Big Oil drop $2.5 billion in drilling rights rent for U.S. Acrtic, Norway seeks Big Oil for Barents Sea

Off Barrow Alaska

After plunking down more than $2.5 billion for drilling rights in U.S. Arctic waters, Royal Dutch Shell, ConocoPhillips and other companies have quietly relinquished claims they once hoped would net the next big oil discovery. The pullout comes as crude oil prices have plummeted to less than half their June 2014 levels, forcing oil companies to slash spending. For Shell and ConocoPhillips, the decision to abandon Arctic acreage was formalized just before a May 1 due date to pay the U.S. government millions of dollars in rent to keep holdings in the Chukchi Sea north of Alaska. The U.S. Arctic is estimated to hold 27 billion barrels of oil and 132 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, but energy companies have struggled to tap resources buried below icy waters at the top of the globe. Shell last year ended a nearly $8 billion, mishap-marred quest for Arctic crude after disappointing results from a test well in the Chukchi Sea. Shell.

Norway is opening more of the Barents Sea off its northern tip to oil explorers as it seeks to boost national crude production that’s dropped by half since 2000. The government plans to award licenses before the summer in the Barents Sea Southeast, an area disputed by Russia until a 2010 border agreement, which includes the northernmost blocks ever offered by Norway. It’s attracted interest from international explorers just as other parts of the Arctic, such as Alaska and Greenland, are relinquished amid a collapse in oil prices

[September 29 2015 Noble Discoverer: The Hillary thing ]
Royal Dutch Shell's abrupt announcement that it would cease all offshore drilling in the Arctic is surprising for several reasons. One is the unusual degree of confidence the company expressed as recently as mid-August that it had identified 15 billion barrels of oil beneath the well known as Burger J it's now abandoning. More significant than the immediate environmental activism is Shell's concern about who will oversee Arctic regulation come January 2017. In August, Hillary Clinton made her first major break with President Obama over the environment, announcing that she opposed Arctic drilling. "Given what we know, it's not worth the risk," Clinton said on Twitter. Despite the candidate's current struggle to shake off primary foe Senator Bernie Sanders, Shell may fear that a Clinton presidency would doom its chancy northern exploration.
it continues to hold 275 Outer Continental lease blocks. Indeed, Marvin Odum, director of Shell Upstream Americas, said in the written statement that the company "continues to see important exploration potential in the basin, and the area is likely to ultimately be of strategic importance to Alaska and the U.S."

[September 2 Noble Discoverer disconnected in the Chukchi Sea
Noble Discoverer semisubmersible has been disconnected  from its anchors in the Chukchi Sea by Shell after weather temporary put a halt to its Arctic operations over the weekend.   Shell had received approval at the end of July to only drill into the top sections of the Burger J and Burger V wells,    Shell was prohibited from conducting simultaneous drilling activity at Burger J and Burger V. Shell must plug and abandon the top section of the first well before proceeding with any drilling activity at the second well site.   read   and   more




[August 20 Burger J: Fennica with capping stack to contain any potential spill, on site near Chukchi]
The drill rig Polar Pioneer has been at work at Burger J since July 30, but was prohibited from drilling to oil-bearing depths until the Fennica, a vessel carrying a capping stack to contain any potential spill, was on site, and it arrived at Burger J on Aug. 12.

 FENNICA

Tug/Supply Vessel  Tug/Supply Vessel

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IMO:  9043615

MMSI:  230245000

Call Sign:  OJAD

Flag:  Finland (FI)

AIS Type:  Other

Gross Tonnage:  9392

Deadweight:  1650 t

Length × Breadth:  116m × 26m

Year Built:  1993

Status:  Active

[May 15 Polar Pioneer , Marshall Is-flag , High Specification Semi-Submersible rig, for Chukchi

Transocean Polar Pioneer

Polar Pioneer is one of two drill rigs that Netherlands-based Royal Dutch Shell petroleum plans to use as it moves ahead with plans to use leased space at the Port of Seattle to load drilling rigs and other vessels with supplies and personnel. It is preparing to explore for oil this summer in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska's northwest coast.

Activists expect a large turnout May 16, when a flotilla rally is scheduled against the Polar Pioneer’s presence in Seattle. Another big event is planned for May 18 near Terminal 5.   Kayaks May 14 threw an “unwelcome party”.The Port is leasing Terminal 5 to Foss under a two-year, $13 million agreement. Foss plans to load drilling equipment and supplies for the summer onto the Polar Pioneer and the Noble Discoverer, a 514-foot-long drill ship now docked in Everett.   "That rig is freaky big and scary,” a protester said.

[February 21 NOBLE DISCOVERER: Plans to drill in the Chukchi]
Shell has not given up on the Noble Discoverer or plans to drill in the Chukchi.

It has filed plans with the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, calling for the Noble Discoverer and a second ship, Polar Pioneer, to drill as many as six wells.  The Noble Discoverer has been “ice strengthened,” claims the oil giant, with “state of the art drilling and well control equipment.”

Rig Name: Transocean Polar Pioneer

Rig Manager: Transocean Ltd.

Rig Owner: Transocean Ltd.

Competitive Rig: Yes

Rig Type: Semisub

Semisub Generation: 4

Rig Design: Hitachi Zosen Arctic

Rated Water Depth: 1,640 ft

Drilling Depth: 25,000 ft

rig photo

RIG CONTRACT & OPERATING STATUS

Operating Status: Drilling

Operator: Shell

 

RIG LOCATION

Region: N. America - US Alaska

Country: US

Classification: DNV

Rig Design: Hitachi Zosen Arctic

Shipyard: Japan

Delivery Year: 1985

Flag: Panama

[March 2 2012]

Noble Discoverer

Shipyard for arctic modifications

At mid-afternoon April 1, Royal Dutch Shell Oil's drillship  entered Elliott Bay enroute to Vigor Shipyards, where it is scheduled to undergo cold-weather modifications before departing for the Arctic. The ship has been granted permission by the EPA to drill exploration wells in Alaska's Beaufort and Chukchi seas, beginning this summer. Additional approvals are required before drilling can begin.

[May 15

On February 26 Lucy Lawless, the actress who played Xena, [--b. 1968, 2011 Hunted: The Demon's Forge (Video Game) Seraphine (voice)] and six other Greenpeace activists illegally boarded a drilling ship leased to Shell Oil off New Zealand's western shore.
Lawless and the other activists have "occupied" the drillship to prevent it from departing on a "6,000 nautical mile journey from New Zealand to the remote Arctic to start an exploratory oil drilling program that threatens to devastate the Alaskan coastline,"
NOBLE DISCOVERER
Length x Breadth: 156 m X 26 m
Gross Tonnage: 13485, DeadWeight: 15296 t
Speed recorded (Max / Average): 5.7 / 5.4 knots
Flag: Liberia [LR]
Call Sign: A8XM6
IMO: 6608608, MMSI: 636014934

Ex Names History
Vessel's Name Flag Call Sign Last Reported
NOBLE DISCOVERER Liberia A8XM6 2012-02-25 22:48
FRONTIER DISCOVERER Panama 3FUS2 2010-08-17 07:17
DISCOVERER 511 2001-08-29 00:00
OFFSTAR 1982-04-18 00:00
JESSICA 1973-12-31 00:00
MATSUSHIRO MARU 1971-12-31 00:00
Rig Data: Noble Discoverer
Rig Name: Noble Discoverer
Rig Manager: Noble Drilling
Rig Owner: Noble Drilling
Competitive Rig: Yes
Rig Type: Drillship
Drillship Type: Turret Moored
Rig Design: Sonat Discoverer Class Rated Water Depth: 2,500 ft
Drilling Depth: 20,000 ft

Sedco 706:Transocean halt lifted

Sedco 706



Brazil has lifted an injunction to suspend offshore drilling by contractor Transocean, relating to a November 2011 oil spill in the Frade offshore field northeast of Rio de Janeiro.

Chevron had contracted Transocean's Sedco 706 rig, but Brazil's oil regulator ANP said in a July report that Transocean had no responsibility for the spill.

If it had remained, the injunction would have shut down Transocean's 10 drilling rigs operating in Brazilian waters, eight of them under contract by Petrobras, by Oct. 27. The court said there are 72 rigs operating in Brazil.

Fischer accepted ANP's argument that losses in revenue to Petrobras and the government in royalties would amount to more than 6.7 billion reais ($3.8 billion) over two years if Transocean's rigs were suspended from operating."The original injunction was groundless and targeted Transocean unfairly," a Transocean spokesman said. "The company and its employees were completely exonerated by ANP's investigation which concluded that the leak resulted from geological factors and was totally unrelated to the actions of the Transocean rig crew."

The Transocean ban is related to a lawsuit seeking nearly $20 billion from it and Chevron Corp .
The ban on Transocean remains in force in Frade. Chevron and Transocean say they were not negligent in the spill and are fighting the lawsuits and related criminal charges.
more
read
[August 3]A Brazilian court on August 1 ordered Chevron Corp. (CVX) and Transocean to halt their activities in Brazil in 30 days or face daily fines of 500 million Brazilian reais ($250 million). The court decision is part of ongoing cases related to a drilling accident last November at the Chevron-operated Frade offshore oil field. The accident caused an estimated 3,700 barrels of crude to seep from cracks in the seabed. Chevron voluntarily halted production at the field in March, when a second set of seepage was discovered at the field.
Magda Chambriard, head of the ANP, said during a Senate hearing that irregularities in the company's activities found by a Brazilian court were "light" and they "weren't reason for the discontinuing of the company's operations," according to comments posted on the Senate's website.

[December 12,2011] Brazil sues Transocean for $10.6 billion:The suit, which includes Chevron, could jeopardize oil companies' plans to step up their presence in Brazil after the discovery of huge offshore reserves several kilometers (miles) beneath the ocean floor estimated at 50 billion barrels or more.

Reaching that oil will be technically challenging but Brazil expects it will push its crude output to 7 million barrels a day by 2020. That could see it challenge the United States for the rank of world No. 3 oil producer after Russia and Saudi Arabia.

It also risks alarming foreign oil companies eager to expand in one of the world's fastest-growing oil frontiers, where state-controlled oil company Petrobras accounts for more than 90 percent of the output, and government leaders are moving to assert even greater control of natural resources.

HAI YANG SHI YOU 981 near Pearl River Mouth

CNOOC Ltd, CNOOC's listed arm and the country's near monopoly offshore player, is preparing to drill its first-ever deepsea well in the northern part of the South China Sea around the beginning of 2012 -- some six months behind an earlier plan. CNOOC geologists said in September that they have identified several major oil and gas structures through advanced seismic surveys, largely in two basins -- Qiongdongnan and Pearl River Mouth, both in the northern parts of the South China Sea.The mouth of the Pearl River forms a large bay in the southeast of the delta, the Zhujiang Kou. This bay separates Macau and Zhuhai from Hong Kong and Shenzhen. CNOOC Ltd would be using "Offshore 981", China's first home-made semi-submersible deepsea rig that cost 6 billion yuan ($940 million) to build. back

Kolskaya: sinks in the Sea of Okhotsk

Rescuers have recovered 14 survivors and located 16 bodies so far. 37 crew members still missing
[earlier] Three lifeboats the rescuers found soon after at the scene were empty. One lifeboat remained unaccounted for by search and rescue teams, who held hopes it could be found with survivors on board. It was located on Monday, but was also empty. Rescue workers have found a raft with up to 15 people aboard near an offshore Russian drilling rig that capsized in the Sea of Okhotsk - but it was unclear if they were alive, more

[earlier]"The Kolskaya keeled to its side ... and sank within 20 minutes. The depth of the water at the site is 1,042 metres (3,400 feet)," Russia's federal water transport agency said on its website.

Four of the survivors, suffering from hypothermia, were airlifted by helicopter to land and taken to hospital after the disaster struck at 12:45 p.m. (0145 GMT).
[earlier]The rescue operation is continuing despite night having fallen. The Emergencies Ministry says 14 people have been saved and four found dead. Rescuers had problems with lifting the dead bodies from the water and had to leave them floating in the sea until the storm, which sank the rig, calmed down a little,
The drilling rig belongs to the Arktikmorneftegazrazvedka exploration company, which carried out work under a contract with energy giant Gazprom.

The drilling rig, which can take up to 102 people on board, was built in 1985 in Finland. The rig started its operations in September to drill and test the Pervoocherednaya well on the West-Kamchatka licensed block of the Okhotsk Sea shelf.

The rig, which is 69 meters long and 80 meters wide, was intended to drill a well at a depth of 3,500 meters.

A Gazprom spokesman said that the rig had fulfilled its works for Gazprom by the time of the accident and was heading for its base.

Investigators have said they are considering the rig's tow in disregard of a severe storm as the most likely reason for the accident.

but in 1992 Emtunga installed the living quarter module.

SIZE AND WEIGHT:
The overall module dimensions 32.0 x 16.0 x 14.0 m, three levels. Total area 1550 m2.
Total weight 582 tonnes.

Rig Name: Kolskaya
Rig Manager: ArcticMorNefteGazRazvedka
Rig Owner: ArcticMorNefteGazRazvedka
Competitive Rig: Yes
Rig Type: Jackup
Jackup Type: Independent Leg Cantilever
Rig Design: Gusto Engineering BV Schiedam / Triangular
Rated Water Depth: 328 ft
Drilling Depth: 21,325 ft
Classification: DNV
Rig Design: Gusto Engineering BV Schiedam / Triangular
Built By: Rauma Repola Oy at the Rauma Repola Finland shipyard
Delivery Year: 1985
Flag: Russian Federation

more

The 'Neftegaz-55' tugboat, also owned by AMNGR, had been towing the Kolskaya rig and took part in the search effort, but pulled out after suffering hull damage. The tug, carrying 11 crew rescued from the rig, was limping to port.

'Neftegaz-55 8418459 NEFTEGAZ-55 UHKK Tug 1397 1987

HAI YANG SHI YOU 981, 船主 nears Okinawa

Hong Kong-listed CNOOC and international partners including Canada's Husky Energy Inc [under Ka-Shing Li] and U.S. company Chevron Corp will step up exploration of the deepsea waters in the South China Sea in coming years, with the first major production from the Liwan gas project operated by Husky.

The companies would mostly drill in the northern part of the South China Sea, industry officials and analysts have said, staying away from politically sensitive waters to the south to avoid territorial rows with neighbors such as Vietnam and the Phillippines.

"981 will start drilling late this month or in January," said a company official, referring to the country's first and only homemade deepsea rig Offshore Oil 981, which is designed to operate at a water depth of 3,000 metres and to drill up to 10,000 metres.


It was reported that Li Ka Shing second son, Richard Li Tzar Kai was courting Emperor Entertainment Group female starlet, Isabelle Leung

HAI YANG SHI YOU 981, 船主 drillship gone south

CNOOC 981 is moving South at 4 knots from Shanghai, presumably on sea trials. In May,2011, CNOOC announced plans to deploy its first floating drilling platform to waters within the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) claimed by the Philippines.
Marine Oil 981, HAI YANG SHI YOU 981, 船主 may be headed for Spratly Islands and a conflict with Vietnam.
2011-12-01 20:28 HAI YANG SHI YOU 981 29.21839 123.1751 3.7 181
2011-12-01 18:21 HAI YANG SHI YOU 981 29.34051 123.1904 3.4 183
2011-12-01 13:29 HAI YANG SHI YOU 981 29.6417 123.2491 4.1 187
2011-12-01 10:20 HAI YANG SHI YOU 981 29.86356 123.3032 4.2 186
2011-12-01 00:22 HAI YANG SHI YOU 981 30.42981 123.0966 4.5 168
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