People, Companies & Products
WCS expands Mississippi training center
Well Control School (WCS) has renovated and expanded its training center in Laurel, Miss. The renovated facility includes additional state-of-the-art simulators to accommodate more students, as well as more computer stations for its System 21 e-Learning program.
TAM restructures into hemisphere-based groups
TAM International has restructured its regional businesses into two hemisphere-based groups. Under the new structure, the Western and Eastern Hemisphere Operations will function as two separate teams.
Steven Scott, Vice President of TAM’s Eastern Hemisphere Operations, oversees Europe, Africa, Russia, FSU and the Middle East and has added Asia Pacific to his group.
Ray Frisby is now Vice President of TAM’s Western Hemisphere Operations, which encompasses the US, Canada, Mexico and Latin America.
FlexGen announces $25.5 million financing round
FlexGen Power Systems has announced a $25.5 million Series A financing round to accelerate deployment of its hybrid energy storage software into oilfield applications and power generation markets worldwide. Led by Denver-based venture investment firm Altira Group, the round includes major investments from the venture arms of General Electric and Caterpillar.
Knight Oil Tools names Langlinais to VP – QHSE
Steven Langlinais has joined Knight Oil Tools as Vice President, Quality, Health, Safety and Environment (QHSE).In his new role, Mr Langlinais will oversee the daily operations of the QHSE team and support management throughout Knight Oil Tools in all aspects of safety and quality. Mr Langlinais has more than 25 years of experience in QHSE.
Schlumberger agrees to acquire Cameron
Schlumberger and Cameron jointly announced a definitive merger agreement on 26 August in which the companies will combine in a stock and cash transaction. The agreement was unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies.
Under the terms of the agreement, Cameron shareholders will receive 0.716 shares of Schlumberger common stock and a cash payment of $14.44 in exchange for each Cameron share.
Based on the closing stock prices of both companies on 25 August, the agreement places a value of $66.36 per Cameron share, representing a 37% premium to Cameron’s 20-day volume weighted average price of $48.45 per share, and a 56.3% premium to Cameron’s most recent closing stock price of $42.47 per share. Upon closing, Cameron shareholders will own approximately 10% of Schlumberger’s outstanding shares of common stock.
Schlumberger expects to realize pretax synergies of approximately $300 million and $600 million in the first and second year, respectively.
AFGlobal promotes Curtis Samford to CEO
AFGlobal Corp announced that its Chief Operating Officer Curtis Samford is assuming the role of President and Chief Executive Officer of the company.
Mr Samford succeeds Gean Stalcup, who has served in this capacity for the past five years. Mr Stalcup has been named Chairman of the Board for AFGlobal.
Mr Samford joined the company in 2012 as President – Oil & Gas and was promoted to Chief Operating Officer in July 2013. He began his career in the oil and gas industry more than 30 years ago as a field engineer for Dresser Atlas. Over the course of his career, he has held positions of escalating responsibility for Shell Oil Company, Alcoa and Precision Castparts.
Bill Smart joins Delmar Systems’ global business team
Bill Smart has joined the Delmar Systems global business development team. Based in Houston, he will be focused on developing existing and potential new clients’ knowledge of Delmar’s subsea services capabilities. Prior to joining Delmar, Mr Smart served as Sales Manager for an international ROV provider.
He holds a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from Texas A&M University.
Sonardyne opens permanent office in France
Sonardyne has opened its first permanent office in France to have greater contact with users across southern Europe in order to better understand their application, identify future requirements and develop business relationships. Equipment stock holding, servicing, calibration and repair activities will continue to be handled through Sonardyne’s Europe and West Africa operations center in Aberdeen.
Sembcorp Marine announces global reorganization
Sembcorp Marine has reorganized its global business under one brand that focuses on four key capabilities: rigs and floaters; repairs and upgrades; offshore platforms; and specialized shipbuilding.
The company also made several senior-level appointments: Ong Poh Kwee is Chief Operating Officer; Wang Zijian is Head of Singapore Yard Operations; Ho Nee Sin is Head of Offshore Platforms; Wong Lee Lin is Head of Repairs and Upgrades; William Gu is Head of Rigs and Floaters; and Freddie Woo is Head of Specialized Shipbuilding.
Tenaris wins contract for Maersk Oil’s Culzean project
Tenaris has been awarded a five-year contract with a two-year option to supply casing and related services for Maersk Oil North Sea UK’s Culzean project. This ultra-HPHT gas project is located in the UK’s North Sea and accounts for six HPHT production wells with one produced water re-injection well.
Products
Antelope launches one-piece centralizer designed for close tolerance applications
Antelope Oil Tool has commercially launched the CentraMax PI1 centralizer as part of the CentraMax Series.
The centralizer is used as an alternative solution to centralizer subs in close tolerance applications. The design allows for both reciprocation and rotation type applications and is always pushed when installed between two external anchor devices.
It is designed to be used when the annular clearance between the casing outside diameter and restriction inside diameter are sufficient, negating the requirement for a more expensive centralizer sub solution.
The one-piece centralizer design contributes restoring force and standoff in underreamed hole sections while being able to compress and pass through narrow tolerance restriction sections, resulting in low starting and running forces.
The slip-on design can accommodate virtually any casing weight, grade and threaded connection types, according to Antelope.
GE contracts SRP to develop new riser connectors
GE Oil & Gas has awarded a contract to Subsea Riser Products (SRP), an Acteon company, to develop and qualify SRP’s Nimway 510 and Nimway 710 completion and workover riser connectors. Nimway is a new design of high-capacity, quick-make-up connectors involving proven technologies and a novel tensioned sleeve design that has evolved from SRP’s experience in designing high-pressure dynamic flanges. They are designed for water depths of up to 9,842 ½ ft (3,000 m).
Baker Hughes offers new cement evaluation service
Baker Hughes has announced the commercial release of its Integrity eXplorer cement evaluation service. Existing evaluation techniques are acoustic-based and may not provide the accuracy needed when faced with some of today’s challenges, according to the company. This new electromagnetic-acoustic technology allows operators to directly assess the integrity of cement bonds in any current wellbore environment or cement mixture.
Integrity management service targets late-life assets
Lloyd’s Register Energy has launched a comprehensive service focused on assets at late-life stage and those nearing cessation of production. The service will assist operators with maximizing economic recovery and reducing costs by eliminating inspection and maintenance activities that don’t fulfill safety or profit objectives.
Adjustable tool allows for accurate drift runs
Peak Well Systems has launched the FlexiDrift, an adjustable tool that helps to confirm the minimum diameter specification of wellbore tubing. It is available in three standard tool sizes that can be adjusted to within 10 thousandths of the desired diameter. The FlexiDrift consists of a mandrel with two sets of extendable rails that can be manually extended using the adjustment sleeves. When run downhole, the positioning of the extended rails provides the highest radial contact across the widest operating range of required drift sizes, ensuring no unforeseen obstructions, debris or damage is present in the well prior to other operations.
Ryan Directional Services launches MWD suite
Ryan Directional Services, a Nabors company, has commercially released the AccuSteer MWD Measurement Suite. It provides measurements for continuous inclination, shock and vibration, azimuthal gamma, downhole pressure, resistivity and drilling dynamics.
The AccuSteer tool’s length is 30 ft (33 ft with resistivity) and offers improved wellsite handling and BHA control. Both transmitted and additional data are stored in memory for quality control and redundancy. AccuSteer technology comes with smart telemetry, enabling data sequence changes while rotating and sliding so that only the necessary and pertinent information is sent, which in turn maximizes log quality and maintains a high degree of steerability.
Heated insoles provide comfort in winter weather
ThermaCELL has released the PROFLEX insoles, which provide remote-controlled foot-warming comfort in winter weather.
The wireless remote gives fingertip control to adjust between medium heat (100°F), high heat (111°F) and no heat through the use of a built-in thermostat. The user’s feet remain in their shoes or boots during this process.
