The CI-GNL (Ivory Coast LNG) consortium led by Total has been awarded the rights to build and operate a liquefied natural gas (LNG) re-gasification terminal in Ivory Coast with a capacity of 3 million tons per year.
The decision announced by the Government of the Ivory Coast on October 4th was followed by the signature of the shareholders’ agreement in Abidjan between Total, which will operate the project with a 34% interest, national companies PetroCI (11%) and CI Energies (5%) as well as SOCAR (26%), Shell (13%), Golar (6%) and Endeavor Energy (5%).
Map courtesy: Total
Total will use the terminal to supply LNG volumes from its global portfolio in proportion to its participating interest in the project. The re-gasification terminal project is expected to become operational by mid 2018.
“This project illustrates Total's strategy to develop new gas markets by unlocking access to LNG for fast-growing economies. Working closely with our partners enabled us to put together an integrated proposal combining LNG supply and import infrastructure through a floating storage and re-gasification unit,” said Philippe Sauquet, President Gas, Renewables and Power of Total. “We are very pleased to have been selected by the Ivorian authorities to manage this project, which will meet growing domestic and regional needs for gas and power.”
The project involves the construction of a terminal with a floating storage and re-gasification unit (FSRU) in Vridi, Abidjan area, and a pipeline connecting the FSRU to existing and planned power plants in Abidjan, as well as to regional markets connected to the Ivorian network. This will enable Ivory Coast to become the first regional LNG import Hub in West Africa, and to meet both regional and domestic demand.
The first major study of oil and gas workforce perceptions since the start of the global downturn has revealed which operators and service companies are rated highest by oil and gas professionals based on key issues including values, performance and pay rates.
Shell, Chevron, ExxonMobil, BP and Halliburton make up the top five in the wide-ranging Ideal Employer Survey 2016, undertaken by Rigzone, which attracted responses from 8,400 people in more than 100 countries.
More than 3,000 oil and gas industry companies were named in the survey, published today, and despite the challenges faced by the sector through the depression in the oil price, no companies from other industries were ranked in the top 30.
The research, the first of its kind in the sector, was carried out between July and September this year, ranking companies based on 19 questions focused on their qualities and rating their ideal employers.
Commitment to health and safety is the single most important attribute (securing 90%) for people in the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors worldwide. Competitive salary, interesting and challenging work, and corporate integrity (all 88%) were equal second, with workplace culture, and training and development programs (87%) joint third.
Regionally, only respondents in North America and Europe chose factors other than safety as their top priority. Salary, and manages business with integrity were joint top for North America, and the focus was on ‘interesting/challenging work’ for Europe.
James Bennett, Rigzone managing director said: “The results are revealing as this is the first major survey to be conducted with the global workforce, and against a background of continuing challenging economic circumstances for the sector.
“That the largest companies in the sector complete the top 30, the majority having undergone significant change due to the effects of the downturn in the past 18 months, will give them confidence that the workforce remain committed to the sector.”
On coming first in the survey, Jonathan Kohn, Shell HR VP for the UK, Ireland, Nordics and South Africa said: “Shell people are our strongest ambassadors and we are proud of the quality of the people that we've got. I think it's pretty clear and central to the group's strategy that having that access to quality people really is part of how we compete to win.”
The supermajor continues to invest in the development of the industry’s future workforce, and reiterated its desire to continue to bring new blood to the sector through graduate recruitment. Kohn added: "We have made a strong commitment to try to maintain our graduate recruitment through the whole cycle. We typically recruit in the range of 800 to 1,100 graduates per year around the world. We are at the bottom end of that range at the moment… But that is still a very substantial commitment.”
James Bennett, said, “It is no surprise that health and safety is the overwhelming priority across the majority of respondents, but no-less reassuring for an industry which continues to put people first in all aspects of E&P and downstream activity. Across the industry, new challenges continue to emerge - companies that can best adapt to the current environment and take advantage of new technology will be most attractive to professionals looking for interesting and rewarding work. Ensuring that the working environment, from the perspective of corporate culture and integrity, remains attractive and continues to garner respect is an area where organizations will need to ensure they do not become complacent after these positive results.”
Will Scargill, GlobalData's Senior Oil & Gas Analyst covering Upstream Fiscal & Regulatory Regimes says:
“Donald Trump’s election as the 45th President of the United States may have significant effects for the global oil and gas industry. The policy platform laid out during the campaign on both domestic issues and foreign affairs includes a number of elements with notable impacts on regulation, tax and investment opportunities in the sector. The Republican Party’s retention of its majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, should facilitate legislation to progress the new administration’s initiatives. The lack of detail of Trump's platform and absence of a track record in public office cast uncertainty over the policies that will be enacted and the effects they will have, but the tone of the campaign suggests a priority on domestic energy policy over international.
Photo credit: DonaldJTrump.com
“Domestic energy policy statements during the election campaign suggest a positive outlook for the oil and gas sector. This is supported by reports that his adviser Harold Hamm, CEO of Continental Resources, is in the running for Energy Secretary. Trump’s energy plan sets out support for the shale industry and open leasing of federal lands and offshore areas for upstream operations. During the campaign he also noted opposition to environmental regulation including the Paris climate agreement adopted at the COP21 summit, suggesting that the industry will face a reduced regulatory burden under his presidency.
“The expansion of offshore lease sales would likely be supported by the Republican-controlled Congress, particularly for Alaska’s Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and perhaps also for the frontier Atlantic OCS. The Obama administration had initially proposed a lease sale in the Atlantic OCS in the 2017-2022 program but later removed it due to environmental concerns. However, Trump’s support for the shale industry may be more difficult to realize from the Oval Office. He will have control over some regulations such as wastewater and emissions standards through the Environmental Protection Agency, but the majority of regulatory barriers have been imposed at local or state level which are currently decoupled from Federal involvement.
"On wider energy markets, Trump has indicated that he would give the go-ahead to the Keystone XL pipeline, which was vetoed in 2015 by President Obama, if the operator reapplies for approval. This could improve supply side economics on heavy crude for US refiners by increasing supply capacity from Alberta, where production is expected to increase by approximately 500,000 barrels per day by 2020. This also suggests strong prospects for the North Dakota Access pipeline which provides additional lower-cost takeaway capacity from the Bakken, for which federal agencies have requested a construction pause.
"Financial disclosures have shown that Trump has invested in the operator, Energy Transfer Partners, and that its CEO contributed to his campaign, though it is customary for sitting presidents’ assets to be held in a blind trust. Although the prospect of infrastructure projects moving forward is positive for the oil and gas sector, the inherent contradictions between his support for business and his protectionist trade position may untangle as policy is realized. A focus on US energy independence and opposition to broader trade deals could create direct or indirect hurdles for the industry in the US and abroad."
For a full version of this analysis, please visit the GlobalData Energy website.
Chevron North Sea Limited announced on Monday, November 7, 2016, it has started production at Alder, a high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) gas condensate field in the Central North Sea.
"First gas at Alder represents a significant milestone for Chevron and highlights our commitment to investing and developing resources in the U.K.,” said Greta Lydecker, managing director, Chevron Upstream Europe. “The safe and successful completion of this project was underpinned by strong collaboration between Chevron and Alder co-venturer ConocoPhillips. Alder supports our goal of helping maximize the economic recovery of the U.K., adds significant production to our portfolio, and helps extend the field life of Britannia, an important asset to Chevron in the North Sea.”
Installation of the Alder Subsea Isolation Valve (Britannia Platform in background). Photo credit: Chevron
Andy Samuel, chief executive at The Oil and Gas Authority, said: “We are very pleased to see the safe flow of first gas from the Alder Field. Chevron’s application of innovative subsea technologies and use of the U.K.’s experienced supply chain is closely aligned to the Maximizing Economic Recovery Strategy, adding reserves and extending the life of an existing asset.”
Alder is a single subsea well tied back, via a 28 kilometer pipeline, to the existing ConocoPhillips-operated Britannia Platform, in which Chevron holds a 32.38 percent non-operated working interest. The project has a planned design capacity of 110 million cubic feet of natural gas and 14,000 barrels of condensate per day. Production from the HPHT Alder Field is expected to ramp up over the coming months.
More than 70 percent of the Alder development work was executed by U.K. based companies, providing significant investment to the U.K. supply chain. The contracts supported several hundred jobs across a range of U.K. locations including Aberdeen, Invergordon, Leeds and Newcastle.
Discovered in 1975, the development has been enabled through the application of innovative subsea technologies designed to meet the temperature and pressure challenges of Alder. Key technologies have included a number of firsts for Chevron in the North Sea, including a vertical mono-bore subsea tree system; a subsea high integrity pressure protection system (HIPPS); and a specially designed corrosion monitoring system to measure the real-time condition of the production pipeline.
Chevron Upstream Europe (CUE) is a strategic business unit of Chevron’s Europe, Eurasia and Middle East (EEME) Operating Company, and is headquartered in Aberdeen, Scotland. CUE manages the company’s upstream exploration and production interests in Denmark, Greenland, Norway and the United Kingdom. Chevron currently has over 800 upstream staff and contractors across its European operations, including the Global Technology Centre (GTC) in Aberdeen.
In the United Kingdom, Chevron North Sea Limited (CNSL) has working interests in 10 offshore producing fields, including three operated fields (Alba, 23.4 percent; Captain, 85 percent; and Erskine, 50 percent) and seven non-operated fields (Britannia, 32.4 percent; Brodgar, 25 percent; Callanish, 16.5 percent; Clair, 19.4 percent; Elgin/Franklin, 3.9 percent; Enochdhu, 50 percent; and Jade, 19.9 percent). CNSL’s net daily production in 2015 from these fields averaged 40,000 barrels of liquids and 115 million cubic feet of natural gas.
More information about Chevron in the UK is available here
Statoil and Petrobras have completed their previously announced transaction, whereby Statoil has acquired Petrobras’ 66% operated interest of the BM-S-8 offshore license in Brazil’s Santos basin.
Photo courtesy: Statoil
BM-S-8 contains a substantial part of the Carcará pre-salt oil discovery.
On the completion of the transaction, Statoil has paid Petrobras USD 1.25 billion, half of the total consideration. The remainder will be paid at the passage of certain future milestones, mainly relating to the future unitization of Carcará.
| Location | Interest | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peregrino | Campos-basin | 60% (operator) | Production in 3Q 2016 was 69,500 barrels a day Reserves of 300-600 million barrels of oil |
| Peregrino Phase II | Campos-basin | 60% (operator) | Construction Production from 2020 at c. 60,000 barrels a day Reserves ~255 million barrels of oil |
| Licence BM-C-33 comprising the Pão de Açúcar, Gavea and Seat discoveries | Campos-basin | 35% (operator) | Evaluation/development Approximately 1bn boe in recoverable reserves |
| Licence BM-S-8 comprising the Carcará discovery and exploration prospects | Santos-basin | 66 % (operator) | Evaluation/development, pre-unitization Approximately 700 to 1,300 million boe recoverable reserves within the license from Carcará, plus additional exploration upside |
| Eight exploration blocks | Espírito Santo-basin | Four operated by Statoil, four by Petrobras | Exploration |
NOIA, IPAA, LMOGA & GEST Submit Joint FOIA Requests to BOEM and DOI
Washington, D.C. – The National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA), the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA), the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association (LMOGA), and the Gulf Economic Survival Team (GEST) submitted Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to both the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the Department of the Interior (DOI) seeking information related to the recent drastic changes to the financial assurances and bonding required of offshore oil and gas producers.
The four industry trade groups—which collectively represent the entirety of the offshore oil and gas industry in the Gulf of Mexico – have joined together to press for immediate consideration of these FOIA requests and continue to urge BOEM, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), and DOI to be responsive to industry concerns regarding its Notice to Lessees (NTL) No. 2016-N01, which dramatically changed the existing framework for securing decommissioning liability for the offshore oil and gas industry.
This comes on the heels of NOIA’s recent FOIA request to BSEE seeking information related to the agency’s revised estimates for future well plugging and abandonment and platform decommissioning costs in the Gulf of Mexico, which varied wildly from actual and current decommissioning costs and BSEE’s own previous cost projections.
Today’s FOIA requests augment continued industry efforts to gain greater clarity into how BOEM and DOI determined that new financial assurance requirements were necessary and the considerations underpinning and informing their decision-making process.
Combined, these efforts represent our industry’s commitment to understand how DOI and BOEM determined that changing the rules via the NTL guidance was appropriate rather than undertaking a formal rulemaking process, a much more transparent and equitable process.
Remarkably, transparency typically afforded to companies under normal circumstances with NTLs has been at a premium with BOEM in this instance, as information central to the rationale of NTL No. 2016-N01 has not been released to the public or to companies attempting to meet the new financial assurance and bonding requirements.
The new rules are a solution in search of a problem, as the existing framework has protected taxpayers for decades. Moreover, offshore operators made significant investments based on the existing regulatory framework and BOEM has now changed the rules in a manner that threatens to trigger the very risk it is trying to protect against, as these new burdensome bonding requirements will tie up capital that would otherwise be available for exploration, development, jobs, revenues to states and the federal government – and most ironically – for actual plugging and abandonment work.
On behalf of our members, NOIA, IPAA, LMOGA and GEST stand ready and committed to work with BOEM, BSEE, and DOI to ensure a robust future of responsible development in the Gulf of Mexico for the benefit of taxpayers in the form of royalties, severance tax revenues to the state and federal government, jobs, and additional capital investment.
Technip’s wholly-owned subsidiary Technip Umbilicals Inc.(1) has been awarded a contract by a major Operator to supply a subsea control umbilical(2) in the Gulf of Mexico.
The contract includes the project management and manufacture of several kilometers of a static and dynamic unarmoured steel tube umbilical.
Technip Umbilicals facility in Houston, USA, will manufacture this prestigious project for the high pressure field, which is scheduled to be completed in 2017.
Technip Umbilicals’ Managing Director, Sarah Cridland, said: “This award confirms Technip’s position as a world leader in the supply of umbilical systems to the Gulf of Mexico region.”
(1) Technip Umbilicals Inc is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Technip. The Group, through its Technip Umbilicals group of companies, operates four manufacturing sites in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, Houston, USA, Lobito, Angola, and Johor, Malaysia.
(2) Umbilical: an assembly of steel tubes and/or hydraulic hoses which can also include electrical cables or optic fibers used to control subsea structures from a platform or a vessel.
A major metrology campaign conducted off the coast of Western Australia has been completed in just 26 hours thanks to the time saving features offered by specialist survey software supplied by subsea technology company Sonardyne International Ltd, UK.
The project was led by global offshore construction company, EMAS CHIYODA Subsea (ECS), who was contracted by Apache Energy to install infrastructure at the Julimar natural gas field. The scope of work included installation of two manifolds, connected by five 30 metre vertical spools and five 80 meter horizontal spools.
Underwater metrology requires accurate, precise and robust measurements which are critical for successful fabrication and installation of spools and jumpers. Surveyors estimated that to gather the 10 metrologies at Julimar could take anywhere between 60 and 80 hours. By opting to use Sonardyne’s Connect software package to streamline the process, the entire operation was subsequently completed in just 26 hours.
Connect was developed in partnership with survey engineering company, 4D Nav, and speeds up metrology campaigns by introducing expert settings, automated data collection and robust processing of acoustic measurements from planning through to report delivery. Not only does Connect help users’ save time and money, it also reduces the risk of spool pieces being fabricated incorrectly.
The work at Julimar was conducted from ECS’ heavy lift, deep water, multi-lay vessel Lewek Constellation, operating with Sonardyne’s 6G (Sixth Generation) acoustic positioning transponder hardware. These were deployed on the seabed and placed in survey receptacles attached to the various structures. The design of the ROV-friendly transponders enabled them to be moved around the site and easily and precisely aligned relative to each structures’ north.
During the operation, the survey team collected depth and profile data using an ROV held digiquartz depth sensor, then heading and inclination data at each survey receptacle whilst also collecting Long BaseLine (LBL) acoustic range measurements. The collected data was analyzed as one data set. The site’s shallow water depth meant paying particular attention to sound velocity.
Connect’s ability to edit the sound velocity applied to individual and groups of baseline observations and reprocess multiple metrologies to evaluate the effect of the changes with a few mouse clicks, proved invaluable to the ECS team. Once the data QC was completed, each spool metrology was processed and a final report generated which contained a summary of the results including hub-to-hub horizontal distances, slant range, depth differences, attitudes, plus details of the calculations to support the results.
Speaking about the success of the Connect software utilized during the Julimar project, Gerry Quinn, Survey Manager (Operations) with EMAS CHIYODA Subsea said, “Our team were blown away with the speed in which these metrologies were undertaken – in particular the unprecedented time of 26 hours total to measure five 30 meter vertical jumpers (Manifold to Wells) and five 80 meter horizontal jumpers (Manifold to Manifold to PLEMs) in 80 meters water depth. The 4-man Survey team conducted not just the metrology, but the overall operations as smoothly and as efficiently as one.”
For more information on Connect, click here
Oil and gas exploration has always had a strong element of risk, not only in terms of making a discovery but also from fluctuating oil prices, turbulent exchange rates and changing geopolitics. There are many variables that can affect the potential value of a hydrocarbon find, and evaluation of exploration acreage for investment judgements is always complicated by the limited amount of data available to make an informed decision. The potential value of a prospect is not necessarily related to its volume, especially in today’s volatile economic and political environments, so the need to understand and quantify the geological risks and the complexities of petroleum economics is imperative.
Sabinas – Rio Grande Volumetric Heat Map. Source: EV2, mean volume estimates. Credit: CGG
EV2 is an exploration valuation platform that has been specifically designed to assist this decision-making process. It has been jointly developed by CGG and Wood MacKenzie to provide an independent, transparent and consistent analysis of undrilled acreage. EV2 uses the latest economic data and commercial insight from Wood MacKenzie, combined with Robertson’s unique basis of geological knowledge and expertise within CGG’s GeoConsulting group, to provide a user-friendly economic-modelling tool. Currently it contains block-level geological risk, volume and value data for 100 prospective basins and by early 2017 this will increase to over 180 basins and so provide a global assessment tool for exploration.
EV2 allows geologic assumptions to be changed to accommodate different views of play risk or lead density. Different scenarios can be tested to provide a range of possible outcomes so that budgets and resources can be planned. Play and basin metrics can be compared in a transparent and objective manner in order to evaluate corporate portfolios for petroleum economists and financial institutions.
Where additional proprietary information is available, this can be used to edit the underlying geological assumptions in EV2 to refine the baseline volumetric assessments. This enables users to create their own customized scenarios quickly, in a confidential, in-house environment and so maximize their competitive advantage. EV2 provides the means for New Ventures and Exploration teams to compare prospects in a consistent manner in order to guide license round screening and farm-in evaluation.
Evaluation of the blocks on offer in Mexico’s licensing Round One provides a good example of where using EV2 for the fast assessment of potential volume and value of the exploration blocks on offer could provide valuable insight to inform bidding strategies. Investigation of the EV2 data for the Sabinas-Rio Grande basin identifies eight geologic plays, based on the interpretation of a number of data sources by Robertson’s regional experts. Most of the yet-to-find reserves (over 80%) are expected to be found in the Upper Oligocene, Lower Oligocene and Upper Paleocene to Lower Eocene plays. EV2 identifies the most exciting play to be the Upper Paleocene to Lower Eocene, with potential volumes of between 6 bnboe and 10 bnboe estimated.
However, value depends on more than just volume, and EV2 enables pre-tax and post-tax Net Present Value (NPV) to be assessed at various price and exchange rate scenarios so that economic attractiveness can be evaluated quickly. The assessment of the Sabinas-Rio Grande basin reveals that, as it is closer to shore and in shallower waters, the Upper Oligocene play in fact has greater potential value than the Upper Paleocene to Lower Eocene play. EV2 provides understanding of how all the plays intersect with the license blocks on offer and the mapping can guide further efforts in analysing opportunities. As more work is done on the blocks on offer and more data are acquired, extra information can be incorporated into EV2 to give additional insight to those owning the new data.
This fast but rigorous evaluation demonstrates that EV2 can be used to analyse exploration acreage and provide valuable insight to New Ventures teams. The flexibility of the EV2 platform, enabling assumptions to be changed and different scenarios to be tested, provides answers quickly for informed decision-making.
On Friday, the 7th October 2016, Robotica in Maintenance Strategies BV (RIMS) launched inspection services of enclosed spaces to the Maritime and Offshore Industry, using the drone Elios.
RIMS was founded in 2015 by David Knukkel, Sr. Maintenance Consultant in Maritime and Offshore Industry, with a clear mission to replace all high-risk & resource intensive maintenance activities with smarter drone and robotic technologies to increase safety and cost efficient operations.
David Knukkel, Director of RIMS BV demonstrating the Elios Drone. Photo credit: RIMS BV
One major focus of RIMS was to realize safe inspections of enclosed spaces. We carried out extensive market research including visiting several Universities in Holland and Switzerland with our partner ‘Flyability’, where they gave a presentation of their drone Elios. This is a drone within a protective cage, and is perfectly suited to enter enclosed spaces and carry out in depth inspections of the enclosed areas.
With our partners Rotterdam Offshore Group, Rolldock and Flyability, under supervision of Class, RIMS carried out a test on board the vessel ‘Rolldock Sky’ to check whether the controls and data transfer would be okay in a ballast tank and duct keel.
These tests were successfully completed and you can share the experience by viewing this brief video.
Our industry is changing fast and the door to a new “world” of technological advances is already open. There is technology available which can change traditional operations, so It is not a question of ‘if’ technology will change the market, but ‘when’ and ‘how’ the voyage will be.
We believe it is time for the Maritime and Offshore markets to understand and embrace what can robotics can mean for our industries. Hiring local unexperienced employees, sceptics against technology and changes and questions like where to start, are all actual challenges of leading shipping and oil companies. RIMS can support these organizations in finding solutions. Offering inspection services with new technology, RIMS will show the industry that many things are already possible, and a wealth of new opportunities are available using our technical solutions in the very near future.
Image courtesy: Teledyne Marine
Teledyne Oil & Gas, a market focused entity of Teledyne Marine, hosted a Focus on Technology Event on November 15, in Houston, Texas on November 15, The annual event, in its 8th year, concentrated on the emerging technical challenges found in Topside and Subsea Oil & Gas exploration and production with over 250 industry professionals from over 100 companies representing major oil operators, service companies and suppliers attending through special invitation.
The event focused on confronting current market challenges with innovative solutions to address cost pressures, harsh environments, and longer step-out distances as the industry experiences unprecedented changes. Two technical panels comprised of industry experts from Shell, Chevron, INTECSEA, and Noble Energy discussed new technology to enable lower cost execution and shared best practices in offshore projects in an open Q & A format with the audience.
“Teledyne Oil & Gas is taking a leadership role during these challenging times, to identify the technical obstacles and develop innovative solutions that will help our industry to meet the current and future market challenges head-on” said Mike Read, President of Teledyne Marine. “These dedicated professionals came here today with one goal in mind: to share perspectives towards the best technical resolutions in the new reality of the oil and gas industry.”
An opening keynote address: “The State of the Industry: An Oil Operator’s Perspective” was presented by BP’s Ryan Malone, Projects Manager for the Gulf of Mexico. The featured keynote was delivered by Tom Moroney, VP of Deepwater and Wells Technologies for Shell, titled “Driving a Competitive Shell Deepwater Business.” The latest deepwater oil and gas market forecast from Quest Offshore Resources was presented by CEO Paul Hillegeist, and additional notable presentations were given by Teledyne Scientific & Imaging and Texas A&M Engineering.
On November 4, 2016, the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI) announced an investment of $1 billion over the next ten years, to develop and accelerate the commercial deployment of innovative low emissions technologies.
OGCI Climate Investments (OGCI CI) will aim to deploy successfully-developed new technologies among member companies and beyond. It will also identify ways to cut the energy intensity of both transport and industry. Working in partnership with like-minded initiatives across all stakeholder groups and sectors, the OGCI CI believes its emission reduction impact can be multiplied across industries.”
In a joint statement, the heads of the 10 oil and gas companies that comprise the OGCI said: “The creation of OGCI Climate Investments shows our collective determination to deliver technology on a large-scale that will create a step change to help tackle the climate challenge. We are personally committed to ensuring that by working with others our companies play a key role in reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases, while still providing the energy the world needs.”
This investment represents an unprecedented level of oil and gas industry collaboration and resource-sharing in this space. This new, additional investment will complement the companies’ existing low emissions technology programs and will draw on the collective expertise and resources of the member companies.
Through discussions with stakeholders and detailed technical work, the OGCI has identified two initial focus areas: accelerating the deployment of carbon capture, use and storage; and reducing methane emissions from the global oil and gas industry in order to maximize the climate benefits of natural gas. The OGCI believes that these are areas where the oil and gas industry has meaningful influence and where its collaborative work can have the greatest impact.
Beyond this, OGCI CI will make investments that support improving energy and operational efficiencies in energy-intensive industries. OGCI CI will also work closely with manufacturers to increase energy efficiency in all modes of transportation.
A CEO and management team for OGCI Climate Investments will be announced in the near future. The closing of OGCI Climate Investments is subject to customary conditions including regulatory clearances as required.
Danos has successfully completed the fabrication of three boarding valve skids and one service line skid for Shell Offshore Inc.’s (Shell) deep-water Appomattox facility. Requiring approximately 12 months to complete, the project engaged four Danos service lines, including project management, fabrication, coatings, and automation.
“Delivery of this project marks Danos’ entry into the module fabrication market,” said Mark Danos, vice president of project services. “We are proud that Shell chose us as their contractor for this critical component of the Appomattox project.”
The skids, weighing in at approximately 160 tons each, were fabricated at Danos’ 120,000 square-foot facility in Amelia, La. Coordinating the complex, customer-furnished items required extensive planning and support from each of the company’s service lines, especially its project management team.
Key design elements of the modules included 12,200 psi design pressure and 350˚F operating temperature requirements. The API 15K psi piping system consisted of 4130 material overlaid with Inconel 625. All welding was completed on the project with less than 0.45 percent weld-repair rate. Indoor humidity-controlled painting habitats were utilized. The project was delivered on budget and was performed safely with no lost time due to accidents or injuries.
Sonomatic, a market leader in the provision of advanced automated ultrasonic inspection services, has developed a brand-new tool for the internal inspection of caissons. The integrity of caissons is critical to safe and efficient operation of offshore structures. As offshore facilities age there is a growing need for inspection of caissons, with knowledge of their condition providing a basis for justification of ongoing operation or highlighting the need for repairs or replacements before in-service failures occur. The development was carried out internally by Sonomatic’s Research and Development group and brings together their considerable skills and experience in Mechanical Engineering, Automation, Electronics, Software and Signal Processing.
Image courtesy: Sonomatic
In the first field application of the new Internal Caisson Tool (ICT), Sonomatic were recently tasked to perform critical inspections on three caissons for a North Sea operator. The work was completed in collaboration with Cape Specialist Services in a single campaign with a combined offshore team. Cape Specialist Services deployed their environmentally safe caisson cleaning system capable of operating below sea level to remove all scale and marine growth from the caisson interior back to deck level for disposal. This prevents debris from dropping to the seabed or being sucked into the lift pumps on adjacent caissons.
In response to Operators wishing to reduce POB where possible, Sonomatic and Cape Specialist Services have assembled a team where cross training of the disciplines has been undertaken. This multi skilling of personnel has led to a three or four member team to conduct HP water jet cleaning, digital image surveying and NDT inspection from a single mobilization.
The ICT performed reliably throughout, allowing Sonomatic to deliver industry leading inspection results. Recognising the needs of industry, the focus of Sonomatic’s inspection service is on providing accurate and consistent data, this allowing client’s to make effective integrity decisions that contribute to operational safety and efficiency. The ICT was developed with this objective in mind and it provides rapid and reliable deployment of Sonomatic’s industry leading ultrasonic inspection techniques.
The inspection was performed from the internal surface of the caissons, using 0° Corrosion Mapping. Data scan files were collected at 500 mm axial intervals, with the data collected in a helical scan pattern. All of the ultrasonic data was processed in making several million thickness measurements for each caisson. This data was used to create corrosion maps that provide a colorgraphic representation of areas of wall loss.
Caissons often have internal corrosion, this means the inspection is from the corroded side which represents a challenge to maintaining accuracy of corrosion mapping. Sonomatic has optimized its approach to the inspection set up and has developed a range of new signal processing algorithms specifically to enhance the accuracy and reliability of measurements made from the corroded surfaces. Sonomatic’s approach means they can provide accurate measurements, to support fitness for service and remaining life assessments, in situations where the measurements made by competing systems have considerable uncertainty. Sonomatic’s results provide the basis for sound integrity decisions, proving significant cost benefits to clients.
“Obtaining reliable inspection data from the inside of caissons has long been recognized as a challenge in the industry”, says Sonomatic’s Topside Project Manager, Scott Bulloch. “This was one of the main drivers for development of the internal caisson inspection tool. In addition to massively improved data quality, Sonomatic is also advancing the methods of data presentation to ensure clients get the most from the data. This includes 3D presentation of corrosion maps, statistical summaries and comprehensive datasets for efficient creation of finite element models used in fitness for service assessments. Feedback on the results obtained has been very positive, with comments from clients indicating that they see Sonomatic’s measurement capability as offering a step change in the value of internal inspections.”
A specialist remanufacturing service for refrigeration compressors used in marine and offshore applications has been launched by Green Point.
The company was established by global compressor manufacturer Bitzer to provide high quality as-new rebuilds of compressors, with the initial focus on static cooling applications such as food production, and the chemical and process industry.
Following success in this sector, it is now extending its operations to cover critical marine and offshore applications which require very high standards of engineering and quality control to ensure reliability in this challenging environment.
Will Pribyl, General Manager of Green Point in the UK, said: “Compressors operating in marine and offshore applications have a vital role in providing cooling for people, products and on-board processes.
“Compressors must continue to operate reliably despite being subjected to harsh and often extreme environmental conditions, rarely encountered by static cooling systems. Green Point provides the highest quality remanufacturing process available, returning units to as-new factory standard with rapid turn-around times and covered under warranty.”
Green Point UK is the only compressor manufacturer with a remanufacturing operation in the UK. Part of Bitzer global compressor remanufacturing network, it was launched by the German compressor group in 2014, with the aim of bringing a new dimension of engineering quality and attention to detail to every stage of the process.
Will Pribyl says: “Most orders for replacement marine compressors arise from breakdowns, and speed of availability is a key issue. We have a huge advantage in being part of the global Green Point network. If we don’t have a particular model of remanufactured compressor in stock, we have access to equipment held across the network. This has proved invaluable already, enabling us to supply exact the unit required at very short notice.”
An example was a replacement project for Royal Fleet Auxiliaries following breakdown of a compressor on an Australian Navy vessel. It resulted in an urgent requirement for a large Bitzer CSH95 600kW compressor running on R134a refrigerant.
“There was no new replacement available in Australia, which led to a global search. We were able to tap into the international Green point network – and pinpoint an exact replacement at our sister Green Point facility in France, already remanufactured and ready for despatch.”
The unit, weighing 1300kg, was delivered and successfully installed on the Australian ship on a fast-track order, quickly restoring cooling duties for the vessel.
In another case, a ship en route from the Caribbean to Canada suffered an air conditioning failure due to a compressor breakdown. The UK-based maintenance company contacted Green Point, which arranged to fly a replacement remanufactured compressor out to Canada, to be available when the ship docked. The old broken unit was quickly replaced and cooling services restored.
Will Pribyl: “Ships have limited time in port, and turnaround time on key components such as compressors is critical. At the point of docking, the nature of a fault or cause of breakdown may not be known, and often there simply isn’t time to disassemble the system to diagnose the problem and repair it. However, we are able to fly remanufactured compressors to wherever needed in the world, to enable a fast-track, like-for-like replacement in port to get cooling systems up and running again and vessels back on track.”
Backed by Bitzer’s technical know-how, Green Point is able to upgrade compressors to as-new standard from any state or condition. The company fits new motors and replaces all wear components, while offering machines at a highly competitive price point compared to new compressors.
The quality of Green Point’s remanufactured compressors is reflected in excellent reliability and extended working life. They are also up to 10 per cent more efficient than some competing units, due to the thoroughness of the refurbishment process and use of state-of-the-art motor technology.
Statoil, on behalf of the Trestakk license holders, is awarding an EPCI contract to FMC Technologies and Technip Norge, and a topside contract to Aker Solutions, for deliveries to the Trestakk development.
FMC Technologies and Technip will jointly deliver an EPCI contract (engineering, procurement, construction and installation) – subsea, umbilicals, risers, flowlines – including subsea template, manifold, subsea trees, completion system, wellheads, pipelines, risers, control systems, control cable and marine operations.
Image courtesy: Statoil
“Statoil has cooperated closely with partners and suppliers to reduce development costs for the Trestakk field. We submitted the plan for development and operation to the authorities on 1 November, and we are pleased to be able to award contracts already now to FMC Technologies, Technip and Aker Solutions.” “The Trestakk development is important to maintain activity on the Norwegian continental shelf,” says Torger Rød, senior vice president for project development in Statoil.
Aker Solutions in Trondheim will be awarded the contract for the Åsgard topside work. The Åsgard A production vessel will be modified to receive oil and gas from the Trestakk field.
The work mainly consists of piping to connect the well stream to the vessel, and upgrading of the metering systems.
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