Editor’s Picks for 2017

The editors of Subsea World News have selected a few among many worth remembering articles from the previous year that received exceptionally high attention from our readers.

In no particular order, here are some of the news to look back on, in case you missed them last year. Enjoy!

Fugro has axed over 3000 jobs in the past two years due to continuous downturn in the oil and gas services market.

The Dutch subsea and survey specialist expected that its ongoing restructuring would result in a total headcount reduction of some 1,000 in 2016. However, slow recovery in its largest market segment has forced the company to cut yet more staff and increase the number of 2016 layoffs to 1,430. To remind, in 2015 Furgo had laid off close to 1580 in attempt to adjust to low oil price environment.

The US oilfield services major Halliburton is said to be close to strike a deal to acquire Norwegian oil services company, Aker Solutions.

According to Norwegian media reports, with reference to an article in the Norwegian Financial daily Finansavisen, the Aker Group, owned by Kjell Inge Røkke, is about to sell its oil services business.

The Dutch dredging and marine specialist Boskalis has sold all of its remaining share in Fugro.

Boskalis started divesting its holding in the Dutch provider of geotechnical, survey, subsea and geosciences services in December last year.

TechnipFMC has informed that is financial statements for the three months ended March 31, 2017 should no longer be relied upon because of material errors in such financial statements.

The quarterly adjustment was released just two days before TechnipFMC should report figures for the second quarter 2017.

The jacket for the utility & living quarter platform (ULQ) has been installed on the high pressure, high temperature (HPHT) Culzean development field, Heerema Fabrication Group informed through social media.

The third and the final jacket follows the installation of the central processing facility (CPF) jacket set up earlier this month. The jacket for the wellhead platform was installed in May last year.

The underwater search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 could continue as the US-based seabed exploration specialist reportedly offered to take another stab at the likely search area.

The two-year search was suspended in January this year after it failed to find the MH370 flight that vanished on March 08, 2014, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 passengers and crew aboard.

Baker Hughes, a GE company, reportedly held talks with the London-based offshore engineering, construction and services player Subsea 7 about a possible acquisition.

According to Wall Street Journal, people familiar with the matter said that talks between the two companies recently broke down over price.

GE has said it is evaluating exit options on Baker Hughes just four months after the merger of its oil and gas business with the Houston-based oilfield services company.

The merger of GE Oil & Gas with Baker Hughes (BHGE) became effective on July 3 this year with aim to be the first and only company to bring together industry-leading equipment, services and digital solutions across the entire spectrum of oil and gas development.