SERVICES | SUPPLIERS

Nov. 5, 2012

SOR Inc.,

Lenexa, Kan., manufacturer of high-quality pressure and level measuring instruments for the oil and gas, chemical, petrochemical, and power industries, named Robert Cobb director of its North American sales. Cobb has more than 25 years' experience in the instrumentation industry and oil and gas markets. He previously was manager of outside sales for Endress + Hauser Inc. in Houston. He earlier worked for Tech Quip Inc., ITT Engineered Valves, and Andon Specialties Inc. in Houston.

Paradigm Drilling Services,

Aberdeenshire, secured £250,000 funding through the Technology Strategy Board to develop the prototype of its rotary traction systems for extended-reach horizontal drilling. The project is estimated to cost £760,000, involving the design, development, testing, and evaluation of the new drilling and completion tractors. Company officials claim it has the potential to change fundamentally the way long horizontal and extended-reach wells are drilled by translating rotary motion into forward traction to increase the rate of penetration. This will give more consistent weight on bit and remove stick slip, making horizontal drilling much easier, they said. It also addresses the issue of running and retrieving ultra-long complex horizontal completions more effectively.

The firm also was awarded an upgraded American Petroleum Institute license to include design engineering and welding as well as manufacturing and also holds both ISO 9001 and FPAL certifications. Paradigm Drilling Services is a subsidiary of Paradigm Group in The Netherlands.

ProSep Inc.,

Montreal, was awarded a $5 million contract for delivery of seven ProMix proprietary crude blending solutions to be installed at a large onshore crude processing terminal in Latin America to blend light crude into heavy crude for a uniform product to meet sales specifications. Delivery is expected to occur by the second half of 2013. The customer was not named. The ProMix patented technology is a compact in-line injection and mixing system that achieves homogenization of multiphase flows with low associated pressure drop. It can be adjusted to maintain mixing efficiency as flow conditions change, improving the performance of production chemicals or wash water. In crude blending applications, the ProMix reduces the amount of lighter and expensive mixing crudes injected into heavy crude while achieving a homogenously blended product. The technology can easily replace conventional mixing valves or static mixers in other applications such as crude desalting, chemical injection, and gas dehydration, company officials said.

Aker Solutions ASA,

Oslo, got a $50 million contract from ENI SPA for the Block 15 06 West Hub development in deep water 350 km northwest of Luanda and 130 km west of Soyo, Angola. ENI is operator of Block 15 06. The West Hub includes the main field Sangos and two additional satellite fields, Cinguvu and Ngoma. Aker Solutions will provide engineering, procurement, fabrication, and supply of static and dynamic steel tube umbilicals totaling 34 km in addition to associated equipment and hardware. The steel tube umbilicals will be manufactured and delivered out of Aker Solutions' facility in Moss, Norway, supported by project management, design, and engineering in Fornebu, Norway. Delivery is scheduled in the first quarter of 2014.

Aker Solutions also secured a 3 1/2-year contract to provide operations and maintenance services to Total E&P UK Ltd. and its joint venture partner DONG E&P (UK) Ltd. at the new Shetland Gas Plant. It is to provide operations, maintenance, and services support personnel for Total E&P UK at the plant, which will receive gas from the Laggan and Tormore fields west of Shetland. The contract includes an optional 2-year extension. Value of the Contract was not disclosed. Aker Solutions' contract party is Aker Offshore Partner Ltd.

Aker Solutions expanded its subsea business with the establishment of a subsea lifecycle service base in Labuan, Malaysia, to support all installed and future shallow- and deepwater projects within the Asia Pacific region. The new service base is in Labuan Federal Territory in Eastern Malaysia. It will support Murphy Sabah Oil's current Kikeh and upcoming Kikeh Phase II, and Siakap developments with an expected 20-plus years' field life. Other important projects in this region include Petronas' Kumang Kanowit development. Labuan Island is located off the northwest coast of Borneo, north of Brunei Bay, and faces the South China Sea. Aker Solutions officials said it is a strategic location due to its proximity to the current and planned East Malaysian development locations. The site also is accessible to Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, and China. Labuan has existing oilfield infrastructure and a port that supports local operators. The facility includes a workshop of 1,296 sq. m and a 75-tonne overhead crane and pressure testing capabilities of up to 15 000 psi. Aker Solutions also operates a high-tech subsea manufacturing center in Port Klang, Malaysia, that can manufacture a complete subsea production system. The company is investing to double the manufacturing capacity at the Port Klang facility.

Aker Solutions acquired a fabrication facility at Helgelands Industrial Park in Sandnessjøen, Norway from Ruukki Construction Norge AS. The transaction value was not disclosed. The acquisition is part of Aker Solutions' strategy to expand capacity in northern Norway as the offshore industry moves further north. Historically, the facility primarily fabricated steel structures, but it has not been in use since autumn 2011. Aker Solutions expects initially to recruit 40 workers for the facility. But before startup buildings and equipment are to be upgraded.

J&J Technical Services LLC,

Shreveport, La., added Renita Durbin to its artificial lift sales team. With 15 years' experience in the oil industry spanning the areas of health, safety, environment, and quality as well as lease acquisition and transportation logistics, Durbin will be responsible for business development in Louisiana.

Altus Capital Partners Inc.,

Wilton, Conn., through its Altus Capital Partners II LP and members of management acquired Gulf Coast Machine & Supply Co. (GULFCO) in Beaumont, Tex., provider of value-added forging solutions to energy and industrial end markets. This includes ring rolling, open die forging, machining, heat treating, and testing for products formed into seamless rolled rings, discs, bushings, blocks, and gear blanks. The GULFCO acquisition is the third for the Altus Capital Partners II LP, which closed in October 2011 with $200 million in commitments.

Expro International Group Ltd.,

Reading, England, won one contract from Murphy Exploration & Production Co. USA and another from BP Americas Inc. to provide tubing-conveyed perforating services and its drill-stem testing packages for two separate projects in the US sector of the Gulf of Mexico. Details and value of the two contracts were not revealed.

Swire Oilfield Services LLC,

The Woodlands, Tex., has launched its HydroLutions, a water management system for every stage of the hydraulic fracturing process. Company officials describe it as "a game-changing technology" that saves operators time and money. They claim the system also mitigates safety risks by minimizing the need for labor during deployment, operation, and retrieval. HydroLutions was used successfully on a series of commercial jobs in the Permian Basin and Eagle Ford Shale, they said. A key component of HydroLutions is the HydroDrive water transfer system with high-volume pumps, discharge manifolds, a specially designed retrieval and deployment system, and leak-free flexible pipe available in multiple sizes. The company says the pipe can be manipulated around curves, doesn't leak like traditional aluminum pipes, and produces 140 bbl/minute flow-rate. HydroDrive's extruded through-the-weave single-wall thermal plastic urethane lay-flat pipe deploys quickly and safely, requiring no lifting and fewer workers than are traditionally needed to lay aluminum pipe. The broad spectrum of HydroDrive components allows the system to be customized to meet customers' demands.

Baker Hughes Inc.,

Houston, said its new trademarked FracPoint MP sleeve with DirectConnect ports provides increased contact with the reservoir, offering more controlled hydraulic fracture initiation points and improving connectivity to the pay zone. The sleeve adds new capabilities to the successful FracPoint completion technique, using openhole packers to isolate multiple stages and ball-activated sleeves to divert the fracturing treatment into the formation. A single ball is used to open five sleeves per stage. Eight DirectConnect ports are placed 45 degrees apart over the sleeve's extension. At each stage, a ball is dropped, the sleeves are opened, and hydraulic pressure pushes the telescoping DirectConnect ports into the formation at high velocity to initiate fractures at controlled points along the wellbore. This results in accurate placement of the fracture treatment and better connectivity to the reservoir. With the FracPoint MP sleeve with DirectConnect ports, operators are able to fracture through five sleeves per stage with as many as 17 stages per well, connecting with the reservoir through as many as 85 sleeves and 680 ports, said company officials.

Baker Hughes also expanded the Hughes Christensen Talon platform of PDC bits, improving cuttings evacuation for greater bit cleaning and offering application specific bit profiles for superior directional control. It utilizes the company's trademarked StaySharp premium PDC cutter technology to maximize rates of penetration, increase performance, and get into the pay zone faster. It improves drilling performance while reducing days on well to minimize costs and risks, said company officials.

In other news, Baker Hughes launched a service for operators to design high-performing hydraulic fracturing fluids using produced and flowback water. Its trademarked H2prO water management service integrates technical expertise with chemical and mobile mechanical treatment technologies to construct water that maximizes production, minimizes reservoir damage, and reduces fresh water sourcing, storage, and transportation costs. It includes extensive pre-treatment analysis in which a team of scientists and engineers with expertise in production chemistry, pressure pumping, and water treatment determines the constituents in the water that must be treated—and by how much—in order to meet production requirements. Based on this analysis and the operator's requirements, application engineers choose the appropriate treatment from the extensive H2prO service portfolio. The most comprehensive in the industry, the company said, this portfolio includes options to address all major produced and flowback water contaminants, including total dissolved solids, heavy metals, total suspended solids, hydrogen sulfide, and other organic compounds. Post-treatment analysis verifies that the treatment program has met or exceeded specifications. Treating water at the well site enables operators to reduce by as much as 90% the cost of sourcing, transporting, and storing fresh water as well as transporting, treating, and disposing of wastewater, company officials said.

Champion Technologies Inc.,

Houston, specializing in oil field production chemicals, made two key appointments to its staff. Angela Tosh joined Champion as marketing manager for the Eastern Hemisphere and will focus on managing market segment strategy, bid proposal process, research, marketing, communications and branding, pricing, and new product launches. She previously was business development manager for 3sun Group and worked in marketing with a variety of companies in the energy sector including Derrick Services Ltd., AKD Engineering ,and Vetco.

Gary Smith also was appointed plant manager for the Aberdeen manufacturing facility with responsibility for daily management of all manufacturing, material movement, and plant logistics, including resource and asset management, technical operations, budgetary control, and capital appropriation. He has more than 20 years' experience in project management across a variety of industries including oil and gas, energy, pharmaceutical, and fine chemicals. He joins Champion from Aberdeen Scientific Services Laboratory where he was technical and quality manager.

Electromagnetic Geoservices ASA,

Trondheim, Norway, has expanded its previously announced multi-client basalt mapping project in the West of Shetland area to the Vøring Basin in the Norwegian Sea. The vessel Atlantic Guardian will continue acquiring controlled-source electromagnetic (CSEM) and magnetotelluric (MT) data through mid-November. EMGS's data will be used in conjunction with seismic data to determine the thickness of basalt layers and to improve understanding of regional trends in geologically challenging basins with significant potential for hydrocarbon reservoirs. The project is fully pre-funded and may be expanded subject to additional industry commitment and vessel availability.

EMAS AMC,

Singapore, the subsea construction division of the EMAS operating brand of Ezra Holdings Ltd., secured contracts valued at more than $65 million, including options, for projects in the Gulf of Mexico and off West Africa. The company will bring the Lewek Falcon, a versatile subsea construction vessel, into the Gulf of Mexico for a long-term campaign on the Walker Ridge Gathering System for natural gas in 2,500 m of water. Work will include transportation and installation of suction piles, manifolds, and jumpers along with pipeline pre-commissioning support starting in the first half of 2013. The West Africa-Equatorial Guinea contract extends an existing general service agreement with ExxonMobil Corp. for subsea engineering, subsea construction, and ROV support activities in West Africa through mid-2014. Project management and engineering will begin immediately from EMAS AMC's Houston office.

Hallin Marine,

Singapore a Superior Energy Services company, began a ROV support and inspection project in the Donghae gas field off South Korea in the Sea of Japan. The contract includes deployment of the latest addition to Hallin's fleet, the DP2 Kendal, supporting a range of underwater inspection and survey services for ROV and survey equipment onboard.

Korea National Oil Corp. discovered the Donghae field in 1997 and developed it to its current gas production level of 50 MMcfd. The field's total proven reserves are estimated at 250 bcf.

Smith Bits,

Houston, a Schlumberger company, released its next-generation Spear shale-optimized steel-body polycrystalline diamond compact drill bit tailored for unconventional shale plays. The company introduced Spear PDC bits into the shale plays in 2011 for improved drilling of curve and lateral hole sections. It claims this next-generation bit delivers a greater rate of penetration, reducing drilling costs in unconventional wells. A range of application-specific features were incorporated into the new bit, including improved body geometry and hydraulic enhancements engineered to minimize blade packing, improve cutter cleaning, and increase ROP.

American Bureau of Shipping (ABS),

Houston, leading provider of classification services to the global offshore industry, approved in principle a new LNG and regasification articulated tug barge concept introduced by Waller Marine Inc. The vessel has the ability to load liquefied natural gas from existing LNG terminals, liquefaction facilities, or traditional LNG carriers and transport the LNG to existing tanks, traditional LNG carriers, trucks, or marine vessels using LNG as a fuel. The barge also is equipped for regasification of LNG directly into a pipeline or to a power plant. An additional feature will be the use of natural gas as a fuel in the dual-fuel engines of the tug to drive the tug-barge unit. ABS said the vessel can move and deliver LNG more efficiently on a small-scale basis in locations where large LNG infrastructure would be cumbersome, costly, and time-consuming. The barge will be fitted with independent Type 'C' LNG tanks. To make most efficient use of the hull volume and maximize the cargo-carrying capacity of the barge, bi-lobe tanks of maximum width are centered along the barge centerline. The cargo containment system is split into four longitudinal independent tanks, each supported by a simple structure that isolates the tanks from hull loads. According to Waller Marine, these tanks will be constructed of either 9% nickel steel or stainless steel AISI 304L to contain the cargo at a minimum temperature of minus 163° centigrade. ABS worked with Waller from the inception of this project and has been the primary certification body in carrying out reviews, including a program review.

Murex NA Ltd.,

Addison, Tex., and Cetane Energy LLC, Carlsbad, NM, announced a crude oil railcar-loading agreement that will expand the existing Cetane facility in Carlsbad with addition of a crude oil storage tank and a 110-railcar transloading facility. The agreement provides Murex with exclusive rights to Cetane's unit and manifest facilities. "This facility is ideally located and provides us with another effective way to get our products to market," said Robert Wright, president of Murex. Cetane will provide 900 acres of rail and tank farms to Murex for unit train and manifest cars. Murex markets and distributes crude oil, ethanol, and gasoline blend stocks to major oil companies and regional refiners.