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bp has announced the start of production ahead of schedule from the second development phase of the Raven field, part of the West Nile Delta (WND) project offshore Egypt

The project involves the subsea tieback of additional Raven infill wells to its existing onshore infrastructure. The new wells are expected to produce around 220bn cubic feet of gas and 7mn barrels of condensate. bp, the operator, holds an 82.75% stake in the project, with Harbour Energy owning the remaining 17.25%.

The WND Gas Development comprises a series of gas condensate fields located offshore Egypt, within the North Alexandria and West Mediterranean Deepwater concessions. The Raven field, the final phase of the WND project, has been in production since early 2021. Its initial phase included the development of eight subsea wells, located up to 65 km offshore, at water depths ranging from 550 to 700 m.

Nader Zaki, bp regional president for the Middle East and North Africa, commented, "Since January 2024, we have not stopped drilling for one day. The focus of the Raven Infills project has been to fight natural decline and increase production while maximising our existing infrastructure to meet Egypt’s domestic market demand at pace. This further demonstrates bp’s commitment to investing in Egypt, enabled by the unparalleled support and partnership with the Ministry of Petroleum, EGPC, and EGAS."

Earlier this month, bp announced it had successfully completed the drilling activity at the “El King-2” exploration well in the North King Mariout Offshore Concession as part of its WND drilling campaign. The well encountered two prospective Messinian reservoirs at a measured depth of approximately 2,400 m. Zaki commented at the time that bp is well-positioned to fast-track the development of the discovery with its existing infrastructure, execution capabilities and strategic partnerships with the Ministry of Petroleum.

bp is a leading energy investor in Egypt, where it has been operating for almost 60 years, with an investment of more than US$35bn. With its partners, it currently produces around 70% of Egypt’s gas through its gas development projects in the West and East Nile Delta.

bp says it is committed to maximising production from existing resources, exploring new opportunities to add new resources, and leveraging its existing infrastructure to support gas supply that meets growing domestic demand while strengthening Egypt’s position as a key energy partner in the region.

In December, bp and XRG (ADNOC’s international energy investment company) announced they had formed a new joint venture Arcius Energy (51% bp, 49% XRG). The JV will initially focus on gas development in Egypt, and includes interests assigned by bp across two development concessions, as well as exploration agreements.

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Mechanical services company EnerMech has secured a five-year contract extension to provide Qatar’s North Oil Company (NOC) with leak testing and flange management services, for the Al Shaheen oilfield, Qatar’s largest oilfield and one of the world’s largest in the world in terms of oil in place

The contract covers a range of services, including bolt tensioning and torquing, pipe freezing and training.

The company says its strong relationship with NOC, going back to 2017, was a key factor in retaining the contract, along with its record of past performance, knowledge of NOC’s assets and availability of resource within the country.

EnerMech, which has a presence in UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Iraq and Oman, sees attractive growth prospects in Qatar and the wider Middle East.

Charles ‘Chuck’ Davison Jr., EnerMech CEO, said, “By securing an extension to an already long-term project is testament to the commitment, hard work and professionalism of the Qatar team. I would like to commend Sean Lawless, country manager for Qatar for establishing EnerMech as a leading provider of leak testing and flange management services in the region, which puts us in a position to continue the evolution of EnerMech in the Gulf.”

Dan Collins, regional director, AMEC, said, “This arrangement is an important scope of work for EnerMech and highlights our expertise and depth of knowledge in the market. As 2025 progresses, we are eager to build on our strong footing in Qatar and continue to work with our clients to provide the best-in-class provisions.”

The Al Shaheen oilfield is a production field off the north-east coast of Qatar, 80 km north of the capital, Doha. The field is operated by North Oil Company, a joint venture between QatarEnergy (70%) and TotalEnergies (30%). In early 2024, QatarEnergy awarded four Engineering, Procurement, Construction, and Installation (EPCI) contracts worth more than US$6bn for the next development phase of the Al-Shaheen field, which will increase production by around 100,000bpd, as part of Project Ru’ya, which will develop more than 550mn bbl of oil and will be executed over a period of five years, with first oil expected in 2027. The project includes the drilling of more than 200 wells and the installation of a new centralised process complex, nine remote wellhead platforms, and associated pipelines.

AquaChemie, a prominent player in the regional chemicals industry, has unveiled its new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, AquaChemie Global Chemicals (ACGC), at the Khalifa Economic Zone Abu Dhabi (KEZAD).

The facility is built on a 25,804 sqm site with an initial investment of US$25mn.

At the opening ceremony of the factory, V Anandkumar, the founder and managing director of AquaChemie, said, "We've been moving towards being local and how to bring in multinational product lines, specialty chemicals, and bring it to this country and produce it here, adding value to localisation...we started our journey in building this facility in 2022, and we already have close to around US$50mn to US$60mn worth of chemicals to be supplied to ADNOC and other companies here. We found global partners who are willing to come and partner with us and produce those products here."

"We are also looking for some more acquisition in the near future within UAE," he added.

By localising production, the facility will reduce the region’s dependence on imported specialty chemicals, which have historically been costly and time-consuming to procure. The company said it will support the UAE's ‘Make it in the Emirates’ initiative.

Circular economy

AquaChemie’s new plant is strategically positioned to meet the growing demand for oil and gas upstream chemicals, particularly for ADNOC and other major regional players. It will also cater to industries such as paints, coatings, and construction, providing high-quality, locally produced chemicals that reduce costs and lead times.

Speaking to Oil Review Middle East, Anandkumar said, "Make it in the Emirates is something that is going to be a part of the way we [the industry] do business in the future. And we've already started it. As a company, we foresaw that so we were prepared. Today, there are a lot of companies scrambling to embrace that. But we are ahead of the game."

Reiterating the company's portfolio, Anandkumar said, "We are heavily contributing towards oil and gas, both upstream and downstream. We are also into drilling, cementing, frack and oil tubing. We provide services for the refinery, petrochemicals, and all these sectors." 

There are at least 12 emergency safety showers installed at the factory, according to Anandkumar. Shobitha Anand, executive director of AquaChemie Global Chemicals, said, "we want to be as compliant as possible
with the whole facility."

AquaChemie’s new manufacturing facility leverages significant advantages, including reduced utility costs, tax exemptions, duty benefits, and a seamless export network across the GCC. These cost savings are directly passed on to customers, enhancing operational efficiency and affordability.

The plant is equipped with advanced features, such as reactors for processing both liquid and solid chemicals, precision blending and mixing technologies, dedicated R&D infrastructure for product innovation and quality control, and a storage capacity of 7,200 metric tons, supported by four liquid storage tanks.

Halliburton has launched an updated version of its EcoStar electric tubing-retrievable safety valve (eTRSV)

This second-generation product builds on the success of the industry’s first electric TRSV, first installed in 2016, which solves a 30-year industry challenge to remove hydraulic actuation and its limitations from safety valve systems.

Hydraulic systems in subsea wells are associated with high costs and potential health, safety, and environmental (HSE) risks. Subsea hydraulic systems are often complex, difficult to install, and expensive. Hydraulic fluid release and high-pressure surface equipment can be hazardous to personnel and the environment. The complex nature of subsea hydraulic systems can result in reliability challenges and slow hydraulic cycle times, which can cause production deferrals.

Halliburton’s all-electric safety valve represents an advancement in safety valve technology, enabling the removal of the hydraulics system. This breakthrough in electric actuation is made possible through a unique magnetic coupling mechanism between the actuator and the safety valve. The design and construction of the valve creates a chamber for the downhole electronics and electric actuator outside of the wellbore.

This enables a fully electric completion system with the elimination of the risk of exposing electronics to produced wellbore fluid and the added benefit of serving as a conventional safety valve with the same trusted fail-safe mechanisms, closing in case of well incidents at the surface to safeguard personnel and the environment. It features independent and redundant electro-mechanical actuation and control systems, which enable more precise control, real-time position sensing, and valve health monitoring at the surface.

The new product reduces the need for extensive surface facilities, which streamlines operations and enhances personnel safety and field economics.

“As part of Halliburton’s all-electric portfolio, the EcoStar eTRSV marks another step toward the full electrification of wellbores. The EcoStar eTRSV builds on industry-leading safety valve technology to improve completion performance and maximise asset value for operators,” said Maxime Coffin, vice president, Halliburton Completion Tools.

Oil Review Middle East hosted a very well-attended webinar on 20 November on the future of offshore operations, in association with SAFEEN Group, part of AD Ports Group

The webinar explored the latest trends and challenges in the rapidly evolving world of offshore operations, focusing on groundbreaking innovations that are driving sustainable and efficient practices. In particular, it highlighted SAFEEN Green – a revolutionary unmanned surface vessel (USV), setting new benchmarks for sustainable and efficient maritime operations.

Erik Tonne, MD and head of Market Analysis at Clarksons, gave an overview of the offshore market, highlighting that current oil price levels are supportive for offshore developments, and global offshore capex is increasing strongly. The Middle East region will see significant capex increase over the coming years, with the need for rigs and vessels likely to remain high. Offshore wind is also seeing increased spending. Global rig activity is growing, while the subsea EPC backlog has never been higher, with regional EPC contracts seeing very high activity. Tonne forecast that demand for subsea vessels and other support vessels will continue to increase.

Tareq Abdulla Al Marzooqi, CEO SAFEEN Subsea, AD Ports Group, introduced SAFEEN Subsea, a joint venture with NMDC, which offers reliable and innovative survey, subsea and offshore solutions to support major offshore and EPC projects across the region. He highlighted the company’s commitment to sustainability, internationalisation and local content, and how it is a hub for innovations and new ideas, taking conceptual designs and converting them to commercial projects. A key project is SAFEEN Green, which offers an optimised inspection and survey solution.

Tareq Al Marzooqi and Ronald J Kraft, CTO, Sovereign Global Solutions ME and RC Dock Engineering BV. outlined the benefits and capabilities of SAFEEN Green as compared with commercial vessels, in terms of safety, efficiency, profitability and sustainability. It is 30-40% more efficient through the use of advanced technologies, provides a safer working environment given it is operated 24/7 remotely from a control centre, and offers swappable payload capacity. Vessels are containerised and can be transported easily to other regions. In terms of fuel consumption, the vessel is environment-friendly and highly competitive, reducing emissions by 90% compared with conventional vessels, with the ability to operate on 100% biofuel.

As for future plans, SAFEEN Green 2.0 is under development, which will be capable of carrying two inspection work-class ROVs simultaneously. A priority will be to collect data to create functional AI models for vessels and operations, with the first agent-controlled payload systems in prospect by around 2027.

To view the webinar, go to https://alaincharles.zoom.us/rec/share/mNHjZhAhQzn1sPzmFWZCgrq7_SckfLRcSb4w81I7aVlokO9sgHM_zVeOqgN3DgJS.bO4OIRqNeFP09SPu?startTime=1732095689000

Geothermal energy development in Saudi Arabia is set to advance with the signing of an MoU by EDF Saudi Arabia and TAQA Geothermal Energy Company to collaborate on geothermal energy technologies

These will include power generation and HVAC applications as well as compressed air energy storage in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia aims to achieve net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2060, and has set the goal of sourcing at least 50% of its power from renewable energy by 2030. Geothermal energy, which harnesses the heat produced from the Earth's crust and converts it to cooling, heating, desalination, or direct electricity generation, is a renewable and sustainable form of energy. It has the advantage of being a constant and reliable energy source compared to other renewable energy sources such as solar and wind, given it is not affected by seasonal or weather variations. Saudi Arabia has vast geothermal energy resources, in particular along the Red Sea coast, home to volcanic fields and hot springs. TAQA Geothermal, a joint venture between Taqa Energy and Reykjavik Geothermal (RG) is playing a leading role in pursuing opportunities to explore, assess, and develop geothermal resources in the kingdom and the region with the ultimate target of adding 1GW of sustainable geothermally produced energy to the energy mix.

EDF Saudi Arabia operates in the areas of thermal, renewables, district cooling, and energy efficiency, with a focus on aligning its R&D efforts with the strategic objectives of the Saudi Arabian government and Vision 2030.

Omar Aldaweesh, CEO of EDF Saudi Arabia, said: “Over the past decade, we have been actively contributing to the Kingdom’s energy landscape through our expertise in sustainable solutions, and this MoU further strengthens our role in advancing innovative technologies. By collaborating with TAQA Geothermal, we are leveraging our extensive experience to explore new frontiers in geothermal energies and compressed air energy storage. This initiative is fully aligned with both Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and EDF’s Ambitions 2035, reinforcing our shared commitment to sustainability and to the country’s transition to a cleaner energy future.”

Meshary Alayed, CEO of TAQA Geothermal, added, “Geothermal energy utilisation whether via direct heat use or electricity generation is a critical and untapped resource to drive the global transition to clean energy, as it is a reliable, renewable base load resource. The partnership between EDF and TAQA Geothermal in the field of geothermal solutions redefining space cooling, will have tremendous positive impacts on efficiency and carbon footprint reduction. The combined strengths will demonstrate cutting-edge geothermal cooling systems for the Kingdom’s growing energy needs while supporting Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 in economic diversification and the Ministry of Energy’s renewable energy mandates.”

It is hoped this collaboration will catalyse pioneering geothermal energy solutions in Saudi Arabia, paving the way for cleaner and more efficient power and cooling technologies.