Cougar Oil and Gas Canada Inc. Announces Farm In on Heavy Oil Project

Cougar Oil and Gas Canada Inc. is pleased to announce a Farm-in agreement has been finalized with a public company regarding the development of a heavy oil prospect in the Manning area of northern Alberta.
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Source: Stockhouse

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Woodside confirms gas strike at Martin-1

WOODSIDE PETROLEUM is on track to order long-lead items for the much-anticipated expansion of its flagship Pluto LNG project by mid-year after confirming it had struck gas with the Martin well.
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Source: SMH

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Algeria awards only 2 energy permits in bid round

Algeria awarded only two out of 10 oil and gas permits on offer in a licensing round on Thursday, raising new questions about whether it has enough new projects coming on stream to maintain output levels.
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Source: Reuters

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Nexen To Reduce Up To $1 Bln. Debt

Canadian energy company Nexen, Inc., Thursday listed out actions to reduce up to $1 billion of its debt from cash on hand, with a view to improve its credit rating.
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Source: RTT News

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Japan Asks for More LNG, Oil Supply From Indonesia

Japan asked Indonesia on Thursday to supply it more liquefied natural gas (LNG) and oil after a devastating earthquake crippled a nuclear power plant.
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Source: The Jakarta Globe

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Pacific Rubiales sees no significant gas resources at Quifa

Canada's oil and gas company Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp said it does not expect the Quifa block in the Llanos Basin in Colombia to yield significant gas resources, but is planning a reserves update after it gets the necessary environmental clearances.
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Source: Reuters

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BP's contracts in Libya 'still valid' despite turmoil

"At the moment we just have to wait and see," a BP spokesman said. "We're monitoring the situation. We have a contract with NOC and as far as we know it is still in place."
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Source:The Telegraph

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PetroChina Plans to Add Gas Assets as Japan Quake Boosts Demand

PetroChina Co. pledged to accelerate acquisitions of energy assets and develop the country’s domestic natural gas resources as nuclear plant closures following last week’s Japan earthquake boost demand.
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Source: Bloomberg

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Thy Ferries bankrupt

Thy Ferries Cargo A/S has filed for bankruptcy and the activity continues in a newly formed company called TF Cargo. The old company Thy Ferries Cargo was unable to pay their bills after the first months of trading.
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Source: shipgaz

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Heritage Oil up after report it rejected a £1.2bn takeove

Shares of Heritage Oil, a Canadian company with a big gas discovery in Iraqi Kurdistan, have risen sharply on reports that the company rejected a £1.2 billion (Dh7.11bn) takeover offer as too low.
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Source: The National

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Vessel captured by Somali pirates used as mothership for additional attack By gCaptain Staff

According to anti-piracy task force EU NAVFOR, the bulk carrier M/V Sinar Kudus was hijacked by pirates approximately 320 nautical miles North Eas of the island of Socotra in the Somali Basin.  Just hours after her capture, the vessel was boarded by 30 to 50 pirates and used as a mothership for an attack another bulker, the M/V Emperor.  That attack however went unsuccesful when the pirates were repelled by group armed guards aboard the Emperor.
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Source: gCaptain

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Week of 10 March: Maritime Crime and Piracy Update

Weekly Maritime Crime and Piracy Summary (source: Office of Naval Intelligence)
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Source: gCaptain

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Saudi Aramco teams with Sinopec for Red Sea Refining Co. Yanbu refinery project

Saudi Aramco and China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) related to the ongoing development of the Red Sea Refining Company (RSRC), a world-class, full-conversion refinery in Yanbu’, on the west coast of Saudi Arabia. The MOU was signed by Khalid A. Al-Falih, President and CEO, Saudi Aramco, and Su Shulin, President, Sinopec.
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Source: Penn Energy

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Asian Container Freight Trade Set To Boom

A sea change in the buying habits and economic circumstances of the region has resulted in a shift in freight levels throughout the continent and threatens to further diminish the ocean shipping trade with the West. Transhipment container levels are growing annually in the area with estimates in excess of 9 million TEU’s passing through Hong Kong purely on intra Asian contracts.
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Source: Handy Shipping Guide

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DNV Reports: Large potential for LNG in regional shipping and power generation

The Joint Industry Project (JIP), which was initiated by DNV during Singapore Maritime Week in 2010, mobilised a consortium of 16 participants from all parts of the LNG value chain. Among the members are Gazprom, Rolls-Royce, Wartsila, Hanjin Shipping, I.M. Skaugen, Keppel, The Linde Group, Trans LNG, DNV, BW group, BBG, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, the two Singapore universities, NUS and NTU. The JIP is also supported by Innovation Norway and The Norwegian Embassy in Singapore. The study examined two areas of future use of LNG in South East Asia. These were LNG for small scale power production in offgrid island regions and LNG as fuel for ship propulsion.
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Source: Shippipedia

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China Shipping shows strong 2010 profit

China Shipping Development posted a 61.2% jump in net profit for 2010 over the previous year from higher shipment volumes. Net profit rose to RMB1.72bn ($261.76m) last year compared to RMB1.06bn in 2009. Revenue also improved to RMB11.28bn as against RMB8.73bn the previous year.
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Source: Seatrade Asia

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Big turnaround for OOIL/OOCL

Orient Overseas (International) (OOIL) has announced a profit attributable to shareholders from the OOCL container transportation and logistics business of US$841.6 million, compared to a loss of US$376.9 million for the equivalent activities in 2009.
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Source: Baird Maritime

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BOEMRE approves Gulf’s first deepwater FPSO facility

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) today provided the final approval necessary for Petrobras America, Inc. to begin oil and natural gas production at its Cascade-Chinook project using a Floating Production Storage Offloading (FPSO) facility.
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Source: GCaptain

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Ghana taps Trinidad for natural gas joint venture

Trinidad and Tobago's state-run natural gas company is teaming up with Ghana's state-owned oil company in a joint venture to transport, process and distribute natural gas in the West African country.
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Source: Reuters

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Armed guards repel pirate attack from ship hijacked previous day

A general cargo carrier that did not have armed guards on board was pirated yesterday. It was almost immediately used as a mother ship to launch an attack on another bulk carrier. That ship did have armed guards on board and the attack was repelled.
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Source: Marine Log

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Maersk vessels to slow no more - despite surging fuel costs

MAERSK Line will pass on higher fuel expenses to customers through bunker surcharges to avoid slowing the speed of its vessels down further in spite of bunker fuel prices being at a 30-month high.
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Source: Sea News

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Woodside boosted by big Carnarvon Basin gas discovery

WOODSIDE Petroleum's urgent bid to find enough gas to underpin a fast-tracked expansion its $14 billion Pluto gas project in Western Australia has been boosted by a major discovery in the Carnarvon Basin.
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Source: The Australian

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Bharati Shipyard Delays Fundraising, New Units

Bharati Shipyard Ltd. has put on hold plans to build two manufacturing facilities, and delayed plans to raise $200 million to expand a partly owned units.
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Source: The Wall Street Journal

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Maersk says ships to avoid Japan reactor area

Danish shipping and oil group A.P. Moller-Maersk (MAERSKb.CO: Quote) said on Thursday its vessels would not enter or pass through an offshore area close to an overheating nuclear plant in Japan.
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Source: Reuters

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Shippers see Japan ports able to keep cargo flowing

Shipping companies are confident of keeping goods moving through Japan's ports, using spare capacity at the largest to deal with cargo displaced from those devastated in last week's earthquake and tsunami.
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Source: Reuters

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Tankers still in demand despite bleak outlook, Hellenic ship owners dominate ordering activity

As the tanker market’s current orderbook has been decreased by 11% over the last year to 118 million dwt, against 132 million dwt, things are starting to pick up for ship owners, with BIMCO’s shipping analyst Peter Sand, reporting that the current pace of new contracts signed (albeit steady) is now slower than that of newbuildings being delivered. Still, as he points out the ongoing ordering activity is taking place at a time when the short and medium-term outlook for all tanker markets is quite bleak.
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Source: Hellenic Shipping News

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Siemens is helping the victims of the disaster in Japan

Siemens is conducting an international fundraising campaign to help the victims of the earthquake and its aftermath in Japan. Through March 31, 2011, Siemens will match every euro that employees around the world donate to a special bank account opened for that purpose. The company itself will set aside at least €1 million to cover these donations. In addition, Siemens is providing immediate on-site assistance, including medical equipment like mobile ultrasound devices and reagents for lab tests, as well as urgently needed water purification systems with a total value of €2 million. “We are deeply saddened by the extent of the disaster in Japan. Our fundraising campaign is a symbol of the profound solidarity we feel with our colleagues in Japan and with all the people of Japan,” said Siemens CEO Peter Löscher.
In the last few days, Siemens employees around the world have expressed their profound concern over the events unfolding in Japan. In the past the Siemens team has already demonstrated its tremendous willingness to help in the event of catastrophes, such as the heavy flooding in Pakistan and the earthquake in Haiti. Siemens doubled the donations made by employees worldwide. In this manner, the company supported reconstruction efforts in Haiti with donations in kind and contributions totaling over €2 million.
Source: Siemens (Press release)

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Uncertainty prevails in newbuilding

In the wake of the unprecedented disaster in Japan, global shipowners are bound to pause newbuilding order plans and reflect on their future strategies, as current market conditions are much too unstable to even foresee what’s to occur in a few weeks time, let alone years.
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Source: Asiasis

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Naming Ceremony for Vroon’s New Tanker Held at Hyundai Mipo Dockyard in South Korea

Vroon  reports that the namegiving ceremony for the MT Iver Beauty took place on Wednesday 16 March 2011, at the Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, Ulsan, South Korea. The vessel was christened by Maaike Steinebach, Managing Director of Energy, Commodities and Transportation (ECT) Asia and Country Executive Hong Kong, ABN AMRO Bank.
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Source: Shipbuilding Tribune

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Germany: Offshore Installation Vessels Owned by RWE Officially Launched

At the beginning of March, the first of two offshore installation vessels owned by RWE was officially launched after only seven months of construction. The works are thus already a month ahead of the original time schedule. The final large-scale components, the main crane and the jack-up legs, will be installed over the next few weeks. First tests, the so-called sea trials, are scheduled for July and August. On completion in autumn, the installation vessel will be the first of its kind worldwide than can transport up to four offshore wind turbines of the multi-megawatt class at the same time and erect them in water depths of more than 40 metres.
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Source: Shipbuilding Tribune

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Brother of dead Deepwater Horizon worker begs Congress for stronger safety measures

Fighting back tears as he spoke, the brother of one of 11 workers killed on the Deepwater Horizon rig begged lawmakers Wednesday to toughen worker safety laws and increase oil company liability for such accidents.
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Source: al.com

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Strong take-up for anti-piracy jets

Swedish company Scanjet reports an encouraging industry response for its anti-piracy solution, based on high pressure jets as used in the company’s tank cleaning systems.
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Source: Motorship

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Hyundai Heavy Industries Sends Donation for Disaster Relief Efforts in Japan

Hyundai Heavy Industries group is giving ￥50 million via its Japanese branch office to the Japanese Red Cross for disaster relief efforts in Japan today.
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Source: Offshore Energy Today

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Pipe-layer conversion for Brazil contract

Dutch company Alewijnse says that it is playing a major role in the conversion of the 8,250 dwt construction vessel ‘Agile’ into a deep-water pipe-laying ship.
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Source: Motorship

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Sinopacific begins two newbuild projects

Yangzhou Dayang Shipyard, an affiliate of Sinopacific Shipbuilding Group, has started building two new vessels – a bulk carrier and an LPG tanker.
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Source: Motorship

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Aker Solutions Enters Into an Agreement with Intergraph® Smart 3D Technology

Aker Solutions has entered into a contract with Intergraph using Intergraph's Smart 3D technology.  A multiyear contract, which includes SmartMarine® 3D, was signed in Oslo, Norway, this month with the first project deployment expected during the second half of 2011.
"Intergraph's Smart 3D Technology will help Aker Solutions to continuously work to improve productivity and quality through standardization and knowledge-based engineering.  In order to be successful, we need tools that enable us to benefit from lessons learned and best practices, while increasing our overall engineering capacity through automation.  The objective is to deliver better products to our customers," said Jann Kare Slettebakk, Chief Information Officer in Aker Solutions' field development businesses.
Gerhard Sallinger, Intergraph Process, Power & Marine president, said: "Aker Solutions is among a growing number of industry leaders that are adopting Intergraph Smart 3D technology as its next-generation engineering platform, because of the unique abilities it provides. I am proud that Aker Solutions, a leading player in the oil and gas industry, has chosen our technology for future engineering projects. Intergraph is looking forward to working with Aker Solutions and their input to future product direction.  Intergraph believes that Aker Solutions' industry knowledge will help to drive further productivity improvements in Smart 3D technology."
SmartMarine 3D is the world's most advanced 3D system for offshore and ship design, employing a breakthrough approach that is based on rules and automation. It enables optimized design and productivity while shortening project schedules. The software is providing companies with the capabilities needed to gain an edge in a highly competitive industry.
The ARC Advisory Group, a leading industry analyst firm, ranked Intergraph the No. 1 overall engineering design 3D software and process engineering tools (PET) provider worldwide according to its PET Worldwide Outlook Market Analysis and Forecast through 2013.
Source: Press release

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Kitanihon damaged seriously

Japan's Kitanihon Shipbuilding located in the city of Hachinohe, Aomori, is said to have been damaged by the latest devastating earthquake and tsunami.
There is no personal injury found, but some ships under construction and its Kugi ship-block factory located in Iwate, which is responsible for 60% block production, are seriously damaged.
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Source: Asiasis

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Norway: Statoil Secures Songa Delta Rig for Fast Track Development

Statoil has awarded Songa Offshore a contract for hire of the semi-submersible rig Songa Delta, for use in the fast-track portfolio on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS). The contract value is approximately USD 400 million.
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Source: Offshore Energy Today

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Transocean sells second jackup rig in two months

Transocean Ltd (RIGN.VX: Quote) (RIG.N: Quote) , the world's largest offshore drilling contractor, has sold its second shallow-water rig in less than two months.
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Source: Reuters

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Bharati Shipyard Delays Fundraising, New Units

Bharati Shipyard Ltd. has put on hold plans to build two manufacturing facilities, and delayed plans to raise $200 million to expand a partly owned units.
The shipyards in eastern India, part of an equal joint venture with Apeejay Shipping Ltd., won't be built for the next two to three years due to weak demand for big ships, said P.C. Kapoor, Bharati's managing director.
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Source: The Wall Street Journal

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Finland: TTS Marine, STX Finland Together on Viking Line’s Passenger Ferry Project

TTS has further strengthened its position as a top supplier of access equipment for RoRo and cruise vessels with the agreement of a new contract with STX Finland Turku Shipyard for the new environmental friendly passenger ferry for Viking Line.
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Source: Shipbuilding Tribune

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