Wood Group, Talisman Sinopec Energy renew contract

Wood Group has been awarded its first major contract in the UK in 2014. The five-year contract extension from Talisman Sinopec Energy is valued at $500 million and includes an option for two additional, two year extensions.

Effective immediately, this award enables WGPSN to retain approximately 550 jobs onshore and offshore in the UK. This is one of two major contracts WGPSN has with Talisman Sinopec Energy. The other is for the provision of operations and maintenance services to the same 12 assets.

Providing useful resources, articles and writings on crude oil, other petroleum products, energy and gas. By O'Niel Petroserve Nigeria Ltd, online.

Drilling Tools International acquires Reamco, Inc.

Hicks Equity Partners (HEP), a private equity firm led by the Thomas O. Hicks family, announced that its portfolio company, Directional Rentals, Inc., has acquired Reamco, Inc., a company based in Lafayette, La., that manufactures, rents and refurbishes downhole drilling tools and related products.

Directional Rentals, an oilfield services company, has also been renamed Drilling Tools International (DTI). According to the company, the new name more accurately reflects its mission of renting, manufacturing and selling drilling tools, used in bottomhole assemblies, to oilfield services companies, independent directional drillers and exploration companies, both onshore and offshore.

Reamco specializes in the manufacture and refurbishment of stabilizers, drill collars, reamers and related products, and also offers grinding and hardfacing capabilities. The firm maintains key certifications from the API, and is ISO certified.

Reamco’s previous owners, Brent Milam and Ashley Lane, have become shareholders in DTI and have joined the company’s management team. Milam founded Reamco in 1985, and has served as the company’s president since that time. Lane was instrumental in Reamco’s founding, and returned to the company as CEO in 2011, after leading Drilling Logistics, Inc., for several years.

Providing useful resources, articles and writings on crude oil, other petroleum products, energy and gas. By O'Niel Petroserve Nigeria Ltd, online.

EU environmental impact assessment rules to trigger more competitiveness, growth

A recent European Parliament vote on new environmental impact assessment rules is a step forward in making Europe more competitive without compromising on the environment, according to the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (OGP).

“While not imposing unnecessary requirements on the upstream oil and gas industry, the new rules will guarantee that any development, including exploration for shale gas, will be subject to strict environmental standards,” said Roland Festor, OGP’s director for EU affairs.

The new rules confirmed the existing differentiation between exploration and production of hydrocarbons. It will ensure that the requirements for environmental protection become more stringent as a project progresses. This way, time and resources will be applied where they matter: on full environmental studies, once a project’s economic potential is confirmed and its development is going ahead.

Too many detailed requirements during the early phase of exploration - when commercial viability of a project is totally uncertain and operations limited - would have undermined key investments, without bringing any additional benefit to the environment.

“The vote is a positive first step in enabling the assessment of domestic energy resources. Opportunities, such as natural gas from shale, must be explored and, if promising, will be crucial to encourage future economic growth and create new jobs,” said Festor.

“Shale gas exploration is even more crucial now that the EU is devising its 2030 climate and energy policy. Gas is the best resource Europe has - cleaner-burning, reliable and immediately available - to help meet EU emissions reduction targets quickly and at a competitive cost versus alternatives,” he explained.

Shale gas development could have other significant benefits for Europe. According to a recent study from consulting and engineering firm Poyry, domestic EU development could create as many as 1.1 million jobs by 2050, while reducing the region’s dependence on energy imports and relatively lowering prices.

Providing useful resources, articles and writings on crude oil, other petroleum products, energy and gas. By O'Niel Petroserve Nigeria Ltd, online.