Special reports

OPEC Secretary General, HE Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, has sent a letter to the Secretary of Energy of the United States of America, Rick Perry.

A major new in-depth labour market analysis of the oil and gas industry is to be carried out to determine the conditions of the sector and to shape a new skills strategy for the continued success of the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) over the next 20 years.

The donation will go towards the United Way of Greater Houston to support the work being carried out across Houston and Gulf Coast communities to assist in the recovery from Hurricane Harvey.

Sumita Singh, Managing Director of Reference Solutions, Elsevier’s R&D Solutions, reviews the ways in which the 2014 crisis has actually been a catalyst for greater innovation in the oil and gas sector.’

Phil Simons, VP North Sea & Canada at Subsea 7, will sit alongside the leading industry representatives responsible for setting Oil & Gas UK policy.

Despite a slowdown in the number of rigs being added in the shale basins, output targets will be met or exceeded as producers are adding to their hedged positions, according to ESAI Energy’s recently released North America Watch.

The relationship will combine the expertise of a global leader in cloud and digital transformation with a global leader in exploration and production (E&P) science, software and services.

Petrotechnics, the developer of the world’s first software platform for operational excellence (OE), has launched the OE Index (OEI) 2017. Now in its second year, the survey assesses how global trends – such as the oil price and digitalisation – are influencing industry attitudes towards OE.

In this role, Blanchard will oversee all region and product line operations; quality, health, safety, security and environment; sales; engineering, research and development; and supply chain.

Petrofac and Schlumberger have announced that Petrofac has sold its 50% interest in Petro-SPM Integrated Services S.A. de C.V to Schlumberger. Petro-SPM operates the Pánuco Integrated Service Contract in Mexico. Schlumberger now owns 100% of Petro-SPM.

Delegates at this year’s Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC) will have more opportunities than ever to hear some of the oil and gas industry’s most powerful executives speak in open-invite conference sessions.

The Boards of Total and A.P. Møller – Mærsk have both approved the acquisition of 100% of the equity of the E&P company Maersk Oil & Gas A/S (Maersk Oil), a wholly owned subsidiary of A.P. Møller – Mærsk A/S, by Total in a share and debt transaction.

Oil and gas asset integrity and corrosion management firm, LUX Assure, has appointed a new non-executive director to its board.

Professor John Underhill, Chief Scientist at Heriot-Watt University, revealed that while opponents of hydraulic fracturing continue to focus on the environmental impact of this method of oil and gas extraction, the geology of the UK doesn’t support it.

Baker Hughes, a GE company has announced one of the first agreements of its kind with Twinza Oil Limited to provide fullstream support on the Pasca A gas condensate field, which is located off Papua New Guinea in the Gulf of Papua.