A record for distance, voltage, and frequency will be set when ABB provides to Aker Solutions drives and transformers for the subsea power distribution system at Statoil's Åsgard oil and gas field.

Noble Energy has awarded Delmar Systems Inc. a contract to install five subsea trees in the Tamar gas field offshore Israel in the Mediterranean Sea.

Saipem has won engineering and construction offshore contracts in with a combined value of more than $1 billion.

Noble Energy has awarded Expro a $27-million well engineering contract for its deepwater E&P program.

Noble Energy has contracted EMAS AMC for a subsea spread for the Tamar deepwater development offshore Israel.

The offshore industry, in particular the Gulf of Mexico, is still in a retrospective mode, assessing the impact from the subsea blowout in early 2010 and the ongoing global economic crisis. However, with signs of economic recovery and the potential for higher oil prices, the level of confidence for deployment of subsea processing equipment shows signs of revival.

This month we take a look at E&P operations in the largest enclosed body of water on Earth, the Caspian Sea. Capex growth by 2016 is expected to hit $4 billion a year in efforts to tap more than 50 Bboe in reserves across the area. The big projects, ACG, Shah Deniz, and Kashagan lead the way for this hub of demand. Europe to the west and China to the east will generate demand for more production from this relatively lightly explored region.

The Galsi pipeline across the Mediterranean Sea will transport natural gas from Algeria to Sardinia and mainland Italy once completed. Parts of the 560 km (348 mi) offshore route encounter difficult seabed morphology, descending and climbing steep slopes in water depths approaching 3,000 m (10,000 ft).

Grenland Group is to deliver one integrated template structure and one manifold for FMC Technologies at Kongsberg. The total weight for the delivered structures will be approximately 350 metric tons (386 tons).