Wednesday 25 November 2009

Rain, rain, more rain, and some rain

It's definitely raining now.

This week's been a funny one, I think companies are in that jittery phase where they have stuff to do, but don't really want to do so before Christmas (only however many shopping days to go.) Recruitment tends to level out as clients look to the new year, but there's still a few things ticking over.

In the news:

New Zealand seems to be the place to be, the E107 has been scheduled to drill another production well. Link here. Maybe Ensco's fortunes are looking up a bit, as they have had a few rigs stacked for a while.

There's a squabble between Chevron and Woodside about the Atwood Oceanics rig they had agreed to share. Sounds like handbags at dawn, but might end up pretty expensive. Just goes to show there's plenty of demand for these Hight Spec Deepwater rigs at the moment. Link here.

Finally Noble might be feeling the pinch due to their reliance on Pemex. 10 of their 12 contracts are up next year, placing Pemex in a good position to pressure them for a better day rate. Link here.


Jobs wise, I need the following - A DPO and a Driller/Tourpusher for a new build Cyberbase Semi in the GOM. I also need a Master Mariner for a Jack up in Egypt. Pipeling Engineer and Safety Engineer for Abu Dhabi, and I'm still keeping my eyes open for a decent subsea Engineer for Brazil.

Anyone you know, or if you're interested, please email me

Wednesday 18 November 2009

back to normal

Was away on holiday last week, in the rain. Lovely.

Seems like things have been steady though, nothing too major on the oil and gas front, just the price dipping down, and slowly resurfacing again. Vacancies are still a bit thin on the ground; lots of plans for next year, but nothing new that's concrete for this year.

In the news:

This interesting article about Vietnamese oil and gas production. It's a little under-utilised at the moment, although there seem to be a few drilling contractors heading that way soon.

I guess one of the main news stories is that Ensco are relocating to the UK. Links are here and Ensco's take is here. I wonder why they have chosen the UK? Taxes are pretty high, and life's pretty expensive, but hopefully this will encourage them to employ a few more people from Europe.

This article shows how desperate the anti-drilling lobby are in the US to prevent offshore drilling. Not only is it ridiculous to invoke the military as a reason not to drill, but I guess this means that the US military would e unable to attack across Ocean that has oil rigs in it. Better not tell Iran this, they'll have the perfect defence. However, they seem to be losing ground, as there will be a big sale next year.

Obama was in SE Asia, and China, promoting goodwill and strengthening Economic and Political ties. He's definitely trying to get access to some of the oil revenues that China are getting, particularly from Myanmar. Interesting article here.

That's all for now. Looking for Drillers for the GOM, Cyberbase Semi experience. A Chief Officer for an AHTS vessel in Angola, and Piping and Safety Engineers for Abudhabi.

Email me at the usual address if you are interested or know anyone who might be.

Friday 6 November 2009

Short

Apologies, not much posted this week, had what the wife would descrube as "man flu".

Romania has opened up it's oilfields for more exploration, which is good news. Hopefully CROSCO and GSP will be able to secure some of the drilling contracts in the area, as things don't seem too busy for them at the moment.

Libya and BP are getting on liek a house on fire, and it looks like there'll be plenty of work there from next year, which is good news as well.

Back to normal next week (honest).

I'm looking for an HR manager for a drilling contractor in Houston if anyone is looking, and other roles will remain the same.