Subsea 7 Makes Changes To Executive Management Team

Øyvind Mikaelsen will step down from the position of executive vice president, commercial, for Subsea 7 with plans to depart in second-quarter 2018, the company said in a news release. He has worked with the company from more than 25 years.

He will be succeeded on Jan. 1, 2018, by Stuart Fitzgerald, vice president for strategy and technology, will be appointed as executive vice president, strategy and commercial. In his new role, Fitzgerald will be responsible for the commercial activities of the SURF and Conventional Business Unit as well as asset development, sales and marketing, strategy and technology, and the alliances, according to the release.

Elliott Seeks To Remove CEO John Hess Of Hess Corp

Activist investor Elliott Management Corp. is readying for a new fight with U.S. oil and gas producer Hess Corp. hoping it can remove its CEO John Hess, or push him to sell all or part of the company, The Wall Street Journal reported on Dec. 14.

New-York based Elliott, which owns 6.7% of Hess, is seeking changes including a dividend cut in “favor of stock buybacks”, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

A Hess spokeswoman was not immediately available to comment.

Elliott Management had earlier called for the breakup of the company and said it may nominate directors to its board.

BASF Plans To Merge Its Oil Unit Wintershall With DEA

Chemical giant BASF agreed to merge its oil and gas unit Wintershall with DEA to create one of the largest independent oil and gas firms in Europe, the companies said.

By folding DEA into Wintershall and creating Germany’s first oil champion, growth opportunities could await in large Western markets.

For BASF it represents a second chance to diversify outside Russia where it is heavily present via ventures with gas monopoly Gazprom.

The new company will produce about 590,000 bbl/d from fields mainly in the North Sea, Africa and Russia and have combined proven reserves of 2.1 billion barrels of oil equivalent.

BASF will control 67% of the new firm while LetterOne will own the remaining 33%

BASF could increase its stake in the company at a later stage by folding into it its pipeline business, which was left outside the initial merger.

The new group would consider an IPO upon completion of the merger, which is expected in second-half 2018.

Delmar, MDL Team Up To Establish Flex-lay Base In US

Delmar Systems, a global mooring specialist, has entered a partnership with pipelay equipment provider Maritime Developments (MDL), to set up a flex-lay base in the USA, a news release said.

The agreement will see a suite of MDL’s equipment move into Delmar’s yard in Port Fourchon, Louisiana, where it will have access for work in the Gulf of Mexico and other parts of the world.

The facility encompasses 11 acres of shore space, 600 feet of dockside access and a 300-ton extended reach crane. Using the MDL flex-lay equipment, the partnership will offer a wide range of cost-saving services to energy businesses in the region, reducing mobilization costs and mission times safely and efficiently.

Subsea UK Unveils New Board For 2018-2019

The industry body that represents more than 300 member companies involved in Britain’s subsea sector has named its new board.

Bill Edgar serves as the organization’s chairman, while Neil Gordon serves as chief executive.

Board members are David Rennie, Scottish Enterprise; Bill Cattanach, the Oil & Gas Authority; Mark Richardson, Apache North Sea; David Sheret, Archer Knight Ltd.; Nicky Etherson, Bibby Offshore; and Zander Bruce, BP North Sea.

The remaining board seats will be held by Geoff Lyons, BPP-TECH; Peter Blake, Chevron Energy Technology; Tim Sheehan, Oceaneering; Cameron Mitchell, Shell UK; and Phil Simons, Subsea 7.

ExxonMobil Completes LNG Acquisition In Mozambique’s Area 4

A transaction by ExxonMobil Development Africa B.V. to acquire a 25% indirect interest in Mozambique’s gas-rich Area 4 block from Eni and assume responsibility for midstream operations has been completed, ExxonMobil Corp. said.

ExxonMobil will lead the construction and operation of all future natural gas liquefaction and related facilities, while Eni will continue to lead the Coral floating LNG project and all upstream operations. The operating model will enable the use of best practices and skills with each company focusing on distinct and clearly defined scopes while preserving the benefits of an integrated project.

The deepwater Area 4 block contains an estimated 2.4 Tcm (85 Tcf) of natural gas in place.

ExxonMobil now owns a 35.7% interest in Eni East Africa S.p.A. (to be renamed Mozambique Rovuma Venture S.p.A.), which holds a 70% interest in Area 4, and is co-owned with Eni (35.7%) and CNPC (28.6%). The remaining interests in Area 4 are held by Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos E.P. (10%), Kogas (10%) and Galp Energia (10%).

Mozambique President Replaces Energy, Foreign Ministers

Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi has sacked four ministers, including those with the foreign affairs and energy portfolios, his office said, without giving a reason.

Energy is a key portfolio in Mozambique, which has vast untapped offshore gas reserves that are being developed by oil majors such as Italy’s Eni.

Nyusi’s office said Ernesto Max Elias Tonela had replaced Leticia da Silva Klemens as minister of energy and mineral resources and Jose Condugua Antonio Pacheco was the new foreign minister, replacing Oldemiro Baloi.

The president also replaced the ministers of industry and trade and of agriculture and food security.

Tonela, the new energy minister, previously served as commerce minister. An economist by training, Tonela has also worked on the board of the Hidroelectrica de Cahora Bassa SA company responsible for Mozambique’s 2,000 megawatt hydroelectric dam.

Kuwait Names New Oil, Finance Ministers In Cabinet Reshuffle

Kuwait replaced its oil, finance and defense ministers in a cabinet reshuffle on Dec. 11, state news agency KUNA reported.

Bakhit al-Rashidi was appointed the new oil minister of the OPEC member state and Nayef Falah al-Hajraf was named the new finance minister, KUNA said, citing a royal decree.

Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad, son of the ruling Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, was appointed the new minister of defense.

The previous cabinet resigned Oct. 30 when its information minister was questioned by parliament and faced a no-confidence vote over alleged violations of budgetary and legislative rules. Mohammed Nasser Al-Jabri was named the new minister.

The major oil producer has the oldest legislature among the Gulf Arab states and experiences frequent cabinet reshuffles. The previous government was formed in February.

Rashidi, who replaced Essam al-Marzouq as oil minister, is CEO of Kuwait Petroleum International Ltd. (KPI), the international downstream subsidiary of state-run Kuwait Petroleum Corp. There was no immediate announcement about his KPI post.

Hajraf replaced Anas al-Saleh, who had been finance minister since early 2014. Hajraf was previously chairman of the board of commissioners of the Capital Markets Authority, the securities regulator.

Saleh was named deputy prime minister and state minister for cabinet affairs.

Premier Oil Awards Operations, Maintenance Contract To Sparrows

Sparrows Offshore Group Ltd. said on Dec. 7 it has secured a new five-year contract with Premier Oil for the provision of crane operations and maintenance across two of its North Sea assets.

The scope of work, awarded to Sparrows for the first time, will see the company provide offshore crane operations and maintenance, including major component change out and overhaul, to the Balmoral floating production vessel and the Solan installation.

The contract encompasses all cranes and associated mechanical, electrical, hydraulic and instrumentation on the fields. Sparrows will also be responsible for all inspection, condition monitoring, management of maintenance strategies and full engineering scopes. Onshore support and repairs will be conducted from Sparrows global headquarters in Aberdeen.

The Solan Field, located 96 km (59 miles) northwest of the Orkney Islands, achieved first oil in April 2016 and can store up to 300,000 bbl of crude oil. Balmoral is positioned 200 km (124 miles) northeast of Aberdeen at a water depth of 143 m (469 ft).

The contract comes just weeks after Sparrows said that it had been awarded a three-year year crane management services contract with Chrysaor Holdings Ltd. for the three operating assets it took ownership of from Royal Dutch Shell in November.

Sonangol Settles Dispute With Cobalt International Energy

Angola’s state oil company Sonangol said on Dec. 19 it had settled all disputes with Houston-based Cobalt International Energy and would pay the U.S. oil firm $500 million for its stakes in two offshore oil blocks.

Cobalt had filed arbitration requests in May seeking in excess of $2 billion due to the impact of failed extension talks on its attempts to sell offshore blocks 20 and 21 in Angola.

Sonangol said it would pay $150 million by Feb. 23 and a further $350 million by July 1.

“Sonangol will continue the development of strategies and actions with all stakeholders to relaunch the stability and attractiveness of the hydrocarbons industry in Angola,” Sonangol CEO Carlos Saturnino said in a news release.

Cobalt CEO Timothy Cutt wished them “all the best” in developing the assets, saying the resolution was in the best interest of stakeholders.

The settlement is subject to approval by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.

SBM Wraps Up $720 Million Financing Of Liza FPSO Unit

SBM Offshore has completed the project financing of the Liza FPSO unit for $720 million, having secured financing by a consortium of 12 international banks, the company said Dec. 20.

The company said it expects to draw the loan in full, phased over the construction period of the FPSO unit, which is owned and will be operated by SBM. The financing will become non-recourse once the FPSO unit is completed and pre-completion guarantees have been released, according to the release.

The unit is a converted very large crude carrier capable of producing up to 120,000 bbl/d of oil with an associated gas treatment capacity of about 4.8 MMcm/d (170 MMcf/d )and water injection capacity of about 200,000 bbl/d. It will be spread moored at the Esso Exploration and Production Guyana-operated Liza Field offshore Guyana. Esso is an affiliate of ExxonMobil, holding a 45% interest in the Stabroek Block where the field is located. Partners are Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd. (30%) and CNOOC Nexen Petroleum Guyana Ltd. (25%).

—Staff & Reuters Reports