Friday, 7 August 2026

Equinor has awarded SLB a multi-year contract for advanced reservoir stimulation work on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, World Oil reported. Central to the agreement is a heavy refit of the stimulation vessel MV Island Captain, intended to serve tight offshore reservoirs.

The refit turns the Island Captain into a fully proppant-capable stimulation vessel. Work covers larger proppant storage, reworked handling and blending equipment, more pumping capacity, and a reconfigured deck for larger-scale stimulation.

Proppant capacity after the upgrade reaches up to 2 million pounds, according to World Oil.

Ole Christian Meldahl of SLB described the refit as "an important investment in offshore stimulation capability for the Norwegian Continental Shelf".

ExxonMobil Holdings Corp. has told Kazakhstan that a potential $80 billion joint investment to expand the Kashagan oil field depends on settling a long-running $150 billion dispute between the government and international companies, according to World Oil.

The state's claims total about $150 billion, mostly tied to lost revenue during development delays, and are subject to international arbitration, World Oil reported. A separate $5 billion environmental fine sits alongside that figure.

The developed eastern portion of Kashagan currently produces about 450,000 barrels a day, according to World Oil. The North Caspian Operating Co., the joint venture operating the project, expects to lift output to roughly 500,000 bpd this year and to as much as 710,000 bpd by 2031, World Oil reported.

The expansion would target the western part of the field. World Oil, citing people familiar with the matter, said the development concept for the Exxon-led project to commercialize western Kashagan may cost $250 million.

Front-end engineering and design would require about $2 billion more starting in 2028, the same people told World Oil. The schedule implies development begins only after a final investment decision in 2030.

That sequencing places the arbitration outcome ahead of the largest spending commitments. The $80 billion figure dwarfs both the concept work and the engineering phase, and Exxon has conditioned it on the dispute being resolved.

ConocoPhillips Skandinavia has hired the ultra-harsh environment jack-up Noble Interceptor from Noble Corporation for plug and abandonment work in the Greater Ekofisk Area offshore Norway, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital.

The assignment is set to start in the third quarter of 2027, with an estimated duration of 670 days, Offshore Engineer OEDigital reported.

The rig is a Gusto MSC CJ70 X150 MD-design jack-up built in 2014, according to the same report. It can work in water depths of up to 492 feet and drill to a maximum of 40,000 feet.

Plug and abandonment covers the permanent sealing of wells that have reached the end of their producing lives, work that requires a drilling unit on station for the duration of the programme. Noble Corporation is an offshore drilling contractor, per Offshore Engineer OEDigital.