Blake Wright

Houston

Freelance Writer and Editor at Freelance

Technology Editor at Journal of Petroleum Technology

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Articles

Fresh Tech Is Shaping the Wells of Tomorrow

6 days ago | jpt.spe.org | Blake Wright

If you want to catch a wily mouse, you need to build a better mouse trap. If you want to tap into increasingly more difficult reservoirs in the search for oil and gas, you need to drill a better well. When it comes to global hydrocarbon reserves, the low-hanging fruit was picked over years ago. What’s left and available for exploration is generally ultradeep, super-hot, overpressured, or some combination of that trio.
BW Offshore Buys Existing FPSO

1 week ago | jpt.spe.org | Blake Wright

Rising global demand for FPSOs has prompted contractor BW Offshore to acquire the FPSO Nganhurra, one of very few capable floating production storage and offloading vessels not working.
Glenfarne Taps Worley for Alaska LNG Pipeline Work

1 week ago | jpt.spe.org | Blake Wright

Glenfarne Group, the majority owner and lead developer of Alaska LNG, a joint venture with the State of Alaska’s Alaska Gasline Development Corp., has selected Australia’s Worley to undertake additional engineering and prepare a final cost estimate for the Alaska LNG Pipeline to achieve final investment decision (FID) for the pipeline. This work has started and will utilize and supplement the previously completed engineering work and update the cost of the pipeline.
McDermott Completes Scarborough FPU Work

3 weeks ago | jpt.spe.org | Blake Wright

McDermott has completed the completion of fabrication, construction, and offshore floatover of the Scarborough floating production unit (FPU) topside and hull structures for Woodside Energy. The contract, awarded in 2021, followed the successful delivery of front-end engineering design for the Scarborough Energy Project’s FPU and includes engineering, procurement, construction, installation, and commissioning services.
Cenovus Set for Towout of Foundation for West White Rose Project

3 weeks ago | jpt.spe.org | Blake Wright

Canadian operator Cenovus Energy is preparing for a second quarter towout of the 210,000-tonne concrete gravity structure (CGS) that will act as the foundation for its $2.8 billion West White Rose project offshore Newfoundland & Labrador. Built by the consortium of SNC Lavalin-Dragados-Pennecon, construction began on the CGS in 2022. It was recently moved out of dry dock and into a temporary staging site at Arnold’s Cove where the dry ballasting will be completed before the trip to the field site.
Greensand Carbon Dioxide Carrier Nears Completion

1 month ago | jpt.spe.org | Blake Wright

Europe’s first dedicated CO2 carrier currently under construction at Royal Niestern Sander shipyard in the Netherlands is planned to be christened and launched on 14 May. A partnership agreement between chemical giant INEOS and offshore vessel provider Wagenborg for delivery of the CO2 carrier was signed in November 2024. The vessel is designed to transport liquefied CO2 from onshore capture sites to offshore storage in the Danish part of the North Sea.
SBM Lands Kaskida FPU Installation Contract

1 month ago | jpt.spe.org | Blake Wright

SBM Offshore has signed a contract with BP Exploration and Production for the wet-tow and installation of the Kaskida semisubmersible floating production unit (FPU) destined for the deepwater US Gulf of Mexico (GOM). The Kaskida field is a greenfield, 20,000-psi Paleogene development located approximately 250 miles southwest of New Orleans, in Keathley Canyon Block 292.
Q&A With SLB: Wired for Safety—Electric Well-Control Technologies

1 month ago | jpt.spe.org | Blake Wright

Electrification of critical drilling and production components is sweeping through the oil field, both onshore and offshore. As technology catches up with the energy storage requirements for given applications, service companies are introducing new electric-powered equipment to replace kit that has been historically hydraulically controlled. One of the latest additions to this movement has been SLB’s EWC electric well-control technologies.
Noble Lands Deal To Sell Drillship Pair

1 month ago | jpt.spe.org | Blake Wright

Offshore driller Noble Corporation has reached an agreement to sell a pair of cold-stacked drillships—Pacific Meltem and Pacific Scirocco. While the contractor did not specify the buyer or the price, it expects to finalize the deal by midyear. The rigs will be sold “in a manner intended to effectively retire them,” Noble CEO Robert Eifler told analysts on the company’s first-quarter earnings call, suggesting they are being sold outside of the oil and gas business.
US Interior To Speed Up Permitting Process for Energy Projects

1 month ago | jpt.spe.org | Blake Wright

The US Department of the Interior (DOI) will implement emergency permitting procedures to accelerate the development of domestic energy resources and critical minerals—including oil and gas. The measures are designed to expedite the review and approval, if appropriate, of projects related to the identification, leasing, siting, production, transportation, refining, or generation of energy within the US. The new permitting procedures will reduce a process that once took years to just 28 days.