People, Companies and Products

Transocean reaches agreement to acquire Songa

Transocean has reached an agreement with Songa Offshore whereby Transocean will, subject to certain conditions, make a voluntary exchange offer to acquire 100% of the issued and outstanding shares of Songa Offshore. The consideration in the offer will be based upon NOK 47.50 per share of Songa Offshore, representing a 37.0% premium to Songa Offshore’s five-day average closing price of NOK 34.68 per share.

The transaction strengthens Transocean’s position with the addition of Songa’s four Cat-D harsh-environment semisubmersible drilling rigs on long-term contracts with Statoil in Norway. Songa Offshore’s fleet also includes three additional semisubmersibles.

The combined company will operate a fleet of 51 mobile offshore drilling units with a backlog of $14.3 billion, consisting of 30 ultra-deepwater floaters, 11 harsh-environment floaters, three deepwater floaters and seven midwater floaters. Additionally, Transocean has four ultra-deepwater drillships under construction, including two contracted with Shell for 10 years each. Consistent with Transocean’s strategy of recycling older and less capable rigs, Transocean anticipates re-ranking the combined fleet, which may result in additional rigs being recycled.

Trelleborg wins contract for Johan Sverdrup field

Trelleborg has been awarded a contract for the supply of elastomeric bearings to Statoil’s Johan Sverdrup oilfield. The riser platform will be the first of the Johan Sverdrup topside to be installed in 2018. Trelleborg will manufacture and deliver 96 sliding elastomeric bearings. They will be used across the 23,000-ton platform’s six support points, which will be in direct contact with the heavy transport vessel that will deliver the topside to the field. Trelleborg’s elastomeric bearings are steel plate laminated and installed between the hull of the facility and its modules.

Weir completes acquisition of KOP Surface Products

Weir Oil & Gas announced it has completed its acquisition of KOP Surface Products, a provider of advanced pressure control wellhead technologies, systems and services. The acquisition, with an enterprise value of $114 million, reflects Weir’s commitment to global expansion.

Stena extends contract with Sparrows Group

Sparrows Group has been awarded a three-and-a-half-year extension to its inspection services contract for Stena Drilling’s global fleet of drilling vessels. The contract scope includes carrying out Lifting Operations Lifting Equipment Regulations (LOLER) lifting gear surveys, potential dropped objects surveys, cargo carrying unit and nondestructive testing inspections, as well as rig-specific maintenance. Further, the scope of the contract has been expanded to cover Stena’s entire fleet of seven vessels, including the Stena Don in Norway. The contract was initially awarded until the end of 2017. Now, the extension will see Sparrows deliver the inspection service provision until the end of 2020.

Xodus to support Cairn exploration in India

Xodus Group has won a contract with Cairn Oil and Gas of Vedanta to conduct exploration and appraisal work on its Rajasthan block in northwest India over the next two years. The first stage of the work will focus on delivering new drilling prospects and an exploration drilling plan. Subsequent stages, which will likely commence in 2018, will require project management of the drilling program in the field, as well as subsurface analysis of drilling results.

Partnership targets digital services in Malaysia

eDrilling and Salcon Petroleum Services (SPS) have announced that they are partnering to service and support upstream oil and gas companies in Malaysia in their digital transformation initiatives. eDrilling will provide planning, training, drilling, analysis and learning solutions, while SPS will provide service and support offerings.

Dan Scott recognized as 2017 inventor of the year

Dan Scott, Senior Technical Advisor at Baker Hughes and a leader on the IADC Drilling Engineers Committee, was recognized in June by the State Bar of Texas Intellectual Property Law Section as the 2017 Inventor of the Year for his body of work in the area of patented features and products, primarily in drill bits. He was also recognized for “his inventions in the field of advanced materials research and development for the oil and gas industry.”

Eifler named VP Marketing, contracts for Noble

Noble Corp announced that Robert W. Eifler has been named Vice President and General Manager – Marketing and Contracts, effective 17 July. Mr Eifler will be based in Sugar Land, Texas, and will be responsible for Noble’s worldwide marketing and contracts efforts. He joined Noble in February 2005 as part of the management development program and has held numerous operational and marketing roles.

Schlumberger to purchase majority share in EDC

Schlumberger has announced an agreement to acquire a 51% equity interest in Eurasia Drilling Company (EDC). Closing of the transaction is subject to approval by the Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia. The agreement extends the relationship established in 2011.

AFGlobal acquires advanced measurement

AFGlobal has acquired Advanced Measurement, a provider of automation, controls and data management systems that primarily support the pressure-pumping segment. The acquisition enhances AFGlobal’s upstream drilling, completion and production technologies.

Nabors to acquire Tesco in an all-stock transaction

Nabors Industries has signed an arrangement agreement to acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Tesco, with each outstanding share of common stock of Tesco being exchanged for 0.68 common shares of Nabors.

This transaction will create a leading rig equipment and drilling automation provider by combining Canrig, Nabors’ rig equipment subsidiary, with Tesco’s rig equipment manufacturing, rental and aftermarket service business.

The transaction values Tesco common stock at $4.62 per share based on the closing price of Nabors shares on the New York Stock Exchange on 11 August 2017, which represents a 19% premium. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions and is expected to close in Q4 2017.

BHGE to provide full-stream support for Pasca A field

BHGE has announced one of the first agreements of its kind with Twinza Oil to provide full-stream support on the Pasca A gas condensate field, located off Papua New Guinea in the Gulf of Papua. The Twinza-BHGE full-stream agreement covers services and equipment during Phase I of the Pasca A field development, including drilling services, wellheads and pressure-control equipment for the fourth and final appraisal well. The appraisal well will be drilled in Q3 2017, which will be suspended as a future development well, and the final investment decision (FID) to proceed to development is expected in 2018.

Post-FID, BHGE expects to provide an integrated gas-processing solution from the wells through to point of export. The full-stream offering includes a wide range of capabilities in drilling services, subsea equipment, gas-processing topsides, gas compression and turbomachinery, as well
as installation and commissioning services.

Products

Tube-piercing equipment inaugurated in Germany

Vallourec has put a new high-performance piercer into operation at its Düsseldorf-Rath tube plant in Germany. The piercing of solid steel billets and their hot rolling on a mandrel are two key stages in the production of seamless steel tubes. Controlling these processes is crucial to the dimensional and metallurgical quality of the products. The piercer is equipped with three-roll technology and can shape premium tubes with dimensional precision and excellent surface quality.

Working alongside the plant’s rolling mill, the new piercer will also offer greater flexibility in terms of the dimensions that can be achieved (outside diameter, thickness, length) and the range of materials manufactured. It will also consume less energy per metric ton produced.

Sperry Drilling launches Radian geosteering service

Sperry Drilling, a Halliburton business, has released the Radian Azimuthal Gamma Ray and Inclination Service, a geosteering solution that provides real-time, high-quality borehole images and continuous inclination measurements. The service utilizes four highly sensitive gamma-ray detectors arranged evenly around the circumference of the tool to generate real-time azimuthal images, whether rotating or not.

Sherex Introduces TEC Series Wedge Locking Washers

Sherex Fastening Solutions has launched the TEC Series Wedge Locking Washers, which have been tested extensively on Junker vibration machines and were consistently shown to protect joints under severe vibrations and load.

Drilling jar clamp increases safety, well integrity

Emerson Automation Solutions has launched the PolyOil JAR Handling Clamp for increased safety and well integrity. The clamp acts as a safety device to prevent jars from cocking and firing, with the jar unable to fire unless the fishing neck is closed. When the clamp is fitted to the jar, the rod is kept in the open position, preventing premature firing during the handling of the jar at the surface. Applications for the clamp include drilling, drill stem testing jars, coil-tubing and wireline applications.

First-gen quick-lock stop collar introduced

Antelope Oil Tool and Centergenics have announced the first-generation stop collar for the CentraMax CT Product Line. The stop collar is utilized with Antelope’s On-The-Pipe-Solutions CentraMax CT Centralizers and can be installed anywhere on the casing by sliding the stop device on to the casing with the centralizer and removing the shipping screws once the desired location of the stop is reached.

Trade-in offered for 3M fall protection products

3M has launched the 3M Fall Protection Trade-in, Trade-up program where qualifying fall protection equipment can be traded in and traded up for more than 170 products from the 3M Fall Protection line, as well as receive cash rebates.