Frontier Energy, Autumn 2015

OIL, GAS & SHIPPING IN THE ARCTIC AND ICE-AFFECTED REGIONS

www.frontierenergy.info AUTUMN 2015

PROJECT ROUND UP

Arctic oil and gas in 2016

Ice Risk Management Mapping a safe and sustainable Arctic

The research station of the future The Polar Foundation in Antarctica

No fishing Holding back the trawler fleets

Clean, Green Machines Seismic and the environment

S T N G

SHIPPING • COATINGS • ROVS • SEISMIC

E TIN V E IS L

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CONTENTS

12

10

22

24 Autumn 2015

OIL, GAS & SHIPPING IN THE ARCTIC AND ICE-AFFECTED REGIONS

www.frontierenergy.info AUTUMN 2015

PROJECT ROUND UP

IN THIS ISSUE Features

Arctic oil and gas in 2016

Ice Risk Management Mapping a safe and sustainable Arctic

The research station of the future

Regulars

06 PROJECT ROUND UP North America: Shell’s Burger J well fails to

The polar foundation in antarctica

Anchors Away Holding back the trawler fleets

bite. The implications for Alaska’s nascent offshore industry

Clean, Green Machines Seismic and the environment

08 PROJECT ROUND UP Russia: Overcoming sanctions challenges and SHIPPING • COATINGS • ROVS • SEISMIC • FISHING

TS EN ING EVLIST

low oil prices

A remote oil installation in the arctic environment

recent industry news and events from around the Arctic region

27 EVENTS Frontier

10 PROJECT ROUND UP Europe: Statoil’s plans for 2016 and the On the cover

04 NEWS A look at

importance of Eni’s offshore Goliat project

12 PROJECT ROUND UP Russia in the Arctic: what next for 2016?

Analysis by Sebastian Villyn and Emily Ferris of Control Risks Group

14 ICE RISK MANAGEMENT Ice management simulation improves safety. By James Bond, Han Yu, and John Dolny of ABS, and Claude Daley of Memorial University of Newfoundland

16 ICE RISK MANAGEMENT Mapping a safe and sustainable Arctic, by

Energy's comprehensive events listing helps you plan your calendar

28 INSIGHT Arctic nations gather to hold back the world’s trawler fleets from the central Arctic Ocean

Kas Ebrahim and Shannon Earl of Fugro

18 ICE RISK MANAGEMENT Forecasting ice break-up and drift. FE talks to Dr. Ian Turnbull, ice researcher in ice mechanics at the Centre for Arctic Resource Development in St. John’s, Newfoundland

20 COATINGS When the coating gets tough. Understanding the nature, composition, ‘greenness’ and effectiveness of paints aimed at vessels operating in Arctic waters

22 THE POLAR FOUNDATION An update on the work of Princess Cover Photo: Shutterstock

Elisabeth Antarctica, the research station of the future

24 ROVS ROVs are helping scientists and operators provide an iceberg early warning system on iceberg threats for rigs and other vessels and facilities

25 SHIPPING Powering the next generation of icebreakers. The next generation fleet will be tougher and altogether more capable, with a gamut of new technology on board

26 SEISMIC Pioneering seismic contractor Polarcus has long prioritised its environmental agenda for offshore Arctic operations www.frontierenergy.info AUTUMN 2015 01

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EDITOR’S LETTER

FRAM* “In the Arctic, it seems, a lot of patience - and a lot of political will also - is everything”

www.frontierenergy.info Editor Martin Clark martin@frontierenergy.info Editor in Chief Bruce McMichael Canadian Correspondent Andrew Safer Publisher Stephen Habermel publisher@frontierenergy.info Design & Layout In The Shed www.in-theshed.co.uk © 2015 All material strictly copyright, all rights to editorial content are reserved. Reproduction without permission from the publisher is prohibited. The views expressed in Frontier Energy do not always represent those of the publishers.

Every care is taken in compiling the contents, but the publishers assume no responsibility for any damage, loss. The publisher, Renaissance Media, assumes no responsibility, or liability for unsolicited material, nor responsibility for the content of any advertisement, particularly infringements of copyrights, trademarks, intellectual property rights and patents, nor liability for misrepresentations, false or misleading statements and illustrations. These are the sole responsibility of the advertiser.

Printed in the UK. ISSN 2047-3702 Published by Renaissance Media Ltd, c/o Maynard Heady LLP, Matrix House, 12-16 Lionel Road, Canvey Island, Essex SS8 9DE. Registered in England & Wales.

Company number 5850675.

It has been a busy and eventful few months for watchers of the Arctic’s nascent oil and gas industry. Once again, the overarching message is that this is a region that calls for patience and a long-term approach, something that was understood before, but without doubt reinforced by recent events.

Shell’s long-awaited exploratory drilling in the Chukchi Sea was perhaps a turning point for attitudes to exploration in the US offshore Arctic. In the end, the disappointing Burger J well found oil and gas but not in sufficient quantities to merit further investigation given the high costs and complexities involved.

For now, at least. While Shell has called off any further exploration plans in the area it did not quite rule out a return at some point, when conditions were more favourable.

But the immediate impact was profound. It’s decision heralded the departure of others, like Statoil, and prompted the authorities to cancel upcoming licensing rounds.

And yet it is not really that surprising. Given the current low oil price climate - which is challenging all upstream projects, the world over - the vociferous protests from environmental groups and regulatory uncertainty, then it was always hard to picture how any project would climb through a multinational’s rigorous investment thresholds.

Likewise, even if Shell had identified an enormous resource from the well, any development would still have posed huge challenges for all concerned, and required plenty of time.

Onshore, a few other old hands in Alaska, notably ConocoPhillips, remained very active during the same period, driving forward with new projects on the ground and delivering first oil from a number of wells. It was a small consolation for those that looked offshore for a new economic boost for America’s most northerly state.

Elsewhere, Statoil and Eni have continued to learn the patience game putting together the finishing touches to their Goliat project in Norway’s Barents Sea. This field is still tipped to come on stream by the end of 2015 although it has faced a number of last minute technical issues under scrutiny from Norwegian watchdogs. This project too faces immense economic challenges but the importance of initiating first production has become a number one priority for both companies.

In Russia, Novatek and Total are similarly pressing on with the Yamal LNG scheme, which has been held back by western sanctions arising from the Ukraine stand-off. In this case, it is securing the necessary financing that is the acid test. If the investors can negotiate this critical hurdle then Yamal can proceed and will become a flagship Arctic gas project. Indeed, it is an important part of Moscow’s growth ambitions for the region, so officials are keen to facilitate this in any way possible, including opening up more equity and opportunity to Chinese investors.

In the Arctic, it seems, a lot of patience - and a lot of political will also - is everything.

Martin Clark, Editor

*

Fram is not only the Norwegian word for ‘Forward’, it is also the name of the one of the first ice-strengthened and most famous polar exploration vessels of the late 1800s and early twentieth century. It was captained by Norwegian explorer, Fridtjof Nansen, a Norwegian explorer, scientist, diplomat, humanitarian and Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

Sharing his polar travel experiences with fellow adventurers and scientists, his technology innovations in equipment and clothing influenced a generation of subsequent Arctic and Antarctic expeditions. The word encapsulates what we aim to bring you with the magazine – a forward looking guide to the future of oil, gas and shipping activities in the Arctic and other ice-affected regions while keeping environmental protection and safety at the heart of operations.

Get connected!

Follow us at www.twitter.com/frontierenergy for the latest news and comment

www.frontierenergy.info AUTUMN 2015 03

NEWS

IN NUMBERS

66

the number of operated and non-operated leases offshore Alaska to be relinquished by Statoil

118,000 dwt Aker Arctic’s new concept ‘Arctic Aframax’ crude oil carrier for hostile environments

Uncertain future: Arctic oil drilling

Eni’s Goliat FPSO

Time to take the long view on Arctic safety, says PSA expert

Yamal financing ‘close’ says Russia’s energy minister The Yamal LNG venture is closing in on securing the external financing it needs, sources close to the project have said.

The project, headed by Novatek, could potentially secure the money it needs by the year-end, according to Russian energy minister Alexander Novak.

Novak said the financing would include $12 billion that has been offered by Chinese banks, according to a report by the RIA agency.

"Decisions by the banks have already been taken. Now all that is left is to conclude contracts," it quoted Novak as saying.

The project sponsors, which also include Total of France, have been forced to look for alternative sources of finance because of western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis.

04 AUTUMN 2015 www.frontierenergy.info

US scraps Arctic offshore lease sales The US government has scrapped plans for two potential offshore lease sales in the Arctic, following Shell’s drilling disappointment in the Chukchi Sea. The US Interior Department confirmed the move: "In light of Shell's announcement, the amount of acreage already under lease and current market conditions, it does not make sense to prepare for lease sales in the Arctic in the next year and a half," Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said in a statement.

The federal petroleum lease sales in US Arctic waters were scheduled for 2016 and 2017.

Jewell also said that the Chukchi Sea, off Alaska's northwest coast, and the Beaufort Sea, off the state's north coast, will not be included in the agency's next five-year lease sale plan.

She added that current leases held by Shell and other companies in Arctic waters would not be extended. Beaufort Sea leases are set to expire in 2017, and Chukchi Sea leases in 2020.

Cammell Laird lands polar research ship contract British ship builder Camel Laird is to build a new polar research vessel after being handed a £200 million contract by the UK government.

The ship is due for delivery in 2018 and will secure the UK’s position as a world leader in polar research, according to the country’s science minister Jo Johnson.

The ship, which will operate in both Antarctica and the Arctic, will be the first British-built polar research vessel with a helideck and will be able to endure up to 60 days in sea-ice.

Photos: Eni Norge & Shell

Reduced activity in the oil sector because of low prices now offers a ‘golden opportunity’ to plan for future safety in the Barents Sea, according to a leading Norwegian expert.

Finn Carlsen, director of professional competence at Norway’s Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) said the industry should “make positive use” of the downturn in prices and activity from a safety perspective.

“It’s got a chance to stand back, assess alternatives and think afresh,” he said in the Authority’s own Dialogue magazine. “Put briefly, the companies should use this phase in a sensible and forward-looking way.

A long-term approach is a concept we’ll be repeating often in connection with the Barents Sea.” And, although safety standards will not be compromised to encourage exploration and development in the area, he said the industry can come up with solutions which satisfy regulatory requirements in a cheaper and simpler manner. “We must be open for that – as long as the safety standards are met.”

NEWS

100,000 bpd peak production from the Goliat field

$7 billion

the estimated cost of Shell’s failed drilling campaign in Alaska

20%

the fall in global upstream investments during

2015

30

total number of challenges to enable year-round oil and gas production at 74 degrees north in the Norwegian Barents Sea

Number of Ushakov Medal awards handed by President Putin to British nationals for bravery during the Northern Convoys of World War Two

2017

156 metres

length of Australia’s proposed new icebreaker

the date US chairmanship of the Arctic Council ends

Sources: Arctic Council, Shell, DNV GL, Eni, Statoil, Aker Arctic

Russian Arctic production thwarted by infrastructure

Shell not giving up on offshore Alaska just yet Shell’s chief executive Ben van Beurden has told investors that the company isn’t ready to walk away from the Arctic waters off Alaska just yet.

Despite the company stating that it would cease offshore Alaska work “for the foreseeable future” after disappointing drilling results with its Burger J prospect, the region still holds long-term promise, he said.

"While Burger turned out to be uneconomic, there are of course other potential prospects in Shell's Chukchi leasehold as well as other areas offshore Alaska," van Beurden said in a conference call to investors.

Any development though could hinge on the creation of a large anchor project to bring together any smaller fields.

"We have other leaseholds, but they would depend on the critical mass of a central hub (such as) development of Burger," van Beurden added.

Shell announced on September 28 that although it had struck oil and gas with its eagerly awaited Burger J well, about 150 miles from Barrow, Alaska, in water depths of 150 feet, it was not enough to continue further drilling.

It also cited the high costs associated with the project, and the challenging and unpredictable federal regulatory environment in offshore Alaska.

At the same time, Shell’s Upstream Americas director Marvin Odum said the company continues to see important exploration potential in the basin. “The area is likely to ultimately be of strategic importance to Alaska and the US,” he said.

The lack of infrastructure in Russia’s far north is holding back the region’s oil and gas production, a senior local official said this week.

Dmitry Kobylkin, governor of the YamalNenets autonomous district, told Russian news agency Itar-TASS and cited by UPI that regional production could grow if the infrastructure was there to support it.

"The drop in oil production, despite the fact that there are sufficient reserves in the area, is caused only by infrastructure constraints that hamper commercial development of new deposits," he said.

Last year, he said an estimated 158 million barrels of oil were produced from the Yamal Peninsula. Full-year 2015 is expected at around 152 million barrels.

Novatek announces Yarudeyskoye start up

Shell’s van Burden (left) and Odum (right) see long-term potential

Novatek has announced the start of commercial production at the Yarudeyskoye oil field in northern Russia.

Production is expected to rapidly reach a level equivalent to approximately 3.5 million tons of crude oil on an annualised basis, it said in a December 1 statement. Nefte Petroleum Limited is a partner on the project.

The field’s infrastructure includes a central oil treatment facility, oil and gas gathering systems, a pumping station, and crude oil and gas pipelines linking the field to the trunk pipeline systems, as well as 36 production wells.

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PROJECT ROUND UP

The first operational subsea dome oil collection and processing unit

Arctic drilling: the Polar Pioneer rig

SHELL’S BURGER J fails to bite

I

n the USA, 2015 was dominated

by Shell’s keenly awaited Burger J well in the Chukchi Sea. After all the hype, and the ‘will it or won’t go it ahead’ chatter, the well was ultimately a disappointment. Shell announced that it had indeed found oil and gas with the well, approximately 150 miles from Barrow, Alaska, in about 150 feet of water, but not in sufficient quantities to merit further investigation - at least for now.

When the results were announced, on September 28, Marvin Odum, Shell Upstream Americas director, said the company “continues to see important exploration potential in the basin”, and that the area “is likely to ultimately be of

strategic importance to Alaska and the US”. Nonetheless, the company said that it would cease further exploration activity in offshore Alaska for the foreseeable future.

It said the decision reflects both the Burger J well result, the high costs associated with the project, and the challenging and unpredictable federal regulatory environment in offshore Alaska.

Moreover, Shell executives have since told investors that there remain plenty of other prospects in the area and that one large anchor project could, potentially, pull together a series of smaller fields.

The basin demonstrates many of the key attributes of a major petroleum basin, Shell noted, and, for an area equivalent to half the size of the Gulf of Mexico, it is an area that remains substantially under-explored.

Good news, bad news It was the best news possible for the environmental groups that had campaigned so hard every step of the way

Alaska’s Greater Mooses Tooth 1 project is a go ConocoPhillips Alaska has approved funding for its Greater Mooses Tooth 1 (GMT1) development in the National Petroleum Reserve Alaska (NPRA).

It means production start-up is now anticipated in late 2018, reaching 30,000 bpd at peak.

“GMT1 is expected to cost approximately $900 million gross and follows our recent successful completion of the CD5 project,” said Joe Marushack, president of ConocoPhillips Alaska. “We are pleased to have been able to work through key permitting issues with the Corps of Engineers and the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) that now allows us to move into the development phase.”

The development will include a new gravel pad, a 7.7 mile road, facilities and pipelines, with nine wells, with nine wells to start and capacity for up to 33 wells. Oil will be processed through the existing Alpine Central Facility.

Construction will begin in early 2017 and continue into 2018, with first oil planned for late that year.

ConocoPhillips Alaska holds a 78% interest in the project alongside Anadarko with 22%.

06 AUTUMN 2015 www.frontierenergy.info

to prevent the drilling from taking place.

Shell’s retreat also triggered a string of other developments, including the abandonment of two proposed offshore lease sales in the area that were expected in 2016 and 2017, with the Chukchi Sea and

It prompted the withdrawal of other companies too, including Statoil which said its Chukchi Sea licenses are no longer considered competitive within its global portfolio the Beaufort Sea wiped completely from the US Interior Department’s next fiveyear lease sale plan. Furthermore, current leases held by Shell and other companies in Arctic waters, which now stretch up to 2020, are not likely to be extended.

It prompted the withdrawal of other companies too, including Statoil which said its Chukchi Sea licenses are no longer considered competitive within its global portfolio. It is also closing down its office in Anchorage. “Since 2008 we have worked to progress our options in Alaska.

Solid work has been carried out, but given the current outlook we could not support continued efforts to mature these opportunities,” said Tim Dodson, Statoil’s executive vice president for exploration.

The decision means Statoil will exit 16 operated leases, and its stake in 50 leases operated by ConocoPhillips, all in the Chukchi Sea. The leases were awarded in the 2008 lease sale and expire in 2020.

The roll-out of new infrastructure in support of this offshore industry is also now in doubt.

Photos: Shell

Shell’s summer drilling campaign offshore Alaska commanded news headlines worldwide, but ultimately ended in disappointment. There remain some bright spots, however

PROJECT ROUND UP

Plans for a deepwater Arctic port off Alaska have been put on hold following Shell’s decision to abandon drilling work in the area.

The Army Corps of Engineers has suspended a study into building the facility, which would have provided shelter for large oil and gas support ships operating in the region.

"During the next 12 months, the Corps and its partners will monitor Arctic activities to determine if there may be the potential for federal interest in continuing the study," the Corps said in a statement.

It was exploring the possibility of creating a deepwater port at Nome Harbour, about 550 miles northwest of Anchorage, by expanding it and deepening it.

Industry dives into sub-arctic Canada Despite the subdued mood off Alaska, there was plenty of appetite among the big international names for the latest East Coast Canada bid round. Key winners for blocks off Nova Scotia and Newfoundland included BG, Chevron, BP, Statoil and Exxon Mobil.

Statoil, making up for its Alaska exit, said that it had secured six exploration licences in the Flemish Pass Basin, offshore Newfoundland, and two licences offshore Nova Scotia following the recent awards.

The offshore Newfoundland licenses total 14,670 sq km, and are located in an area in proximity to the Statoil-operated Bay du Nord discovery. The Nova Scotia acreage covers 6,500 sq km approximately 250 km from Halifax.

Statoil’s executive vice president for exploration, Tim Dodson, called the blocks “frontier areas”. He said: “The significant exploration investment offshore Newfoundland will provide Statoil an opportunity to further advance our established exploration position in this region through a step-wise approach, while in Nova Scotia, we are able to apply the exploration knowledge and experience we have gained globally and in the North Atlantic specifically.”

The group already holds a strong position in the Flemish Pass Basin. The new licences are in an area near to previous discoveries: Mizzen in 2009, and the Harpoon and Bay du Nord discoveries in 2013.

Onshore developments While the US offshore appears to have gone into hibernation, onshore it was a different story with a number of notable developments maturing in 2015.

ConocoPhillips Alaska commenced first oil production at its $1 billion CD5 drill site, part of the Alpine field. It was the second new ConocoPhillips North Slope drill site to come on stream in about a month. First oil was achieved at the Kuparuk Drill Site 2S (DS2S) in October. It marks the first commercial oil development on Alaska Native lands within the boundaries of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPRA).

“First oil at CD5 is a landmark for

our company, Kuukpik Corporation, Arctic Slope Regional Corporation and for Alaska. This announcement is the culmination of more than 10 years of work and collaboration with key stakeholders, including the residents of the nearby village of Nuiqsut,” said Joe Marushack, president of ConocoPhillips Alaska.

Four wells are complete at CD5, with development plans calling for 11 more wells by early 2017. Peak gross

production is anticipated at 16,000 bpd.

DS2S is expected to add about 8,000 bpd gross at peak production.

CD5 is located approximately 8 miles from the Greater Mooses Tooth 1 (GMT1) development, Conoco’s next key project in the area in which it partners Anadarko.

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PROJECT ROUND UP

With a clutch of active energy projects in the far north, Moscow’s Arctic ambitions are plain enough despite current challenges

W

hile not exactly in the deep freeze, Russia’s Arctic oil and gas ambitions have been pushed back not only in the wake of low oil prices, but also because of international sanctions over tensions in the Ukraine.

Despite the challenges, local operators are doing their best to press forward.

The country has already pioneered work in the region with the December 2013 launch of Gazprom Neft’s Prirazlomnoye field in the Pechora Sea, south of Novaya Zemlya. And the Prirazlomnoye platform is designed to receive oil from other fields nearby, which bodes well for further developments.

Still, activities in the Kara Sea look a little less certain following the 2014 University-1 discovery well, the northernmost well in the world. Rosneft says the larger Universitetskaya structure covers an area of 1,200 km, with a 550 metre high hydrocarbon trap, and a resource potential of 1.3 billion tons of oil equivalent. The find has generated great excitement but the chance to follow up the discovery well with a second test was dashed by sanctions, with US partner Exxon Mobil forced to walk away. Rosneft chiefs say no more drilling will take place until at least 2016, but that is unlikely to include Exxon, which has its hands tied by sanctions, although there have been reassurances that the US company will not be replaced anytime soon.

08 AUTUMN 2015 www.frontierenergy.info

Yamal LNG On the gas side, it is the mighty Yamal LNG project that is Russia’s primary focus, although its progress has been held in check with the introduction of western sanctions which has limited access to commercial financing and technology.

Russia already has plenty of experience in LNG, of course, with Sakhalin in the far east, but the scale of the Yamal LNG venture, and the prohibitive $27 billion cost, means it cannot go it alone. Lead operator Novatek - which is subject to a US financing ban - is working with foreign partners Total of France and China’s CNPC to put the money in place.

And Moscow is keen to encourage the Chinese link, opening the door for more equity participation by China Silk Road Fund, a Chinese investment group.

In November, Yamal LNG issued 75 billion ruble ($1.16 billion) worth of 15-year bonds as part of the financing initiative. The bonds were issued as part of a withdrawal of the second tranche of Moscow’s National Welfare Fund of Russia (NWF) financing package.

Moodys Investors Service said the issuance indicates that external creditors' approvals are in place and paves the way for creditors to fully fund Yamal LNG on a project finance basis from 2016, thereby limiting Novatek’s own exposure as lead shareholder.

“It also confirms that Yamal LNG continues to remain a high priority project for the Russian government, one of very few that managed to receive substantial support since oil prices collapsed and sanctions were introduced against a number of Russian corporates,” it commented.

Russia’s second biggest gas firm still hopes to get the 16.5 mtpa plant on the Yamal peninsula operational by 2017, drawing gas from the massive SouthTambeyskoye field.

Infrastructure development In the same area, Gazprom Neft has completed pre-construction work on its Arctic terminal in the Yamal Peninsula.

The offshore facility, in the Ob Sea, near Cape Kammeny, will facilitate year-round oil exports from the nearby Novoportovskoye field.

All pre-construction works are expected to be completed in 2015, the company said in a statement, with full testing of the Arctic terminal due to commence in early 2016.

Gazprom Neft first deputy chief executive, Vadim Yakovlev, said it marked a major step forward in the sale of yearround shipments of Novy Port oil to European customers. The terminal will have a capacity of more than 8.5 million tonnes of crude per year.

“Commercial production at Russia’s Novoportovskoye field from early 2016 will mark the emergence of a new, northernmost outpost in oil production, unique in its operating conditions, infrastructure and transportation facilities,” said Yakovlev.

“Supplies from Novy Port are expected to reach two million tonnes as early as 2016, and we expect to be producing more than four million tonnes here from 2017.”

Recoverable reserves at the Novoportovskoye field, which lies within the Arctic Circle, comprise more than 250 million tonnes of crude and condensate, and more than 320 billion cubic metres of gas.

Photo: Gazprom

Remote: supply drop off

RUSSIA RISES to sanctions challenge

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PROJECT ROUND UP

All eyes on Goliat start up

I

t’s now behind schedule, over budget and facing a tough start to life given current subdued oil prices, but the significance of Eni Norge’s flagship Goliat project could not be greater in terms of showcasing what can be done in the Arctic region. The Barents Sea project - which is built to sustain Arctic winds, ice, snow and rough currents - will become the world’s most northerly oil field when it eventually commences production, a feat still anticipated by the end of the year. The Goliat field lies nearly 300 miles north of the Arctic Circle, and will eventually produce 100,000 bpd. Norwegian state player Statoil is a partner in the development. The project is sited 85 km offshore, north west of Hammerfest in the PL229 and PL229B licence areas in the Barents Sea, offshore Norway.

However, the high cost and complexity of the project has tested both players every step of the way. Most recently, the Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) of Norway flagged a number of electrical “non conformities” that needed to be addressed prior to launch. The energy needs of the iconic circular Sevan

Statoil plans to hold back on its Barents Sea exploration

1000 floating production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) are met partially by electricity supplied by cable from onshore (via a 50 mile long cable to Hammerfest) and partially by an on board gas turbine generator.

Still, these are challenges faced by all developers, and just some of a multitude of issues to be addressed in the run-up to production start. Progress is being made on all fronts. Lankhorst Ropes Offshore recently completed the installation of the FPSO’s mooring ropes, for instance.

Given the weather conditions in the Barents Sea, and relatively shallow water depth, the vessel uses a semi-taut leg mooring system to limit movement. It is now fully moored with 14 anchors, while all 11 risers have been pulled up and production drilling using the Scarab 8 rig is at an advanced stage. Eni Norge reports a “high level of activity” on site as the start date - still unspecified - draws closer.

Of course, the real challenge facing the Goliat team is the project’s economics, given current low oil prices. Building any $6 billion scheme requires a test of nerves in any oil climate, but in the last couple of years, the operators have seen the value of crude tumble from around $125 Remote location: the Goliat field 85 km offshore Hammerfest per barrel down to about $40. When the company sanctioned the project in 2009, the price was about $70. It shows there is some in-built project resilience, but current pricing is surely fraying more nerves in the boardroom. Analysts estimate the project needs a break even price of $100 a barrel.

Indeed, Eni’s chief

10 AUTUMN 2015 www.frontierenergy.info

executive Claudio Descalzi, cited in an interview by the Wall Street Journal, recently commented that “you have to be ready to always be able to work at $40 or $50 a barrel”. And then there are the extremes. “If oil is at $110, you will have great profits you can invest. If it falls to $20 or $30, you forget about oil and use coal.” In the same interview, Descalzi also called the Barents Sea “a completely different kind of Arctic than northern Alaska”, where challenges are not always comparable like-for-like. He said Norway’s Barents Sea is free of ice and near a populated area where the oil industry has been working for many years. The regulatory climate may also be a decisive factor for driving continuing exploration and development activity.

Exploration work offshore Alaska - where operators have to deal with thick ice and icebergs - has now virtually ground to a halt after Shell’s summer drilling disappointment in the Chukchi Sea. That does not mean everything is rosy offshore Norway either, with all operators the world over facing up to what is an extremely difficult commercial environment.

Statoil is likely to reduce the number of wells it drills offshore Norway next year, a senior company figure has said, with exploration activity in the Barents Sea largely on hold because of low oil prices.

“It’s likely to be smaller,” said Tim Dodson, Statoil’s executive vice president for exploration, speaking in an interview with Bloomberg recently. “In the Barents Sea, we’ve more or less tested the opportunity set which we have.”

Dodson said the company will most likely return to the Barents Sea in 2017 at the earliest once it’s received new acreage in upcoming licensing rounds. Statoil is set to drill 16 wells in the country as an operator this year, down from 21 in 2014.

Next year, it will concentrate on the

Photos: Harald Pettersen/Statoil & Eni Norge

With production imminent from Eni’s pioneering Goliat field, despite a few last minute hitches, its start up will provide a welcome lift for the Arctic offshore sector

PROJECT ROUND UP

Krafla area in the North Sea in its offshore Norway efforts.

But, Goliat aside, other work is taking place in the far northern areas offshore Norway.

Lundin Norway AS recently commenced drilling its exploration well 7130/41 on the Ørnen prospect in the southern Barents Sea, for example. The prospect is located in PL708 on the eastern parts of the Finnmark Platform and could contain gross unrisked prospective resources of 354 million barrels of oil equivalent.

The company is using the semisub Transocean Artic rig, which had previously completed work for VNG Norge in the Norwegian Sea. It is the operator with a 40% interest, with partners including Edison Norge, Lukoil Overseas North Shelf, Lime Petroleum Norway and North Energy.

The well marks the latest stage in Lundin’s exploration plans for the area, which has included a series of wells this year and more to come in 2016.

Lundin recently announced the

completion of its Alta appraisal wells, 7220/11-3 and 7220/11-3 A on the eastern flank of the Alta discovery in PL609.

Alex Schneiter, chief operating officer, said all three Alta wells and two sidetracks showed moveable gas and oil. “More importantly we have established good pressure communication between all wells indicating a connected hydrocarbon accumulation over an extensive area,” he said.

Two further appraisal wells are planned in 2016 in addition to re-entering the latest appraisal well to perform a production test.

The company also recently drilled the 7220/6-2 exploration well on the Neiden prospect in the Barents Sea South. It estimates the prospect, located in the northern part of PL609, around 60 km northeast of the Alta discovery and approximately 200 km from the Norwegian shoreline, to hold gross prospective resources of 204 million barrels of oil equivalent.

It suggests the appetite is still very much there for Barents Sea work, even in the face of such harsh economic realities. All players will be hoping for a turnaround

in oil prices soon, no doubt, but the potential to exploit a new and untapped resource base is always inherently alluring for the oil industry.

The Goliat project, although it may not be the best industry example of project execution given the escalating costs, is almost symbolic of what can be achieved in this frontier region. Despite obvious cost pressures, it has moved too far and is now so tantalising close to completion, that its arrival will provide an important lift for all those still fascinated by the Arctic’s littleknown hydrocarbon potentials.

Submarine power cabling for the Goliat project

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PROJECT ROUND UP

Slow going: Russia is facing up to low oil prices and sanctions

Russia in the Arctic: what next for 2016?

T

he Arctic is one of many platforms where geopolitical and commercial tensions between Russia and the other main regional actors - the United States, Denmark, Norway and Canada - are played out. Russia’s actions in the Arctic are a delicate balancing act between antagonism and cooperation. On the one hand, Russia views the development of its Arctic natural resources as an important way of boosting its beleaguered energy-dependent economy. This is often expressed in the form of military build-ups in the high north to protect Russia’s energy interests, and occasional ostentatious territorial claims. On the other hand, Russia does attempt to minimise damage to geopolitical co-operation with other Arctic actors through its often productive presence on the Arctic Council. This collaboration is in Russia’s strategic interests, to ensure that it continues to benefit from the continued development of the Arctic’s raw materials.

12 AUTUMN 2015 www.frontierenergy.info

Geopolitical tensions Maintaining its geopolitical influence over the Arctic is perhaps the most significant of Russia’s objectives in the region. The Russian government considers the Arctic to be a source of national pride and identity. Commanding it and maintaining control over its resources is a concept often used by the Kremlin to encourage nationalist sentiment. Guaranteeing a visible Russian presence there retains a certain idealistic appeal. In August 2015, Russia re-submitted its territorial claim to an extended continental shelf under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, claiming exclusive control over 1.2 million square kilometres of the Arctic sea shelf including the North Pole. A ruling by the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf is not expected in 2016, but the body is likely to begin assessing the Russian claim, together with the claims of Denmark (and the Government of Greenland) and the partial submission received from Canada.

Against the backdrop of an increasingly soured political relationship between Russia and the West over Russia’s annexation of Crimea in March 2014 and subsequent military intervention in eastern Ukraine in July 2014, maintaining Russian power on the geopolitical stage is a priority for President Vladimir Putin.

As such, Putin uses the Arctic as a site for strategic deterrence. Shoring up its military presence there allows Russia to emphasise its political strength and ability

to defend its national boundaries. Russia is currently building several military bases in the Arctic, with a large base in Kotelniy Ostrov on the Laptev Sea nearing completion. Russia also expects to build six airfields during 2016-2017 and deploy troops in the Arctic by 2018.

This build-up is not a new policy; Russia has been boosting its military infrastructure in the Arctic since 2012.

Although the other circumpolar states have looked at ways of increasing their

If, as seems likely, the sanctions remain in place beyond March 2016 – when they are due for renewal – then significant inroads into further extraction are unlikely own military capabilities in the north, at the same time they have criticised Russia for its increased military presence. This has in turn fuelled Russia’s desire to firmly stake out and protect its borders.

These moves are more likely to be political posturing than an indication of aggressive intent, and military clashes over Arctic resources with other foreign actors are unlikely. Nevertheless, Russia’s neighbours are likely to respond with increased naval exercises and training programmes in Arctic waters.

Photos: Gazprom

Russia’s strategic interests in the Arctic go beyond oil and gas, but the current geopolitical climate, and the impact of sanctions, suggest it may have to bide its time in pursuing long-term development opportunities. Sebastian Villyn and Emily Ferris of Control Risks Group consider what to expect in 2016

PROJECT ROUND UP

No big production hikes for now

Business as usual?

Politics notwithstanding, Russia has significant commercial interests in the Arctic, and is keen to exploit the vast hydrocarbons believed to be available there. However, extraction and infrastructure development has been hampered by Russia’s economic downturn, and further strained by EU and US sanctions.

Russia’s economy is dependent on natural resources. Oil and gas exports generate almost half of the country’s revenues. However, Western-led sanctions – in place since August 2014 – have targeted the oil and gas sectors, aiming to pressurise the government into political concessions regarding its stance towards eastern Ukraine and Crimea. Oil prices have remained low since December 2014, at just below $50 a barrel, and have plunged Russia into a recession. The authorities’ use of the country’s foreignexchange reserves to prop up the ruble has reduced the funds available for costly hydrocarbon development projects.

Moreover, the sanctions explicitly include a ban on the export of advanced equipment designed for Arctic projects.

Without Western technology to help extract the raw materials from the Arctic seabed, exploration projects in the Arctic have stalled. If, as seems likely, the sanctions remain in place beyond March 2016 – when they are due for renewal – then significant inroads into further extraction are unlikely.

Diversification and China With restricted access to European capital markets, Russia is seeking to diversify its energy export markets. The Arctic has a role to play in this. President Putin hopes to reduce Russia’s reliance on EU natural gas importers, and to bypass gas supplies transiting through Ukraine, where heightened political tensions continue to threaten the flow of gas supplies to the EU. The need to diversify energy exports beyond Europe has been further fuelled

by Saudi Arabia’s encroachment on some of Russia’s key oil importers, for example Poland and Sweden.

Instead, Russia is looking towards China for viable consumer markets. The Yamal LNG project may help Russia to establish itself as a lead supplier to China, South Korea and Japan. US sanctions have limited the funding options for Novatek, the majority shareholder of the project, and its partners, although recent reports suggest the project is moving closer to securing financing from Chinese banks. Russia has also attempted to secure several large energy deals with China, but progress is slow as China deals with the fallout from its volatile stock market and as disagreement over the price of Russia’s energy exports persists.

Concrete agreements on a potential gas pipeline from Russia’s Far East have been delayed until 2016. Adding to this, Russia is generally mistrustful of China as a commercial ally, and is wary of China’s increasing political influence over traditional regional allies.

Shipping Shipping will be a crucial factor in the plan for a profitable Russian Arctic.

When several energy projects along the Russian Arctic become operational, it will become increasingly important for Russia to ensure that the Northern Sea Route (NSR) can function as a viable trade line that can compete with alternative shipping lanes, and reach the eastern markets quickly and reliably. Japan's Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd (MOL) announced in 2014 that it intends to transport LNG on icebreaker LNG carriers from 2018 from the Yamal LNG plant, and has ordered three new vessels constructed in South Korea. However, Russia cannot escape its reliance on European markets, as the Yamal LNG project is still dependent on exports to Europe when ice conditions from November to July preclude shipping to the eastern markets along the NSR to Asia.

Reduced demand for LNG exports in East Asian markets is also likely to frustrate Russia’s Arctic ambitions in 2016. Low oil prices and the depreciation of the ruble have also impacted the chances of high returns on energy deals.

Despite interest from MOL, China’s COSCO Container Lines, and continued investment in an Arctic fleet by Russian Sovcomflot, the NSR is not yet prepared for a significant increase in commercial shipping. Operational risks such as variable ice conditions, draught restrictions, reliance on icebreaker support, delays and unpredictable transit times must all be factored in. For the time being, the NSR will remain a predominantly internal waterway for Russian cargo transport, where only the bravest shipping companies are likely to test the waters.

Flashpoints There are several geopolitical flashpoints over the next year that could have a knock-on effect on Russia’s position in the Arctic. The most significant impacts are likely to be felt when the EU and US sanctions are renewed, and as oil prices remain low.

Both of these will remain obstacles to Russia’s rapid development in the Arctic.

The peace process in Ukraine is highly likely to influence the course of western sanctions in 2016. There has been a degree of political cooperation between Russia and the West over the conflict in Syria and their mutual desire to eliminate the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group. The EU and US are unlikely to intensify their sanctions, but if Russia continues its political and financial support of rebel-held eastern Ukraine, the sanctions are likely to be extended.

This would increase the need for Russia to deepen its cooperation with Asian and Eurasian partners. Russia is likely to maintain its commitment to its current Arctic developments, particularly the Yamal LNG project, which it has already invested a great deal of money in.

Ultimately, the Arctic is a key territory for Russia in terms of its political, economic and cultural significance. While its importance as an energy resource may have waned as a result of the sanctions and the low oil prices, the Arctic continues to be a place where international strategic interests compete.

Sebastian Villyn is associate analyst, maritime, Control Risks Group Emily Ferris is associate analyst, Europe, Control Risks Group

www.frontierenergy.info AUTUMN 2015 13

ICE RISK MANAGEMENT

This screen capture shows a birds-eye view of a managed ice field

ICE MANAGEMENT SIMULATION

IMPROVES SAFETY Industry partners from the American Bureau of Shipping and the Memorial University of Newfoundland are collaborating to help oil and gas companies gain a better understanding of ice risk conditions. By James Bond, Han Yu, and John Dolny of ABS, and Claude Daley of MUN

C

ycles in the oil and gas industry present challenges, but companies understand that research and development are fundamental to safely developing frontier areas. So while a number of operators have halted work in some of these regions, the search for solutions continues.

ABS, which has been pursuing Arctic research and development initiatives for decades, established its Canada-based Harsh Environment Technology Center (HETC) in partnership with Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN) in 2010. The HETC is the cornerstone of ABS Arctic research.

Advancing Ice Management Sea ice presents a significant challenge for Arctic offshore operations. Accurately estimating ice loads and the effects on offshore structures are extremely important for designers of drilling assets, in particular floating installations.

Additional challenges are associated with limited seasonal operations, the remoteness of most Arctic drilling prospects and the 14 AUTUMN 2015 www.frontierenergy.info

lack of nearby infrastructure.

A large number of support vessels – often 20 to 30 vessels in a single The ABS team at HETC is addressing season – have been deployed to remote these challenges and are engaged in the sites during exploration campaigns to first phase of a joint industry project provide icebreaker escort, supply and focusing on ice loads on floating storage, towing, anchor handling, ice structures. The work has facilitated management, emergency response, and informational exchange on subjects such standby in the event of an oil spill. The as interaction scenarios, station-keeping selection and systems, numerical operation of the models, and model fleet that is most testing procedures.

Accurately estimating ice efficient and cost Working with loads and the effects on advantageous are industry experts, challenges for the the goal is to offshore structures are operators. identify areas of extremely important for During the last uncertainty that several years, will be explored designers of drilling assets, considerable work to provide in particular floating has been carried recommendations installations out to improve toward a the understanding dedicated fullof the mechanics scale measurement of ship-ice interaction. Due to the campaign. Toward this end, HETC complexity of the ice conditions and engineers are supporting a project to the extent of multiple asset operational quantitatively assess the effectiveness scenarios, it was not possible until of physical ice management considering now to develop a simulation tool to performance models of icebreakers in various ice conditions and under different quantitatively assess the effectiveness of physical ice management. tactical manoeuvres.

ICE RISK MANAGEMENT

Ice blocks on frozen blue sea

Developing simulation tools

Photo: Shutterstock

MUN and ABS, with support from industry partners, have invested in a technology called GPU-based Event Mechanics (GEM), which was developed with the goal of simulating offshore operations in ice from a practical engineering perspective. GEM uses event mechanics, equations of motion and the energies associated within each ‘event’ rather than continuum mechanics as the building blocks of the simulation. An impact between a ship and an ice floe is one example of a single event, another is a floe impacting another floe.

GEM is a unique new concept that combines existing ideas and formulations and essentially known outcomes from a localised impact event. Focused on macro-scale events ranging from about

one meter up to tens of kilometres, GEM provides data on scales of interest that are of interest to offshore operations.

Understanding and tracking the influence of a single event on other single events is key to developing the overall simulation picture and provides the ability to simulate large-scale problems in Arctic offshore operations in hyper real time. GEM simulates pack ice and its interactions with ships and offshore structures.

GEM at work

GEM models ship/ice and ice/structure interaction as well as the manoeuvering behaviour of ships and station-keeping performance of offshore structures. It can assess both safety and operational performance. GEM can model local loads that could present structural risks as well as global loads that affect power, fuel consumption, mooring and dynamic positioning (DP) requirements.

Simulations can create managed ice fields resulting from icebreaker operations.

Characteristics of the managed ice field can be quantitatively determined to assess effectiveness in keeping the loads on the structure and its mooring system or foundation with its design limits. The number of “what if” Sea ice presents a significant challenge for Arctic offshore operations. scenarios that can be investigated Accurately estimating ice loads and their effect on offshore structures are limitless. are extremely important for designers

Tomorrow’s applications While validation and verification of GEM’s algorithms against available full scale and model test data are ongoing tasks, new developments also are rapidly advancing. GEM is currently capable of modelling open pack ice, and work

GEM is a unique new concept that combines existing ideas and formulations and essentially known outcomes from a localised impact event is under way to include more types of ice features and interaction event classes. This includes the development of algorithms to model rafted ice (overlapping floes) and generate ice rubble fields. As two ice sheets converge together, they break to form pressure ridges and then rubble. Ultimately these features will enable GEM to effectively model higher ice concentration situations.

Another future objective is to link GEM to weather and ice forecasting software, which will make it possible to more accurately set the boundary conditions for the model domain, resulting in more realistic simulations. www.frontierenergy.info AUTUMN 2015 15

ICE RISK MANAGEMENT

This topo/bathy data example is from Mahone Bay, Canada, which comprises a complex series of islands, significant shallow water, difficult rock ledges, and good water clarity. Data was collected using a combination of airborne LiDAR bathymetry and multibeam echosounder, allowing safe and efficient coverage from the nearshore to the shoreline.

Mapping a safe and sustainable Arctic

T

he Arctic is a vast and largely unexplored place. Comprising more than 14.5 million square kilometres, this frontier region is undergoing rapid change. Over the past several decades, Arctic temperatures have increased at double the rate experienced by the rest of the planet. These rising temperatures have significantly impacted both sea ice extent and thickness. Many scientists believe an ‘ice-free Arctic’ is possible by mid-century, meaning sea ice extent will measure less than one million square kilometres for at least five consecutive summers.

With a newly accessible Arctic come many economic opportunities.

Promised new shipping lanes via the Northwest Passage and the Northern Sea Route could supplement traditional routes to reduce transit times between East and West. Meanwhile, projects related to oil and gas, mining, fishing, telecommunications and tourism are already underway in certain parts of the Arctic. As economic activity gears up, nations bordering the Arctic are facing mounting pressure to settle sovereignty disputes and to minimise potential development impacts on people, wildlife, and the environment.

To this end, the five bordering Arctic states – Canada, Norway, Russia, Denmark (Greenland), and the United States – are working individually as well as collaboratively through groups like the Arctic Council and the International Hydrographic Commission to improve baseline hydrographic datasets, which are essential to managing a safe and sustainable Arctic.

Hydrographic surveys produce the underwater equivalent to landbased topographic maps. Providing 16 AUTUMN 2015 www.frontierenergy.info

both water depth and seafloor relief, these data support a wide variety of uses, including navigation safety via nautical charts, habitat studies, coastal zone management, and legal boundary determination. Other uses include planning and engineering design inputs for energy, telecommunications, and infrastructure projects. Of these applications, nautical charts is arguably the most pressing driver.

Accurate and up-to-date charts are an essential tool for navigation, providing mariners with information about the shoreline, seafloor characteristics, and navigational aids so that vessels can transit safely and efficiently through known routes. Unfortunately, there is a critical lack of modern data for nautical charts of Arctic waters, posing definite risks of groundings and related accidents, which may result in loss of life and environmental harm.

An incident in the United States’ Unalaska Bay in summer 2015 highlights the dangers of this deficiency. While en route to the Chukchi Sea in support of drilling exploration activities, the icebreaker Fennica struck an uncharted shoal in waters that later proved to be some 20 feet shallower than previously believed.

Luckily disaster was averted, with the vessel requiring just minor repairs. As more and larger vessels travel in areas with insufficient survey coverage, the likelihood of more serious incidents will increase.

To put the problem in perspective, the Arctic Council working group for the Protection of the Marine Environment estimated in a 2013 report that only six to seven percent of the Arctic contains nautical charts meeting international navigational standards. Given a documented uptick in Arctic activity over

the past decade, government agencies and international organisations have identified improved Arctic charting as a top priority in the years ahead.

Nautical charting has a long history, even in the Arctic. As far back as the late 1700s, surveyors were dropping lead-weighted ropes off of the sides of vessels to discern water depth in high latitudes. These manual methods resulted in a series of discrete points over sparsely sampled areas, and were the standard source for nautical chart creation through the early 1900s.

Lead lines eventually gave way to sonar techniques, with early patents for single beam echosounder systems filed in 1904 and 1913. In common use by 1939, single-beam echosounders work by transmitting a single pulse of acoustic energy from beneath the water surface and recording the time it takes that pulse to travel from the sensor to the seafloor and back again. Using sound velocity algorithms that account for temperature, salinity, and pressure, this rate of travel is transformed into depth readings, resulting in high accuracy nadir profiles over the traversed survey line.

In the 1980s, another technology breakthrough became commercially available. Known as multibeam echosounder, this technique further improved hydrographic survey speed and detail. By broadcasting acoustic energy pulses across a broad swath, multibeam echosounder technology yields efficient, full survey coverage and seabed ensonification. Multibeam surveys are possible in shallower waters, but they are inherently dangerous and efficiency begins to suffer, as the collection swath narrows the closer it comes to the seafloor, requiring increased survey lines that produce less and less data coverage.

Images: Canadian Hydrographic Service

The demand for offshore survey data in the Arctic region has intensified in recent years due to increased accessibility and economic development potential. The technology behind this work continues to modernise and transform regional mapping programs, write Kas Ebrahim and Shannon Earl of Fugro

Image: Teledyne-Optech

ICE RISK MANAGEMENT

The introduction of commercial airborne LiDAR bathymetry in the early 1990s not only provided for a more efficient survey of shallow waters, but the technology also delivered the means to fill the gap between nearshore and surf zone data. Utilizing light rather than sound, airborne LiDAR bathymetry systems work by transmitting pulses of energy from a laser source. Infrared energy is quickly absorbed thereby detecting the water surface, while energy in the green spectral band penetrates into the water to map the surface of the seafloor. The delta of the water surface and seafloor measurements provides the water depth.

Depending on water clarity, seabed characteristics, and energy output, airborne LiDAR bathymetry is effective in water depths up to 70 metres.

The effort to improve nautical charting in the Arctic has been underway for more than a decade. Data on many of the existing charts are hundreds of years old and provide rudimentary information, lacking both coverage and detail. And equally important to updating existing charts is the establishment of first generation charts for newly navigable waters that were until recently covered with ice.

The sheer volume of charting backlog is further complicated by operational and economic factors, including short field seasons lasting just two to four months depending on ice conditions; remote and challenging locations with little or no infrastructure; and limited local government resources due to tax base austerity and competing budget priorities.

Given these circumstances, some hydrographic programme managers are beginning to look at innovative ways to streamline the nautical chart making process. Rather than applying an “either/ or” approach to multibeam echosounder and airborne LiDAR bathymetry techniques as if they are mutually exclusive, these officials are taking a broader approach, looking at how the two techniques can be combined to be complementary and how to maximise the advantages of each.

The Canadian Hydrographic Service (CHS) is a recognised leader in the integration of modern hydrographic surveying techniques. Managing an extensive amount of coastline, the agency needs to optimise its seasonal charting efforts. With the goal of streamlining its production process, CHS teamed with Fugro to create a phased, multitechnology approach to nautical charting.

The project selected for this study involved an area that not only needed navigational updates but would challenge a multibeam-only approach due to its

Airborne LiDAR bathymetry offers significant advantages over multibeam echosounder survey technology in shallow water, covering a consistently large area with each survey pass and avoiding delays due to navigational hazards such as rocks and shoals

coastal location and rocky geography.

Airborne LiDAR bathymetry was used as a “first in” technology, aiming to balance coverage with acceptable accuracy and resolution over shallow areas. These resulting LiDAR data were used to complete survey coverage over coastal areas, aid in the identification of navigational hazards, and inform vessel based acoustic survey mission planning so that acquisition could be executed with increased efficiency, and avoid any unnecessary risk.

The project was a monumental success.

Through careful project planning and coordination between airborne- and vessel-based teams, CHS and Fugro took a charting area that was originally estimated to take five years to update using multibeam techniques, and completed it in just one year by preceding the multibeam phase with airborne LiDAR bathymetry. Additionally, the integrated dataset far exceeded charting data requirements, comprising a continuous bathymetric data layer covering the entire seafloor and intertidal

zone and maintaining a consistent transition to elevation data above the high water mark.

Having proven the ability of integrated technologies to increase efficiency, data completeness, and overall quality while reducing expense, this phased approach provides a new way for Arctic nations to address the growing needs of updated nautical charting.

As stated at the outset, there are many needs for hydrographic survey data in the Arctic beyond nautical charting. An integrated, multi-technology approach to nautical charting helps meet many of these needs. By providing complete and detailed coverage of the seafloor and shoreline, these data provide profound benefits to users in the fields of coastal zone management, defence, fisheries, tourism, infrastructure, and resource development, among others. In a region with so much yet to be learned, sharing common datasets among multiple users not only saves money, but increases knowledge at a faster pace than would otherwise be possible.

Modern nautical charting techniques Multibeam Echosounder

Airborne LiDAR Bathymetry

Capability

Capability

• • • • •

• • • • •

Shallow to full ocean depth acquisition High resolution data deliverables Backscatter imagery Full seabed coverage Data sufficient for first-order nautical charts

High efficiency acquisition Complementary digital imagery Rapid deployment Safe alternative to risky vessel operations Data sufficient for first-order nautical charts

Limitation

Limitation

• Less efficient in shallow waters • Speed of platform limited • Highly sensitive to changes in sound speed affecting accuracy • Can prove expensive in shallow, hazardous waters • Rough seas • Ice conditions

• • • • • • •

Turbid water Deep water Rain/snow Fog/low clouds Rough seas Ice conditions Dense aquatic vegetation

Source: Fugro

www.frontierenergy.info AUTUMN 2015 17

ICE RISK MANAGEMENT

Ian Turnbull confers with one of the pilots of the Innu Mikun Airlines Twin Otter airplane, prior to embarking on the buoy deployment flight

FORECASTING Forecasting ice break-up and drift can reduce uncertainty. Here, FE talks to Dr. Ian Turnbull, an ice researcher in ice mechanics at the Centre for Arctic Resource Development (CARD) in St. John’s, Newfoundland. By Andrew Safer

D

r. Ian Turnbull is busy tuning up the one-of-a-kind thermodynamic-dynamic model he has been developing for nearly two years, to forecast the melt and break-up of land-fast ice off the coast of central Labrador. “This should make offshore activity safer and more efficient,” explains the 33-year old ice researcher in ice mechanics at the Centre for Arctic Resource Development (CARD) in St. John’s, Newfoundland. “When planning seasonal operations, this will give a better idea of how ice conditions evolve.” The potential end-users for this site-specific model are shipping operators and planners at the Voiseys Bay nickel mine, oil and gas companies with an interest in exploration offshore Labrador, shipping companies that deliver goods to the coastal communities, and the seasonal ferry service. Dr. Turnbull says that the ability to accurately predict the break18 AUTUMN 2015 www.frontierenergy.info

are included in this model: surface air up of land-fast ice – which can extend temperature, surface pressure, wind several nautical miles offshore – should speed and direction, humidity, cloud translate into less operational downtime cover, ocean currents’ surface speed and and more accurate decisions regarding direction, sea surface height, snowfall, long-term planning for the season. It rainfall, sea surface temperature, salinity, should also enable operators to reduce time of day, latitude, time of season, and their conservatism in offshore industrial reflectivity of the ocean, ice, melt ponds, planning, and the loss of revenue that snow, and clouds. goes along with it.

The model accounts for snow cover on Funding support for the development sea ice, the development of melt ponds of the model was provided by on sea ice, and the development of leads ExxonMobil Canada and the Research and cracks. “I tried to build an extremely and Development Corporation of complex model that accounts for as Newfoundland and Labrador (RDC). many natural processes as possible,” Dr. Dr. Turnbull, who holds a PhD in Turnbull reports.

Geophysics, has forecast the movement Site-specific forecasting supports the of individual ice floes from an icebreaker development of detailed knowledge of the in the Beaufort Sea, and iceberg drift ice in the region. off Greenland for Dr. Turnbull notes an oil company that extremely consortium. In The model accounts for large deformations order to maximise snow cover on sea ice, the and keels are not the model’s development of melt ponds on generally found accuracy, he offshore Labrador, included a widesea ice, and the development where first-year ranging selection of leads and cracks ice predominates. of atmospheric and At the end of the ocean parameters winter, he notes – considerably that the land-fast ice offshore Makkovik more than the number of inputs that are and Nain is between 70 centimetres and used in some other models that forecast 1.2 metres thick. Later in the season, ice events, typically over much greater as ice breaks up in Baffin Bay, ice up to distances. The following 21 inputs

Photos: C-Core

ICE BREAK-UP AND DRIFT

ICE RISK MANAGEMENT

The shadow of the Twin Otter can be seen as it flies about 500 feet above the land-fast ice offshore Labrador during the ice tracking buoys deployment flight. The land-fast ice is relatively level first-year ice, generally 70-120cm thick by springtime, and covered in drifted snow. The land-fast ice stretches for miles from the shoreline, to the open water break which can be seen in the distance

In 2014, Dr. Turnbull input the model 1.5 to 2.0 metres thick – typically the with the most recent observed and thickest first-year ice – drifts down the hindcast weather data – high-resolution in Labrador coast, creating a narrow “shear space and time – and began the model run zone” where the drifting ice floats by. on May 1st. The prediction was for ice Ridging can result from the two types break-up to begin on May 30th or June of ice scraping against each other, with 1st. The beacons indicated that the breakthe floes forming ridges often about one up occurred on June 2nd. The accurate metre high. In this zone just beyond the prediction of the land-fast ice, ice break-up of landconcentration fast ice to within ranges between The model can also simulate one or two days, a 8/10ths and month in advance, 9/10ths for much the drift of the broken pieces is precise enough of the spring. of land-fast ice for operational In early April use, advises Dr. 2014 and 2015, Dr. Turnbull.

Turnbull and his In 2015, the break-up occurred in late field assistant, Dr. Rocky Taylor (CARD April offshore Makkovik, and offshore Chair in Ice Mechanics at Memorial Nain it was in early May. The modelling University), flew to pre-determined was initiated almost a month before the points above the land-fast ice offshore break-up was expected to occur, and it Makkovik (215 kilometres northeast of continued almost a month after the actual Happy Valley-Goose Bay) and Nain (370 event. This simulated the retreat of ice over kilometres north of Happy Valley-Goose a two-month time horizon. Dr. Turnbull is Bay), and deployed ice-tracking buoys currently analysing these results. from the airplane. (Makkovik has been When the model is run only in identified as a potential landing site for thermodynamic mode, it simulates the an offshore oil and gas pipeline.) They seasonal melt of the stationary landprogrammed the buoys to report their position every 30 minutes – with a change fast ice. The dynamic part of the model simulates drift and deformation (e.g., in position indicating the beginning of ice ridge building, divergence of ice, etc.) of break-up – as well as track the local drift the ice cover. of pieces of ice.

Adding the dynamic mode simulates the drift of the ice in the drifting Marginal Ice Zone (MIZ) further offshore. Once the break-up is underway, the model can also simulate the drift of the broken pieces of land-fast ice.

Asked how soon after the ice breakup a vessel can begin to operate in the water, Dr. Turnbull explains that the amount of time depends on the ice class of the vessel. An icebreaker could begin right away. For an ice-class vessel, since the captain knows the maximum ice thickness and concentration in which the vessel can operate, he/she can make the decision once the model indicates these levels have been reached. A non-ice class vessel requires that the ice concentration must be reduced from 10/10ths to about 1/10th. The model forecasts the date this is expected to occur.

While the current model is specific to the identified region offshore Makkovik and Nain, “the physics of ice break-up and drift are universal if applied to a different environment,” says Dr. Turnbull.

To customise the model for a particular Arctic region, he would reconfigure the geometry of the coastline and input the site-specific data acquired from that area.

He expects the model to be validated and ready for operational use by the start of the 2016 ice break-up season. www.frontierenergy.info AUTUMN 2015 19

COATINGS

WHEN THE COATING GETS TOUGH

F

or owners and operators, the threat of ice in its different shapes, sizes and conditions damaging all but the toughest of hull coatings, allied to the use or otherwise of ice abrasion resistant, non-toxic hull coatings, cheap or expensive paints, are crucial economic, environmental and safety issues.

But can they be sure they are selecting the right options from a range of products on the market? Established producers and products, such as Osloheadquartered Jotun, through Marathon and its Green Steps programme, and the UK‘s International Paints, whose product Intershield163 Inerta 160 was described by Vyacheslav Konoplev, deputy general director of the Murmansk Transport Branch of Norilsk Nickel as “the preferred coating for nuclear, dieselelectric icebreakers and ice-going cargo ships”, offer certainty.

However, the industry still has a way to go to comprehend the full complexities and financial implications of coatings for Arctic vessels in relation to the properties of abrasion resistance to the heaviest ice conditions and improving the seaworthiness of ice-going vessels. ​​​​​​​​The International Maritime Organisation’s Polar Code, due to enter into force on January 1 2017, marks a turning point in efforts to protect vessels, seafarers and passengers in the harsh environment surrounding the two poles, but does not address coatings.

The most recent analysis of the issues comes in the form of a white paper entitled Hull Protection for Ice-going Vessels, published by Hydrex, which cites corrosion protection of the hull and a low friction surface as the two key requirements for ice-class hull coatings.

The overriding environmental message is that any coating on a vessel in ice-covered waters needs to be non-toxic because heavy deposits of highly toxic material are simply scraped off onto the ice.

Jotun’s commitment to vessels 20 AUTUMN 2015 www.frontierenergy.info

with industry peers and suppliers of raw operating in Arctic waters dates to 1926 materials to reduce the concentration and the group’s references include work on the nuclear powered icebreaker Lenin and quantity of hazardous substances in its products. The key objective is to in 1959. Its product Marathon, certified replace hazardous raw materials by less as abrasion resistant by Lloyd’s Register with type approval for ice trade from the hazardous alternatives. The stipulation is that new raw materials must not reduce Russian Register of Shipping, is a high products' overall safety, health and build epoxy coating designed specifically environmental properties. for icebreakers and ice-going vessels More is to come. The new European operating in environments where high Union and European Economic Area scratch resistance is required.

(EEA) Registration, Evaluation, The company views sustainability Authorisation as a long-term and restriction competitive of Chemicals advantage and The industry still has a way regulation is looking to to go to comprehend the full (REACH), due develop sustainable for completion solutions through complexities and financial by 2018, shifts its Green Steps implications of coatings for responsibility for programme. risk assessment “Jotun's greatest Arctic vessels and registration contribution to the of chemicals to environment and industry. Jotun has carried out a research society is its premium coatings system’s project together with suppliers, customers, protecting property against decay and universities and research institutes, and corrosion” the company states. “Jotun taken an active part in the regulatory has contributed to the environment process in the European Union, and is for decades by offering high-quality working to contribute to REACH solutions products and solutions. We also use a and easy-to-use customer information lot of resources in developing product that will enhance safe use. The company ranges for our customers that exceed the has also banned the use of a number of legal requirements. hazardous chemicals – in some cases where As an industry leader in the region, it is there are no legislative issues. making a commitment to the environment by enforcing manufacturing procedures that focus on solid Coatings and safety go hand in hand waste and energy reduction, recycling and the implementation of the ISO 14001 and OHSAS certification in its factories globally.

The company’s global R&D team is also constantly developing and innovating advanced coatings to help reduce harmful emissions, with coatings that have lower volatile organic substances (VOC) and require fewer coats and repaints.

Jotun is working internally and

Photo: Shell

Coatings play a vital role in protecting vessels

Too little is known about the nature, composition, ‘greenness’ and effectiveness of paints aimed at vessels operating in Arctic waters, writes Christopher Mayer

6

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POLAR FOUNDATION

The Princess Elisabeth Antarctica research station

The research station of

THE FUTURE

T

he Princess Elisabeth Antarctica (PEA) Research Station has been a living prototype which has allowed the International Polar Foundation to try out new ideas and techniques for renewable energy management, and grid stability in the five years since it became operational.

While the Zero Carbon Emissions target was demonstrated to be something which could be reached with increasing frequency, the challenge remained for this to be possible even at times when the station was at full occupancy during the Antarctic season.

There are still a lot of ideas for optimisation of energy production and use that remain to be tested, and as newer and more efficient components and software become available there are interesting new possibilities that open 22 AUTUMN 2015 www.frontierenergy.info

up. For a start, as the Princess Elisabeth is more of a ‘machine’ than a building, software upgrades play an important role. After five years of operation, a major upgrade to the supervision software is now required. This will give the team the possibility of using the latest versions with an updated PLC to be able to test more reactive methods of production management through software enhancements. This opens up the possibility of managing each production unit individually directly through the supervisory control, rather than en bloc via a secondary grid management process linked to the inverters.

The PEA station remains a small scale production (of potentially 100KW of instantaneous energy or 2.4 MWh per day), which could interest small remote communities, particularly in the Arctic region. The component parts of the wind and solar parks are of manageable size and complexity and are all based on readily available off-the-shelf products.

The supervision and data acquisition system were designed (as for an industrial plant) specifically for the station by our technical partners, Schneider Electric. For future spin-offs, via standardised units, such responsive management could be also standardised to reduce costs.

Excess energy One of the surprises of the project is the production of excess energy in large quantities, beyond the existing storage capacities. This unplanned for excess has to be handled correctly to avoid damaging the installations. Generally speaking, excess energy which cannot be stored has to be ‘dumped’. Converting electrical energy to heat energy using resistances is the simplest way of handling excess production in an unmanned station. This ‘wastage’ is a difficult thing to accept when energy is such a valuable commodity and the incentive is there to dump the excess in an intelligent way.

One option is through delivering heat to parts of the station which contain sensitive equipment and electronics to help them survive the winter, or by using the thermal inertia of stored liquids in the heat exchangers. At the moment these methods have not been fully exploited and the result has been that certain areas are too warm while others drop to ambient temperatures of around -25°C, and will require several days to bring up to temperatures which are comfortable for station occupation when the teams return for the Antarctic season. This implies that several days will be lost while equipment

Photos: International Polar Foundation - René Robert

Princess Elisabeth Antarctica and the zero emissions quest five years on: an insight into the world’s most remote polar research facility and its pursuit of total energy efficiency. By Nighat Amin, vice president international affairs at the International Polar Foundation

POLAR FOUNDATION

Understanding Antarctica

is allowed to reach a temperature at which it is safe to start up again.

It should be pointed out that if the excess energy cannot be dumped the wind turbines begin to overheat and the coils are damaged as a consequence. Solar panels are less sensitive to this, and if the electrical energy produced cannot find an outlet, because the batteries are full, then it is less of a problem.

Software and functionality In the development of a fully integrated system of production and load management, one of the issues with which we have been confronted is the fact that most of the equipment that we obtain off-the-shelf has its own proprietary software, and there is no access to the source code, which would allow for a seamless integration. This leads to problems in the communication between the devices from different manufacturers, which limits the potential for feedback controls to optimise management.

In the Antarctic season 2015-2016, the IPF team is planning on carrying out a full system audit with our technical partners in order to determine which grid components could be upgraded to more recent versions, allowing for greater reliability, and more functionality.

Software upgrades for the supervisory and control systems are also planned.

The audit will also allow us to see which loads could be replaced by ones which consume less energy. There is the intention of using power over Ethernet (POE) for accessories and connected devices and replacing individual laptops with single servers with multiple screens, for visiting scientists.

A full audit of our internet and satellite link installations would also follow, and it was expected to introduce VOIP functions to the PEA station to allow less dependence for voice communications on satellite constellations which require handover from one satellite to another and lead to frequently dropped calls.

In addition, we have plans to deploy new RF technologies to extend the reach of the management systems to the outside of the station. For the mobile park, there

now exist low cost options for tracking vehicles and other mobile units so that there is a greater safety in the field.

Technology test bed The potential is also there for installing increased production capacity for summer occupation and building additional energy storage capacity in a modular form to overcome the space restrictions in the existing design, with the added bonus that the modules could be mobile and deployed for use in field operations.

As the renewable field diversifies new products are coming on the market from an increasing number of manufacturers.

The Princess Elisabeth Antarctica Station is an ideal test-bed for new products, allowing for immediate comparison between different techniques. So far, we have still not tried out concentrated solar, or new vertical axis wind turbines which have no blades. These are intriguing methods, and we are keen on giving them a test drive in Antarctica to test their limitations.

We would also like to examine other processes such as heat recovery from plasma incinerators, which would additionally help waste management on site.

As we are not a commercial enterprise, the projects that we can take on depend on finding financial partnerships. There is so much potential for playing around with new ideas that we have to limit our imaginations to those actions which can be readily financed or where there is a rapid recovery of costs through fuel savings. As fuel in the Antarctic costs about five times what it costs in a European location, costs can be easily recovered.

Going off grid The International Polar Foundation is regularly contacted by companies and communities which are considering the possibility of installing renewables, and would like us to advise them on how best to assess the energy potential of their sites and to help to optimise the energy that could be produced. This is exciting for us, as the ultimate aim of building a facility like the Princess Elisabeth station was always to be able to spin-off useful

products and methods for the benefits of the wider world.

Going off grid today has become feasible for many geographically diverse remote locations, and some of what we are learning today to optimise energy potential can also offer remote communities the possibility of having abundant energy permitting them to pursue economic development. One of the upsides of the PEA type set-up is the potential for integration into the international online community via satellite, something which was difficult for remote communities to envisage until even quite recently.

The costs of this type of integrated hi-tech installation remain high, as the site-dependent design method used at PEA does not immediately lend itself to uniformised solutions. Every site is unique and needs to be treated as such in order to obtain the best results. This has unavoidable cost implications. We expect that, once there are a larger number of locations interested in a more customised approach, it will become easier for later RE adopters as modularity and standardisation will allow short cuts to defining an optimal installation. In other words, standardised units could, in the future, be developed for defined location types. Standardisation is an important step which allows economies of scale, such that costs can be brought down to a level which is within the reach of the general public.

This step will only be possible when there is a critical mass of people and projects wanting to adopt this type of approach.

Into the future In this project, we have had the good fortune to have close contacts with a number of technical partners who have allowed us to experiment and to try out different components in a real life setting, with a station that has another vocation and delivers services to the scientific community in a life size, open-air laboratory. The reliability of the system has been vital in ensuring that data is available to research teams in real time, all year around. Being able to deliver this from a station which is remotely managed for eight months of the year has been a challenge.

A new concept station which is being developed to take the systems technology to the next level is called the Andromeda Earth Observatory, incorporating the first University of the Antarctic, and we are currently looking for financial and technical partners to help us deliver this next generation Antarctic Station. This will ultimately be a test case for greater autonomy and reduced environmental impact. www.frontierenergy.info AUTUMN 2015 23

ROVS

ICEBERG WARNING FOR RIGS

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igs at risk from drifting icebergs can expect an early warning following research by the Memorial University of Newfoundland.

The Autonomous Ocean Systems Laboratory (AOSL) at the University is undertaking a long-term study into modelling the behaviour of icebergs that includes acquiring real-world data that will increase the accuracy of predicting the rate and direction of their drift.

They are also finding ways to identify exceptionally deep icebergs that might drag across the seabed in shallow water and damage pipelines.

Specially designed autonomous vehicles (AVs) are being developed for the role.

Fitted with ice profiling sonar they will stay with an iceberg for 28 days at a time gathering data on ice thickness and volume, as well as direction and drift.

To help evaluate systems planned for use on the unmanned autonomous vehicles, AOSL is using a Saab Seaeye Falcon ROV as a development platform.

Neil Riggs, senior project manager at AOSL, says the Falcon is a valuable development tool for helping understand how various payloads will behave when attached to autonomous vehicle systems.

“It was recognised at an early stage that in order to be effective in performing R&D for autonomous systems we needed an ROV tool,” he says. “The acquisition of the Falcon resulted from a careful examination of the available alternatives.

It was judged the Falcon suited our needs extremely well. It is a very good R&D support system for us.”

The University already deploys the Falcon for a range of tasks that include utility search and recovery and for training pilots in ROV operating.

The largest selling ROV in Saab Seaeye’s range of underwater vehicles, the Falcon’s winning formula comes from its intelligent control concept and from being small enough to be manhandled into the water, 24 AUTUMN 2015 www.frontierenergy.info

system, with each device on the vehicle yet having five powerful thrusters that can having its own microprocessor, allows a handle strong cross-currents with precise choice of tools and sensors to be easily control for fine tasks and observations.

This combination of intelligence, power added or changed, making it an ideal and manoeuvrability means it can operate platform for numerous intricate and demanding subsea applications. sensors, tooling and complex systems One recent job saw the ROV perform typically found on much larger ROVs. The AOSL project also has an historical a range of tasks for French independent producer Perenco Oil and Gas offshore perspective that started with the sinking Gabon in West Africa, including pipeline of the Titanic, which highlighted the and jacket surveys, rig assistance and FSO need for detailed tracking of icebergs. inspection. It was also deployed with a They are now monitored worldwide by diving team to remove debris from the the US National Iceberg Center, and the University’s work will add to this resource seabed ready to clear the approach for the by significantly advancing knowledge and arrival of a rig.

A key difference from the human safety concerning the predictability of factor, of course, is that the ROV can their movement. dive to a greater depth than a diver, and The current AOSL project will avoids the need for decompression time. significantly increase observational Later the Falcon was sent down to check capabilities of the underwater the position and security of spudcan environment in harsh ice-covered and penetration in the sand. iceberg infested environments offshore It’s a long way from the extreme cold eastern Canada and in the Arctic. of the Arctic, of course, but underlines The range of real time data gathered the great versatility of ROVs in today’s will be extensive as it identifies above and offshore oil and gas industry. With the below water shapes of icebergs; maximum keel shape, depth and ocean surface current current deployment of these units to track field; surface to bottom current profiles; and and monitor drifting icebergs, it may just help pave the way for operators exploring weather in the vicinity of icebergs. the potential of the far north.

Saab Seabee’s range of ROVs and AVs have been put to work on a whole host of projects including military applications, civil works such as dams, environmental and wildlife preservation, as well as in diverse roles across the oil and gas sector, in all climates and terrain.

The Falcon’s distributed Laboratory director Dr Ralf Bachmayer (right) and PhD student Brian Claus preparing the Falcon for an AUV retrieval mission, one of its roles at AOSL intelligent control

Photos: Saab Seaeye

Small experimental unmanned surface craft conducting experiments near an iceberg

Remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) are playing a vital role in tracking iceberg movements to limit potential damage to oil industry facilities

SHIPPING

Powering through: the new French icebreaker

Powering the next generation of icebreakers The next generation of icebreakers will be tougher, more environmentally sound, and altogether more capable, with a gamut of new technology on board

Photo: Wartsila

W

ith everyone seemingly busy building new icebreakers Russia alone is said to be ordering over 20 ice-class vessels to aid its Arctic push - this new-look fleet will draw on the very latest industry technology.

Finnish engineering experts Wärtsilä are at the heart of this roll-out. The company’s state-of-the-art Wärtsilä 31 engine was recently ordered for one of Russia’s new ships that will sail as part of the Yamal LNG fleet. The ship, currently under construction at the PJSC Vyborg Shipyard, is being built on behalf of FSUE Atomflot, a part of ROSATOM, the State Corporation for Atomic Energy.

The new generation icebreaker Aker ARC 124 will feature three 8-cylinder Wärtsilä 31 engines. The recently introduced engine was acknowledged by Guinness World Records as being the world’s most efficient 4-stroke diesel engine. It will operate in temperatures as low as minus 50°C. More recently, a new Polar logistics vessel being built for Terre Australes et Antarctiques Françaises (TAAF) and the French Polar Institute (IPEV), to be operated by the French Navy, is to be powered by Wärtsilä propulsion solutions.

The ship has been contracted by Chantiers Piriou (Concarneau, France), based on a concept design issued by Marine Assistance (France) and is scheduled to be delivered in the first half of 2017.

The 72 metre polar logistics and patrol icebreaker vessel will carry out its first supply mission to the Dumont d’Urville station in Antarctica in winter 2018. The stainless steel propellers to be supplied by Wärtsilä conform to the Bureau Veritas (BV) icebreaker 5 ice class rules.

“For this type of vessel that will be

operating in the most challenging ice and weather conditions, reliability and efficient performance are essential,” said Aaron Bresnahan, Wärtsilä Marine Solutions vice president.

The ship will have accommodation for 60 persons, a cargo capacity of 1,200 metric tons, and is fitted with a helideck large enough to accommodate two helicopters.

The Wärtsilä equipment - which comprises four in-line Wärtsilä 20 main engines, two stainless steel CPP propellers and shaft lines, two reduction gears, four NOR emissions after treatment systems, and one tunnel thruster - is planned for delivery in mid-2016. The Wärtsilä NOR (NOx Reducer) systems will enable the ship to comply with the International Maritime Organisation’s Tier III emission regulations.

The Finnish company’s recent success underlines the step up in technology being deployed for the polar environment. The

Wärtsilä 31 engine, for instance, which was only introduced in June, boasts a drastic reduction in fuel consumption, increased power output, and a four-fold extension of normal maintenance intervals. The first major service required by the novel engine comes only after 8,000 running hours (compared to 2,000 running hours for engines of a similar class), dramatically trimming maintenance costs and greatly increasing the vessel’s uptime availability.

The Wärtsilä 31, the first of a new generation of medium speed engines, is available in 8 to 16 cylinder configurations and has a power output ranging from 4.2 to 9.8 MW, at 720 and 750 rpm.

FSUE Atomflot’s first deputy director general, chief engineer Mustafa Kashka, says the company’s new icebreaker, powered by the Wärtsilä 31 engines, will be “the most technologically advanced ship of its kind in the whole world.”

How Atomflot’s vessel will look

www.frontierenergy.info AUTUMN 2015 25

SEISMIC

Breaking the mould: environmental agenda

Seismic survey: beneath the waves

Clean, green machines Pioneering seismic contractor Polarcus has long prioritised its environmental agenda for offshore Arctic operations

26 AUTUMN 2015 www.frontierenergy.info

end towed streamer data acquisition and imaging services from Pole to Pole. Its Arctic fleet is comprised of the youngest and highest ice-class winterised vessels in the industry. And the company has already proved its mettle in the region delivering projects offshore Greenland and in the Barents Sea. For a 3D seismic shoot offshore Greenland, in what was one of the world’s largest Arctic seismic exploration programmes to date, it deployed two of its state-of-the-art vessels to collect approximately 10,000 sq km of new data.

The area was located roughly 600 km north of the Arctic Circle, 100-180 km off the west coast of Greenland, in an area covered by seasonal sea ice and subject to glacier calving in the summer season.

Of all northern icebergs, 85% originate from the more than 100 glaciers of West Greenland, and between 10,000 and 15,000 icebergs are calved each year in the area where the surveys were conducted.

During this work, the area was to a greater or lesser extent always affected by ice, comprising bergs, bergy bits and growlers, and the company’s ice management plan was key to the safety and efficiency of the operations.

The detection of ice in all its forms in the survey area, the prediction of its movement, and the identification and tracking of ice that may pose a hazard to the 3D streamer spread, reaching 6km in length, or that may cause an interruption to a survey line in progress, is a critical aspect of the management of a towedstreamer 3D operation in Arctic waters.

Although 3D seismic acquisition will only take place in ice-free, or possibly bergy water conditions, the Arctic

qualities of the vessels enables them to move through ice on the way to and from the survey site, or remain in icy areas waiting for the ice to clear, increasing the operational window of the vessel.

The success of the Greenland shoot showed there are no barriers of entry to this region, the company commented afterwards. As well as acquiring seismic in the Arctic for the oil and gas industry, Polarcus has played a role in ice monitoring and marine mammal impact mitigation projects too. The operational impact is minimised as a result of Polarcus’ decision to incorporate an environmental impact mitigation agenda into its core business strategy from inception, a template that could become the norm for other companies as the Arctic region opens up.

Polarcus recent Arctic activity

Russia (Barents Sea): Polarcus, in collaboration with Russia's Dalmorneftegeophysica (DMNG), was mobilised for a 3,000 sq km high-density broadband Fedynsky 3D survey in the Russian Barents Sea in 2014. The Polarcus Nadia departed from Kirkenes, Norway.

Greenland (Baffin Bay): Commissioned by two major international clients, Polarcus deployed two ICE-1A class vessels to complete two offshore 3D surveys in Baffin Bay, about 600 km north of the Arctic Circle off the coast of western Greenland in 2012.

Photos: Polarcus

T

he cold hard truth about working in the Arctic: freezing equipment is a constant challenge; ice can force vessels to veer off track; and drifting ice can damage both the vessel and the equipment. For oil and gas companies interested in precision results that’s collectively a daunting challenge, but something that seismic firms like Polarcus are used to delivering.

The Dubai-based company, only founded in 2008, has been active in the Arctic region for a few years now, although it is anticipating a rather subdued market in the year ahead because of low oil prices and the general low level of industry activity.

Still, the company has prepared for the Arctic challenge by making sure its fleet is fully compliant with new Polar Code rules governing all shipping in the area. Polarcus chiefs this year welcomed the introduction of the mandatory rules and for the International Code for Ships Operating in Polar Waters to come into force on January 1, 2017. The mandatory Code now covers the full range of shipping related matters such as design, construction, equipment, operation, training, search and rescue, and the protection of the unique environment and eco-systems of the Polar regions.

The fact that its modern 3D seismic fleet already complies with the new Polar Code, coupled with accredited Arctic operational procedures and hands-on experience of operating in ice-prone conditions, means the company is certainly Arctic prepared.

Polarcus was established as a marine geophysical company with a pioneering environmental agenda, delivering high-

EVENTS

Frontier Energy

CONFERENCE

LISTINGS Arctic Frontiers 2016 January 24 – 29, 2016 Tromsø, Norway Arctic Frontiers 2016 will discuss the balance between resource utilisation and preservation, and between industrial and environmental interests in the Arctic. For more information, please visit www.arcticfrontiers.com Arctic Science Summit Week March 12 – 18, 2016 Fairbanks, Alaska Arctic Science Summit Week is the annual gathering of international scientists and policymakers who advance Arctic research. Through separate but related meetings and events, the Summit provides opportunities for international coordination, collaboration and cooperation in all fields of Arctic science. Major events include: Arctic Science Summit Week Business Meetings, Arctic Council Senior Arctic Officials Meeting, Arctic Observing Summit, Model Arctic Council, International Arctic Assembly.

For more information please visit www.assw2016.org CI Energy Group's 16th Annual Arctic Oil & Gas Symposium March 16 – 17, 2016 Calgary, AB, Canada Join industry players, community leaders, government officials, regulators and business executives at this year's 16th Annual Arctic Oil & Gas Symposium on March 16 – 17, 2016 in Calgary as they discuss ways to manage the regulatory, economic, social and environmental aspects of project development in Canada's North.

Quote your registration code B00-323-323BX01. Special pricing for members of aboriginal communities & government.

To register and for program, updates and announcements visit www.arcticgassymposium.com

Arctic Oil & Gas North America Conference April 2016 Newfoundland, Canada Arctic Oil & Gas North America Conference 2016: developing innovative solutions to overcome unique technical and environmental challenges in the Arctic. For more information please visit www.infomamartimeevents.com 12th Annual Arctic Shipping Forum April 19 – 21, 2016 Paasitorni Congress Centre, Helsinki The 2015 Arctic Shipping Forum, will review strategies for maximising opportunities and identifying future commercial, technical and transportation developments for the Artctic region. For more information please visit www.informamaritimeevents.com Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) May 2 – 5, 2016 Houston Texas Founded in 1969, the Offshore Technology Conference is the world’s foremost event for the development of offshore resources in the fields of drilling, exploration, production and environmental protection. For more information please visit www.offshoretechnologyconference.org NOIA June 20 – 23, 2016 St.Johns, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada Newfoundland & Labrador Oil & Gas Industries Association, will host its 32nd annual conference from June at the Delta St. John's Hotel and Conference Centre.

Noia believes a focused approach to continuously grow and develop our industry is needed to support better planning, reduce risk and uncertainty, and increase the industrial capacity, capability and strength of the province.

Noia’s conference is Canada’s

flagship offshore oil & gas industry event, attracting industry leaders from around the world. The 2015 program brings together a roster of prominent speakers to address key industry topics, including a look at what current oil prices mean for the global and local industry today and over the long-term, insights into the emerging technologies, pioneering solutions and types of rigs necessary for the remote, harsh deepwater and slope environments, and projections for the true potential of the province’s oil & gas industry. For more information please visit www.noia.ca ICETECH 2016 August 15 – 18, 2016 Anchorage, Alaska The Arctic Section of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME) together with Alaska’s Institute of the North (ION) will be staging ICETECH 16, the premiere international conference on ships and structures in ice.

The conference will take place in Anchorage starting with an opening icebreaker reception on the evening of Monday, August 15, and concluding in the afternoon on Thursday August 18, with a possible workshop on Arctic EER on Friday August 19. We invite you to join in this exciting event through technical paper presentation, exhibition, delegate and accompanying person attendance, sponsorship participation, or more than one of the above. For more information visit www.icetech16.org Offshore Northern Seas August 29 – September 1, 2016 Stavanger, Norway Offshore Northern Seas 2016 (ONS 2016) conference and exhibition is a biennial event. The coming event will be the 21st ONS since 1974.

ONS is one of the key industry exhibitions and conferences for the offshore oil and gas industry

and will provides a platform for the presentation of the political, economic and technological issues involving the international oil and gas industry, as well as showcasing the latest innovations within the industry.

ONS believes that innovation is essential for the development of new and cleaner methods of energy production. In recent years, Offshore Northern Seas (ONS) has incorporated broader energy issues, whilst maintaining its focus on the petroleum industry. For more information please visit www.ons.no Arctic Technology Conference October 24 – 26, 2016 St.John’s, Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada In 2016 the Arctic Technology Conference returns to North America and will be held in the St.John’s Convention Centre, Newfoundland. Founded in 1969, the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) is the world’s foremost event for the development of offshore resources in the fields of drilling, exploration, production and environmental protection. The Arctic Technology Conference (ATC) is built upon OTC’s successful multidisciplinary approach, with 14 technical societies and organizations working together to deliver the world’s most comprehensive Arctic event. For more information please visit www.arctictechnologyconference.org

TO ADVERTISE your event in the magazine, website or eNewsletter, please contact publisher@frontierenergy.info

www.frontierenergy.info AUTUMN 2015 27

INSIGHT The Arctic nations last summer urged a precautionary approach to prevent unregulated fishing in the area

Arctic nations are looking to hold back the trawlers

No fishing No more fishing in the Arctic, please. More nations urged to hold back the trawler fleets from the central Arctic Ocean Hold the sushi: Arctic fishing ban

28 AUTUMN 2015 www.frontierenergy.info

Photo: Shutterstock & Shell

T

scientific research with the aim of improving understanding of he fishing season could be off, indefinitely, in the the ecosystems of the area. pristine waters of the Arctic.

The July declaration was the next big move following US action Recent talks to extend a fishing moratorium in the area until more is known about the waters at the top of the world in 2009 to prohibit commercial fishing in its Exclusive Economic Zone north of the Bering Strait until better scientific information have brought in non-Arctic countries to the table, including some to support sound fisheries management is available. This area, of the world’s other big economic powers such as China, Japan, which is now more free of ice South Korea, Iceland and the than it had been previously, is European Union (EU). a particular concern in that the In July, the five states Restraining inquisitive fishing trawlers, fishing fleets from countries like that surround the central China and Japan could now Arctic Ocean - Canada, the potentially from a host of nations, could prove comfortably reach the area.

USA, Denmark (in respect tricky even with the best of intentions Canada is another of the of Greenland), Norway and Arctic countries leading Russia - met in Oslo to sign the Arctic seas initiative. a declaration to prevent "Canada has committed to work co-operatively with Arctic unregulated commercial fishing in the high seas portion of the Ocean coastal states on fisheries science research in the Arctic central Arctic Ocean. area, and to work to prevent commercial fishing in the high The Washington DC talks are an attempt to extend the same seas of the central Arctic Ocean until appropriate fisheries rules to the other states, which include some of the world’s management measures are put in place to conserve stocks and largest fishing nations. The fishing fleets of countries like China their ecosystems," a statement from the country’s Department of and Japan, as well as the EU, have the capacity to roam all over Fisheries and Oceans read. the world, including the Arctic.

The ban covers waters in the central Arctic Ocean that are beyond the territorial limits of any country. At present, there is On the ground no commercial fishing in the area - which is larger than Alaska It comes at a time when the five Arctic nations, through the and Texas combined - and none likely in the near future, but the newly-formed Arctic Economic Council, are seeking to explore and possibility exists as climate change continues to open up the seas. understand the far north’s long-term commercial potential. As well as fisheries, the region’s oil and gas and mineral deposits have long More research intrigued investors from all over the world, while melting ice could unlock new transit routes for commercial shippers.

In an important step, the Arctic nations last summer urged a It means restraining inquisitive fishing trawlers, potentially precautionary approach to prevent unregulated fishing in the from a host of nations, could prove tricky even with the best of area, citing the “dramatic reduction of Arctic sea ice” and other environmental changes facing the region, combined with limited intentions. Countries like Canada already have hotlines to call if fishing vessels are spotted in waters where they shouldn’t be. scientific knowledge about the marine resources in place.

Policing the remote Arctic seas will be a whole challenge in itself.

The five countries pledged to establish a joint programme of

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