Category Archives: Offshore

Orsted has reorganised its offshore wind business around four regions in a shake-up that sees Duncan Clark take charge in the UK and current country manager Matthew Wright leave the business.

The global offshore wind sector leader said the new regional structure UK, Continental Europe, North America and Asia Pacific creates a more scalable organisation for Orsteds international expansion which combines market proximity with global scale and efficiency.

The changes, effective from 1 January, mean the cross-business unit portfolio responsibility of the UK country chair role is no longer consistent with this new focus and Wright will depart.

Clark who as programme director has steered the 1.2GW Hornsea 1, the worlds biggest offshore wind farm into operation and is now leading the even larger Hornsea 2 becomes head of region, UK with an end-to-end accountability for the offshore wind value chain there, said Orsted.

The UK is Orsteds biggest market, with 6.3GW of projects either operating or under construction in British waters.

The Danish group is increasingly looking beyond Europe, however, with growing portfolios in markets such as Taiwan and the US.

Orsted said under the new structure each region will be responsible for market and project development as well as asset management, while construction and operation activities will be delivered from Orsteds global EPC and O&M organisation.

The company recently put Declan Flanagan in charge of a newly-created Orsted Onshore unit to lead its growing roster of land-based wind and solar operations.

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Orsted in global offshore wind shake-up as Clark takes UK top job - Recharge

The crane vessel Saipem 7000 will conduct the installation activities at the Neart na Gaoithe wind farm offshore Scotland.

(Courtesy Saipem)

Offshore staff

SAN DONATO MILANESE, Italy Saipem has won two contracts for wind farms offshore Scotland and Taiwan with a collective value of 750 million ($831 million).

EDF Renewables has awarded the company an EPCI contract for 54 steel foundation jackets, two steel foundation jackets for the offshore electrical substations, and the transportation and installation of the relevant topsides for the Neart na Gaoithe (NnG) wind farm offshore Scotland.

These jackets will be manufactured partly at a Saipem-owned yard and partly at fabrication facilities in Scotland. The jackets will be placed on piles at depths ranging from 40 to 60 m (131 to 197 ft).

The crane vessel Saipem 7000 will conduct the offshore installation activities.

The NnG offshore wind farm, 15 km (9.3 mi) off the east coast of Scotland, will be deployed over an area of 105 sq km (40.5 sq mi) and will be capable of generating around 450 megawatts of electricity.

This is the first turn-key project awarded to Saipem in the offshore wind farm market.

The second contract is for the Formosa 2 wind farm offshore western Taiwan. It is being developed by a partnership between Macquaries Green Investment Group and Swancor Renewable Energy.

The scope of work entails the supply of material and fabrication of 32 foundation jackets. Construction works are scheduled to start in early 2020.

12/03/2019

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Saipem 7000 to install NnG foundation jackets offshore Scotland - Offshore Oil and Gas Magazine

Here are a few pointers to consider when it comes to allocating some of your assets to international investments.

Investing offshore is not a single event, its a journey

Closely associated with weak domestic confidence this year has been the debate about the appropriate allocation to international assets. With much better returns from global markets especially US equities over the past decade, you often hear the argument that you should sell all your local investments and only invest offshore. This is a sentiment-driven view that assumes that the future will play out exactly as the most recent past. A more reasoned response is to implement a well-considered long-term investment programme, informed by your own circumstances, that appropriately diversifies your risks across jurisdictions, geographies, sectors and companies.

Its easier to achieve your desired result if you remain committed

The more time you give your investment to grow, the more likely you are to do well as a result of both market outcomes and the value that can be added through active management. However, many South African investors do not invest for long enough to experience the full benefit of staying the course in their long-term investment programme. The average unit trust investor holds their investment for less than the recommended five-year minimum investment period before withdrawing. This is largely due to our instinctive urge to act in response to recent market or fund outcomes. Constantly selling the most recent losers and buying the most recent winners is a near-certain way to achieve less than optimal results.

Its easier to remain committed if you invest in a multi-asset fund

Investors who make their own asset allocation decisions may find that it is difficult to make consistently good decisions over time. They may be tempted to switch into or out of an asset class at the wrong time for emotional reasons.

Good asset allocation often requires you to do the opposite, as you tend to achieve better results when you sell after a period of above-average returns (as prices have gone up) and buy after a period of below-average returns (and prices have fallen). Yet it is a skill that requires considerable experience and discipline. So, it makes sense to leave it to the professionals who spend every day focused on identifying the best long-term opportunities available in global markets.

By giving your fund manager a broader mandate by way of a multi-asset fund, they also have more tools at their disposal with which to achieve your desired result.

There will be good years and bad years, and no one knows the sequence

Local and global risk assets performed poorly in 2018, with local equities down 8.5% in rands, while global equities returned 5.0% in rands (-9.4% in US dollars). Conversely, 2019 has been a good year for risk assets, with local equities up 9.2% in rands and global equities up 25.9% in rands (up 22.9% in US dollars) for the year to date. Yet many investors continued to invest conservatively, as though they were still experiencing 2018 returns, thereby missing out on the more recent strong returns from both local and global equities.

But it isnt advisable to try to time the markets or switch between asset classes to capture returns in the short term. The good news is that you dont have to implement regular extreme portfolio movements to get the best results. When investing in a multi-asset fund, you may not capture all of the market upside in any given year, but over time, the highs and lows smooth, and you benefit from positive returns across asset classes while spreading the risk of possible underperformance in any one asset class. The smoother path makes it easier for you to stay the course over the long term.

Two decades of disciplined, multi-asset investing

We offer three multi-asset funds for investors who want more international exposure as part of their long-term investment programmes. The funds have track records ranging between 10 and 20 years and allocate across all or most assets to international investments, while remaining easy to use and access, as they are established in South Africa.

Coronation Optimum Growth has the longest track record and the ability to invest anywhere in the world and in any of the listed asset classes. The fund benefits from our wide research coverage across local, developed and emerging markets. It, therefore, is a sound multi-asset class solution for long-term investors not subject to retirement fund investment restrictions, and who are looking for a larger exposure to offshore assets but still require their fund manager to decide on the allocation between domestic and foreign assets.

Since inception in March 1999, the fund has delivered a return of 14.4%* p.a., outperforming global equities with significantly less volatility. The benefit of wider diversification and judicious portfolio management is reflected in the outcome that this return was achieved at significantly less downside risk than both the local and global equity markets.

To read more about giving your money access to the best opportunities globally by visiting Coronation Offshore. DM

The information contained in this article is not based on the individual financial needs of any specific investor. To find out more, speak to your financial adviser.

Coronation is an authorised financial services provider.

*Returns are quoted as at end-October 2019. For more detail about this fund, please download its comprehensive factsheethere.

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Investing offshore: Keeping things simple helps you stick to your investment plan - Daily Maverick

Location of the Etame 9H well on the Etame field offshore Gabon.

(Courtesy VAALCO Energy)

Offshore staff

HOUSTON VAALCO Energy has completed its latest development well on the Etame field offshore Gabon.

Etame 9H, which included around 1,000 ft (305 m) of horizontal section in the Gamba reservoir, came online at a stabilized rate of 5,500 b/d of oil, with no hydrogen sulfide. Production is higher than the pre-drill estimate.

Drilling has since started on the Etame 11H horizontal development well with start-up anticipated in late January.

Planning is also under way for a workover to replace an electric submersible pump in Etame 10H, and drilling of the SE Etame 4P appraisal wellbore from the Southeast Etame/North Tchibala platform to assess a Gamba step-out area on Southeast Etame.

The latter, if successful, could confirm additional development well locations in the Gamba reservoir.

12/03/2019

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VAALCO continues production boosting measures offshore Gabon - Offshore Oil and Gas Magazine

The world of energy is changing. With societys expectations of a strong political and industrial action to the threat of climate change, and renewable technologies becoming more attractive from a financial standpoint, the oil and gas industry finds itself examining where, and how, it will fit into the future mix. That examination, and the discussion around the energy mix, often pits oil and gas as a competitor with renewables, or an outright opponent, but the two sides may have a lot to offer each other.

While it only accounts for 0.3% of global power generation today, a number of analysts have pointed out the potential of offshore wind as a commercially viable renewable energy source. In its 2019 outlook on offshore wind, the International Energy Agency estimated that global capacity will increase 15-fold over the next 2 decades, turning it into a $1.0-trillion business.

Much of the focus for offshore wind is on generating electricity for municipalities, but it could also serve as a compliment to conventional oil and gas projects, primarily through platform electrification.

According to Wood MacKenzie, approximately 5% of offshore wellhead production globallymore than 1.7 million BOE/Dis used as fuel to power platforms, reducing sales volumes and producing emissions of around 200 million tonnes of CO2 each year, the equivalent of the total CO2 emissions of Vietnam. In a world where carbon pricing may become more commonplace, renewables offer potential long-term cost savings.

David Linden, director of power and renewables consulting at Wood Mackenzie, said that offshore wind platforms offer numerous possibilities.

It is a different range of opportunities, whether its onshore or offshore, and other areas being looked at as well, the concepts being developed. If the industry thinks about all those different optionsand there should certainly be many different ways you can make this happenits just a question of what is sensible to your platform, Linden said.

Any push into the renewable space will bring forth some discussion of economic feasibility, and right now the numbers look good for wind power. According to a report from BloombergNEF released in October, global benchmark prices for offshore wind have dropped 32% in the past year and 12% in the past 6 months. Global benchmark prices hit $78/MWh for the second half of 2019, driven primarily by lower equipment costs, but US developers are bidding closer to, or even surpassing, that total.

As subsidies for offshore wind expire in the coming years, platform power generation may be a viable source for long-term supply agreements. Malcolm Forbes-Cable, vice president of upstream consulting and supply chain lead at Wood Mackenzie, said that, depending on the region, it is an economical investment right now. He cited the UK governments latest Contracts for Difference (CFD) auction round this past September, where offshore wind prices ran as low as $51.29/MWh. That price marked a 30% drop from the lowest strike price seen at the previous CFD auction in 2017.

In the North Sea, with the latest CFD rounds, the amount of subsidy you get is basically equal to the power price. This suggests that people believe the cost of wind is equal to what you would get in the power price anyway, which then suggests that the market doesnt need subsidies. There are many other incidences like that around the world. Theyre still supported by subsidies in some parts of the world, but thats shorter term, and certainly if you were to think about how offshore winds going more generally, even if it has a 10-year support mechanism, the reason why people are investing in it now is because they believe costs will come down after that period of time, said Forbes-Cable, author of a paper, Why Powering Oil and Gas Platforms from Renewables Makes Sense, published in October that outlined the field-level benefits of offshore electrification.

According to Wood Mackenzie, the levelized cost of energy for diesel fuel generation offshore is between $133 to $166/MWh. If an offshore platform could offer demand north of 5 MW, that might enable an operator to negotiate a 10-year power supply deal as low as $40 to $44/MWh as early as 2025. With market spot prices expected to reach $72 to $77/MWh in that same time frame, an operator could theoretically cut its electricity bill in half by switching to renewable power generation.

The IEA said that the evolution of capital costs for power generation technologies will depend on whether there is a sufficient pipeline of projects to create the momentum needed for technology to develop at an appropriate scale. It estimated that global average upfront capital costs for offshore wind will drop more than 40% by 2030, but this total is based on a 15% drop in capital costs for every doubling of global capacity. Capital costs are likely to be lower in places with enough projects of sufficient size to achieve economies of scale.

Part of what youre doing is to try to understand whether somethings going to be economical or not, Linden said. In isolation, youre basically taking a model and asking is there a certain level of production that you need when you take into consideration your wind speed, your costs, and other things? For it to be commercial, you need it to be a certain size. For that thing to make sense, you might not be able to just take it and go, this is all perfect. The powering of the platform might not be the only source of demand that you need to make this happen.

Most of the worlds offshore wind farms have been constructed using a fixed approach, where turbines are installed on platforms secured to the seafloor by concrete or steel pillars. Purpose-built workboats often facilitate the installation of these facilities, and the platforms are usually built to match the specific needs of the location where they are installed. Floating systems involve the installation of a turbine on a steel and concrete floating foundation that is tethered to the ocean floor by a type of anchoring system largely adapted from deepwater drilling platforms.

Both systems send energy through undersea cables, but floating structures allow operators to generate wind power farther from shore in deeper waters, as most fixed structures are only suitable for water depths of 150 to 250 ft. This could open new markets currently unavailable for offshore wind development. Floating structures are also less intrusive to the seabed than fixed structures.

When we were thinking about this, the original thought was, well, you could connect a platform to a wind farm from shore. Thats very doable. And then we started thinking about other parts of the North Sea, and if you start looking at them, most of them are much farther from shore. How do you connect over long distances? The economics of that become challenging because your cables are the principal cost there. The farther out you go, the greater the expense that comes, Forbes-Cable said.

Despite their promise, floating wind technology is still in a fairly nascent stage of development. It has yet to be employed as a commercially viable method of wind power generation, and there are some technical barriers. For instance, the IEA said that operators are looking for ways to use low-cost monopile foundations instead of higher-cost jacket and floating foundation; monopiles have become standard for the majority of projects installed in shallow-water depths

In terms of floating wind, that technology is not quite ready, or rather its not as commercial as just sticking it in shallow waters. I think youve got that engineering challenge, but thats definitely being worked on and I bet well have all sorts of floating wind farms as we push them further and further from the coast, Forbes-Cable said.

According to the US Department of Energy, the global pipeline for floating offshore wind energy reached 4,888 MW in 2018 over 38 announced projects, but only 46 MW came from projects currently in operation. The department said there are 14 projects with approximately 200 MW of capacity under construction in 9 countries, each of them having achieved either financial close or regulatory approval. However, the industry still faces the challenge of reducing costs in floating wind from expensive demos to viable commercial models. To that degree, economies of scale will need to develop to help drive costs down.

Where the dollars are going is fixed wind. What youre starting to see is oil and gas companies putting money into that, not necessarily for platform electrification, but purely from a dollars perspective. Part of thats to do with the fact that scaling matters, and offshore wind can create scale in that space, while they have very little competitive advantage with onshore wind or solar PV [photovoltaics]. It makes a lot more sense, if companies are to get into renewables, to get into the offshore wind sector. Floating wind is purely a derivative of that, Linden said.

While few US-based operators have expressed any interest in using wind energy to power their offshore platforms, Equinor has made significant strides in the space. On 11 October, it sanctioned Hywind Tampen, an offshore wind farm that is poised to be the worlds first supplier of electricity generated by floating wind turbines to oil and gas platforms.

Located between the Snorre and Gullfaks platforms in the Norwegian North Sea, approximately 87 miles from shore in water depths of 850 to 980 ft, the wind farm will consist of 11 wind turbines based Equinors Hywind technology. Hywind is a floating wind turbine design based on a single floating cylindrical spar buoy moored by cables or chains to the seabed. It uses a ballasted catenary layout with three mooring cables that have 60-tonne weights hanging from the midpoint of each anchor cable to provide additional tension.

Wood Mackenzie said that the wind farm will provide around 35% of the power demand from Snorre and Gullfaks. That number figures to increase during periods of high wind, but power generation from hydrocarbon-fueled turbines will still be required. Regardless, Equinor estimates that Hywind Tampen will help reduce its carbon emissions by more than 200,000 tonnes/year.

Equinor installed a demo of the Hywind technology offshore Karmy, Norway, in 2009 with a 2.3-MW turbine. In 2017, it launched the 30-MW Hywind Scotland pilot park approximately 15 miles off the coast of Peterhead, near Aberdeen. Hywind Tampen will have a total capacity of 88 MW when it comes on stream in late 2022.

Equinor estimates the total investment in Hywind Tampen as around $540 million. Linden said that the project is something of an outlier in the industry, in that floating wind is a small portion of the overall market. While it has expressed interest in developing floating wind farms off the coast of California, and it owns offshore wind leases on the US East Coast, Hywind Scotland is still the worlds only commercial floating offshore wind farm.

Having talked to Equinor about this, theyre very clear that they think they have a commercial solution, as in a solution they can build and use effectively, Linden said. Its not necessarily cost-competitive, but its there. Theyre taking on the risk themselves. Theyve had to find partners to help finance this. Theyre taking on the technology risk themselves, and theres still a bit of distance to go. The engineering challenge is being solved, but theres still a lot of different questions being asked. Until it becomes commercial, will people take on the risk to try and finance a project like this effectively?

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Offshore Wind: The New Frontier in Powering Platforms? - Oil and Gas Facilities

A new year isaround the corner and we all know how hard it is to stay committed to resolutions.Keeping a simple, manageable approach helps though. Investing offshore is nodifferent. Its easier to achieve your goal if you stay committed. And itseasier to stay committed if you choose a multi-asset fund. It gives you thecomfort and ease of having a fund manager making your portfolio decisionsacross countries and asset classes.

So, what shouldyou consider when you invest offshore?

Investing offshore is a journey, not a single event

The futuredoesnt play out exactly as the most recent past, so its best to ignore themarket sentiment of the day and focus on the long-term, diversifying your risksacross jurisdictions, geographies, sectors and companies. The more time yougive your investment to grow, the more likely you are to experience the fullbenefit of staying the course.

Its easier to remain committed if you invest in amulti-asset fund

Makingconsistently good investment decisions over time requires considerableexperience and discipline. So it makes sense to leave it to the professionalswho spend every day focused on identifying the best long-term opportunitiesavailable in global markets.

There will be good years and bad years, and no one knows the sequence

Witha multi-asset fund, you can benefit from positive returns across asset classesover time while spreading the risk of possible underperformance in any oneasset class. While you may not capture all of the market upside in any givenyear, this approach makes it easier for you to stay the course over the longterm.

Twodecades of disciplined, multi-asset investing

Coronation offers three easy-to-access internationalmulti-asset funds with track records between 10 and 20 years.

Coronation Optimum Growth has the longest track record and can invest anywhere globally in any listedasset class. The fund has returned 14.4%* p.a. since inception in March 1999, outperforming global equities with significantly less volatility.Find out more by visiting Coronation Offshore.

The information contained inthis article is not based on the individual financial needs of any specificinvestor. To find out more, speak to your financial adviser.

Coronation is an authorisedfinancial services provider.

*Returns are quoted as at end-October 2019. Formore detail about this fund, please download its comprehensive factsheethere.

This post was written, sponsored and provided by Coronation.

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Offshore investing - Why keeping it simple can be the best approach - Fin24

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China has been proactive when it comes to snapping up offshore oil projects abroad, with a $16bn dealsigned in Nigeria this year and a major exploration deal in the Philippines. We look at Chinas international oil ambitions.We also examine what recent discoveries mean for Guyana and whether it has moved beyond frontier country.

President Trumps decision to open up Alaska to more oil exploration has prompted both upset and delight but what does the future of oil actually look like for the region? Elsewhere, as the move towards renewables continues,we plot some of the key locations that have now banned drilling, and those still pursuing it.

Also, the UK Oil and Gas Innovation Centre announced 640,000 in funding for the University of Aberdeens workon technologies to improve offshore drilling. We learn about the implications for drilling in the North Sea and beyond.And after years of downturn,signs of recovery are gradually emerging for the offshore support market. We ask if the recovery can last.

Finally, we talk to Terra Drone about how drones could help during oil spills and examine whether oil and gas firms have a legitimate role to play in supporting decarbonisation in light of Oil and Gas UKs roadmap to offset emissions.

Chinas international offshore oil footprint

Willing to take risks in places others often wont, China is a keen financer of global offshore oil and gas projects.Where can Chinas money be found and what are the benefits and drawbacks of its foreign investment?Heidi Vellainvestigates.

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Offshore Guyana: no longer frontier country?

New major oil discoveries in offshore Guyana have propelled the country from a mere frontier to an oil and gas hot spot. But with elections looming and all eyes focused on the oil prize,Heidi Vellaasks what these new finds will mean for Guyana, and how will they be exploited?

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The future of Alaskas oil

US President Donald Trump recently opened one of Alaskas great wildernesses up to oil exploration. The question of who will do the drilling and who will receive the majority of profits is up for debate, while the measure itself will still have to get through environmentalists in the courts. So what does the future of oil look like ina land on the frontlines of climate change?Scarlett Evansfinds out.

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Shifting sands: mapping the areas turning on or off oil

In recent years, countries have banned oil and gas for environmental reasons and to pursue renewables; at the same time, other nations are actively embarking on new oil and gas exploration as they seek to grow their economies and build energy security.Yoana Cholteevamaps key locations that have stopped drilling and the ones opening to it.

Read more.

Inside the University of Aberdeens offshore drilling of the future project

In August, the UK Oil and Gas Innovation Centre announced 640,000 in funding for the University of Aberdeens Centre for Applied Dynamics Research (CADR).Scarlett Evanstalks toVahid Vaziri,a research fellow at the University of Aberdeen and CADR member, about the innovative partnership.

Read more.

Recovery room: is the offshore services market bouncing back?

After years of decline as demand plummeted, signs of recovery are gradually emerging for the offshore support market.Julian Turnertalks toMhairidh Evans, principal analyst, upstream supply chain research at Wood Mackenzie, about the oil price, sustainability and securing project financing.

Read more.

Eye in the sky the role of drones in oil spill management

Having eyes on the ground, is essential to any effective disaster management plan. Having them in the air, however, looks set the be the next big thing in the offshore oil and gas industry.Andrew Tunnicliffeconsiders the critical role drones can play after an oil spill.

Read more.

UK offshore industrys blueprint for net-zero: cleaning house or greenwashing?

Oil and Gas UK has released a report into how the industry can contribute to the UKs target of net-zero emissions by 2050, but doubts remain about the bodys commitment to limiting harmful emissions. Here, representatives from OGUK and the Union of Concerned Scientists give their perspective on the roadmap.

Read more.

The mass construction of solar panels across the worlds deserts has long been touted as a solution to the energy crisis, but the solution has rarely proven practical so far.So what needs to be done for it to be viable?

China and South Korea have plans to build an ocean-floor power network to connect their electricity grids and create a pan-Asian electric power system. We investigate the merits of the idea.And with biopowers eco-credentials dependent on its fuel, we look at palm oils use in biofuel and what it means for regulation.

Elsewhere, with the collapse of Evo Morales regime in Bolivia, we consider the impacts of political uncertainty on one of South Americas few countries with access to nuclear power. We also speak to experts to find out what role mountains could play in long-term energy storage.

Finally, we examine Nigerias new electrification grant, improving utility billing managementand a virtual reality nuclear waste removal crane.

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Triumph of the yuan: read more in the latest issue of Offshore Technology Focus - Offshore Technology

It is already common knowledge that individual investors do not usually have the necessary resources and abilities to properly research an investment opportunity. As a result, most investors pick their illusory winners by making a superficial analysis and research that leads to poor performance on aggregate. Since stock returns aren't usually symmetrically distributed and index returns are more affected by a few outlier stocks (i.e. the FAANG stocks dominating and driving S&P 500 Index's returns in recent years), more than 50% of the constituents of the Standard and Poors 500 Index underperform the benchmark. Hence, if you randomly pick a stock, there is more than 50% chance that you'd fail to beat the market. At the same time, the 20 most favored S&P 500 stocks by the hedge funds monitored by Insider Monkey generated an outperformance of more than 8 percentage points so far in 2019. Of course, hedge funds do make wrong bets on some occasions and these get disproportionately publicized on financial media, but piggybacking their moves can beat the broader market on average. That's why we are going to go over recent hedge fund activity in KNOT Offshore Partners LP (NYSE:KNOP).

KNOT Offshore Partners LP (NYSE:KNOP) has seen a decrease in activity from the world's largest hedge funds of late. Our calculations also showed that KNOP isn't among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.

To most stock holders, hedge funds are perceived as worthless, old financial vehicles of yesteryear. While there are greater than 8000 funds with their doors open at present, We choose to focus on the bigwigs of this group, around 750 funds. These money managers have their hands on the majority of the smart money's total asset base, and by keeping track of their highest performing stock picks, Insider Monkey has unsheathed a few investment strategies that have historically defeated Mr. Market. Insider Monkey's flagship short hedge fund strategy outstripped the S&P 500 short ETFs by around 20 percentage points per year since its inception in May 2014. Our portfolio of short stocks lost 27.8% since February 2017 (through November 21st) even thoughthe market was up more than 39% during the same period. We just shared a list of 7 short targetsin our latest quarterly update .

Jim Simons of Renaissance Technologies

RENAISSANCE TECHNOLOGIES

Unlike the largest US hedge funds that areconvinced Dow will soar past 40,000 or the world's most bearish hedge fundthat'smore convinced than ever that a crash is coming,our long-short investment strategy doesn't rely on bull or bear markets to deliver double digit returns. We only rely on the best performing hedge funds' buy/sell signals. We're going to take a look at the fresh hedge fund action encompassing KNOT Offshore Partners LP (NYSE:KNOP).

At the end of the third quarter, a total of 3 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of -40% from one quarter earlier. The graph below displays the number of hedge funds with bullish position in KNOP over the last 17 quarters. With the smart money's sentiment swirling, there exists an "upper tier" of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes significantly (or already accumulated large positions).

No of Hedge Funds with KNOP Positions

Story continues

Among these funds, Renaissance Technologies held the most valuable stake in KNOT Offshore Partners LP (NYSE:KNOP), which was worth $13.3 million at the end of the third quarter. On the second spot was Arrowstreet Capital which amassed $6.8 million worth of shares. McKinley Capital Management was also very fond of the stock, becoming one of the largest hedge fund holders of the company. In terms of the portfolio weights assigned to each position McKinley Capital Management allocated the biggest weight to KNOT Offshore Partners LP (NYSE:KNOP), around 0.08% of its portfolio. Arrowstreet Capital is also relatively very bullish on the stock, earmarking 0.02 percent of its 13F equity portfolio to KNOP.

Since KNOT Offshore Partners LP (NYSE:KNOP) has faced bearish sentiment from hedge fund managers, logic holds that there lies a certain "tier" of funds who sold off their positions entirely heading into Q4. It's worth mentioning that Ken Griffin's Citadel Investment Group dumped the biggest investment of the "upper crust" of funds watched by Insider Monkey, valued at about $0.7 million in call options. Ken Griffin's fund, Citadel Investment Group, also said goodbye to its call options, about $0.3 million worth. These moves are important to note, as total hedge fund interest was cut by 2 funds heading into Q4.

Let's now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks - not necessarily in the same industry as KNOT Offshore Partners LP (NYSE:KNOP) but similarly valued. We will take a look at MacroGenics Inc (NASDAQ:MGNX), National Presto Industries Inc. (NYSE:NPK), TechTarget Inc (NASDAQ:TTGT), and Nicolet Bankshares Inc. (NASDAQ:NCBS). This group of stocks' market values resemble KNOP's market value.

[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position MGNX,14,92212,-5 NPK,9,70014,-3 TTGT,14,59178,-2 NCBS,5,9496,1 Average,10.5,57725,-2.25 [/table]

View table hereif you experience formatting issues.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 10.5 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $58 million. That figure was $21 million in KNOP's case. MacroGenics Inc (NASDAQ:MGNX) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Nicolet Bankshares Inc. (NASDAQ:NCBS) is the least popular one with only 5 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks KNOT Offshore Partners LP (NYSE:KNOP) is even less popular than NCBS. Hedge funds dodged a bullet by taking a bearish stance towards KNOP. Our calculations showed that the top 20 most popular hedge fund stocks returned 34.7% in 2019 through November 22nd and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by 8.5 percentage points. Unfortunately KNOP wasn't nearly as popular as these 20 stocks (hedge fund sentiment was very bearish); KNOP investors were disappointed as the stock returned 2.2% during the fourth quarter (through 11/22) and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out the top 20 most popular stocks among hedge funds as 70 percent of these stocks already outperformed the market so far in Q4.

Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.

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Here is What Hedge Funds Think About KNOT Offshore Partners LP (KNOP) - Yahoo Finance

Heimdal platform courtesy of Equinor

By The Maritime Executive 2019-11-29 17:16:15

Two Equinor employees were injured when a portable nitrogen gas bottle exploded on board the Heimdal platform in the North Sea on Thursday November 28.

The two injured employees, a man (22) and a woman (19), were taken care of by health personnel on board Heimdal and were transported to Haukeland University Hospital and Stavanger University Hospital. Their injuries are not life-threatening.

This is a serious work-related incident that has strongly affected all of us. Our main priority now is to keep following up and supporting our injured personnel and their next-of-kin. Their colleagues on Heimdal, where the incident occurred, are also being taken care of and we have sent extra personnel offshore to support them, says Arne Sigve Nylund, executive vice president for Development and Production Norway.

There were 70 personnel on board the platform when the incident occurred.

It is too early to say something about the cause of the incident, says Equinor. The Petroleum Safety Authority Norway and the police have travelled to the platform to start their investigations.

We have also initiated an internal investigation, and we are helping the police and other relevant authorities carry out their investigations in the best possible way, says Nylund.

He adds that a controlled production shutdown on Heimdal is planned.

Heimdal is a gas field west of Sveio in Hordaland county, in the northern part of the North Sea, north of Johan Sverdrup and south of Oseberg, near the border with the U.K. shelf. Current Heimdal partners are Equinor (29.4 percent - operator), Petoro (20.0 percent), Total E&P Norge (16.7 percent), Spirit Energy (28.8 percent) and LOTOS Exploration and Production (5.0 percent).

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Two Injured in Offshore Explosion - The Maritime Executive

]]> Scarlett Evans (SE): What does your team hope to achieve from the funding received?

Vahid Vaziri (VV): We are working on a wide range of projects, from novel drilling techniques to AI. One of the companies we are working with through OGIC is looking at analysing data taken from downhole calipers to understand the condition of the well being examined. The main thing we want to achieve across all of our projects is to help modernise the oil and gas industry. Although it is a relatively modern industry already, there are still some parts that are still conservative, because whatever they are doing has worked for years, so why should they change it?

Pressure from cost-cutting and environmental concerns are beginning to make people want things to be more efficient and have a lower carbon footprint. Over the last few years there has just been more motivation to use new technologies and modern science to streamline operations.

Any facility you see in oil and gas is already really impressive, but when you go into the details of techniques and machines, there are some parts that you can improve.

VV: Resonance Enhanced Drilling (RED) is the core of our novel and patented technology invented by CADR funding director, Professor Marian Wiercigroch, with the general idea being to change the basic mechanics behind drilling.

The traditional means of drilling uses pressure and rotation to cause a shearing, or gouging action that uses a low frequency and high amplitude that is actually quite dangerous and invasive. While it does work in some applications, its not widely popular as it compromises borehole stability. By contrast, RED uses a high frequency and low amplitude vibration to create a microcrack around the drill bit, making it far easier to shear, as well as less energy-intensive.

The main question were facing is how to produce this effect downhole, and how it will affect the rest of the drill string. We currently have two prototypes, which use different technology to produce the vibration, which we are testing in the lab.

VV: Ideally, in the future we want a tool that can read the data from whats going on around it the response of the vibration, and change its own frequency as it goes down. By using this technology that recognises the stiffness of the formation, you can get a much higher improvement factor and make operations much more efficient. All the engineering aspects of this already exists, the knowledge exists. Until now, its just been a question of licensing and finance, as well as the motivation to use it.

The first step is we are going to build and test a minimum viable product (MVP) for some field trials. As soon as we have done the trial, then we can move onto the next step. We have all the pieces of the puzzle, we just need to put them together.

VV: We have also been looking quite extensively at drill-string dynamics. Drill string is prone to many sorts of self-induced vibrations because of bit-rock interactions, borehole drill-pipe interaction etc. We develop our own drill string lab to study its dynamics, bit-rock interactions, the performance of downhole tools and in general to predict what problems can come up while drilling, and how to mitigate them.

One of the worst-case scenarios in drilling is the stick slip vibration when the drill bit gets stuck, and then goes fast up to 10 times of its nominal speed. In this scenario, the drill bit can easily get damaged, and then you need to take a few km of the drill-pipe out and replace the drill bit. Thats cost every moment in the rig is cost, especially in the offshore industry. So if you can reduce that, if you can avoid all these changes and time lost, that is not just money saved, it also helps to reduce environmental damage.

VV: Im not in a position to talk about the entire industrys future of course, but one this is clear to me: there are a lot of things, some of them very basic, that could use new technologies to improve.

Drilling is an obvious example of this. At the moment the most common way of drilling is just to exert force and torque to the drill-bit. But there are better ways you need to think of how you can drill more efficiently, with a smaller carbon footprint. When you drill offshore, the energy you use has a very direct impact on the area around it. So you want to be able to drill in a much more delicate way, with a far smaller impact on the surrounding environment.

Improving the techniques used in oil and gas would also have a beneficial effect on the wider energy industry such as geothermal. This method of energy production also requires drilling, and if you can drill to six or seven km, you would have much better access to the earths energy. Additionally, existing oil and gas technology can be used to inform the installation of wind turbines, we can install them on the offshore platforms we already have.

I dont see improving technology in oil and gas as having a temporary benefit, its going to continue to be used in a variety of fields. Instead of starting things from scratch, we can apply these methods across the board.

The rest is here:

Inside the University of Aberdeen's offshore drilling of the future project - Offshore Technology