Aker Solutions has successfully installed an autonomous drone system on Aker BP’s Edvard Grieg platform in the North Sea, enabling frequent, remote inspections from shore.
the Edvard Grieg platform, offshore North Sea
The company recently completed the first offshore beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) drone operation, piloted from its onshore control center in Stavanger. The inspection flight was carried out using an installed drone on Aker BP’s Edvard Grieg platform.
OKEA ASA and its partners in production license 055 have made a discovery that is estimated to hold 300,000 to 2.8 million barrels of recoverable oil equivalent along the eastern flank of the already producing Brage field on Norway’s side of the North Sea.
Two appraisal wells drilled by Equinor ASA in the North Sea about 20 kilometers (12.43 miles) east of the Troll A platform have shown a suitable reservoir for carbon dioxide (CO2) storage.
Perenco CEO Armel Simondin said, “This test has met our expectations, both in terms of technical execution and the quality of data gathered. These insights are instrumental as we move to the next phase of developing the Poseidon Project. The successful test highlights the role our industry can play in the UK’s decarbonization efforts. The Perenco CCS team and our joint venture partners are now fully focused on interpreting the results and converting new insights into an evidence-based development plan for Project Poseidon”.
According to the operator, Tyra II will ensure continued production of natural gas with 30% less CO2 emissions than before the shutdown and will contribute to energy security and independence in Denmark and Europe through the export pipelines to Nybro and Den Helder.
Plans to shut down a vital terminal in the North Sea have sparked a bitter legal row over claims it will damage the UK’s oil and gas production.
Light crude from the U.S. has been winning over customers globally with its low sulfur content and refining qualities similar to other light grades from the North Sea and Africa.
If Permian crude gets lighter than it is right now, refiners may have to use heavier grades to blend it.
Chances are that crude pumped from the Permian could become increasingly lighter as output continues to rise to record highs and drillers are moving to lower-quality locations with more associated natural gas at wells.
Shell’s Selene exploration well in the UK southern North Sea reached a total depth of 3,540 m last week and has encountered gas in a 160-m thick Leman sandstone section.
Ithaca Energy completed a 754 million pound ($993 million) deal to buy nearly all of Eni’s UK oil and gas producing assets, it said on Thursday, an all-share transaction to create one of the biggest independent energy companies in the North Sea.
North Sea oil and gas operators are not just facing the prospect of higher windfall taxes, they are now also finding it more difficult to get loans from UK banks.
The windfall profit tax was imposed on the energy industry in 2022 amid record profits resulting from the supply uncertainty in oil and gas following the incursion of Russian troops into Ukraine.
According to data from Norwegian investment bank SpareBank 1 Markets, reserve-based lending to oil and gas operators in the UK’s North Sea had fallen by some 40-50% since the introduction of the windfall profit tax.