European Oil and Gas Issue 100 Final Edition

FINAL ď ˇ issue 100

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Building relationships Relationship risk and the challenges of partnership working

Energy works Oil and gas growth is increasing career opportunities Striking a balance Operators should move towards a data-centric world

this ISSUE: Marine transfer operations

Editors Chairman Andrew Schofield Group Managing Director Mike Tulloch

Sales Director David Garner Corporate Advertising Sales David King dking@schofieldpublishing.co.uk Sales Finlay Johnson Head of Research Philip Monument Business Development Manager Mark Cawston Research Managers Natalie Martin Ben Richell Editorial Researchers Ed Hipperson Kieran Shukri Jeff Johnson ­Office Manager Tracy Chynoweth

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As the

oil and gas industry expands, project complexity increases, and in this environment collaboration and partnerships are essential to successful operations.

Of course, in that increased complexity the challenges of partnership working also increase, as we discover in our lead feature in this issue.

We were fortunate enough to gain valuable insight from Alex Cameron and David Archer, both directors of Socia Ltd and authors of ‘Collaborative Leadership: Building relationships, handling conflict and sharing control’. On page four they address the challenges of partnerships in oil and gas, pointing out “the greatest risks in any system are at the boundaries between one part of the system and another – and that's never been truer than in today’s interconnected business environment.”

If you are working in the energy industry the chances are that partnerships and collaboration are part of your everyday life, and with the risks that accompany this type of work, Alex and David’s feature is essential reading. After all, as they explain, “In an even more interconnected world in the future, the skills of collaboration and relationship risk management will become critical.”

editors Libbie Hammond & matt high

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Art Editor Gérard Roadley-Battin Advertising Design Jenni Newman Production Manager Fleur Conway Production Administrator Vicky Howes

In an even more interconnected world in the future, the skills of collaboration and relationship risk management will become critical”

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Managing Editor Libbie Hammond libbie@schofieldpublishing.co.uk Editor Matt High mhigh@schofieldpublishing.co.uk Staff Writers Kirsty Birkett-Stubbs Jo Cooper Drew Dann Editorial Administrator Emma Harris

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Regulars

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Lead feature

Relationship risk and the challenges of partnership working

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News

A look at some of the recent developments in the oil and gas industry

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IT

Why operators should move towards a data-centric world

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Lead feature

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Profiles 8 Transvac Systems 41 ALE 45 Kuantan Port Consortium 48 Seven Seas Services 50 Zenith Structural Access Solutions 53 Ugland Construction 55 HMVT 58 Thermtech 60 Gasunie 63 Top Oilfield Industries 65 Ben Line Agencies 68 CS Combustion Solutions 70 Brubakken

How oil and gas growth is increasing career opportunities

Special feature marine transfer operations

Robin Proctor of Reflex Marine on offshore crew transfer operations

24 SPE Offshore Europe 2013 26 GE Oil & Gas 34 ITW Densit 39 Oldham Engineering

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72 Motherwell Bridge 75 BAM Energie 79 Providence Resources

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Contents

81 Karmsund 85 Ventspils Nafta Terminals 91 Overseas AST Company 95 Suretank 101 Wessington Cryogenics 103 Essar Oil 107 VTT Vasiliko 103

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109 Enterprise Engineering Services 113 Kongsberg Maritime 116 Cryo AB 119 Icon Offshore Berhad 122 ms Neumann Elektronik 125 Prime Drilling

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Building relationships

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David Archer and Alex Cameron discuss relationship risk and the challenge of partnership working in oil and gas “

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Below David Archer director of Socia Ltd

Below Alex Cameron director of Socia Ltd

M

ind the gap” – it’s a phrase every visitor to London has heard a thousand times.

Originally recorded in the 1960s as a short automated announcement to passengers to watch out for the gap between the platform edge and the tube train door at curved station platforms, it’s become an English language cliché. But as a safety announcement it contains a simple truth. People have always known that the greatest risks in any system are at the boundaries between one part of the system and another – and that’s never been truer than in today’s interconnected business environment.

The oil and gas sector is more experienced than most at working in this ‘interconnected’ manner, and it might be reasonable to suggest that some sectors newer to partnership working (transport or Government, for example) might have something to learn from the experience in the energy industry. But we all know that it’s not so easy to make these partnerships work over time. There are inherent risks in sharing control with other organisations and being dependent on their performance to deliver your business objectives. And when these arrangements go wrong, the consequences can be catastrophic. There’s no need to go over the lessons from Macondo or Piper Alpha here, but it’s worth reflecting on whether we are paying attention to all the right factors in these complex interconnected situations.

Identifying relationship risks Risks that originate in your partner’s organisation, or risks that arise because of the interaction (or lack of interaction) between two organisations, need a place on a joint risk register. They also need to be watched carefully because these relationship risks have their own peculiar characteristics that make them particularly difficult to manage.

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was ridiculed for his remarks about ‘unknown unknowns’ with regard to Iraq’s links to terrorist organisations, but there was some truth behind his scrambled syntax. Conventional risks registers deal in ‘known knowns’; risks whose impact and likelihood can at least be reasonably estimated. These risks are comfortable for engineers to handle, but when risks are being managed across an organisational boundary, things are never that transparent. It’s difficult to interpret the potential warning signs that may be seen coming from within your partner’s organisation and, in turn, it’s difficult for them to understand the signs from your organisation. Trying to manage relationship risks brings us into the world of ‘known unknowns’ and ‘unknown knowns’.

Known Unknowns In these situations you know your own organisation has some vulnerability to how your partner may operate and you may be unsighted on their lack of technical competence,

the capability of their subcontractors, etc. But what is largely unknown is the likelihood of your partner triggering this risk by their actions. It’s difficult to get your partner to let you know their vulnerabilities, particularly if they have over-sold their capability when they contracted with you.

This is particularly true when partners are working across different organisational cultures: all the subtle cues that would indicate that something is wrong aren’t there. In fact, there may be cultural barriers to discussing problems or failings, and so the risk to project, well or developments are unquantified.

Unknown knowns Then there are the situations where you simply don’t know what your partner knows – the unknown knowns. These could be instances where your partner has uncovered a problem or a potential risk and is working very hard to resolve that part of their process before telling you, or anyone else, about it. These situations can sometimes be described as ‘guilty knowledge’.

These may be risks that haven’t been considered: issues that had not been conceived as likely ever to pose a problem.

And from your partner’s point of view, these can look like risks that are contained totally within their own business: things that are their responsibility to resolve, with little or no knock-on impact on their partners. But the lack of

transparency and unwillingness of one partner to talk to anyone else about a problem because they think they have it under control again creates an unquantified risk.

However, in order to build a resilient collaborative partnership – to be able to explore the known unknowns and the unknown knowns - both sides must be committed to talking about their attitude to risk and to understand their own and their partner’s risk profile. In our experience this goes far beyond a simple high, medium or low risk profile rating and means understanding more about your partner’s business, its culture and its history.

All our attitudes to risk are informed by what we have seen going wrong in the past, the price we have paid for it and the lessons we have drawn from the experience. But how does the industry put this experience into practice?

Tackling relationship risk When it comes to addressing relationship risks and building a management framework for handling them successfully, we can’t just depend on the usual approaches to risk management and the creation of risk registers. It comes down to a balance between three aspects of how the partnership is run, namely Governance, Operations and Behaviours. Of course the amount of effort required in each will depend on the specifics of the situation you face, but a risk management plan that only addresses one or two

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of these areas will be less resilient than one that addresses all three. And this needs to be set up at the start of any new partnership – at the point where the ink is still wet on the new contract and there is sufficient goodwill to make it work.

Governance: The first step is to build relationship risk management into the formal governance process. All organisations and projects have risk registers that should be reviewed. But, in our experience, these risk registers often don’t focus on the partners’ real worries and fears. Issues as complex as the relationship between organisations are rarely identified in these documents. If the future success of the venture depends on building strong partnerships, then there needs to be an agreed process to check that the risk register reflects the need to manage relationship risks that could be overlooked. This will mean addressing some sensitive issues that can’t always be quantified but are likely to be the issues that keep partners awake at night.

Operations: Operationalising the early warning systems is an important factor in the effective management of relationship risk. Experienced managers pick up signs intuitively – something just doesn’t feel right – but, between organisations, these feelings are often dismissed. These early indicators might include one party being excluded from a task, a key person being unable to attend an important meeting or the late delivery of a report, etc.

But what happens when warning signs start to emerge from such a system? Here it’s important to have the right set of incentives and sanctions to hand. In a complex technical environment such as oil exploration, equipment can fail,

people can make mistakes, but the consequences are much more dangerous. A robust relationship risk system will incentivise partners to identify these early indicators and communicate them early to partners.

Behaviours: Formal risk governance and efficient joint safety management systems are essential foundations for relationship risk management, but they are not enough. The behaviour of leaders plays a crucial part in setting the culture of the relationship and building its appetite to risk. Like any marriage, strong enduring relationships don’t happen by accident and they have their ups and downs. Business relationships also need tending carefully too. This means leaders must recognise the need to invest their own time and resources in building those relationships when the partnership is going well so that the goodwill built up can be drawn down when times are tough. If these relationships cross cultures, as they so often do in the oil and gas sector, this can be seen as a reason to keep your distance. But this natural reticence should be tempered by the need to establish open and effective communication and trust in these relationships. This has to be the priority for the leaders of the partnership.

The future is more collaboration and so more relationship risks The response to the high profile disasters of the past means more scrutiny from regulators and new ways to respond to avoid environmental impacts. Take the example of the industry-owned co-operative Oil Spill Response Ltd, which exists to respond to oil spills and works with other industry organisations to share experience and

develop knowledge. Here is an organisation that has to have collaboration in its DNA: it can only deliver benefit to the industry in times of crises by using the knowledge, contribution and goodwill of all the participating organisations. This means that if the relationships between these partners don’t work, then the risks in times of crisis are significantly increased.

And the greatest risks in an interconnected partnership are often found at ‘the platform edge’ – the points of high interdependence between different parties. These are where relationships matter, where communication needs to be effective and trust needs to be high. Yet the greatest opportunities are often found at precisely the same points.

Here different organisations have to work closely together.

This can be tricky, but the friction can also be creative: people challenge each other’s assumptions, ask apparently stupid questions that make people see in a new light, and posit different ways of doing things. But this won’t happen without individual leaders taking relationship risk seriously. Successful leaders in the oil and gas industry have always been those who can manage relationships well. In an even more interconnected world in the future, the skills of collaboration and relationship risk management will become critical.

The leader’s response In essence, we would suggest that leaders have four imperatives with regard to managing risks that could result in failure or worse.

66 Leading across a partnership means you have to deal with

the paradox of shared control. To create more systemic control of joint risk means that you need to let go of some aspects of control and focus on developing an open and trusting relationship with your partners.

66Leaders

need to be skilled at effective communication that transcends cultural differences. This means being prepared to admit to some vulnerabilities in your own organisation and encourage your partners to do the same so you build resilient ways of managing risk together 66 Set up any partnership in a manner where relationship risks are explicitly addressed as part of a risk management process – risks have their own place on the risk register.

66 Be aware of your own attitude to risk and what drives it.

Does this fit with the risk profile of your own organisation and with the demands of the objectives of the partnership or project?

Socia Ltd David Archer and Alex Cameron are co-directors of Socia Ltd, a consultancy specialising in advising private and public sector leaders, leadership teams and boards on managing critical business relationships. Their oil and gas sector clients include Premier Oil, Salamander Energy and Ophir Energy.

They are co-authors of ‘Collaborative Leadership – Building relationships, handling conflict and sharing control’ (Routledge, March 2013).

For further information please visit: socia.co.uk

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When it comes to addressing relationship risks and building a management framework for handling them successfully, we can’t just depend on the usual approaches to risk management and the creation of risk registers. It comes down to a balance between three aspects of how the partnership is run, namely Governance, Operations and Behaviours

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recovery A flare for “ Above Transvac's research & development test facility Below Marlim, Campos Basin, Brazil

We have just celebrated our 40th year, which was a couple of weeks ago,” says marketing manager of Transvac, Peter Ainge. “It’s a nice milestone - we have been around for a long time. At the heart of all of our oil and gas solutions lies the Ejector, sometimes also known as an eductor or surface jet pump.

They are essentially pumps that have no moving parts, require little or no maintenance and often require no ‘new’ energy to run. They use a jet of either liquid or gas to create a low pressure region in the body of the Ejector which then draws in a third fluid, which again can be either a gas or a liquid. It’s an old principle that has been around for hundreds of years but is very

effective and offers some exciting opportunities to the oil and gas industry.”

The principles behind Transvac’s Ejector systems may be hundreds of years old but the company is breaking new ground across a host of industries. The oil and gas industry however, has been the company’s most important catalyst for growth as it looks for ways to improve on the levels of resources recovered. “We use Ejectors across a range of industries including nuclear, oil and gas, food and pharmaceutical, water treatment, steam and vacuum,” Peter explains.

“These have kept our business nice and steady over the years, however the oil and gas industry is our most exciting market. A very topical

Transvac Systems

theme in the industry, particularly in the North Sea is about recovering more, extending field life and if possible restarting ‘dead’ wells. With a mature field and depleting reserves one of the challenges is not to abandon a well or a field when it has only had 40-50 per cent of its resources recovered. Our patented production boosting Ejectors reduce backpressure on wells, or indeed lower the backpressure from a separator, to enhance recovery.

require any power or maintenance, it will run itself – it’s just a principle of physics. A lot of the time we’ll have engineers saying, “That sounds too good to be true, what’s the catch?”, but there really isn’t one.”

In 2010 Transvac opened its research and

It looks like a simple piece of pipe to be honest, it’s not an exciting piece of kit to look at but what is going on inside, and the opportunities it presents, really are

Above Transvac conducts detailed CFD Ejector performance analysis

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“There are two common ways in which an Ejector can be driven, requiring no new energy and no running costs. This means that any gain in production is free, 100 per cent efficient. The first opportunity is where there is a high pressure (HP) well that is being choked to reduce its pressure.

This is common practice so as to maintain production across other nearby wells sharing the same production facilities. However, there is energy being wasted across the valve, offering no benefit. We can use this energy to drive an Ejector. The Ejector becomes the choke device in effect, but also creates a suction that can be used to literally suck on the LP, dead well, bringing it back to life. Liquid loaded wells are no problem as, unlike mechanical compressors, Ejectors can handle liquid slugs with without issue.”

The second opportunity lies where mechanical compressors are operating in recycle, which is commonplace in mature fields where the throughput has fallen off. By recycling some of the gas from the discharge side of the compressor and feeding it back into the suction side, the compressor then sees a throughput closer to its design point. Again, there is a loop of wasted energy, which can be tapped into and used to drive an Ejector. “We’ve had some great success with this and the beauty of our technology is that it has no moving parts, it doesn’t require any electrical power and it doesn’t require any maintenance,” says Peter. “It looks like a simple piece of pipe to be honest, it’s not an exciting piece of kit to look at but what is going on inside, and the opportunities it presents, really are.

“We’ve had huge success with these, they can create hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of revenue a day for no extra cost apart from the cost of the Ejector. It doesn’t

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Below Transvac subsea Ejector for Petrobras' Marlim Field

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Transvac Systems

development test facility, which has allowed the company to break new ground in a big way. A great example of this is Transvac’s new flare gas recovery solution, FlareJet. “We have over 20 years experience in delivering flare gas recovery solutions to the industry, but armed with this new performance data and some cutting-edge Ejector designs we can now offer gas compression up to 90:1,” says Gary Short, R&D director. “FlareJet is the result of many years of development and our latest IP. It has opened up many new opportunities for our clients who can now enjoy zero-flare operation at their facilities.”

In many cases produced water can be used to drive an Ejector. This can achieve very high compression, which allows flare gas, often close to atmospheric pressure, to be compressed up to a pressure high enough to either re-enter production or be used as a fuel gas elsewhere on the facility.

It’s a very effective solution and a great alternative to liquid ring vacuum pumps or mechanical compressors that are often plagued with maintenance issues and spiraling running costs.

Elaborating on the success of Transvac’s research and development centre, Peter says “We have used the research and development facility for a number of projects including sand cleaning

packages, and we are currently in the process of testing a gas-flaring package for flare gas recovery in Oman for PDO. It’s groundbreaking work we’re doing, we have been making liquid jet Ejectors for 40 years but now we have been able to completely rewrite the rulebook regarding what we are able to do with them.”

Moving beyond 2013 Transvac is determined to push into its largest market, the oil and gas industry, as well as developing the way it operates in other sectors. Alongside delivering its FlareJet system, the company will look to take advantage of the growing subsea industry, which it sees as perfectly suitable for its Ejector products.

Many technologies have fallen by the wayside and many require complete redesign to operate subsea. Ejectors do not and as such, Transvac has been part of some of the subsea industry’s most groundbreaking projects, such as Marlim, the FMC/Petrobras subsea separation and reinjection module currently installed in the Campos Basin off the coast of Brazil. Transvac also supplied the world’s first subsea Ejector to Tordis, the FMC/Statoil separation module. This was the world’s first full-field subsea separation system. Ultimately, 2013 is looking very exciting for Transvac.

Hone-All Hone-All would like to congratulate our valued partner Transvac on their 40th Anniversary!

Specialising in deep hole boring, deep hole drilling, CNC honing and CNC turning on components up to three metres long, Hone-All is the market leader in providing precision machining services for the key suppliers into the oil and gas industry.

Come and meet us at Offshore Europe, Hall 2E Stand 125, and see for yourself just how we could be your sourcing solution.

Transvac Systems Ltd Transvac.co.uk

Services Product boosting and recovery solutions

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Left Transvac supplied the world's first subsea ejector for Tordis the world's first full field subsea separation system

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Learning together A new Shell Centre for Exploration Geoscience is to be established jointly by Shell International Exploration and Production B.V. and Heriot-Watt at the University’s Edinburgh campus. The Centre, headed by Professor John Underhill, a renowned geoscientist, represents a £3 million investment by Shell over a five-year period.

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Based within the University’s highly regarded Institute of Petroleum Engineering, the Centre will establish a seismic interpretation and exploration geoscience research group. Researchers will deploy the latest technologies, data, and industry insights to further

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understanding of some of the world’s major petroleum systems, including

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doctoral, PhD and Masters (MRes)

the UK Continental Shelf.

Professor Underhill, holder of the Shell Chair of Exploration Geoscience, will lead a group consisting of sponsored poststudents. He said: “Taken together, Shell’s significant investment and Heriot-Watt University’s commitment to applied academic research activity provide a tremendous opportunity to undertake new, novel and fundamental geoscientific research at the Centre. The results will help further our understanding of the development, evolution and deformation of sedimentary basins and complement existing strengths within the Institute of Petroleum Engineering.”

Ceri Powell, executive vice president, Shell Exploration, said: “Shell is pleased to partner with Heriot-Watt University.

This collaboration highlights our commitment to facilitate world-class research at leading universities in subjects of importance in meeting the world’s growing energy demand.”

Chain reaction At this year’s Offshore Europe, igus UK, will be showcasing its industry-leading e-chain® cable carriers and chainflex® continuous-flex cables developed specifically for mechanically and environmentally challenging offshore applications, as well as its maintenance free range of plain, spherical and linear bearings. Visitors to the stand will be able to see live demonstrations of the world’s largest plastic energy chain, E4.350, and meet industry experts to discuss the latest innovations. igus energy chains are manufactured from high performance plastics making them tough, resistant to corrosion and impact, offering high UV, temperature and precipitation stability. They are lubricantfree so require no maintenance and have very long working lives, making them an extremely costeffective choice.

They are also available in ATEX-ESD compliant versions, and have been proven by test to function reliably even at extreme temperatures and in adverse weather conditions, making them the perfect solution for offshore applications. For example, the E4.350 is well suited to carrying large cables and hoses 15 metres up and down during operations such as drilling head stroke or lateral rig skidding. In addition, igus will show its chainflex range of flexible cables, which are designed for millions of moving cycles in energy chains.

Show time Next month’s SPE Offshore Europe exhibition and conference will be the largest in the event’s history with more exhibiting companies and countries represented than ever before.

The sold-out exhibition halls, covering a record 27,082.42 square metres – equivalent to four football pitches – will feature the complete supply chain of companies including operators, drilling contractors and oilfield service companies. Over 1500 organisations are expected this year, including 262 companies exhibiting for the first time. With 22 operators taking stands, this is the largest operator representation in the history of the event. E.ON and Talisman Sinopec are new additions this year, and Statoil has increased its presence, alongside the majors such as Shell, BP, Chevron, Total, GDF Suez and Saudi Aramco. All of the ‘big four’ service companies – Baker Hughes, Schlumberger, Halliburton and Weatherford – are exhibiting at the event for the first time in a decade.

Vasyl Zhygalo, senior exhibition director, Reed Exhibitions, says: “We are delighted that the exhibition space is sold out and larger than ever before. This is especially fitting as we celebrate the event’s 40th anniversary this year. Visitors will have a rare opportunity to see a huge range of goods and services from small, medium and large companies and, even more importantly, talk to the experts on hand. And attendance is free to all registrants.”

News

Save the date Bookings have officially opened for the annual Offshore Decommissioning Conference organised by Decom North Sea in partnership with Oil & Gas UK. This year’s event, sponsored by Ernst & Young LLP, will be held at the Fairmont Hotel, St Andrews, on 2-3 October. With annual expenditure for North Sea decommissioning projects forecast to top £1 billion in the coming years, this year’s event will focus on collaboration and promoting knowledge share and best practices among operators and supply chain members.

The two conference days feature a full schedule of workshops and presentations including market updates on global decommissioning, well abandonment, industry initiatives and an investigation of the future of the industry.

The programme will also feature case studies on collaboration as well as a panel debate on the subject.

The conference will be chaired jointly by Brian Nixon, Decom North Sea’s chief executive, and Mick Borwell, Oil & Gas UK’s environmental issues director. They will be joined by a line-up of industry experts, who will share their knowledge of decommissioning and encourage delegates to participate in a range of interactive discussions on topical issues including current and projected decommissioning levels, lessons learned from recent major projects and collaboration and re-use.

For further information and to register, please visit: oilandgasuk.co.uk/events/Offshore_Decom_Conf_2013.cfm.

Above: Gabriel Tan, technical support supervisor and Steve Ang, technical sales manager, Hydro Group

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Hydro Group Plc, a global designer and manufacturer of underwater cables and connectors for subsea, underwater, topside and onshore applications, has announced plans for further investment in South East Asia and the appointment of a technical support supervisor to aid growth in the region.

Doug Whyte, Hydro Group managing director, said: “Hydro Group has invested close to £300,000 in developing the South East Asia operation, with plans to invest further and increase staff numbers considerably. These significant developments mean we are on track for the Singapore office to become selfsufficient by the end of 2014.

“We are already moving onto the next phase of development ahead of schedule, appointing two new members of staff to the Singapore office, with the key appointment of Gabriel Tan as technical support supervisor.”

Gabriel spent 16 years in the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) and as a result is a highly qualified electronic technician and trainer. Currently based in Hydro Group’s headquarters in Aberdeen, Scotland, Gabriel has been brought to the UK for intensive and extensive training over four months.

Following his time in the UK, Gabriel will be returning to the Singapore office where he will take up his new role of managing the technical support team and passing on his knowledge of Hydro Group’s technologies and products.

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Supervisory role

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Striking a

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Rather than being held Hostage by current IT systems or solution vendors, operators should look to move from an application-centric environment towards a data-centric world, says Niall O’Doherty

E

ven before the Facebook entrepreneur Mark Zuckerberg was born, in the mid-1980s the oil and gas industry was working with big data and solving complex mathematical problems. By the time he had started high school, Schlumberger had launched the GeoQuest product line and Landmark Graphics Corporation had acquired GeoGraphix, before being in turn acquired by Halliburton.

When Zuckerberg launched the social media site from his dorm in Harvard University in 2004, Schlumberger had already completed the purchases of Technoguide Petrel and VoxelVision. The oil and gas industry was pushing the technology envelope, driving innovation and expanding compute boundaries. Fast forward nearly ten years and it’s clear that early leadership has not entirely delivered against the vision and aspirations of users.

Below Niall O’Doherty, In an ideal world, complex reservoir models would international now be dynamically updated with inputs from drilling director of business and production sensor data. Investments in digital oilfield development technologies would ensure that predictive algorithms are at Teradata monitoring complex production systems and alerting operators of potential hazards, allowing them to visualise the information and recommend corrective action from their handheld device.

New insights would be generated on an almost daily basis from data streaming from permanent arrays on the ocean

floor, and then used to plan interventions that continually improve reservoir management.

So what has prevented the realisation of this operator utopia? One of the most likely factors was the oil crisis that occurred back in the 1970s. Under pressure to reduce costs, huge numbers of people that worked in the industry were made redundant.

This greatly affected the burgeoning information technology groups in major operators as investment in research and development of new computing solutions dried up. Nature abhors a vacuum and as a result, the service providers stepped in. With the growth of worldwide oil exploration triggered by the OPEC oil embargo of 1973, companies like Schlumberger were able to invest heavily in technologies, applications and software to support the oil industry.

Over the last 30 years we have seen the concentration of specialised domain expertise and application development skills in the service providers and their software application divisions.

Today’s operators primarily rely on service companies for the delivery, support and operation of applications that enable various parts of the workflow. The service companies in turn have grown by acquiring smaller application companies that have developed highly specialised tools, adding them to their growing software portfolios. This has had a number of consequences for the industry.

solution could be developed.

Today, the need for the different factions to work together has never been greater. IT vendors must acknowledge that specialist domain expertise is required to build solutions that work. For the incumbent service providers that own the current application stack in E&P, there is a need to understand that technology capability has dramatically changed over the last number of years and they should take advantage of these changes.

In the era of big data, sensor data and the ‘Internet of Things’, most other industry verticals are now facing many of the challenges that the oil industry has been facing for decades. IT companies are providing technologies that really do allow operators to leverage horizontal solutions for the data management challenges.

Moreover, the increasing use of sensor data is bringing scientific and mathematical calculations and geospatial functionality into the data management arena for many verticals. Both have what the other craves, so there would appear to be a natural synergy to working together.

But what about the customer? After all, aren’t they the ones that really matter? Some operators may be happy to wait for the IT and industry vendors to get together and build what they want. Others may actively encourage the union.

What’s clear is that the leading operators need to take back control of the key part of the entire equation and the part that has the most value: the data. In spending vast amounts of resources obtaining data that is the key raw ingredient in E&P, this should be then valued accordingly. After all, the data is only created once; the seismic trace, the well log measurement, the resistivity, the flow sensor reading; all these are unique in time and space.

How you use each data point over the lifetime of an asset will vary greatly, and the value that will be derived from each data point will depend on the people and tools made available to the data. The real value will be in ensuring that users are able to find and use all the unique data points and the information derived from that data so that they can impact the business; make better and safer decisions.

Operators that move from the current application centric architecture to a more open data centric architecture will be best positioned to do more with their data. They will be able to leverage the best that the IT vendors and the specialist solution vendors can provide, today and long into the future.

Teradata Niall O’Doherty is international director of business development at Teradata and works in the Emerging Industries Team. In his current role, Niall is responsible for growing Teradata’s presence, solutions and strategies in the emerging industries of manufacturing, oil and gas, government and utilities.

For further information please visit: teradata.co.uk

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The proliferation of applications across the E&P workflow, many of which are standalone, has resulted in a complex application and data management landscape. This complexity has led to many IT deployments failing to live up to expectations and many operators questioning why they are making significant investments in IT solutions that are not really addressing their most pressing challenges – or even offering the same level of sophistication they get from the consumer technologies that they are using at home.

There has also been a migration of specialist skills and research away from the operators to the software startups and key service providers. Leading operators are now concerned about the uniformity of solution capability. If they are relying on their service provider vendors to develop and deliver new capabilities then they are resigned to having the same capability as everyone else in the business. Where is the competitive advantage going to come from?

Now look at the IT vendor side of the equation. When you consider that, according to a paper delivered in 2012

by Piotr Luszczek of the University of Tennessee, “The iPad 2 could have stayed on the list of the world’s fastest supercomputers through 1994 – faster than a Cray 2”, you start to get a sense of the explosion in computing power that has occurred over the last decade.

IT vendors are looking at the budgets and data volumes in the oil and gas industry and thinking that they can do better than the traditional service company based application vendors. After all, they are real IT guys who develop leadingedge software and technologies and not a bunch of oil service guys who set up a programming division to build some solutions. How hard can it be?

This has, in some cases, led to arrogance on the part of IT vendors, who assume that there is nothing difficult in dealing with oil and gas data. They believe that the industry has simply fallen years behind other industries like telecommunications, banking and retailing because they are insular, they don’t keep up with IT trends and the latest technologies, or that they are resistant to change and stuck in the past. And they view those in oil and gas as either geology types who prefer crayons to computers, or a bunch of roughnecks who have just read coding for dummies.

So a bunch of arrogant computer jocks or a herd of roughneck coding dummies? As usual, the truth is always somewhere in the middle. There is reluctance from the oil and gas industry to try horizontal IT solutions since they “won’t work with our data because our data is different" – it’s too big, or too complex, has strange formats, or is too scientific. But it’s also true that the solutions that IT vendors assumed would work easily didn’t work that easily at all, because of data volume, or data structure, or the way the scientific calculations are used so frequently.

Vendors discovered that, in this complex environment, it was not just a case of loading the data and pushing a button. The science needed to be better understood and time invested in really understanding the problem so that the

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IT

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Energy

works

Simon Coton of NES Global Talent discusses careers in the oil and gas industry, and why now may be the right time to consider working in energy

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t’s no secret that the worldwide war for engineering talent is intensifying. More than half of the workforce is due to retire during the next decade and this, combined with the fact that many skilled workers have failed to return to European shores after the recession forced them overseas, means we are facing a tough fight. However, it also means that oil and gas skills are in huge demand and that there are an abundance of career opportunities available for those with the necessary skill sets and experience.

Skills shortage The oil and gas skills shortage is the biggest barrier to growth for companies in the North Sea. According to UK Government figures, there are an expected 15,000 jobs to

be created in the oil and gas sector over the next five years.

However, more than half of the respondents to the latest Labour Market Intelligence Survey by oil and gas body Opito said that finding appropriately skilled staff was the number one challenge facing their company.

North Sea operations have long been seen as a training ground by global operators, who quickly snap up talented workers. While Europe is home to some of the very best engineering talent in the world, this, combined with the exodus caused by the recession, means demand is outstripping supply and companies are struggling to find the professionals that they need.

Although the UK and Europe in general has suffered in recent years from maturing assets, several new discoveries have been made in the North Sea and this, together with the advancement of technology that prolongs field life, is

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boosting productivity.

At the same time, the UK Government is introducing new fiscal and regulatory measures, which will also encourage new investment. Indeed, trade body Oil & Gas UK said that following the introduction of tax changes earlier this year, the industry has responded by investing the highest amount for more than 30 years. Investments totaling almost £100 billion are now in companies’ plans, the organisation added.

Outside of the North Sea, the UK is also trying to cash in on the shale gas revolution. Although more restrained than other countries, with no commercial shale gas production to date, Energy and Climate Secretary Ed Davey recently said that shale gas could contribute significantly to the region's energy security, reducing reliance on imported gas as it moves to a low carbon economy. The Prime Minister David Cameron reinforced

this view point adding that ‘Britain must be at the heart of the shale gas revolution’.

Opportunities With so many new projects in the pipeline, the talent shortage poses a very serious problem for the oil and gas industry. However, it also means that there are plenty of opportunities available for people interested in a career in oil and gas. In fact, there has never been a better time to join this exciting sector.

If it’s variety that you are looking for then the oil and gas sector delivers. As the industry develops and transforms, new roles are being created within areas such as crisis management, sustainability, and digital and social media, meaning there is something to suit a whole spectrum of skill sets.

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Oil and gas companies are also re-training and recruiting people from other heavy industries, for example structural engineers and electrical engineers from the shipbuilding or infrastructure industries due to similar skill sets. This phenomenon is not unique to Europe, it’s happening worldwide given the increase in energy demand and the retirement of skilled, experienced workers

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Not only are there a wide range of disciplines to choose from, but candidates will also have the flexibility of working on either temporary or permanent assignments. Of course, there are pros and cons with both types of work, with higher earning potential and variety among the positive aspects of contract roles, while permanent positions often offer benefits such as a pension and provide more job security.

The choice of whether someone prefers to work on a contract or permanent basis is their own. However, it’s important to weigh up the advantages and disadvantages and if you are a new entrant it is wise to try and secure a permanent role as these positions tend to offer the best opportunities for training and development. Once you have gained the necessary practical skills and experience, you may then decide that contract work is more preferable, depending on your circumstances.

During the recession, NES Global Talent’s consultants noted that there was a preference among oil and gas companies for permanent workers as it allows for greater budget control and also cuts the cost of labour. This is another reason to consider ‘playing it safe’ by opting for a permanent position at the start of your career.

Fortunately, while we are not out of the woods yet, the financial crisis is easing and the oil and gas industry is getting back on track. A number of approved energy projects that were put on the back burner during the global recession are now developing well and getting closer to peak manpower, while there are more new projects in the pipeline for 2013 and beyond. As well as the continued development of mega-

projects such as Gorgon in Australia, there are a host of new projects worth in excess of $25 billion which are being developed in a number of global locations The future certainly looks bright. Brazil and Iraq remain hotspots for exploration and production activity with Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and the US also experiencing a surge in oil and gas jobs. With an estimated talent shortfall of 40,000 engineers in Brazil alone, engineering skills will be in huge demand. In addition, just building or rebuilding the infrastructure required in many emerging countries to meet economic growth targets will take a massive share of the world’s graduating civil, electrical and mechanical engineers for years to come.

It’s clear that there’s an abundance of opportunities within the oil and gas industry for suitably qualified technical and engineering personnel. However, new entrants shouldn’t be under any illusion that securing such opportunities will be easy. It’s important to remember that experience is key.

Caution is often shown towards hiring less experienced professionals ahead of their more knowledgeable peers.

In order to succeed, your qualifications must meet certain standards, but you must also have the relevant work experience.

Solutions In regards to the skills shortage in Europe, while there is no ‘quick fix’, many of the measures being adopted globally are helping those who are interested in embarking or moving into a career in the oil and gas industry.

The sector is focused on working with educational establishments and institutions to educate the younger generation about the amazing careers available working as an oil and gas engineer. Schemes such as the Institute of Chemical Engineer’s “Whynotchemeng” campaign help to promote the oil and gas industry to students at an age where they’re making key decisions about their future.

In addition, the sector is boosting the number of graduate engineering schemes and investing in entry-level training or re-training in order to strengthen the oil and gas workforce.

For example, earlier this year the UK Government gave £7 million to Newcastle University to establish the Neptune National Centre for Subsea and Offshore Engineering, which will help produce the highly skilled graduates needed to address the skills shortage. A new facility has also been opened at Expro, an offshore and technology services specialist in Aberdeen, which shows the industry is working hard to address the talent challenge.

Oil and gas companies are also re-training and recruiting people from other heavy industries, for example structural engineers and electrical engineers from the shipbuilding or infrastructure industries due to similar skill sets. This phenomenon is not unique to Europe, it’s happening worldwide given the increase in energy demand and the retirement of skilled, experienced workers. Particular skills in demand globally include deepwater subsea engineers as well as LNG and shale specialists.

Another sector the industry is keen to tap into more is the military. Ex-servicemen and women are highly trained

and well-disciplined with strong leadership skills, lots of systems and project management experience, a strong eye for detail and the ability to follow processes and procedures closely. These qualities are highly sought after in the oil and gas industry. Military personnel are also used to moving to multiple international locations and operating in challenging environments. Most servicemen and women have travelled far and wide, and are familiar with the locations where the oil and gas sector operates.

As you can see, there are plenty of different paths into the oil and gas industry, and whether you are a new entrant or are looking to transfer your engineering or technical skills, the opportunities are there waiting. Hard work, a desire to solve problems and a determination to help meet the increasing global demand for energy are all required by those looking to establish themselves. And if you’re prepared for that, you’ll reap the rewards.

NES Global Talent Simon Coton is NES Global Talent’s managing director. He joined the company in 1995 as a graduate and has since risen through the ranks, leading both its UK and Houston teams as part of his career progression. Established in 1978, NES Global Talent is an award winning manpower specialist that has placed over 70 different nationalities into 69 countries across the oil and gas, power and infrastructure sectors worldwide.

For further information please visit: nesglobaltalent.com

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transfer A seamless

Below Robin Proctor, business manager for Europe at Reflex Marine

Robin Proctor of Reflex Marine talks to European Oil and Gas about offshore crew transfer operations

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s the industry continues to develop offshore exploration and production is booming like never before, increasingly in extreme environments with some of the most difficult and hostile operating conditions. With that growth comes the inevitable need to transfer increasing numbers of workers to offshore platforms and installations, and with each drilling rig accommodating up to 100 people, companies are transporting thousands of people every month to and from their installations on an enormous scale.

- marine transfer operations

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The oil and gas industry is global, and as such the method of offshore crew transfer varies from region to region.

“Yet, while the majority of journeys are still carried out by helicopter transfer, recent events, particularly in Europe, have seen other methods of marine transfer, largely by vessel and crane, coming to the fore particularly for inter-field transfers, evacuations, medevacs or other emergencies, and during inclement weather that may hinder the use of aviation. This is truer nowhere more than in the North Sea, where a string of recent events including the grounding of EC225 helicopters in October 2012 prompted operators to refocus on marine transfer, with one UK operator noting the advent of “a paradigm change in North Sea personnel transfer”.

European Oil and Gas recently spoke with Robin Proctor, who is business manager for Europe at Reflex Marine, a global leader in marine access solutions. As a leader in the field the company is determined to drive standards in offshore marine personnel transfer, and thus, Robin is ideally placed to give insight to the industry.

“Reflex Marine has largely specialised in crane transfer

and offshore access until now, with our two key products being the FROG and TORO, with some 650 units being supplied over the last 20 years,” he explained by way of an introduction. “More recently however we have been striving towards becoming more than just a manufacturer and supplier, but a true partner and expert on the topic of marine personnel transfer.”

Reflecting the industry in general, the field of offshore transfer has advanced enormously since Reflex Marine was established, when higher risk practices were more commonplace, as Robin highlighted. “Our success relates to our roots in innovating and introducing products that were far ahead of the methods being used at the time, both in terms of technology and accepted practices. This culture of innovation and drive to raise standards further continues with our design team currently developing an all-new FROG, which incorporates 20 years of experience and learning. The new FROG-XT will be an even more comfortable and secure experience for passengers, more compact, quicker to fit a stretcher, and easier to ship and

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We are seeing a trend for higher capacity transfer devices in order to provide more efficient operations involving fewer lifts – all of which could ultimately reduce the risk. Alongside technology will continue to develop to further improve safety

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maintain. The new FROG-XT will be launched at Offshore Europe (Aberdeen 3rd-6th September) where visitors will be able to see, and sit in it.

“Traditionally, when working offshore personnel were transferred from vessels to installations using simple rope baskets, with few alternatives. It was the industry standard method with few accompanying standards or guidelines existing to ensure safety. This was not really acceptable considering that in reality, all that was happening was something very routine – people going to work.”

In a bid to improve marine transfer Reflex Marine introduced the FROG to the industry although as Robin explained, achieving a step change in all regions is never straightforward. “Initially the response varied according to region or operation and even now things are not too different,” he said. “For example, a lot of the earliest challenges that existed are still prevalent today to some extent in that there continues to be a debate over what is the safest method of offshore transfer.

“There are a lot of different views on what the safest methods are based on perception, personal experience and of course from region to region, rather than it being based on actual data or objective analysis, something we are working hard to change. People’s perceptions of risk and safety can be quite subjective, so throughout the industry the debate is quite varied. In Europe for example, while aviation remains the favoured and most commonly used method, rules for marine transfer are strict. Whereas in other parts of the world they are still using more basic devices or relying solely on aviation.”

In Europe, as Robin explained, the North Sea has been at the forefront of using new marine transfer technology despite aviation being the primary method of transfer. However, as previously mentioned, a number of aviation related events have prompted a rethink on the topic. In recent years the industry in the North Sea has experienced volcanic ash

clouds, no-fly zones, and helicopter incidents, including the grounding of the EC225 fleet, all of which have caused disruption to crew transfer operations and have highlighted the need and value of having viable alternatives.

“These events have really brought to the fore the need for available alternatives to air travel,” Robin confirmed. “The ‘Paradigm change in North Sea personnel transfer’ statement was from one of our clients in Aberdeen after they were directly affected by the helicopter grounding and there was a real air of change in the philosophy for offshore transfer.

Whereas before you had people not using crane transfer unless for emergencies or other special circumstances, since then the industry has shifted perspective and this has become a standard practice.

“Alongside these various incidents there has been an increasing general trend for updating and upgrading existing equipment to raise and improve safety, whether that is due to operating in deeper waters or extreme environments or just a general focus on improving standards,” he added.

“Broadly speaking you have offshore access,” said Robin, “which can be split between aviation and marine. Marine itself can be divided into crane based transfer, which is the type of solution that Reflex Marine provides, then the ‘walk-to-work’ systems that are popular in Europe and use a motion compensated gangway from ship to installation.

“The choice of solution depends on a number of factors including prevailing weather, distances and operations. For example, in the Caspian in 2008 a study was undertaken by an operator who commissioned the DNV to quantify risk measurements of the different transport options and as a result they completely switched from helicopters to vessel and crane transfer. In the Gulf of Mexico there is a lot of marine transfer activity taking place, whereas in Europe and the North Sea the helicopter is still the primary method.

In Canada aviation and marine transfer run side-by-side

on this. It will be a global forum involving operators, vessel operators, lifting and transfer specialists, manufacturers, and the regulatory, trade and safety bodies.”

The Marine Transfer Forum should play a key role in the growth and progression of marine transfer operations.

Of course, as the industry develops, the need for viable transfer options will continue to increase. Concluding, Robin highlighted a number of trends foreseen at Reflex Marine.

“We are seeing a trend for higher capacity transfer devices in order to provide more efficient operations involving fewer lifts – all of which could ultimately reduce the risk.

Alongside technology will continue to develop to further improve safety.

“Environments like the Arctic will see a closer emphasis on the methods used for crew transfer. Operating temperatures are often below the limit of helicopters, for example, so its one area where I predict an increased use of marine methods. Ultimately, the post-Macondo legacy across the industry has increased the focus on safety in every area. As the crew transfer market diversifies initiatives like the Marine Transfer Forum will play an important role moving forwards.”

Reflex Marine Robin Proctor is business manager for Europe at Reflex Marine, a global specialist in providing the oil and gas industry with safe, high quality crew transfer solutions. Over the past two decades the company has partnered with oil and gas operators, lifting specialists and vessel operators around the world, and its main transfer devices, the FROG and TORO, have helped to significantly raise the standard for the safe transfer of personnel to and from offshore installations and vessels.

For further information please visit: reflexmarine.com

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depending upon weather conditions. The difference in this market, however, is that it is seen as a standard operation, so they have developed the vessels, the training, the systems and logistics, as well as the infrastructure to complete the work successfully.”

This highlights the importance of ensuring that the correct infrastructure is in place for marine transfer to work. At present, there is little or no regulatory advice on the topic and whereas activity levels and incident data in the helicopter sector are carefully monitored with the oversight of international aviation authorities the marine alternative lags, with no systematic industry collation of transfer data. In addressing this Reflex Marine has taken a leading role in some key initiatives, particularly the ’10 Golden Rules of Crane Transfer’ and the establishment of a ‘Marine Transfer Forum’.

In the case of the 10 Golden Rules, Reflex Marine co-operated with Seacor Marine and Sparrows Offshore to create a set of ten rules for the safe marine transit of offshore oil and gas employees. “It provides a high level industry best practice guide on the different elements involved in a crane transfer,” said Robin. “It’s about recognising that the device alone is just one way of addressing risk but there are other important variables like training, practice, other equipment involved (like the vessel of the crane), and the safety management systems.

So, it’s based on recognising the importance of each aspect of the operation to the overall success.”

The Marine Transfer Forum will be a focal point for companies showing leadership in this area to help the industry quantify risks, levels of activity, and develop and share best practices. “We recognise that there is formal reporting, governance and regulation of helicopter operations but this isn’t the case for marine transportation so we are working with others in the industry to form a body to focus

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future

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Looking to the

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This year marks the 40th anniversary of SPE Offshore Europe, the world’s leading offshore, and oil and gas, conference and exhibition experience that attracts a global audience of engineers, technical specialists, industry leaders and experts, who meet to share ideas and debate the issues of the moment in the upstream industry.

For years this event has proven to be one of the key dates in the E&P community’s calendar, providing a forum for continuous learning, and showcasing the innovation, solutions and tools required to compete in an accelerating technology race and an increasingly complex industry. This year’s event, to be held between the 3rd and 6th of September in Aberdeen promises to be the largest in history, with more exhibiting companies and countries represented than ever before.

In fact, exhibition space in the halls, covering a record 27,082 square metres - equivalent to four football pitches - has already sold out and will feature stands and presentations from the complete supply chain of companies, from operators and drilling contractors through to oilfield service companies. “We are delighted that the exhibition space is sold out and larger than ever before,” said senior exhibition director, Vasyl Zhygalo, ahead of the event.

“This is especially fitting as we celebrate the event’s 40th anniversary this year. Visitors will have a rare opportunity to see a huge range of goods and services from small, medium and large companies and, even more importantly, talk to the experts on hand. Attendance is free to all registrants.”

The 2013 exhibition is set to break records in every sense, with the space welcoming 262 first-time visiting businesses to SPE Offshore Europe from small, innovative start-up companies through to global service companies.

Furthermore, this year sees 22 of the world’s operators taking stands in Aberdeen, completing the largest operator representation in the history of the event. Statoil is increasing its presence this year, alongside the majors such as Shell, BP, Chevron, Total, GDF Suez and Saudi Aramco, while E.ON and Talisman Sinopec are new additions to event. In addition, all of the ‘big four’ services companies - Baker Hughes, Schlumberger, Halliburton and Weatherford are exhibiting at the show for the first time in a decade. Of course, as well as these established names visitors will find a wide selection of small innovative companies, whose stands provide the ideal opportunity to see a vast range of new and exciting technological developments.

Despite its European location, SPE Offshore Europe has become a truly global event, and this year is no different. There is set to be a large international exhibitor presence that will see participating companies from 37 countries - spanning the continents from the Americas and Africa, to Asia and Australia - and 33 international pavilions. For the latter, visitors can expect to see pavilions from Korea, Denmark and Australia for the very first time at SPE Offshore Europe, whilst the Norwegian presence will extend over three pavilions.

Alongside this standard exhibition space lies the Deep Water Zone, which was launched at the last event in 2011. This year Mexico’s state-

66 The technology imperative - collaborating today to realise the next 50 years of North Sea potential 66 Oil & gas skills - your future today Alongside these more general topics, a range of technical sessions have been organised to address all of the key technical developments in the industry, as well as looking at the potential innovations that may be needed to secure long-term E&P. These cover areas such as developments in pipeline analysis, exploration case studies, health and safety, enabling field life extension, reservoir depletion and production enhancement, advances in subsea construction and technology, drilling technologies, managing oil spills, ensuring structural and marine integrity of floating production installations, reservoir evaluation, cementing and completion, and environment.

Essentially, whatever area of the industry you operate in, SPE Offshore Europe is an event that cannot be missed. Not only is it widely recognised as the leading global platform to connect with the upstream oil and gas industry, it provides the perfect opportunity to meet key suppliers in your field of business, network and connect with industry leaders from around the world, share and learn technical expertise and innovative techniques, gain a better understanding of the market, and have first hand involvement in the most important debates.

Most importantly, a visit to SPE Offshore Europe provides the inspiration and motivation that enables the E&P industry to remain one of the most important in the world.

Most importantly, a visit to SPE Offshore Europe provides the inspiration and motivation that enables the E&P industry to remain one of the most important in the world

SPE Offshore Europe 2013 SPE Offshore Europe takes place between the 3rd and 6th of September in Aberdeen.

For further information please visit: offshore-europe.co.uk

European oil & gas

owned oil and gas company, PEMEX, which ranks fifth in crude oil production and eighth as an integrated company worldwide, will be the featured operator in this zone. This reflects the fact that the Gulf of Mexico is still regarded as one of the key areas globally for deepwater E&P, and a proving ground for new techniques and innovative equipment. Alongside PEMEX, 38 specialist subsea companies from Aberdeen, the rest of the UK and abroad will display their products and services.

As ever the enormous exhibition runs alongside the in-depth conference, which this year will be opened by Malcolm Webb, SPE Offshore Europe 2013 conference chair and chief executive, Oil & Gas UK. The conference, which starts on 3rd September and runs the length of the event, features 11 keynote sessions, 100+ technical papers and ePosters, and daily breakfast briefings and topical luncheons. The keynote sessions in particular are billed as ‘not to be missed’ and cover a broad spectrum of industry topics including: 66 Oil and gas in the future energy mix 66 The global opportunity: exporting oil and gas services, goods and expertise 66 Planning for long term North Sea drilling 66 The independent oil company - mighty oaks from little acorns grow 66 Industry progress since Macondo 66 Taking operations to frontier areas 66 Decommissioning and value extraction for end of life 66 Journey from procedure to practice 66 Financing investments in the oil and gas industry: challenges and opportunities

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approach Revolutionary

Facing a surging

global demand for critical subsea oil and gas production equipment as the energy industry also deals with a shortage of skilled engineers, GE Oil & Gas is expanding its Structured Products Portfolio of pre-engineered subsea product lines to dramatically reduce the time it takes to design, deliver and deploy vital subsea production equipment to customers, meet evolving equipment needs, and tackle the challenges faced by offshore companies.

Traditionally, large super-major oil and gas companies have long required more customised

subsea equipment, going back to the early days of subsea exploration and production in the 1980s when companies were developing their own individual, project-by-project operations and in an era when fewer government regulations existed. Only after subsea activities became more commonplace did these niche project specifications start to cause problems in terms of project delivery times.

Flash forward to the 2000s. With more offshore companies now needing faster equipment delivery times to meet their urgent project timetables and with the global energy

that is pre-designed and pre-aligned with a customer’s needs.

Initially, GE focused its attention on smaller, independent companies that require detailed solutions but also are more comfortable using more standardised equipment when compared to the larger super major companies, which preferred the more customised approach until they, too, began to recognise the economic benefits of becoming less dependent on customised systems.

Instead of rolling out the programme independently, to foster early industry acceptance of its new Structured Products strategy, GE has collaborated with a number of key customers to design and evaluate the new subsea manifold option for a number of projects, including off the coast of Angola.

These companies could also expand their discussions to include offshore projects in Asia, the Gulf of Mexico and Brazil. So far the initial response from customers has been very positive as they recognise the logistical and costsavings gained by reducing their dependence on customised technologies.

Looking ahead, to make the Structured Products Portfolio initiative work as effectively as possible, GE recognises the need to work with customers to meet their quality inspections requirements in a way that does not impede the streamlined delivery schedule. GE is committed to building customer confidence in its new streamlined supply chain strategy; in contrast to

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industry facing a shortage of skilled engineers, GE introduced its Structured Products Portfolio to include more standardised, prefabricated products, while also still offering customised components when required by a customer.

The company first utilised the Structured Product approach in the development of more standardised subsea production trees to complement its more customised product lines.

GE’s subsea manifold systems are the latest to join its Structured Products product family.

Conventional manifold systems were designed as modular blocks that were customised to meet a customer’s individual configuration requirements and design options. GE Oil & Gas has more than 20 years of experience in this segment and has deployed more than 100 custom manifolds around the world. The new subsea manifold offering can be more quickly deployed to meet a diverse range of applications. The new manifolds option can help reduce manifold delivery times by up to 50 per cent, depending on various project factors. Meanwhile, GE’s new manifold offering can still be reconfigured to meet individual project conditions, up to a fully customised solution if customers prefer.

The Structured Products approach represents a significant evolution in how GE designs, delivers and deploys its subsea product lines on behalf of customers. Previously, GE would meet with customers in advance to discuss their specific project requirements and then design customised product solutions for them.

But now GE also can offer customers the option of a pre-engineered tree or manifold solution that can meet a variety of project conditions. The goal of ‘product structuring’ is not to make something different but, rather, to optimise the execution model by avoiding special adaptations while also working proactively, ahead of time, to develop something

GE Oil & Gas

GE Oil & Gas has more than 20 years of experience in this segment and has deployed more than 100 custom manifolds around the world. The new subsea manifold offering can be more quickly deployed to meet a diverse range of applications

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GE Oil & Gas

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profile

29 the current model in which the customers need to be able to inspect components all the way back to the steel mills where forgings are taking place. If this process can be improved then it’s a ‘win win’ situation for GE, for the customers and suppliers that will all be in the same boat, pulling in the same direction.

In addition to reducing their project delivery times, offshore companies also are looking for more standardised equipment that is easier to operate in the face of a continued global shortage of skilled engineers. The lack of sufficient personnel with subsea project experience means customers cannot develop the desired volume of projects that they would like to at the pace they want to maintain under the current labour supply conditions. This skilled workforce shortage has become a major driver in generating customer interest in expanded standardisation of products specifications and document requirements.

Also driving this move to greater acceptance of standardisation is the fact that customers are also looking to lower their own operational

costs by requiring their engineering employees to more closely examine the cost-benefit ratio of selecting a customised solution over a more standardised approach.

In addition to helping its offshore oil and gas customers streamline their own project installation schedules, the new Structured Products strategy also enhances GE’s competitive position as a leading supplier of subsea components as the industry seeks ways to streamline their engineering, manufacturing, and delivery supply chain delivery times and costs.

GE recently embarked on a modernisation and expansion of its UK subsea equipment production facilities, including at its subsea headquarters site in Aberdeen, as well as in Montrose, Scotland.

The upgrades will support GE’s smooth rollout of the Structured Products Portfolio by giving the company more flexibility to adjust equipment production schedules at a given facility. In short, GE’s Structured Product Portfolio represents a productivity game-changer in the subsea segment from both an engineering capacity and supply chain optimisation perspective.

GE's Structured Product Portfolio represents a productivity gamechanger in the subsea segment

GE Oil & Gas ge.com Follow GE Oil & Gas on

Twitter @GE_OilandGas

Services Advanced oil and gas and offshore technologies and services

16 wandfluh uk ltd Wandfluh is recognised as an international market leader in the design and manufacture of hydraulic valves and electronic controls systems. It serves a worldwide market through its sister companies and distribution network with a wide range of products covering most industries.

The principle advantage of Wandfluh Worldwide is that it has, for many years been able to design and manufacture bespoke valves for customers' requirements based on its standard range. Wandfluh's hydraulic valves, solenoids and electronics are designed in-house, which gives greater flexibility to offer a comprehensive range of products.

Wandfluh UK designs bespoke integrated manifold systems, with full in-house test facilities able to set valves etc.

Considerable development time has been invested in the digital electronic controls for proportional valves. The SD6/7 and MD2 ranges offer both simple amplifier features to closed loop control, including PQ. The user friendly PASO software is available FOC.

European oil & gas

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The MD2 can control up to eight solenoids, both proportional and switching. The solenoids operations can be linked. For switching solenoids there is a feature to reduce power after the initial operation, this reduces the amount of heat the solenoid generates.

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The SD6/7 and MD2 cards are being increasingly used to control other manufacturers valves due the ease of set up and analytical information, with built in oscilloscope type graphs that prove very useful for closed loop set up.

Wandfluh UK has enjoyed considerable expansion over the last few years, which has been achieved by offering good deliveries and technical support.

17 bel valveS

So what doeS high preSSure and high temperature mean for valve deSign?

The joint challenge faced by the industry is one of developing safe, environmentally and economically viable subsea solutions for the oil and gas thresholds of deep water, high pressure and high temperature (HPHT).

What are the thresholds?

They have been termed as Extreme, defined as having pressures of up to 20,000 psi and/or temperatures of 350°F (176°C). Extreme HPHT wells are currently being drilled in the Gulf of Mexico region, on the shelf and in deep water, many of them exhibiting reservoir pressures and temperatures that approach 20,000 psi and 350°F. Some deep gas reservoirs, also on the Gulf of Mexico shelf have pressures and/or temperatures upwards of 30,000 psi and 450°F, propelling them into the Ultra HPHT designation.

So how does this affect valve design?

Material selection is crucial. The choice and availability of materials very much depends upon nominal bore size, the minimum and maximum temperatures and a third variable not yet introduced, the process conditions. On the metallurgical front, the design needs to recognise that, when high temperature liquid flows through a pipe or valve in cold water, the yield strength of the pipe is reduced — and along with it the pipe’s ability to withstand high pressures, both internal and external. And so new designs will take into account: higher strength steels, composite materials for lightness, strength and corrosion resistance, cost effective base material cladding, material stability, prediction of deflection and permanent set.

Sealing technology presents its own challenges. One of the most obvious is the current widespread use of elastomers and thermoplastics, which are, of course sensitive to high temperatures. These materials may be used separately or together for sealing elements and for other components within the system, but their properties need to be considered when looking at higher temperatures and alternatives explored.

You can find out more about BEL Valves, Valve and Actuator developments for HP/HT fields by contacting the company directly at enquiry@belvalves.com

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European oil & gas

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gunnebo industries

Gunnebo Industries is one of the world leading companies in the lifting industry, developing and manufacturing products and solutions of the highest quality, safety and functionality. To meet the stringent demands of the offshore industry it has a full range of offshore shackles, master links and hooks tested to the requirements of the offshore container standard, DNV 2.7-1. This verifies that the products have a high consistent level of production stability in the entire process.

Strong winds, high waves and low temperatures are all factors that contribute to the rough working conditions of an oil rig in the North Sea. Safety must be of highest priority at all times. Standards for offshore containers and related slings are now becoming more and more homogenised around the world and the new standards in for example Europe and Australia have the same requirements as DNV 2.7-1. One of the main differences compared to an onshore standard or specification, for lifting gear is that it allows for the dynamic forces at sea by adding an extra enhancement factor to increase the level of safety.

Moreover, the requirements and testing of materials that will be used in cold environments are in general more extensive Gunnebo Industries is now releasing a new Arctic offshore master link, which has a design temperature of -40 degrees Celsius, making it suitable for even the harshest weather conditions in the North Sea. It comes in an optimised range where each master link will have a wider and higher working load limit span. This makes it easier from purchase point of view, as well as decreasing the risk of incorrect use.

As to even further increase the safety on the work site, the arctic master link is, like most of Gunnebo Industries’ offshore range, painted in a high visibility color. This makes it easier for the operator to detect the lifting gear in severe weather conditions, keeping both load and personnel safe.

The new Arctic offshore master link is also fully compatible with the full extent of Gunnebo Industries’ range of offshore products such as shackles, hooks and blocks.

Earlier this year the company also released a 32 mm safety hook, available in both an eye and ball bearing swivel version, complying with DnV 2.7-1. These hooks have a working load limit of no less than 32.8 metric tonnes and are equipped with recessed trigger to prevent damage to the trigger, as well as decreasing the risk of the hook unintentionally opening during operation.

Both the new Arctic master link and the 32 mm hooks are, as all Gunnebo Lifting components, proof loaded in the factory to 2.5 times the working load limit and have a unique traceability system, making it possible to trace each product back to the raw material - everything to provide confidence and peace of mind.

“Our products are used globally and in all offshore hotspots, and therefore we are keen to make sure that all relevant products meet DNV 2.7-1. Our manufacturing processes and our own quality system makes us confident that our products will perform under the often extreme conditions that we are talking about here,” states Ulric Wilhelmsson, product manager at Gunnebo Industries.

New Offshore Master Links DNV 2.7-1 Type Approved

Design Temperature -40 째C

Design Temperature

For the Toughest Conditions Gunnebo Industries has for many years developed products to meet the stringent requirements of the offshore oil & gas industry. We are type approved by DNV to manufacture products in accordance with DNV 2.7-1 specification. The approval verifies that Gunnebo Industries has a high consistent level of production stability in the entire process, from raw material to finished product.

Phone: +46 220 384 00

Email: export@gunnebolifting.com

www.gunneboindustries.com

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European oil & gas

Integral

solutions

34

For the last 30 years

, ITW Densit has been delivering technical solutions based on its unique Ultra High Performance Cementitious (UHPC) products. Marketed under the Densit® product umbrella, these solutions are applied worldwide in industrial strengthening and repair across four main sectors; renewable energy including wind, wave and tidal, wear and abrasion, industrial flooring and pavements, and oil and gas.

The Densit name itself is derived from the high density of these products, whilst the ITW moniker was added in 2012 following Illinois Tool Works’ 2007 takeover of the business. By co-operating with its sister companies ITW Densit has seen a number of benefits from this relationship. Firstly it provides the company with global access to its market as ITW has operations based all over the world, many

of which are already well connected to local industry. Furthermore, it also means ITW Densit can offer more complete solutions to its customers by drawing on the expertise of other ITW companies in materials such as polymers, adhesives and epoxies.

For its own part ITW Densit already offers a more unique scope of service than the majority of its competitors. “We combine our specialist materials with installation services in a package deal for our customers,” elaborates Thorbjørn L. Lindmark, business development manager at ITW Densit. “In comparison our competitors tend to supply either materials or installation services only. Another thing that sets us apart is our long reference list. We have carried out projects all over the world from the North Sea to the South China Sea, and proven our materials in many different conditions and environments.”

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itw densit

Looking at both sides of the spectrum from greenfield to brownfield projects, one notable example was a campaign of corrosion protection and structural strengthening of conductors for Shell in Brunei spanning 2006 to 2012. The aim of this work was to halt the ongoing corrosion of the conductor casing, and strengthen sections that had potentially been under attack therefore reducing the structural capacity. Turning to another part of ITW Densit’s market, on the 19th October 2012 the company completed its work on the London Array project – currently the largest offshore wind farm in the world.

This project entailed the offshore and onshore grouting of 175 wind turbines and two offshore substation foundations.

On both of these projects the company utilised its Ducorit UHPC product, which has been especially developed for demanding

gas sector. For that market we have done some platform installation projects and quite a lot of upgrades, as well as strengthening works.

Because we pump our material with no welding or hazardous processes required, production can continue whilst we carry out the installation, which minimises downtime for operators.”

In terms of the material itself Ducorit offers a number of advantages over the ordinary Portland cement which is often employed in the oil and gas industry. “Ducorit has a fast development time, offering outstanding fatigue and compressive strength properties once set. The material itself has a very low water content of only around six to seven per cent. This water is completely consumed within the mixing process, which means there is no free water in the final product and very little air. This obviously contributes to the high density of the product.

“Ducorit also offers protection against corrosion, such as chemicals, acids and chlorides penetrating the material. This is particularly important for well integrity applications where we can use our material to top up between the inner and outer casings of a corroded conductor for example, and extend the lifetime of the well,” he continues.

These properties are gained from the composition of the material, which consists of four main elements. The first is a special grade

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grouting applications. As such it is well suited to the oil and gas industry for use in structural subsea and well integrity solutions, and renewable energy markets. “Ducorit has been used for offshore wind foundations since that industry began,” describes Thorbjørn. “It has also been used for large high voltage substations, which are often jacket-like structures, and this is where there is a clear parallel to the oil and

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We have carried out projects all over the world from the North Sea to the South China Sea, and proven our materials in many different conditions and environments

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profile

36

itw densit

of finely ground cement, which is currently only available in Aalborg. This acts as the binding material and also contributes to the main compressive strength of the Ducorit once set. This is mixed with even smaller microsilica particles, which helps to increase the density of the material. The final product also contains a superplasticiser, an artificial material developed in the 1970s, which makes it more fluid for handling, and an aggregate such as quartz sand to gain specific required properties.

Despite having achieved so much already with Ducorit, and its other existing products, ITW Densit is continuing to push further with an aggressive programme for the development of new materials. The company has already achieved increasingly lower temperature limits for its UHPC products going from ten °C to five, and now just one °C. This means that ITW Densit can work in all but freezing conditions, and year round in most offshore areas of the world.

“One aspect we are pursuing at the moment is to try and achieve an even faster strength development time. This will mean that the client can utilise the asset even sooner than is possible now. It also means that we are less dependent on weather windows when working offshore where a 40 or 48 hour window is very different to a 72 hour one. This also increases uptime and presents opportunities for faster installation,” highlights Thorbjørn.

“These directions are based on customer requests from main contractors, and dialogue also with some of the major utility companies and operators. We always develop new solutions using an outside-in approach. By gaining intelligence from the market we can use this to fuel our development. Another example of this is the actual equipment we use to complete the works. There is a growing demand for faster installation so we need to achieve higher pumping and mixing rates accordingly.

Therefore we have doubled the size of our bags, meaning that in the same amount of time we can double the flow of material, as well as upgraded the size of our mixers,” he continues.

Although the biggest areas of ITW Densit’s business at present are wind, and flooring and pavements, the oil and gas side is fast growing.

In accordance with this, the company’s oil and gas division was moved from Malaysia to ITW Densit’s head office in Aalborg, Denmark.

This enables ITW Densit to better utilise the research and development capability of its

other divisions to provide the best possible solutions into the industry. It also offers greater transparency, and more efficient customer service worldwide.

“One interesting thing we see is that although everything we do is produced in Aalborg, and concrete is an extremely heavy material to ship, our customers still see the value in purchasing our solutions for use worldwide. With our oil and gas offices previously located in Malaysia a lot of our references, and experience, were gained in the Asia Pacific region. Today we are looking a lot closer to home and focusing on markets such as the British and Norwegian sectors of the North Sea,” notes Thorbjørn.

ITW Densit is confident about its ability to tap into these areas in the light of the stricter demands of both operators and certification authorities. This means that project contractors have to look towards higher performance and quality materials in order to meet these. “There is a growing acceptance that solutions such as ours can actually assist in saving on other materials. Essentially if you have a connection or foundation that is built out of ordinary Portland cement then you will need greater quantities, and usually also more steel, to reach the same strength capabilities as our products. The market is realising that our materials offer a much greater value proposition, and therefore the scope for these in the market looks very strong,” concludes Thorbjørn.

ITW Densit densit.com

Products Ultra High Performance Cementitious products

ENERGIZING THE FUTURE SPX is finding innovative ways to help the world meet its ever growing demand for energy by providing a broad range of high-quality, custom-engineered systems and components for the oil & gas industries. The SPX product portfolio includes a wide array of heavy-duty pumps, valves, filters, mixers, heat exchangers, closures, chemical injection systems and instrument air dryers for use in a variety of upstream and downstream oil and gas processes.

To learn more about how our comprehensive range of engineered solutions can be used for your demanding oil and gas applications email ft.enquiries@spx.com or visit www.spx.com.

ClydeUnion Pumps

17 bel valveS

So what doeS high preSSure and high temperature mean for valve deSign?

The joint challenge faced by the industry is one of developing safe, environmentally and economically viable subsea solutions for the oil and gas thresholds of deep water, high pressure and high temperature (HPHT).

What are the thresholds?

They have been termed as Extreme, defined as having pressures of up to 20,000 psi and/or temperatures of 350°F (176°C). Extreme HPHT wells are currently being drilled in the Gulf of Mexico region, on the shelf and in deep water, many of them exhibiting reservoir pressures and temperatures that approach 20,000 psi and 350°F. Some deep gas reservoirs, also on the Gulf of Mexico shelf have pressures and/or temperatures upwards of 30,000 psi and 450°F, propelling them into the Ultra HPHT designation.

European oil & gas

europeanoilandgas.co.uk

So how does this affect valve design?

Material selection is crucial. The choice and availability of materials very much depends upon nominal bore size, the minimum and maximum temperatures and a third variable not yet introduced, the process conditions. On the metallurgical front, the design needs to recognise that, when high temperature liquid flows through a pipe or valve in cold water, the yield strength of the pipe is reduced — and along with it the pipe’s ability to withstand high pressures, both internal and external. And so new designs will take into account: higher strength steels, composite materials for lightness, strength and corrosion resistance, cost effective base material cladding, material stability, prediction of deflection and permanent set.

38

Sealing technology presents its own challenges. One of the most obvious is the current widespread use of elastomers and thermoplastics, which are, of course sensitive to high temperatures. These materials may be used separately or together for sealing elements and for other components within the system, but their properties need to be considered when looking at higher temperatures and alternatives explored.

You can find out more about BEL Valves, Valve and Actuator developments for HP/HT fields by contacting the company directly at enquiry@belvalves.com

growth Strategy of

Established in 1861

, Oldham Engineering has provided industry with a wide range of complex and precision-engineered products for over 150 years. As its name suggests, the company has a presence in Oldham, as well as a second facility in Sheffield, which together provide over 150,000 square feet of premium facilities.

Working with clients in all industrial sectors, including offshore, nuclear and defence, Oldham Engineering prides itself on its ability to deliver full turnkey services for medium and heavy engineered items. This includes fabrication, machining, assembly, testing, painting, and delivery to site.

“This is where we add value for the customer,” describes Stephen Fitzpatrick, operations director at Oldham Engineering. “We can lift loads of up to 30 tonnes on a single lift, and 35 tonnes on a dual lift, as well as machine items of up to ten metres in length so we offer a full package to the client.”

This enables Oldham Engineering to deliver a wide range of products, from small precisionmachined prototypes to batch manufacturing, and large turnkey projects for new supply and

refurbished industrial equipment. In the offshore and subsea sector this includes things such as a-frame cranes, valves, pistons, pipework, sea anchors, cable tensioners, gas measurement equipment, subsea mining frames, bend stiffeners, reaction collars and tether clamps.

Whilst both the Sheffield and Oldham facilities are similar in size, Oldham is departmentalised into different operations. The fabrication department is split even further into stainless steel and carbon steel to ensure there is no cross contamination of materials. This structure means that as well as complete project management,

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Oldham Engineering

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profile

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profile

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Oldham Engineering

Oldham Engineering can also offer complete supply chain management from raw material supply and proprietary items to final testing.

“Over the last few years we have emerged from the recession a lot stronger and are now focused on a strategy of growth,” reveals Stephen. “We’ve invested heavily over the last 18 months in new plant, buildings, infrastructure, IT, and employees. We’re now looking to target oil and gas, and nuclear even further to increase our turnover substantially in the next few years.”

This includes investment into new state-of-theart CAD/CAM software to help further support Oldham Engineering’s off-line machine tool programming initiative. “This technology helps us to import the model direct from the customer designs and programme tool paths that can then be sent to the machines much quicker. This will help us to reduce lead times and optimise the machine tool cycle times,” explains Stephen.

“We have invested strongly in weld procedures and welder qualifications in previous years,” continues Arron Flint, sales director designate. “As such we are now approved to ISO BSEN 15614, ASME IX, and the American Welding Society (AWS D1.1.1) standard, covering a range of material grades, including mild steel, stainless steel and super duplex. We have also invested in our own in-house painting facility, which we are in the process of qualifying to NORSOK – a main requirement in the offshore sector.”

In addition, Oldham Engineering is proud to have attained the Bronze award from Investors in People, and is continuing to work towards achieving Silver by the end of the year. The

company is also actively working towards accreditation to ISO 18001 for its health and safety, and ISO 14001 for its environmental management work.

As a company Oldham Engineering is a familiar presence at the conferences and exhibitions associated with its lines of work.

At one such event, the Opportunities within Global Subsea and Oil & Gas Projects conference, the company was praised for its role in manufacturing what is understood to be the world’s largest ball and taper mooring connector at 26,000 tonnes. Elaborating on this project Stephen says: “We were approached by our customer 18 months ago with a view to producing a machine component that would become part of a seabed recovery system.

“Our competitors couldn’t achieve the size required, but we had the ideal equipment to manufacture the product having recently invested £1 million into a new Soraluce 4 Axis CNC Floor Borer machine. We produced several components for the client, which dramatically exceeded their expectations by lifting twice its engineered load in testing.

In another project we manufactured a super duplex ship-borne swivel assembly for loading and offloading liquid nitrogen gas and oil for a customer 12 months ago. The machining of the component pushed the boundaries of what we can do because of the exotic materials involved, the fine surface finishes required (0.4µm), the tight tolerances required (0.025mm) and the testing criteria laid out by the customer, but we manufactured the component within a nine-month lead time and the item is now in operation,” he continues.

For the next two to three years Oldham Engineering is continuing to focus on growth, targeting the power sectors such as oil and gas, and nuclear. It is the company’s intention to double in size and this means further investment is required in both employees and capabilities.

“We have a very good apprentice programme taking on three to four a year for the last four years, as well as looking at undergraduates.

However, we also offer university courses and internal support for our existing employees to widen those skill sets as well. It is also our intention to branch into other areas such as design. This is something we will look to concentrate on more from next year as we have the capabilities and our customers are keen for us to offer such services, so it’s about formally developing that,” concludes Stephen.

The machining of the component pushed the boundaries of what we can do because of the exotic materials involved, the fine surface finishes required (0.4µm), the tight tolerances required (0.025mm) and the testing criteria laid out by the customer, but we manufactured the component within a nine-month lead time and the item is now in operation

Oldham Engineering Ltd oldham-eng.com

Services Engineering

PROFILE

ALE

Pushing

Since its last feature in European

Holyhead Towing Holyhead Towing’s shallow draft vessels are used globally in support of the offshore energy and dredging sectors. The vessels are multipurpose, powerful and operated by crews who know how to work in very shallow waters. Established for nearly 50 years, we have built an excellent reputation for operating vessels in shallow and tidal areas. We focus on maintaining long-term successful relationships with our customers; the delivery of the barges along the Iraqi waterways for ALE was successfully carried out without incident.

Oil & Gas Magazine in 2011, Staffordshire UK based ALE has continued to strive to redefine the limits of what is possible. As an expert in heavy lifting and transport, ALE has utilised its impressive portfolio of equipment and dedicated R&D team to complete mammoth projects worldwide.

In May 2013 ALE competed the world’s heaviest jack-up at the Daewoo shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co. Ltd in Korea.

Conducting the lift for Exxon Neftegaz Limited, ALE utilised the innovative Mega Jack System at 60,000te capacity to lift a final jacking weight of 42,780te. This was the heaviest load ever jacked. The piece is destined to be located in the Arkutun Dagi field off the coast of Russia and is expected to continue to break records as part of the largest oil and gas production platform in the area, with the first production scheduled to begin next year. Regarding the ambitious project, Kees Kompier executive director at ALE commented that: “This pioneering project is a great achievement for ALE and the Mega Jack, which was created by our research and

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boundaries

development team and engineers.

“The load is nearly double the weight of the previous heaviest load, which is a great accomplishment for the company and really shows the capabilities of the Mega Jack. The system itself opens up a whole range of options for our clients and is completely scalable, meaning we can create a system to fit the requirements of projects, becoming more flexible in our capacity and solutions.”

ALE is able to deliver its services globally and often confronts varied and unusual challenges, requiring the specialist knowhow and dedication for which the company has become renowned. In March 2013 the business was tasked with moving a 450tonne farmhouse in the Netherlands, which although one of the company’s smaller lifts, still required the construction of a temporary road to accommodate for poor ground conditions.

The move itself was completed in less than ten hours. Sjak Aerts, engineering manager at ALE commented that while one of ALE’s smaller projects, the move still required precision planning from the company’s team. “Not

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42 European oil & gas

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PROFILE

ALE

ContainerPLUS+

ALE ale-heavylift.com

Services Heavy lift and transportation

europeanoilandgas.co.uk

management structure focused on supporting the company’s technical potential. This means that as well as being able to call on the best project managers and engineers today, the business will also be able to call on the best in the future. This way ALE aims to continue to build strong, long-term strategic partnerships as well as effectively meet the changing needs of its strategic partners and customers.

The ability of ALE to consistently and effectively push boundaries while meeting the challenges of its customers was recognised by the Australian Business Journal in 2012 when it awarded ALE a runners up position in it’s highly competitive Innovation Awards, citing the Modular Mega Jack as an industry first for its ability for move modules of 60,000 tons comfortably. Also among the innovations listed were the AL. SK350 – the highest-capacity land-based lifting machine in the world.

Commenting on the awards ALE stated that it invests in creativity and ingenuity rather then mass commodities.

European oil & gas

only was this someone’s home, we also had the integrity of the building to accommodate for. The team overcame this through careful planning and ensuring that every detail of the move was planned and surveyed beforehand.”

To offer a complete solution for lifting, transporting, installing, ballasting, jacking and weighing large, heavy loads across the world ALE focuses on its core engineering principles to ensure the needs of every situation are met.

ALE takes pride in being able to offer ingenuity, responsibility and flexibility, ensuring the unquestioned quality of its process while making sure that risk is kept to an absolute minimum.

The company strives to remain agile and able to adapt to the ever-changing needs of the oil and gas industry.

Essential to meeting ALE’s core principles is the company’s dedicated research and development team and its commitment to investing in new technology within the industry.

The R&D team at ALE is responsible for the record-breaking AL.SK190 and AL.SK350 cranes, which have the capacity to lift up to 5000te. Its Mega Jack, which was instrumental in the world’s heaviest jack-up earlier this year, further enhances the company’s equipment portfolio. The Mega Jack is centrally operated by way of a fully computerised system, which includes data logging, weather data and optimal dimensional surveys. Of further benefit is the fact that the Mega Jack is stroke controlled and establishes stability from its jacking foundation.

This means that vast bracing structures and costly welding works to secure the platform are no longer required. Likewise, welding and cutting works carried out at high level are completely eliminated by the Mega Jack’s lowlevel feed-in system for inserting jacking beams.

Critical to the company’s success is its investment in its people as well as its equipment. ALE boasts a world-class

ContainerPLUS+ is a reliable partner that has many years of experience in the ISO-container industry, and has specialised in the supply of new standard and special ISO-containers ex-stock or directly from the manufacturer. Containers can be modified according to customer’s requirements.

We have many years of experience in dealing with ALE and we are pleased that it is possible to develop products by sharing thoughts and ideas.

This we find very encouraging as it actually makes us feel part of the process.

43

PROFILE

Kuantan Port Consortium

future and is keen to see the port take advantage of the region’s economic fortune. Ideally located on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, KPC is keen to expand on existing trade between the two countries, as chief operating officer Ir. Hj. Khasbullah A. Kadir elaborates: “What sets the port apart from its competitors is its proximity to the Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park (MCKIP). The MCKIP is a sister site to the China-Malaysia Qinzhou Industrial Park in China and these two sites will generate more bilateral trade between Malaysia and China.

Kuantan Port is expected to be the main gateway for this trading channel. The park will boast high value industrial developments like steel mills, aluminum processing plant, edible oil processing plants and other high value industrial developments, which will spur more traffic and cargo throughput for Kuantan Port.”

An integral part of the port’s future could be a deal with Chinese company Guangxi Beibu Gulf International Port Group Co Ltd. The agreement would see a disposal of a 40 per cent stake in KPC for RM310 million by the end of 2013. In return for the stake in the company KPC can expect to see significant investment from Guangxi, with the company set to pour RM7 billion into the MCKIP and surrounding infrastructure, either directly or via joint ventures with Malaysian companies. As of March 2013, IJM and Guangxi have announced that they have entered into a Memorandum of Agreement (MoU). The MoU sets the preliminary price of the disposal and is expected

European oil & gas

Since it was last featured

in European Oil and Gas Magazine the Kuantan Port consortium (KPC) has continued to grow and pursue its aim of becoming the leading maritime trade and logistics services centre in the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia and the Asia Pacific region by 2020. Operating as a multi-purpose port, strategically placed to enjoy direct shipping lanes with China, the KPC is well positioned to meet its goal. However, recent developments in the region, including economic growth and investment in infrastructure, offer the port and the KPC the opportunity to leverage a fast-track route to becoming the region’s leading logistics centre.

Kuantan Port is owned by the IJM Corporation Berhad, which views China as destined to become the world’s largest economy

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Gateway to the

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46 European oil & gas

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facilities its core users need. It is keen know the future needs of its customers and will visit existing and possible future clients to make sure their requirements are fully understood.

The company also has its own marketing team comprised of highly knowledgeable and dedicated staff to drive future business. This level of inter-business communication is a vital component in maintaining Kuantan Port’s position as a key industry hub in the region.

KPC has continued to upgrade and adapt the port to meet the ever-demanding requirements of the palm oil, chemical, container and mineral ore sectors. The port is able to offer palm oil berths, liquid petroleum berths, dedicated chemical berths, dedicated container handling berths, roll-on roll-off berths for vehicles and specialised equipment for handling dry bulk cargoes. It is also able to provide a host of ancillary services including on-dock depot services, fumigation, water supply, bunkering, slop reception and warehousing. Recent developments include an expansion to the port with the construction of a new RM3 billion deepwater terminal, construction of which is expected to be completed within two to three years. The new terminal will double the handling capacity of the port to 52 million FWT and is also designed to attract larger ships to enable the port to become a transshipment hub in the region. To complement this KPC has recently applied for a license to become a supply base, as well to support the development of the oil and gas industries on the east coast of Malaysia.

KPC is currently positioned to take advantage of a huge upturn in momentum. With China remaining strong and Malaysian initiatives providing stimulus to the local economy, Kuantan Port is set to become a powerhouse in the region as Ir. Hj. Khasbullah A. Kadir concludes: “With the Chinese economy still looking robust and demand for raw materials still strong, Kuantan Port is expected to maintain its current growth momentum. We see the next five years as a very exciting time for Kuantan Port. As the current port is reaching its maximum handling capacity, the construction of the new deepwater terminal will ease the congestion as well as fulfilling the demand for bigger ships in tandem with the evolution of shipbuilding. The partnership agreement with the China Guangxi Beibu Gulf Port Group will also bring in new expertise and capabilities which are much sought after to cater to the demands of the new industries in the MCKIP and ECER region.”

Kuantan Port is a multi-purpose port operating in all weathers, 24-hours a day, 365 days a year and is able to handle a variety of products including dry bulk cargoes, containers, palm oil, chemicals, petroleum and steel pipes Liraship Agency Sdn Bhd East Coast Container Services Sdn Bhd Liraship Agency Sdn Bhd is one of the pioneering shipping agents that has witnessed the development and growth of Kuantan Port over the past three decades. Jointly with Kuantan Port in 1989, they brought in the first container vessel to call at Kuantan Port.

In 1992, East Coast Container Services Sdn Bhd (ECCONS) became the first contractor for stuffing/unstuffing at CFS, and stevedoring for container vessels at Kuantan Port.

Kuantan Port Consortium Sdn Bhd kuantanport.com.my

Services Petrochemical hub

europeanoilandgas.co.uk

last six months before a definitive agreement is met. During this time the deal must be approved by the Malaysian government, which currently holds a 30-year concession with KPC set to end in 2027. If the deal is approved, the concession will be extended to 60 years, adding a further 46 years to the agreement.

The port has also been identified by the East Coast Economic Region (ECER) master plan as an integrated industrial and logistics hub for the region. The main aim of the ECER is to accelerate growth in the area in a viable, equitable and sustainable manner. The plan identifies tourism, oil, gas and petrochemical, manufacturing, agriculture and education as key drivers in accelerating the region’s growth and aims to compliment existing development schemes. KPC expects the industrial activities to be developed to include the Kuantan Integrated Biopark, bio-fuel industrial cluster, downstream petrochemical cluster, iron and steel industries and automotive cluster. KPC’s close links to China and the recognition it receives from domestic initiatives demonstrate why Kuantan Port is considered the undisputed petrochemical hub in the region, both domestically and internationally.

Kuantan Port is a multi-purpose port operating in all weathers, 24-hours a day, 365 days a year and is able to handle a variety of products including dry bulk cargoes, containers, palm oil, chemicals, petroleum and steel pipes.

To cater to its core customers the KPC works to provide infrastructure and equipment as well as to maintain the port. It treats its customers’ requirements as a top priority and goes to great lengths to ensure that the port offers all of the

Kuantan Port Consortium

European oil & gas

PROFILE

47

Natural

growth

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Operating from

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offices through the UAE, Seven Seas Services is a leading specialist contracting company that provides services in the marine, offshore and building construction industry. The company, which is part of the Seven Seas Services Group, employs a team of dedicated and highly skilled and experienced design, services and sales engineers and project supervisors, which enables it to offer services across the entire Middle East Gulf region.

It is just under a year since Seven Seas Services was featured in European Oil and Gas Magazine.

At that time (November 2012) the company was firmly dedicated to continued growth, while securing its already strong reputation across the Middle East Gulf. Shahvir Sidhwa, business development director, recently highlighted some of the key developments that have happened in the company.

“One of the biggest recent developments is

that we are in the process of relocating to new office facilities,” he said. “While this is part of our natural growth, it is largely down to the fact that we have expanded quite a lot, having gone from having roughly 50 office staff to around

75 now, so the new offices will allow us to accommodate that, as well as increasing our site workforce to around 250 workers.

“At the same time, we have also been expanding our workshop facilities quite significantly with new machinery, tools and equipment in line with our growth. In terms of the new equipment, it includes the introduction of new CNC machines, which we mainly use for the fabrication of various furnishings, equipment and similar items that we use in our living accommodation solutions. There have been other introductions, so looking at galley equipment for example; we have invested in stainless steel cutters, as well as a lot of new equipment for our carpentry department. Again, that will be used for a lot of interior and soft furniture items that we develop, so beds and other similar items. It all serves to improve our operations and our efficiency within our workshops. Take the new CNC machine for example, before some of that work would have been a manual operation, so the benefits are obvious.”

This growth has been part of the natural development of Seven Seas Services. The company is already a leader in the region, with its name synonymous with quality and efficient project delivery. As Shahvir explained, being a part of the Seven Seas Services Group has been a key part of the successful development. “The main benefits that we find are the financial strength that the group has,” he says. “Seven Seas Services is just one division of the overall group, which is quite financially strong. Apart from the financial strength the corporate structure of the group gives us advantages too. It is well structured, which makes it very easy when new investments need to be made and approved. It’s not like a big public company for example, where we would need to go through various committees

looking to expand in the Saudi Arabian market.

We don’t have a full presence there but are looking for a suitable partner to be working with.

I think it will be a key growth area, particularly as the Saudi Government is looking to conduct more marine jobs locally rather than exporting work, which is the current situation. We have been in talks with Daman Shipyard to open a workshop in order to build up a small presence to begin with, and if we can build our business there we will certainly grow in that sector.

“Over the coming years we will largely focus on continuing to grow. We have always been a contractor for accommodation modules but whereas before we have always done just the interior the industry is moving towards more end-to-end solutions. In order to meet that demand we will move toward becoming a more complete provider, offering a total modular accommodation system where we can provide the complete service to our clients. That is where I see us progressing to for the foreseeable future,” he concluded.

Seven Seas Services LLC sevenseasservices.com

Services Specialist contracting services

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or stages to get a decision approved, but rather they can be made quickly and effectively for the benefit of the whole organisation.”

Seven Seas Services provides a wide range of services to clients in the marine, offshore and construction industries. The company is able to supply and install a variety of solutions, largely for offshore rigs and platforms, but also for offshore vessels. Its large portfolio includes traditional items such as turnkey accommodation solutions, galleys, laundry rooms, windows, fire doors and cabin doors, ceilings and walls, toilet and shower modules, and associated services and equipment.

However, as Shahvir explained, the company continuously looks to develop new areas to exploit market opportunities. “We have recently started manufacturing helidecks, becoming one of the first companies in the Middle East to start building them out of aluminium. Companies are now looking at using aluminium helidecks instead of steel, largely because of the weight savings they can gain. As a consequence clients have looked further at how they can use aluminium instead of steel in other areas, so this is something new that we have moved into. We’ve started aluminium fabrication, so alongside helidecks we’ve looked at other types of aluminium fabrication, such as buildings, accommodation units, modules and other products.”

Due to its extensive range of services and solutions, the company is regularly contracted by some of the leading names in the industry for large projects. One example is the DOLWIN-2 development, which is the largest offshore wind platform structure ever commissioned. “This is a project that we worked on with Dubai Drydocks World, and it really is a key project for not only us, but for Drydocks World and the region as a whole. It is one of the first major NORSOKspecification projects to have been given to this region – usually these projects are given to companies in Germany or Norway for example – so it is quite a prestigious project to be working on. It also means that we have had to fulfil quite a steep learning curve in terms of working to the NORSOK specifications, but ultimately is quite a feather in our cap in terms of moving forwards.”

When it comes to the future, the business is targeting further growth over the coming years. “Naturally we are looking at moving into new markets and regions,” said Shahvir. “For example, we have been co-operating on some projects with Saudi Aramco recently as we are

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The tip of

success Zenith Structural Access Solutions specialises in delivering innovative structural access and repair solutions to the world’s leading power, petrochemical, process and pharmaceutical companies. In particular it has become something of a market leader in the inspection, maintenance, repair and demolition of industrial chimneys, hyperbolic cooling towers, tall structures, and heavy industry.

Across all these areas Zenith is recognised for its ability to design innovative access solutions, which allow for potentially hazardous assignments to be tackled safely and costeffectively. The common element of each of these solutions is an intuitive understanding of structures, from function and fabric to construction and condition.

“Our core competencies lie in working at height safely and heavy lifting at height without the use of cranes, for all sorts of tall structures where access proves to be an issue,” describes Darren Smith, business development director.

“To this end we are members of the Industrial Rope Access Trade Association (IRATA), the Lifting Equipment Engineers Association (LEEA) and the Association of Technical Lighting & Access Specialists (ATLAS).

“We also offer consultancy services spanning the entire lifecycle of a project from planning and design to fabrication and completion,” he continues. “We view clients as partners in building long-term relationships and getting involved early helps them to significantly save money, and work safely in hazardous environments.”

Where Zenith has most strongly made its mark though is its pioneering innovation in the field of flare stack repair and tip replacement.

Traditionally the height involved in this work has necessitated the use of a crane or helicopter to remove the flare tip, all within a very short shutdown period. This led Zenith to design a purpose-built temporary lifting davit to improve this process.

The davit is positioned directly below the termination point of the flare stack, removing the need for the use of cranes, and enabling the tip to be removed and replaced in a short space of time. The davit can then be stripped and removed afterwards. This innovative solution has since been adopted in refineries, petrochemical plants and offshore platforms around the world, and is a strong example of the company’s ability to deliver commercial benefits through design, even in remote and demanding locations.

Zenith Structural Access Solutions

apprentices each year, as part of our long-term strategy. The skills that we require are not always easily obtainable on the market, particularly as many of our staff have multi-disciplinary expertise, so we look to bring new people into the business and train them in-house. We have also appointed a new business development manager to expand our client base throughout Europe. We are confident that for 2013 to 2014 and beyond we will establish a very significant presence in the region,” explains Darren.

“We’ve developed something of a reputation in flare tip replacement, and gained a very diverse client base in the process, which is of course advantageous. I have recently been engaged with a client in the Far East who has seen a huge scope of applications for our technology, and therefore we are now quoting a significant amount of projects for them. South America also looks to be very exciting, so on the whole we anticipate growth of up to 50 per cent in the next three years as we continue to gain new markets and end users,” he concludes.

The potential for our flare tip replacement service is huge.

We’re finding that it’s quite unique in the market, and very cost effective, so customers are now coming to us directly

Zenith Structural Access Solutions zenithstructural.com

Services Structural access and repair solutions

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“From a sales point of view we feel as though we have only just scratched the surface,” reveals Darren. “The potential for our flare tip replacement service is huge. We’re finding that it’s quite unique in the market, and very cost effective, so customers are now coming to us directly. We’ve expanded into the Far East, Middle East and South America recently, and have a lot of projects on the order books for the year ahead. We’ve also carried out offshore flare tip replacement activities for Shell, Total, Talisman and many others, so it’s very encouraging in terms of the prospects.”

Although flare tip replacement is Zenith’s core competency in the offshore sector at present, the company’s structural engineering design and lifting capabilities are also transferable to this market. In order to develop its business even further Zenith has expanded its structural engineering design office, and opened a new site in Luton. This has strengthened its presence as well as its capability in specialist temporary works.

“We typically take on around two or three

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PROFILE

Ugland Construction

package Dalian Shipyard Industrial Development General Corporation (DSIDGC) is the subsidiary of Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co., Ltd (DSIC) which is one of the biggest, most reliable shipyards in China. Relying on advanced design and excellent quality, DSIDGC has become the major supplier for Ugland Construction AS in Norway. In the past decade, DSIDGC has built and delivered to Ugland Construction AS a total of ten vessels. These are semisubmersible barges, flattop barges, including the recently delivered two new generation North Sea flattop barges. DSIDGC’s clients are worldwide, but mainly from various countries and regions in Europe, America and Asia.

Family owned, but globally active, J.J. Ugland is based in the historic shipping town of Grimstad in Norway. The Group consists of a number of different companies, which between them incorporate a professionally managed and fully integrated ship owning and management enterprise, full-service EPC yard, and offshore operation.

Of these Stavanger-based Ugland Construction AS was incorporated back in 1997, since which time it has co-ordinated the Group’s present marine offshore activities. This includes commercial management of a fleet of flat-top barges in sizes between 10,000 and 16,000 dwt, and a self-propelled heavy lift crane vessel. Before that the Group was home to another company named Ugland Construction Company, which was even more involved in the offshore business through offshore derrick crane vessels, anchor handling tugs, accommodation rigs and the like.

These assets are used in marine transportation and inshore lifting operations for oil and gas companies, offshore contractors, fabrication yards, shipping and engineering companies, and harbour authorities. The company also works closely with the Group EPC yard, AS Nymo, on various projects. With a lifting capacity of 600 tonnes, the crane vessel is employed in a range of assignments for the offshore industry, as well as harbour developments, bridge building, salvage and shipbuilding.

This is mainly in the vicinity of the North

Sea, but Ugland Construction AS has also had a presence in the Gulf of Mexico for the last 15 years where it maintains a berth place.

Furthermore, from time-to-time the company also operates off West Africa.

“For the time being we are operating one crane vessel and 21 cargo barges on behalf of our Group. Ugland Construction AS does not own equipment, we are a managing company, so the vessels are typically owned by Ugland Shipping and other Ugland companies,” explains Øyvind Aasland, managing director.

This includes two brand new barges, which were built at the Dalian Shipyard in China, and delivered recently. The barges are sisters of previously ordered barges from the yard, but have an upgraded deck strength of 30 tonnes per square metre. “Of the 21 vessels we have, 18 are standard 300 by 90 foot barges and these two new builds are the same,” notes Øyvind. “What is different though is that they are fitted with a state-of-the-art built-in ballast water treatment system. This is something new for this tonnage and has come about as a result of the new IMO rules that are being presented to the market regarding environmental impact.”

At the end of 2012 Ugland Construction AS also became home to another seven large North Sea barges through the purchase of Viking’s entire barge fleet. Built in Russia throughout 1994 and 1999, these Lloyd classed barges are the same dimensions as the two new builds.

Also of note are Ugland Construction’s two fully

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Ugland Construction

submersible barges, which add a further level of flexibility to the fleet.

Increasingly though Ugland Construction AS is looking at offering more in the way of turnkey project solutions as a whole, as opposed to purely chartering of assets. “We want to tailor marine transportation solutions into a package that meets the client’s needs,” emphasises Tommy Christensen, project manager. “This could be the provision of the whole marine transport supply chain from A to B, or any one element of it, such as parts, storage, sea fastening, engineering, grillage fabrication, and loading. This also reduces the risk for the client by increasing the scope that we can manage on a project as a one-stop-shop package, and therefore removing some of the additional interfaces with other parties.”

To deliver this Ugland Construction AS will work with a number of partners both internally and externally. Within the Group this could be AS Nymo for the fabrication of grillage and sea fastening for the modules, whilst the rest will be third party companies that Ugland Construction AS has longstanding relationships with.

Although it’s a new area of focus for the business, project solutions is not unknown to Ugland Construction AS. In the past the company has delivered such services for the Statoil LNG receiving terminal at Melkøya, as part of the Snøhvit Field development. This was throughout 2004 and 2005, but in the years that followed Ugland Construction AS concentrated its efforts into the chartering activities. The company is now looking to pick up the total transportation concept again, and is actively bidding for works to this end.

For larger companies and contractors in particular the ability to secure all their marine transportation requirements from one source is no doubt attractive, and for Ugland Construction AS bringing together its partners to offer such a service opens up new areas for the business to capitalise on. The company isn’t leaving its chartering services behind though as these will continue to make up its largest area of operations, as well as being the assets that will feed into the project solutions side.

“As always this year is focused on chartering of the barges, and the crane vessel which is scheduled for an extensive list of operations including installation of bridges and in-shore lifting. On the barge side we are predominately

working in oil and gas but the wind farm market is also an essential part of these elements. We already have a substantial fleet so we don’t foresee any special expansions of equipment going forward. It’s a case now of operating these assets to the optimum through the delivery of these project solutions,” concludes Øyvind.

Ugland Construction AS jjuc.no

Services Vessel operation and project solutions

Hannover Milieu- en Veiligheidstechniek (HMVT)

men HMVT, which translates in English to ‘Hannover Environmental and Safety Technology’, is a Netherlands-based environmental firm that provides innovative solutions for soil remediation projects and water/air treatment challenges. These include the implementation of complex in-situ soil and groundwater remediation projects, contaminated for example with (chlorinated) hydrocarbons under a city or under a (petro) chemical plant, as well as purification of process air and the implementation of temporary water or air treatment units during industrial plant maintenance. “Our main markets are industrial and petrochemical as well as industries such as launderettes that use chlorinated solvents, but mainly we work for clients on complex projects in the petrochemical industry,” says Ted Vendrig, project manager of HMVT. As one of the top five leading in-situ remediators in the Netherlands and Belgium, HMVT works for a broad variety of clients and was one of the earliest established companies of its kind in the Netherlands. Formally established in 1990 as a daughter company to Hannover Insurance and the sister firm of Hannover Umwelt Technik (HUT), HMVT gained independence in 1994. Following this, the company has seen steady growth in terms of expertise, projects, personnel and applied remediation techniques, as well as increased experience in the purification of water and air currents.

Viewing Belgium as a strategic location for expansion, the company began operations in the Belgian market in the 1990s, resulting in the

establishment of an office in Brecht in 2004 under the subsidiary firm HMVT/WeGroSan. Over recent years, business has extended beyond the Dutch and Belgian markets, with particular interest in France, Germany and England. In 2001, HMVT became a subsidiary of Oranjewoud; this strategic move enabled the company to remain self-reliant and retain the core attributes that have ensured consistent growth and increasing recognition since its inception.

Today, HMVT offers services to a wide range of clean up operations and has worked on complex challenges for many major petrochemical companies. An example of its proven ability to remove large product volumes was its involvement in a large, complex multiphase project at an industrial site in Anderlecht, Belgium, which has a huge soil and groundwater pollution present. Caused by several spills over many years, the pollution was a mixture of chlorinated, aromatic and other hydrocarbons, which required HMVT/WeGroSan to extract and treat as much of the pollutants from the subsurface as possible via a system of 53 multiphase extraction wells. Operating a range of extraction and treatment systems, HMVT/ WeGroSan undertook this service for a fixed price per month from 2007 to 2010, which resulted in the extraction of many thousands of kilo’s of pollution each month.

The core reasons behind HMVT’s competitiveness in the field of soil remediation, water purification and air treatment include its practical approach to projects and the innovative ideas it develops in the face of

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Removal

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Hannover Milieu- en Veiligheidstechniek (HMVT)

Busch Vacuum Pumps and Systems

Zero emission is the target. We are now searching for opportunities to offer this service to ships.”

Dedicated to innovation, the company works on enhancing its technology and service offering in-house, while also remaining watchful for opportunities to work with similar companies to bring new developments into the market. For example, in October 2012, HMVT launched a joint venture with US firm TRS, HMVTRS, which will enable the two companies to bring the electrical resistance heating (ERH) remediation process to the European market.

ERH is a relatively simple idea involving electrodes being placed into the soil and electricity passing through the electrodes, which then heats the ground to the boiling point of water and thus evaporating any contaminants.

The company entered into another strategic co-operation in August 2012 with ServiGarlin, an Equador based progressive environmental consultancy that specialises in soil surveys and the execution of soil remediation projects.

HMVT will provide ServiGarlin with the practical execution of future projects and specific environmental knowledge.

Over the coming years the company is looking into opportunities for industrial process water treatments and is also keen to develop a foothold in target areas such as England, France and Germany. To do this, HMVT will be looking to develop strong partnerships, as Ted concludes: “If we can find partners with a strong client base we can allow them to use our knowledge; there are opportunities out there for us, but we need to gain recognition and awareness from our potential clients. It is a stepping stone.”

Busch Vacuum Pumps and Systems is one of the largest, family owned, manufacturers of vacuum pumps, blowers and compressors in the world.

With over 50 years of experience and top qualified personnel, we are forward-looking and strive to improve our products and ourselves.

As of 2013, Busch Vacuum Pumps and Systems employs 2300 people and features the largest selection of vacuum pumps for industrial applications in the world. Due to its immense line of vacuum pumps, expertise and experience in the building of vacuum systems, and its extensive service network, Busch is capable of providing ideal comprehensive solutions.

With 57 companies in 39 countries and sales agents in over 30 countries, we are strategically positioned throughout the world to provide our customers with the essentials for success.

The oil and gas industry is a key market for Busch, with customised solutions in various applications. Busch provides consultancy, engineering, contracting, commissioning, and pumps/skids without subcontracting. Let our knowhow guarantee your business!

Hannover Milieu- en Veiligheidstechniek (HMVT) hmvt.nl

Services In-situ remediation, process water and air treatment

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environmental demands. “Our no nonsense approach and our knowledge of situations, as well as our ability to provide different techniques dependant on each project are the key strengths of our business,” says Ted. “We strive to fully understand each situation, considering that each contaminant is different, and the soil can be different meaning, all of our clients are viewed on an individual basis.”

One key service offered by HMVT is the management and aftercare of risk hotspots, in which the company continually assesses accident areas to ensure there are no longterm effects from hazardous spills. To do this, HMVT installs sensors into trouble spots and monitors the area remotely through specialised software. “Regulations are becoming less strict and pollution is only being treated if there is a risk to humans or the ecological system. This has resulted in a decreasing amount of soil remediation projects for us. Acknowledging this, we have been looking into new opportunities such as emission control,” says Ted. With air quality increasingly under threat from the emission of NOx, particulate matter and various chemical substances, HMVT helps companies to treat their process vapours through offering advice and/or managing a wide range of air purification techniques. One such technology is the pulsed corona, the result of collaboration between HMVT and the Technical University of Eindhoven (TUE); also referred to as cold plasma technology, it makes use of high voltage in extremely brief pulses to form a cold plasma field. The high-energetic pulses then release highly efficient electrons that in turn clean a wide range of vapours.

The company designs and builds a large array of installations for applications related to emission control and boasts experience in purification systems such as biological air conditioning, air washing, incinerator and mobile and pilot installations. Specialised in temporary air purification plants, its installations are used in industries such as petrochemical and pharmaceutical, complying with all stringent safety requirements, including ATEX. “Most of our techniques can be utilised under ATEX conditions,” says Ted. “We are continually improving our emission control services technology; in co-operation with Reym, for the petrochemical industry we can clean large storage tanks in a safe way with use of emission reduction measures that helps the client to achieve the permit conditions. Non-entry and

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advanced

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Highly

Over the past ten years

Thermtech, a Norwegian technology and engineering company, has doubled in size, and in 2008 it was ranked as number one on Deloitte’s Fast 50 in Norway. This success has been established on the vision of setting the global standard for the treatment of drill cuttings, which contain oil from drilling fluids. The tool it

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developed to reach this goal is Thermomechanical Cuttings Cleaner (TCC) technology.

Patented and highly advanced, TCC is a friction based thermal separation technology

that is able to recover the Base Oil from the Oil Based Mud for re-use, and can be operated both onshore and offshore. The treatment with the TCC represents both the best environmental and commercial options since the TCC is able to recover the high value Base Oil from the cuttings with the same qualities as the original Base Oil. The last time that Thermtech appeared in European Oil and Gas, sales and marketing director Rocco Valentinetti explained how the company operated: “Across the world there are numerous oil companies of all sizes that require the use of the TCC technology for the treatment of their waste. What Thermtech does is supply this technology, both as complete units to its customers and as manufacturing licenses to its license holders, the industry’s leading service providers, which in turn provide services to the exploration and production companies.”

Operationally, Thermtech is the technology owner of the TCC process, and focuses mainly on selling turnkey solutions to customers that are in, or want to enter into, the treatment business. Thermtech itself does not offer services, but rather, it assists the customers in getting their business up and running.

In addition to the equipment itself, Thermtech offers assistance with permit applications and plant design, education and training of customer’s operators and supervisors, installation and commissioning, operational start up assistance, remote and on site supervision of operations, spare parts and maintenance.

oil companies operating in areas of lax regulation have still adopted its technology, not for any commercial advantage, but mainly to reinforce their ‘green’ reputation and thus emphasise their environmental credentials.

Furthermore, Thermtech’s customers appreciate that the TCC technology keeps the environment clean and, at the same time, creates commercial benefits. The beneficial environmental effect created by the recovery of the Base Oil from the waste also creates a positive income and cost savings. In particular in regions where the Base Oil is imported, such as in the Caspian, it results in an income that is equivalent to the cost of the recovery operation. This means that environmental and commercial interests go hand in hand since the recovered Base Oil is re-used to replace the expensive virgin Base Oil, which can be even more costly due to transport costs.

Thermtech affirms that the TCC process challenges any other existing method or technology simply based on the business case itself. Even discharge to sea can be less economic in given situations, in particular if future liability is taken into account.

Going forward, Thermtech has plans for more expansion and growth. It is always investing in research and development into new and more advanced TCC options, such as mobile units or those designed to handle different types of waste. It is also interested in geographic expansion into new areas that are seeing exciting developments in the oil industry. By maintaining its focus on both the environmental and commercial benefits of TCC technology, Thermtech looks set for a successful future.

With all the elements recovered and able to be reused with their chemical and physical characteristics still in place, the TCC process has completely eliminated the concept of waste

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The actual manufacturing is outsourced to professional and experienced manufacturing companies, while Thermtech retains the project management and carries out the assembly, the installation and the commissioning of the TCC units. All the design work is performed in-house by professional engineers who use advanced software and knowledge tools.

The most important property of the TCC process is its ability to recover every material found within the waste itself, while retaining the same qualities possessed by the original components. This means that at the end of the treatment process, the oil can be re-used and the clean solids can be used in different applications, land filled or discharged to sea. With all the elements recovered and able to be reused with their chemical and physical characteristics still in place, the TCC process has completely eliminated the concept of waste.

The application of the TCC process results in major environmental benefits, these positive results are attracting more and more customers, as they look for ways to adhere to the stricter environmental regulations.

Indeed, the reputation of the TCC process is so strong that Thermtech sometimes finds that some

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Thermtech thermtech.no

Products TCC technology and engineering

borders Crossing

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Gasunie is a European gas infrastructure

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company, with a network that ranks among the largest high-pressure gas pipeline grids in Europe – it consists of 15,500 kilometres of pipeline in the Netherlands and northern Germany.

Each year, Gasunie transports about 125 bcm of natural gas, offering transport services via its subsidiaries Gasunie Transport Services B.V. (GTS) in the Netherlands and Gasunie Deutschland GmbH in Germany. In fact, Gasunie was the first independent gas transport provider with a cross-border network in Europe.

In addition to gas transportation, Gasunie also offers gas storage facilities (Gasunie Zuidwending), the pipeline to England (BBL) and the LNG terminal Gate at Maasvlakte. In addition, it facilitates and stimulates the green gas market through its subsidiary Vertogas.

Due to the reliability and strategic location of its network in relation to growing international gas flows, the Gasunie network forms the heart of what is known as the northwest European ‘gas roundabout’.

This roundabout consists of infrastructure belonging to GTS and Gasunie Deutschland, which serves both home markets, as well as linking to different ‘junctions’. Together, the whole system ensures that gas can be easily transported between Russia and the UK,

from Belgium to Denmark, and even Qatar to Rotterdam as LNG. In 2012 there was a significant sign that the European gas roundabout is playing an increasingly important role in the European gas market - trade on the Dutch gas trading exchange TTF (Title Transfer Facility) grew by almost 20 per cent.

Echoing these positive results was Gasunie’s own 2012 annual report, which highlighted solid results for the organisation in that year.

Net profit amounted to 359 million euros, and operational activities in the fields of safety and security of supply also achieved good results. Total costs fell by two per cent in the past financial year, partly due to a multi-year efficiency programme.

Over the past two years there has been a raft of exciting partnerships, agreements and developments at Gasunie, including the signing of a joint declaration in 2012 between Energinet. dk (Denmark), Fluxys Belgium and Gasunie, which is aiming at 100 per cent carbon-neutral gas transmission in their networks in 2050.

In 2013 GRTgaz of France and Swedegas of Sweden joined the initiative. Gasunie believes that gas infrastructure is key to proactively help develop the solutions required for the realisation of a low carbon scenario for Europe.

Another noteworthy highlight is Gasunie’s involvement with the newly established North Sea Power to Gas Platform. This has been formed to further develop the concept of Powerto-Gas (P2G): the conversion of renewable power into gas. P2G will play an increasingly important role in Europe’s future energy system, as it reduces temporal surpluses of renewable power by converting these surpluses into gases.

Furthermore, in 2013 Gazprom and Gasunie inked a document that stipulates co-operation between the companies in exploring the

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Due to the reliability and strategic location of its network in relation to growing international gas flows, the Gasunie network forms the heart of what is known as the northwest European ‘gas roundabout’

Gasunie gasunie.nl

Services Gas infrastructure company

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platform is a major step towards creating the EU internal gas market. It proves that when European network operators work closely together towards a joint goal and bundle their experience, the involved partners can succeed in implementing the future European market rules two years ahead of their time.

It is clear that during his tenure at the company as CEO, Paul van Gelder has led Gasunie through a remarkable transformation, and kept the company on track through turbulent times.

The company is now strong both operationally and financially, and Paul has now decided to look for a new challenge. He commented: “Gasunie is a unique company with very professional employees. It has been an honour to lead this company and contribute every day to safe and reliable energy supply in the Netherlands and Germany, one of the most important pillars in our society and economy. I’m convinced that Gasunie will continue to make a significant contribution to an energy mix that is not only cleaner, but also affordable in the long term.”

European oil & gas

possibilities for the Nord Stream gas pipeline expansion as well as setting up other infrastructure projects to secure gas supply for northwest Europe and the UK. In March 2013, Gasunie and IntercontinentalExchange, a leading operator of global markets and clearing houses, announced the launch of ICE Endex, following receipt of competition clearance by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) in the UK and the declaration of no-objection from the Dutch Ministry of Finance. Just a month later in April 2013, 19 major transmission system operators (TSOs) from seven European countries, including Gasunie, announced the launch of the new PRISMA European Capacity Platform at the FLAME conference. From that day, day-ahead capacity at various European interconnection points was offered through the platform.

The announcement of the TSOs came less than a year after signing a Memorandum of Understanding at 2012’s Flame Conference.

The creation of the PRISMA joint capacity

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quality One-stop

Established in 1995

Wood Group Engineering Services (Middle East) Wood Group Engineering Services (WGES) was established in 1993 to offer comprehensive engineering services to the MENA region and now operates from three workshops located in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha.

These workshops provide a wide range of services including the manufacture and repair of API products, overhaul services for pumps, compressors, industrial gas turbines and general oilfield equipment, reverse engineering, rotor balancing and an extensive field service capability.

WGES has successfully developed its relationship with Top Oilfield Industries over several years and looks forward to continuing to providing support to it, and all our many other valued clients for many years to come.

, as Top Oilfield Engineering Services, Top Oilfield Industries Limited has become a leader in land rig refurbishment, oilfield drilling equipment manufacture, repair, overhaul and modification.

Based in Sharjah, UAE, Top Oilfield Industries Limited is perfectly located to meet the needs of drilling contractors operating in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

The company’s facilities currently comprise of 30,000 square meters of fabrication yards, 59,000 square meters of land rigcommissioning and rig up yards, management offices and storage areas and 65,000 square feet of workshops. The company boasts an impeccable record of high quality and costeffective oilfield refurbishment work completed in a timely fashion. Targeting oil and gas contractors and NOCs and placing quality at the forefront of its business, the company is dedicated to going to extraordinary lengths to ensure customer satisfaction.

Operating as an API and ISO accredited company and employing an in-house training and mentoring programme, Top Oilfield Industries Limited strives to be the leading name

in rig support and maintenance solutions as CEO Ian Midgley explains: “Since its creation Top Oilfield has always sought to improve and develop its product and service lines in order to better support its customers and achieve its longterm vision of becoming the service provider of choice for drilling contractors active in the Middle East and beyond.

“We provide in-house training and mentoring schemes and start by only targeting and recruiting highly skilled, experienced and motivated personnel. This enables a high degree of cross and up skilling within the workforce.

Many of our staff have been with us for more than ten years.”

Ian observes that the company’s competitive edge is founded on excellence built on providing fast, highly competitive and reliable services to the company’s target base. He notes: “The proof is the fact that we have a very high retention rate and our base continues to grow. We provide bespoke services but with a standard price list.”

Also key to the company’s success is the one-stop-shop approach that it provides for its customers. Top Oilfield Industries Limited believes that the key benefit of providing a one-stop service to clients is in streamlining communication between third parties, allowing projects to be completed in a timely and cost-effective fashion. Ian elaborates: “Our customer base ranges from very large multinational corporations to smaller more regional operations, all of whom benefit by being able to deal with one service provider for the majority of the works they have at any particular time. Because the vast majority of the work is undertaken in-house we ensure highend production standards, adherence to delivery dates and excellent cost control.

“The regional clients have the convenience of not having to get involved in time-consuming correspondence with a number of companies and the convenience of a single point of contact.

For the larger clients there is the same benefit, but with potentially much higher cost savings due to their much higher cost base.”

Another part of the company’s one-stop approach is its ability to provide a diverse and adaptable service. Able to provide services ranging from land rig and jack-up rig refurbishments, equipment manufacture and design and technical field support, Top Oilfield Industries Limited is well placed to support its customers. Ian says: “Top Oilfield is fully committed to providing our customers with high performance products and services and we have demonstrated our ability to deliver all of the

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projects we undertake to the highest quality, on time and at the most competitive industry rates anywhere. We have recently delivered a USD 30 million jack up refurbishment project which, due to the condition of the rig when it arrived in our shipyard, required our marine project teams to ‘pull out all of the stops’ to ensure the vessel left our facility ready to drill and provide many years of service for our customer.

“Our land rig division is currently undertaking full re-build/remanufacture of three 1500 hp rigs; these ‘all western’ units are a mixture of new and refurbished components.

Our ability to mix and match new elements with refurbished parts allows Top Oilfield to produce high caliber rigs for our customers within their budgets.”

Since 2007 the company has enjoyed continued growth as its efforts have been rewarded. Moving forward it has opened new workshops in Mumbai and signed a joint venture contract with a company in Saudi Arabia, reflecting the growing regional demand for rig support. Ian confirms, “We have gradually broken into the highly competitive market in India where the Top Oilfield brand was known by the large international players, but the major Indian players had to be wooed. We started with some small jobs and we are now building momentum. We have used one location for works since we opened and got our first work.

We are nevertheless searching for an even better location to improve our ability to meet our customer’s needs.

“We see the Saudi market as a critical part of our future business, however there is no point in entering such a market until your operation has the strength to be able to choose the best possible partner and meet the inevitable demands from such a strong and fast growing market. We believe that we have found such a partner in the Al-Bassam Group. We have founded our JV, which is currently in the process of being licensed through SAGIA. We plan to roll out our services in the pre-licensed period through a temporary partnership with one of the Al-Bassam operating companies, Gulf Heavy Industries LLC.” Top Oilfield recently achieved two million hours without a lost time injury. Ian explains how this was achieved and the company’s commitment to health and safety. “At Top Oilfield we understand both our moral and the commercial requirement to establish and maintain a strong health safety and

environmental culture, regardless of our geographical locations, in our potentially highrisk industry.

“For us to achieve our objective of world class levels of HSE performance, everyone from the CEO downwards is genuinely committed to driving HSE performance within our organisation. We all know the phrase ‘Safety is everybody’s responsibility’, which predominately is the case, but we know it is the executives and managers that will be key to our success.”

Throughout the rest of 2013 Top Oilfield is committed to growing its regional presence while remaining true to its core principles as Ian concludes: “We continue to concentrate on developing our presence regionally in order to enhance the support we currently provide to customers operating throughout the Middle East, Asia and North African oil/gas producing areas. Coupled with this is our focus on ensuring that our business is fully enabled to provide the products and services which our customers seek.”

Top Oilfield Industries Limited topoilfield.com

Services Oil rig support and maintenance solutions

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Ben Line Agencies

First class

with our clients by offering a consistently high level of service throughout our office network together with bespoke solutions to assist them with specific challenges. As testament to this approach, a number of our key customer relationships go back more than ten years,” says Edward.

The division offers a wide range of services, and target market segments within its offshore support sector include survey, subsea, inspection repair and maintenance (IRM), engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning (EPCIC), drilling contractors, exploration and production (E&P), floating production systems (FPSO, FSO, FLNG), oilfield services, as well as subsea power cable installations. “Whether our clients are looking for assistance with costs, local formalities and process flows for their project bids, or a one-stop-shop solution for an offshore project installation with multi-site vessel and equipment mobilisations, we have the proven track record to assist them,” highlights Edward.

Currently providing marine agency and logistics support services to EMAS-AMC and EOCP in connection with the installation of FPSO Perisai Kamelia in PM301 block in the Kamelia Field off Kemaman in the Northern Malay Basin for Hess. EMAS-AMC’s scope of work includes the installation of the mooring system, towage of the FPSO from Singapore to the field and the hook up of the mooring system on behalf of EOCP. “The marine spread for this project consists of the main construction

European oil & gas

Privately owned

marine services and logistics provider Ben Line Agencies Ltd has been active in Asia for more than 150 years. Operating within four business divisions, liner agency, port agency, offshore logistics and project logistics, the group has expanded its services since its inception as a ship owner in the 19th century and subsequently as a drilling contractor in the 1970s. Boasting more than 100 offices spread across 16 countries in Asia, the group’s comprehensive office network, combined with its history in the region, gives it a major advantage in a competitive market, as Edward Thomson, regional general manager of Ben Line Agencies’ Offshore Support division, explains: “Due to our longevity in the region we have a solid understanding of local operational and customs formalities in each of the countries that we operate in. Through our vessel and rig owning background we can offer the best possible services in the highly pressurised environments that our clients operate in. We fully appreciate the importance of being available 24/7, the need for flexibility and, above all, the requirement for a proactive approach.”

Working with major operators in the oil and gas industry, such as Maersk, POSH Semco, Fugro, Heerema Marine Contractors, McDermott, Rowan Drilling and Swire Pacific Offshore, Ben Line Agencies recognises that the offshore marine sector is unique and strives to ensure a consistent first class service across a range of target market segments. “We believe in developing long-term partnerships

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a significant increase in EPIC projects such as PLEM and SURF subsea installations and also an increase in high capability vessel demand in the region,” says Edward.

With a keen eye for finding new opportunities, Ben Line Agencies is following the development of new sectors within the offshore sector, such as offshore platform decommissioning, offshore wind and wave farms and anticipates an increase in future FSO projects in Asia, as Edward concludes: “According to a recent report by energy industry research and consultancy group Douglas Westwood, the continued expansion into deepwater locations could drive a doubling of worldwide investment in Floating Production Systems over the next five years to $91 billion. A total of 121 floating production units are forecast for installation worldwide during this time period, representing a 37 per cent increase in the fleet. With our recent experience with EMAS AMC and EOCP, we believe we are best placed to participate in future FSO projects in Asia.”

Whether our clients are looking for assistance with costs, local formalities and process flows for their project bids, or a one-stopshop solution for an offshore project installation with multi-site vessel and equipment mobilisations, we have the proven track record to assist them

Ben Line Agencies benlineagencies.com

Services Specialist marine agency and logistics support

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vessel, two tow tugs, two tug and barge sets and a fast crew boat,” says Edward. “We assisted with the mobilisation of the marine spread in Pasir Gudang where the chains, piles and accompanying equipment were prepared and loaded onto the departing vessels. Our scope of work included arranging Petronas and FOMEMA medicals, sign on/off, meet and greets, hotel bookings and the associated transport needs of the project and marine crews, customs, clearance, and the supply of cranes, forklifts and specialist heavy lifting equipment.”

In Kemaman Ben Line Agencies is offering a similar range of offshore support services to ensure EMAS delivers to its customer on time and within budget, as Edward highlights: “Whatever our client requires, we will endeavour to provide a workable and affordable solution as quickly as possible.”

Aware that it is operating in a growth market, Ben Line Agencies has invested heavily in its offshore support services division over the last decade to ensure it can take on increased demands from its increasing client base.

Specifically the company has opened up offices in 11 supply bases throughout Asia to cater to the needs of its clients. Most recently, an office has been opened in Ranong port, on the west coast of Thailand next to the border with Myanmar, which acts as an alternative logistics support base to Singapore with offshore support vessels frequently calling there to take bunkers and supplies and to conduct crew changes.

Furthermore, following a number of positive enquiries from its established customer base, the group has also set up operations in Timor Leste. “Our offshore support services division is certainly a growth market for us. The World Subsea Vessel Operations Market Forecast 2012-2016 noted that $77 billion is to be spent on worldwide subsea vessel operations in those years, an increase of 63 per cent over the previous five year period. We expect to see

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Made up of a team of senior specialists

Above Typical layout for burner and combustor Right Combustor for spent acid recovery

dedicated to innovation and dependability in the field of combustion technology, CS Combustion Solutions’ (CS) staff use their 25 years of expertise in engineering, supplying and commissioning of vertical and horizontal combustors for a wide range of applications to find the best results for each individual requirement. “We are a company that specialises

Far right Sulphur burner for 20 tons of liquid sulphur Below CS combustion chamber for H2S-Gas-Combustion 300

in combustion systems for the refinery and chemical industries, as well as the petrochemical industry, developing tailor-made solutions for burning by-products. In the chemical industry this could be waste gas and waste air or solvents, which can be in any concentration and can be corrosive or not corrosive gases; the same is true for the burning or combustion of liquids. Meanwhile, for the refinery business, we have expertise for the thermal oxidation of liquids, gases and powdered solids that come from its byproducts,” explains Thomas Bartonek, managing director of CS. Based in Vienna, the Austrian company’s team of 25 engineers offers tailor-made combustion services to its core customer markets throughout Europe, Russia, China and Brazil. As a member of the Unitherm-Cemcon Group, a successful producer of burners, kilns and furnaces since its inception in 1946, CS benefits from the

resources and experience of its parent company, as Thomas elaborates: “We can exchange resources in terms of services and service staff and can work together in-house on burner management; even though we are in different markets we speak the same language and both specialise in burning systems.”

CS’ unique approach to the combustion process begins with the high-intensity mixing technology that forms the basis of all of its process burners. The mixing characteristics of its burners and chambers ensure incredible reliability and enable the client to achieve the lowest possible emissions. Furthermore, the company’s incineration processes have resulted in a large amount of unique innovations being introduced, which has led to ongoing developments in economical designs. Proud of its cutting-edge technology, CS offers advantages from both operational and cost perspectives, such as excellent flame stability, low maintenance, energy cost savings and high turndown ratios.

The products and services available can be divided into four categories: burners, combustors, injection systems and engineering & service. The vertical and horizontal burners and combustors are used for sulphur, spent acid and acid gas; waste gas and waste air, waste water, hazardous and special waste liquids and pasty waste fluids. “We are delivering complete burning and combustion systems, not only doing the engineering but the hardware as well.

We do everything from the engineering, design, and manufacturing with our partners in Austria, Italy, Hungary and the Czech Republic, we then do the complete commissioning and start-up,” highlights Thomas.

Built according to EN, ASME & GOST

that develops process technology for petroleum refining and other industries. “Haldor Topsoe works with wet gas sulphuric acid technology, known as WSA, which recovers sulphur from off-gases and produces commercial-grade concentrated sulphuric acid; this is a contract we are very proud of,” enthuses Thomas.

Other projects include a huge contract with a well-known refinery in Russia, which includes a combustion unit with combustor and fuel feeding lines on top of a waste heat boiler and steam drum. Furthermore, the company has also won an order for a waste liquid treatment plant in the UK and is awaiting commission for more than 15 burner systems for a huge incinerator plant in Singapore.

With the company’s projects becoming increasingly more global, the future of CS looks positive as it focuses on Brazil, as Thomas concludes: “We began developments in Brazil this year and plan to continue strategically targeting this market. Further ahead, we are already the preferred supplier for Haldor Topsoe and our goal is to be the preferred supplier for other firms too.”

Offering a onestop-shop solution to its customers, CS delivers combustors for sulphuric acid production, SO2 production, spent acid regeneration, thermal disposal of waste gases, wastewater disposal and thermal disposal of hazardous waste liquids in the refinery, petrochemical, chemical and pharmaceutical industries CS Combustion Solutions comb-sol.at

Services Combustion technology

European oil & gas

standards, the burners are supplied for special applications with a performance range between one and 90 megawatts. Customised and designed to specific requirements, the SWB Burner operates on a range of standard and special fuels, such as NG, diesel fuel, HFO, H2Sgas, Tailgas and coke gas, which can be injected directly and simultaneously into the burner.

Fields of application include industrial boilers, rotary kilns, combustors, static incinerators, O2 applications and furnaces.

Offering a one-stop-shop solution to its customers, CS delivers combustors for sulphuric acid production, SO2 production, spent acid regeneration, thermal disposal of waste gases, wastewater disposal and thermal disposal of hazardous waste liquids in the refinery, petrochemical, chemical and pharmaceutical industries. With more than 20 years experience in the design and supply of thermal oxidisers and firing systems, the company provides a full range of engineering and supply services including problem evaluation, detailed engineering, selection of the lining materials, transport, erection and commissioning. “We

CS Combustion Solutions

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are particularly focused on the refinery sector and on applications for waste gases and waste liquids that contain some sulphur or sulphuric acid, which is due to refineries desulphuring all of the crudes that need to be removed, which is where our combustors come in,” says Thomas. “As sour gases increase it is causing an issue in the oil and gas industry; we are doing more gas incineration in relation to sulphuric acid compound and are continuing to develop and design high turbulence combustors or combustion systems.”

A bespoke solutions provider, CS is dedicated to enhancing its existing systems and finding new solutions for the markets it operates in.

This expertise and commitment to innovation has led to the company becoming one of the preferred suppliers of burner and combustors for Haldor Topsoe, a Danish catalysis company

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player Dominant

Brubakken

has a long and well established history as one of the largest and most flexible businesses dealing in the sales, service and rental of forklift trucks, terminal tractors, lifts and lift trucks. The company, which predominantly operates in Norway and Sweden, is one of the industry’s dominant players and represents some of the leading high-quality brands in the Nordic region.

Brubakken was established in 1956 and today serves its wide customer base from 17 locations in Norway and three in Sweden, employing around 160 skilled members of staff.

Throughout its history the company has been successful at achieving growth and adapting to the market in order to maintain a leading position. Its expansion has been both organic and through acquisitions. In more recent years the company has acquired a number of related businesses that have added value to its operations. In 2008 for example, Brubakken took over most of the bankruptcy estate of AL-Machine, in 2011 it acquired Elektro maskin AS in Sandnes, and in 2012 it purchased Innlandet Truckservice. Other highlights during

the 2000s have included the company becoming the Worldwide Dealer of the Year for Konecranes (SMV) in 2009 and obtaining the agency for Hubtex in Norway in 2011.

The range of products on offer from Brubakken is vast, encompassing solutions from well-known and highly respected brands such as Nissan, TCM, SMV (Konecranes), MAFI, SeaCom Hubtex, JLG, helpful, Versa Lift, and Ruth Mann. When it comes to lifting equipment the company’s range covers a variety of applications for all types of work at height, including vertical lifts, scissor lifts, boom lifts, belt lifters and fixed hang mounted platforms.

Brubakken is well known in the industry for its range of forklift trucks, which is its largest area of business. In this field the company acts as a logistics and machine partner for Norwegian industry by selling and renting equipment for all types of functions and tasks. It is one of Norway’s largest leasers of trucks and also has a large number of other machines for rental, such as wheel loaders, logstackers, terminal tractors, reach stackers, international trucks, trailers and other solutions.

In the field of forklift trucks Brubakken has a number of models to suit various client applications. The company acts as a brandindependent supplier of forklifts and prides itself

At Brubakken, each employee is trained in safety every day in their work in accordance with the highest standards and accreditations.

All employees have full access to the company’s web-based internal control system where all governing documents, HSE manuals, instructions and work practices are readily available. Thanks to its emphasis on HSE the company is pre-qualified as a supplier of products and services to a large number of individual companies, and operates in accordance to the Achilles system on behalf of its members in various industries.

When it comes to truck and lifting solutions Brubakken is able to offer a complete service package to its clients. This dedication to service has enabled the business to grow in its markets and gain an enviable reputation. With Brubakken always looking to add to its range of solutions, and its ongoing focus on improving its workforce and operational procedures, there is little doubt that the company will continue to be successful.

When it comes to lifting equipment the company’s range covers a variety of applications for all types of work at height, including vertical lifts, scissor lifts, boom lifts, belt lifters and fixed hang mounted platforms

Brubakken brubakken.no

Services Hires and sells forklift trucks and associated equipment

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on providing what the customer wants. Included in this offering are forklifts from Nissan, SMV Konecranes, MAFI and TCM. It also offers a range of four way trucks, which represent a flexible solution for industrial applications. These are four-way side loaders with electric drive that come in load ranges between 1.5 tonnes and 50 tonnes, and can be used for the handling of long goods, sheet metal, tools, cable drums, rollers and large pallets in confined warehouse spaces with rack systems.

They can also be used as free-range trucks for outdoor applications. Included in this category is the Hubtex DQ series, which represents a robust and compact four-way side loading solution for indoor and outdoor use.

For clients in the marine sector, specifically ports, terminals, supply and distribution bases and other heavy industry sites, Brubakken supplies many models of MAFI manufactured terminal tractor. These diesel-powered machines have a capacity up to 45 tonnes and are characterised by their rock-solid construction, their reliability, low noise and efficient energy consumption.

Alongside new equipment Brubakken has a large range of used/second hand equipment, which it sells both to the home market and customers abroad. In its used catalogue Brubakken has a variety of machines and solutions and it also actively trades/brokers machine acquisitions, which allows the client to free up their capital and time by having Brubakken handle redundant or retired machinery.

This level of customer dedication extends to Brubakken’s servicing operations, where the company acts as a service partner for all truck and lift problems that clients may experience.

Brubakken will accept service requests for all brands of machinery and has access to the necessary parts to deal with the problem. Its team of skilled and highly knowledgeable technicians and mechanics all have technical backgrounds and are certified to conduct expert inspections. To simplify the service operation Brubakken has a large parts inventory for all brands that it deals, and is able to source additional parts for repair and servicing.

Considering the equipment that Brubakken deals in it is no surprise that the company places health and safety at the top of its priorities. All of its employees across its sites in Norway and Sweden systematically and continuously improve in all aspects of the organisation, striving for zero targets in damage and errors whilst ensuring 100 per cent customer satisfaction.

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Motherwell Bridge

Highly

reputed European oil & gas

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Brown McFarlane Brown McFarlane is the foremost supplier of pre-fabricated storage tank plates and sections in the British Isles. Our relationship with Motherwell Bridge spans decades and we have been their partner in numerous tank projects during the past twenty years. By offering complete supply of painted, profiled, bevelled and rolled products, we have supported Motherwell Bridge in contracts in such diverse locations as Kazakhstan, Liberia and Nigeria as well as the length and breadth of the United Kingdom.

Brown McFarlane’s Quality Control and Inspection procedures have ensured that, regardless of location, tank assembly has proved to be a trouble-free operation.

since Motherwell Bridge Ltd last appeared in European Oil and Gas, at a time when the business was maintaining its focus on developing in its key markets. Since then the company, which is widely recognised as the world’s leading manufacturer and maintainer of storage tanks, heat exchangers and gasholders, has continued to grow, cementing its position at the forefront of the industry.

In fact, in early 2013 the company, which is based in Lanarkshire, Scotland, announced that it had seen operating profit rise five-fold over the previous two years, largely due to its pursuit of a string of high-profile overseas contracts. For example, the business secured multi-million dollar contracts in Liberia in West Africa, Iraq, Turkey, Brazil, Mexico and India, which effectively saw its order book increase by around 80 per cent.

These projects followed the business strategy set out by Motherwell, which revolved around concentrating on engineering, design and construction of its core products – storage tanks, gasholders and heat exchangers, particularly in West Africa and the developing regions of Brazil and India. This point was reiterated by Russell Ward, chief executive, when last speaking to European Oil and Gas: “As a global player Motherwell Bridge’s focus today, as it relates to its large storage tank business, is largely on the UK, Middle East and West African oil and gas markets,” he confirmed.

“Separately, its gasholder business is focused primarily on the global steel manufacturing industry with a specific emphasis on the Indian, South American and Far East markets.

Meanwhile, Motherwell Bridge’s heat exchanger business targets the North Sea and shore based operations of its main oil and gas clients. In order to further this, the company is also in the process of offering a similar service to those

based in the Middle East, where it is currently engaged in supplying units in Iraq.”

As illustrated, the company’s core services extend across three key areas of business, but the projects it has won cover all of these. For example, in April 2013 the company finished the construction of its first tank on a $22 million project to renovate and build 22 oil storage tanks in Liberia. This represents a significant project for the business, which commenced working on the site during 2012 and has been contracted to modernise the boat offloading, pipeline and jetties on site, carry out all civil engineering works, demolish redundant plant facilities, construct new bunding, lay foundation and construct new tanks, lay pipelines and install new pumps and electrical systems, and develop new instrumentation and fire fighting systems.

“We have been exploring opportunities in West Africa for some time and this contract with LPRC demonstrates our ability to undertake complex operations in new markets, building on our existing projects in Nigeria,” said Russell, speaking about the project on the company’s website. “We see significant opportunities in locations like Liberia, as there is still a tremendous amount of work to be done in the country following decades of civil war and we’re not afraid of tackling challenges in what can still be a difficult environment. But we haven’t gone into this job with our eyes closed. We’ve taken a pragmatic approach and have teamed up with people who know the market and can find the people and skills we need locally to make it happen. This project demonstrates what the modern Motherwell Bridge has to offer – the senior project management and technical expertise necessary to undertake even the most complex of tank storage projects – anywhere in the world.”

Closer to home, tank storage is also a growing market in the UK for Motherwell Bridge as in May 2013 the company was awarded a contract to design, procure and install the replacement floor and double deck floating roof for a storage tank at Essar Oil (UK)’s Stanlow refinery, which was formerly owned by Royal Dutch Shell.

Essar is conducting an ongoing investment programme at Stanlow and Motherwell Bridge will be handling the replacement of the floor and double deck floating roof on one of the facility’s 100,000 m3 storage tanks. Together with the recent international developments this project represents Motherwell Bridge’s continued success in its domestic market and is a strong

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endorsement of its capabilities, particularly in floating roof projects.

Of course, Motherwell Bridge’s reputation is in little need of further endorsement, with the company firmly recognised for the highest standards of quality, health and safety. Indeed, during its history the business has received a number of prestigious awards in these fields including the British Safety Council National Safety Award (achieved annually since 2006), RoSPA President’s Award (achieved in 2004 on receiving ten consecutive Gold Awards), RoSPA Order of Distinction (achieved in 2009 on receiving 15 consecutive Gold Awards), Membership of the British Safety Council, Nominated for Employer of the Year Scotland 2013, and quality and environmental management systems accredited to according ISO standards.

Naturally, achieving this level of quality relies heavily on the skill and competence of Motherwell Bridge’s employees – an area in which the company continuously invests. In

March 2013, for example, the business further strengthened its team with the addition of key employees. It expanded it storage tanks division by adding two design engineers, a junior welding engineer and a trainee CAD designer to the design and engineering team. Clayton Walker, Motherwell Bridge’s gasholder division recruited a trainee design engineer during the same period, and a third new project manager, Alan Taylor, was added to the heat exchanger team.

These additions will only strengthen an already industry-leading team, continuing to drive Motherwell Bridge to new heights. In terms of growth the business is continuing to look to international projects, as well as maintaining its position domestically. During 2013 the company is looking to carry out high profile networking by appearing at various industry exhibitions and conferences to secure new leads. With the strengths of its name preceding it, there is little doubt that Motherwell Bridge will find a wealth of new work to propel it forward in the future.

Motherwell Bridge Ltd mbgroup.com

Services Manufactures storage tanks, heat exchangers and gasholders

Integrated There have been major developments for BAM Energie since it was last in European Oil and Gas magazine in 2011; the company has progressed rapidly in the offshore wind programme and completed its product for UK round three, a cutting edge concrete gravity base foundation (GBF), as part of a joint venture with Van Oord. “The basic design concept of the GBF was completed end of 2012 and was first shown at the Concrete Offshore wind exhibition in December 2012, before we exhibited a further developed version at the Manchester Central Convention Complex’s Renewable UK conference in June. We shall also be present at the upcoming European Offshore Wind Conference in Frankfurt. Overall people

have been impressed with our design, we have received very positive feedback and are currently entering into tenders with several developers for round three,” says Ferry de Bruin, general manager of BAM Energie. “We have also made progress in other areas, such as the tidal market, compressed air energy storage (CAES) and the high voltage sector.”

The GBF began life because BAM Energie could see that demand for sustainable energy was only going to increase. As a result BAM Energie, BAM Nuttall and Van Oord Offshore Wind Projects joined forces to develop a product specifically suitable for larger offshore wind turbines in deeper waters. The concept for the GBF was developed from BAM Energie and Van Oord’s expertise in the design and construction of immersed tube tunnels and gravity base structures for the oil and gas industry. Working together, the two firms created a self-buoyant hybrid solution, which has undergone model testing and is adaptable for a range of water depths, wave heights and seabed conditions.

Consisting of a concrete caisson and steel shaft, the base is cast onshore before it is installed into position offshore using standard vessels, thus eliminating the need for heavy lift equipment.

In February 2013, following thorough

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Wind foundation As part of its activities in the renewable energy sector, BAM Infraconsult provides design, engineering and consultancy services for offshore wind projects. To this end, BAM Infraconsult has developed a Gravity Based Foundation (GBF) concept together with BAM Energie, BAM Nuttall and Van Oord, which they are ready to deliver to wind farms that are under development in the North Sea. The team comprises all disciplines, ensuring that all aspects of design, construction and marine operations are fully integrated. The GBF is fully self-floating, has been subject to extensive design calculations, physical and numerical modeling and DNV certification, and is ready for project implementation.

www.baminfraconsult.nl

Contact BAM Infraconsult bv - P.O. Box 268, 2800 AG Gouda, The Netherlands Jos van Rijen  +31 182 590 455  j.van.rijen@baminfraconsult.nl Nhut Quang Nguyen  +31 182 590 474  nq.nguyen@baminfraconsult.nl Delta Marine Consultants is a trade name of BAM Infraconsult bv

LNG Facilities Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is currently, possibly, the fastest growing major fuel source on earth. Delta Marine Consultants has grown to become a major player in the design of Marine Civil Infrastructure for the Oil and Gas industry and for LNG developments in particular. DMC has full in-house capabilities for providing integrated civil design services throughout the entire project design life cycle, from performing scouting studies up to and including detailed jetty design and site engineering. Capabilities include design of all Marine and Coastal Structures, ship-to-shore design, mooring analyses and port operability studies.

www.dmc.nl

Advertentie special BAM Energie.indd 1

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Fabricom for this market, who we worked with on a successful waste to energy plant last year, and have already been successful in securing the Randstad 380kV Noordring in the west of the Netherlands. We expect a lot of work coming up in the high voltage market, and being succesfull on other projects as well.”

Believing both project and process are paramount, BAM Energie has a strong reputation for offering a comprehensive service package to its customers, which is made possible through the company’s own expertise, sophisticated in-house technologies,

Consisting of a concrete caisson and steel shaft, the base is cast onshore before it is installed into position offshore using standard vessels, thus eliminating the need for heavy lift equipment BAM Infraconsult

is really taking off at the moment in the UK, especially in Scotland for round three, and if our product is successful here our future plans are to sell it in other countries in Europe and around the world,” says Sander Overbeeke, project manager for the offshore wind projects.

Having entered the market, BAM Energie has been successful in several prequalifications for round three of the offshore wind programme and aims to continue with a demonstration project to prove the capabilities of the GBF solution.

Formed by BAM Civiel, one of the 25 companies operating under the Royal BAM name, BAM Energie carries out multidisciplinary projects in the energy industry.

Serving as the single point of contact, BAM Energie delivers high-quality and sustainable services in the fields of design, construction, renovation, commissioning and maintenance of power stations and related plants. “We have advanced a lot in the high voltage market in the UK, the Netherlands and Germany, which is anticipated to be worth around one billion euros to one and a half billion euros when it comes into fruition over the next three years,” says Ferry. “We are teaming up with Cofely

strategic partnerships and support from sister companies. A recent contract win for the firm is for one of the delivery Lots by SSE electricity transmission network business, Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission PLC (SHE Transmission) as part of a joint venture with the Power Transmission Division of Siemens Transmission and Distribution Ltd. With an initial value of up to £200 million, the framework is part of a major system reinforcement by SHE Transmission to accommodate onshore wind, new offshore wind and emerging marine generation developments, as part of Scotland’s ambition for low carbon emissions.

The award for Lot Three includes five new substations, which Siemens and BAM are required to design, manufacture, construct and commission to incorporate site access, platform construction and foundations as well as both AIS and GIS substations. Building on an already successful relationship between Siemens and BAM, the project is expected to start in late 2013 and continue through until 2018. Throughout 2013 the company is looking out for further opportunities in the offshore wind, nuclear power, high voltage and compressed air energy storage (CAES).

BAM Infraconsult is a consultancy firm with offices in Gouda (head office), Amsterdam, Apeldoorn, Breda, The Hague, Utrecht, Jakarta and Singapore, along with support offices in Ravenstein and Zuidbroek.

BAM Infraconsult is specialised in civil marine, infrastructure and energy projects. Currently it provides BAM companies with engineering support for gravity based structures that support offshore wind turbines and transformer platforms.

Through its trade name Delta Marine Consultants, it provides worldwide consultancy services to EPC contractors for ports, marine and offshore facilities for major oil companies such as Shell, Chevron, BP and Esso.

Using ‘virtual’ construction, it is a leading player in the development of the Construction Information Model.

BAM Energie bamenergie.com

Services Designs and constructs solutions for the energy industry

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examination and verification of the conceptual design basis, BAM and Van Oord obtained the DNV Statement of Compliance for the GBF, confirming to both companies that they have found a robust and reliable solution.

“Our concrete base and steel shaft is a market leading concept at the moment because it is different to our competitors’ designs. The combination of the materials leads to a very compact design because of optimal use of materials and a weight distribution that creates a high degree of floating stability throughout the tow and installation phase. Offshore wind

BAM Energie

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Mott MacDonald

Offshore concept specialists We have extensive experience in offshore facility concept identification, screening and selection.

Our bespoke analysis provides efficient and transparent solutions attuned to our clients’ key development criteria.

We have successfully completed the concept selection for the Barryroe oil and gas field in the Celtic Sea and we are continuing to work with Providence Resources and their partners, Lansdowne Oil & Gas, to further define and evaluate the development. We’re delighted to be involved in the development of Ireland’s first major offshore oilfield.

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Providence Resources

At the

increased international interest in the Irish oil and gas market, which despite having limited resources compared to other northwest European countries, has a number of elements such as attractive fiscal terms, new technology and the installation of infrastructure, which have made it an attractive area to prospective operators. At the forefront of this growing market is Providence Resources, a business that is focused on the exploration and exploitation of the hydrocarbon potential around Ireland.

The growing interest in the sector, and the untested potential of the Irish market, has seen Providence Resources embark on an ambitious multi-basin, multi-year drilling programme to test and exploit that potential. European Oil and Gas Magazine recently spoke with Tony O’Reilly, chief executive at the business, to find out more about its operations.

“Since the early 1980’s, we have been focused on oil and gas exploration, and primarily in Ireland, which is why the business was originally set up,” he explained. “The fundamental change really happened in 2004 when we commissioned a strategic review of the company, looking at our operations in Ireland and establishing that this is the region that we really wanted to continue to focus on. At that time, we felt that Ireland was still very much an unproven region, with too few wells drilled and with only two successful commercial developments, despite its offshore acreage being substantially larger than the whole North Sea. “Ireland had essentially been under-drilled for some time, as far back as the 1970s and 1980s, with many wells encountering hydrocarbons but not being commercialised,” he said.

“There were a number of key reasons for this, predominantly based around lack of infrastructure, lack of frontier or deepwater technology that was needed and an economic environment that was considered less attractive than other regions. More recently however, those key variables have all been

overcome; so we have the pipeline infrastructure in place across Ireland and connecting us to Europe, the advent of better drilling technology, as well as the use of 3D seismic technology that has opened up new opportunities, changes in the tax regime and a more robust commodity pricing environment. All of these elements are extremely positive for the Irish market and are largely behind our advancing our drilling programme.”

Building on the renewed interest, Providence has focused on a large-scale exploration and appraisal programme, working on opening up as many basins as it can. “We describe ourselves as a front end E&P company, so we are not a development company as such, but rather we feel that we are very good at going out there and finding the basins, doing the initial exploration and appraisal and bringing in the right partners to achieve success. We currently have activities in eight basins offshore Ireland, making us the most diversified explorer in the region, and we have already brought in a number of first rate partners including ExxonMobil, ENI, Repsol and Petronas among others.”

In carrying out this work, Providence’s general business model has revolved around opening up as many of these basins as it can, often carrying out one pathfinder project or well in the basin with the hope of finding significant resources.

“Essentially, it has been all about opening up Ireland as a realistic oil and gas region,” Tony commented. “We always said that we would need one significant discovery and it would be a game changer for us and the Irish oil and gas industry, and that is precisely what happened in one of our basins that we drilled last year in the Celtic Sea, called Barryroe.”

Barryroe has proven to be a large, positive development for Providence Resources. Situated in circa 100 metres of water off the south coast of Ireland, the field was the subject of successful appraisal drilling in 2012. Previous operators had drilled five wells on the field and in 2011 Providence, having acquired a new 3D seismic survey on the field, successfully drilled a sixth well announcing results that far exceeded pre-drill expectations. After extensive post well analysis and field development planning,

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Providence Resources

analysis, Providence has launched a farm out campaign to bring in a partner to take the field to first oil - and it has received significant amounts of international interest owing to the size of Barryroe, its location and its relative attractiveness from a fiscal and operating perspective.

However, Barryroe is just one of the many developments that Providence Resources is currently undertaking, as Tony was keen to highlight: “We are involved in a $500 million programme of six basins with our partners – so in addition to Barryroe, we are presently drilling a massive exploration well off the west coast called Dunquin (drilling operations commenced in April 2013), and then through next year we have another four basins that we will be drilling off the west of Ireland and in St. Georges Channel.

“It is still early days, but it is a very exciting time for us and I am pleased that Providence is really taking a leading role in the Irish offshore.

I think the great thing is that we are drilling – it’s all very well talking about the potential of the market, but it is all about getting the wells

drilled and taking the initiative, and that is what we are doing. The more activity you have, the greater the chance of success, and I think that whilst we may have been something of a ‘lone voice’ for the Irish sector in the past, now that you have the arrival of players like ExxonMobil, Cairn, Kosms, Woodside, Repsol, Petronas, etc – clearly, the international industry is watching developments, particularly our developments, very closely.

“I think that there is a very real sense that Ireland’s time is coming, and there is a ‘watch this space’ feeling around Barryroe and Dunquin.

The latter is an uber-large exploration prospect that we have brought ExxonMobil, Repsol and ENI in to and I think the coming weeks and months will be hugely interesting and could be massive for Irish oil and gas. With all that we have going on, we view the future with great confidence. We are validating the prospectivity of the Irish offshore and as an Irish company, I’m proud that Providence is leading the way in that respect,” he concludes.

Providence Resources providenceresources.com

Services Exploration and appraisal

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Karmsund

region

played a vital role for large parts of the industry in southwestern Norway. It offers customers access to a wide range of facilities, and so whether they want to establish a business, rent

many waterfront segments. It is an efficient and modern business that holds service and quality as keys to its success, and can demonstrate solid economic foundations. The port also has a distinctly green profile to its operations, and focuses on the environment and climate change as an integral part of daily routines.

Operations at Karmsund are split into three main areas – a subsea base; cruise line and containers/traffic.

Subsea & offshore base

space, place a boat in storage or use one of Karmsund’s harbour sections, the organisation will work hard to meet their needs.

Furthermore, the diverse maritime industry around Karmsund is a great advantage for the port and supports its complete service offering.

The fishing industry and shipyards with large dry docks gives the region a unique maritime diversity.

The Karmsund port area is the third largest in Norway, measured in cargo cover over the

One division of Karmsund Port is the Killingøy Subsea & Offshore Base, which meets the regulations on protection of ports and port facilities against terrorist acts and so forth, as well as being approved by the NCA. Located at Killingøy, Statoil operates a major facility for its PRS (Pipeline Repair System), and as recently as June 2013, it took the keys to a new 1070 square metre hall on the base, which is on long-term lease from Karmsund, and features modern technology, including a 25-ton crane.

In addition to Statoil’s PRS facility, Killingøy is home to many of the region's prime subsea players, including: Technip Norway, Deep Ocean, Olufsen Ship Repair, Reach Subsea and Mera. In addition, Karmsund Port Authority's administration is also located at Killingøy.

Representing a significant development for Karmsund, Technip signed an agreement for long-term rental of an industrial hall in Killingøy

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The port of Karmsund has always

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Cruise port It was three years ago in 2010 when Karmsund Port Authority, together with destination management, took the strategic decision to launch a serious and sustained effort to attract cruise tourism.

Much effort and resources have been invested into the cruise facilities with Karmsund Port Authority investing about eight million itself to create the best possible conditions for ship, crew and passengers. Special attention was paid to the jetty and mooring arrangement and bollards are now 150 tons. With a quay of 297 metres, the region can accommodate ships of all sizes. It also established a park - Harbour Park - which will ensure that both cruise passengers and the region’s own citizens have a very enjoyable experience after a visit to the quay.

As a result of all this hard work, the first cruise ship arrived in May 2013 – Fred Olsen’s ‘Balmoral’. With room for 1350 passengers and a crew of 510 Balmoral is the largest in the Olsen

cruise fleet, and is due to make more calls into Haugesund during the summer of 2013.

Traffic port Moving onto the traffic port, this location benefits from new road connections from Rogaland to E39, and means it is very strategically located in relation to the business community in the region, as well as Stavanger and Bergen.

In the harbour there are large areas of development available, plus the main quay was extended in summer 2012 to 270 metres, and as well as a modern RORO ramp, Karmsund provides a state-of-the-art quay, all designed to benefit end users.

Going forward, Karmsund will maintain its focus on consolidating its position, as well as making further improvements in order to meet the demands of the future, by facilitating the development of modern technology infrastructure in the port district. It also has ambitions to be a part of the development of the area in terms of industry and tourism; as well as to be the natural choice for ships, with easy access and good service. It looks clear that with this firm strategy in place, Karmsund will remain a port of great importance to both its local area and to the whole of Norway.

With a quay of 297 metres, the region can accommodate ships of all sizes.

It also established a park - Harbour Park - which will ensure that both cruise passengers and the region’s own citizens have a very enjoyable experience after a visit to the quay

Karmsund karmsund-havn.no

Services Port services

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just days before Statoil took on its new facility.

According to the agreement, the hall will be completed in the first semester of 2014, and in addition, Technip in Norway has need for a storage area outside the base.

“Initially, Technip will use the hall for storage and maintenance of modular hyperbaric rescue equipment, a module handling system for subsea equipment, adding accessories for cables and smaller vessels for air diving when not in use,” said managing director of Technip in Norway, Odd Strømsnes.

Karmsund port director Sigurd Eikje was very pleased to sign the long-term lease agreement with Technip, as the contract helps to emphasise the strength and importance of the subsea environment at Killingøy. The Karmsund Port Authority has been working for several years to establish the agreement and will start work immediately on the design of an industrial hall with office facilities for rent to Technip.

“There is no other agreement Karmsund Port Authority has worked on for as long as this,” said Sigurd Eikje at the signing. “Therefore it feels especially good when you finally reach the goal.” The agreement was signed at the same time as City Council in Haugesund adopted new zoning for Killingøy/Rekavik. “This creation shows that regulatory change was appropriate and important for the subsea environment in the region,” added Sigurd.

Karmsund

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your partner in high quality loading, unloading and safety systems for over 30 years

KANON MARINE LOADING ARMS Symmetric Design, Excellent Performance

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Loading equipment for marine, road and rail tankers

Ventspils Nafta Terminals (VNT)

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Plans in the Above Rail tank unloading rack

It has been a

productive 12 months since Ventspils Nafta Terminals (VNT), the largest and most technologically advanced crude oil and petroleum product transshipment company in the Baltic States, last spoke to European Oil and Gas Magazine in June 2012.

Determined to retain its leading position for storage and transshipment in the competitive Baltic region, the terminal is continuing with its five year restructuring programme.

Major changes to be implemented include the reconstruction of one of its rail tank car unloading stations and the installation of an oil product vapour recovery system, as managing director of VNT, Lars Pantzlaff highlights: “You have to do something different to separate yourself from the others, and one way of doing that is to increase niches that will really benefit VNT in the transshipment market. Our plan to progress really comes down to improving and

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Ventspils Nafta Terminals (VNT)

NERO Engineering

expanding the services on offer. In terms of infrastructure, the railway deliveries are a huge part of our business, on top of the diesel pipeline connected to the terminal. We have three active railway unloading racks, big structures of around 300 metres in length, where we can unload on average 30 rail tank cars on each side. One of the three is going to be replaced by new by the end of 2014.”

Part of Ventspils Nafta Group, the business has an extensive history dating back to 1957 when the leaders of the Soviet Union recognised the logistical advantages of Ventspils, such as its non-freezing fully operational port, and built a terminal for the export of crude oil. Operations began in 1961, sparking ongoing expansion, investments and developments. In 1974 the terminal established its key crude oil pipeline from the Russian fields and in 2003, following

the regaining of independence from the Republic of Latvia, Ventspils Nafta Terminals was established as a privately run company.

Today, the terminal’s main services include the transshipment of gas oil and gasoline received via pipeline and railway, as well as quality analysis of crude oil and petroleum at its laboratory to ensure product quality. Boasting 105 shore tanks that are connected to pipeline systems, VNT has a capacity for crude oil and petroleum storage of 1.2 million cubic metres.

To guarantee safe and faultless storage and transportation operations within the terminal, a fully automated system was installed and a united control room was created.

Despite global economic situations and regional product flows, an impressive 6.25 million tonnes of oil and oil products were transshipped by VNT in the first half of 2013,

NERO Engineering is specialised in process safety for SEVESO compliant companies in Europe.

For VTTI a specific approach has been developed and is applied in its Ventspils terminal.

HAZOP, evaluation with the company Risk Matrix and, for major risks, LOPA are combined with a powerful software tool.

The outcome of this analysis leads directly to a definition of safety critical components and SIL levels.

The efficiency is very high since all three steps are combined, so the number of required sessions is limited to a minimum. The application of this approach ultimately leads to a significant reduction of LOCs.

Above New marine loading arms

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JSC “Baltijas Tranzita Serviss” (BTS) is the largest private railway operating company in Latvia with its own fleet of main-line locomotives that allows cargo transportation of 15 million tons per year. Apart from transit shipments by rail, BTS provides customs brokerage services for transit cargoes and railcar shunting services in the territory of the Riga Free Port terminals.

Within the framework of mutually advantageous co-operation between BTS and Ventspils Nafta Terminals Ltd for the last six years, the company has carried out railway transportation of all oil products received from oil processing companies in Russia and CIS countries.

BTS really appreciates its work with Ventspils Nafta Terminals Ltd, which is not only one of the technologically most advanced and dynamic companies in the Baltic States, but also one of the leaders in transhipment of oil products.

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Ventspils Nafta Terminals (VNT)

resulting in a net profit of 5.02 million lats.

VNT handles a huge 72 per cent of all liquid cargo in Ventspils, 48 per cent of all liquid cargo in Latvia and is also the largest oil product terminal in the Baltic States, with 19 per cent of all cargo transshipped through Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian ports. “All of our daily operations are safe, efficient and well controlled so our key focus is to develop our plans and reach a point where they can be executed. These developments are being processed internally by the fantastic people we have at VNT. These days plain old vanilla is not sustainable any more. You need a good efficient operation and excellent infrastructure, and the people that drive the process of getting there. Though our infrastructure is sound and in good condition, we need to work on it as it comes to age, but these investments will benefit the terminal significantly,” says Lars.

VNT’s excellent logistical infrastructure is superior to many other storage and handling facilities on the market and allows both VNT and its clients to be in close proximity to one another, ensuring close relationships with customers and increased efficiency in schedule planning. As a terminal that receives a variety of fuels, Lars is keen to progress and improve

efficiency and flexibility with a new pump station and valve management: “It is important to add value by increasing flexibility through product segregation and having the capabilities to handle different products. We are also looking at our ability to load and unload rail tank cars; we never send full rail tank cars back to CIS countries, but we want to have the versatility to do that in the future.”

The implementation of introducing reverse transshipment services and the development of related infrastructure began in November 2011 in co-operation with the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia. This project involved the acquisition of operational equipment for the loading of crude oil from tankers into rail tank cars, and a connected scrubber for related vapor recovery.

Other major modernisation projects include the capability of performing blending operations (blending different grades of products for particular markets); the company has also installed a butanisation system (mixing motor gasoline with liquid butane). “If you build a new terminal these days you will cater for in-tank blending and creating added value for customers,” explains Lars. “Our infrastructure, built more than 50 years ago, was not built for

EMEROL As a general contractor, Emerol has co-operated with VNT in two recent projects of building new pump stations for diesel and jet fuel at the terminal. The company provided a full range services in project management, procurement co-ordination, installation, construction and start-up. This proved to be an efficient and dynamic collaboration, integrating streamlined process solutions during the course of the work.

The next project on the agenda is construction of internal pipelines to enhance the overall infrastructure of the terminal.

Possessing extensive industry experience, Emerol is committed to contributing further toward the sustainable growth of Ventspils Nafta Terminals, providing innovative solutions and technical expertise for the client.

Above New pump station #3

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This is a huge development for us because in todays market product blending is everything

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this purpose so we are now taking tank pit by tank pit to research a pipeline infrastructure that will enable us to blend from one tank to another tank group. This is a huge development for us because in todays market product blending is everything.” Described as ‘the pipeline spiderweb’, the new pipeline infrastructure will connect with most parts of the company’s operation, from tanks to pump stations, allowing it to transfer the oil product without jeopardising quality.

Looking to the future, Lars anticipates the continued investments and developments within the terminal will ensure sustained profitable growth. “We would like to keep our market share; it is difficult to compare ourselves with Russian ports at this point, but we can compare our operations and profitability with Latvian, Estonian and Lithuanian terminals and ports. Our plan is to not only be the largest terminal in the region, but also the most flexible,” he concludes.

Ventspils Nafta Terminals (VNT) 1.vnt.lv/en/

Services Production and shipment of crude oil and petroleum

quality Consistent

Originally an Austrian firm founded by engineer Eduard Wilhelm AST in 1898, Overseas AST began operations in Dubai in 1959 and was officially incorporated by a Ruler’s decree in 1964. Having celebrated its 50th year of operating in the UAE in 2009, Overseas AST has been involved in a wide range of prestigious projects that contributed to the exceptional development of both Dubai and the UAE throughout the 20th century. These include the company’s first project in the country, the dredging of the Dubai Creek, building of the Maktoum Bridge in 1962-1963 and the construction of a number of ports and shipyards.

“Overseas AST operated as a foreign entity until 1983, when two locals, Mr Khalifa Juma Al Nabooda, based in Dubai, and Mr Abdulla Mohammed Al Mazrui, based in Abu Dhabi, acquired a majority share of the business. The two acquired the remaining shares in 2001. The business has grown under the leadership of these two local Emiratis, with a heavy focus on the specialist infrastructure sectors such as oil and gas, marine and mechanical. Our marine side includes everything from installing quay walls, jetties, and marinas to dredging and shoreline work,” explains James Wood, general manager of Overseas AST.

Predominantly working on real estate and leisure related projects before 2009, the economic crisis led to the company developing a strategy for diversification to ensure ongoing growth. Key to this plan was the penetration of the oil and gas market and the industrial infrastructure sectors. “Due to the size of the oil and gas sector in Abu Dhabi we decided to capitalise on this and our specialist experience helped us to enter this market,” says James.

Dedicated to offering excellent customer service, Overseas AST has developed long-term relationships with major firms such as Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and the family of companies related to it such as BOROUGE, ADMA-OPCO and TAKREER. “Another client is CMW, the Command of Military Works, we do the majority of jet fuel installations for the military; we have also completed 90 per cent of the jet fuel installations for Dubai Airport over the last eleven years,” highlights James. “Primarily our specialist jet fuel installation services are for the military, we are identified in specialist markets and are aware of the importance of health and safety and adopting a high level of management value to projects we are involved in. We also utilise our own resources by using our own in-house

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Overseas AST Company

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Overseas AST Company

the artificial islands for drilling with firms such as ADMA-OPCO and Petrofac, a move that is related to Overseas AST’s interest in developing a foothold in the offshore industry. “The package is called SARB Package 7 and involves the construction of pre-cast drilling platforms and well heads to the two artificial islands. It involves 70,000 cubic meters of pre-casting

in our own pre-cast facilities in the mainland of Abu Dhabi; following this, we have to then establish and maintain an uninterrupted marine logistics supply to deliver these materials to the islands,” explains James. “It is a remote offshore environment and will involve us establishing our own accommodation facilities so we deliver on time to a very tight programme. We are also co-ordinating with the companies working on the other packages involved.”

Dedicated to finding solutions to the biggest challenges in the offshore and marine industries, Overseas AST is working on two major seawater intakes for BOROUGE and TAKREER, as James highlights: “Both of these companies are part of the ADNOC family and both projects are for three metre diameter subsea pipelines and will involve 15km plus of these pipes going into the sea. This has never been done before, it is a world first.” Having been involved in pipeline projects for the oil, gas and water sector throughout the Emirates for over 40 years, the company has a high level of expertise for pipeline projects as well as a large stock of roller stations and floats for the installation of subsea pipelines.

With an impressive portfolio of projects behind it, the future looks positive for Overseas AST as it continues to offer excellent customer service and high quality solutions to its diverse range of customers, as James concludes: “We want to be the contractor of choice in the specialist infrastructure side, expand our market further in the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) and also head more into the North African market. We also want to expand our capabilities in terms of the oil and gas industry and take on bigger and more complex projects.

Overseas AST has been here for 54 years, we are well respected locally, but it is time to grow and create a world class business that will increase our turnover and profitability.”

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capabilities, which saves time and allows us to control physical resource and be time-efficient.”

With its own marine fleet of specialised vessels and barges and a total staff of approximately 1850, Overseas AST has the facilities, capabilities and expertise to take on the most challenging of projects. “We own five tugs, 15 barges ranging from 600 tonnes to 3500 tonnes, a large number of support vessels and specialised cranes and excavators for specialist projects. The ongoing investments of our marine fleet and in-house facilities is very important to us as this is an area of our business that requires constant upgrading. At the moment we are building an accommodation barge for operations offshore; these developments enable us to maintain a strong position in the offshore market, you really need excellent facilities to be involved in this industry,” says James.

Continuing to have a role in shaping the face of Dubai, the company is currently working on

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With its own marine fleet of specialised vessels and barges and a total staff of approximately 1850, Overseas AST has the facilities, capabilities and expertise to take on the most challenging of projects

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Suretank

up With its ever increasing diverse demand for carbon and stainless steel plate products, it is no surprise that Brown McFarlane has become Suretank's supplier of choice for raw material and finished parts. Our range and depth of stock of pressure vessel plate is unequalled within these isles, and allied to our state-ofthe-art plate-cutting facilities, featuring True-Hole technology, and milling and drilling, we supply precision-engineered components ready for assembly.

Our relatively recent entry to the stainless steel plate market has been an overwhelming success and we are firmly established as a leading, worldwide supplier of quarto plate and profiles.

World-leading

specialist manufacturer and global supplier of cargo carrying units (CCUs) for the offshore oil and gas industry, Suretank was established in Ireland by Patrick Joy, Pat O’Hare and Niall Lund in 1995 to supply chemical tanks to the North Sea. Today, it has design and manufacturing facilities in Ireland, the UK, Thailand, Poland and China, and sales offices in Norway, the US and Brazil. Since its inception, the company has also expanded its product range, which includes helifuel tanks, chemical and acid transport tanks, offshore containers, offshore mudskips, baskets and cryogenic tanks.

Proud of its excellent reputation for the design and production of containers for transportation on supply boats operating

back and forth between ports, platforms and FPSOs, Suretank has more accreditations than other firms in the field, including CEN, PED and DNV 2.7-1 certifications. The key strengths of the company include its flexibility and expertise to develop bespoke solutions, its responsibility for the development of its own designs, and also the close working relationship it has with customers to manufacture their own unique design. Offering a full turnkey service, Suretank is frequently given drawings from oil service companies and is tasked with creating a product that is more suitable for the client’s specific market.

Furthermore, this close customer service is offered to clients across the globe, with sales people working on the ground in all locations it supplies to. Every member of Suretank’s sales team is a qualified engineer, thus ensuring customers can discuss their requirements closely with a highly skilled employee who can then translate these unique demands into a tailored solution. This commitment to developing close working relationships with its customers is what makes Suretank one of the most highly regarded and trusted firms in the industry.

Suretank’s range of offshore tanks are used for the safe storage and transportation of a wide range of liquids such as chemicals for oil and gas processes, waste liquids, drilling processes and aviation fuel. Combining the requirements

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Global Integrated Services

of its customers with concern for the offshore operator and facility’s integrity, Suretank places particular emphasis on staff safety and the environment the tanks will be in. Its range of vessels for the offshore sector, which includes ISO tanks, custom tanks, helifuel tanks, acid tanks and chemical tanks, are produced to the high standards required for use in the North Sea through the company’s design principles of full compliance, optimum access and storage, low maintenance and long life.

With an enviable customer base that includes the majority of the major service, rental, exploration and production firms operating in the offshore industry, such as Haliburton and Baker Hughes, Suretank’s high quality, specialise storage equipment that is

sold in more than 50 countries around the world, in strategic areas such as the North sea, the Gulf of Mexico, West Africa, Brazil, the Caspian Sea, Sakhalin, Australia, India, the Middle East and the Far East. This brings multiple challenges to the firm in its everyday operations as it complies with different regulations, one of which is DNV 2-7.1, a requirement in the North Sea that is widely recognised by most major oil firms; meeting this specification highlights the durability and strength of Suretank’s product range, thus leading to reduced maintenance costs and limiting the number of stoppages.

Recognising Suretank’s position as a frontrunner in the CCU market, leading investor in the international oil and gas industry

Global is very proud to have been a key supplier to Suretank for a number of years and in developing much closer ties over the last 18 months, has sought to be proactive in developing new and easier ways of assisting Suretank to be as competitive as possible. Global’s Group commercial director, Michael Gough, who is responsible for liaison with Suretank, commented: “Our relationship with Suretank is an excellent example of how careful dialogue can produce ideas which benefit both companies.”

Global’s supplies to Suretank worldwide are largely made up of wire rope slings produced in Global’s own manufacturing facility in Aberdeen, where diameters up to 128mm can be pressed using either Flemish or Talurit terminations, but Global is also well-respected for a much wider range of products and services including; lifeboats supply, servicing and inspection, tooling and plant services and winch and deck machinery supply, hire and servicing.

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Induchem Group HitecVision acquired a majority shareholding of 67 per cent from the container manufacturer in July 2013 in a move that will enhance Suretank’s world-class operations in the future. As part of the deal, valued at 52 million euros, founders Patrick Joy and Niall Lund are to keep a stake in the company, with Patrick staying on as chairman and a member of the board. Striving for continuous improvement in all aspects of the business, Suretank and HitecVision both share a belief in finding global opportunities and committing to the highest standards of customer service, product safety and quality.

Committed to finding new strategic opportunities for ongoing expansion, the company enjoyed a 36 per cent increase in growth in 2012 and has seen 25 per cent projected growth in 2013 so far. As the oil and gas industry becomes increasingly more demanding, Suretank has widened its scope of supply by expanding its range of offshore dry goods containers to now include refrigerated containers and cabins. Delivered in July 2013, the new containers meet the highest industry

standards, such as EN12079, DNV 2.7-1, DNV 2.7-2, DNV 2.7-3, BS EN 60079 and ATEX; they are also fully compliant with SOLAS/IMO regulatory requirements for A60 fire protection.

With a focus on the cryogenic market, Suretank has developed the SC 2000, a robust T75 offshore cryogenic tank for the transportation of bulk cryogenic liquids to offshore rigs. Constructed to withstand harsh environments, the compactly designed product is approved for transport by rail, road and sea. Fully compliant with DNV 2.7-1, ADR, US DOT, IMDG, ASME, CSC and other international standards, the SC 2000 is produced with higher working pressures and can be utilised for additional cryogenic liquids and LIN. Coinciding with this change in scope of supply, Suretank has enhanced its design capability by increasing its engineering team who will be focusing on the development of a new range of workshops and cabins. It is this commitment to diversity that has enabled the company to evolve over the last 18 years and will ensure its ongoing success in the future.

Our specialised companies support leading global process industries.We have exclusive partnerships with the world’s leading process equipment manufacturers and provide round the clock service. Our reach is wide but our service is personal.

We forge close partnerships with clients, understand their needs in detail and adapt our services for an exact fit.

Following recent events, Induchem would like to offer our congratulations to Suretank for their new expansion and all of the success that they have achieved.

We look forward to continuing to provide support through supply of best in class products and quality services.

Suretank suretank.com

Products Cargo carrying units

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It has been a productive and successful 12 months for family company Wessington Cryogenics since it was last in European Oil and Gas Magazine in July 2012. The 29-year-old manufacturer of cryogenic vessels has enhanced its service offering by adding a range of cuttingedge products to its expansive portfolio, as Darren Nutter, business development manager of Wessington Cryogenics highlights: “We are developing two new product lines; acid tanks and a new range of chemical tanks for the offshore industry. These products complement our current portfolio, owing to these similarities we are able to cultivate and exploit our core competencies and capabilities. Working alongside our customers, combined with our strong values in safety, quality and development, we are bringing new and innovative products to the market.�

Both the acid tanks and chemical tanks are out in the field and have been well received on the market. The Acid Pack 2000, a fully lined IMDG T14 acid transport and storage tank, is

designed to DNV 2.7-1 standards and is fully certified for offshore use.

Always looking for opportunities to enhance its portfolio in new market areas, Wessington Cryogenics, which has an annual revenue of approximately ÂŁ9 million and a customer base

that includes major companies such as NASA and Halliburton, has seen steady demand during the economic crisis, which has resulted in the company expanding into a new 15,000

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square foot factory. “The new factory, based in Castletown, is separate to our 70,000 square foot manufacturing facility in Sunderland and is a natural extension due to us taking on a wide variety of projects in the last 12-18 months.

Its opening followed two contract wins, one of which was for a 60,000-litre large bulk storage tank and the other was for a number of 40-foot ISO containers for LNG. The 40-foot tank is a product we have wanted to add to our portfolio for a while and it is being well received by our customers,” says managing director Paul Rowe.

Believing LNG and helium tanks will be key areas of growth for the firm, Wessington Cryogenics’ new addition has been designed as a standard 40-foot ISO frame with Blair corner castings and a lockable valve protecting cabinet, which contains valves, gauges, vacuum check gauge connection and a separate document holder. The ISO VAC 40 LNG offers maximum versatility, allowing it to be configured to accept cryogenic transfer pumps as well as various pipe work and valve options for the end user and operator. Furthermore, the tank can be produced with working pressures that range from 100psi to ten Bar, can be used for the safe storage and transport of LNG and has approvals for road, rail and sea transportation.

Keen to diversify its product offering through continued research, design and development of new products, Wessington Cryogenics continues to look out for new market areas, which Paul believes is the reason the company wins major contracts: “We are big enough to have a strong portfolio and small enough to be adaptable and say yes to new projects, so our flexibility is respected in the industry. Even while we are

working on big standard projects we aim to continue innovating and enhancing our product range, whether that is an extra valve or new feature on a custom made item that we then realise is useful for other clients. That feature will then be put into the whole range. We have certain product ranges where every single one will be completely bespoke, this is particularly true for the laboratory side of our company, where we get the most basic concept outline and we then slowly design a product from the ground up.”

Aware that constant product evolution also requires consistent training and development of staff, Wessington Cryogenics has a strong focus on enhancing the skills of all personnel through in-house training, as Paul explains: “Cryogenics is a diverse, but insular and small community, which is why we take on people from related industries and train them into fully qualified and highly skilled staff.” On top of this, the company offers cryogenic training courses to third parties, in association with Gas Safe Consultants, in response to market requirements for specialised safety training in the safe use, handling, storage and transport of industrial, cryogenic, laboratory, medical and special gases.

Following a year of record turnover in 2012, Wessington Cryogenics is keen to see this trend continue into the future, as Paul concludes: “We want to expand and explore new markets, be as dynamic as possible and continue to develop our products. With our superb reputation and ability to go where the markets tell us to go, I don’t see why we can’t keep on growing.”

We are big enough to have a strong portfolio and small enough to be adaptable and say yes to new projects, so our flexibility is respected in the industry

Wessington Cryogenics wessingtoncryogenics.co.uk

Products Cryogenic vessels

Building

opportunities Essar Oil

Below Iftikhar Nasir, CEO of E&P

is a subsidiary of Essar Energy, the London-listed oil and gas and power company, which currently has 741,000 barrels per day of refining capacity, mainly at its large refineries at Vadinar, India and Stanlow, UK. Essar Oil also has a growing exploration and production business with large potential, including a global portfolio of 15 onshore and offshore oil and gas blocks spanning approximately 35,000 square kilometres. Essar Oil has a network of over 1400 fuel retail outlets across India, with a further 200 in various stages of commissioning, while on the power side, Essar Energy also has a generation portfolio currently totaling 3910MW of capacity, with a further 2890MW in various stages of construction.

Essar Oil’s business is very much focused on India, and although its exploration and production (E&P) activity includes blocks in Nigeria, Madagascar, Indonesia, and Vietnam, the current focus is on developing its assets within India. Overall, the E&P portfolio equates to 2.1 billion barrels of oil equivalent of reserves and resources. “The assets outside of India are in the conventional space, so classic oil and gas exploration, whilst in India there is a mix of unconventional and conventional prospects,”

describes Ifty Nasir, CEO of E&P. “On the conventional side we have four blocks, one is in offshore Mumbai, one in the Cambay Basin, and a couple in Assam to the east of the country. When it comes to the unconventional hydrocarbons these are predominantly in the form of coal-bed methane (CBM) located in the east,” he continues.

Although all of Essar Oil’s E&P businesses are considered important, at present more attention is being given over to India where the company is currently developing its first coal bed methane asset, the Raniganj block in West Bengal. “CBM has been around for a long time, but there are very few true economic developments in India,” elaborates Ifty. “Aside from our Raniganj block, the other producer in India is Great Eastern Energy Corporation Limited, with their block a little further to the west. Theirs is a more paced and steady production growth, typical for CBM projects. Raniganj has a far faster development phase that should have a production profile not dissimilar to a conventional oil and gas field.

“We are achieving this through a much higher rate of drilling and hydrofracturing than would normally be the case in CBM developments, having drilled over 100 wells in the last year

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and with plans to do a couple of hundred more in the coming one. This results in efficiencies that come with a critical mass of activity, and accelerated production, which improves the economics,” he continues.

The second project that Essar Oil is pursuing is the conventional oil block in the Cambay Basin. “As an oil prospect it’s probably not the most exciting, but below the oil horizon we believe there is serious shale gas potential, which we’ll also be looking to develop in due course,” highlights Ifty. “This is not part of the reserves that are in the books, it’s something that is pretty new and that we believe has great potential.”

He continues with how Essar Oil will be looking to maintain a mix of both unconventional and conventional assets in its

E&P portfolio long-term: “It’s important to have both sides because there’s the potential for cross-pollination of ideas, and optimisation. This is particularly true if we are looking at a future where the government allows what they call a simultaneous development. This is a policy that is in progress, and essentially enables an operator to not only exploit a certain set of horizons or resources, be that coal, oil or shale for example, but to develop all the hydrocarbons within that geographic location.”

That said Essar is also looking to become one of the leaders in the unconventional industry in India, and is already well thought of in that respect. This aspiration can be seen in the company’s formation of a new CBM and Unconventional Resource centre in West Bengal to support the unconventional sector. This includes exploring specialised types of drilling and hydrofracturing, as well as managing surface risks and minimising environmental impacts.

A number of other crucial developments have been taking place in India as of late. These include moves by the Indian Government to develop a policy on shale oil and gas, which has been in the works for sometime, and announcements that Ifty believes are of importance to the progression of the business: “The government has just declared the new gas price policy which has moved from $4.2 per million British thermal

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Essar Oil will be looking to maintain a mix of both unconventional and conventional assets in its E&P portfolio long-term: “It’s important to have both sides because there’s the potential for cross-pollination of ideas, and optimisation

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is imported. It will also help India to develop this sector through both domestic and foreign direct investment,” he notes.

Increasing amounts of gas also enables energy consumers in the country to switch over from other types of fuel such as diesel, which are more expensive and more environmentally damaging, making businesses more competitive.

Likewise with methane considered the cleanest of all the hydrocarbons, this shift will allow India to progressively move towards a lower emission environment.

Reflecting on the direction of Essar Oil’s E&P business in the coming years, Ifty describes how it closely reflects its current attention split: “The near-term focus is very much about exploiting and developing the assets we currently have in our portfolio, building a solid platform/ foundation on which to build new opportunities.

This includes being able to bring other partners into the assets we already hold through farmdowns and strategic partnerships in and outside of India. It also allows us to explore the potential for other geographies through joint venture, or farm-down partners that may come to work with us in India.”

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units (mmbtu) to $8.4 per mmbtu. It’s a policy, but a move which results in a far more competitive price both for the producer and consumer. Simply put, the price is derived through a combination of international gas prices in established markets, where gas to gas competition already exists, and landed LNG prices. This will be applicable from April 2014, however if it were effected today, it would result in a gas price of circa $6.83/mmbtu based on assumed regression of the Rangarajan report recommendations upon which this gas policy was based. This policy should help encourage more players into exploring and producing gas in India, thereby reducing the average cost of gas in the country.

“This should incentivise investors to come into India and start exploring and developing the gas reserves in particular. India is very short on gas, with circa 60 per cent currently imported, which puts pressure on foreign exchange reserves, as well as making it vulnerable to market spot price which is presently over $16.

As such developing oil and gas in-country does a number of things. Firstly it presents a source of gas that is significantly cheaper than that which

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VTT Vasiliko

Bold

Joannou & Paraskevaides Group (J&P) is an international contracting company that has undertaken a wide spectrum of construction work in four continents for more than 70 years.

J&P has been successfully involved in the oil and gas industry over the last 40 years. It has extensive experience in the construction, on an EPC basis, of oil gathering and processing stations, export terminals and tank farms, gas-oil separation plants, cross country pipelines, gas plants, oil refineries and petrochemical plants and other associated works in most countries in the Middle East, North Africa and Europe. J&P is proud to include amongst its clients, most major international oil and gas companies and operators. Its most recent project is the Vasiliko Terminal in Cyprus, a 600,000 m3 capacity multi-products tank farm comprising of 36 no. tanks and related terminal utilities, and ship loading facilities capable of simultaneously receiving four tanker vessels of max. 160,000 dwt capacity through a 1500 m long marine jetty and mooring/loading platforms.

One of the fastest-growing global energy storage businesses, VTTI was founded in 2006 as part of a joint venture between Vitol, one of the largest independent energy traders in the world, and MISC, one of the leading maritime providers of global energy transportation with Petronas being the majority shareholder. Since its inception the company has been actively pursuing its strategic aim of becoming one of the top world storage companies. With assets strategically located at key storage hubs across the globe, from its 1,100,000 metre cubed ETT in the Port of Rotterdam to its new terminal in Tanjung Bin, Malaysia, the company has ongoing projects as part of its bold investment programme to increase its current 8.5 million metre cubed total capacity with a further 5,438,000 metre cubed total planned capacity.

Operating in eight different time zones, VTTI loads and discharges more than 7500 vessels with approximately 35 million dwt of shipping berthing at its jetties each year. A widespread organisation, it has interests in 14 countries, five continents and has active expansion projects that will increase its capacity by another 50 per cent over the next few years. One way VTTI plans to further expand its global services is through the development of a 300 million Euro terminal project in Cyprus; the island was strategically chosen due to its connection to the vibrant trading areas of Asia, North Africa and South East Europe. Located in the area of Vasilikos, VTT Vasiliko Ltd (VTTV) is a private investment on private land that equals to 1.7 per cent of Cyprus GDP; the terminal will serve as a hub in the Eastern Mediterranean to capture the flows of fuel oil from the Black Sea to the East, middle

distillates from the East to the West and gasoline from Europe to the East Mediterranean and the Red Sea. “Vasilikos is located between Larnaca and Limassol in the South of Cyprus, which is within the zone for heavy industry in Cyprus; it is also located next to the energy centre where the government intends to build an LNG plant in the future,” explains George Papanastasiou, managing director at VTTV. “Our parent company VTTI chose Cyprus due to its geographical strength and the number of product flows, for example the fuel oil that is transported from the Black Sea to the East comes in small shipments that need to accumulate somewhere before being taken in bigger shipments to the Asian markets.

There is also over production of gasoline and gasoline by-products in North Europe towards the Mediterranean and then there is middle distillates, jet fuel and diesel that are in demand in Northern Europe. Cyprus’ inland market is a niche sector but very profitable.”

Following a long preparation period, meetings and negotiations, VTTV’s contractor J&P Group began the first earthworks project at the terminal’s construction site at Vasiliko, Cyprus on 26 March 2012. This advance in progress heralded the start of Phase One of the project, which is due for completion in July 2014 and will deliver 28 tanks and a 1.2 kilometre offshore jetty to serve them. Offering a storage capacity of 543,000 metres cubed, this amount will rise to 858,000 metres cubed on completion of Phase Two in the first Quarter of 2015, with the addition of 12 tanks. “The terminal will be constructed in two phases, with Phase One having access to the deep sea water

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jetty and storing gasoline, diesel, gasoil, jet fuel and MTBE. Phase Two, meanwhile, will store fuel oil and potentially crude oil on the island, which will mainly be used for accommodating trading activity from the Black Sea to Asia and accumulating stock that comes in via the Suez Canal. Due to the geography of Cyprus and its closeness to the Suez Canal, it makes a lot of sense for companies to pick their product up from our terminal,” says George.

“Furthermore, we have access and have been given the license to create a special ship berth at the privately owned small port of Vasilikos that will be used for small ships (below 10,000 dwt) and barges for bunkering purposes. We are building this as part of Phase One of the project,” he adds.

The construction of a marine terminal will dramatically increase the 250 trans-shipments per year that take place in the open sea around Cyprus as it will offer a safer and more modern alternative to companies operating in the Eastern Mediterranean. In 2011, 17,800 ships transited the Suez Canal from both directions, 20 per cent of which were carrying petroleum products.

Until 2010, the Suezmax, at a maximum of 200,000 dwt, was the largest ship capable of navigating through the Suez Canal before depth was increased to 66 feet. Today over 60 per cent of all tankers can now use the Canal, including vessels at 220,000 dwt in size.

Once in operation, the terminal will offer a wide range of benefits to Cyprus; it can serve as an option for local market requirements and will be an attractive option for the storage of Cyprus’ compulsory stocks, as George elaborates: “Local oil companies in the town of Larnaca are required to relocate due to safety reasons, so the government aims to move these companies to where we are building the terminal. Another reason for building the terminal in Cyprus is the island’s 90 days’ compulsory stocks, some of which are currently held in Cyprus, while other strategic stocks are stored in Greece and Malta.

We have plans to extend the terminal further in order to accommodate these stocks and will also look into other opportunities. Why not? We have the expertise.” The ability to store its own stocks would save Cyprus more than 17 million Euros per year. Also, if requested, VTTV would allow the nearby energy centre use of its oil terminal’s infrastructure, which would save up to 50 million Euros per year for the Republic of Cyprus.

Reaching a safety milestone of 500,000 man-hours without lost-time injury in

May 2013, VTTV celebrated this in June and is now close to 700,000 man-hours without lost-time injury. Dedicated to health and safety, the company has invested in impermeable membranes that are in place under the tanks and yard to ensure any oil leaks don’t reach the ground or ground water. Recently employed staff will be trained abroad to ensure personnel have a complete understanding of the importance of health, safety and the environment.

Following the completion of Phase One, VTTV will be focusing on meeting and exceeding its customers’ expectations while also planning for further expansion, as George concludes: “With the energy centre planning to build an LNG plant, we can shift to building and operating a terminal that can store LNG, why not?” he added. “Ultimately, this terminal will mark Cyprus out as an import and export energy hub, will help it trade in the European market and will boost confidence where confidence was previously lost.”

Offering a storage capacity of 543,000 metres cubed, this amount will rise to 858,000 metres cubed on completion of Phase Two in the first Quarter of 2015, with the addition of 12 tanks

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Services Oil storage facility

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Enterprise Engineering Services

growth Highlands of Scotland has enabled Enterprise Engineering Services (EES) to significantly expand its portfolio of services. EES has recently acquired Caithness-based firm Mowat Technical & Design Services (MTDS) from administration.

Aberdeen-based EES, which provides global services across the engineering spectrum, has previously subcontracted work to MTDS and the deal enables the firm to continue with its plans for considerable expansion.

MTDS, which designed, commissioned, fabricated and installed components for the oil and gas, renewables and nuclear industries, was placed into administration in May this year.

Following the acquisition in June, EES aims to expand its work particularly in the nuclear sector, drawing on MTDS’ extensive knowledge in its pursuit of new contract opportunities. EES also plans to increase its work in the oil and gas and renewables markets, adding to its proven track record of providing efficient and effective solutions to suit its clients’ needs both in the UK and internationally.

Andy Scott, managing director of Enterprise Engineering Services, says: “The acquisition of MTDS provides us with additional specialist expertise, allowing us to penetrate new markets and maintain our strategic growth plans in the future.

“We have always provided design services, but now, detailed design will become one of our core services, allowing us to keep all

project work within the EES group. Whereas before design work was subcontracted to trusted firms including MTDS, it had always been our longer-term strategic aim to bring this in-house. This deal has allowed us to bring the design process under the same umbrella as our existing manufacturing, installation and inspection services.”

Following a period of sustained organic growth, the acquisition of MTDS is just the latest stage in EES’ strategic growth plan, which has seen the company’s total payroll grow to over 220 employees working in the EES offices, on site at projects, and offshore at client facilities. As such, EES is on track to hit one of its five-year growth targets two years early, with an expected increase in turnover of over 50 per cent. EES has since taken on a number of new projects, which will see it continue to grow its client base and workload.

Andy continues: “We have plans to increase EES’ current business streams with the recruitment of further designers, fabricators and welders into the MTDS division. In addition to this, we plan to introduce an MTDS design presence into our Aberdeen workspace. MTDS’ Thurso base is also crucial in our efforts to better support our hydro energy clients, many of which operate in the Scottish Highlands, and we plan to utilise this to its full potential.”

EES boasts a diverse portfolio of skills and services, and its proactive approach to the development and application of new

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well as major river and dock installations.

These onshore operations complement the full range of offshore support and power generation services provided by EES in tandem with its SRR division.

This latest acquisition is a key step for EES towards realising the strategic goals set by the management team following a management buyout in 2010. The company has invested significantly in is main manufacturing facility, requiring a financial commitment in excess of a quarter of a million pounds in the three years since the MBO. The 4000sqm workshop space is capable of handling small and large-scale projects for numerous sectors, and includes a sheet metal workshop and 340sqm machine shop, complete with dedicated clean area for handling of non-ferrous materials. In addition to this, EES has recently moved its head office operations to a new office building, which has enabled the company to expand its manufacturing and onshore/offshore operations.

EES’ growth efforts are not restricted to acquisitions and the development of new technologies, however, and the company continually invests in its staff to keep the company in a highly competitive position. With over 80 years’ experience between them, EES’ board of directors understand that the workforce is the key asset in any business, and as such has invested in ensuring their staff are safe, well trained and motivated, and well equipped for their jobs. EES is committed to developing its staff in order to be able to provide the best possible service for its customers.

While each division has its own distinct disciplines, experience and expertise, together they provide expansive worldclass manufacturing services to the oil and gas industry, repair and modification services to a number of major drilling companies worldwide, and onsite maintenance to the hydro power, water control and supply vessel sectors

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technologies ensures that its range of services is constantly evolving and expanding. Founded in the 1960s as a sheet metal fabrication facility, EES has expanded into a five division group comprising Enterprise Hydro and Nuclear, Enterprise Manufacturing, Enterprise Offshore and Energy, Scottish Rig Repairers (SRR), and the newly added MTDS. While each division has its own distinct disciplines, experience and expertise, together they provide expansive world-class manufacturing services to the oil and gas industry, repair and modification services to a number of major drilling companies worldwide, and onsite maintenance to the hydro power, water control and supply vessel sectors.

Onshore, EES specialises in the manufacture and installation of water control gates, valves and pipework for the power generation, petrochemicals and utilities sectors. Its team of experienced engineers has also played key roles in large-scale hydroelectric schemes as

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Kongsberg Maritime

CSI was delighted to work with Kongsberg Maritime Offshore, supplying a tailored range of Bott Workshop Products including workbenches, drawer cabinets, cupboards and workstations for the firm’s new headquarters in Aberdeen. To meet storage needs CSI supplied and installed Dexion Mobile Shelving and Cantilever racking.

The team at CSI provided a bespoke solution of high quality, aesthetically pleasing and adaptable products. The project has helped to maximise the storage capacity at Kongsberg and improve on the productivity and efficiency of the firm’s workplace.

CSI wishes Kongsberg every success in the future.

Above Hugin AUV Right Thermopylae House, Aberdeen Below Dave Shand beside test tank

Kongsberg Maritime

is renowned for delivering innovative systems in the offshore, subsea and merchant marine markets. “Our division of Kongsberg Maritime provides sales, project support and customer services such as training and field support in the UK,” says David Shand, general manager of Kongsberg Maritime’s Offshore Division in the UK. “We live and breathe our core values, which are determination, reliability, collaboration and innovation, all of which enable us to provide state-of-the-art, reliable technology and excellent support to our diverse range of customers that range from offshore renewable developers to offshore production companies.”

Providing global support from local service and support facilities at strategic locations around the world such as Aberdeen, New Orleans, Rio de Janeiro, Singapore and Dubai, Kongsberg Maritime has enjoyed an increase in demand over recent years. This has resulted in the continued recruitment of a significant number of engineers and support staff at the group’s UK based offshore division since early 2012 as well as expansion into new business areas. “Due to further growth in several areas of our business we plan to continue to recruit more staff, particularly project support and field support,” says David. “One area where we have recruited engineering staff is in offshore production automation and safety systems, where we are supporting a number of installations in the UK sector; we have also been recruiting engineers in this business area in preparation for the build up of the Statoil Mariner project and will continue with further recruitment for the project and support phase.”

For the Statoil Mariner project, the largest new offshore development in the UK in more than a decade, Kongsberg Maritime will supply

integrated automation, safety and information management systems for both the production, drilling and quarters (PDQ) platform and the floating storage unit (FSU), the latter also having positioning and marine systems.

Kongsberg Maritime’s UK division will provide project-engineering resource, along with colleagues in Norway and Korea, and support the installation during production. “Participating in potentially the largest development in the UKCS is a great achievement for us,” enthuses David. “This project will allow us to further develop our project and support capability in offshore production automation and safety systems in the UK, which, combined with our Kongsberg Maritime Engineering Division in the Far East, will enable us to deliver further greenfield and brownfield projects in the UKCS.

Another area we will continue to recruit for in the UK is the support of our AUV (autonomous underwater vehicles) product lines.”

Following the group’s acquisition of Hydroid a number of years ago, it has become a world leader in the field of AUVs, a technology that is finding increasing application in offshore inspection for both oil and gas and renewable markets. The company offers an AUV rental service to its customers and will be announcing new developments in its AUV technology later this year.

In response to the offshore division’s

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Kongsberg Maritime

continuing success and unprecedented growth, Kongsberg Maritime announced an investment of £2 million in the long-term lease of new premises in Westhill, Aberdeen in February 2012. The purpose-built property includes a bespoke 45 metre cubed test tank, the first of its kind in Aberdeen, and the most technologically advanced dynamic positioning simulator on the market. Moreover, the Kongsberg Maritime Training and Simulation Centre takes up an entire floor at the new building, increasing its original floor space by 60 per cent and enabling the group to train more individuals.

Scheduled training courses at the division’s Aberdeen premises include an overview of planned automation systems, dynamic positioning and subsea positioning systems.

Courses are designed to give participants an enhanced understanding and detailed product

knowledge and may include both operational and technical training. “We plan to further develop our training centre to support our systems, and this will require additional training staff to support the improvements in our course offerings in DP operations and further develop training in subsea systems, such as AUVs and also in offshore production systems,” explains David.

Launching a new era for Kongsberg Maritime in the UK, the new facilities cement the group’s commitment to invest in its personnel, customers and future; it also offers a high quality working environment, a huge advantage in a competitive market, as David concludes: “In today’s environment, particularly in Aberdeen, resourcing new staff can be difficult. However, we believe that we offer an excellent working environment, great career opportunities and challenging roles. Many of our engineering positions are for electronics or software graduates, both of which are in short supply due to the relatively small number of graduates in each of these disciplines. To address this issue we have established scholarships at several universities in the UK, including the local universities. Our scholarships give much needed funding for the ‘Kongsberg scholars’ as well as summer placements, which offer industry experience. We have already recruited excellent graduates from our scholarship scheme.”

Above KM customer support Bottom left Kongsberg employees

Ledingham Chalmers Ledingham Chalmers has played an important role on the Scottish legal scene for many years, with the firm’s development tracking Aberdeen’s emergence as the capital of the European oil and gas exploration and production sector and as a centre of excellence for professional services. We are proud to have supported Kongsberg Maritime as its presence in Scotland has strengthened, from advising on property matters through to a range of support on corporate matters, alongside bespoke contract training for key members of the Kongsberg team.

Kongsberg Maritime Ltd km.kongsberg.com

Services Turnkey solutions within the oil and gas industry

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One of the world’s leading manufacturers of cryogenic equipment for the storage, transportation and handling of liquefied gases, Cryo AB has long been at the forefront of

this market having developed its first tank in the 1950s. It’s an area that has become the subject of greater focus as liquefied natural gas (LNG) grows as a fuel source.

An independent company belonging to the Linde Engineering Division, Cryo AB gains several advantages from its parent business as managing director Lars Persson explains: “We have direct access to leading experts in the cryogenic field. Having a strong mother company also enables us to go for larger projects, which wouldn’t be possible without strong financial backing. Linde also has global functions such as construction, manufacturing and procurement so we gain synergies in many fields. We are a relatively small local operator, so this opens the door to many global markets.”

Based as it is in Gothenburg, Sweden, Cryo AB built a lot of its expertise in the Scandinavian and Nordic countries, and continues to lead projects in these markets today. Notably in 2011

Cryo

Clearly the potential of LNG as a fuel source is massive, and as projects such as these indicate there is still much in the way of development taking place around this the company completed Sweden’s first LNG receiving terminal project. It’s an area where it has continued to secure work in, including a new project for Scangas.

“This is the second LNG receiving terminal that Cryo AB has built of this magnitude, and once complete will be the biggest facility of its type in Sweden,” describes Lars. “The project is progressing very well with a target for mechanical completion of early next year.

We also see opportunities for other upcoming projects of this size in Scandinavia, so this will serve as a good reference for those.”

As well as plants, another side of the business that is growing strongly is distribution equipment. This has sparked considerable investment into development by Cryo AB with a number of new products now coming to market.

This includes the world’s biggest vacuum insulated tank with a capacity of 1250 m3, and the largest LNG semi-trailer on the market to

transport up to 60 tonnes of product.

At the same time Cryo AB has launched a new trailer with the lowest centre of gravity available, which offers superior road handling. Investment has not only been into new innovations though.

The company has also upgraded its helium tank container production facilities in the wake of the success of this product to enable it to produce more than 50 units per annum.

“We have extensive cryogenic know-how having been present in the market since it began,” highlights Lars. “The combination of this with our core technology and production capabilities gives us a very strong proposition.

We also focus on offering complete solutions to the client including after sales services such as education, maintenance and support.”

One market where Cryo AB has found significant scope for its capabilities, particularly in LNG, is the maritime sector. For over 12 years the company has supplied energy fuel tanks

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for vessels such as ferries and supply ships to run on LNG, which has both economic and environmental benefits.

This has since been extended to smaller ships with the company’s development of the world’s first marine LNG fuel system for tug boats. The vessels were ordered by the Norwegian marine services company Buksér og Berging AS to go into service in late 2013. The system has been designed specifically to minimise the space needed for such equipment onboard the vessel, which opens up the LNG fuel market to even small ships.

“This was a unique system that enables the boat to purely run on LNG, as opposed to a dual fuel set-up, and therefore minimises the need to carry different types of fuel. The solution has been of interest for smaller coastal vessels such as tug boats and passenger ships, as its the first time that they have been able to exploit this fuel, so we expect this to grow further,” explains Lars.

Going one step further, earlier this year Cryo AB delivered the world’ first LNG bunkering ship, which operates within the Port of Stockholm providing LNG fuel to Viking Line’s new Viking Grace dual fuel passenger ferry and other such vessels. This pioneering project was undertaken for AGA and involved the conversion of a former ferry into the bunker boat, which has since been christened Seagas.

Clearly the potential of LNG as a fuel source is massive, and as projects such as these indicate there is still much in the way of development taking place around this.

It’s a market that Cryo AB is following on a global basis, as Lars concludes: “We want to be a world class provider of EPC services for

LNG terminals in Scandinavia, and a supplier of leading and innovative onboard LNG fuel tanks, bunker systems and related solutions to the global marine industry. We will also continue with our distribution equipment arm and other developments borne out of our experience in cryogenics.”

Cryo AB cryo.se

Products Cryogenic equipment

PROFILE

Icon Offshore Berhad

Formed in November 2012, Icon Offshore Berhad is the result of merging the unique strengths and capabilities of two offshore support vessel (OSV) companies in Malaysia.

The coming together of Omni Petromarine Sdn Bhd (Omni), a specialist in the provision of logistics and oil and gas services, and Tanjung Kapal Services Sdn Bhd (TKS), a leading major oil and gas service provider that offers a range of services such as ship management and chartering, has led to the inception of the third largest OSV firm in Malaysia, as Dr Jamal Bin Yusof, CEO of Icon Offshore Berhad explains: “The merger was a success as both companies were approximately the same size in terms of revenue and assets and it has made both entities more cost effective due to improved economies of scale. Icon is currently the only Malaysian firm operating a DP2 diesel electric vessel in the country. Our fleet of 34 OSV vessels are operating in Qatar, Vietnam and Thailand; previous operations were in India, Egypt, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Australia and Indonesia.

We are now able to operate in deeper waters as larger vessels are on order.”

As the owner, operator and provider of offshore supply vessels for charter services, Icon Offshore Berhad’s fleet is used for a range

of exploration, development and production activities within the offshore oil and gas industry both in Malaysia and around the world. The company’s assets include 19 units of 4000 bhp to 8000 bhp anchor handling tug and supply (AHTS) vessels, three utility vessels, two 3500 dwt platform supply vessels (PSV), five anchor handling tug utility (AHT) vessels, and four straight supply vessels (SSV). On top of this, the company charters and manages third party vessels as required.

With a boom in the OSV market anticipated over the coming years due to increased domestic and regional exploration and production (E&P) activity, Icon Offshore Berhad has enhanced its fleet over the last six months, as Jamal highlights: “Our five new builds have mainly been anchor handlers in the 5000 bhp area and also our new PSV, all of which are currently working on long-term charters and have dynamic positioning equipment. The PSV will enable us to venture into deepwater fields, while the increase in newbuilds means our clients have more confidence in our products and services, allowing us to continue growing from strength to strength, not only in Malaysia but throughout the region. Our current order book stands at over one billion MYR, which is

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producing more oil in the fastest and safest way possible,” says Jamal.

Key drivers in the oil and gas industry that use the company’s assets and services are all potential growth areas, such as production facilities, deepwater drilling, transportation and installation projects, inspection repair and maintenance projects, enhanced oil recovery projects and marginal field development. Projects are expected to expand and development fields are anticipated to operate in deeper waters to find oil and gas, thus representing an excellent opportunity for OSV firms such as Icon Offshore Berhad to generate contracts for the operation of their assets.

Aware of the upcoming potential opportunities, Icon Offshore Berhad has created an aggressive expansion plan, as Jamal elaborates: “Our plan is in two parts, the first involves a new building programme that consists of more deepwater vessels being built over the next two years; the second part involves geographical expansion through opening regional offices. We also aim to grow the company through a merger and acquisition plan that is currently being discussed and will result in larger assets, improved value and international growth.”

Dedicated to growth and improvement, the future looks positive for Icon Offshore Berhad as it prepares for being listed on the Kuala Lumpur stock exchange, while also focusing on expansion and the opening of its own marine OSV training and development centre to enhance the skills of its crew. “Our strategic and long-term goal is to become a global player in the OSV sector and develop into a multinational company that focuses on human capital development through leadership and skill enhancement,” concludes Jamal.

Key drivers in the oil and gas industry that use the company’s assets and services are all potential growth areas, such as production facilities, deepwater drilling, transportation and installation projects, inspection repair and maintenance projects, enhanced oil recovery projects and marginal field development

KA Petra KA Petra was established in 2008, and today offers a range of services including the supply and services of marine products, bunkering services such as supply of marine gas oil, marine fuel oil, industrial diesel and waste management and recycling services. Further partnerships with government agencies have also helped expand its reach and fortified its position as a service provider especially in waste management services.

A key strength that has enabled this growth is the accumulated experience of KA Petra’s team in various sectors of the marine industry. As a one-stop partner for all marine services, the company offers convenience and reliability, by integrating all the services and products that customers need, all under one roof.

Icon Offshore Berhad iconoffshore.com.my

Services Charter services of offshore support vessels

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a testament of our commitment to our clients, employees and shareholders.”

The majority owner of Icon Offshore Berhad is Government owned, Malaysian based private equity firm Ekuinas (Ekuity Nasional Berhad), which acquired 100 per cent equity of TKS in 2012 during a comprehensive group restructuring exercise, and 82.5 per cent equity of Omni in September 2012. Following this, as part of Ekuinas’ strategic restructuring of its oil and gas portfolio, Omni, a company that has won several awards for safety performance and boasts clients such as Petronas, Maersk Oil Qatar and Saudi Aramco, and TKS, which has served Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd and ExxonMobil Malaysia over the years, became wholly owned subsidiaries of Icon Offshore in preparation for the anticipated growth of the OSV market.

“Repeat customers are mostly the main oil and gas firms in Malaysia, such as Shell, Petrofac and Petronas; we view customer service as one of the most important factors to our success as repeat customers are the biggest revenue driver in any business. We place huge emphasis in the company on driving customer service to the highest level by listening to our customers’ needs and trying to find solutions to their logistical problems. We also assist oil and gas firms in

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The right

information Established in 1948, ms Neumann Elektronik GmbH is a privately-owned, medium-sized enterprise with international subsidiaries and close working relationships with reliable partner companies. As a system house ms Neumann Elektronik is one of the leading suppliers worldwide for high-quality solutions in information and safety, public address (PA), acoustic and video, and its modular products are used wherever high safety standards are needed.

The company offers an extensive portfolio of fully automatic, digital public address (PA) systems, information and emergency call systems, ranging from plant alarm systems to complete management systems for process automation, which can be found in a wide range of industrial settings as well as the rail and public transport sectors. Moreover, the information and

safety systems developed and produced by ms Neumann Elektronik are available in a range of sizes for a variety of applications, and for critical zones and harsh environments.

Three of the technically demanding sectors in which ms Neumann Elektronik’s special information and safety systems are being put to good use are the oil, gas and coal mining industries. For decades, customers all over the world have come to trust these systems, which are able to provide comprehensive emergency and danger-alert management even at the most remote places, such as offshore oil rigs or pipelines.

To span the distances between the work sites and the control centre, which are often quite significant, radio and satellite technologies are often used. All terminal equipment is designed

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for use in environments where there is the danger of explosion, and it is made to be highly reliable.

Indeed, one of the main benefits of the systems manufactured by ms Neumann Elektronik for use in the oil and gas sector is their reliability. This applies to its highperformance systems for large area coverage with high-powered PA and visual signalling, systems for high-quality voice communication in areas with danger of explosion, and efficient monitoring and surveillance systems.

The company has built up an extensive client portfolio over the 65 years it has been operating, and its references for oil and gas projects includes blue-chip companies from a diverse range of locations, including AGIP Gas, Libya; Oil Platform Zirku-Island, Zakum Development Company/Abu Dhabi National Oil Cooperation

(oil-producing company), UAE; CPCL Refinery, Chennai, India; PKN Orlen Olefine, Poland; Bharat Petroleum, India; and Oil Refinery ‘Reliance’, Jamnagar, India. It also works with a range of sophisticated and modern suppliers, such as Telecom Systems.

One of its flagship projects in the oil and gas sector was with BP, on a modern and innovative IP-based factory-wide alarm system. This called for a comprehensive solution for evacuations with a central fire brigade alarm call station, and combined five decentralised DS-6 subsystems into the overall system TIMM. The individual DS-6 systems are calibrated especially for evacuation systems in accordance with the standards VDE 0828 and EN 60849. Of greatest importance, the system’s crucial safety-relevant feature lies in the fact that its self-sufficient

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subsystems automatically take over all functions for their relevant alarm zones in case the higherlevel network breaks down.

Another important development for the company occurred early in 2012, when it announced that it had been chosen to deliver the innovative IP-based DS-6 system for sound, intercom and alarm on behalf of the Group ‘Turkmengaz’. The gas field, South Yoloten, is located in the south eastern part of Turkmenistan near the border with Iran and Afghanistan.

The area spreads about 3000 km², and as such it is rated as the second largest gas field in the world. In this high explosive area safety plays an important role, and ms Neumann’s modern IP-based DS-6 systems are designed redundantly in five different places because of their reliability.

The deciding factors for the award of the contract to ms Neumann Elektronik have been highlighted as its customised system solutions, the high functionality and quality of its facilities and the general competitiveness of its products and services.

As well as manufacturing and supplying stateof-the-art systems, the company is also able to support customers through the whole process of buying a system, starting with the analysis of their current situation, through consultation, documentation, up to implementation and continuing into the maintenance of an individual application. In order to ensure optimal, troublefree operation of a system, it also offers clients a comprehensive service and support portfolio.

As an internationally successful supplier of solutions, ms Neumann Elektronik has created a name that is recognised the world over and is highly regarded for its combination of traditional strengths and innovative excellence. Over the course of its history, it has grown from a small business into a successful enterprise thanks to a dedication to innovation, a culture of hard work

and a resolve to grow its presence worldwide.

Going forwards, it has even more expansion plans, with visions for Brazil, Africa, South Korea and Japan over the next two years, as well as continuing to support its local partner in the Russian oil and gas sector. If the company applies its usual determination to these new ventures, there seems little doubt that it will continue to see more growth well into the future.

ms Neumann Elektronik neumann-elektronik.com

Services Information and safety, PA, acoustic and video solutions

The right Offering horizontal directional drilling (HDD) technology made in Germany, Prime Drilling is one of the leading manufacturers of drill rigs and accessories in this sector.

Established in 1999, Prime Drilling has always focused on retaining a skilled workforce, which enables it to tailor every single rig to meet the client’s specific requirements and the geographic conditions.

Much of the company’s success has been due to its ability to respond to particularly technically challenging requests, as well as to advise on optimal technology. Above all else though Prime Drilling recognises that a successful drill particularly depends on the reliability of the

machinery. Therefore, alongside the technical characteristics of these systems, the company attaches the greatest importance to delivering a low maintenance and robust drill rig with above-average durability. In total over 130 Prime Drilling HDD rigs are successfully in operation around the world.

This range includes various types of drill and compact drill rigs of up to 6000 kN pull force, pump aggregates, mixing units, and recycling units. The company strives to ensure that each of its machines are mechanically simple, to assist clients in finding replacement parts in their local market and undertaking repairs without the need for too much manufacturer assistance.

Ralf Kiesow, international sales and service director outlines the design element of Prime Drilling’s capabilities: “The brain behind our design is our main shareholder, Werner Wurm, who designed one of the first HDD rigs in Europe, and has gone on to develop different types of machine such as vertical rigs, anchor boring rigs and auger boring machines. The majority of our design team have over 15 years experience in the drilling industry and are educated to at least bachelor level.

“Our supervising engineers work with the customers themselves, and are in close contact with the in-house team so we can bring their experience right into the design. As such each new machine is another bit of evolution.

We’re not looking for revolution, but when our customers buy a rig from us they are purchasing 30 years of evolution in drilling techniques,” he continues.

Recent developments have included production of a new pipe pusher, which grabs pipes and pushes them into boreholes over a long distance. It mainly serves for additional push or pull force with pipe pullback, but also can work in combination with tunnel boring machines. Furthermore, last year Prime Drilling delivered two rigs to a client in Australia that were specially designed for coal seam gas drilling – an area outside Prime Drilling’s usual activity.

This was based on the existing rig type PD 100/80 RP-C 45°, which was adapted to meet the specific requirements, such as a penetration angle of six to 45 degrees. Another milestone project was the construction of a drill rig for a client in Nigeria that doesn’t require a separate barge to work in the swamps as it is able to sail natively. It is the first rig of its type that Prime Drilling has developed, and possibly the first in the world. The company has also recently

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developed and delivered a new type of drilling rig (Multi Purpose Rig) to Africa, which works in conjunction with its pipe pusher.

“We have commissioned a design for a new type of drilling rig for the oil and gas industry, which works at an eight to 90 degree angle of inclination. We also have a brand-new rod loading systems for drilling rigs working at this eight to 90 degree inclination, and as with all of our equipment the system is very simple to handle and control,” highlights Ralf.

“Within the next couple of weeks we will deliver a PD 400/120 RP – C, which is a crawler mounted drilling rig with 4000 kN pullback and 120.000 Nm torque. The rig will be driven by a 570 kW Tier 4 engine, which is already ahead of the new emissions regulations. It can be driven by either one or two power packs, which means a total engine capacity of 1140 kW. This will be the biggest drilling rig in the UK.” He continues: “Over the course of the year we have enlarged our production hall to give more space for test runs and more pleasant working conditions for our production team. We also needed more room for the manufacture of our latest models, including Trinity-HDD brand pumping equipment.”

Prime Drilling has been a major partner in Trinity since December 2008 when it purchased a number of shares from the business. Formerly known as Trinity Pumpenwerk GmbH, the company changed its name to Trinity-HDD GmbH as of the start of 2013 when it became an

official division of Prime Drilling. Together the two companies design, develop and manufacture state-of-the-art pumping equipment and consumables, including a line of reciprocating piston pumps and packages designed specifically for the HDD industry.

“Quality and customer satisfaction is what we are focused on, and as such the company is well known for these areas,” notes Ralf.

“Our philosophy is that customer satisfaction is when the customer gets more than they expected. We are also lucky to have many longterm customers, some of which we have been working with since the very beginning.

“We are always trying to react to the new demands of our clients, and to improve day-byday. As such, we are ahead of the new emissions regulations, and our safety standards surpass many others worldwide. Our order book is very positive for 2013, and we hope that this will continue into 2014,” he adds.

In fact, Prime Drilling has seen demand for its machines increase in most of the countries it works within. This is partly due to word-ofmouth regarding the effectiveness of the rigs, and the continued attention placed on quality and reliability. “We recently exhibited in Munich at the biggest show for construction equipment worldwide, and we received very positive feedback from the drilling industry. As always we have an ear for the customer, which helps us to keep improving, and this will see the rest take care of itself,” concludes Ralf.

Rotaflow FV Ltd manufactures a range of Swivel Joints suitable for the oil, gas and drilling industries and useful in the transfer of fluids under pressure through hoses or rigid pipework.

These robust and durable pipefittings, with strong bearings both ball and needle rollers, provide 360 degree movement and an unrestricted flow through the clear bore.

They are manufactured in A105 or stainless steel, sizes up to 24” N. bore, with a wide choice of sealing materials, ensuring total fluid compatibility.

Prime Drilling GmbH prime-drilling.de

Services Bespoke drilling rigs

European oil & gas

Rotaflow FV Ltd

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from exploration to end user Schofield Publishing Ltd 10 Cringleford Business Centre Intwood Road Cringleford Norwich NR4 6AU T: +44 (0) 1603 274130 F: +44 (0) 1603 274131 Editor Matt High mhigh@schofieldpublishing.co.uk Sales Manager Rob Wagner rwagner@schofieldpublishing.co.uk

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