It is not easy to be a commentator in a time of war if your chosen subject is not normally world politics. Sure it would be a doddle to write about oil – or maybe more relevantly gas – prices at the moment or maybe about more aggressive moves in […]

THERE HAS ALWAYS BEEN profiteering from war. Don’t forget it was a Republican (!) president (Ike) in the 1950’s who coined the phrase ‘military industrial complex’. But we are not talking about arms now, we are talking oil and gas. It was 50 years ago that OPEC finally realised that […]

I think that I might have fibbed in my last blog. I suggested that it was likely to be my last visit to Subsea Expo. I may have been wrong for several reasons. Firstly, it was so great to be at an event face to face with people. I have […]

I am getting on a plane tomorrow for the first time in over two years, going to Aberdeen for Subsea Expo – which begins on Tuesday – for maybe the last time. It would be an end of era, at least for me, but that era actually ended earlier this […]

Sorry to have been away so long, but some times life gets in the way of working – sort of. Despite having a reputation for always speaking my mind, unlike some bloggers, I don’t think I should say something simply to be saying something. There is a good deal of […]

With the COP26 climate-change summit taking place in Glasgow next month, everyone and their uncle is trying to show their commitment to the energy transition, net zero and generally making a difference. This is at least trying to stop the world from reaching the catastrophic 2oC increase in temperature which […]

As an industry observer, it is possible to be safe from criticism. I do not have to take any decisions. I can simply wait for others to step on a banana peel and then, either stroke my chin in contemplation or laugh. To wit, while some believe themselves to be […]

I really can not let Bil Loth’s passing be finished with a single commentary. There just had to be more. Yesterday my wife Jane and I went to his ‘remembrance’ gathering. What else would you call an event when many of your friends, colleagues and most of your family gather […]

If life throws you a break, you get to meet and be friends with a special person. Bil Loth was one for me. Unfortunately the ‘was’ is intended as Bil passed away this morning at the relatively young age of 81. So very sad. He was a one-off – do […]

Thirty two years ago, in the aftermath of the Piper Alpha platform accident in which 167 UK offshore workers died, I was asked by New Scientist magazine to write an article about the future of offshore production. The question which was asked was, could offshore oil and gas production be […]

There were two announcements of note last week. Firstly, the proposed Global Underwater Hub will supercede, replace and absorb Subsea UK and secondly that the National Subsea Research Institute will now be absorbed into Subsea UK before the Hub arrangements are finalised. These are not before time. The UK offshore […]

I have to admit that this pandemic has not been great for creativity and thought. It might have seemed the opposite – lots of time to mull and consider and no shortage of ideas. It has, though, been enervating – energy sapped, no enthusiasm, worry about family and friends and […]

Over the course of the last four decades, there have been projects that have been noteworthy for advances in technology and others that have changed the way the industry has done business, but few that have done both. One of those was Kerr-McGee Gryphon in the UK sector of the […]

I had such a a good chuckle a week or two back that I could not resist commenting on. Please indulge me. The offshore oil and gas supply and service sector has had a long history of bad names. Some of the less than glorious monikers tagged onto companies have […]

(PROLOGUE: I feel that it is necessary to repeat something I wrote when I started my subsea history series. It was never way meant to be comprehensive. It is written from my point of view having edited Subsea Engineering News for 30 plus years. I am sure some folks will […]

AFTER LAST WEEK’S BLOG, I had a note from Dave Brookes, ex-BP, commenting on a few points from the most recent portion of my subsea history lesson. Firstly, Dave reminded me that the Snorre subsea controls failure was the result of problems with the wet mateable connectors, so I was […]

LAST WEEK I came upon a review, from Journal of Petroleum Technology, of a paper written for this year’s OTC, which, of course, was not held due to the current virus pandemic. The paper, prepared by three Saipem engineers was entitled ‘Developing Technologies Can Lower Subsea Tieback Cost’ (OTC30667). I […]

{Prologue: It is quite interesting to recall – my memory jogged by reading endless back issues of Subsea Engineering News – the unconstrained enthusiasm for new technology back in the mid 1980’s when subsea production was still very new and seen as the next big thing. So much money was […]

[As a prologue, firstly I would like to say sorry for being so long between episodes. Been overwhelmed as most people have just trying to stay safe and well and have also had problems with my office glasses. Such a sign of age – what an admission! My regards go […]

POST-UMC: SCAPA and HIGHLANDER It is easy to divide everything subsea from the early days of the UK sector as before and after Shell/Esso’s Underwater Manifold Centre (UMC), which was deployed on the Central Cormorant field. Except maybe not, at least philosophically. Shell/Esso, or Shell UK Expro as it was […]

Most of my readers over the years think of me as an oilfield journalist and commentator, but I began my career as a general reporter and feature writer. As such, I feel the need to run up the flag to campaign for freedom of the press. The events of this […]

No one, as of yet, has written the definitive history of subsea production technology. It probably should be me. Back in 2018, I spoke at two different Subsea UK events and during the course of each of those days, young engineers came up and thanked me for giving them a […]

During the first decade of publishing Subsea Engineering News – that is beginnning in 1984 – the North Sea, and the UK sector specifically, was the epicentre of the subsea/floater world. It was not that there was not meaningful activity elsewhere – assuredly the Brazilians were moving slowly, but surely […]

After 40 years in the UK, I have to admit that no one can do cliches like the Brits. One of my favourites is you wait for a bus and then three come along one after another referring to something long awaited. Then again, a friend of mine and I […]

From Vaasa, Finland: Zoologists often speak about the long gestation periods for elephants, but as we in the oilfield know, it ain’t nothin’ compared with the time required to get a new piece of technology developed, tested and deployed. So it is no surprise it has been six years since […]

When I was editor of Subsea Engineering News, readers often asked how I managed to gather so much information. It was a matter of effort – making contacts, lots of phone calls, endless schmoozing at conferences and generally putting in the time. It wasn’t easy, but why should it have […]

I am excited. OK, I am enthused, just so no one calls out the fire brigade. In the last fortnight, the subsea project market seems to have come alive. Of course, all of the work that was announced was bid three to six months ago, so in essence they are […]