People, Companies & Products

Technip, FMC Technologies to combine into TechnipFMC

Technip and FMC Technologies have announced that the companies will combine into one company under the name TechnipFMC, which would have an equity value of $13 billion based on pre-announcement share prices.

The companies have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) and expect to execute a definitive business combination agreement to combine the companies in an all-stock merger transaction.

Under the terms of the MOU, Technip shareholders will receive two shares of the new company for each share of Technip, and FMC Technologies shareholders will receive one share of the new company for each share of FMC Technologies.

Each company’s shareholders will own close to 50% of the combined company. The combined company will offer comprehensive solutions in subsea, surface and onshore/offshore to reduce the cost of producing and transforming hydrocarbons.

With more than 49,000 employees operating in more than 45 countries, TechnipFMC generated combined revenue of approximately $20 billion and combined 2015 EBITDA of approximately $2.4 billion in 2015.

As of 31 March 2016, the two companies together had a consolidated backlog of approximately $20 billion. Technip Chairman and CEO, Thierry Pilenko, will serve as Executive Chairman of TechnipFMC’s Board of Directors. Doug Pferdehirt, currently FMC Technologies’ President and COO, will serve as CEO of TechnipFMC.

The Board of Directors will consist of seven members designated by FMC Technologies, including Mr Pferdehirt, and seven members designated by Technip, including Mr Pilenko.

Schlumberger to acquire coiled-tubing units, buy Omron oilfield and marine

Schlumberger has entered into an agreement to acquire Xtreme Drilling and Coil Services’ coiled-tubing drilling and coiled-tubing units. Xtreme currently owns a fleet of 11 coiled-tubing units located in Saudi Arabia and the United States. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in Q3.

Schlumberger also announced that it has acquired Omron Oilfield and Marine, a US-based OMRON Corp company.

“The addition of Omron Oilfield and Marine will enable us to strengthen our industrial automation control systems capabilities as part of our long-term strategy to develop an integrated well construction system,” Ashok Belani, Executive Vice President, Technology, Schlumberger, said. “The control system plays a pivotal part in developing the software capabilities required to realize our vision to provide our customers with a step change in drilling performance.”

Freefall lifeboat simulation training system installed at Maersk facility in Denmark

Maersk Training and Virtual Marine Technology have announced the installment of the first freefall lifeboat simulator training system in Denmark. The simulator is located at Maersk’s new training facility at Esbjerg Harbour.

With the new simulator system, trainees can be repeatedly exposed to emergency evacuation situations, high seas and extreme weather scenarios not possible to train in conventional lifeboat coxswain training programs. Maersk Training has developed a simulation-based freefall training course combined with the conventional STCW 2-1 Lifeboat and Man Overboard Boat, which was approved by the Danish Maritime Authority.

GE to supply surface wellhead, christmas tree systems for Johan Sverdrup

GE Oil & Gas has been awarded a significant surface wellhead and Christmas tree equipment and services contract by Statoil for its Johan Sverdrup project in the North Sea. With the multi-year agreement, GE Oil & Gas will manufacture, deliver and install its standardized surface wellhead and Christmas tree systems at multiple wells that make up part of the field. The agreement will service and support the project over the life of the field. Located 155 km west of Stavanger, Norway, Johan Sverdrup is one of the five biggest oil fields on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, with expected resources of between 1.7 billion and 3 billion BOE.

Anton Dibowitz appointed Executive Vice President for Seadrill Management

The Board of Seadrill has appointed Anton Dibowitz as Executive Vice President of Seadrill Management. He will continue to report to CEO Per Wullf. In addition to his ongoing role as Chief Commercial Officer, in this new appointment, Mr Dibowitz will take on additional responsibility for day-to-day business administration.

Craig Mayman is new Director, Sales Mining and Water for Schramm                            

Schramm has introduced Craig Mayman as Director, Sales Mining and Water. Mr Mayman will be based in Utah and will replace John Little, who will retire from Schramm in September after 40 years of service.

Mr Mayman’s experience includes six years at Boart-Longyear in engineering, product management and global key account sales roles, as well as most recently serving on the executive leadership team of REI Drilling. He holds a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from the University of South Australia and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Utah.

Alex Rabinovitch appointed to business development role with Newpark Mats

Newpark Mats and Integrated Services, a unit of Newpark Resources, has announced the appointment of Alex Rabinovitch as North American Business Development Manager, Utilities & Renewables.

In his role, Mr Rabinovitch works closely with electric utilities, contractors and design/EPC firms to enable deployment of transmission worksite solutions.

Keppel completes acquisition of LeTourneau

Keppel Offshore & Marine, through its subsidiary, Keppel Offshore & Marine USA, has completed the acquisition of Cameron International’s offshore product division. It comprises the LETOURNEAU jackup rig designs and rig kit business, as well as its aftersales and aftermarket services. The acquired company will operate as Keppel LeTourneau, with offices in the United States, United Arab Emirates and Singapore. Adding the LETOURNEAU designs to its own offerings, Keppel will have more than 26 designs for jackup rigs.

NCS Multistage announces management changes

NCS Multistage has announced Don Battenfelder, previously President of Canada Operations, as President, North America. He is responsible for all NCS sales and operations in the US and Canada.

Shawn Leggett has been named Vice President of Canada Operations and is responsible for all operations and sales in Canada. Mike McKown has been named Vice President of US Operations and will be responsible for all operations and sales in the US.

Ivy Oubre, who joined NCS in 2015 as Director of Global Sales, has been named Vice President, Strategic Sales. He heads a newly formed group that will provide support for Canada, US and international sales.

Tenaris commences operations at Rig Direct Academy in Veracruz

Tenaris has begun operations at its new Rig Direct Academy – a training and testing center located in Veracruz, Mexico. The test rig facility will allow customers from around the world to witness how Tenaris products perform in different applications.

The $14.5 million investment is part of Tenaris’ Rig Direct model to enhance and expand its service offerings and to strengthen customer relationships. The new facility is equipped to make full–scale demonstrations of new products and developments under adverse and extreme conditions.   

Forum delivers nine subsea PLR systems to North Africa

Forum Energy Technologies has delivered nine of its largest subsea pig launchers and receivers (PLRs) and laydown heads to a project in North Africa. The PLRs have been deployed as part of a development of nine subsea wells, which vary from four to 24 in. in size, with water depths ranging from 300 to 800 m. Manufactured at Forum’s Moffat subsea engineering business in Northumberland, UK, the custom-designed units will be used in the completion of flooding, cleaning, gauging, strength test, intelligent pigging and dewatering activities.

Products

GEODynamics completes field testing of QuickStart Inject and Frac Valve

GEODynamics Engineered Completion Solutions Division has completed field testing of the QuickStart Inject and Frac Valve product line. The results yielded 100% successful toe-stage openings in more than 120 wells in the US. The QuickStart Inject and Frac Valve is part of GEODynamics’ SmartStart Plus Time Delay Test and Frac product line, which has been successfully deployed more than 4,000 times.

New NOV RFID technology designed for extreme downhole environments

National Oilwell Varco (NOV) has introduced TracTag, its latest-generation RFID tag. It has been field-proven to withstand extreme drilling conditions when installed on drillstring components. The tag is currently the only RFID technology in the industry that can survive downhole temperatures of -40°C to +200°C (-58°F to +400°F) and up to 1,550 Bar (22,500 psi) of pressure. NOV also introduced an asset management software, TracAsset, and an automated pipe tally system with a wellsite tag reader, AutoTally.

The combined system will enable greater capabilities for delivering reliable information and analysis to customers. The TracTag and AutoTally system will make it possible to read tags as drillstring components pass through the rig floor.

Ingersoll Rand introduces LS2-150 Man Rider Winch

Ingersoll Rand has introduced the LS2-150 Hydraulic Land Rig Man Rider Winch. Features include:

• An overload protection device that prevents the winch from operating if it detects a load that exceeds 125% of the 150 kg (330 lb) safety rating for the winch;

• An emergency stop button;

• A slack line prevention system that automatically stops the winch from paying out if the winch line gets caught or snagged;

• Redundant braking; and

• A press roller that presses the wire rope onto the drum to help prevent bird-nesting, especially in “no-load” conditions.

BESTOLIFE rolls out HONEY KOTE drilling compound

BESTOLIFE has unveiled the HONEY KOTE copper-based drilling compounds. It is formulated to provide protection against seizing, galling and load-bearing stress on drill collars and drill pipes. The formula resists corrosion, providing long-term storage protection for threaded surfaces. It applies easily in a wide variety of temperatures and working conditions and won’t run off or bleed at high temperatures or harden in storage.