BUSINESS BRIEFS

Poseidon Maritime Ltd (PML), the global provider of engineering, marine, and safety consultancy services, has appointedGraeme Reid as operations and commercial manager, and John Ramsey as health and safety manager. Reid will oversee the planning and execution of PML’s global consultancy business in Aberdeen and will actively strengthen the company’s marine, engineering, and security areas. Ramsey will be responsible for the health and safety of staff and associate consultants.

Martin R. Ferron has succeeded Owen E. Kratz as CEO of Helix Energy Solutions. Kratz will continue with the company in the role of executive chairman of the board. Ferron has been with Helix Energy Solutions since 1997. He became president in 1999 and served as COO from January 1998 until August 2005.

Vince Pizzoni has been appointed managing director of V.People, which is expanding into the North Sea for it’s new energy operation, V.People Energy. Pizzoni will be leading V.People Energy as it seeks to build a client base in the North Sea.

Morrison

Red Spider Technology has opened an office in the Middle East and appointedWillie Morrison as regional manager. Morrison will be responsible for establishing and running the company’s regional office in Jebel Ali. He will be promoting Red Spider Technology’s well intervention and completion solutions to clients operating in the area, working through a network of agents.

Knight Well Services, a division of Knight Oil Tools, has namedRene Bergeron account manager for the Houston facility. Bergeron’s responsibilities will be sales and new business development for all Houston, Dallas, Lafayette, and New Orleans-based customers.

PSL Energy Services Ltd has appointedTrevor Mackie as proposal manager. Mackie will be based at PSL’s Aberdeen headquarters but will assist the company’s regional offices in-country with the preparation proposals and tender submissions.

Mariner Energy Inc. has appointedJohn H. Karnes as senior VP, CFO, and treasurer. Karnes will replace Rick G. Lester.

Robert Baker has been named general manager for Applied Electronic Systems (AES), a Sondex company. As general manager, Baker will be responsible for product manufacturing, sales, tech support, and service for Sondex’s Wireline and Drilling products throughout the Lafayette region.

Watt

Sondex has namedAnthony Watt as region manager for the Middle East, Russia, and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). As region manager, Watt will be based in Dubai and is responsible for growing Sondex’s business throughout the region.

InterMoor Inc., an Acteon company, has namedBrent Boyce subsea installation manager. Boyce will be based at InterMoor’s Houston office and will be responsible for the management of InterMoor’s Compensated Anchor-handler Subsea Installation Method (CASIM) and other installation activities. He will also be assisting in the marketing of CASIM.

Hallin Marine has strengthened its senior management team.Jon Attenburrow has been promoted to regional managing director and takes control of operations in Southeast Asia, India, Australia, and North America. He will be based in Singapore.

Mike Arnold has also been promoted to regional managing director and will run operations in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa from Hallin’s offices in Aberdeen.

Payne

John Payne has joined the company as the group COO. Based at the services headquarters in Singapore, he will be responsible for contractual, risk management and legal functions for Hallin as well as marine vessel chartering and procuring, building, and maintaining the company’s subsea operations assets.

Transocean Inc. has several new appointments within the company’s senior management team.Jean Cahuzac has been named president. Cahuzac previously served as executive VP and COO of the company. Steven Newman has been named executive VP and COO. Newman previously served as senior VP of human resources and information process solutions. David Mullen has been named senior VP of marketing and planning. Mullen previously served as VP of the company’s North and South America unit. Robert Saltiel has been named senior VP of the company’s North and South America unit. Saltiel previously held the position of senior VP of marketing and planning.

Eads

Rodney Eads has been hired as the new COO for Pride International. Eads previously served as the senior VP of Diamond Offshore Drilling Co. He was responsible for the operations of Diamond’s worldwide fleet of 45 offshore drilling vessels operating in the US, Europe, Far East, Australia, and South America.

Companies

Sondex Plc, a leading supplier of downhole technology to the oil and gas industry, has entered into a pre-acquisition agreement with Canadian-based Innicor Subsurface Technologies Inc. Under the agreement, Sondex will acquire all of Innicor’s outstanding common shares. The acquisition is expected to be final in early November 2006 and will form the basis for a Completions Division at Sondex.

Aker Floating Production of Norway has placed an order with UK engineering company Peter Brotherhood Ltd to supply a steam turbine driven generator set. The 5 MW set will consist of a turbine, gearbox, and generator, all mounted on a common bedplate which incorporates the oil system and a separate water cooled condenser mounted directly below the turbine’s exhaust.

RigNet Inc. and LandTel Communications have merged. The merger creates what is believed to be the largest oilfield communications company in the world. “Our alliance with RigNet will give us access to RigNet’s network and infrastructure and strengthen our presence and capability in North America, while simultaneously enhancing our product line,” said Les Babin, president of LandTel Communications. “We will be able to leverage each other’s strengths and provide our respective customers with the very best experience and highest level of customer service possible.”

Subsea 7 has been awarded a significant contract offshore Angola by Cabinda Gulf Oil Company Ltd. The EPIC (engineering, procurement, installation and commissioning) work scope is for the development of the Tombua and Landana fields in block 14, offshore the province of Cabinda in Angola. The project is to tie-back a subsea well center, located approximately 9 km from the new Tombua Landana Compliant Production Tower. Subsea 7 will fabricate and install steel pipelines, flowline jumpers, connectors and umbilicals as well as install operator supplied equipment such as manifolds and distribution units. The Tombua and Landana fields are in water depths of between 270 m and 370 m.

Aker Kvaerner has been awarded a contract with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co Ltd. in South Korea for delivery of drilling facilities for an ultra deepwater semisubmersible drilling rig ordered by an international drilling contractor. The scope of work for Aker Kvaerner is to deliver a complete drilling package including engineering, equipment deliveries, and commissioning services. The ultra deepwater semisubmersible drilling rig is scheduled for delivery in 2009. The drilling rig will be designed for worldwide operation in harsh environment, including operation on the Norwegian continental shelf.

C&C Technologies has signed an agreement to become an OEM supplier of differential GPS (DGPS) products for Saab TransponderTech. Under the agreement, C&C Technologies will distribute Saab R4 DGPS systems through its worldwide network of dealers.

Weatherford International Ltd. has acquired OMNI Laboratories Inc. The acquisition adds several components to Weatherford’s multi-disciplined geoscience and engineering capability, including one of the industry’s most experienced team of geologists, engineers, and technicians.

BJ Tubular Services was awarded a contract to provide conductor driving services offshore Qatar for the Qatargas 3 and Qatargas 4 projects. The gas field is approximately 55 mi from the northeastern coast of Qatar. Work on this two-year contract is scheduled to begin this autumn, with the majority of services scheduled for completion by March 2007.

Roemex Ltd. has expanded its development and operations by opening a base in Houston. Roemex LP will be a Texas registered company that has a focus on drilling and completions clean up and displacement solutions. It will support its ongoing operations in South America, and develop the chemical supply that it has had in the GoM for the last seven years.

SeaQuest and S & J Diving have agreed to separate. As part of this agreement, SeaQuest Diving has purchased all of S&J’s offshore dive support equipment, and its 160-ft 4-point anchor vessel, the Deep Sea Champion.

JDR Umbilical Systems was awarded a contract to deliver an umbilical to the SE Asia region. The contract was placed by Tanker Pacific Offshore Terminals Pte. Ltd.for the OMV Maari field in New Zealand. The umbilical, about 2 km in length, is due for installation in 2007.

Shengli Oilfield Highland Petroleum Equipment Co. Ltd. and Offshore Source, Llc. have signed an exclusive distribution contract for the drilling equipment products produced by Shengli Highland Co. The agreement covers a market area of the Gulf Coast states.

Oceaneering International Inc. has secured a contract from Mariner Energy Inc. to supply umbilicals and the related connection hardware for the Bass Lite field development in the GoM. The umbilicals will be used to tie Bass Lite, located in 6,750 ft of water at Atwater block 426, to the Devil’s Tower spar in Mississippi Canyon block 773.

DPS Bristol (Holdings) Ltd. has completed a deal that sees Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd. of Singapore acquire a 32% minority interest in its main holding company. The investment is made through Keppel O&M’s wholly owned subsidiary Offshore Technology Development Pte. Ltd.

Aker Kvaerner was awarded contracts for the delivery of advanced mooring systems. The contracts comprise deliveries both to the offshore and marine industry. The awards include delivery to the two Aker Drilling H6e semi-submersible rigs to be built at Aker Kvaerner Stord and the five deepwater semisubmersible rigs to be built at Jurong’s shipyard in Singapore.

A subsidiary ofTransocean Inc. has contracted with Bardex Corp for the supply of a Linear Chain Jack Mooring System to be used on the semisubmersible rig, Jack Bates. The order includes spare parts for start-up and commissioning. Bardex will also provide both offshore and onshore field engineering services.

Wellstream International has received an LOI from Energy Resource Technology GOM Inc. for the direct supply of flexible risers and jumpers for the Phoenix project which is in 670 m of water in the Gulf of Mexico. This project will be delivered from Wellstream’s facility in Newcastle on December 31, 2007.

Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. has received letter of intent (LOI) from Allseas Marine Contractors S.A. for the installation of the subsea infrastructure in connection with Allseas’ engineering, procurement, construction, and installation of Reliance Industries Ltd.’s Dhirubhai gas field development project in the Krishna Godavari basin in the Bay of Bengal, India.

Helix plans to use its deepwater construction vesselExpress and its dive support vessel Eclipse on the project. Its workscope consists of the installation of suction piles, manifolds, rigid jumpers and spool pieces, flying leads, and subsea trees. The work is scheduled to begin in 4Q07. The estimated contract value is in the $140-150 million range.

The MSVExpress was acquired by Helix in 3Q05 and is currently working in the North Sea before leaving for work in Trinidad later in 4Q06. The vessel was recently upgraded with the addition of a second reel making its total reel capacity 3,000 tons. Also, a new 150-ton deepwater crane was installed to compliment its existing 400-ton crane.

The DSVEclipse is owned by Helix’s wholly owned subsidiary, Cal Dive, and is currently working in the Mediterranean. It will perform a project in South African waters in early 2007 before returning to its base in the Middle East.

Nexen is evaluating its operated Ringo discovery in Mississippi Canyon block 546, which encountered approximately 150 ft of net gas pay. A single subsea well tieback to nearby facilities is being considered. First production is anticipated in early 2008. Estimated recoverable resources are between 60-170 bcfe. The company holds a 50% working interest in the field. Also, Nexen expects to complete the Wrigley gas discovery in Mississippi Canyon block 506 in early 2007.

Meanwhile, the company continues evaluation of the two-well exploration program on the Total-operated Gotcha field in Alaminos Canyon block 856. This block is adjacent to the Great White discovery in AC 857, which is planned to be produced through a spar. The company has a 30% working interest in the block.