Category Archives: Offshore

Efficiency is the new buzzword for the oil and gas industry in case someones missed it. But it is more than just a buzzword, at least for some industry players as well as tech giants like German Siemens and Swiss ABB. These two have partnered with E&Ps to bring the concept of automation a step further a huge step.

Siemens and ABB are competing in the development of automated, unmanned, entirely submerged offshore oil and gas platforms. The advantages of such structures are many, and there are a couple of major challenges to match these. Yet Statoil, which has a reputation for innovative solutions, plans to deploy the first such platform at one of its fields in 2020.

Siemens calls these platforms self-sufficient oil and gas extraction factories, which explains the nature of these structures better. They would remove the risk to human life caused by accidents on traditional platforms. They will, in fact, remove most of the safety risks associated with offshore oil and gas extraction because operators will control them from land.

The seafloor factories would also come with lower maintenance costs due to the lack of workforce needed on them, and the fact that they will be deep below the surface and far from storms. They will be easier to install and dismantle after the productive life of the well ends, which is another huge advantage over traditional platforms. Related:New Oil Price War Looms As The OPEC Deal Falls Short

From a pragmatic perspective, which is the dominant perspective of E&Ps, of course, subsea platforms will be much more productivethey will extract oil and gas directly from the well drilled into the seabed, without the need for miles-long structures that bring the hydrocarbons to the surface. The only thing such a platform would need is a power cable to the surface and a pipeline to move the oil from the well to either land or a floating vessel.

It sounds almost too good to be true, and in a sense, it is. Depths of more than 3,000-4,000 meters, which is where deepwater offshore oil and gas projects are located, present engineers with a unique challenge. The challenge comes in the form of finding materials and components strong enough to withstand the water pressure.

Siemens engineer Jan Erik Lystad puts it succinctly: We have a kind of torture chamber for technical components, he says. We put parts under enormous pressure. The technology has to withstand up to 460 bar thats how high the pressure is at a depth of 4,600 meters. This amount of pressure equals a weight of 469 kilos per square centimeter a scary weight, especially considering all the different components and structures that have to be able to withstand it, and for a very long time.

Power supply in these circumstances has also been challenging, ABB admits. Power needs to be brought to the submerged structure and distributed among its different parts, the Swiss company says. This means underwater transformers, which are already in operation at traditional platforms, but at minimum load, which will not be the case with an entirely submerged structure with a lot of systems relying on substantial amounts of electricity. Related:Deciphering Todays Oil Markets

The good news is that there are already cables capable of transmitting electricity at distances of up to 600 km, with multiple loads, which has sort of solved this part of the power supply problemfew, if any, deepwater deposits are more than 600 km from the coast. Solving the puzzle of making this supply safe and reliable is next.

So, engineers are getting thereslowly but surely. Future oil and gas production will come increasingly from offshore deposits, most of them in the deep waters of the worlds oceans, as those on land and in the shallow waters get depleted. Siemens and ABB have a pretty good timing on their projects.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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Submerged Platforms To Revolutionize Offshore Oil & Gas - OilPrice.com

With the addition of offshore keelboat racing on Saturday, sailboats competed off Point Loma and on San Diego Bay on the second day of the Helly Hansen Hansen National Offshore One Design Regatta San Diego.

One of these classes, the Beneteau First 36.7s, is led by 2017 San Diego NOOD overall winner Chick Pyle in Kea, with three first-place and one second-place finishes on Saturday. When asked for his recipe for success, Pyle raved about his secret weapon his son, Nick, who used to be the head sailing coach at San Diego YC along with an optimized boat and in-sync crew.

We do something that's really unusual, Pyle said. On our way out to the racecourse, we talk through everybodys position from prestart to upwind and windward rounding to downwind and leeward rounding, and even penalty turns. We discuss every single position in detail, so theres no guessing.

Leading the International 14 (I-14) fleet, one of four classes that began the regatta on Friday, is local skipper Brad Reutenik and crew aboard Astralgus. Despite what he described as pretty funky wind conditions, the team was able to shift gears well between light-air lulls and stronger gusts to win three of four races, but another obstacle stood in the way of these extremely fast, physical boats.

We have to sail through some of the slower fleets, Reutenik said. Its challenging to go through a wall of boats and we have to be confident in our boat handling, because these boats are very difficult to sail. They make really good sailors look really bad, but the fun factor is so high.

Saturday also featured the North Sails Rally two races designed to give local crews on boats of any size the opportunity to participate in a single, day-long race. First place prizes went to skipper Lawrence Adam and his team aboard the Corsair 31 F Bomb and Greg Stewarts team on Sprig, a 6m.

Other notable day two results include a three-way tie in the ORC fleet, which is a handicapping system that allows one design sport boats that dont have fleets at the event to sail together. Drew Belks Precept2, a Melges 32, leads the group with 3-1-1-3 finishes on the day.

DAY TWO RESULTS (TOP THREE)

FOR COMPLETE RESULTS

Beneteau First 36.7 (One Design - 7 Boats) 1. Kea, Beneteau First 36.7, Chick Pyle, Jamestown, RI, USA, 1 -2 -1 -1 ; 5 2. Kodachrome, Beneteau First 36.7, Jerry Twomey, San Diego, CA, USA, 2 -3 -3 -6 ; 14 3. Melokia, Beneteau First 36.7, Mike Whittemore, Coronado, CA, USA, 3 -1 -6 -5 ; 15

Beneteau First 40.7 (One Design - 6 Boats) 1. Lugano, Beneteau First 40.7, Mark Stratton , Los Angeles, CA, USA, 2 -1 -1 -2 ; 6 2. Wiki Wiki, Beneteau First 40.7, Mike Honeysett , Ramona, CA, USA, 1 -2 -4 -1 ; 8 3. Sweet Okole, Beneteau First 40.7, Rick Harris , Coronado, CA, USA, 3 -3 -2 -3 ; 11

J 120 (One Design - 7 Boats) 1. caper, J 120, John Laun, San Diego, CA, USA, 6 -1 -3 -1 ; 11 2. J Almighty, J 120, Mike Hatch, Des Moines, WA, USA, 2 -2 -4 -4 ; 12 3. Mad Men, J 120, Ernie Pennell, San Diego, CA, USA, 3 -4 -2 -3 ; 12

ORC (ORC - 5 Boats) 1. Precepts 3.2, Melges 32, Drew Belk, Coachella, CA, USA, 3 -1 -1 -3 ; 8 2. M2, Melges 32, Kym Kapalla, San Diego, CA, USA, 2 -3 -2 -1 ; 8 3. TroubleSpot, Farr 30 OD, Oliver Michaelis, San Diego, CA, USA, 1 -2 -3 -2 ; 8

Etchells - Bill Bennett Memorial (One Design - 21 Boats) 1. Rock n' Roll, Etchells, Argyle Campbell, Newport Beach, CA, USA, 2 -6 -1 -1 ; 10 2. Viva, Etchells, Don Jesberg, Belvedere, CA, USA, 3 -3 -3 -4 ; 13 3. Rhino, Etchells, Bruce Nelson, San Diego, CA, USA, 5 -5 -2 -2 ; 14 J 105 (One Design - 11 Boats) 1. Sanity, J 105, Rick Goebel, San Diego, CA, USA, 2 -2 -1 -3 ; 8 2. Juiced, J 105, Tom Hurlburt / Chuck Driscoll, San Diego, CA, USA, 3 -1 -3 -2 ; 9 3. Wings, J 105, Dennis Case, San Diego, CA, USA, 4 -3 -2 -1 ; 10

Flying Tiger 10 (One Design - 6 Boats) 1. Relapse, FT 10M, Tom Hirsh, San Diego, CA, USA, 2 -1 -1 -2 ; 6 2. Arsenal, FT 10M, Andrew Picel, Cardiff, CA, USA, 1 -2 -3 -3 ; 9 3. Ruckus, FT 10M, Brian Werner, Aliso Viejo, CA, USA, 3 -3 -4 -1 ; 11

North Sails Rally A (One Design - 5 Boats) 1. F Bomb, Corsair 31, Lawrence Adams, San Diego, CA, USA, 1 ; 1 2. Athena, Beneteau 44.7, David Cheresh, Encinitas, CA, USA, 2 ; 2 3. Aeolos, First 44.7, Gregory Price, San Marcos, CA, USA, 3 ; 3

North Sails Rally B (One Design - 7 Boats) 1. Sprig, 6m, Greg Stewart, San Diego, CA, USA, 1 ; 1 2. American Girl, Alerion Express 28, Lisa Leweck, San Diego, CA, USA, 2 ; 2 3. Lucky Charms, Kirby, Mark Clements, San Diego, CA , USA, 3 ; 3

Ultimate 20 (One Design - 7 Boats) 1. 222, Ultimate 20, Travis Gregory, Farmington, UT, USA, 1 -1 -1 -1 -2 -1 -1 ; 8 2. Junta, Ultimate 20, Mark Allen, Holladay, UT, USA, 2 -3 -2 -2 -1 -2 -4 ; 16 3. Juiced!, Ultimate 20, James Ulatowski, Denver, CO, USA, 4 -4 -3 -3 -3 -4 -3 ; 24

J 70 (One Design - 19 Boats) 1. Minor Threat, J 70, Jeff Janov, Malibu, CA, USA, 2 -1 -3 -1 -2 -4 -1 ; 14 2. 3 Big Dogs, J 70, Pat Toole, Santa Barbara, CA, USA, 1 -5 -1 -6 -4 -9 -3 ; 29 3. Huckleberry, J 70, Jim Murrell, Torrance, CA, USA, 5 -3 -2 -7 -6 -1 -8 ; 32

I-14 (One Design - 12 Boats) 1. Astragulus, I 14, Brad Ruetenik, Encinitas, CA, USA, 4 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -3 ; 12 2. USA 1189, I 14, Kris Bundy, Bellingham, WA, USA, 5 -2 -3 -3 -2 -4 -2 ; 21 3. Sweet Jane, I 14, John Gilmour, Richmond, Ca, USA, 2 -3 -6 -2 -3 -5 -6 ; 27

Viper 640 (One Design - 9 Boats) 1. Cobra, Viper 640, Timothy Carter, Harbor City, CA, USA, 1 -3 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 ; 14 2. Ranga.Ranga, Viper 640, Peter Graves, Post Falls, ID, USA, 3 -4 -5 -1 -1 -1 -3 ; 18 3. Breakaway, Viper 640, Eric Chadwick, Pasadena, CA, USA, 2 -1 -1 -4 -3 -6 -4 ; 21

Formula 18 (One Design - 11 Boats) 1. Casi Listo, F 18, Scott Miller, Ramona, CA, USA, -1 -1 -1 -1 ; 4 2. Wet Rodeo, F 18, Steve Stroebel, San Diego, CA, USA, -3 -3 -2 -2 ; 10 3. Le Zebra, F 18, Galvez/ Marfeng, Mission Viejo, CA, USA, -2 -2 -4 -3 ; 11

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Helly Hansen NOOD Regatta San Diego: Action Offshore | Sailing ... - Sailing World

Seeking Alpha

Diamond Offshore wins court ruling against Petrobras Houston Chronicle Several offshore drillers have seen contracts canceled from companies and countries ranging from Brazil to Saudi Arabia. Last year, for instance, Danish rig contractor Maersk Drilling cut 120 Gulf of Mexico jobs when Houston's ConocoPhillips and ... Diamond Offshore Drilling - A Gutsy TradeSeeking Alpha Diamond Offshore gets financial reprieve from Brazilian courtFuelFix (blog) Court favours Diamond Offshore over rig contract cancelled by PetrobrasSplash 247 Zacks.com all 43 news articles »

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Diamond Offshore wins court ruling against Petrobras - Houston Chronicle

by

March 17, 2017, 11:24 AM EDT March 18, 2017, 3:00 AM EDT

Plans to install turbines on platforms that float in the sea are gathering pace as renewable energy developers seek new areas to harvest wind power.

Scotland has granted planning permission for as much as 92 megawatts of floating offshore wind capacity, including two separate projects in the past two weeks. In Ireland, the developer Gaelectric Holdings Plc and Ideol SAS, a French floating wind company, agreed on Friday to develop floating wind projects in Irish waters, starting with a 30-megawatt array.

The deals bring to about 237 megawatts the capacity of floating offshore wind projects that will be installed worldwide by 2020, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Thats just a fraction of the 38,000 megawatts of turbine due to be fixed to the seabed by the end of this decade.

Floating wind has the potential to bring clean energy to island nations that might not have much land and the seabed is too deep for normal offshore wind, said Tom Harries, Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

The nascent technology is seen as key to cutting the costs of offshore wind power and opening up swathes of seabed that would otherwise be undeveloped because of poor seabed conditions or because its too deep.

In Scotland, developers are rushing to meet a deadline to get the only subsidies available for floating offshore wind farms before they have to compete with other cheaper renewables. In order to get that support, floating projects must show theyre on track to produce first power by the end of September 2018.

The projects recently approved in Scotland both target deep waters that would otherwise require massive concrete or steel structures to anchor turbines.

Recent projects include:

Continue reading here:

Race to Build Offshore Wind Farms That Float on Sea Gathers Pace ... - Bloomberg

BBC News

Offshore workers return to BP platform after power is restored BBC News Offshore workers are returning to BP's Clair platform west of Shetland after power was restored. More than 105 non-essential personnel were moved off the platform as a precaution following a power cut at 05:45 on Saturday. A BP spokesman said: "BP can ... and more »

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Offshore workers return to BP platform after power is restored - BBC News

Projected GDP growth figures of different countries released by the World Bank in January this year show that South Africa is expected to grow no more than 1.8% in both 2018 and 2019. On the other hand emerging and developing countries, on average, are expected to grow at 4.6% and 4.8% respectively.

As South Africa represents less than one percent of the worlds GDP, it is prudent to consider diversifying geographically and introducing a spread of currencies and other asset classes into an investment portfolio to ensure that you are not over exposed to South Africa specific risk factors. An additional factor to consider is that the rand has recovered to below R13/dollarand investing offshore right now is relatively favourable compared to a year ago.

It would therefore be entirely logical for South African investors to start the process of exploring offshore investment opportunities. We would of course caution our clients that they should have a good understanding of their existing investments and what exposures they are looking to add to their portfolios before making this decision. Adopting the get it offshore at any cost mentality seldom bears fruit.

But how do you go about this? What should your starting point be? And where do you find the data to support your decision and ensure that you are getting your desired exposure?

As a South African, you are faced with a choice. You can either invest in a rand-denominated fund, (whereby you invest in rands and ultimately get paid out in rands) or you can take your money offshore and invest in assets after converting your rands into a foreign currency.

To invest in a foreign-currency denominated fund you have be an individual (as opposed to a trust), over the age of 18 and in good standing with Sars. There are limits on the amount of money you can invest offshore; present caps are set at an annual limit of R10 million unless you do a special application.

Further, you are required to place the transaction through an authorised dealer. Most SA banks are authorised dealers and specialist financial advisors are able to assist with the investment process.

Let us go through a practical example. I have decided to use investing in India as an example as it is an option that we at Rosebank Wealth Group are actively exploring at the moment.

The first thing to realise is that technically, South African investors may invest in any offshore funds that they choose but are limited to FSB-registered offshore funds when dealing with a South African financial advisor.

You could brief your financial advisor to find you the best solution for gaining exposure to India, as measured by both return, risk and correlation benefits when added to the rest of your portfolio. You should also specify that your new investment should take tax and estate duty efficiencies into account.

This request would mandate your financial advisor to do a search of all eligible funds and then present you with a list of possibilities. The choices would include the following:

Foreign-currency denominated funds registered with the FSB

There are about 450 funds that have been approved by the FSB that may be marketed and promoted in South Africa in terms of Section 65 of the Collective Investment Funds Act. Factors considered by the FSB when deliberating on which funds should be permitted to be promoted include the investment grade of underlying assets, the liquidity of assets and the availability of the funds in their home jurisdictions, to name a few.

As of March 2017, there are eight foreign-denominated funds with a special focus on India. This list of funds include those that are mandated to invest in only equities as well as those that invest in interest bearing investments. The total list of funds approved for marketing by the FSB can be found on http://www.fsb.co.za.

Rand-denominated foreign funds

These funds are classified by the Association of Savings and Investments South Africa (Asisa) as either global funds (those funds mandated to invest across many countries, as opportunities present themselves) or regional funds (those funds that are mandated to invest in specific country or region). The global and regional funds are further classified according to whether the fund managers concerned are mandated to invest in equities, interest bearing assets, property or across different types of assets. Some rand-denominated funds are labelled feeder funds and invest only into a parent foreign currency fund.

The only rand-denominated unit trust fund with a specific Indian focus is the Sanlam India Opportunities Feeder Fund, launched in 2000 with assets of R 210 million. The Sanlam India Opportunities Feeder Fund invests in the SIIP India Opportunities Fund, which is domiciled in Ireland and which is benchmarked against the Bombay Stock Exchange 500 Index.

Other rand-denominated funds that may or may not invest in India, depending on the conviction of the fund manager, include the Sanlam Asia Pacific Fund of Funds, launched in 2000 and with assets of R 119 million, the Coronation Global Emerging Markets Fund, a fund where the managers have the discretion to invest in a wide range of emerging markets, including India or the Stanlib Global Emerging Markets Fund.

The table below shows all the funds with an Indian orientation listed as a foreign fund on the FSB website. Column 2 shows the Morningstar and the Profile Media classification of the funds concerned. Note the different classifications of the funds concerned.

1

2

3

Fund

Classification (Morningstar / Profile Media)

Mandate (as per fund fact sheet)

SIIP India Opportunities Fund

(Registered with the FSB in February 2011)

India Equity/ SA Offshore Far East Equity General

The fund managers are mandated to invest in the stock markets of India and aim to outperform the Bombay Stock Exchange 500 index over a 3 year period.

Franklin India Fund

(Registered with the FSB in Nov 2007)

India Equity/ SA Offshore Far East Equity Varied Specialist

The fund managers of this fund invest in Indian-based equity and equity-related securities and to a lesser extent in money market securities. The benchmark of the fund is the MSCI India Index.

Ashburton Chindia Equity Fund

(Registered with the FSB in February 2011)

Other Asia Pacific Equity/ SA Offshore Far East Equity General

The fund managers are mandated to invest in the stock markets of China and India. They aim to outperform a composite index made up of 50% MSCI India and 50% MSCI China.

Ashburton India Equity Opportunities Fund

(Registered with the FSB in Sept 2014)

India Equity/ SA Offshore Global Equity General

The fund managers are mandated to invest predominantly in the stock markets of India. They aim to outperform the MSCI India.

Ashburton India Fixed Income Opportunities Fund

(Registered with the FSB in Sept 2014)

Other Bond/ Unlisted

To achieve long-term capital growth and income through investment in fixed and floating rate instruments traded in India.

Rubrics India Fixed Income UCITS Fund

(Registered with the FSB in Oct 2014)

Other Bond/ Unlisted

This fund aims to generate income and capital gains by investing in fixed income securities issued by the Central Government of India (Sovereign debt) and the companies of Indian origin in which the government holds a majority stake known as public sector undertakings or PSUs'(PSU corporate debt).

Q ACPI India Equity UCITS Fund

(Registered with the FSB in Oct 2016)

Unlisted by both data providers as of February 2017

This fund aims to achieve capital appreciation via a diversified portfolio of listed Indian equities. The fund is managed from Mumbai, India by Quantum Advisers.

Q-ACPI India Balanced UCITS Fund

(Registered with the FSB in Oct 2016)

Unlisted by both data providers as of February 2017

The Q-ACPI India Balanced UCITS Fund invests in Indian equities and bonds over a market cycle via collective investment schemes.

It follows that investment advisors and/or members of the public choosing their own investments have to understand the logic (or lack of it) that determines the classification of funds and need to interrogate the underlying holdings in the fund and not just the label.

In case you are thinking that fund classification is neither here nor there, bear in mind that award ceremonies such as the Raging Bull Awards and the Morningstar awards base their award nominations decisions on i) their classification protocols and ii) the limited pool that are FSB registered and the classification of the funds concerned.

It is one of our pet gripes that in the marketing hubris following award ceremonies, the winning funds get away with advertising their success by boasting that they won the Best performing European/Indian/Technology Fund, just to name a few categories. The adverts fail to mention that the only competitors might have been a very small group of other FSB-registered funds and their leading competitors might be excluded because of a historical classification issue.

It is therefore crucial that both you and your financial advisor should resist the temptation to take the easy route and select award-ceremony winning funds without a good understanding of which funds are not on the list and why, and how the funds that are on the list have been classified.

To avoid this mistake, all you have to do is ask your advisor to conduct a thorough analysis of the funds concerned so that you can ensure you are in fact getting the underlying exposure you are looking for.

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What you should know before investing offshore - Moneyweb.co.za

News & Observer

Amazon Wind Farm developer Avangrid wins $9M bid to build offshore wind farm off Kitty Hawk News & Observer The Amazon Wind Farm, in Pasquotank and Perquimans counties, features 104 turbines and a capacity of 208 megawatts, while the 191 square miles Avangrid leased Thursday could accommodate an offshore wind farm more than sevenfold the size if fully ... Operator of Pasquotank wind farm wins offshore lease biddingThe Outer Banks Voice Avangrid Renewables wins bid for Kitty Hawk offshore wind farm leaseVirginian-Pilot Iberdrola wins 1.2GW North Carolina offshore wind auctionRecharge Utility Dive -The National Law Review -Clean Energy News (blog) all 22 news articles »

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Amazon Wind Farm developer Avangrid wins $9M bid to build offshore wind farm off Kitty Hawk - News & Observer

[Update 2: In Round 17, one company bid $9 million. No other company has matched or exceeded it. Stay tuned for the BOEMs announcement of the winning bid.]

Twelverounds of bidding, four companies and $5.3 million on the table and so far, no ones flinching. Since 9:30 this morning, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has been auctioning 122,405 acres of ocean for an off-shore wind farm 27.5 miles from Kitty Hawk.

The winning bidder would not own the acreage,but lease it from the BOEM, a division of the U.S. Department of Interior. This is an online lease sale, so theres no wonderful soundtrack of an auctioneer (five-five-five do-I-hear-five-point-three-million?!) Nonetheless, the bidding updates, which started at $244,000, have been interesting.

North Carolina has more offshore wind energy potential than any Atlantic state. This would the states first off-shore wind farm.

More than 35people or groups commentedon the proposed lease, indicating the many potential conflicts even clean energy can encounter. TheWorld Shipping Councilwas concerned about the turbines interference of ocean traffic. TheTown of Kitty Hawkwanted the farm farther offshore, plus was worried aboutvisual clutter of farm-to-shore transmission lines.

Southern Environmental Law Center,US Fish & Wildlife Serviceandthe Marine Mammal Commission, while largely supportive of wind energy, urged the bureau to conduct thorough environmental assessments and offset potential harm to birds, sea life and ecosystems.

Eight companies filed paperwork with the bureau to participate in the auction: Avangrid Renewables, which owns an onshore wind farm near Elizabeth City; Enbridge Holdings/Green Energy in Houston; Shell WindEnergy; Wind Future LLC, Outer Banks Ocean Energy in Charlottesville, Va.; PNE in Chicago, a multi-international company Statoil; and WPD Offshore Alpha, based in Bremen, Germany.

Wind energy and its more popular renewable sibling, solar power, are key to a resolution filed today by State Rep. Pricey Harrison, a Guilford County Democrat.HR 401 would shift North Carolina to 100 percent clean energy by 2050. If the resolution passes (unlikely, but Harrison gets points for chipping away at the fossil fuel block) the statecould spend thenext 33 years weaning itself off the coal/natural gas teat. Converting to 100 percent clean energy could help the planet avoid what the resolution describes as a climate catastrophe.

In addition to the enormous wind energy potential, North Carolina had 1,140 megawatts of solar electric capacity in 2015, placing the state second in the nation. Of that capacity, the industry has installed enough infrastructure to power 260,000 homes roughly equivalent to the population of Durham County. AndIn 2016, the solar industry investednearly $1.7 billion on installations in the state, an increase of 159 percent over the previous year.

Primary co-sponsors are Democratic Reps. John Autry, Jean Farmer-Butterfield and Susan Fisher.

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Bidding reaches $7.5 million for state's first offshore wind farm - and ... - The Progressive Pulse

Published on March 16th, 2017 | by Joshua S Hill

March 16th, 2017 by Joshua S Hill

Danish wind energy giant DONG Energy announced this week that it has decided to retire the Vindeby offshore wind farm, the worlds first offshore wind farm, which was installed 25 years ago.

The Vindeby offshore wind farm was completed in the summer of 1991, when 11 small 450-kilowatt wind turbines in the waters off Vindeby near Lolland in the south east of Denmark setting the country up to be one of the worlds early offshore wind leaders. The wind farm provided enough electricity for around 2,200 homes a sign of just how far the industry has come. Consider that one of DONG Energys current projects, the Hornsea Project One, when completed, is expected to provide enough electricity for onemillion households.

Vindeby Offshore Wind Farm is almost miniature-size in comparison with the giant projects which are now being realised in Northern Europe, said Leif Winther, responsible for DONG Energys Danish offshore wind farms. But without the experience gained from the worlds first offshore wind farm, we wouldnt be where we are today. Its fair to say that Vindeby is the cradle of the offshore wind industry, and that this is where the industry was born.

It was announced back in early 2016 that the Vindeby offshore wind farm would be prepared for dismantling, when DONG Energy sought dialogue around what could be done with the infrastructure which has been built up around the park.

There are cables with an associated substation onshore, and it might be interesting for companies interested in renewable energy, Winther said back in February of 2016. We would like to enter into dialogue with them prior to dismantling the wind farm.

More than that, however, the dismantling of Vindeby offers the first steps to learning how to proceed with dismantling the much larger offshore wind farms which will happen inevitably over the coming years and decades.

In future, other and much larger offshore wind farms will also have to be taken down. How to do that most efficiently and with the greatest possible consideration for the environment is still uncharted territory. In this context, Danish companies can perhaps get a head start, just as they did when we started the expansion of wind power.

All the components of the wind farm will be taken down individually by a mobile crane on board a jack-up vessel. The parts will then be sent onshore toNyborg Harbour, where DONG Energy will attempt to reuse the components as much as possible as spare parts for other wind turbines. Some of the wind turbine blades are actually set to be used as part of a research project atDTU Ris, while others are earmarked for use in a noise barrier concept.

Buy a cool T-shirt or mug in the CleanTechnica store! Keep up to date with all the hottest cleantech news by subscribing to our (free) cleantech daily newsletter or weekly newsletter, or keep an eye on sector-specific news by getting our (also free) solar energy newsletter, electric vehicle newsletter, or wind energy newsletter.

Tags: Denmark, dong energy, Lolland, Vindeby, Vindeby offshore wind farm

Joshua S Hill I'm a Christian, a nerd, a geek, and I believe that we're pretty quickly directing planet-Earth into hell in a handbasket! I also write for Fantasy Book Review (.co.uk), and can be found writing articles for a variety of other sites. Check me out at about.me for more.

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DONG Energy Retiring World's First Offshore Wind Farm - CleanTechnica

Diamond Offshore (NYSE:DO) has just announced that the court upheld the injunction regarding the company's Ocean Valor contract with Petrobras (NYSE:PBR). According to Diamond Offshore's 8-K, Petrobras has the right to seek to appeal the ruling in the Superior Court of Justice. This is a major win for Diamond Offshore, which continues to get the dayrate from the Ocean Valor contract. The news of Ocean Valor's contract cancellation was a major downside catalyst for Diamond Offshore shares back in September 2016.

There is a lot at stake for Diamond Offshore. Ocean Valor was originally scheduled to work until October 2018 at a dayrate of $455,000. The news is especially refreshing given the current state of the floater market, which remains under heavy pressure due to low oil prices.

As I stated in my previous article on Diamond Offshore, the stock looks like an interesting bet around $15 due to strong support at this level and a clear plan. If the stock breaks the support, you can bail out with a small loss.

The news on the Ocean Valor should provide additional support for the company's shares. At the same time, the industry situation remains tough. Brent failed to go through the major resistance at $57.50 and corrected significantly, further postponing any material recovery in the floater segment of the offshore drilling market.

Saudi Arabia recently hinted that it might get out of the production cut deal after six months if other market participants (especially U.S. shale companies) get too much out of it without committing anything. This is worrying news for the whole offshore drilling market, and for the floater segment in particular as it needs higher prices than the jackup segment in order to see increased contracting activity and better dayrates.

The current backlog remains Diamond Offshore's core strength. However, as time goes by, the company will eat through the backlog and future prospects look rather bleak, like for every offshore driller. I remain cautiously optimistic on the company due to the backlog and the quality of the management team, which was the only one that called the current crisis right from the start and acted accordingly.

At the same time, oil prices are a source of major worry. In my view, another leg down in oil prices (if it happens) will certainly take Diamond Offshore shares below $15. It might even cause a wave of selling, triggering the protective stop orders of both speculative and longer-term-oriented traders and investors.

Besides oil prices, Diamond Offshore will have to deal with several contracts that end this year. The contracts of two older semi-subs, Ocean Guardian and Ocean Patriot, end in April 2017 and October 2017, respectively. Diamond Offshore's management has repeatedly stated that old assets can find their niche in the market. This year, the management team will have a chance to prove its words or if the two semis will have to join the fleet of cold-stacked rigs, which currently consists of 10 rigs.

There are several other rigs whose contracts end in 2017: jackup Ocean Scepter and semis Ocean Monarch and Ocean Victory. In short, Diamond Offshore will have to find additional work for at least some of these rigs or its shares will find themselves under increased pressure.

I have often written about the "survivor group," which, in my view, consists of Diamond Offshore, Rowan (NYSE:RDC), Ensco (NYSE:ESV), Transocean (NYSE:RIG), and Noble Corp. (NYSE:NE). "Survival" here means that the companies will emerge out of the current downturn without material changes to the capital structure, which involve heavy dilution or a complete wipeout of shareholders. However, "survivor group" member status does not protect a company's shares from downside.

I continue to believe that the whereabouts of the $15 level present a decent opportunity to bet on Diamond Offshore shares, either for a short-term or a longer-term trade. However, an investor or trader should keep risks in mind, choose a comfortable entry price and size the position accordingly. The whole industry remains under great pressure, and there are little if any signs of a rebound.

Disclosure: I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, but may initiate a long position in DO over the next 72 hours.

I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Additional disclosure: I may trade any of the abovementioned stocks.

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