The dispute over who will run operations for a major offshore oil discovery in Mexico could eventually come down to the technical opinion of the country's independent oil regulator, according to one of the body's commissioners. Closed-door talks between national oil company Pemex and a private consortium led by U.S.-based Talos Energy over who will... Continue Reading →
Floating Production Rebound Continues
Activity in the deepwater sector took a huge hit in the second half of last decade as a result of a global oil demand/supply imbalance, downturn in oil prices, hiatus in Petrobras production floater orders and large industry cutbacks in upstream spending. The downturn was the worst to ever hit the offshore sector. Orders for... Continue Reading →
Prosafe Expects Drop in 2020 Fleet Utilization and Day Rates
Offshore accommodation provider Prosafe has forecast a tougher year ahead, compared to 2019, expecting a drop in flotel rig fleet utilization and day rates falling. The company on Thursday reported a quarterly net loss of $13.3 million (compared to a loss of 35.7 million in Q4 2018). The flotel provider said it would work on... Continue Reading →
Most High-Impact Wells in 2020 to be Drilled in Africa & Americas
The majority of high impact offshore exploration wells in 2020 will be drilled in Africa and the Americas, Rystad Energy, an energy research group based in Norway has said. Rystad Energy rates wells as high-impact by an assessment of several factors. These involve the size of the prospects, hydrocarbon play-opening potential in frontier or emerging... Continue Reading →
Repsol to make use of one-well option for Maersk drillship
Spanish oil company Repsol has exercised a one-well option under its contract for the Maersk Drilling-owned drillship Maersk Valiant for operations offshore Mexico. However, Maersk Drilling said on Wednesday that Repsol would not make use of the second one-well option included in the original contract from June 2019 for the 2014-built Maersk Valiant. Repsol has now exercised... Continue Reading →
Shell leases Grupo R rig for Gulf of Mexico operations
Mexican operator Grupo R has signed a contract with Shell for the lease of the La Muralla IV drilling rig to operate in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Grupo R said on Tueday that the integrated contract model signed with Shell would provide Shell with the drilling rig, as well as the... Continue Reading →
Grupo R gets Hokchi drilling contract off Mexico
Mexico’s energy services provider Grupo R has signed an offshore drilling and logistics contract with compatriot Hokchi Energy, a subsidiary of Argentinean firm Pan American Energy. Grupo R said on Thursday that it would be using the Cantarell III jack-up rig to drill wells during the Hokchi field development campaign off the coast of the... Continue Reading →
Pemex Pushes for State Control Over Zama
Mexico's state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos wants operational control over a major offshore oil area discovered by a consortium of private companies before development gets underway, its top official said on Wednesday. Pemex Chief Executive Officer Octavio Romero told a news conference the company believes most of the crude found by the consortium, in the... Continue Reading →
IOC Hires Frontera for Geohazard Survey in Mexico
International Oil Company (IOC) has hired Frontera to undertake geohazard survey offshore Mexico. Mobilization for the project is underway and offshore work is expected begin and complete during March 2020. Frontera is an established offshore services contractor in Mexico since 2001. To remind, in August 2019, Frontera entered into an exclusive collaboration with DOF Subsea for the... Continue Reading →
Grupo R’s newbuild jack-up rig reaches Mexico
Mexico’s energy services provider Grupo R has informed that its newbuild jack-up rig Cantarell III has arrived from Singapore to Mexico ahead of a new contract, which is set to start in March 2020. The Cantarell III jack-up rig was built by offshore rig builder Keppel in Singapore. Keppel completed and delivered the rig to the... Continue Reading →
Brazil Energy Insight 