Frontier Energy, Winter 2017

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

www.frontierenergy.info WINTER 2017

Norway

the year of the Barents Sea

Renewable energy long-term potential

Polar code new era for Arctic shipping

Iceberg profiling technology solutions

Alaska New discoveries boost oil hopes

Northern Sea Route Safer navigation

NEWS • RESEARCH • SHIPPING • TECHNOLOGY • TRAINING

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CONTENTS

12

10

26

16

Winter 2017

IN THIS ISSUE Regulars

Features 06 NORWAY With more wells expected to be drilled in the region this year, it is a crucial period ahead for the frontier Arctic region, as 2017 shapes up as the year of the Barents Sea On the cover

08 NORWAY The outlook for further exploration work in the previously contested

A solitary rig stands ready for the offshore challenge

10 NORWAY Norwegian officials are to reassess safety standards this year, in part, as

border area of the Barents Sea between Russia and Norway has never been brighter a result of the push into the new horizons and ever more challenging waters of the Arctic

11 NORWAY Statoil is making headway on its Johann Castberg development but a start-up date is still far from certain as the operator studies costs and takes onboard lessons from Goliat

12 LOGISTICS The role of marine solutions and logistics provider Crowley’s during the Kitchen Lights gas platform and pipeline installation at Alaska’s Cook Inlet

14 ALASKA Recent discoveries in Alaska underscore the state’s proven resource base and its potential to supply America’s oil needs but low prices and a host of other challenges may yet cast a shadow of the state’s future

16 SHIPPING ROUTES An exploration of traffic and cargo volumes through the Northern Sea Route and the challenges of safe navigation

18 PROPULSION Azimuth answers Arctic call: how expert marine companies are charting a path through Arctic waters with high-power propulsion systems

20 ICE MANAGEMENT A Canadian company has developed a new procedure for

Cover Photo: Shutterstock

collecting iceberg profile data in near real time for speedier iceberg management and risk analysis

04 NEWS First Norwegian vessel to comply with new IMO Polar Code; Russia plans final pact with Norway in April on shelf exploration; Milestone for polar protection as comprehensive new ship regulations come into force; Eni, Lundin get Barents Sea drilling underway in 2017; Gazprom Neft to start pilot project at SeveroSamburgskoye field; Arctic cruising a growth market for ABB’s Azipod propulsion

26 INSIGHT All good for green: renewable energy holds long-term potential in the Canadian Arctic, says new report

22 POLAR VESSELS The construction of one of the world’s most advanced polar oceanographic research vessels, fitted with a complete toolkit for the Antarctic

24 POLAR CODE This year marks a new era for Arctic shipping as the Polar Code enters force as of January 1, 2017 challenging shippers and all industry participants to meet best practice

28 EVENTS A look ahead to some of the most important industry events coming up covering the frontier Arctic oil and gas and shipping industries www.frontierenergy.info WINTER 2017 01

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EDITOR’S LETTER

FRAM* “As always, all development in this frontier region will be viewed through a long term lens dependent not only on oil price economics, but sensitive environmental issues and the prevailing political climate.”

Of course, industry-wide, the lower oil price environment has put the brakes on many high cost projects and developments across all major producing basins, and it is here that the Arctic faces arguably its biggest test. Nonetheless, Russia has shown willing to go ahead on projects where others may have hesitated, while Norway is pushing ahead strongly with new exploration. As always, all development in this frontier region will be viewed through a long term lens dependent not only on oil price economics, but sensitive environmental issues and the prevailing political climate.

Editor Martin Clark martin@frontierenergy.info Editor in Chief Bruce McMichael Canadian Correspondent Andrew Safer Publisher Stephen Habermel publisher@frontierenergy.info

As polar ice recedes, the opportunities and challenges of working in the Arctic will become even more pronounced. But there will be no race in this competition, with any future development determined only through stringent regulatory oversight, best-in-class technology, and the meaningful engagement of all stakeholders. Those same rules apply for all of the nations currently pondering the future of the Arctic and its energy potential.

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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.

Within the oil and gas sector alone it is hard to gauge precisely where the Arctic region is heading with so many contrasting sources of information. While activity levels in North America appear to have tailed off, interest in Norway’s Arctic region has never been greater, as evidenced by recent licensing rounds. The latest round again points to huge industry appetite for the country’s offshore Barents Sea territory. With more wells planned this year, it is shaping up to be a major focal point in 2017.

Likewise, Russia looks intent on the further exploitation of its own resourcerich Arctic, including its shared border area with Norway, which offers exciting exploration promise for upstream oil and gas companies. Even in Alaska, there is the possibility of a shift, making more upstream work possible with the advent of the new Trump administration. Again, a thawing of bilateral relations between Moscow and Washington could similarly be positive in the further collaborative exploitation of Russia’s frozen north.

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© 2017 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.

As ever, there are more questions than answers when it comes to understanding emerging business opportunities in the Arctic region, whether that concerns the oil and gas sector, shipping, or any other industry. Indeed, new possibilities abound in this remote region, including in the field of renewable energy development (which we consider on page 26), as well as other areas that might draw on the landscape’s pristine and largely untouched natural assets, from fishing and mining through to tourism.

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!

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NEWS

IN NUMBERS 1 January, 2017 The Polar Code came into effect

100,000 bpd Peak production from Norway’s Goliat field

Russia plans final pact with Norway in April on shelf exploration The award of Norway’s first Polar Code compliant vessel

First Norwegian vessel to comply with new IMO Polar Code After a successful approval process and survey, DNV GL and the Norwegian Maritime Authority have issued the first polar ship certificate to the Norwegian platform survey vessel M/V Stril Polar owned by Simon Møkster Shipping AS. “Now that we have implemented the Polar Code for our offshore supply vessel M/V Stril Polar, we have the opportunity to go into polar areas knowing that the safety of ship, crew and the environment is well taken care of,” said Anne Jorunn Møkster, managing director of Simon Møkster Shipping AS, adding that the company is “very motivated” to get more vessels certified to the Polar Code.

The M/V Stril Polar is built for operation in cold climates; therefore only minor adjustments were needed to achieve compliance.

The goal of the newly adopted IMO Polar Code is to ensure a minimum standard for ships entering into the waters of the Arctic or Antarctica.

The code is an international set of rules that take into account the extreme conditions and the additional challenges vessels encounter in these areas.

The Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RS) has also issued its first Polar Ship Certificate to the 42,000 dwt tanker, Shturman Albanov, owned

by SCF Group.

A glimpse of the new Arctic liners

04 WINTER 2017 www.frontierenergy.info

Russia plans to sign a final agreement with Norway on exploration in the disputed area of the Arctic shelf within months, Natural Resources Minister Sergei Donskoi has said. “In April, we plan to sign a final agreement on information exchange and exploration in the disputed area," he said.

The draft agreement was discussed during Russian-Norwegian consultations in October. In 2010, Russia and Norway signed an agreement to delimitate the grey zone in the Barents Sea, which entered into force in July 2011. The pact gave Russia and Norway the opportunity to freely explore a part of the Arctic shelf.

In 2013, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) reported that resources in the southeastern part of the Barents Sea, controlled by Norway under the agreement, will account for a 15% growth of all estimated reserves on the Norwegian shelf. In August 2015, Russia submitted to the UN a revised application on extending the continental shelf boundaries in the Arctic to include the Lomonosov Ridge.

Arctic cruising a growth market for ABB’s Azipod propulsion ABB will supply the complete power, propulsion and automation package for a series of new cruise vessels being built by MV WERFTEN for Genting Hong Kong brands Crystal Cruises and Star Cruises.

The three Crystal Cruises’ luxury ‘Endeavor Class’ mega-yachts will feature a Polar Class 6 and enable cruising in the Arctic; then follow the route of migrating whales along the coast of the Americas and Europe to Antarctica during winter.

The vessels will include a complete ABB propulsion system, electric power plant, automation and marine software system, powered by two Azipod D units each to enable the ships to navigate polar conditions. All the vessels will also feature ABB´s flagship automation with Intelligent Maneuvering Interface and OCTOPUS marine software for optimised energy management.

Approximately two thirds of modern large cruise ships, icebreakers and high ice-class cargo vessels are fitted with Azipod propulsion.

“We are seeing increased interest in the polar regions from the passenger sector, so our expertise in the cruise and ice-going sectors means we are ideally positioned and can fully support our customers with their new projects,” said Marcus Högblom, vice president of global sales, passenger vessels and Azipod propulsion at ABB.

NEWS

3

Licences awarded to Eni Norge in APA

2016

2018

First oil planned for Greater Mooses Tooth 1 discovery in Alaska

400-650 million

180,000 Eni Norge daily production in Norway

Barrels of proven oil at Johan Castberg field

90 billion estimated barrels of oil within the Arctic Circle

33,540 tonnes Displacement of Russia’s new Arktika class ice breakers

Sources: Sources: Conoco, Statoil, IMO, USGS, Rosatomflot

Eni, Lundin get Barents Sea drilling underway in 2017 More drilling is underway in the Barents Sea after the Norwegian state regulator PSA granted permits to Eni Norge and Lundin Norway AS for new wells.

Italy's Eni received the green light to drill well 7318/12-11 in a prospect named Boné-Bigorna, around 320 km north-west of Hammerfest. Water depth at the site is 418 metres and the drilling work is scheduled to take 55 days.

The well will be drilled using the Scarabeo 8 mobile facility, which is owned and operated by fellow Italian outfit, Saipem.

Lundin is the operator for production licence 492, comprising blocks 7120/1 and 7120/2 in the Barents Sea. The PSA also granted Lundin consent to drill exploration well 7120/1-5 in a prospect named Gohta, around 185 km north-west of Hammerfest in water depths of 368 metres.

Drilling commenced late December and is estimated to last 73 days, with a potential well test to follow.

The well is to be drilled by the Leiv Eiriksson, which is owned and operated by Ocean Rig. Exploration in the Barents Sea started in 1980, although to date there are only two fields on stream: the Statoil operated Snøhvit gas development and Goliat operated by Eni. Goliat, discovered in 2000, is the first oil development in the Barents and has been producing since March 2016, from the northern most offshore production facility in the world to date.

IMO headquarters

More Barents Sea drilling in 2017

Gazprom Neft to start pilot project at Severo-Samburgskoye field Gazprom Neft subsidiary Gazpromneft-Yamal has announced plans to begin pilot operations this year at the Severo-Samburgskoye field, located in the Purovsky district in the Yamal peninsula.

The Severo-Sambrugsky licence block is located 100 km north of Novy Urengoy. Previous geological modelling of the field indicates crude oil reserves in the region of 72 million tonnes.

Gazpromneft-Yamal plans to undertake retesting of two oil wells at the Severo-Samburgskoye field, commencing in 2017, as well as carry out 3D seismic works and fine-tune other existing data on the geological construction of the field.

Milestone for polar protection as comprehensive new ship regulations come into force The mandatory Polar Code, for ships operating in Arctic and Antarctic waters, entered into force on January 1, 2017, with the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) calling it an “historic milestone” for the industry.

The IMO Polar Code is now mandatory for all new SOLAS-registered ships that will be operating in Arctic and Antarctic waters. For existing ships, the Polar Code certification is required after the first intermediate or renewal inspection after January 1, 2018. The Polar Code is a supplementary regulation to the existing IMO codes where the main requirements are related to safety (SOLAS) and the protection of the environment (MARPOL).

“The Polar Code will make operating in these waters safer, helping to protect the lives of crews and passengers,” the IMO said in a statement. “It will also provide a ‘historic strong regime to minimise the IMO hails milestone’ impact of shipping operations on the pristine polar regions. It will be seen as a major achievement in IMO’s work to promote safe and sustainable shipping in all regions of the world, including the most challenging and difficult.”

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NORWAY

A happier year ahead for Norway

Norway: the year of the Barents Sea

C

ould 2017 really be the year Norway starts to get to grips with its much vaunted, but little understood Barents Sea oil and gas potential? Certainly there are reasons why it may be so.

Announcing last year’s 23rd licensing round awards, Tord Lien, the then petroleum minister, said the Barents Sea “offers great new opportunities” for industry, highlighting strong interest in the area and the award of a smattering of new blocks to explorers, including heavyweights like Statoil, Chevron and ConocoPhillips.

All awards in the 23rd round were located in the Barents Sea, and three are located in the recently opened area in the southeastern parts of the sea, close to the border with Russia. The first exploration well in this area is likely to be drilled as early as this year.

Even in the face of challenging oil price pressures and environmental hurdles, the industry's interest in new acreage in last year’s round shows that the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) - even its far northern reaches remains attractive. If these companies are successful in their exploration, then northern Norway will enter a new era, said Minister Lien at the time.

06 WINTER 2017 www.frontierenergy.info

Drilling activity While a pre-Christmas government reshuffle saw new energy minister Terje Soviknes replace his predecessor, the overall message remains the same: Norway’s Barents Sea is open for business.

And, it seems, this is the year that drillers have been waiting for to really get stuck in to their work.

While Norway’s upstream sector continued to feel the pain of low oil prices during 2016, it looks poised to make a recovery in 2017 - championed, no less, by heightened activity in the Barents Sea. “Of the 35 exploration wells we expect to be drilled offshore Norway this year, over a third will be in the Arctic Barents Sea, including the first in the formerly disputed area, bordering Russia,” says Neivan Boroujerdi, Norway analyst at Wood Mackenzie. “A major discovery would open a new oil and gas province in Norway.”

Most of these wells will be targeting oil, and will be drilled by a mix of operators including Statoil, Eni, Lundin and OMV. Many of these targets are ranked with a fair chance of success, between 30-50%, according to some estimates.

Key exploration wells to watch include Goliat Eye (Eni), Hellemobotn and Borselv

(both Lundin) and Blaming (Statoil).

Statoil itself says it plans to drill around 30 exploration wells globally during 2017, an increase of around 30% compared to 2016, with more than half targeting the NCS. In the north, a 5-7 well exploration campaign in the Barents Sea will be at the core of the firm’s activity plan.

“The Barents Sea has yielded several of Norway’s most significant oil discoveries in recent years,” says Tim Dodson, Statoil’s executive vice president for exploration.

“We are looking forward to test new targets, both in the relatively well known geology around the Johan Castberg and Hoop/Wisting area, as well as some new frontier opportunities with greater geological uncertainty but also high impact potential,” he says.

“This campaign can provide us with crucial information about the long term future of the Norwegian shelf.”

Industry conditions Of course, this is by no means virgin territory, with the first Norwegian Arctic oil development, Eni’s mighty Goliat project, commencing commercial production last year too. It has not been the easiest of starts - the project was

Photo: Ole Jorgen Bratland/Statoil

With many more wells expected to be drilled in the Norwegian Barents Sea this year, it is a crucial period ahead for the frontier Arctic region

NORWAY

Image: NPD

ordered to stop by officials for various safety and technical issues before being allowed to resume output again last summer - but it is an indicator of the upstream potential beneath the waves.

The start-up of Goliat means the Barents Sea is contributing to Norway’s oil production for the first time, adding to gas output and sales from the existing Snohvit LNG project.

What’s put the brakes on in recent years, though, has been the incredibly challenging economic backdrop, prompted by the downturn in world oil prices.

According to Wood Mackenzie, driving this year’s recovery will be a step-change in exploration, large final investment decisions (FIDs) and record mergers & acquisitions (M&A) activity.

Last year, it says that investment in the Norwegian upstream sector sank to a 10year low, exploration was disappointing and FIDs continued to be deferred.

But there were rays of light too.

Companies were able to significantly cut costs, production remained high and M&A activity rose.

“While we have not witnessed a full recovery, at least the sector is up and out of bed. Against the backdrop of a rising oil price, this recovery is set to continue into 2017,” says Boroujerdi.

Indeed, Norway’s explorers will be at the forefront of the global recovery, with Wood Mackenzie expecting volumes discovered in 2017 to be at their highest since 2010.

“There will be an increase in the number of wells and - more importantly - a clear shift towards high-impact activity as companies go elephant hunting again.

Norwegian wells will be watched globally.”

This, of course, explains the growing allure of the little-trodden Barents Sea path. The probability of making big new discoveries is also highest in this area, according to Bente Nyland, director general of the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD).

shallow reservoirs. This is important knowledge as some exploration wells in the Barents Sea explore shallow exploration targets.

Norwegian drillers have good reason to be excited about prospects in the Arctic

Lundin - one of the region’s prime movers - proved gas in the Barents Sea in wildcat well 7130/4-1 (Ornen), and the size is estimated at 0.4-1.5 million cubic metres of recoverable oil equivalent.

It has also proved oil and gas in wildcat Immense potential well 7220/6-2 R (Neiden) east of the Johan Castberg discovery. The discovery With so much planned for this year, has so far been estimated at 4-9 million it’s easy to forget that last year was, cubic metres of recoverable oil equivalent. however, comparatively quiet in the For sure, the more intensive level of Norwegian Barents Sea with relatively few exploration wells drilled in 2016, and drilling planned this year will contribute important new knowledge on the whole with few and small discoveries. area, whatever the drill bit yields.

Several appraisal wells were drilled on That includes the previously out of bounds the Alta discovery and Wisting discovery, territory near the Russian border, which is which have significance for further slowly coming into focus for the industry activity in the area. The appraisal well following a series of bilateral agreements on Wisting was a successful test of how between officials in Oslo and Moscow. it is possible to drill horizontally in very Other notable things to watch this year include the progress of the Johan Castberg project, which is shaping up to be Norway’s second Barents Sea oil project. This scheme could be sanctioned for development this year although like all things in the testing Arctic conditions of the Barents Sea there are too many variables at play to know what the future holds for sure.

What is certain is that, perhaps unlike the freeze that has set over Alaska in the past year or so and during the latter days of the Obama regime, Norwegian drillers have good reason to be excited about prospects 2016 Barents Sea licensing awards in the Arctic.

www.frontierenergy.info WINTER 2017 07

H A EX V E N TS & NORWAY POR OFF , G N I SH FOR TIO HIBI A OCE R SHO The outlook for further exploration work in the previously contested border area of the Barents Sea between Russia and Norway has never been brighter PING C At the end of last year, this culminated in & ith exploration and between Moscow and the West over Russia and Norway agreeing to exchange production activity gaining the Ukraine and Crimea, resulting in RA seismic data from the Barents Sea, an traction in Norway’s Barents sweeping economic sanctions, it’s an exciting move that could trigger a wave of Sea during 2017, perhaps the key initiative that could all too easily have EN exploration in the next year or two. development of all last year was a deal been brushed under the carpet.

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W

But that has not been the case in this instance. There has been a clear shift in recent years to open up the area - in spite of all the challenges presented by the political background - following a series of bilateral agreements to work together and find solutions for opening up the shared Barents Sea border region.

The Norway-Russia maritime border

08 WINTER 2017 www.frontierenergy.info

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) and Russian petroleum authorities (Federal Subsoil Resources Management Agency, Rosnedra) entered into a formal agreement to exchange seismic from the areas around the border demarcation line, with a view to understanding the region better.

Rosnedra initiated the data exchange about two years ago.

“This agreement is extremely important. It allows us to achieve a better understanding of the regional geological conditions on both sides of the demarcation line and, not least, of geological structures that span across the line,” says Stig-Morten Knutsen, the NPD's assistant director within exploration.

The agreement states that Russian and Norwegian authorities will exchange broadly the same volumes of data. From the Russian side, this includes all seismic that was collected in 2013 in two major licences: the Fedynsky licence and the central Barents Sea licence, in a zone that is 50 km from the demarcation line. There will also be a line from the gas discovery on the Kildinskoye High. In total, the NPD has already received some 6,500 km of 2D seismic from these areas.

In the other direction, Rosnedra has received 5,900 km of 2D seismic from the Norwegian side. This includes seismic data that the NPD collected in the northern Barents Sea in 2012, 2013, and 2014, limited to east of 35°E and south of 76°10N. The Russian side will also receive a seismic line from the stratigraphic boreholes on the Sentralbank High, as well as a long line that spans north to south in the Arctic Ocean.

Given the degree of bilateral cooperation, and the interest in the whole area as evidenced by Norway’s successful licensing round last year, it would not be unreasonable to think that this new and highly prospective offshore terrain could soon be made available to industry.

S F

Image: NPD

with Russian energy officials to share seismic information across the joint border area.

Norway’s maritime border area with Russia has long held interest for the oil and gas industry, but has largely been off-limits due to the political complexities involved. At a time of heightened tensions

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NORWAY

High profile: Arctic safety

Eni’s Goliat platform

Reassessing safety for the Arctic era

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ast year’s Goliat lift-off was successful in showing that a giant Norwegian Arctic oil project, located far from established infrastructure, was, in fact, possible.

The oil project, 50 km southeast of the Snohvit gas field, finally started producing in March 2016, with a peak output of around 100,000 bpd.

Yes, it took years to execute, and ran way over budget (by how much we may never know), but Norway’s Barents Sea is now an oil producing region, thanks to the vision and confidence of the operator Eni and a small army of skilled contractors.

But it was also problematic. Soon after start-up the field was ordered to halt production, with officials expressing concern amid various technical issues.

While output has resumed again, it underscores the complexity of the scheme and the scope for any number of things to go wrong.

So far, that has not happened, and Norway’s PSA deserves full marks for prioritising safety in such a pressuredriven environment, amid the need to produce oil and satisfy investors.

The fact is, with Norway keen to

10 WINTER 2017 www.frontierenergy.info

develop a long-term industry in the far north, it simply cannot afford to slip up with this flagship venture.

Goliat remains under scrutiny and will do so for the remainder of its life. “We’ll be continuing to keep a close eye on Eni and Goliat in the time to come,” PSA director general Anne Myhrvold said in January in response to lingering concerns at the field.

Safety review More significant, perhaps, is that Norway’s government now intends to review overall safety and standards for the offshore industry, the first such move for years.

The labour ministry stated in November that it will draw up a new white paper on safety on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, the first since 2011 Minister of Labour and Social Affairs Anniken Hauglie said it comes in response to “several serious incidents” this past year.

“The Petroleum Safety Authority has also raised the question of whether we have reached a crossroads where safety is concerned, and the parties involved

disagree on whether cost reductions are putting pressure on safety.”

The proposed white paper will provide a full review of the state of health, safety and the environment (HSE) in Norway’s petroleum industry, and address topics such as cooperation between the various parties and industry accountability.

A joint working group headed by Ole Andreas Engen, a professor in societal safety at the University of Stavanger, who has previously led several largescale research projects on risk regulation in petroleum activities, aviation and maritime industry, will publish a report in October this year.

“We have seen several examples of incidents where we believe questions need to be asked,” added Hauglie. “Given our current situation, it is perhaps more important than ever that the parties collaborate to find good solutions and that the people who are most directly affected are heard from when discussing how to cut costs without compromising safety. My message in this is unequivocal: no measures to increase efficiency and cut costs are to be implemented to the detriment of health, safety and the environment.”

Photos: Eni, Statoil

Norwegian officials are to reassess safety standards this year, in part, as a result of the push into the new horizons and ever more challenging waters of the Arctic

NORWAY

The next big thing Statoil is making headway on its Johann Castberg development but a start-up date is still far from certain as the operator studies costs and takes onboard lessons from Goliat

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fter the complexities and cost overruns of the Goliat project, Statoil is understandably taking its time on pushing forward the Johann Castberg development. With billions of dollars at stake, it’s not hard to see why.

The field, located 100 km north of the Snohvit field in the Barents Sea, is remote in the extreme, but an immensely valuable asset nonetheless.

The project’s resource base consists of the three oil discoveries - Skrugard (discovered in 2011), Havis (2012) and Drivis (2014) - located in PL 532, together pooling 540 million barrels of crude oil, and potentially up to 650 million barrels.

Located in water depths between 360390 metres, and around 150 km from the Goliat site, it is indeed a solitary location.

While the Norwegian state oil company is aiming for a final investment decision by the end of this year, experts believe it’s possible that this could easily roll over into 2018, given the complexities and calculations involved.

An original decision was postponed in the latter half of 2016 because of cost and industry uncertainties.

Neivan Boroujerdi, Norway analyst at Wood Mackenzie, says all eyes are now on the potential Arctic development. And, while costs have been massively reduced in recent times, that doesn’t make the scheme simple to execute by any measure.

“Statoil has managed to cut costs by 45% on the delayed 540 million barrel project and is targeting a final investment decision by the end of the year. However, given the scale and complexity of the project, we think it could slip into 2018.”

Investment costs Back in September, Statoil conceded that low oil prices may affect its plans for the field development.

Like the Goliat project, it is an three FIDs in the NCS this year: Snorre undertaking of immense scale, with an Expansion, Njord Future and Snilehorn. estimated production life of around 30 While this is less than the five during years. Based on an investment estimate of 2016, there is a clear sense of quality over between NOK 50 and 60 billion ($5.8quantity. $7 billion), it will represent a significant Last year, all five FIDs were subsea part of Statoil’s domestic NCS investment tie-backs, but 2017 marks a clear between the period between 2018 and step-change in scale. Statoil’s Snorre 2022.

Expansion, Njord Future and Snilehorn Indeed, the investment costs for the full combined will recover reserves of around or partial electrification of the project 400 million barrels and bring investment alone will be worth from NOK 4 billion of $6 billion. to NOK 12 billion ($0.5-$1.4 billion).

If Johan Castberg is among the batch A key challenge for the Johan of new developments then the scale of Castberg project team, and indeed investment and barrels to be produced for all developments in this region, is gets ratcheted up significantly. the remoteness to established infrastructure.

While various development scenarios have now been plotted, studies are continuing on the alternatives for an oil infrastructure in the Barents Sea, by a group of operators in the area that includes Statoil, t Ohmsett, testing and R&D opportunities as well as other abound!

Our unique capabilities and realistic key players such marine environment play an essential role in as Lundin, Eni and developing new technology that will be cleaning OMV. The outcome the world’s water in the future. of this think-tank will likely direct Features & Capabilities: future development ❖ Full-scale testing, training and research activity across the ❖ Independent and objective testing with real oil whole basin.

For sure, if Johan ❖ Measurable and repeatable test parameters Castberg does go ❖ Chemical treating agents and dispersant testing ahead this year it ❖ Mechanical containment and recovery in ice will provide a huge ❖ Evaluation of remote sensing systems spending boost for ❖ Test protocol development industry.

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Performance Testing Performance Testing Begins Ohmsett Begins at Ohmsett

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Ohmsett, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement’s (BSEE) National Oil Spill Response Research and Renewable Energy Test Facility

LOGISTICS

Teamwork overcomes offshore logistical challenges at Cook Inlet The role of marine solutions and logistics provider Crowley’s during the Kitchen Lights gas platform and pipeline installation at Alaska’s Cook Inlet

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n late summer 2015, Crowley’s marine solutions team completed the successful installation of customer Furie’s Kitchen Lights natural gas production platform and underwater pipeline in Alaska’s Cook Inlet. The project spanned two years from planning phase through completion, involving nearly 300 on-site workers, up to 20 support vessels, and plenty of innovative thinking.

The warm-weather window to complete the mission was short: ice in the surrounding waters would complicate the team’s exit if it didn’t meet the project deadline.

Yet, the Crowley team, alongside hundreds of contractors, worked tirelessly.

Around-the-clock shifts were aided by nearly 24 hours of continuous daylight, but even so the hours passed quickly.

In Alaska, every project is a race against time.

Meanwhile, the currents raced underneath the Nilnilchik barge at seven knots – nearly 12 feet per second – giving all those aboard a sense of motion despite their moorings.

Tides in Cook Inlet, Alaska, where the Nilnilchik was stationed, are renowned for extremes, rising and falling by up to 35 feet every six hours. The currents change so frequently and so quickly that ice never has the opportunity to fully form on the surface during the winter.

The milky waters are also loaded with glacial silt, making visibility non- existent and equipment erode at warp speed.

from Crowley and its subsidiary Jensen Maritime, a leading naval architecture and marine engineering firm based in Seattle. Hundreds of thousands of engineering and planning hours were logged, all in preparation for the ice breaking, which marked the project’s start, in early spring.

Part of that preparation included the acquisition of specialised employees and assets. More than 300 workers, mostly third-party contractors, were hired – experts from around the world in engineering, diving, offshore oil and gas, and others – and nearly 20 vessels, a combination of Crowley-owned and chartered assets, were reserved and outfitted for the project.

“It was a fast-tracked project,” explained Furie’s Oliver Arnold, project manager. “But it was a very strong team, perfectly suited for the endeavour.”

“We had two 8,000-HP, anchorhandling tugs, each capable of a 3,000HP of side thrust, which made this work possible in the strong current,” said Crowley’s Russel Luttman, senior project manager. “Additionally, Crowley had at least four offshore supply vessels operating at any given time, two dive support vessels, a crew boat, several offshore and harbor towing vessels, several barges, man overboard/security vessels and a landing craft. It was a wide variety of vessels that the company coordinated.”

Starting point

One of those vessels, the Nilnilchik, was outfitted as a pipe-laying barge, complete with on-board stations to facilitate the assembly of nearly 16 miles of 10-inch, concrete-coated pipe. On the stern, a 160-foot, steel stinger structure was installed to guide the readied lengths of pipe gently to the sea floor.

“We had to get the barge designed and assembled, and also the stinger built, which Crowley had fabricated for Furie

The story began the year before, when customer Furie Operating Alaska, LLC, requested Crowley’s support in installing the facilities - a platform, pipeline and onshore production facility, called Kitchen Lights - with production set to commence in the fall of 2015.

The project team included experts 12 WINTER 2017 www.frontierenergy.info

Kitchen Lights fleet

in Vancouver,” said Jensen’s Courtney Bradbury, project engineer. “That was kind of like commissioning a brand-new vessel in about six months, it was a big challenge.”

The heavy lift barge 455-8, also a Crowley asset, was reserved for the transportation of Furie’s Kitchen Lights platform and other equipment from the fabrication site in Texas.

Included in the contracted vessel fleet was SAL’s M/V Svenja, a vessel Crowley had previously chartered during the unprecedented – and successful – Costa Concordia wreck removal project in Italy. For Furie’s job, it was outfitted in Singapore with extra quarters for 60 team members who would live and work aboard for nearly five months.

“It was a general cargo vessel instead of an offshore installation vessel, which meant we had to out t it for the kind of work we were doing,” explained Bradbury.

Because the ship was foreign flag, special considerations were also taken.

“It was necessary to design and calculate special mooring arrangements for Svenja to fully comply with the US Jones Act and, at the same time, to guarantee an accurate positioning of the vessel in extremely strong tidal currents and with small tidal windows to work in,” said SAL’s Karsten Behrens, general manager, engineering, heavy lift.

“Jensen designed the 10-point mooring system. That was rather robust,” added Bradbury. The concept involved special anchors brought in from Holland and additional ballasting.

Another critical asset was the Svenja, which was reserved for the lifting of the monopod, a cylindrical or caisson-type of offshore platform support base that measured 18 feet in diameter, from the 455-8. The Svenja’s two, on-board cranes later positioned the base accurately on the seabed.

The remaining chartered vessels included dive ships, grout barges, boats that ferried workers to and from the project site and powerful tugs.

LOGISTICS

was driven down through the platform, followed by another that was welded in place. This was repeated until all four segments were joined to form the full pile, and all were in place.

The final layer added was the topside, installed on the main support frame.

The main support frame was a 250-ton structure with 3.5-inch thick, steel walls that had been welded on site around the large diameter of the monopod before it was submerged.

“The topside installation was very tight and tide dependent. The installation window was open for about four hours,” reported SAL’s Rüdiger Bauer, corporate director, engineering and ship management.

undulations in the seabed.

But before the pipes could even be mapped along the bottom, they had to be prepared on the Nilnilchik. Aboard the pipe-laying barge, four stalls and a conveyer formed an assembly line, to funnel pipe from bow to stern, towards the stinger. Along the way, the pipe received treatments such as root pass, filler welding and capping, X-rays to check for imperfections and protective coatings before they were eased into the water.

“For the Ninilchik to move forward to lay sections of pipe, the barge’s anchors had to be repositioned at the rate of 12 to 16 anchor drops per day, totalling over 350 anchor drops for the operating season,” explained Luttman. “All this was done despite the prevailing strong currents in the region.”

But the undulating contours provided additional problems for pipe- laying operations. The stiff lines of pipe straddled the peaks, creating unsupported bridges over the dips, leaving some sections unsupported. This required divers to blindly perform span mitigation techniques, or laying grout underneath the suspended sections for support and to reduce vibrations during active pumping.

“You can only dive every six hours, for half an hour, because of the tides.

So that, along with the black-water conditions, was another major technical challenge that we were able to manage,” said Bradbury.

Despite the challenges, Crowley averaged approximately 2,500 to 2,600feet per day of pipe laid on bottom. At the same time, safety, of course, was top priority for all workers.

Pipeline laying

Job done

Perhaps the biggest challenge of the project – in addition to the ever-changing tides – were the black-water conditions.

The inability to see subsea presented problems for both divers and prevented the use of Remote Operated Vehicles (ROVs). Crowley’s project managers instead installed echoscopes on the stern and bow of the Ninilchik, which gave them the ability to map the work site via sonar.

This was especially important because the sea floor in Cook Inlet is uneven and littered with glacial boulders up to six metres in diameter. The echoscopes allowed project managers to avoid such large obstructions and identify significant

By August, the team had installed the Kitchen Lights platform, pipeline and onshore production facility, which included nearly 16 miles of pipeline stretching from sea to shore.

“It’s the first of its kind project – soup to nuts – for Crowley,” said the company’s Rebecca Hamrick, director, marine solutions. “But it proves that our people are some of our greatest assets in an arena where we are known for our equipment. I believe that we have just proven that we have the ability to gather assets and brain power from all over the world to accomplish a project of this size.

I don’t think that another company could have done what we did.”

Kitchen Lights installation work

Innovative thinking When spring arrived and the project began, the high-bollard, specialised tugs ensured the Kitchen Lights platform and monopod’s safety as they departed Seattle for Alaska, a week-long trip.

In the first phase of work, a central pole, called the king pile, was installed, serving as the focal point for the structure’s installation. Next, the monopod, or platform base, was lifted from the 455-8 and onto the deck of the Svenja for final preparations. When ready, it was placed over the king pile and well conductor, and lowered precisely on the sea bottom by Svenja’s two 1,000-ton cranes.

“We could only operate when the tide was not running full force. Lifting the monopod for placement…we could only do that during a very small window when the tide was flat,” said Crowley vice president Johan Sperling.

With the monopod submerged, the king pile, which stood high above the water, now also served as a marker for the location of the hidden, underwater structure.

Next, the surrounding piles had to be driven 200 feet into the hard seabed with a specialised hydraulic impact hammer.

And because the piles were too tall for any single crane to manage, innovative thinking was required.

To tackle the task, a specially designed, Platform Drilling and Driving Deck (PDDD) was fitted to the top of the monopod. Then, each section of pile

www.frontierenergy.info WINTER 2017 13

Strategic: Gas loadings

Alaska’s Kenai LNG project

Vital time for Alaska’s oil industry

New oil discoveries put Alaska back on the map Recent discoveries in Alaska underscore the state’s proven resource base and its potential to supply America’s oil needs. But low prices, environmental rules and a host of other challenges may yet cast a shadow over the state’s future, even in the era of a pro-oil administration

14 WINTER 2017 www.frontierenergy.info

Photos: ConocoPhillips

T

operators the most. Additionally, the new hese are uncertain times for oil and prospects remain strong. In 2015, the Trump administration will work through gas companies in Alaska, the only year US crude output reached its highest its new energy policy agenda, which will US state with territory north of the level since 1972 (reaching 9.42 million have repercussions for the federal lands on Arctic Circle. While a number of notable bpd), Alaska was the fourth largest Alaska's North Slope.” discoveries have been made in recent producing state in the country. But this times, highlighting the state’s undoubted masks a long term decline. That same year, resource potential, lower oil prices have Alaska’s crude oil production, almost all New discoveries seriously undermined activity on the of which is in the North Slope, fell for ground. This, in turn, has had a knock on the thirteenth consecutive year, declining These mixed signals and uncertainty have effect on investment decisions and new to 0.48 million bpd in 2015. Fiscal not stopped the oil from being discovered projects. Offshore, things have gone eerily change and two full years of depressed though. quiet too. Rewind less than two years ago commodity prices have shaped the outlook Most recently, in January this year, and there were high hopes amid Shell’s on Alaska's North Slope, according to ConocoPhillips announced the Willow drilling off the Chukchi Sea. Yes, the well consultants at Wood Mackenzie. On one Discovery in the Greater Mooses Tooth identified hydrocarbons, but not enough hand, with six fields under development Unit in the northeast portion of the to merit further economic exploration or evaluation, the project pipeline is the National Petroleum Reserve. The Willow for the time-being, especially under discovery wells, Tiŋmiaq 2 and such intense environmental scrutiny.

6 - located about 28 miles west To cap it all, the latter days of the of the Alpine Central Facility With an estimated 6-10 billion barrels Obama administration marked encountered 72 feet and 42 feet of a fresh turning point, with the net pay, respectively, in the Brookian of oil in place, the Smith Bay project outgoing president banning new oil Nanushuk formation. The company, and gas drilling in federal waters which has a 78% working interest ranks as one of the world’s largest oil in the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, in the discovery with Anadarko in a push to leave his stamp on the Petroleum on 22%, says Willow discoveries in recent years, and the largest environment before handing over could produce up to 100,000 bpd, the reins to Donald Trump. with commercial production by on Alaska’s North Slope in four decades.

With the new president in office, 2023. there are hopes Alaska’s energy Others to announce notable finds sector could be given more of a hearing, in recent times include Armstrong Energy busiest it has been in years, it says in an with the new pro-oil administration and Caelus Energy, with its Smith Bay introduction to its latest Alaska report. including ExxonMobil chief executive Rex Discovered volumes were at a multi-year project, in shallow waters about 50 miles Tillerson. What it can’t do, of course, is southeast of Barrow. With an estimated high and key appraisal programmes are reverse low oil prices.

6-10 billion barrels of oil in place, this planned in 2017. “On the other hand, ranks as one of the world’s largest oil fiscal uncertainty and low oil prices have discoveries in recent years, and the largest challenged operators and caused delays,” Threats and opportunities on Alaska’s North Slope in four decades. it says. “HB 247 was passed in midIt says the development has the potential 2016 and impacts newer fields and small In many respects, Alaska’s underlying

to provide 200,000 bpd of “light, highly mobile oil” to the Trans Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS), which would increase TAPS throughput by 40% (based on 2016 flow rates) and extend the pipeline’s longterm viability by reducing the average viscosity of its oil. If its figures are correct, that production level would make the field more prolific than ConocoPhillips’ Alpine unit that began production in 2000 and reached a production peak of 139,000 barrels in 2007.

Industry hopes Caelus chief executive Jim Musselman said his company’s discovery could be very exciting for Alaska. “It has the size and scale to play a meaningful role in sustaining the Alaskan oil business over the next three or four decades,” he commented. Significant hurdles remain, though, in getting the project development off the ground, including support from the authorities. “Fiscal stability going forward is critical for a project of this magnitude.

Without the state tax credit programs,

none of this would’ve happened, and I’m not sure Caelus would’ve come to explore in Alaska. We’re proof that the credit programs work.” Understandably, it is building hopes among the wider industry in Alaska’s long term potential and its ability to help meet America’s future oil needs. “With the Hilcorp/BP Liberty leases and the new discoveries noted above the potential is up to 500,000 bpd of new oil for the [TAPS] pipeline, which would double the current volume of oil,” says Bruce Harland, vice president, business development, marine solutions, Crowley.

“The hope is that the new administration in Washington will allow the projects to move forward with a favourable permitting climate, if the price of oil allows the development to proceed.”

Offshore prospects It marks an important period for the development of the state’s energy industry.

Alaska’s Prudhoe Bay field still remains among the 10 largest oil fields in the US. However, production from the North Slope has fallen to less than 500,000 bpd from its peak of 2 million bpd about 20 years ago. There is scope for a rebound but this will depend on a multitude of factors.

And whether drillers will be allowed ALASKA to return to forbidden areas offshore anytime soon remains a doubt too. Oil prices aside, Obama used a 1950s-era law called the Outer Continental Shelf Act that allows presidents to limit areas from mineral leasing and drilling.

Environmental groups said that meant the new Trump administration would have to go court if it sought to reverse the move.

The ban affects 115 million acres (46.5 million hectares) of federal waters off Alaska in the Chukchi Sea and most of the Beaufort Sea and 3.8 million acres (1.5 million hectares) in the Atlantic from New England to Chesapeake Bay. With plenty of activity elsewhere in Alaska - and, more pressingly, the subdued price of oil - it seems unlikely that exploration companies will be queuing up to open these areas. In the wake of Shell’s disappointing Chukchi Sea well in 2015, a number of firms announced plans to halt work and shift resources elsewhere, which means a quick return looks unlikely. Nonetheless, with the new government seemingly receptive to the oil industry, a reversal cannot be ruled out going forward. For sure, industry will now be engaging with Trump officials to secure Alaska’s oil future for many decades to come.

S6 ICE NAVIGATOR™

ADVANCED ICE ANALYSIS

Automatically detect ice ridges, icebergs in pack ice, and outline open water leads.

www.frontierenergy.info WINTER 2017 15

SHIPPING ROUTES

With the record low Arctic ice coverage in 2007, navigation via the formerly impenetrable Northern Sea Route (NSR) became a viable option

Future of traffic on the Northern Sea Route W

ith the record low Arctic ice coverage in 2007, navigation via the formerly impenetrable Northern Sea Route (NSR) became a viable option and an apparent maritime fast lane. Ice coverage data indicates that 2007 – as the then new minimum – is not a statistical outlier, with six of the last 10 years more than two standard deviations below the long-term average and 2012 significantly lower still.

The NSR opened to foreign flagged cargo ships in 2009 with two German vessels transporting heavy equipment from the Far East to Novy Port, located at the mouth of the Ob River on the Yamal Peninsula in Russia’s Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region. In the following years, there was a flurry of activity that encompassed

16 WINTER 2017 www.frontierenergy.info

a range of cargo types, including coal, ore, hydrocarbons and frozen fish. During this time, two modes of transit – single cargo/ballast voyage and roundtrip voyage – were trialled to maximise efficiency.

Tracking transit volume The transit cargo volume grew from 111,000 tons in 2010 to 1.356 million tons in 2013, with a total of 71 transits. Activity during this period allowed industry to evaluate future possibilities for NSR transit shipping, carried out through a number of exploratory or demonstration voyages with large crude oil tankers and LNG carriers. Records show 158 transit voyages during this period by different types of cargo

vessels.

Since 2013, the number of vessel transits and tonnage on the NSR have declined sharply, falling to a low of 18 transits and 40,000 tons in 2015. Industry experts suggest the decline in traffic reflects the steep reduction in bunker prices. One reason is that as the cost of fuel decreased sharply, the advantage of saving fuel cost on the shorter NSR route was less significant to vessel operators. A second reason is the decline of commodity prices, carriage of which requires large-volume shipping to achieve the desired economics. The number and size of ice capable ships needed for the route is relatively small.

The 2016 NSR traffic volume figure, recently published by the Northern Sea Route

Photos: ABS NSR

An exploration of traffic and cargo volumes through the Northern Sea Route and the challenges of safe navigation. By Han-Chang Yu and James Bond, ABS

SHIPPING ROUTES

Administration (NSRA), shows an increase to 214,000 tons with 19 transits. The increase of cargo volume is mainly due to large shipments of coal from Canada to Finland.

COSCO activity China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO Shipping) continues to be a consistent player on the NSR route in recent years. It had its first NSR voyage in 2013, followed by a roundtrip transit in 2015. The year 2016 saw two transits by COSCO ships, and plans are in place for more. ABS and COSCO Shipping signed an agreement in early 2016 to cooperate on trans-Arctic voyages through the NSR. The agreement includes development of specialised ice class vessel types able to navigate the Arctic sea route under the new regulatory regime of the IMO Polar Code. ABS and COSCO Shipping held a workshop to review the IMO Polar Code requirements and assess the impact on new vessel designs. Workshop participants also reviewed the operation of existing vessels under the Polar Code, which required an operational assessment to define the operational limitations, such as the ice conditions and the temperatures in which the vessel is allowed to operate.

loaded on 12 September 2016 from Novy Port for Murmansk. All three ships were active by January 2017, and the milestone millionth ton cargo of oil was loaded on 29 January 2017, less than six months after the first shipment. The port is expected to deliver 8.5 million tons of crude oil and condensate in 2017.

The Yamal LNG carriers and Novy Port shuttle tankers are designed to operate year round from the Yamal peninsula in the Kara Sea. The operational experience in the winter months will be valuable in increasing commercial confidence to further utilise the NSR. The steady flow of hydrocarbons from the Yamal area will be the main source of cargo volume through the NSR until the economy of the transit voyages through the NSR regains viability.

Safe navigation Newcomers to the NSR need to have a firm understanding of the challenges and requirements.

Help is available in the ABS advisory, ‘Navigating the Northern Sea Route’, which was published in January 2014. The advisory provides information to support ship owners and operators that want to transit the region safely and efficiently and includes information on applying for permits as well as guidance for identifying technical and operational risks.

Additional guidelines and standards are needed, and ABS will continue in its role of helping to develop tools for safer Arctic operations.

Cargo volumes The cargo volume reported by the NSRA is for ships passing through the entire NSR, between the Bering Strait that separates Russia and the United States in the Pacific Ocean and the Kara Gates, a strait between the southern end of Russia’s Novaya Zemlya and the northern tip of the Vaygach Island in the Kara Sea. In fact, the through traffic volume on the NSR is a small fraction in comparison to domestic destination shipping. For example, cargos bound to the Yamal LNG plant and the Sabetta Port facility were reported to be 5.4 million tons in 2015 on the NSR, up from approximately 4.0 million tons in 2014 and 3.9 million tons in 2013. The Yamal LNG plant is expected to deliver the first LNG cargo in late 2017 using an ARC 7 icebreaking LNG carrier. With the plant construction completed, 17.6 million tons of LNG shipment is expected in 2021.

Crude oil is another growing outbound NSR cargo. Novy Port is one of the largest oil and gas condensate fields being developed in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Region. The field is situated away from the existing pipeline infrastructure; so oil is shipped from the Arctic Gate offshore oil terminal by three icebreaking shuttle tankers. The first large cargo of oil was

Transits through the NSR peaked in 2013. (Source: Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment using statistics from the Northern Sea Route Information Office – www.arctic-lio.com)

The vast majority of vessels transiting the NSR between 2011 and 2015 were tankers. (Source: Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment using statistics from the Northern Sea Route Information Office – www.arctic-lio.com)

www.frontierenergy.info WINTER 2017 17

PROPULSION

Azimuth answers Arctic call

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he extreme challenges of operating in Arctic waters, for all kinds of vessels, means new and advanced technology is embraced with open arms.

This has certainly been the case with azimuth propulsion systems, which are now commonplace among vessels plying the icy waters of the far north.

And leading marine companies are now differentiating themselves in the market with innovations in this state-of-theart technology field, giving ships more operational scope and versatility in such difficult terrain.

An azimuth thruster is essentially a

Azimuth propulsors have become state-of-the-art for icebreaking and ice-going vessels due to the manoeuvrability and operational versatility they provide

18 WINTER 2017 www.frontierenergy.info

configuration of marine propellers placed in pods that can be rotated to any horizontal angle (or azimuth), making a rudder unnecessary. These can give ships better manoeuvrability than a fixed propeller and rudder system.

Among the pioneers in this field of marine development is Steerprop of Finland, a hub for azimuth technology.

Focusing on a single product line, it combines decades of experience and proven technology with the latest 3D design software and advanced calculation methods to produce tailormade azimuth systems for demanding applications and operating conditions.

“Azimuth propulsors have become state-of-the-art for icebreaking and ice-going vessels due to the manoeuvrability and operational versatility they provide,” says Terhi Mäkinen, Steerprop marketing manager.

“Double-acting ships, oblique icebreakers and ice management using propeller slipstream would not be possible without azimuth propulsion units.”

Steerprop CRP ECO ARC propulsors combine the high open water efficiency of contra-rotating propellers to the great manoeuvrability of an azimuth propulsor designed for the highest ice classes. Equipped with both pushing and pulling propellers, they also provide higher thrust, good ice-milling capabilities with the pulling propeller and enhanced ice-management ability with the unique propeller flow of a CRP propulsor.

The power ranges from about 3 MW up to 17 MW in Arctic ice class.

And, according to Mäkinen, the need for such robust and versatility azimuth propulsion systems has never been greater and more suitable, with the emergence of more shipping in the far north.

“The lessening of ice coverage in the Arctic increases the attractiveness of the Northern Sea Route for transits between Europe, northern Russia and Asia. One factor which is affecting the economics are the conflicting requirements coming from reinforcements for high ice class and good fuel economy.

An effective icebreaker is hardly efficient in open water. Lengthening of the operational season calls for higher powers in heavy ice class.”

Azimuth technology is answering the call in Arctic shipping just as the region is opening up.

Photo: Steerprop

How expert marine companies like Steerprop Ltd are charting a path through Arctic waters with high-power azimuth propulsion systems

25 - 28 April 2017 Helsinki Congress Paasitorni, Helsinki

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ICE MANAGEMENT

ICEBERG profiling A Canadian company, C-CORE, has developed a procedure for collecting iceberg profile data in near real time for applications for iceberg management and iceberg risk analysis.

Introducing Smart Iceberg Management System (SIMS): Rapid Iceberg Profiling

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xisting systems can take hours, or longer, to produce 3D iceberg keel and sail information corrected for iceberg drift and rotation, which is insufficient for operational applications.

The system described here requires 30 minutes or less to collect data and apply correction algorithms for iceberg drift and rotation. The resulting data is readily applied to a variety of analyses that support iceberg management (i.e. towing) operations, such as: calculating iceberg stability and preferred tow direction(s) to avoid rolling, assessing the likelihood of iceberg rope or net slippage, forecasting iceberg drift trajectory with or without an applied tow force, assessing likelihood of iceberg impact with a facility’s topsides structure, assessing threats to subsea facilities and calculating potential iceberg impact loads on a structure. The ultimate objective is to develop an iceberg profiling system which can be installed on an ice management vessel, be operated by vessel personnel with appropriate training, and produce iceberg profile and associated analysis within one hour of initiating the profiling operation. Iceberg profile data gathered over time may also be used to evaluate and refine iceberg net designs and to improve iceberg design load estimates for facilities.

The system devised for iceberg profiling comprises a pole-mounted multibeam sonar system and a pole-mounted Light Imaging, Detection, and Ranging (LIDAR) system (Figure 1). Both data streams flow through the same data acquisition system

and are recorded as geo-referenced xyz points, avoiding any additional postprocessing as would be required for a system using photogrammetry rather than 20 WINTER 2017 www.frontierenergy.info

LIDAR for characterising the iceberg sail. Other than filtering data for noise, the only required correction to the data is for iceberg drift and rotation during collection, which is minimal due to the limited duration of the operation.

Field exercise A field programme in 2015 used a small survey vessel (9m length) to determine the effectiveness of the sensor systems in profiling iceberg sail and keels, with the intent of scaling up the system for installation on offshore ice management

vessels (Figure 2). The multibeam sonar used was the R2Sonic2024 and the Applanix POS MV 320E Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) was used for geo-referencing. The LIDAR used was the Dynascan m250 with the Applanix Trimble AP20 IMU. Quality Integrated Navigation System (Qinsy), a hydrographic data acquisition, navigation and processing software, was used to stream the data and generate three dimensional (3D) point clouds in near real time. The sonar was hull mounted on Maritime Survey Services’ ‘Knave 1’. The sonar head was located just below the surface and the LIDAR was mounted on a frame attached to the top of the crew cabin. The normal survey speed of the vessel is 4 knots; however, the system was operated at speeds up to 6 knots while profiling icebergs. The system was tested in sea states ranging from calm conditions up to 3m waves. No effect on the data quality was noted despite vessel roll.

Drift and rotation of the iceberg during profiling can lead to significant

distortions in the raw data point cloud, since the sensors collect 2D, linear range measurements. Typically, the survey vessel would perform three passes around the iceberg while profiling. The displacements between point clouds generated during each pass were analysed to estimate the drift velocity of the iceberg, (Figure 3). The drift velocity can be estimated since each point collected by the system is registered with timestamp. Iceberg drift has a more significant impact on the profile data than rotation; therefore, the initial focus is on drift correction, and the rotation effect is corrected in a secondary step. The ‘Iterative closest point’ (ICP) algorithm was used, which can be used to minimise the difference between two point clouds.

Given two point clouds, this algorithm can treat one of them as the fixed ‘model’ and treat the other one as ‘data’. The ‘data’ is transformed (combination of translation and rotation) to best match the ‘model’.

The algorithm revises the transformation iteratively until it finds the minimum distance from ‘model’ and ‘data’. The distance plus the elapsed time are used to calculate the iceberg drift velocity, and points collected at different times are repositioned accordingly. Subsequent to the initial correction, ICP is used again to fine-tune the point-cloud match. This secondary step is used to account for small rotational differences between the point clouds.

ICE MANAGEMENT

Programme results Ten icebergs were profiled during the 2015 field programme off the Newfoundland coast. Icebergs were profiled in Bonavista Bay and Conception Bay late in the iceberg season (July 2 to 6); therefore, the number of icebergs available for profiling was limited. Each iceberg was circumnavigated three times with the sensors active to create a profile.

The first pass around the iceberg was performed at a standoff distance equal to approximately one iceberg diameter to ensure a safe operating distance.

Subsequent passes were expanded outwards, keeping the vessel between the minimum distance of 1 diameter, and the maximum distance of 200m, which is the limitation imposed by the LIDAR sensor used. The output from the profiling system is a point cloud that is the combined corrected LIDAR data giving the sail shape and the multibeam data giving the keel shape (Figure 4 and Figure 5). These data sets are sufficient for the purpose of ice management analyses; however, surfaces can be fit to these data and Table 1 gives examples for all the profiled icebergs.

In order to assess the quality of the iceberg profiles, a hydrostatic analysis was performed using an iceberg stability model. Profiled iceberg shapes were

analysed to check whether they were in a stable equilibrium position. The correct proportion of above-water versus belowwater iceberg volumes, readily calculated using iceberg and sea water densities, were also checked for each iceberg. A visual inspection of contours that were fit to the raw iceberg profile data revealed that the data appears to capture the shape of the iceberg quite accurately, with an acceptable level of detail. There does appear to be a lack of data on the underside of some of the icebergs, with coarser contours representing this portion. This is to be expected, given the position of the survey vessel relative to the iceberg. Future work will assess the benefit of collecting some of the profile data from a greater range. This will require a LIDAR with a greater range, noting a unit with a 500m range has been sourced for this purpose.

Enhanced toolkit Figure 6 shows sample output from the iceberg towing stability tool, which assesses the profiled iceberg shape and identifies the towing directions that are most stable, with the end goal of reducing the frequency of iceberg rolling events. Figure 7 shows output from a first-generation tool for assessing how the iceberg towing net fits around the iceberg, as a function of the selected towing direction. This is a tool that allows the user to visually compare the iceberg shape with the net shape as a function of the tow direction in order to pick a tow orientation that will minimise the probability of the net slipping off the iceberg. Future planned work will develop this tool further to show the

iceberg net positioned around the iceberg in a true 3D analysis.

Given iceberg profile data and drift speed, the range of potential iceberg impact loads on a facility can be assessed by considering potential iceberg impact orientations. This distribution of loads can be compared with the facility’s capacity to resist loads in order to calculate the probability of the impact load exceeding the facility capacity.

This tool is an adaptation of C-CORE’s existing Iceberg Loads Software (ILS).

Similar existing software can be adapted for determining whether a given iceberg is capable of impacting a facility’s topsides structure. The iceberg profile and measured currents can be used with an iceberg drift model to produce an improved short-term iceberg drift forecast, and the addition of a force vector representing the ice management vessel towing effort can show the ‘course made good’ during the iceberg towing exercise. Combined, these tools represent an enhanced iceberg management toolbox (the Smart Iceberg Management System, SIMS) made possible by the development of the iceberg profiling system.

The work described here represents the first stage of the development of the Smart Iceberg Management System. Funding for this work was provided by the Hibernia Management and Development Company Limited (HMDC) and the Research and Development Corporation of Newfoundland and Labrador (RDC).

www.frontierenergy.info WINTER 2017 21

POLARS VESSELS

The complete toolkit for the Antarctic In Vigo, on the north-western coast of Spain, Freire Shipyard has been constructing one of the world’s most advanced polar oceanographic research vessels, classed by DNV GL.

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state-of-the- art technology, including a ore than 10,000 kilometres as well as physiochemical surveys to meteorological office, six laboratories for from where she will be providing support with humanitarian different research purposes, a helicopter deployed, B.A.P Carrasco operations and oil spills as well as search pad and a so-called bathymetry conducer is taking shape. With about 75% of and rescue operations,” says Walter the 95-metre vessel completed, she is Flores Servat, head of the Department for system fitted on the flat bottom of the hull. It generates an array of acoustic already afloat. Inside the hull sparks fly Special Projects and Antarctic Matters beams with up to 10,000 metres of reach in every direction, and many rooms smell at the Peruvian Navy. “We will also below the vessel to map the sea floor and of freshly welded steel. “We are at the venture into Antarctic waters over the feeds the data back to the vessel in realoutfitting stage. About 150 people are summer months, so the ship is built to time. The vessel will also carry a Falcon currently routing 160 km of cable and the withstand temperatures of minus 25 °C DR remotely operated vehicle piping, installing the panelling (ROV), which can reach depths and fitting the consoles onto of up to 1,000m, and two smaller, the bridge,” says Luis Santos, “The vessel will have a Hyde Guardian torpedo-shaped submarine vehicles director of production at Freire ballast water treatment system using UVby AUV Kongsberg.

Shipyard, pulling a sheet of light technology.

A deck below the labs the ship’s bubble wrap off a dynamic two engine rooms are currently positioning (DP) console.

In addition, a selective catalytic reduction being installed. “The vessel During DP manoeuvres, the system ensures exhaust gases are reduced will hold the DNV GL AP-3 DP operator will face towards notation, so the correct design the aft where most of the safely below particular emissions limits.” of these spaces is critical,” says vessel’s sensitive equipment Santos. AP stands for alternative will be located. “You need a propulsion, and the notation very stable platform to carry covers the eventuality of any single failure out the array of surveys this vessel and can operate in up to one metre of ice of the propulsion systems. “To meet this will perform, otherwise the data may coverage,” he adds. standard, the vessel needs two separate become unreliable,” Santos explains.

According to Freire’s production engine rooms and two propulsion rooms, After delivery, B.A.P. Carrasco will manager, Santos, the yard’s biggest which have to be watertight and insulated be operated by the Peruvian Navy. challenge was to integrate all the ship’s against fire. The piping systems for the “Her operating profile will range from systems and equipment into a very propulsion can only be connected through hydrographic, biological, geological limited space. The vessel is packed with

Luis Santos, head of production Freire Shipyard

22 WINTER 2017 www.frontierenergy.info

The research vessel is being classed by DNV GL

B.A.P Carrasc

POLAR VESSELS

valves in both sides of the bulkhead,” explains Lucía Nogueira, Senior Surveyor at DNV GL’s station in Vigo.

Clean operations “This notation was very important to us because B.A.P. Carrasco will be venturing into restricted areas for very long periods of time, so we need to take all possible safety precautions.

Certification to the AP-3 notation demonstrates that the propulsion system can continue operating at 50% capacity in case of engine failure, ensuring a safe return to port,” explains Walter Flores Servat. The vessel will also be certified to the DNV GL CLEAN notation, which covers emissions to air from energy producers, cargo-handling systems and service systems on board, and DNV GL BWM-T, which prepares it for compliance with the Ballast Water Management Convention. “The vessel will have a Hyde Guardian ballast water treatment system

With a few months to until her maiden voyage, work on B.A.P Carrasco is progressing at a fast pace

using UV-light technology. In addition, a selective catalytic reduction system, which treats nitrogen oxide (NOX) emissions with urea, ensures exhaust gases are reduced safely below particular emission limits,” explains Santos. The Silent-A notation makes sure survey readings are not distorted by noise and vibrations from on-board systems. Heading back up from the engine rooms to the main deck, Luis Santos passes one of his favourite features. “It doesn’t look like much now, but this room will contain a so-called moon pool, an open shaft in the bottom of the hull that rises up to the centre of the ship to allow sensitive equipment to be lowered into the sea in all weather conditions,” he explains. On the starboard side of the vessel, a hangar containing a conductivity, temperature and depth (CTD) instrument allows scientists to take seawater samples at different depths. The steel-clad data cable used for lowering this instrument into the water is 5,000 metres long.

Proven cooperation Freire Shipyard specialises in building technically advanced vessels such as military patrol and training vessels and research ships. “The cooperation with DNV GL and Freire is going very well.

The shipyard is experienced in building research vessels, and having DNV GL as a classification partner will ensure the ship and its systems meet the highest safety standards,” says Flores Servat.

“B.A.P. Carrasco represents the highest standards in research vessels. We are very pleased to be classing such an impressive new-build and look forward to continuing this close cooperation

with Freire and the Peruvian Navy in the future,” says Christian von Oldershausen, segment director Navy at DNV GL – Maritime.

Freire’s Luis Santos has a few months before B.A.P. Carrasco has to be ready for her maiden voyage. “We still have a lot to do until then, but the project is going very well. Thanks to the support from DNV GL we feel fully in control and are confident there won’t be any surprises which could delay delivery. In recent years, about 50% of all vessels Freire has built are DNV GL-classed, so we have a long history of working closely together, and it continues to be a good fit.”

MAIN PARTICULARS • ■ Length overall: 95.30 m • ■ Beam: 18 m • ■ Depth to main deck: 9.20 m • ■ Draught: 5.95 m • ■ Number of crew and passengers: 110 (50 crew, 60 scientists) • ■ DNV GL class notations: DNV 1A1, E0, PC-7, CLEAN, BIS, SPS, AP-3 (50%), DPS2, BWM-T, COMF-C(3) V(3), SILENT-A

POWER AND SPEED • ■ Azimuth propulsion: 2 x 3,000 kW Rolls Royce AZP 120 CP • ■ Generating sets: 4 x Caterpillar 3516C x 2,250 kWe • ■ Max. speed: 16 knots • ■ Bow thrusters: 2 x Rolls Royce TT1850 DPN CP x 800 kW • ■ Winches: 4 x scientific winches Ibercisa • ■ Frames: Ferri 3 x scientific frames • ■ Main crane: Ferri 14 tonnes at 13 m

co, owned by the Peruvian Navy, will explore remote oceanic areas

www.frontierenergy.info WINTER 2017 23

Photos: Fotografía Jeloü Comunicación

Sophisticated equipment is waiting to be installed on the bridge to support navigation under challenging conditions

HEADERCODE POLAR

A new era for Arctic shipping The Polar Code, now in force as of January 1, 2017, and the Best Practice Forum could be a recipe for safer Arctic shipping and a template for other areas. Michael Kingston discusses the latest initiatives

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he Polar Code for Shipping came into force on January 1, 2017.

In the last edition of Frontier Energy we explained how the Polar Code will only be as good as we make it through education and enforcement and that we all have a duty to assist in that process. It is important all concerned are aware of the rules so that a third party or a rogue operator does not bring the house down for everyone in a sensitive place like the Arctic. There is now a fundamental requirement to educate all concerned about its provisions and the required data to be relied upon, including operators, flag states, insurers, financial markets, and port state control.

In order to do this effectively, a proposal for a Best Practice Information Forum to be set up to achieve this has been made to the Arctic Council’s Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment Working Group (PAME).

The proposal was tabled at the PAME 1 2016 Jan/ Feb meeting in Stockholm.

Previously in FE, we have commented that we would wait with interest to see how the Arctic Council receive the formal suggestion but noted that under the US Arctic Council Chairmanship, which lasts for two years, navigational safety is

the number one focus, and there is hope that this suggestion may be prioritised.

The argument that was put forward in Stockholm is that the Polar Code is an example of what we can achieve before a major disaster occurs but it needs help with enforcement.

Rationale The rationale behind the proposal is that we need to focus on the inputs in the required Polar Water Operational Manual which each ship owner is required to carry; inputs such as hydrographic data, meteorology, crew training, communication, ice charting etc. Were we to get the best standards for these inputs, this would equate to navigational safety, and the Forum will help to educate the decision makers in the stages of the process. All parties will be invited to participate in a meeting on an annual basis to explain the latest developments in their area. Additionally, it is suggested that they would automatically update a website with the best standards as and when they are produced. Each participant would be responsible for gathering the latest developments in their area of expertise on a cross-jurisdictional basis

and for updating the forum. The aim being that everyone would know where to go to get the best information, and so on, on a continual basis, or at least where to find out how to make productive further enquiries. We need to know what the best information is at any point in time and currently that knowledge is lacking in the various decision making stages of the process: operators, flag state, insurers, financiers, and port state control. Put simply, people do not know where to get reliable information.

We explained that PAME unanimously backed further investigation about this proposal and that work was being carried out by their Expert Shipping Group in relation to this forum. Further discussions would take place at their meeting in the State of Maine in September 2016 when it was hoped that the proposal would make further progress and that there was a possibility with a supreme effort that such a forum could be established in time for the handover of the Arctic Council Chairmanship from the US to Finland in April 2017.

We now know that the Arctic Council Summit will be in Fairbanks, Alaska on May 10—11, 2017.

This work could complement the already great work of the IMO Secretariat in implementing the Polar Code.

Before updating the Forum’s progress, it is important to reflect on the IMO Secretariat’s process for implementation of the Polar Code, which perhaps incentivise all concerned about how important it is to ensure that the regulations work to prevent disaster and how important the potential Forum could be.

IMO role

The MV Betelgeuse disaster

24 WINTER 2017 www.frontierenergy.info

The IMO Secretariat and the Polar Code Working Group, chaired by Turid Stemre of Norway, deserve huge credit for their work and the mechanics they have employed to implement it.

A historical problem with IMO Conventions is that after ‘adoption’ by the World Delegations at IMO headquarters in London they require

POLAR CODE Protecting the pristine polar environment

More Arctic shipping is on the way

ratification in national parliaments by a The environmental aspects under certain threshold of countries before they MARPOL, the crew certification aspects enter force. Some un-ratified Conventions, under the International Convention even from the 1970s, are still lying on on Standards of Training, Certification government shelves. and Watch-keeping for Seafarers, 1978 Two stark examples are the (STCW); (entry into force 1984), and the Torremolinos Convention for fishing safety aspects under SOLAS. boat safety – lying on government shelves Indeed, it was SOLAS 1974 that first since 1977 – and only ratified by the included the tacit acceptance procedure Netherlands, Norway, Iceland, and South which provides that an amendment shall Africa, and the enter into force Convention for on a specified date pollution from unless, before that fixed structures, date, objections to Often the pattern of also adopted the amendment are development is that it takes in 1977. In received from an the meantime, agreed number of a disaster for previously thousands of parties. suggested industry best practice lives have been Prior to SOLAS to be adopted as regulation lost in the fishing 1974, amendments industry, and required the we have no ratification of new international conventions – hence regulation surrounding pollution several versions of SOLAS prior to that, incidents such as the Deepwater Horizon the first one, SOLAS 1914 dating back to disaster, an incident which brought Arctic the Titanic disaster. regulation sharply into focus.

MARPOL and STCW also include the Often the pattern of development is ‘tacit acceptance procedure’ which allow that it takes a disaster for previously IMO Committees to agree amendments suggested industry best practice to be which will automatically become law adopted as regulation, and then another 12 months after a period of six months disaster to accelerate ratification. When from adoption unless in that six-month the oil tanker MV Betelgeuse exploded at period more than one third of parties, Gulf Oil’s Whiddy Island Oil Terminal in the combined merchant fleets of which Bantry Bay, Ireland on January 8, 1979 constitute not less than 50% of the gross killing 50 people she was not equipped tonnage of the world's merchant shipping, with simple inert gas systems that had have notified their objections to the previously been suggested as best practice. amendments. This has never happened.

SOLAS 1974 contained such measures.

However, it took many lives and a huge Next steps pollution incident to wake everyone up and ratify SOLAS 1974.

So, in this context, and given the effort taken to amend three Conventions to implement it, we are very fortunate that Amendments to Conventions the Polar Code has come into force. It will help prevent disaster if it is enforced.

To avoid this, the Polar Code has come Key to enforcement is to encourage the into force by way of an amendment to correct behavioural atmosphere for best three existing Conventions.

practice to prevail.

Therefore, the potential Arctic Council Forum is seen a key development to complement this great work by the IMO, and it could signal the way forward in other areas in the shipping world – building on the Polar Code’s unique ‘goal based’ approach, rather than prescriptive, allowing standards to improve and progress as better practice emerges.

Draft Terms of Reference for the Forum were reviewed positively by PAME in Maine in September 2016, and have been refined further by PAME’s Shipping Expert Group since then and set for approval in Copenhagen in the PAME 1 2017 Meeting (January 31 to February 2).

Indeed, a supreme effort has been put in by PAME’s Secretariat and delegations, and there is now more than a fighting chance that we will be able to deliver the news about the establishment of the Forum in our next edition. It is great to see such cross-jurisdictional collaboration across the Arctic working that also includes governments, industry, NGO’s, the indigenous community and other players, including the IMO, which will help to promote the correct behavioural atmosphere in relation to marine operations, the impact of which can extend to operations not covered by the Polar Code at present, such as commercial vessels under 500gt, fishing vessels and leisure craft.

Michael Kingston is the International Union of Marine Insurance’s representative at the IMO on Polar matters. He was awarded Lloyd’s List Global Maritime Lawyer of the Year 2014-2015 and the United States Coastguard Challenge Coin in July 2015 for his work on Arctic Risk and the Polar Code. For further information contact: Michaelkingston@ michaelkingstonassociates.org

www.frontierenergy.info WINTER 2017 25

INSIGHT

High potential: wind power

All good for green Renewable energy holds long-term potential in the Canadian Arctic, says new report

Clean energy: protecting Canada’s environment

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new study from World Wildlife Fund Canada's Arctic Programme says that renewable energy is not only possible for the Arctic - it could be cost-effective, as well.

“My biggest takeaway is that renewable [energy sources] in the Arctic are feasible and viable technically and economically,” said Claudio Cañizares, principal investigator for the Fuelling Change in the Arctic - Phase II report. “The results were much better than we expected.”

Currently in the Arctic, diesel fuel is the primary energy source, the report notes.

“The dependency on diesel has high logistical and financial costs, negative impacts on the environment, and hinders the self-sufficiency of northern communities. Renewable energy from wind and solar has been proven reliable in remote northern communities, and can contribute to sustainability in Northern Canadian communities and a cleaner Arctic environment.”

The report is the second phase of a study conducted by the University of Waterloo, Canada. The first phase identified five communities in Nunavut - Baker Lake, Saniqiluaq, Arviat, Rankin Inlet, and Iqaluit - where researchers believed renewable energy would have the greatest effect on efficiency and produce the most cost savings.

This phase modelled potential emissions over a 20-year period. According to the report, an initial investment in a mix

of renewable energy “can lead to immense carbon dioxide emissions reductions,” as well as millions in operation and maintenance savings.

The Waterloo Institute of Sustainable Energy partnered with the WWF to create models for Baker Lake, Sanikiluaq, Arviat, Rankin Inlet, and Iqaluit, calculating that the highest rate of potential greenhouse gas emissions reduction was 74% in Baker Lake, with the highest potential cost savings being $29.7 million saved over 20 years in Iqaluit.

WWF Canada has said that it is committed to seeing renewable energy deployed in remote northern communities, beginning with Arviat and two other communities yet to be determined.

In the report, it says the simulation results indicate that the deployment of renewable and diesel hybrid systems in any community “will always economically reduce the consumption of diesel”, highlighting the suitability of wind power generation, in particularly.

Going forward, the addition of battery energy storage systems will also reduce fuel use, though this is presently a more expensive solution for some communities.

If a batch of planned new pilot projects can further prove the viability of such renewable energy or hybrid systems for these isolated communities, then more green pow er can be expected soon in the remote Canadian Arctic.

Renewable energy is not only possible for the Arctic - it could be costeffective, as well

26 WINTER 2017 www.frontierenergy.info

NEW FRONTIERS! NEW TECHNOLOGY! NEW CHALLENGES! Frontier Energy is the world’s first magazine dedicated to the oil & gas and shipping operations in the Arctic and other challenging ice-affected regions.

Each issue will offer an exclusive insight into the technologies being used to overcome the challenges of this unique environment. Supported by a weekly e-newsletter, the magazine brings readers informative special reports and up-dates on all the latest developments.

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NEXT ISSUE Autumn 2016

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EVENTS

CONFERENCES AND EVENTS Arctic Oil & Gas Symposium March 15-16, 2017 Calgary, Canada The 17th annual Arctic Oil & Gas Symposium in Calgary, Alberta takes place this year on March 16-17. As one of North America’s premier oil and gas conferences, and focusing on the Arctic region, this much anticipated event brings together government officials, industry players and community leaders for an open discussion on moving production forward in Canada’s far north.

The energy sector currently faces economic and regulatory challenges, and there are many questions around the future of project development in the Arctic. This is the one event on which you can rely for the essential information you need to make informed decisions for your business and community.

Learn about progress on new infrastructure and smaller scale projects, get clarity on regulations, and address the key issues of concern around Arctic development.

A must-attend event for anyone involved in or looking to get involved in Arctic oil and gas development. This year takes place at the Delta Calgary Downtown Hotel, Calgary. www.canadianinstitute.com Arctic Shipping Forum April 25 - 28 Helsinki, Finland An excellent forum for networking and understanding all that is going on in the world of Arctic shipping and relevant also for those in the energy sector. Gain insight into new opportunities for shipping in the Arctic and harsh environments from informed speakers and leading industry heavyweights. Themes and topics under the microscope this year include implementing the Polar Code, emergency response in the Arctic, and case studies from recent voyages via the North-West Passage and Northern Sea Route.

Other topics to be discussed include Russia’s Arctic projects, with a focus on shipping support and the challenges involved, as well as the development of the shipbuilding cluster in Arkhangelsk. The forum, which also includes a trade exhibition, takes place at the Helsinki Congress Paasitorni. www.maritime.knect365.com 10th Arctic Shipping Summit March 8 - 9 Montreal, Canada This event will explore and discuss current regulations and requirements from the IMO and regional Coast Guards, examine commercial aspects, insurance challenges and consider training requirements and ship design options to help aid the future of Arctic operations. www.wplgroup.com

28 WINTER 2017 www.frontierenergy.info

Arctic Oil & Gas Symposium March 15-16 Delta Bow Valley, Calgary.

For over 15 years, the annual Arctic Oil & Gas Symposium has been a gathering place for discussion and sharing, bringing together industry players, community leaders and government officials involved in northern projects. www.canadianinstitute.com Ocean Business 2017 April 4 - 6 National Oceanography Centre Southampton, UK Incorporating an international ocean technology exhibition running in parallel with live demonstrations and training sessions, a technical conference, associated industry-led meetings, and ocean careers. www.oceanbusiness.com 13th Annual Polar Technology Conference April 11 - 12 Denver, Colorado The PTC brings together polar scientists and technology developers to exchange information on research system operational needs and technology solutions for polar environments. www.polartech.datatransport.org Arctic Shipping Forum April 25 - 28 Helsinki Congress Paasitorni Helsinki Gain insight into new opportunities for shipping in the Arctic and harsh environments. Themes include implementing the Polar Code, emergency response in the Arctic, and case studies from recent voyages via the North-West Passage and Northern Sea Route. maritime.knect365.com Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) May 1- 4 NRG Park, Houston, Texas OTC is the largest event in the world for the oil and gas industry featuring more than 2,400 exhibitors, and attendees representing 120 countries. www.2017.otcnet.org Week of the Arctic May 8 - 14 Fairbanks & Anchorage, Alaska A week of collaboration and celebration as the United States hands the Arctic Council chairmanship to Finland. Presentations, workshops, cultural exchanges, a closing reception and side meetings will highlight key themes and accomplishments. www.akarctichost.org

Yamal Oil & Gas 6th International Forum and Exhibition June 7 - 9 Salekhard, Russia The only international conference dedicated to the booming Yamal oil and gas industry, now a hub of large-scale E&P, refining, LNG and infrastructure projects. Learn about new oil and gas growth prospects in Yamal and Russia’s northern areas and ensure you are making the best strategic commercial decisions. Meet 300+ industry leaders, including more than 70 heads of international and Russian oil and gas majors, investors, world's leading technology and equipment providers. www.yamaloilandgas.com Inuvik Petroleum Show June 12 - 14 Inuvik, Northwest Territories After over a decade of hosting the Inuvik Petroleum Show, the town of Inuvik is pleased to present the 2nd annual Arctic Energy and Emerging Technologies (AEET) Conference and Tradeshow to take place every June in Inuvik, Northwest Territories. www.inuvikarcticenergy.com 14th Moscow International Oil & Gas Exhibition June 27 - 23 Moscow As part of the exhibition, the Russian Petroleum and Gas Congress/RPGC 2017 will take place from 27-29 June 2017. Over the past decade, RPGC has become a central meeting place to help oil and gas professionals gain more technical knowledge on how to find new opportunities in Russia. More than 1,000 delegates from 40 countries www.mioge.ru Rovaniemi Arctic Summit November 14 - 16 The biannual Arctic conference ‘Rovaniemi Arctic Spirit’ will be 14-16 November 2017 in Lappia Hall, Hallituskatu 11, 96100 Rovaniemi, Finland. The preliminary programme and online registration will be available from May 2017. The conference is organised by the City of Rovaniemi, The Arctic Centre of the University of Lapland together with the Arctic Society of Finland. It is integrated with the 10th Polar Law Symposium, which will be held on 13-14, November 2017 in Rovaniemi, Arktikum. www.rovaniemiarcticspirit.fi

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