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offshore oil &ocean; engineering Shell Arctic Drilling Season Cut Short With Delays Royal Dutch Shell plc (The Hague, Netherlands) completed its drilling season off the Arctic coast of Alaska at the end of October, having drilled the top portions of the Burger-A well in the Chukchi Sea and the Sivulliq well in the Beaufort Sea but not attempting to penetrate deeper reservoirs, The Washington Post reported. The initial goal was to drill six exploration wells, but the company considers the season a success. Drilling was conducted to a depth of 1,400 feet. The two top holes will be the foundation for a pair of exploratory wells. Next year, drillships will uncap the holes and drill to oil-bearing rock. Alaska's open-water season lasts about four months, but ice lasted longer than anticipated in the area where Shell was planning to drill in the Chukchi. Soon after drilling began in September in that area, Shell moved its drillship to avoid an ice foe. Delays in retroftting a spill containment barge for U.S. Coast Guard inspection and damage to Shell's oil spill containment dome during sea trials also cut the season short. When time ran out to complete an exploration well before the end of the open-water season, the U.S. Interior Department gave Shell permission to drill the tops of its wells and to set in place blowout preventers. Shell used two drillships and about 20 support vessels in the Arctic to conduct seafoor drilling for the frst time in more than two decades, Associated Press reported. The company has an Arctic offshore investment of about $4.5 billion, including $2.1 billion for Chukchi leases. Floating LNG Market To Total $47.4 Billion in 2013 to 2019 The emergence of foating liquefaction will drive a signifcant increase in total global capital expenditure (capex) over the 2013 to 2019 period, Douglas-Westwood Ltd. (Canterbury, England) said in November. Douglas-Westwood forecast that expenditure is set to total $47.4 billion over the 2013-2019 period, with more than $28 billion spent on foating LNG (FLNG) liquefaction and $19.1 billion on import terminals. While expenditure is expected to increase in the existing regasifcation market, the liquefaction sector is forecast to overshadow this, as capex associated with a foating liquefaction terminal is more than triple that of a typical foating import terminal. Economic growth is driving electricity demand in the developing world, and Asia will be a focus region for both liquefaction and regasifcation terminals, accounting for 35 percent of global capex. Australasia will account for 22 percent of the market, largely due to a number of liquefaction projects. Latin America will represent 17 percent of global FLNG expenditure, with projects involving both offshore liquefaction and regasifcation vessels. Declining onshore hydrocarbon production, high oil prices and a move Underwater Wet Mateable Electrical Connectors • Standard Circular • Micro • Low Profile • Metal Shell • Power • Specials • Penetrators • Ethernet Connector Tel.: +1 781 829 4440 • www.subconn.com • International: +45 7613 2000 • www.macartney.com 72 st / DECEMBER 2012 www.sea-technology.com