Press Releases

After many months of negotiations and discussions, BLACKSTONE Arabia has signed a binding and broad based "Master Service Agreement" that allows AIMS LLC and affiliates to provide Project Labor in the areas of Engineering, Project Management, Operations and Maintenance Support, Inspection Services, Offshore Contract Labor including Welders, all associated with offshore developments in the Arabian Gulf. Although this engagement will be starting out with the placement of 50+ qualified offshore welders, it will be expanded to locating and purchasing offshore construction and accommodation barges that are anticipated to be owned and operated by Blackstone and leased to ARAMCO and others thru the local Blackstone company under the ARAMCO local content policy.

Bremen-based shipping company Harren & Partners and "K" Line, Tokyo, have reached an agreement for Harren & Partnesr to acquire German carrier SAL Heavy Lift on 27 July 2017. Harren-SAL will become the new dominant player in the super heavy lift segment (900 t to 2,000 t crane capacity).

SAL Heavy Lift, founded in 1980 in the "Altes Land" area, near Hamburg, is one of the world's leading carriers; specialised in the sea transport of heavy lift and project cargo. Its offshore subsidiary, SAL Offshore, develops and supplies installation solutions for the oil & gas and renewables sectors. Part of the "K" Line Group since 2011, SAL has access to a highly flexible fleet of 15 heavy lift vessels including the customized Wind Lift 1, and a worldwide network with offices and agencies in 25 countries.

Together, Harren & Partners and SAL have a fleet of 26 heavy lift vessels: from multipurpose vessels (300 t crane capacity) and dock ships, to offshore construction vessels with DP2 and a combined crane capacity of up to 2,000 t.

Harren-SAL will also manage the CL 900/Type 116 vessels as well as Combi Dock I and III in the future. This will greatly enhance the company's scope applicability for LNG cargo and heavy marine lifts including offering a fleet of modern world class vessels with both Flo/Flo and Ro/Ro capabilities. Furthermore Harren-SAL will now have the largest super heavy lift fleet in the industry (twelve +900 t lift vessels).

Harren also has 4 Semi Rig transporters, in the GOM, North Sea and Far East; that can transport Large Drilling units by Ship Shape Semi up to 28,000 tons.

PLS LLC of Houston, Texas is the world’s third largest ‘Oil and Gas Data Publication and Multiple Listing Clearing House’ for buying and selling of energy assets.  AIMS LLC has signed a multi-year ‘Master Services Agreement’ (MSA) with PLS to provide Technical support in the area of upstream, mid stream and down stream.  Some 22+ engineers from AIMS are being made available to PLS on a call out basis. AIMS will also be assisting PLS with the capture of new clients for their M&A Listing business: On shore and Off shore. This new alliance gives PLS the flexibility to provide technical back up to their data mining software and reserve tools, such as Quick Decline, without having expensive staff on the payroll. AIMS looks forward to this new relationship with PLS.

Assurance Integrity Management Services LLC (AIMS LLC), based in Houston, Texas, announced today the launch of its new business line, AIMS LLC Permitting and Bonding Division, which is a newly created service targeted toward midsize oil and gas companies that are required to obtain new permits and bonds for offshore platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.

Since 2015, an increasing number of midsize petroleum companies have begun acquiring oil and gas production platforms on the US Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico that were previously owned by major oil companies. These new operators are finding low-cost methods to operate the wells and bring them back onstream through workovers and platform-life extensions for five to 10 years to certify additional reserves.

However, under the new regulations in the Gulf of Mexico, which are administrated by the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSSE), a division of the US Department of the Interior, the permitting and bonding requirements have grown multifold. For example:

In accordance with Title 30 Code of Federal Regulations, an operator must submit a “Form BSEE-0124 Application for Permit to Modify” for proposed or completed work describing the completion, workover, enhanced production, utility, abandonment, change of well information and other operations that revise an approved drilling plan. Once deemed submitted, BSEE reviews the information to evaluate, and approve or disapprove the adequacy of the equipment and/or procedures to safely perform the proposed drilling operation. ——BSEE

In response to these regulations, AIMS LLC formed a technical group to specialize in transfers of title, platform permitting, and filing for liability and plug-and-abandonment bonds that are now required.

“We recently completed similar services for a specific client that acquired a deepwater tension-leg platform,” says Steve Hill, principal of AIMS LLC. “Beginning today, we are pleased to announce that these services are now available to everyone, especially to operators that are seeking an expedient transfer of these assets.”

Assurance Integrity Management Services LLC (AIMS LLC) announced today an appointment with USI Insurance Services (USI) to provide rigs-inspection services in shale and other unconventional formations including the Eagle Ford, Barnett, Marcellus and Bakken plays in the US. To support the agreement, AIMS formed the Well Integrity Program (WIP) as the umbrella program under which all of the inspections will be conducted, documented and certified.

AIMS will inspect and certify drilling rigs, blowout preventers, diverter systems, wellhead casing connectors and all other pressurized connections to deliver documentation to USI for insurance purposes. Examples of these certifications include statements that all inspected equipment is functioning correctly; that the first one-second-below-the-well location does not contain dangerous gas pockets; that the tubulars are certified by the American Petroleum Institute and are not procured from Russia or China; and that the well site is located in a safe drilling areas, among other aspects. The insurance contracts are typically held by the well operator or drilling contractor.

USI is the underwriter for most of the oil and gas industry’s rollout and well-control insurance policies sold by retail insurers such as Lockton Cos., Infinity Assurance Group (IAG), Travelers Indemnity Co. and Aeon Insurance Group Inc. (AEON), among others.

“We predict that about 650 US wells will require this type of insurance during the next two years,” says Steve Hill, principal of AIMS LLC. “This is a new endeavor for AIMS LLC, and it’s an extension of our technical expertise with our core business of vendor, shipyard and rig inspections. We are honored that USI chose AIMS LLC as one of their preferred inspection and certification providers.”

About USI

USI Insurance Services is the US-based arm of international commercial insurer, Lloyds of London. USI is a national insurance brokerage and consulting firm that provides property and casualty, employee benefits and personal risk and retirement solutions in the US. Headquartered in Valhalla, New York, USI has more than $1 billion in revenue, employs more than 4,400 professionals and operates out of 140 local offices. 

Harren & Partner owns and manages their own vessels and has special permits for transporting military cargo, ammunitions and volatile hydrocarbons world wide.  The vessel specifications are contained in the tab of this website and Germanischer Lloyd certified and all less than 8 years old.  For Charter information, please contact Steve Hill at ph: +1-713-417-0390.

This particular study was unique, in that it was targeted to take advantage of the increased value of the US dollar against the Norwegian Kroner as tied to NOMAC exports.  The study addressed oil & gas steel products for import opportunities, and was also expanded to include local import opportunities for the defense and aerospace industries.  AIMS is in discussion to set up sales distribution networks for NOMAC in the US as a result of the study recommendations.

A criteria approach was developed for the acquistion of various properties within a budget constraint and pay back within 24 months; based on the industry standard stage gate process.  Multiple properties were identified and evaluated and the study was expanded to include disposal well and water treatmentment properties to acquire and operate.

AIMS LLC is pleased to announce that Lou Janos has joined the Houston-Technical Staff of AIMS to support the Eagleford Shale enhancement project team; addressing well enhancement and Reserve calculations FEED studies.  Lou brings 25 plus years of geotechnical experience in unconventional formations in the Texas-Louisiana and Salt Dome storage and operations.

Project Managers: Steve Hill and Hersh Sood, were recognized as holding the "Delivery Record for Conversion of an FPSO to First Oil"  in 22 months from sanction date. Water depth was 600 meters and total drilling and conversion budget approached 1 Billion euros. Project was executed between  February 2008 and First Oil was delivered - 5 December 2009.  Recognized by Oil World, The Offshore Magazine and SPE of AIME and announced at The West African Oil Conference and OTC in May 2010. There are approximately 158 FPSOs in operation world wide today.