Bruno Morand to assume role as Borr Drilling CEO

Borr Drilling’s Board of Directors appointed Bruno Morand as successor to CEO Patrick Schorn, effective 1 September. Mr Schorn will become Executive Chairman of the company’s Board of Directors, while current Chairman Tor Olav Trøim will continue to serve as a Director of the Board. Jason Crowe will succeed Mr Morand as SVP Commercial, also effective 1 September.

Mr Morand, who has served as Borr’s Chief Commercial Officer since 2023, is a 20-year veteran of the offshore drilling industry. He has held management positions with international rig contractors in the areas of operational management, project management, marketing and customer relationship management.

Marty Unrein named President of Patterson-UTI Drilling

Marty Unrein has been promoted to the role of President for Patterson-UTI Drilling. He previously served as Senior VP of Operations.

Mr Unrein began his career on a Patterson-UTI drilling rig in 2005, working his way up to driller before transitioning into a sales role in 2008. Since then, he has held a variety of leadership positions across sales and marketing within both Patterson-UTI Drilling and Universal Pressure Pumping, and served as Senior VP of Sales and Marketing for the broader Patterson-UTI organization.

First North American order secured for Alleima alloy

Alleima, a manufacturer of stainless steels and special alloys, received its first order in the Americas for its nickel-chromium alloy, Alleima TD, which maintains mechanical strength at up to 1250°C. The order from MI Cable Technologies, a manufacturer of mineral-insulated thermocouple cable, follows a market trial that began in 2022.

ADES set to acquire Shelf Drilling in cash merger

Saudi Arabia’s ADES and Shelf Drilling announced an agreement for ADES to acquire all issued and outstanding shares of Shelf Drilling by way of a cash merger, valued at approximately $390 million. The combined company will hold a fleet of 83 jackups, including 46 premium units.

Tenaris to supply OCTG for Suriname project

TotalEnergies has awarded Tenaris a contract to supply casing and tubing and rig direct services for the GranMorgu project, located about 150 km off the coast of Suriname. In addition, Saipem, which secured an EPCI contract from TotalEnergies, has selected Tenaris to provide the seamless line pipe and thermal insulation coatings package for the project. Tenaris will supply approximately 47,000 tons of casing and tubing with TenarisHydril Blue and Wedge Series connections, as well as 13 chrome steel grades.

Chevron completes acquisition of Hess

Chevron finalized its acquisition of Hess following the satisfaction of all closing conditions, including a favorable arbitration outcome regarding Hess’ offshore Guyana asset. Additionally, the Federal Trade Commission has cleared the way for John Hess to join Chevron’s Board of Directors. The combined company’s capital expenditures budget is expected to be between $19 billion to $22 billion.

ModuSpec secures multiple new contracts in Caspian

ModuSpec has been awarded multiple new project in the Caspian Sea valued at more than $500,000. The contracts encompass supporting oil companies with verification of drilling and intervention well control equipment.

ADNOC Drilling wins 5-year, $800 million contract

ADNOC Drilling was awarded a contract valued at up to $800 million by ADNOC Onshore for the provision of integrated hydraulic fracturing services for conventional and tight reservoirs. The five-year agreement is set to commence in Q3 2025.

Adura chosen as name for JV between Equinor, Shell   

The incorporated joint venture between Equinor and Shell has been named Adura. The name selection follows an announcement in December that the two operators would be combining their UK offshore oil and gas assets. The joint venture is expected to launch by the end of 2025.

Expro, Weatherford each nets deals with Woodside for Mexico’s Trion project

Expro was awarded a three-year contract by Woodside Energy in support of the Trion deepwater development offshore Mexico. Under the agreement, Expro will provide tubular running services and cementing services.

In separate news, Weatherford was also awarded a contract from Woodside for Trion. Under this multi-year contract, Weatherford will deliver managed pressure drilling services for an initial eight wells, with the potential to expand to 24 wells.

Sapura undergoes name change to Vantris Energy

Malaysia’s Sapura Energy changed its name to Vantris Energy, effective 1 August. The name change coincides with the company’s impending implementation of a plan for capital reconstruction, debt restructuring and fundraising.

Impulse is Neo Oiltools’ North American distributor

Neo Oiltools has named Impulse Downhole Tools as its North American distributor. The partnership aims to expand adoption of the Neotork technology across North America and will provide 24/7 support across multiple basins.

PRODUCTS

Expro launches high-pressure packer for deepwater, catwalk sensor for land rigs

Expro has launched its BRUTE high-pressure, high-tensile packer system, giving operators the flexibility to set higher in the wellbore. A supermajor had commissioned Expro to deliver the technology for a high-spec 20k development in the US Gulf.

The 12,850 psid-rated 12.25-in. BRUTE Armor Packer System saw its first successful deployment in April 2025. This inaugural deployment confirmed its pressure integrity and performance under extreme downhole conditions.

Building off of that success, Expro also introduced the 20/22-in. Packer System featuring twice the element expansion capability of traditional mechanical packers. The first deployment of the 20/22-in. Packer System took place in June 2025 during a campaign for a supermajor in the US Gulf.

Separately, Frank’s Tubular Running Services, a division of Expro, recently deployed its Catwalk Sensor technology across its United States land operations.

The Catwalk Sensor is designed to address a critical safety gap in manual rig environments. Installed on the rig’s catwalk or slingshot system, the sensor emits real-time audible alerts whenever pipe enters the V-door area. This immediate warning system proactively reduces risk for rig floor personnel by making them aware of potential hazards.

The Catwalk Sensor is a standalone system intended for all rigs utilizing catwalk or slingshot type pipe-handling systems.

Halliburton introduces automated geosteering for optimized well placement

Halliburton’s newly launched LOGIX automated geosteering service is designed to optimize geological interpretation and well placement. The service combines automation, machine learning and advanced geological insights to position the wellbore and maximize reservoir contact.

The service updates and projects geological models to enable well trajectory optimization in real time. Advanced algorithms and machine learning technology help provide uniform, repeatable and unbiased geological interpretations to enable faster diagnosis.

It also features compatibility with the LOGIX auto steer service, offering a seamless transition between geological target changes and well path updates.

New autonomous platform streamlines well logging

SLB’s OnWave autonomous logging platform enables efficient and reliable acquisition of formation evaluation measurements in any well condition.

The platform autonomously acquires multiple high-fidelity measurements downhole without the need for a wireline unit and wireline cable. The design takes less than half the time to deploy compared with conventional wireline platforms, while enabling drill pipe rotation and mud circulation during logging operations to enhance well safety.

Deployable in any well trajectory without the need for an onsite crew, the platform executes tasks downhole that would typically be performed manually by engineers at surface, including borehole measurement acquisition and data quality checks. It also verifies the tool’s position and functionality downhole through constant communication with surface.

Emerson upgrades capabilities of HMI/SCADA platform

Emerson released Version 4.4 of its Movicon.NExT, a human-machine interface (HMI) and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) platform. With the software, HMI/SCADA users can create interoperable automation architectures for discrete and process manufacturing applications.

Additional Movicon.NExT modules, such as Pro.Lean and Pro.Energy, were also revised to v4.4, with an improved user interface and navigation, new library symbols and the addition of grouping and overview screens.

Updated industrial communication protocol drivers — for OPC UA, Ethernet/IP and others — provide support for multi-station, advanced arrays and more. Optimized I/O operations more efficiently aggregate read/write tags for greater throughput, and open connectivity helps users easily connect with digital assets.

To improve data management, new support for TimescaleDB in the historian offers better storage efficiency and higher performance, especially with large data volumes. Other enhancements increase data precision and SQL database compatibility, while recipe and alarm management are performed through a centralized connection.