Parker Drilling appoints Sandy Esslemont as President, CEO

The Board of Directors at Parker Drilling has appointed Sandy Esslemont to serve as President and CEO. Mr Esslemont, who will also join the company’s Board of Directors, succeeds Gary Rich, who retired from the company at the end of 2019.

Mr Esslemont has more than 37 years of international oil and gas experience in drilling operations, petroleum technology and executive management. He has held leadership roles at privately held, publicly traded and venture-backed companies in roles based in the US, Africa, Asia, Europe, Australasia and the Middle East, the majority of which are in the oilfield services and related industries.

Prior to joining Parker, he served as CEO for Abrado, a Houston-based company he helped found, and before that was CEO and Chairman of SensorTran.

Tendeka to supply completion equipment to Aker BP, Mubadala

Tendeka has received a letter of intent to supply sand-face completion equipment to Aker BP’s Norwegian assets. Over the next three years, Tendeka will deliver its sand screens and FloSure autonomous inflow control devices to Aker BP’s fields on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

Separately, Tendeka has also signed a three-year contract with Mubadala Petroleum to supply sand-face completion equipment in Thailand. Tendeka will supply its FloElite sand screens and FloSure inflow control devices to three Mubadala fields in the Gulf of Thailand: Jasmine, Manora and Nong Yao. The contract has the option of two one-year extensions.

Survivex launches well control training facility

Survivex, part of the 3T Energy Group, has opened a new training center in Aberdeen for drilling and well control. The facility is located within its existing training center and features new-generation drilling simulation technology. It includes a central command unit where instructors can demonstrate and teach critical drilling and well control techniques, as well as a dedicated assessment room.

Varel receives private equity investment

Varel International Energy Services has received a multimillion-dollar investment from private equity firm Blue Water Energy that will be used to drive medium-term growth. Additionally, the company announced Derek Nixon is succeeding Guillermo Aponte as President and CEO. Mr Nixon currently serves as VP of Varel’s Downhole Products subsidiary.

Tullow Oil announces Rahul Dhir as new CEO

Tullow Oil has appointed Rahul Dhir as CEO and an Executive Director of the group, effective 1 July. Mr Dhir is currently CEO of Delonex Energy, an Africa-focused oil and gas company he founded in 2013. He also previously served as Managing Director and CEO of Cairn India from its IPO in 2006 to 2012. Mr Dhir began his career as a petroleum engineer before moving into investment banking.

Equinor makes changes to exploration leadership

Equinor announced that Tim Dodson will step down as Executive Vice President of Exploration and take on the role of Vice President, Strategy Execution in Global Strategy and Business Development, starting 1 June. Tore Løseth has been appointed acting Executive Vice President of Exploration and will join the corporate executive committee in this capacity.

Apache reorganizes, names executive vice presidents

As part of a restructuring, Apache has named Clay Bretches as Executive VP of Operations and David Pursell as Executive VP of Development. The company expects to also name an Executive VP of Exploration following the completion of an ongoing search.

Intrepid buys Gyrodata’s directional drilling assets

Gyrodata has sold its directional drilling business to Intrepid Directional Drilling Specialists. The sale includes all of Gyrodata’s directional drilling personnel, as well as its drilling motors and MWD tools. This combination doubles Intrepid’s directional drilling capabilities in North America and expands its presence into certain Latin American countries.

Huisman appoints David Roodenburg as new CEO

Huisman announced that David Roodenburg, the third generation of the Roodenburg family within the company, has been appointed as the company’s new statutory CEO. He has been active with the company since 2008. Theo Bruijninckx, who had been appointed as CEO in April 2018, will remain active as Huisman’s CFO.  Joop Roodenburg is currently active as President and will remain with Huisman in an advisory role.

Partnership gives oil/gas workers access to COVID-19 screenings, follow-up care

RigUp, a company that provides a contingent workforce for the oil and gas industry, has begun offering oil and gas workers at select job sites in the Midland/Odessa and San Angelo areas with free access to COVID-19 screenings and the necessary testing and follow-up care.

The pilot project, which the company plans to expand to other areas, was enabled by a partnership with imaware, a health organization that provides access to advanced testing and telemedicine physician services.

Geolog nets mudlogging assets from Nabors

Geolog International, acting through its subsidiary, Geolog Americas, has reached an agreement with Nabors to acquire all of Nabors’ mudlogging assets in the US. Present in the US market since 2014, Geolog has logged over 300 wells across conventional and unconventional basins both onshore and offshore Gulf of Mexico.

Neodrill hires business development manager

Neodrill announced that Geoff Proud has joined its team as Business Development Manager for its CAN-integrator solution in the UK. Mr Proud has over 30 years of experience in the oil and gas sector and is a specialist in subsea production systems.

eDrilling wins deal for well construction planning software

eDrilling announced that the company  has been awarded a contract by Total for its well construction planning technologies, Total Drilling Engineering Software Kit, also known as T-Desk, and Drilling & Wells digital platform redevelopment.

T-Desk is the cornerstone software for well design engineering within Total. Its functionalities allow engineers to perform all front-end engineering and design for wells, as well as operations follow-up through torque and drag and calculations benchmark against field data. T-Desk has a web-based architecture relying on microservices.

Approval received for warehouse in Northeast Scotland

WellConnection, an inspection, maintenance and repair (IRM) company, has secured approval for Northeast Scotland’s first and largest bonded warehouse area, the company announced. The bonded area was built as part of a seven-acre expansion at the company’s Peterhead site. This is an important development for customers looking to ensuring an efficient, safe and secure supply of oil country tubular goods to the UK Continental Shelf, such as drill, casing and tubing pipes.

PRODUCTS

Web-based well control simulation software launched

Drilling Systems has launched iDrillSIM, a web-based version of its well control simulation software, following trials with Louisiana State University (LSU). The school was looking for a way to continue delivering instruction to its drilling and well control students during the coronavirus outbreak. Drilling Systems adapted its well control training software into a cloud-hosted product to enable remote well control learning. Accessed through a web browser, this innovation allowed LSU to create virtual classrooms where students could develop and fine-tune well control skills remotely.

New platform provides for on-demand learning

ABS Group has launched an eLearning training platform featuring on-demand courses to augment classroom training in cybersecurity, risk management, asset reliability, compliance management and process safety. The first phase includes e-courses on business cybersecurity and maritime cybersecurity.

New full-body harness released for US market

Pure Safety Group has introduced the Checkmate Xplorer industrial full-body harness for fall protection to the US market. The harness features visual alert stitching, an intuitive way for the user to understand the correct way to wear the harness, and a limited slip dorsal D-ring designed to keep the D-ring in place after multiple loadings.

Columbus McKinnon offers Intelli-Protect system

Columbus McKinnon has launched the Intelli-Protect System as the first product in the Intelli-Crane family. The system features no-fly zone technology, referring to protected areas where normal crane operations are limited or restricted. Locations can be designated where a crane is programmed to slow down or stop.

Iqarus now offering COVID-19 Medevac service

Iqarus, an International SOS company, has launched a new service to safely manage suspected cases of coronavirus following the disembarkation of personnel from an offshore location. The service, COVID-19 Medevac, includes assessments to determine if a worker is fit to travel and the provision of tailored advice from the Iqarus clinical team.

Augmented procedures technology aims to drive safety, efficiency

ABB has developed what it calls Ability Augmented Field Procedures, which aim to enable consistency when executing manual procedures. The technology enables interactive execution of procedures using a mobile device to guide operators through each step of an operating procedure. Operatives can access hands-free, real-time data related to plant assets, processes or procedures using industrial tablets, phones and HoloLens glasses.