PREMIER OIL NORTH SEA NEWS 2014 / ISSUE 1
UK BU NEWS
COMMUNITY
ASSET & PROJECTS UPDATE
PEOPLE
QUALITY IS COMING TO A BU NEAR YOU
CHRISTMAS ON BALMORAL
CATCHER PROGRESSING TOWARDS SANCTION
PREMIER PEOPLE WITH LAUREN & CATHERINE
SOLAN TAKES SHAPE
CONNECT
CONTENTS PAGE 3
LETTER FROM MIKE SKITMORE
PAGE 4 QUALITY IS COMING TO A BU NEAR YOU PAGE 6 PREMIER OIL TEAMS UP WITH THE CMI PAGE 8 BALMORAL ACHIEVES GOLD FOR HEALTHY WORKING LIVES PAGE 9 HSESQ QUARTERLY EVENT PROMPTS ACTION PAGE 10 NEW OFFICE NEARS COMPLETION PAGE 10 CHRISTMAS ON BALMORAL PAGE 11 PREMIER OIL GIVING BACK TO THE COMMUNITY PAGE 12
SOLAN REACHES 4 MILLION MAN-HOUR MILESTONE
PAGE 14
CATCHER PROGRESSING TOWARDS SANCTION
PAGE 15
REGISTRATION NOW OPEN FOR CORPORATE DECATHLON
PAGE 16 GRADUATE PROGRAMME ATTRACTS NEW RECRUITS PAGE 18 PREMIER PEOPLE BACK PAGE
ROLL OUT THE RED CARPET
UK BU : 2014 LUNCH AND LEARN PROGRAMME 2014 Department
Topic
Speaker(s)
Date
Q2
Solan
What is Solan?
Phil Cruickshank
16th April
Q2
Absafe
Road Safety
Fiona Watson
22nd April
Q2
HR - BP&I
Pensions
Bob Middleton (BP&I)
23rd April
Q2
Legal
Consequential Loss
Sue Mithen
7th May
Q2
Legal - MM&S
Independence Referendum - The Legal issues
Representative from MMS
13th May
Q2
HR
HR Capabilities and Services
HR Team
20th May
Q2
Engineering
The Marine Side of Solan
Roger Armstrong
22nd May
Q2
Operations
Balmoral Overview
Ed Douglas / Gordon Buchan
29th May
Q2
Engineering
The Function of the Engineering Group within Premier Oil
Bill Nicol
4th June
Q2
C&P
Introduction to C&P
Dan Wright
17th June
Q3
HR
Nutrition & Fitness Initiative
Scott Baptie (Food for Fitness) 10th July
Q3
HSESQ
STOP Programme
STOP Co-ordinators
15th July
Q3
HR
Payroll
Alison Carroll
30th July
Q3
Finance
G&A / Time Writing
Simon Tweedie
26th August
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CONNECT
LETTER FROM MIKE SKITMORE The objectives of the UK Business Unit this year are of key strategic importance to Premier as a whole and this year is going to be a pivotal year for all of us. Last year was not without its challenges and we addressed those full on. This year will be tougher in some ways, and I need to ask everyone to get totally aligned with what we need to deliver. One of the most important targets of this business unit is to see a marked improvement in our HSE performance to ensure people go to work and return home again safely. So this year will see a considerable push to achieve this because we all know our performance here has to improve. We will be targeting a much quicker close-out of incident reports and ensuring a robust method of learning lessons.
MIKE SKITMORE Position:
UK BUSINESS UNIT MANAGER
We will also roll out the Safety Compass, relaunch the Golden Rules with focused training and roll out a safety intervention campaign for the office community, similar to the STOP campaign on Balmoral. For the Solan development, 2014 will see the culmination of many years of hard work as we undertake the final push towards our target of first oil in Q4. We have a tough drilling campaign starting this month, we need to get the tank from Dubai to the UK, and then we need to sailaway the jacket and topsides from Methil. A huge programme of work which will get us positioned to get first oil by the end of the year.
partner and government sanction into execution, and begin the next phase of the journey, with first oil targetted for 2017. We must learn from our other projects and ensure we are organised for success. In terms of production, we want to see an improvement across the portfolio. Last year we made big strides in production performance despite a slower than planned start from Huntington and Rochelle – this year those two fields need to do even better. Production from the Balmoral area is in good shape and we need to continue a steady run of production. We are also looking forward to reinstatement of Kyle to production after being offline since 2011. Certain things are vital if we are to overcome the challenges ahead and meet our objectives for 2014. Firstly, we have to ensure that we need to learn from our experiences and understand what we need to do differently to succeed. Secondly, we have to remember that the goals of the BU are ultimately everyone’s shared objectives. In order to meet them we need everyone, right across the BU, working together closer than ever before. One team, overcoming challenges and sharing the successes. We need to raise our game this year in all areas and everyone’s help, regardless of their role, is required if we are to achieve the objectives of this Business Unit. I look forward to sharing with you all a productive and – above all – a safe 2014.
For Catcher, this is also a crucial point in the project as we seek to move it through NORTH SEA PREMIER OIL 1 2014 / ISSUE
NEWS
PEOPLE
COMMUNIT UK BU NEWS
COMING QUALITY IS YOU TO A BU NEAR
Y
FOR £4K RAISED MEN’S HEALTH
UPDATE ASSET & PROJECTS
DS
SSING TOWAR CATCHER PROGRE ON SANCTI
WITH PREMIER PEOPLE INE LAUREN & CATHER
THE NEW CONNECT Tell us what you think of the new-look magazine. What do you want to see in future issues? We’d would love to hear your suggestions.
SOLAN TAKE
S SHAPE
Email your ideas to cwalker@premier-oil.com
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CONNECT UK BU NEWS
QUALITY IS COMING TO A BU NEAR YOU Quality means many things to many people. Ian Middler, Senior QA Engineer, explores the topic of quality management and provides an update on Premier’s plans to integrate a robust Quality Management System in to the Business Unit. Let me introduce myself to you, my name is Q, no not the 007 Q, but the other Q… as in Quality Assurance. When you think of Quality Assurance, what comes to mind? For many people it’s hard to pin down and get a definitive answer. Typically you’ll hear something like “making sure the software I bought works” or “knowing that the new car I just bought is going to last longer than it will take to pay it off.” Some people say “I’m not entirely sure, but I know it when I see it. Better yet, I know it when it’s not there.” In all instances these
are correct, although they still miss the point. Quality Assurance means many things to many people. In order to come up with an agreeable definition, specific for the industry we work in, we need to ever so briefly consider where Quality in its modern concept originated “What’s this all about” I here you say, well to explain it further we need to go back in time to a dark and dismal place – back to the 1930s. Quality as a modern concept came into the full front in the 1930s in a large part due to mass production. You will have
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seen the old footage from Hendry Ford’s car plants in the good old US of A where the Model T Fords were produced. Products on an assembly line were inspected to catch defects and take corrective actions. These efforts led to more efficient concepts, such as sampling of production runs. This practice continued through the 1940s until after World War II. In their efforts in assisting in rebuilding the Japanese infrastructure, Dr. W. Edwards Deming and Joseph Juran (Quality Gurus) were instrumental in creating concepts of Quality Control and Quality Assurance that
CONNECT UK BU NEWS
Ian Middler, Senior QA Engineer
applied to the manufacturing industry. Those concepts eventually grew into a school of thought known as a “Quality Management System”. These systems continue to evolve and mature into what they are today and have become standard practice in many companies throughout the world.
WHAT IS A QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM? If I told you I would have to kill you… sorry… that’s the other Q. A Quality Management System (QMS) is a set of policies, processes and procedures required for planning and execution in the core business areas of an organisation. Some people generically refer to the group of documents as a QMS, but specifically it refers to the entire system - the documents just describe it. A QMS integrates the various internal processes within an organisation that enables the organisation to identify, measure, control and improve the various core business processes that will ultimately lead to improved business performance and continuous improvement. Therefore, a QMS that works well is nothing more than good business practice. The international Standard for Quality Management Systems is ISO9001 and
this is the standard that the UK BU QMS will be based on. Why do we need to comply with an ISO Standard? Well, the UK BU is already certified to ISO14001 for Environmental Management and OHSAS 18001 for Health & Safety Management. A QMS based on ISO9001 will complement these other management systems, which in turn will be part of the new UK BU Business Management System (BMS) being introduced. “But earlier you said that this Quality system was for manufacturers producing things like cars” – we don’t produce anything and don’t have customers – do we? If you think about it, each BU function supports other functions in the BU so these are our / your customers. How about the oil we produce; how do we control the design of a well; how do we monitor the quality of the oil and how much we sell; how do we ensure the contracts we award are to the right companies; how do we ensure that our staff are trained and competent; what happens when things go wrong; how is this controlled and corrected; how do we check processes and procedures are working; how do Management review the performance of the UK BU and make things better? All these points are related to having a robust QMS in place and people knowing their part in the process. This is all part of the continuous improvement cycle which we as a BU are trying to promote.
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WHAT’S NEXT? There will be a number of workshops organised in the year where the plan for the introduction of the QMS will be explained. We are also looking for volunteers who would be interested in ISO9001 Internal Auditor training or Lead Auditor training. If you are interested please contact Carol Gibson in HR Training or Ian Middler Senior QA Engineer (Q) who have information on the courses. Following on from that the various business functions will be consulted on the part they can play in the QMS and processes and procedures will be revised or developed which will promote Quality throughout the UK BU. If we succeed in this we will be one of only a small number of oil operators who have introduced a QMS into their BMS. So, who knows what’s next - ISO9001 certification? An even smaller number of operators are certified to the standard. Part of our C&P tendering process is that we require our contractors to be certified to the ISO9001 Standard, or similar, so why shouldn’t we be? I will leave you with one final thought which not only deals with Quality but can be applied to anything we do in our working day, in particular how we are trying to promote a better safety culture. Quality or safety is doing it right when nobody is looking.
CONNECT UK BU NEWS
PREMIER OIL TEAMS UP WITH THE CMI Premier recognises the importance of investing in the personal and professional development of our people. As part of our strategy to enhance the delivery of management and leadership training we have introduced the Premier Leadership Management Programme.
The Premier Leadership Management Programme (PLMP) was launched towards the end of last year. The programme will be accredited by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI). It is available to all staff employees working within the UK business unit. So far over 70 participants have signed up through the initial intake. Eligible members of the BU can sign up for the programme any time. Duncan Salmon, Talent & Training Team Lead, tells us more about the programme: “The PLMP was launched as part of our strategy to enhance the learning and development provision of leadership and management training (one of our 5 streams of training) within Premier and in furtherance of our vision to recruit, train and develop our people to the highest standard.
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“The programme of modules combines a range of learning styles – including traditional training, discussion, computer simulations, presentations and role-play scenarios - to create an engaging training programme and build positive career prospects for our personnel.” With the CMI connection, participants not only benefit from access to the CMI’s online resources but also have the opportunity to progress their qualifications in the leadership and management arena. Duncan continues: “On successful completion of the PLMP, candidates will gain a Premier Oil/CMI diploma as well as Premier Oil/CMI certification at the end of each level. Modules include leadership, change management, communication and commercial awareness.”
CONNECT UK BU NEWS
UK BU PREMIER LEADERSHIP MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME
SUPERVISOR LEVEL
(INTRODUCTION)
MANAGER LEVEL
(APPLICATION)
1 day
Communication 1 Skills Course
LEADERSHIP LEVEL (ENHANCED) 0.5 day
Managing the Team Interactive Exercise (Major Energy Exercise) 1 day
Leadership 1 Different Styles Serve to Lead Discussion
1 day
Strategic Safety Leadership 1 day 1 day
Change Management
Communication 2
0.5 day 1 day
1 day
Management 1 6 Hats
Management 2 Jigsaw Application 2 days
0.5-1 day
Performance Management 2
Performance Management Including Coaching Skills 0.5 day
Safety Leadership 1 day
Values and Behaviours 1 Jigsaw 1 day
Commercial Awareness 1
5 days
MBA
0.5 day
Employee Engagement What? When? How? Importance of 2 days
Leadership 2 Practical, Philosophy 0.5 day
Values and Behaviours 2 Unpacking and Understanding
1 day
Commercial Awareness 2
Leadership 3 Leadership Summation – Followed by Dinner
3 days
Commercial Awareness 3
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“To ensure the highest possible pass rates, participants will have exclusive access to resource information such as news, calendars and forums through the Premier Connect Intranet as well as the full support of the HR department and the strategic support of the BU Leadership Team.”
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BALMORAL ACHIEVES GOLD FOR HEALTHY WORKING LIVES that a long-term strategy is in place along with rolling forward plans to ensure the wellbeing of our personnel. Balmoral adopted Healthy Working Lives as a lifestyle-culture-philosopy and engaged the workforce with the motto “Feel free to talk to us.
“The achievement of the Gold Award is testament to the hard work and commitment of all involved in operations on Balmoral. The ongoing challenge now is to maintain the Gold standard. We have plans in place to continue with our existing programmes and introduce new projects.”
Premier has demonstrated a clear ongoing commitment to improving the health, safety and wellbeing of our employees onboard Balmoral. Patrick Whyte, Medic, tells us more about our newly achieved Gold Award for Healthy Working Lives (HWL). “The aim of Healthy Working Lives (HWL) is to guide organisations towards a safer and healthier working environment. We achieved the Silver Award for Balmoral back in 2012 in recognition of our drive to
“We have worked extremely hard to create a progressive health and safety culture onboard Balmoral, and across the entire organisation, with a focus on encouraging positive employee behavioural changes. Throughout 2013 we introduced a range of new campaigns focused on healthy eating and encouraged individuals or FPV groups to take on challenges like the West Highland Way walk or to stop smoking. We held open monthly meetings and introduced ‘Mentally Healthy Workplace Online Training’ to drive positive changes. As part of our efforts, the Balmoral became the first installation in the North Sea to have trained four Level 1 gym instructors.”
identify the health needs of our workforce and the proactive steps we take to improve health and safety in the workplace. “The Gold award requires organisations to take this to the next level and demonstrate
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Balmoral Asset Manager Ed Douglas and HSE Technical Assistant Lisa Robertson collected the award at the November 2013 presentation held at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre.
For more information about HWL visit: www.healthyworkinglives.com
CONNECT UK BU NEWS
HSESQ QUARTERLY EVENT PROMPTS ACTION In February, Premier Oil hosted its HSESQ Quarterly Event at the Ardoe House Hotel, aimed at airing any burning issues, shaping future agendas and posing any questions for the Leadership Team. The open forum welcomed 49 Premier Oil staff and contractors. This included safety representatives and supervisors from Balmoral FPV and BiFab; our fabrication partner on the Solan project. Peter Buchan, OHSE Team Lead told Premier Connect about the format: “The event encouraged open discussion around HSESQ. We were delighted to see so clearly
the level of importance our team places on safety. HSESQ is first and foremost in their minds. Mike Skitmore, UK BU Manager and Ed Douglas, Balmoral FPV Asset Manager spoke at the review, prompting discussion around key issues and updating everyone on the nature and role played by the Safety Compass. Peter said the quarterly event was a great success: “These events give us a great insight into the challenges, successes and areas for improvement within our HSESQ system. We were extremely grateful to all the attendees for their honest and active contribution. Open discussion is exactly
what our business needs in order to continuously improve.” Speaking of the future Peter said: “Feedback was asked from those attending on how they thought the day had progressed. The results will be integrated into future quarterly events.”
“The success of these events depends on the continued support and attendance from all areas of our Business Unit. This represents a great opportunity for onshore and offshore people to gain access to the Leadership Team and to agree how we can all contribute to improving our performance.” Peter Buchan OHSE Team Lead
The dates for the next reviews have been set and are as follows: Q2 - Thursday 8 May HSEQ Event @ Ardoe House Q3 - Thursday 14 August HSEQ Event @ Ardoe House Q4 - Thursday 13 November HSEQ Event @ Ardoe House
To ensure your place at the future events, please email Gillian Marshall gmarshall@premier-oil.com
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CONNECT UK BU NEWS
NEW OFFICE NEARS COMPLETION
neighbours include the DeVere Hotel, with a chop and ale house, Starbucks, swimming pool, gym and spa. In addition, the Kingswellies Nursery will open at the site later in the year and a café/deli next door to us will be open in time for us moving in.
developers will make more announcements on who will be joining us at Prime Four in due course. You can find more information on the new office, images and videos at the Prime Four page on the Premier Connect intranet.
Further retail outlets are being planned for phase 4 or the development and the Building work on our new office building at the Prime Four site at Kingswells is continuing at a pace. Construction is expected to be complete by the middle of July, when the developer will hand over the bare building. This will be followed by around three months of fit-out work, which will turn the blank canvas into an office ready to move in to. Work will include the addition of flooring, electrics, IT, wall partitions and furnishing. The move-in date is expected to be around the middle of November and familiarisation tours will be organised for people in advance. The developers are working on delivering high quality local amenities. Our new
CHRISTMAS ON BALMORAL Despite being away from family and friends at the festive season the Balmoral crew lightened the mood on Christmas Day with a visit from Santa and some of his elves and reindeer (house trained). A number of other characters also showed face at the fancy dress competition including the Tin Man from the classic
Christmas film The Wizard of Oz. It is not known whether Santa was able to make one of the crew members happy with all the presents he had asked for at Christmas…
Dear Sa nt a + Ru dolph GOOD BOY * I HAVE BEE N A VE RY R. THIS YEA ER SO HARD * I HAVE WO RKED EV TO ALL MY OD GO N BEE E HAV AN D I DS. EN FRI FAMILY AN D OPTE R FO R I WO UL D LIKE A HE LIC HO ME FO R T GE TO DS EN FRI MY CH RI STMA S. y hard because of I kno w this wil l be ver and the sleigh you if but er, the weath in set , wi- fi, tra , can fly !!!! And an I pad ker plu nk, a dy, ted Me e abl 42” tv, Des pic m falcon, a niu len mil Neil Dia mo nd cd, leg o, ls hou se dol a g, ckin sto ate col bike, a cho ell (W l. dol a for my litt le sis ter and .) me for lly tha t’s rea hel p himsel f Please tel l Ru dol ph to can have a drin k you and rot car to the r. doo t before you go nex
St evie Baillie
+ 30 day s old Aged 53 yrs , 9 mo nths
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An excellent effort was made by the crew of the Balmoral FPV in raising the sum of £2,700 in their annual Christmas and New Year Raffle. The proceeds are to be divided equally between the following charities which were nominated by crew members: Highland Hospice Inverness Macmillan Nurses Strathcarron Hospice The Sick Children’s Trust Alzheimer’s UK Prizes included a wide range of vouchers and electrical equipment such as ipad minis and kindles. The crew would like to thank Premier Oil, WGPSN and all the companies who donated prizes.
This sum was matched by Premier Oil, taking the total raised to £5,400. Well done to all involved!
CONNECT COMMUNITY
PREMIER OIL GIVING BACK TO THE COMMUNITY Building a sustainable business in partnership with our people and the communities in which we operate is essential to the success of Premier Oil. The UK BU Charitable Donations & Sponsorship Committee seeks to promote Premier Oil’s Community Investment Policy, by supporting social investment in local charitable organisations whose values and goals are aligned with our company values of creativity, professionalism, respect, tenacity and dynamism. Chris Walker, External Affairs Manager, explains more about the importance of establishing positive corporate social responsibility (CSR) partnerships; “Premier Oil has a footprint in the local community and it is right that our presence and position can have a positive effect on the lives of local people. “By putting something back into the community, we can support the aims and objectives of local charities and organisations, but our own people can also benefit by improving staff morale and fostering a positive, supportive culture. Our CSR partnerships go far beyond basic financial assistance.
“We aim to establish long-term relationships with our CSR partner organisations which provide sustainable and tangible mutual benefits for both parties.” In the last issue we introduced Aberdeenbased safety awareness charity AbSafe as our first CSR partner of 2013/2014. Since then we have continued to develop partnerships with two other very worthwhile causes - Horseback UK and Geobus.
range of charitable organisation in the last year, including Aberdeen Seafarers Centre, Archway, Kincardine & Deeside Befriending, Barnardo’s Aberdeen, Stepping Stones Playgroup in Forfar, the Sandpiper Trust, Aberdeen Care and Repair, Scottish Traditional Skills Training Centre, Scottish Snow Cross Championship, Westhill District Amateur Swimming Club and Newtonhill Scout Group.
HORSEBACK UK
GEOBUS GeoBus is an educational outreach project for schools, developed and run by the Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences at the University of St Andrews. GeoBus visits secondary schools across Scotland and northern England with the aim of supporting earth science teaching by providing resources that are not readily available to teachers and pupils. “Geobus’ main aim is to inspire young people and support the delivery of Earth Science education,” explains Chris. “The project provides a link between industry, higher education and schools to promote STEM subjects and highlight career opportunities in geology. This fits well with Premier’s objective to support the promotion of STEM careers. “Premier Oil has, jointly between Aberdeen and London, committed to sponsor this organisation to the sum of £16,000 a year for the next three years and we look forward to providing them with some practical hands-on support too.” In addition to our CSR partnership, Premier Oil also provided financial assistance to a
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Based near Aboyne, Horseback UK is a charity which provides a safe and secure environment to those who have suffered physical injury and/or acute stress as a result of serving in the UK armed forces. The charity combines western horsemanship, rural skills and adventure training to integrate serving personnel and veterans into the rural community, providing them with a sense of focus and helping them on the pathway to a rewarding and meaningful future. “Premier Oil provided Horseback UK with a donation of £16,500 to buy a minibus,” explains Chris. “This has made a significant difference to how the charity transports personnel – many of whom have physical disabilities. We have committed to further supporting Horseback UK through their team-building and leadership events and will provide eager volunteers to help with miscellaneous voluntary work.” For more information about our CSR partnerships and how to get involved please contact Chris Walker. cwalker@premieroil.com
CONNECT ASSET & PROJECTS UPDATE
SOLAN REACHES 4 MILLION MAN-HOUR MILESTONE
The Solan project team overcame a number of significant challenges during 2013, tackling various drilling and fabrication issues proactively alongside our key contractors to ensure the project remained on track for first oil in Q4 2014. The end of 2013 saw total project man-hours reach 4.4 million with approximately 1,000 people working from the BiFab site in Fife (Methil) and a further 1,300 operators from Drydocks World’s yard in Dubai, in addition to the project teams across the sites and business unit. We are looking to ramp this up in 2014. Following the Operations Readiness
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Review at the tail-end of last year, we are completing the commissioning plans in preparation for production operations. Phase 1 of the drilling was completed in October and the 2014 drilling campaign resumed in March. Completion of fabrication activity is now only a few months away, with the jacket currently sitting at 88% completion, topside module at 92% and the tank at 92.5%. The progress on the platform has been noticeable recently, with the living quarters and the helideck having been moved into position on the topside module.
CONNECT ASSET & PROJECTS UPDATE
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CONNECT ASSET & PROJECTS UPDATE
CATCHER PROGRESSING TOWARDS SANCTION
The Catcher development is progressing towards sanction, with a number of milestones now achieved. All major contracts are near to completion and in the final stages with acceptable terms and conditions.
capacity of 650,000 bbl. BW Offshore will order a new built hull from Japan for the project, while conversion and integration work will be performed in Singapore. The firm charter period of the contract is seven years, with extension options.
A Letter of Award (LOA) has been signed with BW Offshore to provide an FPSO. The LOA will be converted into a final contract subject to final partner sanction and Government approval, expected during Q2, 2014.
The rig and well systems contracts have also been agreed. Wells will be drilled over six four-slot templates from a heavy duty jack-up. In addition, agreements have been reached for a subsea well system with HP riser and subsea trees. Workovers will be possible from either an intervention vessel, jack-up or semi-submersible.
BW Offshore’s scope includes the delivery of the FPSO, mooring system, installation and operation of the unit throughout the charter period. The FPSO will have a processing capacity of 60,000 bopd and a storage
The Environmental Statement was submitted at the end of 2013 and the Field
Development Plan was submitted to the Department of Energy and Climate Change in early 2014. The project team is in place and will deliver first oil in the summer of 2017. Tammie Sebire has moved to Aberdeen to take the role of Catcher Area Development Manager to oversee the Catcher development and will report to Mike Skitmore. Tammie was previously Group Development Assets Manager in the London office. Andy Wilson will report to Tammie in her new role. John Tickell will continue to run the non-operated portfolio and has set up a commercial function within the UK BU.
“This is an incredibly challenging and complex project and I’d like to thank my team for the tremendous work they’ve done already to get us to this stage. “The challenge, however, is only just beginning and as we move through sanction and into execution phase we will need to work together to maintain this pace and stay focused on delivering this unique project.” Tammie Sebire Catchment Area Development Manager
Tammie Sebire takes on the role of Catcher Area Development Manager.
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CONNECT PEOPLE
REGISTRATION NOW OPEN FOR CORPORATE DECATHLON Premier Oil is appealing for volunteers to take part in the 2014 Activity Mix Corporate Decathlon. This year Premier Oil is taking part in 10 separate events, competing against companies throughout Aberdeen. The Corporate Decathlon, which gives participants the opportunity to promote a healthy lifestyle, take on a personal challenge, meet new people and be part of a community, forms part of the company’s sports and social activities. Iain MacKenzie, JV Analyst – Exploration, will be coordinating and running Premier’s entry alongside Gary May and said: “The Aberdeen Corporate Decathlon is an extremely beneficial event for Premier Oil to be part of. It will enthuse people to try something new, inspire them to help reach the team goals and engage large parts of our company; bringing different people together with the same goal. This coupled with the increased company profile and networking opportunities available, makes the event one of a kind.” Premier’s debut in the Corporate Decathlon took place earlier this month with a team of 8 (Adrienne McDonald, Gary May, Iain Mackenzie, Julie Forsyth, Keith Hendry, Lois Duncan, Malcolm Nealon and Robbie McKean) competing in the Darts Challenge. After losing a close first tie against Nalco Champion, the team went on to beat A2B & PWC in quick succession; securing a quarter-final place against Centrica. In a high quality game we lost to the stronger team 2-1, but walked away joint 5th with 49 points in our first outing – an impressive result given the practice some of the other teams have had.
CORPORATE DECATHLON 2014 CALENDAR APRIL
MAY
Team Health Challenge
25 26
Friday
Initial Assessment Saturday
Initial Assessment
JUNE
14
Friday
Final Assessment Final Assessment
Saturday
Final Assessment
Adventure Running Saturday
Dragon Boat Racing
23 24
League 1 Saturday
League 2
Touch Rugby
19
Saturday
SEPTEMBER
Lawn Bowls
13 14
AUGUST
9
17
Friday
Saturday
Highland Games
28
16
JULY
Team Health Challenge
13
Dance the World
Saturday
League 2 Sunday
League 1
Saturday
League 1 Sunday
League 2
OCTOBER
Swimming
5
Sunday
Sports Award Ball
24
Friday
To register your interest and join the Premier decathlon team, please email imackenzie@premier-oil.com.
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CONNECT PEOPLE
GRADUATE PROGRAMME ATTRACTS NEW RECRUITS In October 2012 we launched the first-ever Premier Oil graduate programme, attracting 5 talented new graduates to the organisation, who have all recently started with the company. Introduced to enhance our existing skills base, the graduate programme is an exciting development for Premier Oil that will complement and support our long-term learning and development strategy. Speaking of the initiative, Peter Veitch, HR Business Partner, Falkland Islands Business Unit commented: “Our graduate programme equips the next generation of industry leaders with the technical and leadership skills needed for a successful career in the international oil and gas industry.
“This new programme has allowed us to package up the training, mentoring and on-the-job experience required to offer university leavers a clear career path within Premier. We believe that this initiative demonstrates our commitment to the industry and the vast career opportunities that are presented within it.” Peter continues, “Through this programme, our graduates will be exposed to real situations and with the support of training, be entrusted to take on decision critical work. The placement will last approximately
three years and in that time, our graduates will follow a curriculum specific to their chosen role, but will also be given exposure to different areas of the business to suit operational requirements.” The programme kicked off in October with a 3-week induction, when the new graduates were given an introduction to the business, undertook mandatory offshore survival training, and received safety leadership training, communication skills, presentation skills and self awareness training.
The Premier Graduates at their induction
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CONNECT PEOPLE
Here is what the graduates have to say on their experiences at Premier so far:
“Having spent three weeks in Aberdeen at the beginning of the graduate programme, being dunked in helicopters; improving our presentations skills and determining whether or not we are a sunshine yellow or a fiery red character as part of the insights training, I am now working as part of the Rest of the World team in Brazil and having to learn very quickly.” Tom Kenison
“The graduate programme at Premier has been a great experience so far. From the moment I started working with the Subsurface Team at the Falkland Islands BU I was assigned to a project that will have a real impact on the execution of the Sea Lion development. There have been a number of learning opportunities for me both within the core project I am assigned to and on different side projects.” Aldo Lopez
“Since joining Premier Oil I have been working within the Engineering Team in Aberdeen supporting projects primarily for the Balmoral FPV. I have had exposure to a range of projects and found the culture within Premier Oil to be very welcoming.” Duncan Caird
“Since joining the Drilling Engineer graduate scheme, I have been exposed to a great number of opportunities, predominantly in Premier Oil Vietnam Offshore (POVO) on the Dua development. The drilling training programme in conjunction with practical experience has begun to give me a well-rounded view of drilling engineering.” Sam Cockwell
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“Being involved in the rig acceptance of the West Telesto in Vietnam has exposed me to the in-depth functioning of various systems on a jack up rig. It has been a unique experience from which I will take many learnings. It felt like we were not just idle observers but actually made a meaningful contribution to the process. In addition, living and working in Vietnam, experiencing the local culture and travelling in the South East Asia region has been very rewarding.” Michael O’Donnell
Following on from the success of the initial intake, Premier Oil has recruited a further 6 graduates for the 2014 programme. Through this intake, we have recruited graduates looking for a career as a Petroleum Engineer, Development Geoscientist, Drilling Engineer, Reservoir Engineer, HSE Advisor and a role in Contracts and Procurement.
To find out more about the graduate programme, please email Peter Veitch. pveitch@premieroil.com
CONNECT PEOPLE
PREMIER PEOPLE Premier People is all about getting to know the people within the business unit and finding out more about your colleagues. In this issue, Lauren Noble, STOP Coordinator onboard Balmoral FPV, and Catherine Brown, Business Analyst on the Maximo Optimisation Project share their responses
If you could give your 18 year old self one piece of advice what would it be? Buy shares in Apple.
Something people would be surprised to know about me is… Before I turned 15 I had already broke each arm 3 times. Bit of a tomboy.
What three things would you take to a desert island? A 20ft inflatable book called ‘How to make oars out of sand’, Mary Poppins Handbag and vodka (for antiseptic reasons of course).
The best thing about working at Premier is… The offshore banter.
The movie of my life would be entitled… Little Miss Sunshine or Drinking Buddies.
What three things do you always have in your fridge? Lurpack, Wine and R22.
LAUREN NOBLE Position:
STOP COORDINATOR
Thran, Pernickety, Bletherer. Ask a person who speaks Doric what these words mean.
Who would you most like to meet, dead or alive? What would you ask (tell) that person? James Dean – ‘brake’ John F Kennedy – ‘duck’
Career-high? Not anywhere near where I want to be yet.
Project:
BALMORAL FPV
Describe yourself in three words…
Career-low? Working three different jobs a day (cleaner, waitress, bar staff) in Oz and only making $200 a week.
What job would you do if you weren’t doing this one? Investigative Journalist.
My favourite place in the world is… Sunset at Mambo’s in Ibiza with my friends and a few cocktails.
If you could witness one event – past, present or future – what would it be? Next week’s lottery numbers.
The best thing about my job is… All inclusive for two weeks, flights and accommodation.
The worst thing about my job is… Drinks not included.
The one thing I couldn’t do my job without is… Coffeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
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CONNECT PEOPLE
a Set4Sport competition that I won. My parents took my daughter instead and had a great time. I couldn’t get a word in edge ways when I arrived home that night!
The best thing about working at Premier is… Winning the top prizes in the raffles!
Describe yourself in three words… The movie of my life would be entitled…
Patient, Dedicated and Competitive.
Analyze This.
Who would you most like to meet, dead or alive? What would you ask that person?
What three things do you always have in your fridge? A Peppa Pig cold compress, bottle of Prosecco and a Jif lemon.
Career-high?
CATHERINE BROWN Position:
BUSINESS ANALYST Project:
MAXIMO OPTIMISATION
Definitely moving to work at Premier Oil to be involved in the Maximo Implementation project, and now working as a Business Analyst on the Maximo Optimisation project.
Build an online directory website with my 1st year University Computing classmates and name it ‘Facebook’.
Something people would be surprised to know about me is… I chose to go on a work trip to Norway in 2012 instead of meeting Andy Murray in
If you could witness one event – past, present or future – what would it be? Being at SW1 watching the Men’s Wimbledon final last year from Centre Court with a jug of PIMM’s and a bowl of strawberries and cream.
The best thing about my job is…
Career-low? No career lows, however I experienced very low temperatures (-25 degrees) moving a remote office in YuzhnoSakhalinsk, Far East Russia in 2005.
What job would you do if you weren’t doing this one? If you could give your 18 year old self one piece of advice what would it be?
Mark Freuder Knopfler, OBE. I’d ask him to play Romeo and Juliet on his guitar?
Photographer.
Having two large screens in IS department that I can watch the tennis on during Wimbledon season so I don’t need to miss work.
The worst thing about my job is… My boss (Paul Mercer) switching the screens over to the rugby…I mean the IT monitoring software, so I have to do my work!
My favourite place in the world is… The one thing I couldn’t do my job without is…
Verona, Italy.
What three things would you take to a desert island? A camera, memory cards and batteries. I’m hopeful that someone would come and rescue me fairly quickly.
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Maximo.
CONNECT PEOPLE
ROLL OUT THE RED CARPET Here are some of our favourite photos from the 2014 Dinner and Dance...
The 2014 Premier Oil Annual Dinner and Dance took place at the Marcliffe Hotel and Spa on Saturday 10th January. More than 220 employees and their partners attended the glitzy, moviethemed event. Entertainment was provided by Britain’s Got Talent semi-finalists Faces of Disco followed by one of Scotland’s top bands - Killer City Sound.
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