:: Tight gas challenge
Posted: 29 January 2007
BP last month signed a major production sharing agreement giving access to two Oman fields and associated accumulations that could yield some 20-30 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

:: Going to market
Posted: 29 January 2007
Another of the region’s oil and gas industry service companies is going public. The United Arab Emirate’s Al Jaber Group is to make an initial public offering of its upstream process facilities business based in Dubai , GPS Group.

:: MIS gets second refurbishment contract from Arabian Drilling
Posted: 29 January 2007
MIS was awarded rig refurbishment contract of Arabian Drilling's AD-8 rig without tender. The first part which is the supply and replacement installation of corroded leg sections is valued at $ 4.3 million. The project is scheduled to start this month and be completed within June 2007.

:: Thule Power expected to leave shipyard in mid-May
Posted: 29 January 2007
Following various installation work at Dubai Drydocks, the reconstruction of Thule Power resumed after the rig returned to QGM Group LLC, Sharjah UAE on January 5, 2007 . A complete revision of the plan to complete the rig has recently been concluded. Handover from QGM to Thule Drilling is now scheduled for mid May 2007. The rig will commence on the four year fixed contract with Saudi Aramco following mobilization to Ras Tanura , Saudi Arabia by the end of May 2007.

:: Saudi Aramco, WellDynamics to Jointly Develop New Technologies for Advanced Multilateral Intelligent Completion System
Posted: 29 January 2007
Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil company, and WellDynamics, the leading provider of intelligent upstream completion technology, today announced that they are jointly developing a range of new technologies for multizone, multilateral intelligent completions.

:: PSL secures £6 million Oman contract
Posted: 29 January 2007
Oil and gas services specialist, PSL Energy Services Ltd, has been awarded a £6.4 million ($12 million) well services contract by Petroleum Development Oman (PDO).

:: Masdar spearheads carbon management program in the Middle East
Posted: 29 January 2007
Carbon management is a major thrust of the Masdar Initiative, the landmark economic development program of the Abu Dhabi government to promote advanced energy and sustainability.

:: Aabar subsidiary, Pearl begins oil production at Jasmine, offshore Thailand
Posted: 29 January 2007
Aabar has announced that its Singapore-based subsidiary Pearl Energy has begun producing oil at its Jasmine B platform at an initial rate of 2,300 barrels per day, marking a major milestone in the development of the oil field located in the Gulf of Thailand.

:: Angel nears $1 million target
Posted: 29 January 2007
The Mission to Seafarers in Dubai has announced that Inchcape Shipping Services (ISS), owned by Istithmar of Dubai, is to manage and operate The Angel, the seafarers’ support vessel currently under construction in Dubai.

:: AGR Secures Ensco jack-up for UK North Sea campaign
Posted: 29 January 2007
AGR Group, the Norway-based oil technology and services group, has contracted the jack-up Ensco 100 for a new multi-client, multi-well campaign in the UK sector of the North Sea.

:: Gulf Energy Maritime’s Gulf Elan named in Korea
Posted: 29 January 2007
Dubai-headquartered Gulf Energy Maritime ( GEM ) - the Middle East ’s largest independent commercial product tanker operator - has taken delivery of the second of 13 double-hulled tankers on order with Korea ’s Hyundai Mipo Dockyard ( HMD ) in less than three months.

:: Cost of Offsetting 4x4 Emissions is Less Than £25 a Year
Posted: 29 January 2007
The cost of neutralising the CO2 emissions caused by driving a typical 4x4* is less than £25 a year, according to the UK 's leading carbon offsetting scheme for car drivers

:: ENOC prioritises employee talent and Emiratisation
Posted: 29 January 2007
As employer of choice, Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC), recently sponsored the Oil and Gas Semi Annual HR Meeting held in Dubai on January 18, 2007.

:: Lamprell adds two contracts to orderbook
Posted: 29 January 2007
Lamprell was awarded a $30.3 million fabrication contract by Saipem to build six topside process modules for the Gimboa FPSO vessel which is destined for the Gimboa field, offshore Angola , operated by Sonangol P&P Angola . In addition to the main contract there is an option, for the sum of $8.7 million, for the fabrication of the piperack.

:: Wood Group signs long-term maintenance agreement with Suez for 665 MW Power Plant in Sultanate of Oman
Posted: 29 January 2007
Wood Group Gas Turbine Services division, part of international energy services company, John Wood Group PLC, (“Wood Group”), has been awarded a 16-year contract by subsidiaries of Suez Energy International (“Suez”) for the maintenance of eight General Electric Frame 9E Gas Turbines located at the former Al-Rusail Power Company in the Sultanate of Oman. The 16-year contract, worth approximately $92 million, was awarded to Wood Group and includes an innovative, risk sharing arrangement around the management of major maintenance for the 665 MW power plant.

:: Altinex, EnCana spud first well in onshore Oman campaign
Posted: 29 January 2007
Altinex has, with EnCana as operator, spud the first well in an onshore exploration campaign in blocks 3 and 4 onshore Oman .

:: Oceanteam signs three contracts for CLV Team Oman
Posted: 29 January 2007
Oceanteam Power & Umbilical has signed three contracts for work to be performed with Cable Lay Vessel (CLV) Team Oman .

:: New Saudi JV
Posted: 29 January 2007
Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T) has signed a Joint Venture with A.A. Turki Contracting & Trading Corporation (ATCO) of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia . The new venture, to be known as "Larsen & Toubro ATCO (Saudia) LLC," will be registered as a local company in that country. It will focus on electromechanical construction for the hydrocarbon and power sector.

:: Otto reports on Turkish drilling
Posted: 29 January 2007
Australian oil and gas exploration and development company Otto Energy Limited announced plans to drill the Yagci-1 gas exploration well in the Thrace Basin of Turkey and test the Umur-1 potential gas well when new equipment arrives and the drilling rig becomes available in about 3 months' time.

:: Total E&P underwrites Q-Marine Seismic survey
Posted: 29 January 2007
WesternGeco announced that Total E&P is underwriting a major portion of the first exploration multiclient wide-azimuth towed-streamer survey in the Gulf of Mexico . The “E-Octopus” project covers 475 Outer Continental Shelf blocks in the central Gulf of Mexico, about 125 miles offshore Louisiana in water depths of 4,400 ft.