HSE

Reflex Marine recently unveiled a new offering to its marine personnel transfer portfolio which includes innovative design improvements requested by the offshore E&P industry. The company’s TORO personnel transfer device combines advanced passenger protection, comfort, and speed of entry and exit in a system that can be used for both routine and emergency transfer situations. Read more »

A robot control system originally designed for outer space applications is moving to another extreme environment: the seafloor. Seabed Rig has licensed Energid Technologies to create a robot control system for its next-generation automated drilling and exploration platforms that will operate in ultradeepwater and Arctic environments. Read more »

A new technology that promises greater efficiency in salt removal and crude/water separation will be honored at this year’s Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston. ProSep’s ProSalt technology is one of 14 recipients of the OTC Spotlight on New Technology Award, which recognizes innovative technologies that provide significant benefits to offshore E&P. Read more »

A new technology offers the option to treat and retain chemically-contaminated oilfield water at the seafloor, without a topsides facility. CETCO Oilfield Services’ Nomadic Environmental Media Operated Host (NEMOH) is a flexible and portable technology capable of removing corrosion inhibitors and biocides from produced water at water depths up to 6,000 ft. Read more »

With energy demand projected to increase in the coming decades, the oil and gas industry will be looking to move into more environmentally sensitive areas for future drilling and production. Helping the industry do this in low-impact and responsible ways is the goal of a new collaborative research program called the University/National Laboratories Alliance. Read more »

The UK offshore oil and gas industry operates in one of the busiest—and most hazardous—environments in the world. This fact was the motivation for the new Minimum Industry Safety Training (MIST) course, which is now being offered by Petrofac Training. Read more »

Two French research centers are joining forces to develop new software solutions for the study and monitoring of geological carbon dioxide (CO₂) storage facilities. BRGM and IFP have signed a research partnership agreement that will draw on their complimentary knowledge of the physicochemical processes in CO₂ storage, as well as their recognized expertise in the field of subsurface modeling. Read more »

North Sea oil and gas drilling operators facing tighter environmental restrictions are getting some help from lubricant specialist Castrol Offshore. The company recently launched its BioTac OG environmentally responsible grease, designed for the rack and pinion jacking mechanism of mobile jackup rigs. Read more »

Recognizing a need to mitigate the growing number of major incidents in the oil and gas industry, risk management consultancy Det Norske Veritas (DNV) has opened the DNV Global Risk Center. The Hyderabad, India-based center will employ 60 consultants with backgrounds in engineering, business administration, and environmental sciences with an aim to support the energy sector in India and beyond. Read more »

Texas-based CrystaTech is taking its patented CrystaSulf hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) removal technology downhole, and it is getting some help from multinational energy company Total. In a joint development and commercialization agreement between the two companies, the Downhole Sulfur Recovery (DSR) process will be a regenerable process for continually removing and recovering sulfur deposits in sour gas wellbores.

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