From Houston (BN): Conoco Phillips’ pullback from deepwater activity doesn’t come cheap. In cancelling its contract for Ensco’s DS-9 drillship, COP could pay Ensco more than $400mn over the next two years for the privilege of saving $200mn in the third year of the deal.

The final details of the termination are under discussion. In announcing the deepwater cutback, COP said it is targeting ‘cash flow neutrality in 2017 even if lower commodity prices persist,’ which sounds ominous enough.

COP chairman and ceo Ryan Lance said the company still intends to develop discoveries it has made and pursue strong onshore exploratory opportunities, but will reduce exposure to more risky exploratory prospects.

Expect this to be a hot topic during COP’s earnings call July 30. The move follows COP’s turning over to Chevron operatorship of 24 blocks including the Tiber and Gila fields as well as the Gibson exploratory prospect in northwest Keathley Canyon.

Petrobras has extended the contract for the GEOHOLM supply vessel by 18 months until December 2016. The extension is a direct continuation of the current contract and the vessel has been operating for Petrobras since January 2014.

Statoil and Norskan Offshore have signed a two year contract with two one-year options for the vessel Skandi Peregrino. The new contract will start after end of current contract on 23 December 2015, hence the vessel is firm until December 2017.

Skandi Peregrino has operated for Statoil in Brazil since 2010. The vessel is owned by DOF Deepwater, a 50/50 joint venture owned by DOF and Akastor.

North Atlantic Drilling has been awarded a $62mn contract extension for the semisubmersible rig WEST PHOENIX by Total, commencing in mid-March 2016 and securing work for the unit through the end of August 2016.

As part of the agreement to extend the West Phoenix, the company has agreed to a dayrate reduction resulting in a reduction to the remaining revenue potential of approximately $16mn.

AQUEOS and Bibby Subsea ROV have teamed up to market their combined services to pursue subsea projects in the Gulf of Mexico and other targeted regions.

Bibby Subsea, a provider of diving and diverless support vessels, manned diving, rov and engineering services on a world-wide basis, and Aqueos, a provider of manned diving and other subsea services are looking to increase their respective market share and expand their global footprint in targeted offshore oil and gas markets.

BP has awarded Maersk Drilling a 5-year contract extension, worth up to $523mn, for the HEYDAR ALIYEV mid-water semisub for work on the Shah Deniz field in the Caspian Sea offshore Azerbaijan.

The $523mn extension is in direct continuation of the current contract ending May 2016 and extends the contract until May 2021.

Sea Trucks Group has landed its first contract in Brazil.

It will provide accommodation support services to Saipem, including lifting operations, storage support and logistic support services for modifications works of an fpso.

The group will use its DP3 accommodation support vessel Jascon 28 for the work.

The vessel, which has recently been upgraded, has a 270t capacity main crane and will be connected to the fpso via its 42.5m hydraulic heave compensated telescopic gangway.

The work will begin in Q3 2015, with the contract set for a minimum period of four months.

In slightly off-beat news, an Aberdeen-headquartered firm has donated specialist subsea equipment to help solve one of the most tragic mysteries of the Second World War.

ASHTEAD TECHNOLOGY has been supporting attempts to discover exactly what caused the loss of 645 crewmen when the HMAS Sydney sunk on November 19, 1941.

The company has also provided 3-D survey equipment to study the wreck and inform conservation of what is a mass grave site.

The vessel had gone missing following a battle with the German cruiser Kormoran, which also sank. Since then it was never known why the Australian ship went down so quickly when it was pitted against a relatively small opponent.

With more than 70 years of mystery into precisely what happened, the survey work was able to show the ship had a 15-centimetre shell hole through the compass platform at the bridge. The damage would have disabled the control systems and meant the HMAS Sydney would subsequently struggle to defend itself.

Investigators are now assessing how the vessel has corroded and ways that it can be conserved.

Offshore