Category Archives: Offshore

ExxonMobils Stabroek Block concession offshore Guyana.

As ExxonMobil prepares to announce that it has found more hydrocarbons in commercial quantities at its latest exploration well offshore Guyana, the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Keith Rowley is travelling to the United States to meet with top officials of that American oil giant to discuss refining Guyanas oil, according to well-placed sources.

Guyanas Ministry of the Presidency said Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman told Cabinet on Tuesday that ExxonMobilcould make another significant announcement on its work in Guyana Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) within the next two weeks.

Well-placed sources said ExxonMobils disclosure is expected to be about another oil find, this time at the well named Snoek, located more than 100 miles from the coast. More details about the previously drilled well, Payara, is also expected to be provided by the company.

ExxonMobilsVice President Investor Relations and Secretary, Jeff Woodbury is scheduledto host a discussion of First Quarter 2017 financial and operating results in late April.

With the state-owned Petroleum Company of Trinidad and Tobago (Petrotrin) stating categorically that it is ready to refine Guyanas oil as part of a strategic alliance in the Caribbean Community (Caricom), the leader of that twin-island nation will be discussing regional partnerships when he meets with top officials of ExxonMobil and other American oil companies during his visit tothe Houston, Texas.

The discussions will centre around strategies for navigating the challenges facing the energy sector and opportunities for growth and partnerships here at home (Trinidad and Tobago) and in the region, Rowleys office said in a statement on Tuesday. The Trinidad and Tobago leaders March 28 to 31 visit to Texas will include meetings with four energy companies- BP Amoco, Shell, ExxonMobil and EOG Resources.

Rowleywill be accompanied in the several rounds of energy talks with leading companies in the industry by Minister in the office of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs, Stuart Young.

Guyana plans to begin commercial oil production in 2020.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of the Presidency said newly-appointed Presidential Advisor on Petroleum, Dr. Jan Mangal, briefed Cabinet about his role and plans against the background of President David Grangers vision for the development of the sector. It is to give Cabinet some comfort around the role itself, my experience and then also the vision of the President and the high level vision, which we will have to work on and Guyanese will have to work on. But it was really to give Cabinet a view of where we are starting for Guyana,said Mangal,an expert in offshore and civil engineering.

The oil and gas expert explained that as the Advisor to the President on Petroleum, he will be tasked with being the middle ground between the Government and stakeholders to ensure that the necessary plans and policies are put in place. It is around bringing oil and gas expertise, someone from the industry like myself, in the position in the Ministry of the Presidency, who can speak to all stakeholders in Government and outside of Government. It is a position in the Ministry that can look at things holistically in terms of Guyanas energy sector; how oil and gas will affect Guyana as a whole. It is about how it will touch all areas of Guyana, business and all social issues. The role will touch on all areas and will try to stimulate the stakeholders input and I expect that it will grow over time, he said.

Dr. Mangal, whose appointment is funded through the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), noted that while his initial role is intended to last for a six month period, there is an intention to seek funding for the appointment to be extended and expanded to include other experts from the technical, legal and commercial areas of the oil and gas sector.

I envision a small team in the Ministry, about five or less and this is a team of experts from the industry and they will be there to assist the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Ministry of Finance and to also work with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Public Infrastructure. So under that five, there will be a commercial oil and gas expert, an oil and gas lawyer, an analyst and possibly a technical person but these will be persons who have been in the industry for a very long time, who know the industry very well and who are prepared to come and advise the Government of Guyana, the Presidential Advisor said.

Minister Trotman, in an invited comment, said that Dr. Mangals presentation could not be more timely since ExxonMobil has been aggressively carrying out seismic and exploratory work, with an announcement expected in another week or two. This, he said, will help the Cabinet to act more definitively on matters in relation to this sector.

The presentation was about the technical aspects, where we would spend out monies and the kind of vision we would like to have for Guyana. So it was a good presentation; very timely and now I believe that Cabinet will examine it some more and look at the considerations some of which are political, some technical, some financial and we will ultimately come up with the blueprint if I can put it that way for the development of the oil and gas sector, he said.

Mangal holds a Doctorate in Offshore Geotechnical Engineering from the University of Oxford and a Bachelors Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Edinburgh, has worked in the marine and oil and gas industries for the past 18 years.

Minister Trotman noted that Government is working round the clock to put all systems in place to prepare Guyana for the first oil. We are preparing every day at the Ministry and Dr. Mangal is joining the Government to prepare for the first oil and so there is something happening everyday. We are looking at contracts, identifying persons to do things, assessing requests for permits. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), they are all working, he said in the Ministry of the Presidencys statement.

In January 2017, ExxonMobil announced positive results from its Payara-1 well offshore Guyana. Payara is ExxonMobils second oil discovery on the Stabroek Block. The well was drilled by ExxonMobil affiliate Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited, and encountered more than 95 feet (29 meters) of high-quality, oil-bearing sandstone reservoirs. It was safely drilled to 18,080 feet (5,512 meters) in 6,660 feet (2,030 meters) of water. The Payara field discovery is about 10 miles (16 km) northwest of the 2015 Liza discovery.

According to ExxonMobil, in addition to the Payara discovery, appraisal drilling at Liza-3 has identified an additional high quality, deeper reservoir directly below the Liza field, which is estimated to contain between 100-150 million oil equivalent barrels.

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ExxonMobil poised to announce another major find offshore Guyana; Trinidad and Tobago's Prime Minister to discuss ... - Demerara Waves

Bibby Wavemaster is due to enter service in August 2017

Bibby Marine Services service operation vessel (SOV) Bibby WaveMaster 1 was launched at Damen Shipyards Galati in Romania on 24 March. Primarily intended for the offshore wind industry it can also work in the oil and gas market.

When completed, Bibby Marine Services Limited, part of Bibby Line Group, will deploy the vessel to support forthcoming offshore wind construction and O&M projects in the North Sea.

Stephen Blaikie, CEO at Bibby Marine Services Ltd, said: This is an important key milestone in the delivery of the vessel. Sea trials will start soon and we will take delivery in August. We are very impressed with the quality of the build and the whole process has gone smoothly.

Peter Robert, director business development and market intelligence at Damen said: Carrying out the integrated hardware in the loop simulator analyses of the vessel plus dynamic positioning (DP) system plus gangway in a time domain simulation with the actual controllers connected to it, proves, in real life conditions, safe operations in the 2.5m Hs, as required by the tenders. Based on this the shipowner can guarantee site specific vessel performance and safe operations.

Bibby WaveMaster 1 was designed and built specifically for the transfer and accommodation of offshore personnel and aims to maximise working time, technician comfort and safety. With a DYNPOS (AUTR) DP2 system, the 90m vessel has a motion compensated access system for walk-to-work transfers.

Although primarily designed with offshore wind in mind, the vessel is capable of a much wider scope of work in a variety of offshore industries. A range of options are available including an additional deck crane with up to a 24 tonne capacity, tanks arrangements suited to liquids such as glycols and low flashpoint liquids with separate delivery intakes, and facilities for dive support and ROV operations.

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Bibby SOV can also service offshore oil and gas sector - OSJ Magazine

Italian oil company Eni drilled the first well by an international oil company in Mexican waters, and on March 23 they said the well indicated a meaningful volume of oil.

The discovery was not entirely a surprise, given that state-owned Mexican oil company Pemex had already explored the area in the past. For more than seven decades, Pemex was the sole owner and operator of Mexicos energy assets, but that all changed in 2013 with a monumental liberalization by the Mexican government. The energy reform package ended Pemexs monopoly and the privatization effort was intended to attract international companies that could bring in capital and drilling expertise.

Enis latest announcement will provide a boost to supporters of the liberalization. Eni says that the results from the Amoca-2 well indicate that there is more oil than Pemex originally estimated.

The result will also surely spark more interest in Mexicos oil reserves, perhaps attracting more companies to bid in the upcoming June auction for offshore acreage. Eni drilled in the Campeche Bay, where some of Mexicos most prolific oil fields are located. In particular, two offshore fields Ku-Maloob-Zaap (KMZ) and Cantarell produce nearly half of Mexicos oil. Cantarell used to be one of the largest oil fields in the world, peaking at 2.1 million barrels per day in 2004. But falling reservoir pressure forced the field into rapid decline, with output from the field now standing at roughly 200,000 bpd. Related:Saudis Bet Big On Houston As Drilling Activity Picks Up

(Click to enlarge)

But that does not mean that Mexicos offshore is played out. Enis discovery, Mexicos government hopes, is the first of many more. Enis well was drilled in just 25 meters of water, but the upward revision on the reserve estimates will grab the attention of the industry. [The discovery] is 7-8km from the shore and 20-30km from Pemex [infrastructure] facilities so if we need to accelerate [development], I think it can be done very quickly, Enis CEO Claudio Descalzi told the FT. We want to go fast...its reasonable to think that in a couple of years, three years, we could start production. There is a lot more acreage in deeper waters that have not been explored yet, which will put a lot of attention on the June auction.

However, just as Mexicos energy reform appears to be bearing fruit, there are some clouds of uncertainty starting to form around the investment climate. President Trump might imperil energy investments in Mexicos offshore sector ironic for the unabashedly pro-oil president. That is because Trumps anti-Mexico rhetoric calls for a crackdown on immigration and the construction of a border wall is sparking anti-Trump sentiment south of the border. Trumps call for Mexico to pay for the wall is a humiliating demand that could never be agreed to by any leader, and it has Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto plunging in the polls, posting a shocking 12 percent approval rating. Related:PetroChina Mulls $85 Billion Spinoff

Consequently, a rival politician, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a brash leftist who closely lost the 2006 presidential election, is surging in the polls on his anti-Trump rhetoric. He is the leading candidate right now for the 2018 election.

Crucial for the oil and gas industry is Obradors pledge to hold a public referendum on the 2013 energy reform laws, which is what has allowed companies like Eni and other oil majors to gain access to Mexicos reserves in the first place. Obrador says he would not nationalize the assets, but would allow the people to vote on the issue in a national referendum. If the public votes against the energy reform, he would turn to international courts and other legal means to roll back the privatization effort. If the people support the energy reform, on the other hand, Obrador pledged to accept the result and work to attract international investment.

Obradors election, then, wouldnt present a mortal threat to oil and gas investments. With falling production down to 2.5 million barrels per day currently from a peak of 3.85 mb/d in 2004 Obrador seems to recognize that international companies will be needed to reverse the decline. You cant move Mexico forward only with public investment, he told Bloomberg in mid-March. You need to crank up the three motors of the economy: public sector, private sector, social sector. He did not specify what that arrangement might look like.

But a shift from the current government to one more confrontational with the U.S. and towards Mexicos own energy reforms would certainly complicate the calculation for companies considering spending hundreds of millions of dollars.

For now, however, Enis latest discovery will likely lead to more interest in Mexicos June auction.

By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com

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Mexico Sees Its First International Offshore Drilling Success ... - OilPrice.com

Rendering of the view from the Ocean City pier should US Wind construct their wind farm.(Photo: Staff Photo by Gino Fanelli)Buy Photo

The first public hearing on the proposed wind farms off the coast of Ocean City and Delaware brought both praise and criticism from residents and business leaders.

The two companies, Deepwater Wind, responsible for the first American offshore wind project at Block Island, Rhode Island, and Baltimore's US Wind, are both in the running to build farms approximately 17 miles off the coastline. US Wind's 248 megawatt proposal off the coast of Ocean City, with a potential growth to 750 megawatts, would be the second, and largest, offshore wind farm in America. Deepwater's "Skipjack," project would clock in at 120 megawatts. Both have planned construction dates beginning in 2020, and with the projects moving forward, a Saturday March 25 hearing at Stephen Decatur Middle Schoolgave locals, laborers and experts alike the chance to express their thoughts to the Maryland Public Service Commission.

Much of the comments saw the projects ashugely beneficial, both economically and ecologically.

The opportunity to establish Maryland as an offshore wind hub is an opportunity that only comes once, and something that needs to be seized, Salisbury's Matt Drew of AWB Engineers said.

"We need this for the entire state," Drew said. "We're poised right now to become a leader in the industry. By having this, we have the ability to attract very large companies that could for all other projects across the country."

Seth Bush of the Maryland Climate Coalition highlighted the ecological benefits of establishing the offshore wind farms.

"We have the chance to move away from fossil fuels which pollute the air, poison the water and make people sick," Bush said.

While Bush noted that the establishment of these wind farms will not reverse the effects of climate change or fossil fuel pollution, it is a step in a direction which, if demonstrating a solid economic benefit, will inspire other states. Likewise, echoing Drew, should Maryland not go forward with the projects, the state could be missing a golden opportunity to corner the industry.

READ MORE:Offshore wind farms near reality for Delmarva

"When other states see the economic benefits, they will seize them," Bush said,

Crowd at a public hearing for offshore wind on Saturday, March 25.(Photo: Staff photo by Gino Fanelli)

However, not all in attendance were keen on the project. While Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan had supported the progress of project, US Wind's renderingsof what the Ocean City coastline will look like after construction has inspired him to rethink.

"There is a much larger visual impact than I had anticipated," Meehan said. "We only have one chance to get this right, and if it stays the same visual I see today, we may need to reconsider."

Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan at a public hearing for offshore wind on Saturday, March 25.(Photo: Staff Photo by Gino Fanelli)

Though expressing disappointment in the appearance of the project, which US Wind Director of Project Development would have the turbines able to be covered with your thumbfrom the beach, others were not so mild-mannered.

Don Murphy, a regular summer visitor to Ocean City who plans on retiring at the beach town, said the renderings were horrifying.

"I have no words looking at these pictures," Murphy said. "I am outraged and I am horrified. We need to understand the impact this project will have on Maryland's greatest economic asset; Ocean City."

For others, the views of the wind farms were something that inspired hope, and the potential for a cleaner, sustainable future.

"I'll tell you one thing, as soon as those wind farms are built, I'm taking a vacation to Ocean City, and specifically requesting a room where i have a nice, clear view of the turbines," said Salisbury resident Elizabeth Dale.

The visual aspect of the project, however, was not the only issue contested by the public. Rather, a hike in electricity rates was a hot topic of debate. Rich noted that the expected rate increase for residents will clock in at approximately 99 cents per month and a .98 percent annual hike for non-residencies.

Ocean Pines resident Chuck Lacy agreed on preserving the view of Ocean City, and scrutinized the economic benefits of the project.

"I can only see this project being more expensive," Lacy said. "Let alone the rate increases, there's saltwater corrosion and constant maintenance. This does not look good for the ratepayer."

While some in attendance argued for and against various issues, one point of discussion had a near-unanimous agreement; it will bring jobs.

David Roncinski, representing the wharf and dock builders union Pile Drivers Local 2311, said that the projectswon't just bring low-income jobs, but actual careers to the Eastern Shore.

"My biggest hope is to work with a neighborhood which has historically not had access to good jobs," Roncinski said.

Dale, meanwhile, looked to her children, and the future they'll have on the Eastern Shore should new industry not open up.

"Right now, they have two options; healthcare or chicken," Dale said. "And I want them to have more choices for good work, and not have to leave the Shore just to find a job."

As the hearing drew to a close, Deepwater Vice President of Development Clint Plummer said the hearing has shown just how interested people are in the future of these projects.

"When we see a turn out like this, it means that people are listening, that they care and that they're ready to talk about wind," Plummer.

The next public hearing on the Skipjack and US Wind projects will take place in Annapolis on Thursday, March 30.

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OC offshore wind cause blustery debate at hearing - Delmarva Daily Times

March 27th, 2017 Sam Chambers Europe, Offshore 0 comments

DONG Energy and Siemens Wind Power are finally close to selling their joint venture shipping line A2Sea after years of hawking the wind turbine installation specialist.

Danish newspaper Berlingske reports a sale is now close for the line described by the daily as an unwanted child. A series of bids have been lodged for the line with DONG and Siemens in the process of picking a winner.

Berlingske lists European owners Vroon, Fred Olsen, MPI Offshore as possible buyers as well as Chinas ZPMC with a figure thought to be in the region of $200m to $250m.

A2Sea was founded in 2000, with DONG buying it in 2009 and Siemens taking a 49% stake the following year.

A2Seas fleet of three vessels has not kept up with the supersizing of wind turbines, Berlingske reports. When DONG bought the line eight years ago the average turbine was around 140 m tall, nowadays they soar 220 m.

Sam Chambers

Starting out with the Informa Group in 2000 in Hong Kong, Sam Chambers became editor of Maritime Asia magazine as well as East Asia Editor for the worlds oldest newspaper, Lloyds List. In 2005 he pursued a freelance career and wrote for a variety of titles including taking on the role of Asia Editor at Seatrade magazine and China correspondent for Supply Chain Asia. His work has also appeared in The Economist, The New York Times, The Sunday Times and The International Herald Tribune.

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Vroon, Fred Olsen, MPI Offshore and ZPMC all linked with A2Sea takeover - Splash 247

A bipartisan group of lawmakers thinks the key to uniting Republicans and Democrats around a massive infrastructure package is coupling it with a sweetener for conservatives: tax reform.

Reps. John Delaney (D-Md.), Ted YohoTed YohoLawmakers want infrastructure funded by offshore tax reform Defying Trump, Freedom Caucus insists it'll oppose GOP ObamaCare replacement The Hill's Whip List: 36 GOP no votes on ObamaCare repeal plan MORE (R-Fla.) and Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) have pushed the concept for years. But now the group who came to Congress together in 2013 might have their best shot yet.

These two ideas were working on are better poised to become a reality than the entire time weve served together over the past four and a half years, Davis said in a sit-down with reporters this week. President Trump has brought the debate to the forefront.

Delaney, Yoho and Davis are seizing on that momentum and renewing their effort to link international tax reform with infrastructure spending.

The group introduced two bills this week aimed at tapping into cash overseas that would use the money to upgrade U.S. roads, bridges and other public works. An estimated $2 trillion in earnings is stashed overseas, they say.

One measure sponsored by Delaney and Davis would establish a $50 billion infrastructure bank to finance local transportation, energy, water and education projects.

The bank, which would put an emphasis on public-private partnerships, would be funded through the sale of 50-year bonds to U.S. corporations that want to repatriate overseas earnings. In turn, the companies would be allowed to bring a certain amount of overseas earnings back to the U.S. with no federal tax liability for every $1 invested in the bonds.

The other bill, from Delaney and Yoho, would allow U.S. multinational corporations to repatriate earnings at a mandatory, one-time tax of 8.75 percent, a discount on the current 35 percent rate and deferral option.

Those revenues would be used to improve the nations infrastructure, with an estimated $120 billion going to the Highway Trust Fund, $50 billion going to an infrastructure bank and $25 million going to a pilot program focused on rural infrastructure.

The legislation also sets an 18-month deadline for international tax reform and creates a panel to explore long-term funding solutions for financing the ailing Highway Trust Fund.

Its giving each side something they really cared about for a while, Delaney said. Democrats have really made infrastructure one of our top priorities. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle have made fixing this broken international tax system a priority.

The lawmakers make strange bedfellows. Yoho is a member of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus, Davis is a rural Republican who supports medical marijuana and lifting Cuba restrictions and Delaney is a wealthy former banker who represents part of the Washington, D.C., suburbs.

But the lawmakers, who traded both barbs and compliments during their sit-down with reporters during an otherwise tense and partisan week on Capitol Hill focused on healthcare, say they share the common goal of boosting the economy through infrastructure investment.

The trio believes their legislation can bridge the partisan gap in Congress.

Fiscal conservatives have been reluctant to back massive federal spending on transportation, especially if it blows a massive hole in the deficit. But tax reform may be one way to get them on board.

Infrastructure was something I campaigned on as a Republican, which there wasnt exactly a hot bed of conservative support for, Davis said. Its going to take Republicans like me and Democrats like John to be able to come together and understand how do we actually pay for those projects.

Yoho said the Trump administration, which is collecting funding ideas as it begins to craft a comprehensive infrastructure bill, appears to have some appetite for the idea.

The chairmen of the House and Senate Transportation committees, Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) and Sen. John ThuneJohn ThuneLawmakers want infrastructure funded by offshore tax reform Senate GOP hedges on ObamaCare repeal timeline Week ahead: Robocall crackdown tops FCC meeting agenda MORE (R-S.D.), respectively, have also signaled interest in using repatriation to pay for the plan.

Ive shared this with [Vice President] Mike PenceMike (Michael) Richard PencePence meets his 'second-favorite Ron and Nancy' Sanford: 'Testosterone can get you in trouble' Flynn discussed how to 'whisk' away cleric wanted by Turkey: report MORE and said these are the things we have, Yoho said. And Mike Pence says, You know what, youve brought this up to me before. Were seriously looking at it.

So I feel were making headway on it, Yoho added.

But even though Trump and Congress have both signaled interest in tackling tax reform and infrastructure this year, that doesnt mean they will dovetail together.

For one thing, lawmakers tasked with writing tax laws have been reluctant to commit to spending the cash from repatriation on infrastructure. Instead, they prefer to use that money to overhaul the tax code, and there are questions over whether theres enough revenue to effectively accomplish both.

And Trump and leadership have both suggested that tax reform will come before infrastructure, which could spell trouble for the trios legislation if repatriation gets all used up.

If you sequence these things, so you do tax reform first and infrastructure second the chances of the people doing tax reform setting aside some money for some future infrastructure discussion are non-existent, Delaney said. Unless infrastructure has a seat at the table, it will be much harder.

Originally posted here:

Lawmakers want infrastructure funded by offshore tax reform | TheHill - The Hill

Quintis founder and managing director Frank Wilson topped up his stake last week by 50,000 shares.

Quintis has conceded its biggest customer in China, Shanghai Richer Link, has not ordered any shipments this year but the sandalwood group has advanced talks with other buyers in China amid alleged customs duty avoidance by other importers.

The company has lost 22 per cent of its market value since short-seller Glaucus published explosive allegations last week likening Quintis' business model to a ponzi scheme and estimating its equity was worth zero. The former TFS rejected the claims as untrue and self-serving. With a declared short interest, Glaucus stands to make money when Quintis shares fall.

On Monday, Quintis sought a trading halt to respond to questions posed by the ASX following its dismissal of Glaucus' claims. The ASX wanted to know who the company traded with, and more details about the "inaccuracies" identified in the short seller's research report.

"Just because an activist US-based short seller makes various claims, claims which it stands to benefit financially from, does not mean those claims are true," Quintis shot back. Among its conclusions was that Glaucus failed to distinguish between high-value Indian sandalwood which it has sold at more than $US4500 ($5900) a kilo and other, cheaper varieties that change hands for around $US550 a kilo.

"Glaucus has performed a highly flawed and, as a result, misleading pricing analysis as surely as if they had analysed the price of BMW vehicles by looking at import data for Kia vehicles," Quintis said. Sandalwood and its oil are used in religious carvings, as prayer beads, as well as in cosmetic and pharmaceutical products.

Authorities in China have cracked a sandalwood importing ring that it is alleged failed to properly declare the value of unidentified sandalwood originating from Australia. Quintis distanced itself from the investigation, where only one of its employees in China was interviewed. Shanghai Richer Link officials were also questioned but no charges were laid, the Perth-based company added.

It extended its own diligence last year when a law firm was commissioned to review Quintis' export documentation to Shanghai Richer Link, completed this year, and found it to be compliant. Shanghai Richer Link presented no credit risk, in Quintis' opinion, and it paid for orders upfront.

Previously, Quintis had declined to name the other parties to its sales agreements, beyond saying they are in China, India, the Middle East and the United States, and citing commercial confidence. In November 2016, the company's chairman told shareholders that "the vast majority of our harvests through to 2021 are now forward sold".

It has gone a step further in response to intense scrutiny of its operations and unmasked its Chinese client as well as Medinext General Trading as an associate of a client with a two-year deal and a three-year extension option in India, North Africa and the Middle East. International Flavors & Fragrances or IFF and Paspaley were named as uncontracted customers of its high-value Indian oil and wood, and Givaudan was a significant buyer of lower-value Australian oil.

Asset manager GMO was identified as the new institutional plantation investor alluded to in 2016.

In February 2016, news of major supply deals sent the shares rallying.

Quintis was a target of short sellers before Glaucus made headlines with its freely distributed 39-page report. According to Australian Securities and Investments Commission figures as of March 21, 14 per cent of its shares are in the hands of short sellers. Founder and managing director Frank Wilson topped up his stake last week by 50,000 shares.

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Quintis reveals identity of offshore sandalwood buyers after ASX inquiry - The Australian Financial Review

Specialist Lloyds underwriter Neon has launched a Marine and Offshore Construction Consortium.

Seeking to address the increasingly tailored insurance needs of shipyard clients, the Neon led-consortium offers $70 million capacity for shipyard construction and $55 million for rig construction, said the London-based Neon.

The consortium is underwritten by Neons Mireille Dolonenwith capacity sourced from a range of Lloyds syndicates.

Neon said its underwriting approach will be underpinned by enhanced information gathering to anticipate and understand the new risks that shipyards face.

Recognizing the importance of cooperation between underwriters, brokers and clients in addressing emerging risks, the new consortium will foster stronger communication between the broker community and insurers in order to help clients better understand their needs and facilitate tailored risk solutions, said Neon in a statement.

Such communication takes the form of extensive consultation with clients, risk managers, CFOs and financiers to map and understand new risks affecting the sector, Neon explained.

The consortium will also seek to exchange knowledge with the wider market through the launch of an annual Broker Marine and Offshore Construction Conference and the introduction of a Marine and Offshore Construction course for young talent at Lloyds.

Underwriters in London can no longer afford to sit back and expect business to come to them when macroeconomic conditions, product lines, strategic, financial and operational risks are all changing and shaping the insurance needs of shipyards, said Angus Wilson, head of Marine at Neon.

He went on to say that the launch of this consortium demonstrates Neons ambition to become one of the leading providers of marine insurance in the London market.

Source: Neon

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Neon Names Dolonen as Marine& Offshore Construction U/W

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Neon Launches Marine & Offshore Construction Consortium - Insurance Journal

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LM Wind starts work on 100m French offshore blade plant Recharge (subscription) LM Wind Power has laid the foundation stone of its new offshore wind blade factory in Cherbourg, France, that is expected to expand to a capacity between 1.2-2GW and is another boost for the country's growing offshore sector. The offshore market in ... LM Wind breaks ground in FrancereNews all 5 news articles »

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For the second year in a row, the Government Accountability Office has issued a report blasting the federal offshore safety agency for failing in its basic oversight of oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico.

David Hammer, WWL 12:26 PM. CDT March 22, 2017

For the second year in a row, the Government Accountability Office has issued a report blasting the federal offshore safety agency for failing in its basic oversight of oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico.

In 2015, an exclusive WWL-TV investigation uncovered how the leadership of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement had undermined its own environmental enforcement activities in the Gulf of Mexico. That led the GAO to investigate and report on major deficiencies at BSEE last year.

The latest GAO report, released this week, says BSEE continues to struggle. For example, it found BSEE leadership flubbed a new plan to inspect offshore oil and gas facilities based on which ones present the highest risks. They set up a risk-based inspection program in the Houma and Lafayette field offices, but ignored input from the Louisiana staff and instead directed them to inspect rigs that weren't even being used anymore.

The GAO has found a disconnect, and more importantly a distrust between BSEE headquarters and its region, said Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas, the chairman of a House Oversight Committee subcommittee that handles the Department of the Interior.

The GAO report calls on the Interior Department, of which BSEE is a part, to fix the lack of trust between BSEE leadership in Washington and its field employees on the Gulf Coast. In comments Tuesday, Farenthold singled out interim BSEE Director Margaret Schneider, whose failure to hire environmental division staff was criticized in an internal report by New Orleans regional staff in 2015.

Not only is this an inefficient way to run an agency, its a waste of taxpayers hard-earned dollars, Farenthold said.

The top Democrat on the subcommittee, Rep. Stacey Plaskett of the U.S. Virgin Islands, echoed Farentholds concern, focusing on the need for protection for offshore workers.

Government agencies like BSEE must properly inspect drilling sites and stringently enforce the rules, she said. We cannot afford BSEE not to do its job and ensure that American workers lives are safe.

2017 WWL-TV

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GAO blasts offshore safety agency, again - WWLTV.com