Norway's Statoil has awarded a $50 million (NOK) contract to Wood Group Production Technology, a subsidiary of UK-based John Wood Group PLC, to supply downhole monitoring for Statoil's Veslefrikk, Asgard, Sleipner and Kvitebjorn fields in the North Sea. The 3-year contract, which will include two 2-year extensions, will operate from Wood Group Production Technology's Norwegian bases in Stavanger and Bergen with additional support from Aberdeen.
Pride International Inc. has been awarded a contract for drilling and related services in Central Africa. Pride will operate three land-based drilling rigs and two workover rigs, and will provide various other support services. Work will begin in late 2001 and all five rigs will be operational by mid-2002.
Brøvig ASA will upgrade the tanker Northia into a floating production, storage, and offloading vessel, at a cost of $22 million. Work on the ship will begin in January in Malta and was due to be completed by late spring. The FPSO Ikdam will work for Coparex Netherlands BV for 4 years at Isis field off Tunisia. Expro International Group PLC will provide and operate production facilities on the Isis FPSO (OGJ Online, Dec. 8, 2000).
BP expects to increase oil production from its four fields in Venezuela to 90,000 b/d from 50,000 b/d within 3 years, said the general manager of the company�s Venezuelan operations, Richard Morrison. BP�s local portfolio includes investments in operational contracts involving two fields in Zulia state, western Venezuela, and two others in eastern Venezuela.
Indo-Pacific Energy Ltd. has contracted to use Parker Drilling Co.'s Rig 252 to drill three wells in the Taranaki Basin, onshore New Zealand. The first well, Ratapiko-1, will be spudded by Jan. 12. Goldie-1 and Kahili-1 will follow.
