People

Ellen Sandra Bratland is the new COO of Norwegian Energy Co. (Noreco).

Desire Petroleum has appointedKen Black as Exploration director.

Offshore accommodation provider Ferguson Modular has appointedSteven Simpson as its new UK Business Development manager.

Pan-African E&P independent Afren has appointedDr. Niall McCormack as Exploration director.

T.D. Williamson Inc. has namedMike Benjamin as vice president of Offshore Pipeline Solutions in Houston. Benjamin will focus on implementing Williamson’s array of products and services.

Kimberly Byford has joined Foster Marketing as an account executive, says Tiffany Harris, president.

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate has made changes to its senior management. The new team, as before, is headed by Director GeneralBente Nyland. Other appointments are: Johannes Kjøde, deputy director general responsible for strategy, management, and communication; Sissel Eriksen, Exploration; Kalmar Ildstad, North Sea South; Tomas Mørch, North Sea North; Torsten Bertelsen, Norwegian Sea and Barents Sea; Arne Holhjem, Technology and Environment; Jan Bygdevoll, Prognoses, Analyses, and Data.

Steven Scott becomes VP, Eastern Hemisphere, and Bob Brooks becomes VP, Technical Services at TAM International.

Company News

National Petroleum Construction Co. (NPCC) has commissioned a study on how to enter new markets. NPCC is looking to expand its offshore engineering, procurement, and construction activities into the Caspian Sea region and West Africa.

Norwegian Energy Co. (Noreco) has decided not to sell its interests in the Oselvar and Enoch fields offshore Norway to Marubeni Corp.

Well Technology Group and PI Intervention have combined to form a new well intervention specialist company.

Wireline/well intervention technology specialistWireline Engineering aims to develop its activities in Oman.

Schilling Robotics LLC has leased a new location for its sales and service center in Aberdeen, Scotland.

Norwegian Energy Co. (Noreco) has decided against a sale or merger of all or parts of the company, following a strategic review.

Oilfield services groupTopaz hopes to raise $500 million via a shares offering to institutional investors in the UK and elsewhere.

Eni has agreed to take a 35% operating interest in the Keta block offshore Ghana from current operator Afren.

AWE is seeking partners for two exploration blocks in the shallow water East Java basin offshore Indonesia.

Afren has acquired a 74% operated working interest in the Tanga block offshore Tanzania from Petrodel.

Kenya’s government has awardedDominion Petroleum operatorship of a deepwater block in the Lamu basin.

Roc Oil (Bohai) Co.’s petroleum contract for the Zhao Dong block in Bohai Bay offshore China has been modified.

Newpark Resources Inc. says it has entered into a definitive agreement with Rheochem PLC to acquire its drilling fluids and engineering services unit.

MEO Australia has accepted a conditional offer for a farm-in to the NT/P68 exploration permit off Northern Australia.

Bureau Veritas has agreed with COPPE/UFRJ, the Ocean Engineering department of the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, to form a joint development center for deepwater technology.

PTTEP has withdrawn its 30% participating interest from Sidi Abd El Rahman project offshore Egypt after fulfilment of the exploration work commitment.

Operators’ associationOil & Gas UK plans to discuss the long-term future of Britain’s oil and gas sector during a meeting tomorrow of PILOT, the government/industry forum.

ITF, the UK oil and gas industry’s technology facilitator, plans to open a base in the Middle East to attract new members and increase awareness of its global technology funding program.

A bidding group led byMustang Al-Hejailan Engineering, a Wood Group company, has been awarded a general engineering services (GES+) contract by Saudi Aramco.

Statoil expects to submit a development plan early next year for the Gamma/Harepus fields in the Norwegian Sea.

An arbitral tribunal has ruled that the interim injunction issued to haltBP’s proposed transaction with Rosneft should continue.

OJSC Rosneft Oil Co. has commented on speculation concerning agreements it signed with BP for strategic cooperation in the Russian Arctic.

Gazprom and Wintershall have signed a memorandum concerning possible joint development of gas reserves in northern Russia.

TheHelix Well Containment Group (HWCG) has announced that W&T Offshore, Inc.and Stone Energy Corp. have joined the organization, increasing its membership to 22 deepwater oil and gas operators.

Failure of the blind shear rams (BSRs) to close and seal the well because of drill pipe trapped between the blocks has been given byDet Norske Veritas (DNV) as the primary cause of the Macondo oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Det norske oljeselskap has ruled out submitting a plan for development and operations this year for the Frøy field in the Norwegian North Sea. The company had hoped to file its plan this fall with a FPSO concept. However, it first wanted to evaluate use of simultaneous water and gas injection (SWAG) to aid production, rather than water injection only. However, results from these studies indicate that SWAG would only have a marginal impact on project economics.

TGS-NOPEC has commenced a multi-phase reprocessing program of 2D seismic data taken in the Makassar Strait, Indonesia. The first phase consists of 2,700 km (1,678 mi) of seismic data in the Northern Mahakam Delta. The data will be reprocessed with customized techniques to enhance imaging of the main structures and reservoir targets in the basin. The reprocessed data is intended to enhance definition of direct hydrocarbon ondicators and amplitude versus offset anomalies associated with turbidite reservoirs seen on the original 2D seismic data. Data from this initial phase of reprocessing will be available for clients in 3Q 2011. This project is supported by industry funding.

Northern Petroleum has signed an agreement with Azimuth Ltd.for two of its permits in the Italian sector of the Adriatic Sea. Permits F.R39.NP and F.R40.NP contain the Rovesti and Giove oil discoveries, discovered in 1978 and 1998 by Eni and Enterprise Oil, respectively, along with 10 mapped prospects. Northern and Azimuth Ltd will collaborate to define and delineate suitable appraisal and exploration drilling targets. Azimuth will also take a 15% interest in both permits by funding a promoted share of future work programs prior to drilling.

Specialist Subsea Services Ltd.has added two new ROV systems to its work class fleet. The new equipment is two Triton XLX 150 hp ROVs from Perry Slingsby Systems Ltd. The new XLX units feature “auto-station-keeping”, high bandwidth survey multiplex and power circuit facilities, with a new “video wall” Human-Machine Interface (HMI) combined with intuitive touch-screen operator display and integrated diagnostics system, says Specialist Subsea Services (S3).

Hess has contracted Sea Trucks Group to install a produced water handling module on the Sendje Ceiba FPSO offshore Equatorial Guinea. The M12 unit will weigh around 300 tons (272 metric tons). Hess also is installing four living quarter modules. Sea Trucks expects to handle this program during 2Q 2011 using its Jascon 25 DP-3 offshore construction vessel. The work should take around 15 days including mobilization and demobilization.