work together on a proof of concept to demonstrate the effectiveness of normally unattended operations of facilities for the development of marginal fields – in essence a project to get the most out of operations not normally considered big enough to staff. We find out more about what it means to operate a ‘normally unattended’ marginal field.
Power up: Statoil to tap onshore power for ‘gigantic’ Johan Sverdrup field
Statoil has awarded a NOK1 billion contract to ABB to establish power transmission infrastructure that will use onshore power from the Norwegian grid to power its Johan Sverdrup oil field development. As one of the most ambitious projects of its kind, it promises to severely reduce operational emissions, but could its impact stretch beyond the Norwegian continental shelf?
US offshore fracking: damning documents?
Having long fought against the practice of offshore fracking being carried out in California, the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) recently succeeded in forcing two federal government agencies to reveal emails and documents detailing the regulatory process that companies must go through to be granted permission. With the environmental campaign group claiming that the practice is ‘shrouded in secrecy’ and party to little or no regulation beyond conventional offshore exploration, just what might the documents reveal and how might the CBD use them?
90s revival: will Shell BG bring back mega merger mania?
Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has announced its plans to buy up BG Energy in a deal that is one of the biggest mergers the oil and gas industry has seen for a long time. Many analysts believe the deal is a sure sign of the times. So what exactly does the deal mean for the state of the oil and gas industry and will there be similar mergers in the future?
Swimming upstream: processors and traders eye exploration
With Swiss petrochemical manufacturer INEOS recruiting for a CEO to lead offshore oil exploration operations and Hungarian refiner MOL continuing to expand production, the trend for processors and refiners to get involved upstream is growing. With the current environment thickening margins we look at the future upstream.
Out of Africa: Securewest’s Warren Bloomer talks offshore security strategy
Piracy remains endemic in the Gulf of Guinea and East Africa and protecting valuable offshore assets against attack is now a priority for upstream oil and gas operators. Julian Turner talks threats and countermeasures with Warren Bloomer, head of Africa operations at Securewest International.
Sky’s the limit: offshore workers lose home comforts as oil price pinches pockets
North Sea operator Talisman Sinopec Energy has cancelled its Sky subscription and removed the service from its offshore operations in a move it says will save £600,000 a year. With a low oil price weighing heavy on companies’ costs, Adam Leach looks at how the oil price is impacting offshore workers.
Icahn-oclast: The eco-activist investors taking big oil to task on climate change
Combining the fiercely effective tricks and tools of activist investors such as Carl Icahn with the ethical motives of environmental campaign groups, a new breed of investor is seeking to force climate change into the boardrooms of big oil. With Exxon, BP and Shell all coming clean on the risks it holds and Chevron facing a call on capital reallocation, Adam Leach charts the rise of the eco-activist investor
The future of Norway: the world’s largest oil fund highlights climate change concern
Having used its oil riches to accumulate the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund of $860 billion, Norway is in a better position than most countries to deal with turbulent times in the offshore industry. With a recent divestment drive against coal and a concerted campaign to highlight the risks of climate action against offshore operations, we look at what the future holds for Norway’s oil industry?
Well integrity benchmarking: how do you measure up to your competitors?
A new software platform from Wood Group Intetech called iQRA is set to change the way companies analyse global well component reliability data by giving users the ability to benchmark their reliability figures against a global dataset, allowing them to extract safety critical element (SCE) failure statistics and mean-time-to failure (MTTF) data. We Adam Leach spoke to the company to find out how it all works.