There is one area of subsea technology that perhaps holds the greatest potential for establishing a step change in its implementation globally. That area is subsea processing, and things are... more

Systems engineering is critical to subsea projects and is a key activity in their management, says one leading international contractor. Systems engineering addresses the integration of all the elements that make... more

The increasing demand for subsea solutions for deepwater projects has brought with it the need for guidelineless technology for installation, intervention, completion and workover. Kongsberg Offshore's hitherto successful Hinged-Over Subsea... more

While most of the seismic industry is still waiting for a full-fledged oil company spending recovery, one side of the business has seen demand climb dramatically since mid-1999. The demand... more

This year capital expenditure in the worldwide subsea sector looks set to be up to US $9 billion, according to new figures released by Shell. Last year was a bumper year... more

People have drilled through the Bossier Sand in east Texas on the way to better targets for years, but a deeper disappointment gave Anadarko Petroleum Corp. of Houston an inside... more

New Orleans-based independent McMoRan Exploration Co. has increased its leasehold position dramatically during recent months by snapping up rights in 145 Gulf of Mexico leases held by Shell and Texaco. The... more

An increasing appetite for natural gas will drive demand to 33.5 quadrillion Btus (quads), or about 33.5 Tcf by 2015, according to Gas Research Institute's (GRI) 2000 update to the... more

Drilling on the United Kingdom's Atlantic Margin sector is set for the first upturn in years as six operators progress with plans to spud wildcats in what is arguably the... more

The winds of change continue to sweep across Norway's oil and gas policy. Only a few years ago, the whole issue of diminished state participation in offshore licenses, the privatization... more

Phillips Petroleum is going ahead with a substantial fixed platform development in the UK sector of the North Sea, at a time when many other companies are looking elsewhere when... more

Colombia's efforts to get a new bidding round under way have run into problems as guerilla fighting has increased. Six months ago, Colombia's efforts to get its Ronda 2000 second oil... more

Oilpatch companies couldn't help Venezuela avoid its disastrous December flood but they found ways to help survivors. Venezuelan Consul General Csaba I. Kato said the mid-December flood may have killed close... more

Some 2 years ago the State Council in Beijing formulated a policy under which, and through swap arrangements, the state-owned onshore businesses of the CNPC (China National Petroleum Corp.) and... more

In recent times there have been claims made of competition between the China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) and the China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) to be the first to... more

A BP Amoco/Sonatrach joint venture in Algeria is going through its final sanctions approval for the development of its In Salah dry gas fields in the country's southern Sahara desert. The... more

Iranian officials hope to sign development contracts with foreign companies for the next five phases of their South Pars oil and gas field later this month, according to a senior... more

Iranian officials hope to sign development contracts with foreign companies for the next five phases of their South Pars oil and gas field later this month, according to a senior... more

The spudding of the first of more than 20 wells scheduled for the Timor Sea signals the beginning of one of the most significant exploration and drilling programs in the... more

The Bangladesh government is keen to sign production sharing contracts (PSCs) with oil companies for nine exploration blocks as part of the country's second round of bidding later this month... more

NORTH AMERICA Ocean Energy has elected President and Chief Executive James T. Hackett chairman. He succeeds James C. Flores, who continues as vice chairman and a director. Hackett was president and... more

While the debate over Caspian pipeline export routes continues to rumble on, operators already active there are reaching crucial stages with their E&P activities, which will soon intensify the pressure... more

Olav Fjell has had to climb a steep learning curve in his position as Statoil's newly appointed chief executive. He is in the midst of a major reorganization of the... more

Drawworks, mud pumps, drilling rigs and rental equipment, the basic tools of the oil business, will merge with the high-technology, integrated future of the industry to provide better returns for... more

Two large gas and power companies have merged to integrate markets from the wellhead to the electric socket. El Paso Energy Corp. plans to acquire The Coastal Corp. to form the... more

Of the 1,200 corporations that entered their intranet or extranet sites for NewMedia magazine's Invision Awards, Metamore Worldwide won the gold medal for its corporate training site. The Houston-based information... more

1. A new location for a wildcat has been staked by Hamar Associates LLC, Ojai, Calif., in Tehama County, Calif. According to IHS Energy Group, the new venture is the... more

1. Production has been restablished on South Marsh Island Block 261 in the Gulf of Mexico, the result of work carried out by Callon Petroleum Co., Natchez, Miss., at the... more

1. BG is seeking a farm-in partner for a 20% stake in six Atlantic Margin blocks which are undrilled so far. The blocks were awarded to BG as part of... more

1. New Zealand Oil & Gas (NZOG) was due to spud the potentially significant Hochstetter-1 well in PEP38460 offshore Taranaki during the early part of February, and the company is... more

1. Following on from Hart's E&P being told that the MITI Sanriku-Oki well - Japan's first deepwater wildcat - was "promising", the Japan National Oil Co. (JNOC) has now confirmed... more

1. Isramco of Israel, operator of the Or South 1 well in the offshore Med Yavne license, has announced that log analysis of the well indicated that, while gas was... more

1. The Shams-8X well in the Repsol-operated Khalda concession in Egypt's Western Desert has reached a total depth of 4,102m. With the final logging programme complete, petrophysical analysis has identified... more

1. Mera Petroleums and Millenium Energy Inc., both of Calgary, Alberta, signed a contract with Ecopetrol, the Colombian state oil company, to explore a 332,800-acre concession in the northern province... more

Will seismic services become part of the laundry list of items being handled by E-procurement? Just within the past few weeks we've had a parade of upstart Internet providers visit... more

The push is on to reduce well construction costs as we enter the new century. This is not news. But some recent initiatives by the oil companies and the US... more

Plenty of oilpatch innovations have come from the people who work out in the field. In these days of major research and development efforts, big budgets and complex tools, are... more

Arduous political debate at the highest level. Polarized views. Big business back in the dock. Claim and counter-claim. Sound familiar? It's just another day in the soap opera existence of... more

The new Libyan licensing round could prove to be something of a damp squib - with operators eyeing the country's E&P opportunities faced with TOO MUCH choice. At a time when... more

What is the "right" price of oil? Obviously, it is the price the market is willing to pay. That is a function of supply and demand. Simple enough - it... more