LAFAYETTE, LA. — Shell has voluntarily stopped using a fleet of Sikorsky S76 C++ helicopters in the Gulf of Mexico following a helicopter crash in early January.
The helicopters are operated by Lafayette, La.-based contractor PHI, Inc. On Jan.4, a Sikorsky S76 helicopter heading from Amelia, La. to a Shell platform on South Timbalier Block 300 in the Gulf of Mexico crashed, killing eight people aboard.
The National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority (NOPSA) is the occupational health and safety (OHS) regulator for the Australian offshore petroleum industry. NOPSA is a Commonwealth statutory agency that regulates under the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 in Commonwealth waters and equivalent OHS legislation in designated coastal waters of the States and Northern Territory.
NOPSA is currently investigating a fatal accident which occurred on the Karratha Spirit facility during disconnection of the facility from its mooring buoy in response to adverse weather arising from Tropical Cyclone Billy.
BERLIN: Germany’s financial crisis has forced several offshore wind parks in the North Sea to be put on hold, government officials said.
Some people involved in the wind farm project said they fear could worsen because of the lousy financial markets, Der Spiegel reported Friday.
MEXICO CITY: McDermott International subsidiary J. Ray McDermott has been awarded a contract by Mexican state oil company Pemex Exploración y Producción for the transportation and installation of the Ixtal-B and Maloob-C drilling platforms. These projects are in the Bay Of Campeche in 216 feet (65.8 m) and 272 feet (82.9 m) of water, respectively.
The businessplan envisages total investments of US$ 174.4 billion in 2013. This represents an annual average of US$ 34.9 billion, 90% of which (US$ 157.3 billion) in Brazil and 10% (US$ 16.8 billion) abroad and 55% more than the previous Plan.
Petrobras, a Brazilian international energy company, announces that its Board of Directors has approved the Business Plan for 2009-2013 period.
This Business Plan is based on the fundamental strategies of the Strategic Plan 2020. The Plan has been revised and up-dated to take into account the changes in the international macroeconomic scenario and its impacts on oil and oil products market. The Plan did not incorporate potential cost reductions as a consequence of the drop in the international oil price although the Company recognizes that the decline in oil should create the opportunity for cost reductions and will make its best efforts to lower the cost of its investments.
Two and a half years ago, the software engineers behind Google Earth, the searchable online replica of the planet, were poised to fill an enormous data gap, adding the two-thirds of the globe that is covered by water in reality and was blue, and blank, online.
But until then all of the existing features on Google Earth — mountains, valleys, cities, plains, ice sheets — were built through programming from an elevation of zero up.
“We had this arbitrary distinction that if it was below sea level it didn’t count,” recalled John Hanke, the Internet entrepreneur who co-created the progenitor of Google Earth, called Keyhole, and moved to Google when the company bought his company in 2004.
That oversight had to be fixed before the months and months of new programming and data collection could culminate in the creation of simulated oceans. On Monday, the oceans will be the most significant of several upgrades to Google Earth, with the new version downloadable free at earth.google.com, according to the company.
A shipwreck that is thought to contain more than a billion dollars of gold has been discovered at the bottom of the English Channel, marine explorers confirmed today.
HMS Victory, the legendary British warship that was the predecessor to Lord Nelson’s Victory, sank during a storm in 1744, taking more than 1,000 sailors to their deaths.
The ship’s location remained a mystery despite numerous searches, until Odyssey Marine Exploration discovered the wreck in May 2008.
Hallin Marine announced that its Indonesian entity, PT Hallin Marine Indonesia has won a US$8 million contract from Global Industries, Ltd. The project will commence in the first quarter of 2009.
The company’s Indonesian entity, PT Hallin Marine Indonesia will provide marine and subsea support of Global Industries for a gas pipeline repair project.
Hallin has put together a package consisting of a subsea operations vessel, a saturation diving system, remote operated vehicle, or ROV and personnel in support of the project.
PARIS — Technip (Paris:TEC) (ISIN:FR0000131708) and Subsea 7 announced today that they have agreed to dissolve their joint venture, Technip Subsea 7 Asia Pacific (TS7), once all its existing projects and tendered work have been completed.
Technip and Subsea 7 worked together on significant projects in the Asia Pacific region for several years. In 2006, TS7 was formed to provide subsea construction services in the region (excluding India and Middle East).
CARLYSS, La. — Global Industries, Ltd. announced today that its wholly owned subsidiary, PT Global Industries Asia Pacific Pte., Ltd. has entered into a contract with PT Transportasi Gas Indonesia (Transgasindo) to provide the replacement and zero downtime repair of a 28″ pipeline offshore Indonesia.
The contract is valued at approximately US$75 million and isscheduled to commence in February 2009, with a scheduled completion date of April 2009.