Deepwater Horizon: Anadarko settles with BP

BP has reached a $4bn (£2.5bn) settlement with a former partner in its Deepwater Horizon oil rig over claims related to last year's deadly explosion and oil spill at the offshore drilling platform.

Anadarko Petroleum's payment will form part of BP's $20bn compensation trust fund, set up to compensate victims and help pay for the clean-up after the fatal fire that killed 11 people and led to the largest oil spill in US history. Anadarko also agreed to drop its gross negligence claims against BP.

Texas-based Anadarko held a 25% stake in the Macondo well and has agreed to hand that to BP in return for a share of any funds BP recovers from third parties or insurance.

The settlement follows other agreements with Deepwater partners. In May, BP announced an agreement with MOEX Offshore 2007, a unit of Japan's Mitsui which owned 10% of the well. It agreed to pay BP $1bn. The following month Weatherford International, a Switzerland-based contractor that supplied parts to the rig, agreed to pay $75m to the trust fund to settle claims between itself and BP.
earlier

Rena: 20-minute window to change course

The ship would have travelled in a straight line for up to 20 minutes before it struck the Astrolabe Reef off the Bay of Plenty coast at about 2.20am on 5 October. and it is a mystery why evasive action wasn't taken.
Decoded transmissions sent by the ship show the vessel took a managed, deliberate turn without on-board navigational charts having been checked. Rena's navigators only used radar recognition of land, and possibly the port entrance beacon to find their way.

Reports that the Rena is breaking up are incorrect. Salvage experts advise that while the Rena is cracked port and starboard, it remains together in one piece and is in the same position as it has been for the past week.

MNZ Salvage Unit Manager Andrew Berry (who today replaces Bruce Anderson as part of a shift rotation) says oil pumping operations are progressing. A booster pump is now in place, which is hoped to begin operation soon.

"All going well."
here
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Rena: water not supporting bow, stern

Liberian-flagged Rena has been stuck for nine days on a reef 14 miles off the east coast of New Zealand's North Island, spilling about 300 tons of heavy toxic fuel and some of its hundreds of containers into the sea."What's holding the vessel together at the moment is the fact she's lying on the reef and some internal structures, companionways, ducting and the like inside the vessel," Maritime NZ spokesman "The ship is supported over part of its bottom and the water is not providing the usual support to the bow and stern so the static forces will be tending to bend the ship. In addition the waves will be causing changing forces that will tend to grow cracks,"
photoblog

Scarabeo 9: China-built oil rig coming to Cuba

Repsol has accepted two partners in the venture.Norsk Hydro ASA, Oslo, and ONGC Videsh Ltd. (OVL), New Delhi, signed an association contract in Havana with Repsol and Cuba’s state company Cubapetroleo SA (Cupet) to explore the blocks. Repsol YPF, which will remain operator, is retaining a 40% stake, and Hydro and OVL each will hold 30%.The gateway for the United States to end or weaken the embargo may be the giant oil rig, the Scarabeo 9, which could be on its way to the Florida Straits from a shipyard in Singapore any day now. The Spanish oil company RepSol is the first of several foreign energy companies scheduled to explore for oil in deep water 50 miles from Key West.
A spokesman for Spanish oil company Repsol YPF says a Chinese-made rig is on schedule to arrive off Cuba and begin drilling before the end of the year.

Spokesman Kristian Rix would neither confirm nor deny recent reports of delays for the Scarabeo-9 rig.

He says the project's schedule has always been based on a window of time during which the rig was expected to arrive, and it's impossible to predict exact dates for such a complex undertaking.

Rix said Thursday that the Scarabeo-9 is still on track to arrive and begin operations within that window.
Following the acquisition of several engineering companies over the last years, most prominently of Snamprogetti, Bouygues Offshore and Sofresid, the new Business Unit Saipem Onshore has become one of the world’s largest engineering and construction companies, serving primarily the oil & gas, refining and petrochemical markets as well as a number of diversified industrial ones, such as environment, infrastructure, marine terminals, etc.
More than 30 House lawmakers are urging Spanish energy company Repsol YPF S.A. (REP.MC) to abandon its plan to drill for oil in Cuban waters, saying such a move will bolster the financial strength of the Castro regime and could expose Repsol to criminal and civil liabilities in U.S. courts.

In a letter sent to Repsol’s chairman this week, the lawmakers say they “urge Repsol to reassess the risks inherent in partnering with the Castro dictatorship, including the risk to its commercial interests with the United States.”

Repsol spokesman Kristian Rix said the company “is abiding by U.S. embargo legislation, and our drilling plans are in accordance with” safety standards put in place after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Opposition to Repsol’s drilling plans ramped up in recent weeks, as the Spanish company prepares to begin drilling off Cuba’s north coast by the end of the year. A Chinese-built drilling rig that Repsol will use for the project is currently en route from Singapore to Cuba.


9480423 SCARABEO 9 Drillship 23965 2011

Flag: Bahamas

Width: 73 m
Length: 109 m

Vessel type: Platform
Gross tonnage: 31,331 tons
Summer DWT: 23,965 tons
Build year: 2010
Builder*: Raffles Shipyard
Yantai, China

Saipem Onshore

Ultra deepwater 6th generation semi submersible drilling rig

Classification:
DNV +1A1

Design type:
Frigstad D90

Dimensions:
Length overall: 115.00 m
Breadth (common deck box): 80.00 m
Depth (keel to main deck): 35.40 m
Moonpool dimensions: 42 x 8 m
Displacement: 31,000 t

Design criteria:
Water depth: up to 12,000 ft
Drilling depth: up to 15,200 m
Variable deck load: 8,900 t

Cranes:
2 100 t Liebherr revolving deck cranes with 60 m boom

Drawworks:
Dual ram rig type

Mud pumps:
4 Aker Wirth triplex pumps, 2,200 HP each.

Rotary table:
2 Aker Wirth, max. opening 601/2”. Rated capacity: 1,000 t, driven by hydraulic motor.

Top drive:
2 Aker Maritime Hydraulics DDM 1000 HY RR, rated capacity: 1,000 t – 7,500 psi w.p., driven by Rexroth hydraulic motors.

Derrick:
Aker Maritime hydraulic dual ram rig, 118 ft high. Hook load capacity: 2 x 2,000 kips

BOP:
1 Shaffer spherical preventer 183/4” – 10,000 psi w.p.
1 Shaffer double ram preventer 183/4” – 15,000 psi w.p. with shear capacity
1 Shaffer triple ram preventer 183/4” – 15,000 psi w.p.

Power system generators:
8 Wartsila 12V32LNE 7,200 BHP coupled with Coverteam AC generators 5,400 kW each.

Thrusters:
8 Wartsila FS3500-571NU, driven by 4,300 kW electric motors

Risers:
21” O.D., 50 ft long

Crew facilities:
Air conditioned living quarters for 200 people

Helideck:
Suitable for MI8, S61 and EH101

Reno: Mauro Balomanga, Filipino Captain

88 containers have been reported as fallen from the ship. Members of the public should not touch containers that reach the shore, or any of the goods that have come free from the containers. Officials had feared that a large crack in the ship’s hull indicated it was about to split in two but said at a news briefing on October 13 that a breakup was not considered imminent, although it remained a dangerous possibility. Mauro Balomanga, the ship’s captain, a 44-year-old Filipino man, was arrested October 12.

Rena:video crack, captain, 2d charged

Rena's captain had been charged under section 65 of the Maritime Transport Act. He faces a fine of $7,800 (£5,000) or a maximum prison sentence of 12 months if convicted.

More charges were likely, MNZ said.

He appeared at a court in Tauranga on Wednesday morning and was granted bail for one week, when he is next due in court.

Judge Robert Wolff granted his lawyer's request that the captain's name be suppressed because people "might want to take matters into their own hands".

The captain's passport has been confiscated and he is to remain at a nominated address approved by the prosecutors and make daily reports to a local police station subject to the needs of the salvage operation.

It is not clear how the vessel ran aground on a well-marked reef in calm weather.

The second officer of the stricken ship Rena has been charged. The man, who was in charge of the navigational watch of the vessel, will face a charge of operating a vessel in a manner causing unnecessary danger or risk in Tauranga District Court October 13).

4.07pm: Prime Minister John Key has announced the stricken Rena cargo ship has "stress fractures" in its hull and may break up.

videos

http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/massive-crack-rena-4460592/video?vid=4462136


http://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/5770592/Rena-disaster-Second-officer-charged-cracks-in-ship#share

Montecristo: Royal marines to the rescue

They boarded the 56,000-ton bulk carrier Montecristo and disarmed the pirates without encountering any opposition. USS De Wert was the first NATO warship to reach MV Montecristo and assessed the situation while the NATO boarding team was getting ready to intervene. British Marines, armed with pistols and SA-80 automatic rifles and operating from a Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship, the RFA Fort Victoria, sped towards the hijacked ship in inflatable boats as a British helicopter buzzed overhead.

“It was a compliant boarding — the 11 pirates surrendered without firing a shot,” said a Ministry of Defence spokesman. “They were arrested and detained on board the ship.” The ship’s 23 crew – seven Italians, six Ukrainians and 10 Indians — were released unharmed.

Four of the Italians were privately-contracted security guards, but in line with international practise they were unarmed and had been powerless to fend off the pirates.