John White Managing Director
Welcome dear reader to your latest edition of Inside Oil and Gas.
Before you read about all the exciting things happening within the world of onshore and offshore oil and gas, I would like to share with you a pleasant experience I had last weekend. Following a hearty fullEnglish working breakfast with my business partner at a café near Lowestoft seafront, we noticed a large crowd gathering at around eight that morning on the seafront in and around the town’s historic fishing port.
Upon investigation, we found out from members of the crowd that there was to be an old fishing smack (fishing boats that are around 100 years old!) race along the coast to Great Yarmouth and back. Watching these wonderful old sailing vessels crewed by vol unteer crews of eight was a glorious sight and doubtless a nostalgic trip down memory lane for some of the older crowd members who will have recalled their parents having worked on them when they were crammed into the port of Lowestoft. Indeed, my grand father went to sea on them in his youth so I must confess that it brought a tear to my eye.
Now these are not the sort of workboats and standby vessels that support the off shore platforms, although interestingly, out at sea themselves during the race and emerging from the same harbour, were many of the offshore workboats that attend the local oil and gas platforms. It was fas cinating to observe the old and new at sea at the same time. The fishing smacks , large vessels in their day, were of course dwarfed by these modern leviathans, how ever, it made the sight somehow all the more impressive.
Lowestoft and Gt. Yarmouth sadly no longer have much of a fishing industry, certainly not
in the capacity that it had in the first half of the last century, however, they remain a busy commercial port with offshore support ves sels operating alongside many other types of commercial and leisure craft. Arguably less glamourous than the old fishing vessels and modern yachts, but still sharing the quayside with them, are a vast selection of commercial craft reminding all that Lowestoft and Gt. Yarmouth, like many ports and harbours of the world, are operational commercial ports and not simply a playground for the leisure craft and their crews.
Therefore, this edition is dedicated to those seafarers and the companies that operate these busy working vessels. They graft, day in, day out, wearing overalls, boots, and hardhats rather than deck shoes, shorts, and baseball caps. Their
industry is a busy one the world over and any mariners I am sure will join me in acknowledging their efforts.
As always, I hope you enjoy the many news items, company profiles, advertise ments, and event previews that this edi tion brings you, and like I have, I hope you find time in your busy schedules to read about these not so glamourous but cer tainly hard-working commercial sectors.
I will sign off now as whilst typing this I have just realised that as it is a hot day, I am sat at my desk wearing soft deck shoes, a pair of leisure shorts and a stripy blue and white casual shirt…. all I am missing is a baseball cap that has ‘Captain’ written on it. I look more like I belong on a pleasure craft than a working ship! My grandfather would role his eyes up at that, I have no doubt! n
Managing Director John White doffs his captain’s hat to the tough working boats and their crews.
The Oil and Gas Asia Exhibition (OGA), presents an ideal ground for oil and gas stakeholders to meet key decision makers from national and international oil companies, at the same time attain current and relevant information on the trends, technology and solutions of the industry. It is also a crucial event that continues to highlight Malaysia and its potential in the oil, gas and energy sector to strengthen the country’s position as a strong oil and gas nation, especially in the Asian region. OGA 2022 expects to welcome 2,000 participating companies from 60 countries/regions and over 29,000 visitors during the three-day event.
www.oilandgas-asia.com
Africa Oil Week will be held in Cape Town, South Africa, under the Patronage of the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, Republic of South Africa. Under the theme ‘Sustainable Growth in a Low Carbon World’, Africa Oil Week will advocate the importance of developing hydrocarbons in Africa and the sustainable development of oil and gas. In 2022, Africa Oil Week will also deliver the sister event, Green Energy Africa Summit (GEA Summit), at the same time at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC).
www.africa-oilweek.com
Hosted by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), ADIPEC 2022 is expected to build upon the success of the 2021 edition, which returned as the year’s only event to facilitate face-to-face meetings for the energy industry following the challenges of Covid-19. The ADIPEC Exhibition provided a world-class environment for buyers and sellers to meet, learn, network, do business and discover new products, solutions and technologies from over 2,000 exhibiting companies displaying their innovative approaches to investing in and collaborating with the energy sector.
www.adipec.com
Subsea Expo is the world’s leading annual subsea exhibition and conference, held annually at P&J Live in Aberdeen. The exhibition is a quality-focused event showcasing the capabilities, innovations and cutting-edge technologies of the underwater sectors, with over 185 exhibitors and 6,500 delegates attending the latest show. The conference runs multiple parallel sessions and attracts a broad range of experts to discuss the challenges facing the industry, new and transformational technologies, digitalisation, clean energy and the path to net zero, among other topics.
www.subseaexpo.com
The World Petrochemical Conference is the premier gathering of industry leaders and govern ment officials, creating a platform for insight, and dialogue on major strategic issues facing the global petrochemical industry. In 2023 WPC will take place in Houston, Texas offering an array of sessions featuring major chemical companies and leading organisations discussing the critical issues that impact the chemical market, numerous networking opportunities and a variety of industry leading petrochemical training courses. Next year’s event will offer both in person attendance and a virtual platform, creating a one-stop-shop experience for attendees.
https://wpc.ihsmarkit.com
In 2023, European Gas Conference (EGC) will be celebrating the 16th anniversary of the event alongside many of Europe’s main suppliers. Described as the most important, geopolitical discussion in the midstream gas calendar, EGC will assess the impact of the 2022/23 winter for Eastern and Western European gas markets and promote gas’ role on the journey to net-zero. The third day of the event, hosted in Vienna, will be complemented by the European Hydrogen Conference.
https://energycouncil.com/event-events/european-gas-conference SUITS
has landed a significant contract from ExxonMobil affiliate, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited, for the Gas to Energy Project in Guyana. ExxonMobil Guyana’s Liza Unity vessel achieved background flare in June this year.
The project will connect the production from Liza Destiny and Unity back to shore, delivering associated gas from the field to a gas-fired power plant that will supply electricity to the community.
“The Gas to Energy Project is another example of how we are helping deliver the energy the world needs,” President, Subsea at TechnipFMC Jonathan Landes said, “and we are thrilled to be supporting another project in Guyana. We remain proud of our dedicated Guyanese employees and are committed to the continued development and expansion of local capabilities.”
TechnipFMC currently employs more than 85 Guyanese and expects to continue to hire and train additional local staff in support of this award.
ExxonMobil is firmly established in Guyana, operating an office in Georgetown, with numerous ongoing exploration and develop ment operations offshore. ExxonMobil Guyana has made 25 significant discoveries in the country since May 2015 and begun production in December 2019 from the Liza Phase 1 development.
“This achievement is a testament to the team’s dedication to steady, safe operations,”
said ExxonMobil Guyana Production Manager Mike Ryan. “It also demon strates ExxonMobil’s capabilities as an industry leader and our commitment to operational excellence.”
The gas compression and injection sys tems on the Liza Unity Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel was safely commissioned in around half normal industry time. Liza Unity achieved back ground flare as designed in June, within the 60-day period outlined in the Liza Phase 2 Environmental Permit.
The Liza Phase 2 project design eliminates routine flaring by using produced gas to power the FPSO and by reinjecting gas into the reservoir to conserve the gas and to improve oil recovery, thereby reducing emis sions compared with traditional methods. The ExxonMobil Guyana team was also able to commission the water-injection system, which is now online and operational.
The next step is to start up additional new wells in the ramp up to full production of 220,000 barrels of oil per day during the third quarter.
ExxonMobil Guyana continues to work with the relevant government agencies to ensure compliance with regulations and responsible development of the country’s natural resources.
TechnipFMC is a leading technology provider to the traditional and new energy industries, delivering fully integrated projects, products, and services. With proprietary technologies
and comprehensive solutions, TechnipFMC is transforming its clients’ project eco nomics, helping them unlock new possibil ities to develop energy resources while reducing carbon intensity and supporting their energy transition ambitions.
Based in Houston and Newcastle Upon Tyne, the company is organised in two busi ness segments of Subsea and Surface Technologies. TechnipFMC continues to advance the industry with its technology leadership, digital innovation and pio neering integrated ecosystems such as iEPCI™, iFEED™ and iComplete™.
According to the company, each of TechnipFMC’s 20,000 employees is driven by a commitment to clients’ success, and a cul ture of strong execution, purposeful innova tion, and challenging industry conventions. TechnipFMC’s vision is to drive real change in the energy industry and its corporate strategy has always been focused on success fully delivering that vision. n
Thecertifications were granted by TÜV Rheinland, a leading independent testing, inspection and certification agency based in Germany. The accredita tions were awarded to SABIC AN, in Jubail, for 37,800 tons of “blue” ammonia and to Aramco’s wholly owned refinery (SASREF), also in Jubail, for 8,075 tons of “blue” hydrogen. To certify ammonia and hydrogen as “blue”, a significant part of the CO2 asso ciated with the manufacturing process needs to be captured and utilised in down stream applications.
“These certifications are the first of their kind in the world,” Aramco Vice President of Chemicals Olivier Thorel said, “and signify a major milestone in our efforts to develop clean energy solu tions and advance our hydrogen and ammonia export capabilities. This inde pendent recognition reinforces the work of Aramco and SABIC in decarbonising multiple sectors, including energy, avia tion, transportation chemicals and fer tiliser industries.”
“We are indeed proud of this certifica tion,” explained SABIC Agri-Nutrients CEO Abdulrahman Shamsaddin, “which is part of our journey towards carbon neutrality. We are confident of further boosting growth with our low-carbon port folio helping our fertilisers as well as
chemicals customers achieve their own sustainability ambitions.
“We are fully aware that the current global industry challenges related to climate change and greenhouse gas emissions will require us to accelerate our pace of innova tion to further strengthen our sustainability commitment. We are well positioned to move forward in this direction.”
“We are leveraging our strong existing infrastructure to produce blue ammonia that can help meet the world’s growing needs for sustainable solutions,” agreed SABIC Vice President, Energy Efficiency and Carbon Management, Fahad Al-Sherehy.
“To help achieve Saudi Arabia’s target for net-zero by 2060 as part of the Saudi Green Initiative, SABIC recognises that hydrogen will play an essential role in decarbonisation and it is part of SABIC’s overall roadmap toward carbon neutrality by 2050, with a 20% reduction target in carbon emissions by 2030. Furthermore, SABIC is exploring opportunities to utilise hydrogen for green chemistry to strengthen its sustainable solu tion offerings.”
In 2020, Aramco and SABIC collaborated on the world’s first shipment of blue ammonia, a carrier of hydrogen, from Saudi Arabia
to Japan. Forty tons of high-grade blue ammonia were dispatched for use in lowcarbon power generation.
The new certifications represent another milestone for Aramco and SABIC to become global leaders in hydrogen and ammonia. Aramco recently announced its target to produce up to 11 million tons per annum of blue ammonia by 2030 and is currently developing carbon capture and hydrogen capabilities.
Blue hydrogen production will contribute to Aramco’s ambition to achieve net-zero scope 1 and scope 2 greenhouse gas emis sions across its wholly owned operations by 2050.
The Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Aramco) is one of the world’s largest integrated energy and chemicals compa nies, creating value across the hydro carbon chain and delivering societal and economic benefits to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Aramco drives global commerce and enhances the daily lives of people around the globe by delivering an uninterrupted supply of energy to the world. Aramco’s resilience and agility makes it part of the global effort toward building a low carbon economy. n
The Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Aramco) and the SABIC Agri-Nutrients Company (SABIC AN), announced in August their achievement of the world’s first independent certifications recogniz ing “blue” hydrogen and ammonia production.
The recent announcement of Norway’s annual APA licensing was made by the Minister of Petroleum and Energy, with the process administered by the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate. Companies are invited to apply for opportunities around Norway in the North Sea, Norwegian Sea and Barents Sea.
Throughthe annual licensing round of APA (allocations in predefined areas), oil companies are given the opportunity to gain access to attractive exploration area on the Norwegian shelf.
After more than 50 years of exploration activities, the APA scheme covers most of the open, accessible area on this shelf. APA 2022 encompasses predefined areas with blocks in the North Sea, Norwegian Sea and Barents Sea.
“APA 2022 is an important part of our work to develop the petroleum industry,” explained Minister of Petroleum and Energy Terje Aasland. “The annual alloca tion of exploration areas is part of the pre dictable and stable framework conditions we have in Norway. This facilitates prof itable investments, employment and future production.”
The proposal to announce APA 2022 was sent for public consultation with an April deadline. As part of the Revised National Budget 2022 negotiations, an agreement was reached between the Government parties and the Socialist Left Party not to include the three blocks 7426/10, 11 and 12 in the APA 2022.
The APA 2022 announced in June was expanded with 28 blocks in the Barents
Sea. Applications can be submitted for all available blocks or parts of blocks within the available predefined areas. All licensing rounds on the Norwegian shelf are carried out within the area limits set by the Parliament as part of Norway’s ocean man agement plans.
“The petroleum sector is a highly produc tive industry that generates large revenues, value creation and employment,” continued Mr Aasland. “Oil and gas from the Norwegian continental shelf can help meet the world’s energy demand. Further exploration is important to ensure that Norway remains a safe and predictable supplier of oil and gas to Europe.”
The application deadline for this licensing round is set for Monday 12th of September 2022. After the application process has been completed, the aim is to grant new pro duction licenses in the announced areas at the beginning of 2023.
The Norwegian oil and gas industry is the country’s largest and most important industry for value creation, government revenue, exports and investments.
In order to maintain activity in the longterm, continuity in the exploration activity is important. In mature areas,
new discoveries are important for the capacity utilisation in production and transport facilities, and for management of time-critical resources.
The petroleum activities in Norway take place under strict requirements for health, environment and safety, as well as the pro tection of the external environment. Great emphasis is placed on ensuring coexistence with other industries.
Administration of APA 2022 is conducted by the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, a governmental specialist directorate and administrative body. Established in 1972, the Directorate reports to the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy.
The primary objective of the Directorate is to contribute to the greatest possible value from the oil and gas activities to the Norwegian society, through efficient and responsible resource management. Operation of the Directorate’s mandate also considers health, safety, the environ ment and other users of the sea. Alongside license management, the Petroleum Directorate is also responsible for analysis, data management, communications and much more.
RNG Holdings LLC is a joint venture partnership between Chevron USA Inc, a subsidiary of Chevron Corporation, and Brightmark Fund Holdings LLC, a subsidiary of Brightmark LLC, the global waste solu tions provider.
The enterprise delivered the first gas at its Athena Project in Minnehaha County, South Dakota. This project is comprised of three farms located in Minnehaha County: Boadwine Farms, Pioneer Dairy, and Mooody Dairy. The Athena Project is part of the previously announced partner ship to own project companies across the United States to produce and market dairy biomethane, a renewable natural gas (RNG).
Methane generated by the manure from the Athena Project is expected to be captured, cleaned, and converted into RNG, which can be used for transporta tion, cooking, or electricity. The gas is anticipated to be injected into the local interstate pipeline system state-wide.
“Achieving first gas at the Athena Project marks another major milestone as Brightmark continues to scale and expand our RNG production footprint throughout the country,” said Bob Powell, founder and CEO of Brightmark.
“Through our collaboration with Chevron and Lynn Boadwine, owner of Boadwine Farms, Pioneer Dairy and Mooody Dairy, we believe the Athena Project further demonstrates the trans formative economic and environmental benefits of partnering with our country’s essential farmers to reduce and offset lifecycle carbon emissions.”
“We are excited to achieve another mile stone in our partnership with Brightmark,” said Andy Walz, President of Chevron’s Americas Fuels & Lubricants. “These renew able natural gas projects are not only designed to capture methane that is cur rently emitted to the atmosphere and repur pose it as a valuable transportation fuel with lower lifecycle carbon intensity, but they also support our commitment to meeting our customers’ growing demand for lower carbon fuel solutions.”
“As agriculture and technology con tinue to advance and evolve, it has become apparent now more than ever that these two industries need to work hand in hand for the sake of our environment and those that inhabit it,” said Lynn Boadwine, owner of Boadwine Farms, Pioneer Dairy and Mooody Dairy.
“It is truly an honour to be a part of this collaborative effort with Brightmark and Chevron, and with the achievement of first gas at the Athena Project, we believe we are actively demonstrating the
positive results that can be produced by the coalescence of agriculture and scien tific innovation.”
Brightmark LLC is a global waste solutions company with a mission to reimagine waste. The company takes a holistic, closed loop, circular economy approach to tackling the planet’s most pressing environmental chal lenges with optimism for the future.
Through the deployment of disruptive, breakthrough waste-to-energy solutions focused on plastics renewal (plastic-toplastic) and renewable natural gas (organic waste-to-fuel), Brightmark enables programs specifically tailored to environmental needs in order to build scalable project solutions that have a posi tive impact on the world and communities in which its stakeholders live and work.
Chevron is one of the world’s leading inte grated energy companies. The company produces crude oil and natural gas; manufac tures transportation fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals and additives; and develops technologies that enhance its own busi nesses and the industry.
Chevron says it is focused on lowering the carbon intensity in our operations and growing lower carbon businesses along with its traditional business lines. n
Reporting on the latest developments from the USA’s oil and gas sectorBrightmark, Chevron achieved the first delivery of renewable natural gas produced at the Athena Project in August. This was part of their previously announced partnership to own project com panies across the US to produce and market RNG.
Aftera two-and-a-half-year gap, the Middle East Static Equipment Engineering & Maintenance Conference & Showcase was held on 15-17th March 2022 at the Ritz–Carlton, DIFC, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Safety was a priority confirmed Samuel Benedict, Executive Director at event organiser Aldrich International: “We never compromise on health and safety for all our attendees.”
Despite robust health standards in the UAE which aligned with World Health Organisation guidelines, some companies chose to attend virtually. ME STATIC 2022 adopted the attitude of “we adapt, and we evolve” and provided extensive digital options to embrace online participation.
Over 300 delegates attended ME STATIC 2022, where around 50 companies attended. In a show of solidarity with the industry,
Aldrich had waivered attendance fees for companies at the event. “Just to create value for people who have been with us for the last four or five years,” Mr Benedict explained.
Aldrich’s fee waiver is representative of the close bonds within the industry. “The oil and gas industry is just like a family,” Mr Benedict said. “I see people of 50 years, 60 years, working because they’re more
passionate and more devoted towards the infrastructure that they’ve developed and maintained for so long.”
This sense of family within the industry was enhanced by the networking opportunities available at ME STATIC 2022. Mr Benedict highlighted the need to meet face-to-face to properly connect: “In business, to under stand your heartbeat, I can’t just join a Zoom meeting, I need to see you.” Business is about passion and personal connections: “Those passions can never come from tech nology or digitalisation; it needs to be people valuing people.”
Mr Benedict compared some large confer ences to international buffets, where the size and breadth of companies attending can be overwhelming. In contrast, bespoke events
Middle East Static Equipment Engineering & Maintenance Conference & Showcase was held on 15-17 March 2022 at the Ritz–Carlton, DIFC, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Mr Samuel Benedict, Executive Director, Aldrich International reviewed the event with Phil Nicholls. Welcome note by, Mr Mamdouh Al Aidarous Technical Chairman – ME STATIC 2022 Senior Engineering Consultant Saudi Aramco D’Hondt Thermal Solutions ME STATIC 2022 Platinum Sponsor. From left to right: Mr Mamdouh Al Aidarous, Senior Engineering Consultant, Saudi Aramco; Mr Cedric Juliard, President, D’Hondt Thermal Solutionssuch as ME STATIC 2022 “are more like can dlelight dinners,” where “we went for the quality of the participants over the quantity.”
Aldrich International is a global con sulting and event organising firm, based in Dubai. In Arabic, the word ‘aldrich’ means wise counsellor. Aldrich International spe cialise in providing wise counselling to the oil and energy industries.
Mr Benedict outlined the challenges of running an event organising firm during the Covid pandemic: “It was definitely a tough time, with difficult decisions to take, but we made good use of technology to keep the wheels turning.
“I thought it was very important for Aldrich to hear what problems our clients were facing in the pandemic. I conducted a series of live video interviews with several CEOs, speaking about business resilience during the pan demic and how Aldrich could facilitate spreading their message to the industry.”
Enduring the Covid pandemic was a bonding experience for the team at Aldrich International. However, the proactive com munication with the oil and gas industry proved influential in laying the foundations for the return of physical conferences such as ME STATIC 2022.
ME STATIC valued all the companies who attended the event, but when pressed, Mr Benedict was prepared to share the names of a few of the many innovative companies who attended in Dubai. Platinum sponsor of ME STATIC was Hamon D’Hondt Thermal Solutions. The silver sponsors were ATB Riva Calzoni Rinnovabili, Belleli Energy, Maraldi, the Tosto Group, the Christof Group and Koch Engineering.
The core feature of the ME STATIC 2022 event was clear to Mr Benedict: “We ensured that we had the right places arranged to facilitate good networking for attendees.” Companies were asked to step back from their marketing and branding requirements. Instead, Aldrich and Mr Benedict urged a dif ferent focus.
“It’s important for companies to speak about their concerns post-Covid, and what they need to recover. We aimed for a kind staticmiddleeast
Mr Benedict, Executive Director, Aldrich International
Speakers at ME STATIC 2022 Conference
“At ME STATIC we fall in the category of a strategic event, where we speak the language of the engineers. ME STATIC cov ered every aspect of the static equipment and so that’s how we made a difference in the industry: what concerns me is to facili tate a solution.”
of a fireside discussion or a chat between the end-users, the buyers and sellers, to understand the heartbeat of the industry.”
Virtual equipment this focus on networking within the oil and gas industry, a clear trend towards digitisation emerged at this year’s Static event. It was clear before the March conference that the Covid pandemic was a driver for technological evolution. STATIC 2022 added data management and digitalisation to the conference programme.
“Digital analysis and predictive mainte nance are all supplying data when the engineer is not physically out in the field around the static equipment,” Mr Benedict explained. “This is a crucial tool when health and safety is such a priority, post-Covid.
Presenting on stage: Mr Ammar Hussein, CEO, Traivis & Persafe
Exhibition area mingling
“When it comes to it, the oil and gas industry is all about maintenance and relia bility. So, people were trying their level best to see how technology could be used in this area. We were pleased to share with the exhibitors who attended our event that plant can be maintained through virtual reality, with the engineers remaining at home or at their desks. ME STATIC 2022 helped our clients understand that their concerns aligned with the current technology.”
This emphasis on digitalisation at ME STATIC 2022 also featured in the programme of speakers, where every pre sentation ended with the topic. Oil and gas are clearly moving into the Metaverse, as highlighted by a standout presen tation by the Malaysian company GE Digital, specialists in software and Industrial Internet of Things. GE Digital’s topic was how to leverage automation and digitalisation when managing static assets.
Mr Benedict was adamant that the future of the oil and gas industry needs to include conferences such as ME STATIC: “Because to understand progress in the industry, it’s not enough to read newspapers; you need to meet with people and chat with people to know where the industry’s wind is blowing.”
Mr Benedict also sees innovation in the future for the ME Static Equipment Engineering & Maintenance Conference & Showcase brand: “We’ll try to bring in other big industries and big clients. ME STATIC is not going to be limited to just the oil and gas industry within the next 10 years, because maintenance is maintenance in every industry. Equipment reliability is the same issue for everybody when we’re talking about critical infrastructure.
“The Aldrich company motto is ‘where knowledge meets innovation’ which means adapting and evolving with the knowledge and innovation that’s available in the market.” n
www. staticmiddleeast .com
Two speakers presenting on stage from Alfa Laval OLMI S.p.A. Mr Ermanno Esposito Global Service Manager Alfa Laval OLMI S.p.A. Mr Colombo Marco Maria Quality and Technology Specialist Alfa Laval OLMI S.p.A.
Exhibition area mingling
Experts
representing diverse offshore technologies provided key insights at OTC 2022 on how their projects and industries are developing the latest innovations to continue securing afford able energy while advancing climate goals.
“OTC is widely recognised as a central hub for energy professionals and industry thought leaders to collaborate and develop solutions to address global energy chal lenges, particularly ways in which we can meet energy needs in a cleaner and more affordable manner,” said Paul Jones, Chair of the OTC Board.
“As the energy industry works to deliver sustainable solutions and reduce carbon emissions, OTC continues to play a key role by facilitating knowledge-sharing, learn ings and discussions around the technolo gies and experts that can deliver these low-carbon solutions now.”
To further collaboration across the industry, OTC launched a new Energy Transition Pavilion designed to highlight technological advancements for new and existing energy sources, as well as showcase solutions being
developed to decarbonise, drive sustain ability and improve energy efficiency. The Energy Transition Pavilion summoned experts from multiple disciplines and back grounds to discuss the latest innovations driving global energy transitions forward.
OTC 2022 welcomed more than 24,000 attendees, a number that has more than dou bled since last year’s conference in August 2021. Of this year’s attendees, nearly 7,000 travelled from outside the United States. Also known for its robust technical program, OTC held 44 technical sessions presenting more than 300 technical papers. Additionally,
Offshore low-carbon solutions took the spotlight at OTC 2022
ENERGY EVOLUTION Offshore Technology Conference showcases the
Offshore energy professionals from around the world convened at the 2022 Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) at NRG Park to discuss the latest advancements in the offshore oil and gas industry, while touting the role the offshore energy industry plays within the energy transition.
the program included 17 executive dialogues and keynote speakers, 11 panels, 5 net working events and showcased 7 countries throughout the Around the World series.
“This year has been unparalleled in terms of exhibitors and attendees pre senting their latest developments from all over the world,” Mr Jones added. “We are
thrilled to see such a strong comeback after our hybrid program last year due to Covid-19. We featured more than 20 ses sions dedicated to energy transition issues, reinforcing our support to advancing a lowcarbon future for everyone.”
Likewise, OTC’s exhibition area increased significantly. This year's conference spanned 258,645 sqft, with major equip ment installations, demonstrations, and interactive displays actively engaging thousands of attendees from more than 93 countries. Throughout the week, 1,064 exhibiting companies from 39 countries showcased the future of offshore activities.
Total estimated economic impact of OTC 2022 amounted to more than USD 20 mil
www. otcnet .org
lion, which includes business to business transactions and direct economic impact of attendees.
While discussions around providing cleaner and more affordable energy sources play a critical role in the develop ment and advancement of countries around the world, OTC has pledged $25,000 to the International Federation of Red Cross for Ukrainian relief.
“OTC stands in solidarity with the people in Ukraine,” Mr Jones said. “Thanks to the sponsors of the Distinguished Achievement Awards Event, the OTC Board of Directors was able to make a donation to the relief efforts of Ukraine through the International Federation of Red Cross.”
OTC 2023 will take place 1-4 May at NRG Center, Houston, Texas, USA. n
Subsea Technology and Rentals (STR), a leading global provider of specialist survey and inspection rental equipment, products and data enabling services to the offshore energy market, is celebrating the launch of its global technology and innovation centre of excel lence after investing £1 million into the facility to drive its innova tive solutions and support its growth plans.
The 30,000 sqft facility in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, will be the home to the businesses’ standalone technology and innovation team responsible for STR’s research and development of its technical solu tions and products.
The purpose built facility features state-of-the-art engineering and product development suites, mechanical and electronic assembly and testing areas supported by the recruitment of 19 new employees in Great Yarmouth.
The firm has experienced rapid growth during 2022 following the earlier announcement of investment from Baird Capital to sup port the STR’s growth with further plans to expand and strengthen its capabilities.
STR Chief Operating Officer, Scott Johnstone, said: “The launch of the new technology and innovation centre of excel lence is a fantastic addition to the STR group offering. Through combining state-of-the-art facilities with our experienced team and in-house technologies we will be better positioned to sup port our customers.
“We have a team with extensive knowledge in their field and as a company we have a proven and impressive track record of pro viding leading edge solutions and in-house products across the offshore energy market for more than 20 years.”
Texas based machine designer, manufacturer, field service and repair company Logan Industries International Corporation has successfully delivered a unique, space saving coiled tubing (CT) reeler suite for OneSubsea, designed to max imise profitability.
More than simply storage reelers, Logan’s CT reelers are coiled tubing winches, where the reelers provide full torque control for the tubing without the need for a standard injector head. This reduces space required compared to standard tubing reeler / injection head combination and allows for a larger fluid storage footprint on deck. When the equipment required to handle CT has a small footprint, more deck space can be dedicated to hauling fluid, which increases profitability for the operator.
Whereas Logan has built several sets of these machines in the past with fixed drums, this is the first unit Logan has delivered with a removable drum, which means the unit footprint can remain static on the vessel while the drums can be taken to a shore base for unspooling and respooling. They are transported in a purpose-built DNV lift rated drum basket, fully secured and protected. The swap out drum also makes the machine faster to build, reducing typical assembly time for the drum and drive train from two weeks to two days.
At 15,000 psi working pressure, 10,000 feet of 2 inch CT was pro vided on the drum, with live swivel and isolation valves on the unit. The suite of equipment provided for this work includes a spare drum, adapter to allow it to fit into most tubing service spoolers at the tubing manufacturer’s facilities, transport basket and lifting set along with the reeler, HPU, control stand and interconnect lines. Logan also provided a purpose-built overboarding platform with a translating / clamshell to accommodate OneSubsea’s unique end connection philosophy.
Dean Carey, Technical Director, Logan, said: “We placed a work deck, dimple connector, test tool, controls, and safeguards on this overboarding platform to give the crew plenty of access to the volume of space under the overboarding point. The overboarding platform also provided a reeler deck loading spreader effect on the vessel’s deck.
“We believe this is truly the next evolution in coiled tubing deploy ment offshore and provides significantly more convenience for our customers. This is one of the most comprehensive reeler equipment suites Logan has had the pleasure to provide, and we expect it to remain in service for quite some time.”
The cost of decommissioning oil and gas infrastructure has been cut by 25% in the past five years, according to the latest esti mates by the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA).
NSTA’s Decommissioning Cost Estimate Report 2022 highlights industry’s ability to generate huge savings and carry out projects in a more cost-effective manner.
The forecast fell £1.5 billion (2%) to £44.5 billion last year – con tributing to a total cut of £15 billion (25%) since 2017, when the NSTA introduced a baseline estimate of £59.7 billion and set a target of reducing costs by 35% to £39 billion by end-2022.
Decommissioning of offshore oil and gas installations is required by law but has long been an expensive and lengthy process. However, the introduction of the target coupled with industry’s ability to learn from experience, share lessons and execute projects more efficiently has been hugely effective.
The highly ambitious 35% target was always intended to be chal lenging and the significant savings already delivered greatly benefit companies, which can invest more in production and emissions reduction projects, and taxpayers by reducing the cost of decommis sioning tax reliefs to the Exchequer.
Industry made swift progress in the first two years of the target, cutting the estimate by 17%, and while that has slowed, partly due to the logistical and economic pressures of the Covid-19 pandemic, progress has continued.
Importantly, the scale of reductions to the estimate is reflected in the final costs of completed projects, which are on average 20-25% lower than initially predicted, over the five years.
In 2021, decommissioning expenditure totalled £1.2 billion, lower than the forecast £1.4 billion, due to improved project execution and Covid-related deferrals of activity. This was a sizeable investment in the face of unprecedented logistical and economic pressures, and points to industry’s determination to carry out planned work and meet its decommissioning obligations.
Decommissioning spend is expected to ramp up to a peak of more than £2.5 billion per year over the next two decades, offering a longterm opportunity for the supply chain to develop cost-efficient ser vices and win more work overseas.
Improving performance on costs is likely to be challenging in the short term due to market inflation and competition for resources from other energy sectors. Therefore, the report calls on industry to redouble its efforts, ensuring that it plans effectively, collaborates on innovative commercial models, deploys new technologies and, where possible, reuses and repurposes infrastructure – all of which
are priority areas in the NSTA Decommissioning Strategy. Repurposing infrastructure for energy transition projects, including carbon storage, can also make a significant contribution to the UK’s drive to net zero.
The NSTA said it is committed to supporting the sector and is encouraged that well decommissioning campaigns, which deliver better value and fewer emissions, have gained traction in the UKCS, as shown by recent, longer-term contract awards.
In addition, the NSTA is harnessing data and digital solutions, such as the NSTA’s Energy Pathfinder portal, Decommissioning Data Visibility pilot project and Suspended Wells application, to provide suppliers with a much clearer picture of upcoming work, giving them confidence to invest in skills and technologies.
Furthermore, as the 2017 target helped to sharpen industry’s focus on costs, the NSTA is providing fresh impetus by engaging with the sector to launch a new baseline estimate and cost efficiency target, effective from the start of 2023.
“Delivering potential savings of £15 billion during a short period marked by extremely turbulent economic conditions should give the sector confidence as it looks to the future,” said Pauline Innes, NSTA Head of Decommissioning.
“The decommissioning market is worth tens of billions of pounds in the UK alone. Our industry is demonstrating that it can complete projects safely, efficiently and economically in the North Sea, and that places it in a strong position to compete for what is a big inter national prize.
“The sector must not lose focus and allow inflation to drive up prices. Now is the time to build on the progress already made. The NSTA is determined to help the sector pick up momentum, including through the introduction of new estimates and targets.”
UKCS decommissioning cost estimate drops 25% to £44.5bn
Delivering potential savings of £15 billion during a short period marked by extremely turbulent economic conditions should give the sector confidence as it looks to the future
“
“
Interesting and unusual oil and gas facts from around the world fact
In 2021, the world’s leading pro ducer of oil was the United States, at almost 16.6 million barrels per day.
The Vista Moss Landing in Monterey, California, is currently the world’s largest grid battery. The site’s racks of Lithium-ion batteries can store 1,600 MWh.
The record for the world’s largest oil lamp is held by Xiaomi India Technology Pvt Ltd. The lamp was built in 2020 for the Durga Puja festival in West Bengal and held 2,247 litres of oil.
The Perdido oil platform is the deepest floating rig in the world, operated by Shell at a water depth of 2,450 metres (8,040 feet).
The largest solar farm in the world is the Bhadla Solar Park in the Indian desert state of Rajasthan. Bhadla has a capacity of 2,245 MW and is spread across 5,700 hectares (14,000 acres).
Both petrol and diesel contain a mix of chemicals, primarily carbon and hydrogen compounds. At a chem ical level, petrol consists of hydrocarbons with between 5 and 12 carbon atoms per molecule, while diesel molecules have 12 or more carbon atoms.
Shwa Lake Tidal Power Station in South Korea is currently the largest tidal power installation in the world, with an output of 254 MW.
The largest wind turbine in the world is the 16.0-242, an offshore hybrid drive wind turbine from Chinese manufacturer MingYang Smart Energy. With 118m blades, the turbine has a 242m diameter and a 46,000 sqm swept area.
The first ship constructed as a dedicated tanker was the Atlantic, an iron-hulled sailing ship rigged as a barque launched from Newcastle on 1st August 1863.
The Pioneering Spirit operat ed by Allseas is the largest pipelay vessel in the world, capable of laying 32-inch pipe to depths of 2,200m and aver aging 5km of pipe daily.
Every problem is a gift we would not grow without problems “ “ Anthony Robbins
François-Paul Journe has been inventing and making watches for over 40 years. He draws on his historical knowledge and expertise to face the most daring horological challenges, demonstrating a timeless consis tency in research and innovation with a single goal: make each mechanical timepiece as accurate as possible.
F.P.JOURNE I PROFILE
xcellence and precision are the essence of an F.P.Journe watch, as well as authenticity and chronometry. F.P.Journe produces all its movements in 18K Rose Gold, a first in the watch world and a unique feature of the brand. Signed with the label Invenit et Fecit (invented and made), each F.P.Journe exclusive movement guarantees a manu facture calibre, entirely invented, con structed, and assembled in the Geneva workshops. In the 18th century this inscrip tion used to be engraved on watches manufactured by prestigious French master-watchmakers upon their accep tance by the Royal Academy of Sciences.
At the crossroad between arts and haute horology, the independent F.P.Journe Manufacture is a world in itself, embodying excellence, know-how and innovation, in the respect of the haute horology tradition from which FrançoisPaul Journe is the proud guardian. It was founded with one principle in mind: inno vate and uphold, if not outrival the high standards of haute horology. Every effort was made to verticalize the production in order to produce inside its walls, almost all the components necessary for the making of F.P.Journe watches. It includes the cre ation and production of all its dials and watch cases which echo with the move ment in perfect harmony.
The modernity of machines and instru ments is essential to reach the expected level of perfection, but it is also paramount to maintain craft tradition, since many operations are still done manually, with an infinite precision, tirelessly repeated until flawlessness.
In his manufacture, François-Paul Journe is the master watchmaker and that differentiates the brand from other watch companies. With unmatched tech nical and watchmaker skills, he makes a point of honour to design and manufac ture mechanical watches one by one and in small series.
With a limited production of less than 900 mechanical timepieces per year, the sanc tuary of the F.P.Journe manufacturing process honours artisanal work. It prides itself in maintaining a genuine watch maker’s art. Each certified watchmaker is reacquainting with state-of-the-art haute horology, making a specific watch according to his technical sensitivity, and performing all production stages from beginning to end without anyone inter fering in the process, including the deli cate rating, casing-up and testing.
reserve, to the Astronomic Souveraine, an ultra-complicated watch with 18 functions and indications.
These exceptional creations have granted F.P.Journe the awarding of the most important international watch prizes throughout the world: seven distinctions at the GPHG in Geneva, from which three times it has received the ultimate dis tinc tion of the Golden Hand. And numerous times its creations have been awarded W atch of the Year accolades in Japan, China, United States, Switzerland and Mexico. François-Paul Journe has also been decorated with the title of Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French Minister of Culture.
The exceptional F.P.Journe high horology creations have spanned over decades, showcasing an exceptional watch pedigree from the astounding Sonnerie Souveraine, the ultra slim Répétition Souveraine, the emblematic Chronomètre à Résonance, the Chronomètre Optimum, the amazing Octa automatic caliber with a 160 hours power
Because the exceptional F.P.Journe time pieces of watchmaking art deserve to be brought out to their true dimension, the brand opened a network of 10 boutiques in Geneva, Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong, New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Beirut, Kiev and Dubai.
At each destination, visitors may dis cover the pieces of the Classique, lineSport and élégante by F.P.Journe collections in the brand’s exclusive universe, as well as special editions that are reserved solely for them such as the Black Label collection or the Boutique Anniversary Centigraphe. n
halliburton
As a global entity, not many companies come much bigger than Halliburton in the oil and gas sector. Operational in the United Arab Emirates for more than half a century, Halliburton continues to build and collaborate with regional customers to offer world-class technologies and solutions to drill and complete record ERD wells with depths of over 45,000ft. Profile by Andy Probert.
Halliburton’s presence in the UAE dates back to the 1960s, and its collaboration with customers in the region continues to endure due to its strengths in high-tech and operational advancements. Halliburton is focused on continuing to build its presence as part of the company’s plan to strengthen its business globally.
Halliburton’s core services have transitioned from initial cementing and stimulation technologies, expanding out to offer all prod-uct service lines in the Drilling & Evaluation (D&E) and Completion & Production (C&P) divisions, covering the entire reservoir lifecycle from reservoir interpretation and well construction to completion and produc tion applications.
With over 43,000 employees worldwide, Halliburton maintains more than 1,000 people in the UAE, with an Emirati work force comprising 12% of that total.
Guy Tennant, Halliburton’s Area Vice President for the Southern Gulf Operations in the MENA region, said: “Halliburton continues to collaborate with regional cus tomers to offer technologies and solutions to drill and complete world-record offshore ERD wells with depths of over 45,000ft.”
These achievements have allowed Halliburton to invest in a world-class facility in the Industrial City of Abu Dhabi, which has maintained API Q2 certifications for the last five years. The company’s procurement teams actively seek local providers for materials, not only to support the local economy but to minimise emissions caused by interna tional shipping.
On an operational level, Halliburton introduces new technologies to its cus tomers in the UAE, with the aim to deliver more efficient machinery with lower emis sions, reduced personnel requiring less travel, reduced physical footprint on sites, and quicker operations to reduce overall site emissions.
Halliburton has won significant regional contracts over the last few years, including integrated rigless services to support pro duction capacity expansion, as well as the awards for cementing services framework agreements as customers invest in enabling drilling growth and expanding crude oil production capacity.
One of the many highlights of Halliburton’s regional efforts was the successful drilling of an onshore ERD well to 32,000ft a significant feat in the region. Utilising its BaraXcel fluid system, Halliburton achieved significantly improved ROP compared to shorter offset wells drilled with water-based fluids.
The section was drilled ten days ahead of plan, generating significant rig time savings, and eliminating the risk of induced frac tures and lost circulation.
Mr Tennant confirmed environmental, social, and governance issues remain critical to Halliburton’s success and are at the heart of its core values in UAE.
“Sustainability means continuing to serve our customers, employees, stakeholders, and communities in an environmentally, socially, and ethically responsible way,” he empha sised, noting an Abu-Dhabi-based employee was nominated as the MENA region sustain ability focal point.
Mr Tennant added, “Our local technical teams continuously work with our customers to identify and deploy resource conservation solutions, such as recycling well service materials and custom chemistries to min imise freshwater use.”
The company is receptive to the significant potential in achieving carbon reduction through carbon capture and storage in the GCC region. It has positioned expertise in the area to support sequestration site studies and establish future projects. Halliburton
UAE also works with the Halliburton Labs initiative, helping to identify clean energy start-up companies throughout the area and globally.
“This initiative provides start-ups an opportunity to garner critical support in their scale-up journey toward commercial ising new clean technologies,” stated Mr Tennant.
“Halliburton collaborates and engineers solutions to maximise asset values for customers,” he said. “Digitalisation and
decarbonisation are the potential future growth areas. Our industry is key to this, but there will be a period of transition required for adaption to meet these future goals.”
Regarding the pandemic, Halliburton worked closely with regional customers and governments, adapting stringent protocols and processes to manage the workforce. “This ensured no service inter ruptions during the pandemic period,” he elaborated.
“Digitalisation and decarbonisation are the potential future growth areas. Our industry is key to this, but there will be a period of transition required for adaption to meet these future goals”
“Attracting and retaining the next generations of future graduates to the oil and gas industry has become one of the biggest challenges to the upstream industry today. The cyclical nature of our business has created a reputation of uncertainty for the industry”
Focussing on key challenges, Mr Tennant highlighted the impacts of hyperinflation, logistics constraints and manufacturing concerns, which have all stressed supply chain models that support the growth of the Middle East’s upstream oil and gas sector.
Halliburton’s focus remains on regional growth across their D&E and C&P divisions.
“In the UAE, we will also maintain our strategic focus on Emiratisation, supporting the UAE’s In-Country Value objective, which is imperative for future growth across the UAE,” he added.
Halliburton UAE has long implemented policies to support and maintain a diverse workforce, with an increased focus on local Emirati hiring and further balancing gender employment.
Mr Tennant emphasised, “Attracting and retaining the next generation of graduates to the oil and gas industry has become one of the biggest challenges to the upstream industry today. The cyclical nature of our business has created a reputation of uncer tainty for the industry.”
On the client front, Mr Tennant zeroed in on respect, integrity, diversification, collaboration and safety as the essential characteristics Halliburton looks for in establishing long-term relationships with internal and external customers.
“Without these key attributes, mutually beneficial business relationships are not sustainable,” he concluded. “All these underpin our long-term drive for continued success.” n
Northern Offshore is a modern offshore oil and gas drilling company, created at the turn of the millennium, providing streamlined and bespoke services for its clients. Not only is the company building a next generation fleet of jack-up rigs, but it is also aligning itself with the needs of its clients and the trends of the industry. As CIay Coan, President of Northern Offshore, explained to Jordan Yallop, Northern Offshore is structured to respond to any problem with state-of-the-art solutions for greater productivity and efficiency.
Created in July 2000, Northern Offshore is a specialised offshore oil and gas drilling company. With the corporate office located in Houston, Texas, Northern Offshore has regional offices in Doha, Abu Dhabi and Aberdeen. Approximately 50 staff are based onshore with over 500 employed in various offshore roles, including contracted labour.
“What separates us from the competition is the fact that we are a small company,” said CIay Coan, President of Northern Offshore. “Specifically, the focus of the senior management team of Northern Offshore is directly on the performance of our rigs. This means that any challenges on our rigs get the focus and the attention of the entire entire senior management team.
“This enables us to be nimbler and if there is an action that needs to be taken, we can really respond quickly. Or if there’s just an operational decision that needs to be made offshore on the rig, we can respond much quicker than the larger, more bureaucratic service providers.”
A brief but incredibly insightful three-minute video on Northern Offshore’s homepage eloquently details how the company is com mitted to challenging the status quo of working in the industry. It is perhaps best described by the following statement (also courtesy of the company’s website): “In today’s environment, the first thing our customers need is a drilling contractor that listens. The last thing they need is a company layered with bureaucratic processes. We aim for quick, thoughtful, and practical solutions.”
As such, Northern Offshore describes itself as a ‘new kind of drilling contractor’. Not content with simply building the next-
generation fleet of jack-up rigs, Northern Offshore is building a next-generation company, one that is in alignment with cus tomers’ needs, structured to swiftly respond with state-of-the-art solutions for greater productivity and efficiency.
It achieves this through a collaborative culture, which emanates f rom the board room to the rig floor, as many of Northern Offshore’s senior management have clocked up many years working offshore. Combine this with a commitment to invest in technology and people, and you end up with a company that can confidently ensure that the people working the rigs know how to maximise the benefits the tech nology brings in order, to ultimately improve the integrity of safe operations and to reduce well construction times.
Historically Northern Offshore operated a diverse fleet of rigs, from jack-up rigs in the North Sea, to floating rigs operating in various locations in Asia and West Africa. In 2013 the company made the decision to invest heavily in the renewal of its fleet and entered into agreements with shipyards to build additional rigs: Northern Offshore made the strategic decision to build a fleet of high-specification and high-performance jack-up rigs.
Nor thern Offshore subsequently took delivery of and secured long-term contracts for its entire fleet of newbuild jack-ups rigs; two of them are GustoMSC CJ46 design rigs with a maximum water depth of 375ft, while the other two are GustoMSC CJ50 design rigs with a maximum water depth rating of 400ft. All four rigs have been built with automated systems, greater power and torque capabilities for increased mud-flow and hole-cleaning capacity, greater hoisting limits, safety enhancements and efficiency improvements.
In 2015, Northern Offshore was acquired by Shandong Offshore Equipment Co Ltd, a subsidiary of Shandong Marine Group Company,
Ltd. At the time, Blue Ocean Drilling, which was an affiliate of the above parent companies, was merged with Northern Offshore into a single organisation under the Northern Offshore brand.
Northern Offshore has a highly skilled QHSE-driven management team, providing a value-driven service collaboration with all cus tomers. Currently, all Northern Offshore’s active drilling operations are in the Middle East and centred on its fleet of four high-specifica tion jack-up rigs.
Whilst a comparatively small company, it is a highly skilled one, as explained by Mr Coan: “All of our rigs are drilling very challenging wells, whether it is development drilling or exploration wells that inherently involve a lot of unknowns. Our young fleet of rigs have already successfully drilled wells with high pressure and high tem perature, extended reach wells and wells with high H2S content.”
Northern Offshore is proud of the fact that, as a new entrant to the Middle East market, it was able to secure contracts for its entire fleet of newbuild jack-up rigs with major operators. As an organi sation, it had no previous history in this region, and counts one of its biggest achievements as breaking into this market by securing contracts for all four of the rigs in 2019.
With the Middle East being one of the world’s largest oil and gas producers, competition in the sector is fierce.
“Competition is increasing in the sense that there are more rigs being mobilised into the Middle East market. So, while there is indeed more competition, there are also greater opportunities,” Mr Coan said.
“All of Northern’s rigs are contracted under long-term agreements so while we do not have any current or near term rig availability, we are looking to grow by either chartering or purchasing additional rigs to add to our existing fleet.”
One trend the industry is seeing – and one that that Northern Offshore is adopting – is a move towards more local content and local spend in the areas that those rigs operate in.
Mr Coan explained: “In the locations where we operate, it is impor tant to us that we hire, train, and develop people from the communi ties where we are working; we also emphasize the procurement of local purchases. We believe that we have a responsibility to invest in the communities and the countries where we are working.
“We always act in a responsible manner. We never push back on hiring local people, we embrace it, and actively seek out opportu nities to hire talent locally.”
Another trend that Mr Coan highlighted is a definite shift towards the notion that bigger is better; more horsepower, higher capacities, larger crew, and larger deck space. These all mean one thing: increased production. In periods of down-turn it is these larger rigs that will continue to be contracted, and in good markets these rigs can command a premium.
The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic impacted typical working practices in the offshore industry. Differing restrictions and reg ulations from country to country resulted in travel bans and for eign workers remaining away from home for extended durations. Mr Coan was keen to share his admiration for the employees of
Northern Offshore who soldiered on through some of the most difficult times the industry has ever faced.
“Throughout these disruptive times I believe we have done a good job of consistently delivering high quality drilling services to our clients, and our success is attributed to the shore-based manage ment and individual employees at Northern Offshore.
Throughout the year 2020, if not for the loyalty and commitment of our offshore workforce I do not think we could have survived that period. We had people who made real sacrifices to go to the rigs, not knowing when they would be able to go home because of quarantine periods, flight cancellations, travel restrictions and other measures the various governments implemented to control the spread of the virus. Our offshore workforce was heroic in their actions and they deserve recognition for the sacrifices that they made.”
Another area of praise that Mr Coan was keen to highlight was the assistance from the company’s shareholders.
Mr Coan said: “Having the financial backing of our shareholders really enabled Northern Offshore to withstand the financial chal lenges that we had in 2020. We had costs ongoing and expenses that we had to incur without any real revenue to speak of up until the very end of 2020.
“The financial support of Shandong Offshore Equipment Co and ultimately the Shandong national reserve enabled Northern Offshore to fulfil our contract obligations and commence opera tions on our rigs.” n
La Compagnie Tunisienne de Forage has more than 40 years of experience providing specialist drilling and workover activities in Tunisia. Being a beacon of stability in the region, CTF is considered by oil exploration companies as a reliable partner in a highly competitive industry. Report by Andy Probert.
LA COMPAGNIE TUNISIENNE DE FORAGE I PROFILE
in 1981 as a public-listed company, La Compagnie Tunisienne de Forage (CTF) has played an influential role in the exploration and development of oilfields across Tunisia.
With hundreds of wells now drilled around the country, estab lishing itself as the leading drilling contractor in Tunisia, CTF’s primary operations comprise workover and drilling, both onshore and offshore.
In addition to its own rigs, CTF provides related services, including modern equipment, quality personnel and technical assistance in operations with foreign partners. Key customers include CFTP, ENI, ETAP, HBS Oil Company, Maretap, OMV, Serept, Sitep, Sodeps and TPS.
Confirming its leading position in the local drilling and workover market, CTF had completed 294 drillings and 1321 workovers by the end of 2018.
“Our turnover for 2017-18 peaked at around $20 million, based on 74% annual business growth, but then the pandemic impacted the energy market,” commented Labid Ghodhbani, who has been CEO since July 2021.
While turnover in 2021 shrunk to $9 million, CTF still posted an admirable 21% annual growth. Now, as the world moves slowly out of the clutches of the pandemic and industry becomes nor malised, there is growing optimism the company can again rebuild to its previous heights.
“We are starting to see more activity in the Tunisian oil and gas market, with more requests for our rigs. Our primary concern is ensuring the provision of top quality services to our clients,” added Mr Ghodhbani.
A member of the International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC), CTF is headquartered in Tunis, while its main logistics base is sited in Sfax. The company is majority-owned by the Tunisian gov ernment, (with a 90% share), and is considered a valuable national asset of the country’s energy sector.
The company’s fleet comprises two mechanical drilling and workover land rigs, two diesel-electric drilling land rigs, and a diesel-electric compact platform rig, which range from 500hp to 2,000hp in power ratings.
Many of these units operate in remote locations in deserts, where daytime temperatures can reach 50ºC, and desert regions, where the only means of access is by helicopter.
CTF aircraft have also crisscrossed Tunisia, responding to requests from its customers in the most remote areas of the country, such as El Borma and Oued Zar.
To reinforce its capability to meet market demand, CTF has previously chartered rigs from a variety of suppliers under partnership agreements.
Growing market influence Mr Ghodhbani said the company constantly upgraded its equip ment to the latest technology and had recently invested in a sixth drilling rig of 1,000hp capacity.
“This rig, which is second-hand, will be launched on operational service by the end of 2022 and be primed to enable us to offer greater capacity to our clients,” he added.
CTF has also engaged with two other local competitors to offer greater coverage in the Tunisian oil and gas market.
“The aim of this strategic partnership with the likes of KCA Deutag will enable us to achieve a greater position of strength in the market
and offer more qualified people with technical know-how and modern rigging equipment,” confirmed Mr Ghodhbani.
These strategic decisions are enabling it to carry out more devel opment activities considered sustainable to the company in order to increase its activities and reduce costs, while reinvesting in new projects through to 2025.
“Our aim is to increase our market share in Tunisia to 50% within the next three years,” acknowledged Mr Ghodhbani.
CTF employs over 400 people and attaches a high priority to training. “As a service company, CTF focuses on continuous training of its personnel to meet evolving skills requirements and achieve the highest levels of safety,” he said.
“We are keen to continue developing a culture of excellence among our workforce. We have gained the esteem of many of the world’s leading oil exploration companies and seek to continue performing to our clients’ satisfaction.”
He confirmed that clients choose CTF as their drilling contractor because of the company’s accumulated in-depth experience, knowl edge of modern drilling technology, qualified personnel, up-to-date equipment, and excellent health, safety and environmental record.
“Our customers are confident when they contract CTF to drill a well because they know they are dealing with a stable company with a solid reputation.”
While the company and Tunisia continue to emerge from the impacts and restrictions borne by Covid-19, the CEO acknowledged that the main challenges ahead for CTF were gaining greater market share and renewing its rig fleet.
He said: “We are also considering greater diversification by building a new business model, but this dynamic is still evolving. We have faced increasing competition from other drilling compa nies, but we are gaining more contracts and remain the leading drilling contractor in Tunisia.”
The company is considering adding another rig to its fleet for more offshore work, but continues to attach a high priority in developing its core competencies and staff training.
Differentiating CTF from the competition, Mr Ghodhbani pointed to its accumulated technical know-how, a robustly performing workforce and continued adherence to HSE issues at the heart of its operations.
“Building long-term relations with clients and suppliers is the key to successful progression. It is important to us to build a professional and personal relationship based on exemplary trust and respect.”
He concluded: “CTF is primed for growth, and we expect to see that reflected within the next three years. Since its creation, CTF has played a leading role in developing oil exploration and devel opment activities in Tunisia.
“Our aim will be to maintain the good name we have built up within the industry and continue to be part of the country’s strategic choices in this area in spite of the arising geo-political situations happening globally.” n
INthe1968 novel “True Grit” by Charles Portis, young Mattie Ross explained why she sought out hard-drinking US Marshal Reuben ‘Rooster’ Cogburn: “They told me you had true grit and that is why I came to you.” MidCentral Energy’s GRIT philosophy is part of the company’s USP that continues attracting customer and talent alike.
MidCentral Energy began in 2010 as a drilling-focused business serving West Texas and Oklahoma. In 2019, owner Kristian Kos expanded the company into completions, then built up the man ufacturing arm of MidCentral.
Since this diversification at MidCentral, Senior Vice President Justin Loven explained how the business model has evolved and strengthened: “In 2018, drilling was 100% of the revenue: by 2021 our revenue streams were much more diversified, consisting of a strong contribution from completions and manufacturing as well.”
MidCentral Energy has 12-years experience providing drilling, completion and manufacturing services to the energy industry. CEO, Kristian Kos, Senior Vice President Justin Loven, and Management Consultant Jacquelyn Berney discuss the company and its distinctive corporate philosophy in conversation with Phil Nicholls.As the market evolved, so did MidCentral’s business model. Currently, the company employs 180 people with headquarters in Oklahoma City and field offices in Colorado, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Texas.
Mr Loven outlined the range of offerings at MidCentral: “For completions site services we offer best in class large bore iron rental, sales, and services. In our drilling site services business, we offer BOP assembly, disassembly, and testing. Finally, in our manufacturing and remanufacturing segment, we have the best power end rebuild teams in the nation.”
MidCentral has a strong foothold in the Permian Basin in West Texas and New Mexico a 220,000km2 sedimentary basin that accounts for 50% of the oil and gas activity in the US. About half of MidCentral’s services are performed in the Permian, with the remainder to be found in other basins across the US.
“There are two secret ingredients in our recipe,” Mr Loven said. “Number one is the culture of our organisation. We have a very strong culture with very strong core values, and exercising those values internally shows in our external performance. Number two, we are focused on service and being there for the customers, which we deliver on extremely well.”
“From a holistic perspective,” added Management Consultant Jacquelyn Berney, “I have witnessed how much MidCentral cares about their people , it is an innate part of their culture.”
At the heart of the MidCentral Energy Services caring corporate culture is GRIT. As an acronym, GRIT was created and adopted to encompass the company’s core values: Grit, Reciprocity, Innovation and Trust. These foundational principles are ubiquitous throughout the company and evident through the services they deliver to the industry.
“The industry we’re in is a difficult one, and winning never comes easy, but that never stops us from achieving results. We’re a big believer that our GRIT core values drive our current and future success as a team,” Mr. Loven explained.
During the downturn, MidCentral invested heavily in the com pany. “While other organizations were pumping the brakes, we were pumping the gas!” Mr Loven said. Since prices were low, MidCentral identified the opportunity and increased its asset base and inventory levels. When the upswing arrived, MidCentral was prepared to operate, with a strong foundation in place.
“Our approach was driven by a core belief in what we offer our customer base. Our job is to focus on efficiency and drive to opti mise our customer’s bottom line,” added Kristian Kos.
Another innovation during the downturn was the development of a MidCentral app by a team of former MIT professors and students engaged by MidCentral for this project. Over the course of two years, the app was fine-tuned to refine MidCentral’s processes and assist both customers and the internal team monitor the progress of assets within the company. Version one of the app was designed for purely internal use. The updated second version of the app will be available to customers with an anticipated launch in the first half of 2023.
“MidCentral’s long-term objective is to continue to drive efficiency, increasing our customers’ bottom line across the energy space at large,” said Mr Kos, “The purpose of this and our adopted tech nology systems is to optimise throughput for our company, which in turn can drive significant efficiency gains for our cus tomers. This is an exceptionally exciting place to be, given the current dynamics of the world.”
Working closely with customers and suppliers is a key aspect of MidCentral’s modus operandi. The company enjoys a network of supply chain touch points across the world. This diverse selec tion of suppliers gives MidCentral access to equipment which may not be available to competitors. Combined with its boosted inven tory, MidCentral is in a strong position to support its customer base-even with the current global supply chain disruptions.
In the near future, MidCentral will focus on scaling the business upon the MidCentral Business System platform “We have a proven
business model,” concluded Mr Loven, “Consisting of centralized support and trust in decentralised leadership. Energy as a whole is an underserved market, and we plan to scale the MidCentral model and ultimately diversify our energy-focused products and services. The domestic opportunity in energy is so vast, and as such we plan to continue to focus these efforts in and around the US.”
Moving forward, MidCentral Energy continues to build the company’s experience on the solid foundations of its iconic true GRIT values. “We are all so very proud of our culture and team at MidCentral,” Mr. Kos said, “And we plan to scale this out across the energy space to meet our current and future customers needs!” n
With an over-arching emphasis across industry on sustainable energy needs, Airem Energy is stepping forward as a leader in the energy transition, whether designing and producing a micro-grid, energy storage, or a com bined heat & power (CHP) unit. With facilities worldwide and backed by a host of top-tier partners, the company is well-positioned to provide some of the best fuel-flexible solutions, con firmed CEO Rob Marchitello. Profile by Andy Probert.
The launch of Airem Energy began in AFG Holdings, a private equitybacked global oil and gas original equipment manufacturer. It soon became evident that an additional power offering was needed.
Rob Marchitello, who worked at AFG, proposed that package to AFG’s board, and Airem Energy was created as a busi ness division in 2019. This was to help meet the rising demand for distributed generation and sustainability.
Airem Energy’s first partner was OPRA Turbines of the Netherlands, a leading manu facturer of advanced gas turbine-based generator sets. OPRA Turbines utilised Airem Energy as a premier packager, service provider and project operator of ultra clean, highly reliable gas turbines in the Americas.
However, when the pandemic occurred, and the oil price slumped, AFG decided
to divest Airem Energy and it was acquired by Energas Technologies, who is also the owner of OPRA, in 2020.
In the process of rebranding the global company, Energas has been transformed into Airem Energy Holdings and thus OPRA became a fully integrated brand of Airem Energy Holdings and the opportunity was created to access an extended network to better meet customers’ needs.
Collaboration with experienced special ists in a broad range of applications allows Airem to accelerate and enlarge its field of global expertise and capacity to produce innovative solutions for a successful energy transition.
Mr Marchitello commented that the new organisation is committed to supporting its partners through the energy transi
tion with advanced, clean, climate-sus tainable and economically-viable power generation solutions.
He added: “Airem has a very different approach to the industry. We come looking to offer solutions, not just a product, whether that is through a combination of products or engineered solutions. We are a sus tainable energy solutions provider which is needed more than ever in today’s world Whether you believe in climate change or not is irrelevant; there are multiple sus tainable solutions to be provided to the market, and we look at it from that stand point rather than just trying to sell a turbine.
“These will perfectly match customers’ needs and achieve our mission: To Drive
the World’s Energy Transition,” he added, noting that Airem Energy Holdings now has operations across the US, the Netherlands and China.
Airem Energy’s OP16 turbine generator package is powered by the environmentally friendly, reliable and economical OP16 all-radial gas turbine. Designed and built in the Netherlands and packaged globally, the OP16 turbine packages bring the OP16 radial turbine to market, with local service and parts to support clients’ needs.
Uniquely in the 2MW power range, the OP16 turbine’s fuel flexibility enables power, oil, gas and industrial clients to use virtually any combustible gas or liquid to produce high-quality power and
heat on even the most remote site. This turbine can even use hydrogen as a fuel.
“Our ability to utilise waste fuels in gaseous and liquid form simultaneously, enables clients to use the world’s resources more effectively and reduce their carbon footprint,” Mr Marchitello explained.
Examples of these waste gases include flare gas and NGLs from oil extraction and refining, biogas, pyrolysis, syngas, land fill gas, and even VOCs from oil and LNG transportation or storage.
In more conventional CHP applications utilising natural gas, their high reliability and heat-to-power ratio provide an excel lent source of electricity and heat, often converted to steam. The simultaneous ISO
output of 1.8 MWe and 4.2 MW high-tem perature exhaust heat offers a perfect fit for clients.
Multiple units can be deployed in syn chronous operation for a modular approach to larger electrical and heat loads, providing extremely high reliability and low impact to the facility during maintenance events.
Airem Energy also offers the A400 turbine package, a highly-efficient, fuelflexible solution in a compact footprint. The unique 400kWe size provides an excel lent solution to energy projects in the 400kWe to 1,200kWe range. Combined with their fuel flexibility, from hydrogen to biogas, the A400 turbine offers a highly customisable solution to a wide range of challenging applications.
Mr Marchitello added: “If we can help our partners in whatever goal they have, whether it be electrically, reducing carbon footprint, power, steam, or a combination of both, the biggest thing we look at today is in providing a solution through the use of a wide range of fuels that would other wise be flared. We can recapture pollutants and re-use them in our products.”
Drawing on the flare gas example, Mr Marchitello said Airem Energy could run this through their gas turbines.
“We are looking at other energy options , such as those drawn from plastics, to run through the turbine to create power and heat. We have also begun to partner with accretive technologies to offer more, whether as a different sized turbine, bat tery technology, or potentially solar. Not only is this from a socially sustainable footing, but it will help present a solution for both privately held or public-owned oil and gas companies, particularly those that will begin to be measured for ESG.
“We know we can provide tangible solu tions to them, with measurable results. We can go to a customer and discuss the effects of our solutions and what problems we can solve for them. Our intense engineering effort on the solution side demonstrates the product’s potential. The reality is we sell that solution.”
Mr Marchitello said: “Having smaller, distributed solutions, such as a micro grid or a one-plant solution, is perfect for
us and offers tangible opportunities for our clients.”
He cited an example of the turbines’ effectiveness. In Texas, a large midstream company, which had an unstable grid, has since had its turbines electrically integrated into the grid by Airem Energy.
“About two years ago, we had a huge winter storm, and everything froze. But one of the only plants in West Texas that had lights on was our client: being inte grated enabled them to seamlessly transfer to island mode.”
The company’s OP16 turbines can be utilised in many fields: oil and gas, hos pitals, general industry, universities, manufacturing plants, landfills, recy cling operations and even marine. “The markets are pretty much endless where our solution fits,” he said.
To strengthen its hand in the market, the company has formed a number of partnerships with accretive technologies worldwide. This includes one with Aurelia Turbines, a Finnish company that manu factures a 400KW solution turbine. It also has an agreement with UNIVASTUM,
Airem Energy is a strategic ally of Ecohl - Symmetry as part of its mission to provide customers in Colombia, Peru and Chile with the structuring, financing, development, operation and maintenance of electrical and thermal power generation solutions, with conventional and uncon ventional energy sources.
“We have channel partners in select areas as an extension of what Airem Energy is trying to achieve,” said Mr Marchitello. “We have one in Colombia that leads in Latin America (Symmetry Latinoamérica), and Kaltimex Energy to further strengthen growth in Asia-Pacific. Other partnerships allow for a global reach and provide for worldwide client support system.
Airem Energy recently signed an agreement with Econimo’s Silent-Power AG from Switzerland which specialises in zero carbon CHP solutions using green methanol as fuel. While offering turnkey CHP solutions, the company also guaran tees a long-term supply of methanol to customers at agreed rates providing an alternative to fossil fuel and its increasing emission-related cost.
After successful combustion tests on methanol and studies on how to provide a methanol-powered OP16, both parties signed a distribution agreement making OP16 the exclusive core technology for Econimo’s small MW power range.
Airem is also part of the European-based Hydrogen Alliance that looks at driving future technology with hydrogen.
“We are very excited about the project potential for the future,” added Mr Marchitello. “The hydrogen revolution is coming and it is a big opportunity. We have already proven our turbine can run on 100% hydrogen and any mix thereof. Our aim is to stay ahead of the market, particularly with solutions.”
He emphasised that partnerships are Airem Energy’s main focus as “the oppor tunity to partner gets Airem quicker and shorter development cycles. Any partner ship must have an intrinsic value, so we go through a rigorous process choosing partners for the right reasons.”
Airem Energy’s management team is drawn from the renewables, fossil fuels and producer space, with more than 100 years’ experience. “The team is multinational, multi-layered and multi-cul tural, which is exceptionally important as diversity drives innovation.”
According to Mr Marchitello, the main objec tive for him is educating international organ isations on the need for a change in mindset “because human nature is to resist change.
As we reflect what Airem can achieve, it resonates excitement. We are committed to what we can do in the ESG space.
“For me, this is the most exciting busi ness I have ever been involved with seeing the business grow and make a dif ference on a social level. At Airem Energy, we believe we can make an impact through driving the world’s energy transition. There is a lot of work to do on that front, which creates great opportunities.”
Mr Marchitello said: “We are trying to upscale in a controlled manner and create more opportunities and regional hubs on the service side. It is about servicing clients and making it easier for them to work with Airem Energy over the long-term.
“Decisions are made quickly and being that adaptable is a real advantage. We want partners to say they want to work with us again. Reputation can be hard-earned, but lost in the blink of an eye.”
He concluded: “As Airem Energy is the most fuel-flexible provider of heat and power technology globally and a solu tion provider that is second-to-none, we are completely energised and excited for the future.” n
Rob Marchitello
Ace Fluid Solutions has over 10 years’ experience providing stimulation chemical and water services to the oil industry of the Permian Basin in Texas. Senior Vice President Sales and Marketing, Jody Ehler, discussed ground-breaking business practices and the changing the shape of the industry in dis cussion with Phil Nicholls.
ACE FLUID
Overthe ten years of its existence, Ace Fluid Solutions (AFS) has quickly established a reputation as an innovative company with a tendency to challenge established operating procedures within the Permian Basin. The first instance of AFS pushing against industry norms was in 2013 and involved the apparently simple procedure of parking a chemical storage tanker full of product at a horizontal frac oil well instead of totes.
“I remember receiving phone calls from our competitors who were upset with us,” Senior Vice President Sales and Marketing Jody Ehler explained. “They said we were making a mistake and had no idea what we were doing, but we carried on doing it. Those on-site tankers have completely transformed the stimulation chemi cals business. If you pull up to a frac job today, then using chemical storage tankers is the norm.”
AFS reached its current form in 2020 following the merger of two companies, each bringing a different set of skills to AFS. Experience within the chemical sector came from ACE Completions, which began in 2012 supplying stimulation chemicals for companies operating in the Permian Basin oilfield. The second company was Terra OFS, formed in 2013 and dedicated to providing water services in the Permian Basin.
Today, AFS operates from a 30-acre site in Odessa, Texas, with an oper ational rail spur and around 250 employees. The company is split into three divisions operating as one: Products, Services and Technical. Together, these divisions align to provide clients a seamless solution to managing their frac fluids with singular accountability.
The Products division focuses on the stimulation chemical side of the business. “We are highly focused on frac stimulation chem istry,” said Mr Ehler, “These products include friction reducers, surfactants, biocides, clay stabilisers and scale inhibitors. Those are about 90% of our turnover. We also produce guar gel slurries, crosslinkers and other specialty chemicals as needed by our clients.”
The Services division focuses on the water utilised to stimulate a well, including three important areas of concern.
“First, we must have reliable water sources, so AFS has secured several strategic properties holding numerous water wells to sat isfy client demands,” explained Mr Ehler. “The second aspect of the water business is the water transfer, so AFS manages over 100 miles of dedicated water infrastructure, transferring water from the source to the operating site. The third aspect is the treatment of produced water thus allowing clients to economically recycle this valuable resource which ultimately reduces the environmental impact of the stimulation process.”
Finally, the third division of the company is the Technical group which operates horizontally across the products and services divisions.
“Scientists work continually to develop new product offerings that maximise performance and economics in this highly competitive
market,” said Mr Ehler. Additional support comes from a state-of-theart laboratory in the basin which provides AFS with the neces sary tools to develop cost effective solutions to their clients in a timely manner.
The combination of the chemicals and water into a single business is yet another example of the AFS pioneering vision. The process of integrating the ACE Completions and Terra OFS teams ran smoothly, according to Mr Ehler.
“We are pleased to say the resultant business model is an inno vative approach that is slowly gaining momentum.
“It is always a challenge to bring together two different types of business,” he said. “In the chemical business, we manufacture our products in our yard so the only individual that enters the well site is the truck driver. On the water services side, the engage ment with the client is much more involved because most of the interaction happens near the well site. So, it was a challenge to
combine the operational aspects of these two businesses because they are so profoundly different. I think that’s a paradigm shift within our industry.”
Resolving these new operating procedures within the company was only one aspect of the challenge facing AFS. The larger issue has been overcoming opposition within the industry to this new business model.
“We have experienced resistance to this value proposition,” Mr Ehler explained. “On a marketing level, AFS is now approaching two different divisions within a client’s company. Operators today typically have separate subject matter experts for both chemicals and water, so approaching a client and trying to bring those two divisions together has proven to be quite challenging, honestly.”
This is a case of history repeating itself at AFS where innovation from the company first meets opposition, before eventually shifting the industry paradigm to accommodate a new norm. The company
wrote that playbook with its innovation in 2013, barely a year into its existence under the previous incarnation as ACE Completions.
The AFS Services division was providing water treatment and transfer support to a Permian-based operator. The numerous sources of fresh and produced water were creating a high level of variability in the water characteristics thus making it diffi cult to formulate a reliable chemical package for their stimula tion activities.
The AFS Products division was given the opportunity to pro duce a viable solution using its frac fluid optimisation techniques. Today, the AFS Services and Products divisions operate in unison to provide this client a seamless offering with full accountability for the frac fluid from the cradle to the grave.
“Each day the AFS team works to fully align the stimulation chemical package with the incoming water that we are providing,” said Mr Ehler. “This alignment allows us ability to make changes on the fly before they are needed. To us, this just made sense.”
Alongside a reputation for moulding the industry, AFS is also known within the Permian Basin for the level of service it offers to clients, as Mr Ehler relates: “We’re not just a technology company; AFS prides itself on also being a services-oriented company. If you ask about stimulation chemical providers or water services in the Permian Basin, then most people will acknowledge Ace Fluid Solutions for our superior customer service in the field.”
A new chapter at AFS has also begun with the recent appointment of Jeff Louis as President, moving on from his previous position as Chief Technology Officer.
“Jeff has a unique personality and a skill set that will serve the company extremely well,” Mr Ehler said. “In Jeff’s previous role, he was the driving force behind the technical strategy of the com pany and he is directly responsible for some of the recent success stories in our friction reducer product line.”
The appointment of Mr Louis as the new leader of Ace Fluid Solutions will further enhance the technical side of AFS and sug gests the trend of innovation has much more to come.
Equally important at AFS is its commitment to environmental responsibility. The company’s efforts to protect the environment through 2021 saved over 2,300 days of trucking and over 13,800 gallons of diesel. Furthermore, AFS recycled 30 million barrels of water in 2021.
“The oil and gas business is a wonderful industry filled with great people,” concluded Mr Ehler. “I take a lot of satisfaction in working with these wonderful people. I particularly love talking with a customer that’s having a problem because I see that as a challenge. At Ace, we built our reputation on being flexible and providing solutions. I love dealing with problems, sitting down with a client and putting pen to paper to figure out what we can do to help our customer.” n
Koil Energy Solutions Inc, formerly Deep Down Inc, is emerging from a major re-brand and relocation as it marks the company’s 25th anniversary. The transition is aimed at taking its services beyond the traditional offshore oil and gas core to the wider energy sector. President and CEO Charles Njuguna discussed in depth the strategic stepchange with Andy Probert.
Emerging from its former entity Deep Down, Inc, Koil Energy Solutions Inc is not only grasping the industry changes and challenges of tomorrow, but firmly setting its focus on achieving more today.
With 25 years of active service under its belt in full-cycle subsea technology and engineering complexities for the offshore oil and gas industries, the company has dared to think beyond its traditional offer ings and re-energise itself for the future.
The company’s core offering has histori cally revolved around the subsea umbili cals, risers and flowlines (SURF) sector of the oil and gas industry. Core products include the company’s patented flying leads, multi-quick connector systems (including a 20,000psi version under development), riser isolation valve sys tems, intervention equipment, and a range of umbilical terminations and accessories.
This is in addition to a full suite of off shore installation equipment and services
such as cable and umbilical transpooling, testing, monitoring and commissioning, as well as life of field remediation solutions.
But with the oil and gas industry rapidly
advancing to a crossroads and energy demands transitioning to alternative sources, Koil Energy has changed the company’s dynamic by taking a more expansive and diversified stance.
Koil Energy’s reputation for never shying away from challenges has enabled it to garner clients across the globe: it is increasingly being sought by renewable energy participants looking to benefit from this extensive experience. This is aside from discussions around various subsea storage technologies, marinisation of new technologies, and even leveraging its core competencies for hydrogen applications.
President and CEO Charles Njuguna, who has been at the helm since 2019, has led a deep dive, root-and-branch reassess ment of the company with the primary and unwavering focus on what it will mean for its 48-strong team, some of whom have clocked up more than 20 years of service.
“For the past 25 years, we have been known as a subsea oil and gas provider. One of the things that we faced is that many pigeon-holed us as a deep-water provider because of our previous name and our history,” said Mr Njuguna.
“ While it is good to be known for that, it was ironic there was a perception we
were only deep-water specialists, and by inference, we couldn’t do shallow-water activities. In fact, we do both and many other services.”
He said: “Secondly, we were known for brand-specific expertise, but there was a struggle to see beyond that. So we decided to take a step back and re-imagine what we could be.”
Importantly, the company fully engaged its staff in the decision making, and, according to Mr Njuguna, the team is now emerging stronger, more unified and fully prepped for an energising future.
DNA remains the same He emphasised: “Koil Energy may be a new name, but our DNA remains the same. Customers have come to depend on us for our results and reliability and our fearless drive to solve complex prob lems with never-before-seen solutions for the toughest deep-water challenges.
“But as those same customers expand their horizons beyond traditional oil and gas, this move is a charge into a new era, with a steadfast commitment to what we pride
ourselves on: nimbly finding unique ways to enhance offshore energy operations.”
Reflecting on the new company name, Mr Njuguna added: “If you wanted to coil up 60 miles of cables, move them a few hundred miles down the coast, then trans pool them to a different vessel, we have been the very team to flawlessly perform such a specialised task. The ‘K’ is a uni versal symbol for different electricity/ energy metrics. It’s energising. So our new name reflects our roots and our future.
“The team took a stern, introspective look into how best to evolve the company. We’ve solidified our focus on our core products and services and sharpened core competencies. Ultimately, we have a unique skillset around different marinising technologies, especially as our customers expand their horizons beyond traditional oil and gas. This is the next step in that journey. We want to be known as energy-source agnostic.”
Mr Njuguna explained: “Operators have always driven the industry, and award EPCs to service providers like ourselves.
But I think the industry is moving towards developing interesting partnerships, for example, between an oil operator and a ser vice provider. Traditional relationships may or may not be the way for the future.
“My belief is that rather than discussing oil and gas and wind power, we should address it for what it is: energy as a whole: and holistically look at the industry so we can work as one in an energy source agnostic sector. Koil Energy is there for the whole energy sector.”
He now envisages more opportunities to provide a service for re-terminations, either extending end-of-life assets or even bringing them back and giving assets a new lease of life.
“The future is truly limitless, and the team is engaged and ready. We are in several promising discussions and antici pate future announcements around the growing energy transition topic and our traditional lines of business.
“We are also looking at new partner ships, with one revolving around wind and creating a new consortium. One com pany has an energy–agnostic product that can be used across the energy spectrum –and Koil Energy is excited to be involved in this opportunity.”
With cable failings among the highest percentage of insurance claims in the wind sector, the company is also eyeing opportunities to introduce new technolo gies to close that gap.
“We are also in discussions to provide ser vices for hydrogen applications,” revealed Mr Njuguna. “I truly believe our success is directly attributed to having the industry’s most experienced, adaptable and depend able personnel.
“Our new identity reflects our history with an inextinguishable passion to pro vide the most innovative solutions for future sources of energy, the most effi cient and reliable equipment, and best in class returns for our shareholders.
“We continue to provide the services we are renowned for, but we are taking those same services and capabilities beyond traditional customers to others within the energy sector.”
The company is also relocating to smaller and better-equipped facilities to handle the diverse offerings and further advance its operations and growth. The move to its 101,000 sqft space at 1310 Rankin Road, Houston, will be completed by the end of September.
“Moving to this facility will enable us to reduce our carbon footprint, further streamline our cost structure and attract high calibre talent as we reposition for future growth. And being located close to George Bush Intercontinental Airport will make it easier for our cus tomers to stop by as they travel into and out of Houston.”
Every step of the company’s transition, from name change, relocation and service diversification, its employees have been involved from the get-go. Mr Njuguna
explained: “For example, we opened up the opportunity for them to discuss the name change, and from that point on, they have bought in very strongly to what we want to achieve.”
He added: “It has been a personal journey for myself. Through the pandemic, the up and downs of the energy industry and the company’s transition, I endeavoured to keep our employees and stakeholders informed, and it has been widely appreciated.”
Despite the changes internally, the company continues to operate along America’s Gulf Coast and for clients worldwide. Its equipment is spread glob ally on projects in Singapore, Gabon, Trinidad, and on standby for other off shore operations in other regions as the pandemic lockdowns ease.
Indeed, the company announced receipt of an order for installation equipment and services valued at more than $1.7 million, with all activities scheduled to be com pleted by the end of 2022. The project includes installing company-built equip ment, whose final destination is the Gulf of Mexico, with part of the scope being
performed in collaboration with other contractors at an overseas facility.
Mr Njuguna commented: “This award highlights our customers’ continued confidence in our team’s ability to provide integrated solutions that span the design, engineering, manufacturing, and installa tion of subsea production equipment.”
While challenges remain around recruiting talent, pricing and raw mate rials, the company is firm in its stance on being transparent with suppliers and clients, and taking a partnership approach on projects that help underpin long-term relations.
He concluded: “We are excited to see what the future holds. What’s most exciting for Koil Energy is our commitment to what we love to do, and still being able to offer the experience we have built up over 25 years.
“With a passion for building something bigger than ourselves, a desire to perform against the odds, and a drive to accomplish more than we should be able to, I believe we have the best team to adapt to the tran sitions now taking hold in the rapidly changing energy space.” n
Charles Njuguna, CEOThe family-owned Spyrides Group is a dominant player in the petrol station market, designing, engineering, supplying and maintaining forecourt technology and infrastructure across the world. With the founder’s sons now at the helm, the company has continued its reputation for inno vation and world-class, comprehensive service provision. But as the world increasingly moves away from fossil fuels, what does the company’s future look like? Commercial Director Spyros Sotiropoulos revealed the firm’s exciting plans to Richard Hagan.
Spyrides SA, based in Greece, was originally founded in 1970 with the intention of supplying equipment to the petrol station industry, including facilities and even the gas stations themselves.
Later on, from the early 1990s, it began to specialise in the manufacture of fuel pumps for gas stations and now it is a world leader in that space. It is also the only company in the Balkans with the international certifications it holds, including honours from major European and American companies.
The family business to which Spyrides SA belongs, was estab lished in 1933 by Dimitrios Spyridis: his two sons would later join and, with 100% ownership under their belts eventually they, in turn, would be joined by their children, making for a truly familyowned and run business.
The family are all placed in key managerial positions, ensuring p roper day-to-day running of the company.
Long-term planning pays off Thanks to its decades of operation and specialisation in the space, Spyrides SA has developed a comprehensive range of products and services that make it a truly one-stop shop for its customers.
“Our basic philosophy (and also our competitive advantage), is in our ability to provide a full range of solutions to our cus tomers,” said Commercial Director Spyros Sotiropoulos. “We handle the construction, we sell the equipment, and then we provide maintenance and service for all of it.
“We are also uniquely able to offer custom fuel dispensers to our customers according to their specific needs or requirements, which is something that our competitors do not provide.”
That level of flexibility is important in a market in which the prod ucts offered by its competitors are, he revealed, fundamentally the same. Customisations offered by Spyrides SA can therefore include a variety of bespoke components according to the customer’s require ments, for example, ultra high-flow dispensers, dispensers with a unique nozzle, and custom product configurations.
The company’s product and service catalogue includes the production of fuel pumps and dispensers, the design and devel opment of automation systems for petrol stations (such as fore court control systems, automatic tank gauging systems and payment terminals), construction of retail or commercial petrol stations in general, as well as construction of mobile petrol sta tions for industries.
In addition, the company offers everything in-between; from lights to signage and small accessories of every description. And once all of those products are in place, Spyrides offers a full range of maintenance services for all of the above.
This vast product offering is the result of an intentional, longterm strategy and ongoing development efforts to ensure that it is able to meet all of its customers’ needs, explained Mr Sotiropoulos.
“Through continuous market research and feedback from our clients, we have been able to design and manufacture new prod ucts that fully meet their changing needs and expectations.”
Spyrides SA has an equally impressive logistics operation supporting its sales efforts. Each of its five branches in Greece has its own warehouse, all of which are linked by its ERP system In total, the company maintains 3,500 sqm of warehousing space. Every warehouse is equipped with forklifts, electric pallet stackers , and hand pallet trucks to ensure the speedy and efficient move ment of goods in and out of storage.
Spyrides SA’s operations are centred within Greece. It has admin istrative offices in Athens and Thessaloniki, as well as customer service branches in Patras, Larissa and Heraklion. Altogether, the firm boasts 215 employees working across either administrative or technical roles.
Its production facility is located in Athens. Covering a jawdropping 12,000 sqm, the factory is equipped with modern machinery and software for the manufacture of fuel pumps and dispensers. These include bending machines, drilling machines, punches and more.
Altogether, over 30 staff members are permanently employed on its production floor, but during peak periods, they are
typically temporarily supplemented by an additional five to eight staff drawn from other departments.
To ensure its ability to meet with and regularly service its substantial customer base, the company maintains a fleet of 14 maintenance trucks and a variety of 11 other vehicles for general commercial needs.
Mr Sotiropoulos drew attention to two recent projects com pleted by Spyrides that were particular highlights for the firm.
The first was its supply of mobile diesel filling stations for the Lafarge Group, and the second was the construction of a petrol station at the largest marina in Greece, Asteras Vouliagmeni.
“For both projects, a lengthy tender process had been issued which evaluated not only costs but also technical efficiencies and delivery lead times of the candidate contractors,” he explained. “Our competitive advantage (which delivered success in those tenders), is our ability to provide complete solutions of products and services both for competitive prices, in a technically effi cient manner, and within fast delivery times.”
The value of both projects ranged from €200,000 to €400,000 and involved compliance with strict environmental standards and challenging site conditions
As a result of climate change, the world is hurriedly trying to wean itself off of fossil fuels, and one of the industries that will see the biggest shift the fastest is the passenger vehicle cate gory. Here, electric vehicles (EVs) are widely considered to be the most viable solution, and it has created a need everywhere for EV charging points.
Mr Sotiropoulos made it clear that the company is is actively investing in the EV movement.
“We’re very aware of the market’s increasing interest in, and sales of, EVs,” he revealed. “In line with our strategy always to provide a complete range of solutions to our customers, we recently created a new company called Neotec Energy through which we have already signed cooperation agreements with leading international manufacturers.
“Through Neotec Energy, we will provide a full range of elec tric vehicle chargers to the Greek market. These will be suitable not only for petrol stations, but also for industries, shopping malls, hotels, and any type of business that wants to increase its customer base by offering additional benefits or value through the provision of EV charging points.”
Though Neotec Energy is currently focused on operations within Greece, the company has plans to expand its activities internation ally soon, beginning with the Balkans and countries in North Africa.
Spyrides’ most popular and successful product is its fuel dis pensers. Apart from the Greek market, the company has agree ments with major national oil companies, via which it exports its dispensers to 43 countries worldwide, including Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Ethiopia, Lebanon, Kenya, Egypt and beyond.
Outside of its fuel dispenser sales, the company has experi enced steady growth in its petrol station automation products (such as its forecourt control system, its fleet management and payment terminals, and automatic tank gauging systems), and in its complete petrol station construction activities, particularly of flagship petrol stations for major oil companies in Greece.
In 2021, the company grew its export roster by four countries, adding Libya, Norway, Ghana and the Czech Republic and in 2022, it expects to add another four, including Sweden, Austria, Uganda and Cameroon.
Thanks to all of the above efforts, Spyrides SA enjoyed strong sales growth in 2021 versus 2020. “This has once again confirmed the long-term trust relationship that we’ve built with our customers,” Mr Sotiropoulos remarked.
Of course, future growth plans will now also heavily feature the company’s new and exciting EV charging infrastructure and related products.
In closing, Mr Sotiropoulos expressed his optimism for the company’s future. “The next steps for our group are all related to expansion into new market segments and more countries, giving more petrol station professionals an opportunity to work with our high-quality fuel dispensers and our forecourt control system.
Despite the various ongoing geopolitical challenges, I believe that in every crisis there are hidden opportunities and that we are called to take advantage of them.” n
Spyros Sotiropoulos Commercial Director
Technology is always moving forward, and German Pneumatics Engineering GmbH (GPE Turbo) has kept pace by investing heavily in a suite of test beds for its compressors. These new arrivals enable GPE Turbo to maintain its reputation for engineering excellence.
“We now have quality assurance under our own control,” Managing Director Ralf Stephani explained. “These new test beds allow us to test all the rotating components in-house, then the certified parts move to the next department, where we assemble the complete skid.”
GPE Turbo was established in Leipzig in eastern Germany in 2013, originally as a service and maintenance provider for turbo
c ompressors. By 2017, the company had expanded into manu fac turing its own range of compressors from its single factory in Leipzig. Today, GPE Turbo employs 35 people and anticipates a 2022 turnover of almost €11 million, with orders in hand of €17.5 million. These impressive figures are part of the company’s steady growth over recent years, where turnover has been consistently doubling year-on-year.
The GPE Turbo range of compressors cover any application and work with all gas mixtures. These compressors operate with pressures up to 100 bar and flow rates up to 200,000 Nm³/h and can be driven by electrical motor, gas engine or steam turbine.
German Pneumatics Engineering GmbH has almost 10 years’ experience as a specialist for the development and manufacturing of compressor solutions, along with the mainte nance, supply of spare parts and reconditioning of turbo compressor units. Managing Director Ralf Stephani and Sales Manager Michael Jürgen Scholz discussed investments and the benefits of being an agile company in conversation with Phil Nicholls.
The GPE Turbo centrifugal integrally geared compressors are the company’s bread-and-butter product and designed with up to eight stages. Depending upon the client’s requirements, these compres sors can be supplied API 672 and/or API 617 (part 3) compliant
For some applications the company also manufactures non-inte grally geared centrifugal compressors compliant to API 617 (part 2). GPE Turbo single-shaft compressors are offered up to eight stages only for process gas applications.
GPE compressors operate in a diverse range of industries including power generation, refineries, steel and petrochemicals. The company also offers a full range of service and spare parts for compressors, both for its own machines and those manufactured elsewhere.
Throughout its range, GPE Turbo maintains an environment of continuous improvement through process innovation. The com pany has already realised project-specific compliance with industry standards like ANSI, API, CRN, CSA, CE/PED, DIN, ISO and VDI. As part of this ongoing process, GPE Turbo recently invested in a suite of new test beds to bring its stringent testing regime in-house
Alongside a new compressor test bed, GPE Turbo has also invested in a new overspeed test facility.
“This new Centrio test bed is from Schenck,” said Mr Stephani. “We can now make overspeed tests for impellers up to one metre diameter. For the small impellers, we can go to a test speed of 65,000 rpm. The bed can test impellers from a diameter of 120 millimetres up to one metre. And directly next to the overspeed
test centre, we have our dynamic balancing machines for com pletion of rotors.
“We have also installed a new compressor test bed which has a capacity of 4,000 kilowatts and by end of the year will be extended to 5,000 kilowatts. GPE Turbo has installed a harmonics frequency inverter from Siemens, which is the newest and the best tech nology worldwide. So, we can say that we have the most modern electrical test bed equipment in the world.”
The new suite of in-house test beds gives GPE Turbo a complete portfolio of testing to support its quality engineering products This is only one strand of the company’s USP. According to Mr Stephani, the small, agile nature of GPE Turbo is a real benefit.
“We are a very compact company, which is an advantage in terms of flexibility. If there’s a problem in our assembling depart ment, then our technical department will be informed. Our engi neers go downstairs, they find the solution and we make a decision quickly, displaying our flexibility.”
The size of GPE Turbo is a positive for many clients. “Companies come to us because they are looking for a flexible, slim company which has a very short reaction time and where documentation issues can be solved within a reasonable time frame,” said Mr Stephani.
Another aspect of GPE Turbo’s agility is the short supply chain the company maintains with local suppliers.
“All our purchasing is basically still from Germany,” Sales Manager Michael Jürgen Scholz explained. “We don’t outsource purchasing,
so the GPE Turbo purchasing department is here in Leipzig. There is a long tradition of engineering around Leipzig, as compressors have been built here for more than 100 years. GPE Turbo’s mission is to keep these suppliers alive in the area.”
By having so many suppliers nearby in Leipzig, GPE Turbo can build a strong and personal relationship with its partners in the supply chain. “We talk regularly to them, we visit each other to discuss issues,” explained Mr Stephani. “GPE Turbo has confi dence and trust in our suppliers. This is more important than to source the best Asian supplier with the lowest price ever. We have reached the point where the purchase department is losin g power in the system because the technicians are coming back on stage.”
This supremacy of engineering specialists is at the heart of GPE Turbo and draws many experienced engineers into the company, according to Mr Scholz: “These people are leaving the big com panies because they’re not really interesting places to work.
Here at GPE Turbo, the engineers work closely with customers on the compressors and the applications.”
Specialist engineers in close contact with clients produces superb customer service and a company alive to the market trends. GPE Turbo is also responding to the demand for environ mental sustainability in the market. The company is reviewing its CO2 consumption and developing compressors for use with nat ural gas, synthetic natural gas and hydrogen.
The short supply chain enjoyed by GPE Turbo allowed the com pany to avoid the worst of the recent global supply issues.
“If I have my supplier next door in Leipzig,” Mr Stephani said, “then I can be in their office in five minutes, and we can talk through any issue. All this is an advantage for GPE Turbo. People might say that we can do everything by video meeting, but at the end of the day it’s good to sit together at one table and solve prob lems face-to-face. This may not be the fashion, but it is a style which is very welcome to our customers.”
Despite these benefits from its Leipzig suppliers, Mr Scholz acknowledged there are still challenges facing GPE Turbo:
“GPE Turbo is also responding to the demand for environmental sustainability in the market. The company is reviewing its CO2 consumption and developing compressors for use with natural gas, synthetic natural gas and hydrogen”
“Definitely the energy prices jumping up and players who hide behind it and increase their prices. Unfortunately, we must deal with that and try to keep our prices acceptable to our customers.”
The purchase of new test beds has brought new capabilities to GPE Turbo, but the company is already considering the next round of expansion.
“The important thing is that we grow in a healthy way,” explained Mr Scholz, “meaning that the customer gets the quality of engineering they expect with a delivery time that is acceptable at the contractual rate. GPE Turbo wants to keep the customers happy, keep the employees happy, and keep the shareholders happy; they all must participate in our growth.”
Investment at GPE Turbo is an ongoing process, as the company works to stay current with the evolving technology. “Within the last three years we invested around €6 million in the company,” Mr Stephani added. “We have just purchased an additional new five axis milling machine German quality from Bavaria and a new turning and milling machine to make our vanes and other small components. These upgrades mean GPE Turbo will improve the quality of the crucial parts at the heart of the compressor, and manufacturing them here in our workshop will make us even more independent.”
“The most important thing about GPE Turbo,” concluded Mr Scholz, “is how it’s basically driven and guided by engineers, not by commercial people or bankers. This is what makes us a really different company.” n
Ralf Stephani Managing Director
Since 1990, Gruppo Aturia has developed a strong position in the centrifugal pump sector by means of both organic growth and acquisitions. Now, three years on from Finder Pompe’s acquisition, the reorganisation is complete and Aturia is looking at further expansion, revealed Vice President Marino Pugliese in an interview with Romana Moares.
Thestory of Milan-based Gruppo Aturia is one of continued growth. Starting to operate in the centrifugal pumps sector in 1927, Aturia became a leader in the submersible pumps field by patenting its first submersible motor in 1946.
The company embarked on significant expansion in the 1990s and the early 2000s by acquiring several companies, each with an impressive history and track record, in order to minimise demand fluctuations and to develop its focus across several pump sectors.
In 1990, Aturia was joined by Rotos, a manufacturer of radial multi-stage and vertical turbine pumps, and Marelli, a producer of large vertical turbine pumps and split case pumps.
In 2003, Audoli & Bertola, a manufacturer of pumps for heavy industry such as steel plants, cooling systems, power plants and the marine sector was acquired, followed in 2006 by Rütschi, the inventor of the Perfecta canned motor pump with operations in Switzerland and France. The latter has been a major player in the nuclear sector, boasting more than 100 nuclear installations worldwide.
The last acquisition during the first decade of the new millen nium was of vertical turbine and lube oil pumps manufacturer Aris Chiappa in 2009.
In 2015, Aturia changed owners as its was acquired by WPIL (for merly Worthington Pump India Ltd), a multinational pump group headquartered in Kolkata, listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The group produces pumps for power generation, municipal and industrial applications, and has a strong presence throughout the Asia Pacific region and Africa, with facilities in India, South Africa and Australia.
Under the new owners, Aturia began the process of acquisitions once more. In 2019, it welcomed to its company portfolio Finder Pompe, one of the European leading designers and manufacturer s of engineered pumps and systems for oil and gas applications
Through its companies, Gruppo Aturia today has a strong pres ence in the nuclear (Rütschi), oil and gas (Finder), firefighting (Audoli & Bertola), industrial (Rotos) and water (Aturia) sectors. With a total employee count of approximately 300 shared across its companies, Gruppo Aturia achieved a consolidated turnover in 2021 of over €60 million.
“Our core business remains centrifugal pumps,” underlined Vice President Marino Pugliese. “Looking forward, we want to fur ther enhance our position by potential new acquisitions with a focus on industrial applications across a number of segments including nuclear, oil and gas, power generation, mining, marine, and water distribution.”
Thanks to its integrated design systems, Gruppo Aturia offers products that are state-of-the-art. The product development cycle starts at the design stage where Aturia’s broad experience is reflected in the development of pumps for special fluids with power values that reach 4 MW, pressure values up to 200 bar and temperatures up to 400°C.
When speaking about market developments, Mr Pugliese men tioned several factors that would support the group’s activities and influence potential growth.
“The key message of the recent G20 summit held in Rome and COP26 held in Glasgow in October-November 2021 further high lighted the importance of CO2 reduction by increasing focus on renewables including nuclear, and by improving efficiency leading to a reduction in energy consumption,” he said. “Pumps will play an important role in both of these lines of development.
“Data published most recently by the US Administration, analysing primary energy consumption by energy source show that petroleum and other liquid hydrocarbons will continue to play an important part at least until 2050. New investment in the sector can be expected to sustain the consumption in 2050 at the same level as it is today. Aturia is well positioned to face the new developments in both nuclear and oil and gas, given the track record of its companies in these sectors.”
He added: “Finder has been recognised as one of the most dynamic players in the pump business worldwide, with impres
sive experience in oil and gas; and Rütschi, established 70 years ago in Switzerland, has been a major supplier of centrifugal pumps for nuclear applications.”
Mr Pugliese noted that potential is also seen in the water distri bution segments: as most of the water systems in Europe were built not long after the Second World War, the focus today is to increase the efficiency, reduce maintenance costs with a long service life – factors that Aturia’s pumps can help to achieve. Meanwhile in the rest of the world, important investments are planned on drinkable and irrigation waters.
Since 2020, Gruppo Aturia has significantly invested in test benches.
“Testing is very important, hence we have invested over €4 million during last year, developing testing capability and capacity,” said Mr Pugliese.
As part of its measures aimed at minimising the impact of Covid-19, Gruppo Aturia has begun to offer customers the oppor tunity to witness testing activities remotely. Inspectors can interact
with test-bench technicians from their offices and can watch the setup, measurement and reporting phases via live streaming.
“Covid-19 has of course affected us all, and we have all had to cope as best we could,” reflected Mr Pugliese. “The new problem that has arrived now relates to the supply chain. Skyrocketing prices and a general shortage of raw materials have affected all pump manufacturers.”
Still, Aturia has a clear plan to go forward, affirmed Mr Pugliese: utilising group synergies supported by a financially
strong owner, has opened doors to opportunities in Asia and Africa, especially in the offshore and water distribution sectors. Aturia recently commissioned a pumping station for the largest irrigation plant at Atbara in Sudan, making use of the engineering experience and the supply chain of its parent company, WPIL.
“Post-Covid, we are now analysing opportunities for new acquisi tions, in line with our long-term growth strategy. The goal is to fur ther increase business in Europe, and to develop new business in the Far East,” he concluded. n
