Bibby Offshore (BOUK), a leading subsea services provider to the oil and gas industry, has secured a multimillion pound contract with a North Sea Operator, to deliver decommissioning operations in the Northern North Sea East Shetland Basin.

The agreement, due to commence in Q2 of 2016 and be completed by the end of 2016, will utilise one of Bibby Offshore’s construction support vessels with adequate deck space and crane capabilities to execute operations approximately 550km North-East of Aberdeen.

Fraser Moonie, chief operating officer of Bibby Offshore

Bibby Offshore has been appointed to carry out remedial rock placement over the existing 16” oil export pipeline, recovery of 12” pipeline bundles, subsea structure removal with pile severance and debris removal within the platform’s 500m zone and along bundle routes. Waste disposal services will also be provided by BOUK, recovering items that can be decontaminated, disposed or recycled, followed by an over-trawl of the cleared field.

Fraser Moonie, chief operating officer of Bibby Offshore, said: “We are looking forward to building on our existing relationship with this particular client and continuing our partnership to provide subsea services for its offshore assets.

“Decommissioning work is of a specialist nature and, with more oil and gas infrastructures reaching the end of their design life, multi-industry experience is key to ensure each project is complete in a safe and responsible manner. With ten years of experience in decommissioning projects globally, often in highly challenging conditions, we have built up a strong track record and are ideally positioned to support companies operations.”

Seagull Oil & Gas has launched the most cost efficient and comprehensive e-learning training package in the industry for offshore personnel working in explosive atmospheres.

Building on International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standards, the new series covers basic understanding, installation in Ex-areas, Exi installation, cable entry, IP degree, and inspection and maintenance.

“We believe today’s market requires more cost efficient and better Ex and El safety training” says Morten Aasen, Managing Director, Seagull Oil & Gas. “Together with leading subject experts we have developed a series of new courses covering these safety-critical subjects. The e-learning will work as individual self-study courses but also offered as part of blended learning."

The content of the courses includes e-learning modules that normally require two days of classroom study covering theory. ExTek, the only certified CompEx centre in Norway, will offer the self-study course components so that an entire five-day 01-04 CompEx course can be completed with only three days spent in the classroom.

“Blended learning and self-study will be a greater part of future training, both to increase quality and reduce the cost of training,” says Mr. Aasen. “Ex and El safety are important subjects for our clients and we will continue to develop innovative and cost efficient solutions to meet their demands.”

The global oil and gas industry gathers a large amount of data on HSE incidents, which is shared both within companies and amongst peers. Despite this, similar types of incidents occur again and again – why?

Next month’s SPE International Conference and Exhibition on Health, Safety, Security, Environment, and Social Responsibility (HSSE-SR) will be an excellent opportunity for oil and gas professionals to hear HSE best practice in other industry sectors, and discuss how this can be applied in the oil and gas industry.

HSSE-SR, to be held at the Stavanger Forum in Norway from 11 to 13 April 2016, will take place under the theme ‘Sustaining Our Future Through Innovation and Collaboration’. This year’s event will include a number of presentations from other relevant sectors and stakeholders, aimed at reaching beyond the oil and gas industry.

The airline industry, for example, has well-developed processes for sharing and learning from their incidents and near misses. At HSSE-SR, attendees will hear about these processes from airline industry experts. This will be followed by a discussion on how these processes can be applied in the oil and gas industry, in order that it better learns from past incidents and establishes a culture of learning that runs from top to bottom within companies.

Session Chair Claudine Gorman, SSH&E Manager at ExxonMobil said, "I have tremendous respect for the improvements that the airline industry has made in their safety performance, and am excited about the opportunity to learn from their experiences. I think that their ability to connect with their people has facilitated their ability to truly learn from their incidents and near misses".

Robert Schroeder, Check-Captain/Flight Safety Specialist, Lufthansa is more succinct, “In the words of Antoine de Saint-Exupery ‘there is only one true joy: interacting with people’”.

HSSE-SR is expected to draw a wide range of delegates to share new ideas, process improvements, technological advances and innovative applications to enhance HSE performance. As well as plenary and panel sessions, there will be a multi-stream technical programme, which will include oral and Knowledge Sharing ePosters.

Attendees will also have the opportunity to visit more than 20 exhibitors, who will be demonstrating the latest solutions to HSE challenges facing stakeholders in oil and gas exploration and production, as well as attend a variety of networking events, which will be an opportunity to share experiences with peers and build fruitful relationships with stakeholders.

HSSE-SR will be hosted by Statoil, Platinum Sponsors are Baker Hughes, ExxonMobil and Shell, and ERM is the Gold Sponsor. The event is endorsed by the International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC) and International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (IOGP).

For more information, and to register, click here.

For decades, coal has been the dominant energy source for generating electricity in the United States. EIA's Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) is now forecasting that 2016 will be the first year that natural gas-fired generation exceeds coal generation in the United States on an annual basis. Natural gas generation first surpassed coal generation on a monthly basis in April 2015, and the generation shares for coal and natural gas were nearly identical in 2015, each providing about one-third of all electricity generation.

Source: US Energy Information Administration

The mix of fuels used for electricity generation has evolved over time. The recent decline in the generation share of coal, and the concurrent rise in the share of natural gas, was mainly a market-driven response to lower natural gas prices that have made natural gas generation more economically attractive. Between 2000 and 2008, coal was significantly less expensive than natural gas, and coal supplied about 50% of total U.S. generation. However, beginning in 2009, the gap between coal and natural gas prices narrowed, as large amounts of natural gas produced from shale formations changed the balance between supply and demand in U.S. natural gas markets.

Source: US Energy Information Administration

Coal and natural gas generation shares over the past decade have been responsive to changes in relative fuel prices. For example, particularly low natural gas prices throughout much of 2012 following an extremely mild 2011–12 winter led to a significant rise in the natural gas generation share between 2011 and 2012, often displacing coal-fired generation. With higher natural gas prices in 2013 and 2014, coal regained some of its generation share. However, with a return to lower natural gas prices in 2015 favoring increased natural gas-fired generation, coal's generation share dropped again.

Environmental regulations affecting power plants have played a secondary role in driving coal's declining generation share over the past decade, although plant owners in some states have made investments to shift generation toward natural gas at least partly for environmental reasons. Looking forward, environmental regulations may play a larger role in conjunction with market forces. Owners of some coal plants will face decisions to either retire units or reduce their utilization rate to comply with requirements to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from existing fossil fuel-fired power plants under the Clean Power Plan, which is scheduled to take effect in 2022 but has recently been stayed by the Supreme Court pending the outcome of ongoing litigation.

Beyond the growing market share for natural gas-fired generation over the past decade, coal's generation share has also been reduced by the growing market share of renewables other than hydroelectric power, especially wind and solar. Unlike the growth of natural gas-fired generation, which has largely been market-driven, increased use of nonhydro renewables has largely been driven by a combination of state and federal policies. The use of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar has also grown rapidly in recent years so that generation from these types of renewables is now surpassing generation from hydropower.

The March 2016 STEO expects that the combination of market forces and government policies will continue to stimulate the use of natural gas and nonhydro renewables for power generation. In EIA's forecast, natural gas provides 33% of generation in 2016 while coal's share falls to 32%. The expected share of nonhydro renewables increases to 8% in 2016, with hydropower's share at 6%.

Principal Contributor: Tyler Hodge

Songa Offshore has taken delivery of Songa Enabler from Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) in Korea.

Songa Enabler will shortly depart South Korea en route to Norway for commencement of an eight-year drilling contract with Statoil, with the first assignment on the Snøhvit field. The transit will take place with tow-assist and the rig will arrive in Norway with all third party equipment installed and ready for the client's final acceptance testing. Commencement of drilling operations is expected to take place in third quarter 2016.

Songa Enabler is a sixth generation, high specification, harsh environment, fully winterized, midwater rig designed for efficient year around drilling, completion, testing and intervention operations in water depths up to 500 meters. The rig is certified DP3 and is equipped with a "state-of-the-art" drill-floor and an efficient layout with improved safety and working environment features. 

Songa Enabler is the last rig in a series of four Category D rigs specifically built for and contracted to Statoil.

The proprietary Delmar Quick Release (DQR) was successfully installed and activated on a traditionally moored semi-submersible MODU in the US Gulf of Mexico. Eight DQRs were installed in an offshore mooring systems and deployed for over 160 days in approximately 7800' of water.

The DQR was used to save critical path rig time during transit from an offshore drilling site. Through detailed planning and efficient offshore execution, using the DQR resulted in approximately 3.5 days of saved rig time during disconnection operations. In addition, the DQR was used during weather that prohibited the use of the anchor handling vessel's ROV, which would have further delayed the rig move schedule.

“The first use of the Delmar DQR has provided the experience and assurance that our manual mooring release will provide both operational efficiency and mooring diversification for drilling operations in the future”, said Matt Smith, Delmar’s Vice President of Operations. “Our thanks to the drilling contractor and operator for providing us the opportunity to prove this technology in a real work situation.”

The patent pending DQR is an in-line mooring component developed by Delmar Systems, Inc. with a simple mechanical release feature that allows a vessel to separate from its mooring system while the lines are under tension. The system allows the rig to safely and efficiently offset or depart from a moored location, with or without the use of support vessels, alleviating the need for waiting on vessels to mobilize and arrive. The DQR can be used with any anchor foundation and allows for safe mooring of DP rigs as well as traditional moored rigs.

Delmar Systems received classification society approval from ABS and DNV for the design and manufacturing of the DQR, ensuring compliance with the strict industry standards for offshore mooring.

Click here to see the rig activate the DQR

Department of the Interior Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management Janice Schneider and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Abigail Ross Hopper announces that the March 23rd, oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico garnered $156 million in high bids for 128 tracts covering 693,962 acres in the Central Planning Area of the Outer Continental Shelf offshore Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

A total of 30 offshore energy companies submitted 148 bids. The sum of all bids received totaled $179,172,819. No bids were received in the Eastern Planning Area.

“The Gulf remains a critical component of our nation’s energy portfolio and holds important energy resources that spur economic opportunities for Gulf producing states while reducing our dependence on foreign oil,” said Assistant Secretary Schneider. “Though these sales reflect today’s market conditions and industry’s current development strategy, they underscore the President's commitment to create jobs and home-grown energy through the safe and responsible exploration and development of our offshore energy resources.”

The Department of the Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) offered nearly 45 million acres covering tracts in the Central and Eastern planning areas of the Gulf of Mexico.

Today’s lease sales build on the first eight sales held under the Obama Administration’s Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2012-2017 (Five Year Program) that offered more than 60 million acres for development and has garnered, to date, $3 billion in bid revenues and awarded 1,071 leases. The Five Year Program makes available all offshore areas with the highest resource potential and includes 75 percent of the nation’s undiscovered, technically recoverable offshore oil and gas resources.

“As one of the most productive basins in the world, the Gulf of Mexico continues to be the keystone of the Nation’s offshore oil and gas resources,” Director Hopper said. “The decline in oil prices and low natural gas prices obviously affect industry’s short-term investment decisions, but the Gulf’s long-term value to the nation remains high and the President’s energy strategy continues to offer millions of offshore acres for development while protecting the human, marine and coastal environments, and ensuring a fair return to the American people.”

Central Planning Area (CPA) Sale 241 attracted $156,385,610 in high bids on 128 blocks covering 693,962 acres. A total of 30 offshore energy companies participated in submitting 148 bids totaling $179,172,819. The CPA encompasses 8,349 unleased blocks, covering 44.3 million acres, located from three to 230 nautical miles offshore Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, in water depths ranging from nine to more than 11,115 feet (three to 3,400 meters).

Sale 226, the second of two lease sales proposed for the Eastern Planning Area under the current Five Year Program, encompasses 162 whole or partial unleased blocks covering 595,475 acres in the Eastern Planning Area not subject to congressional moratorium. The blocks are located at least 125 statute miles offshore in water depths ranging from 2,657 feet to 10,213 feet (810 to 3,113 meters). The area is south of eastern Alabama and western Florida; the nearest point of land is 125 miles northwest in Louisiana.

Though the sale did not receive any bids, continued interest in this area is evidenced by ongoing and planned activity on existing leases from past sales as well as from similar activity on existing leases immediately adjacent to this area within the Gulf's Central Planning Area.

Most of the Eastern Gulf of Mexico Planning Area (EPA) cannot be offered for lease until 2022 as part of the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006.

BOEM established the terms for these sales after extensive environmental analysis, public comment and consideration of the best scientific information available. These terms include measures to protect the environment, such as stipulations requiring that operators protect biologically sensitive features as well as providing trained protected species observers. The observers would monitor marine mammals and sea turtles to ensure compliance with protective measures and restrict operations when conditions warrant.

The lease terms also include a range of incentives to encourage diligent development and ensure a fair return to taxpayers.

Following the sales, each bid will go through a 90-day evaluation process to ensure the public receives fair market value before a lease is awarded.

Statistics for Lease Sale 241 are available. Statistics for Lease Sale 226 are available.

BOEM oversees 160 million acres on the OCS in the Gulf of Mexico. Approximately 24 million acres (4,348 blocks) are leased for oil and gas development; and 4.1 million of those acres (840 blocks) are producing oil and natural gas.

New guidance approach supports industry in the safe and effective deployment of next generation drone and unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) technology that can significantly improve productivity gains through reducing risk exposure, survey times and in-service inspection costs of offshore, marine and onshore infrastructure.

Lloyd’s Register’s first phase of its guidance notes for drones and Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) is launched today, giving operators in the energy and marine industries confidence in using UAS for offshore, marine and onshore surveys and in-service inspections.

“We are developing these guidance notes to provide a consistent approach to risk in UAS and drone deployment, offering practical operational considerations relating to regulations, personnel, quality, safety, hardware, software and operations,” says Lloyd’s Register’s Chief Technology Officer, Nial McCollam.

McCollam highlights: “Technology and innovation in the area of digital data, sensing technologies, unmanned systems and robotics are here to stay. We see an exciting and important journey ahead, and anticipate our efforts to increase and continue.”

UAS, commonly known as drones, provide an effective alternative to traditional methods of in-service operational assessment and survey, especially structures and assets at significant heights, difficult to access locations and hazardous environments.

Major operators such as Shell and Maersk Drilling are among early adopters of innovative technology with safety and quality as a priority.

“Shell views human and environmental safety as paramount in all of its operations. The use of robotic technology for inspection purposes reduces the need for personnel working in enclosed spaces and at heights. Minimizing risk across the industry by utilizing cutting edge technology in this way is of great importance to Shell,” says Adri Postema, General Manager of Shell Shipping and Maritime, Technology.

To unlock this potential, collaboration among industry partners throughout the value chain will be critical. In collaboration with Lloyd’s Register, Maersk Drilling and partners have conducted a number of pilots to assess UAS capabilities for inspection at heights and difficult areas.

“We can see the technology has many potential applications, and it has triggered ideas on new applications. One area we want to focus on is the safety aspect of this new technology, and how we integrate it with existing safety processes, and ensure we use it to enhance safety, and to limit the introduction of new risks. It only takes one or two accidents or near miss reports to set a bad record for robotics and unmanned systems in the industry, so the guidance notes will help the industry take into consideration important considerations,” says Jan Holm, Managing Director of Maersk Drilling Singapore.

The guidance notes from Lloyd’s Register will be updated regularly to provide industry with the latest practical information on issues such as how best to use UAS for inspection in confined spaces which is particularly relevant in energy and marine applications where Class surveys are needed, and which also improves safety for human life.

“In the past, small commercial UAS technology can be traced back to remote-controlled hobby aircraft, requiring significant skills to operate. However, rapid advancements in hardware and software including air stabilization, pre-flight planning tools, obstacle detection and avoidance technology have transformed these small aircraft into viable business tools that is likened to high-definition eyes in the sky,” says Chris Chung, Head of Strategic Research at Lloyd’s Register.

UAS are piloted remotely or autonomously, which reduces the need to send personnel into high-risk and challenging environments. This provides a real opportunity to decrease the number of falls and fatalities that occur due to traditional methods of working at heights, as reported by the US Bureau of Labor, Safe-Work Australia and the UK’s Health and Safety Executive.

Unlocking further potential


In March 2016, the Lloyd’s Register Foundation convened an international panel of industry and academic experts for a two day workshop on Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS) to identify current state of the art and the white space where the Foundation can add significant impact and contribution in line with its charitable objectives. The review will be published as part of the Foundation’s Foresight Review series of reports later this year. The Foundation is expecting to make a significant grant investment in RAS to deliver the findings from the report.

”We have been looking into robotics and unmanned systems for years, not just on the technology but also on design codes, policies and guidelines on safe and sustainable deployment. We see UAS as part of the unmanned systems and robotics story, which also includes underwater and ground-based systems,” highlights Chung.

“In addition to tried and tested applications such as safely inspecting assets of flare stacks and other outdoor critical infrastructure, we are collaborating with industry to enable inspection of the undersides of offshore structures maritime vessels and confined spaces such as storage tanks,” says Chung. “With increasing capabilities, we believe UAS will in the future have the ability to autonomously follow a pre-defined flight path, enabling higher measurement accuracy and repetition of collecting more relevant data and operational defects while inspecting and data-gathering in real-time.”

UAS also has a fundamental part to play in emergency response and improving situational awareness.

“A major challenge in any emergency situation is the lack of timely and accurate information on which to base informed decisions. In such instances, UAS can be used to gather data without sending in personnel, or at least limiting their risk exposure,” says Chung.

You can find out more about our UAS work with industry here.

The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) and The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have announced a five-year agreement allowing BSEE to capitalize on the best risk management approaches from the aeronautics industry to inform stakeholders and further strengthen worker and environmental safety protections on the Outer Continental Shelf.

Photo credit: BSEE

“Both BSEE and NASA work in harsh and uncompromising environments, relying on cutting edge technology to go deeper and further than previously thought possible,” said BSEE Director Brian Salerno. “This partnership brings together technical experts from BSEE and NASA to focus on the specific risks associated with offshore operations so that we can continue to find ways to improve safety for offshore workers and protect the environment.”

Used by NASA, probabilistic risk assessment is a technique to quantitatively model risk. It was used in the modeling of the Space Shuttle Program and is presently being used for the International Space Station and Orion deep space capsule programs.

“Whether the task takes one to deep space, or into the deep ocean, the analysis of the environment, training of personnel and risk mitigation factors are similar,” said Jack James, technology transfer strategist at the Johnson Space Center. “NASA is pleased to work with BSEE, and we endeavor to learn best practices from each other.”

The next MTS Houston Section luncheon will be held on April 28 2016. Dr. Michael Pavia, Chief Technology Officer with Glori Energy, will discuss delaying plug and abandonment by improving oil cut for mature offshore facilities.

Enhanced oil recovery operations are less common offshore in comparison to their mature counterparts onshore. Large inter-well distances, facilities constraints and capital expenditure limitations due to declining production greatly restrict choices for tertiary recovery strategies. Moreover, as oil cut continues to fall, maintaining economic production requires processing ever-increasing water volumes eventually requiring plugging and abandonment (P&A) even though well over 60% of the original oil remains in the formation.

A biological enhanced oil recovery (EOR) solution initially deployed offshore in the North Sea has been validated with multiple onshore demonstrations and is now available for mature, offshore facilities to promote preferential oil flow in water-flooded sandstone reservoirs. The method makes use of the existing biology in the formation.

This presentation will cover how rapid increases in oil production and oil-water ratios were achieved in as little as two to four months following initiation of biological EOR. Recommendations are offered for extracting otherwise trapped oil and recovering significantly more of the oil-in-place prior to P&A.

About the Speaker:

Dr. Michael Pavia is Chief Technology Officer with Glori Energy. Prior to joining Glori, Dr. Pavia was Entrepreneur-in-Residence with the venture capital firm Oxford Bioscience Partners, a position he held from 2002 to 2010.

Before joining Oxford, Mike Pavia was Chief Technology Officer at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, where his major focus was to improve the productivity of the drug discovery and development process through the appropriate use of new technologies.

Dr. Pavia has over 20 years of experience in pharmaceutical research and discovery. He was formerly VP - Cambridge Research at Sphinx Pharmaceuticals.

He also held senior scientific positions in the Department of Chemistry at the Parke-Davis Pharmaceutical Research Division of Warner-Lambert with a focus on drugs of the central nervous system. He serves on the boards of Azevan Pharmaceuticals Inc., and Selventa, Inc.

Dr. Pavia holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Lehigh University and a doctorate in organic chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania.

UPCOMING MTS HOUSTON PRESENTATIONS AND EVENTS

William Jacob Management Inc. (WJM) has secured its initial contract to complete the detailed engineering and design of its first Mobile Offshore Support Services Vessel; the MOSS V. Northport Marine LLC will be the first client to receive delivery of the new concept vessel, scheduled for completion in Q1 2018.

The MOSS V is a heavy-duty jack up drilling rig, converted to a self-propelled vessel. Potential applications include rigless plug and abandonment (P&A), construction support, floatel, storm damage repair, decommissioning, wireline, workover, support of a skid off rig and maintenance. WJM will provide the engineering design and construction management for the conversion and refit of a candidate vessel, several of which have been identified.

By removing pre-existing drilling equipment from the top deck during the conversion, a 10,000-square-foot open deck serves to create a utility vessel that allows for the accommodation of a number of different services. The equipment below deck (pumps and tanks) is left in place, for potential use in P&A applications.

Typically, a standard jack-up rig is equipped with two or three cranes with limited capacity of only 10 to 30 tons. The MOSS V adds a new heavy-duty 500-ton crane, which extends the vessel’s capability to comfortably handle platform maintenance, coiled tubing offloading, the decommissioning of platforms and the rigless P&A of wells. The MOSS V hosts a large 85-person living quarters, which means it can also jack up next to a platform and be used as a floatel.

The MOSS V is a far more robust vessel in comparison with smaller, lighter lift boats. Whereas existing lift boats can only work up to a maximum of 200-feet water depth and cannot operate in heavy seas, the MOSS V is designed for 350 to 400-foot water depth capability, and can endure substantial adverse weather conditions due to its size and weight.

A 2,000-square-foot enclosed machine and welding shop is also located on the deck of the MOSS V. This means that workers can safely perform construction tasks for repairs in an environment shielded from the elements whilst offshore on the vessel. Another feature that enhances the safety of its workers is the inclusion of a helideck on the MOSS V. This means that workers can be safely transported on and off the vessel; eliminating the risks inherent with basket transfer of personnel typically used with smaller lift boats.

Michael Duffy, president, William Jacob Management, said, “In the current industry climate, an increasing number of plug and abandonment and decommissioning projects are coming online in the GOM, and the MOSS V is currently the only vessel sufficiently equipped to fully serve this target region. For an extremely competitive day rate, the MOSS V offers a unique set of multi-functional characteristics, eliminating the need for clients to hire multiple expensive vessels to perform various tasks, and delivering significant time and cost savings offshore. The MOSS V is a self-propelled vessel, with all the advantages of a heavy, robust standard jack-up drilling rig, but with the added design benefits of self-propulsion, 10,000-square-foot deck space and ability to undertake a wider variety of work in deeper water. Its versatility makes the MOSS V a one-stop shop for a variety of offshore requirements.”

Operators are seizing the opportunity to keep offshore structures in the region operating beyond the end of original design life

The Middle East faces a substantial challenge to keep hundreds of ageing offshore oil and gas structures operating safely and legally beyond original design life. “There are at least 700 to 800 fixed platforms and bridges in the region,” said Anupam Ghosal, regional manager for Middle East and India, DNV GL - Oil & Gas. “More than 70% are older than 25 years; some exceed 40 years. United Arab Emirates (UAE) alone has about 450.”

Life extension of ageing structures ensures continued operation within regulatory requirements, and helps to limit future operational expenditure (opex). “Constraining opex is vital to economically viable but safe operations,” he added. Operators in the Middle East are at different stages of implementing controlled approaches to asset integrity management (AIM) and structural integrity management (SIM) systems. Ghosal observed: “Several are in the planning stage. DNV GL is engaged in the process with quite a few customers in the region.”

Operators are seizing the opportunity to keep offshore structures in the region operating beyond the end of original design life. Photo: ADMA-OPCO

The Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company (ADMA-OPCO), a major producer of oil and gas from offshore Abu Dhabi, is in the vanguard of Middle East operators addressing life extension opportunities; some of its earliest structures are more than 50 years old. “We have an extensive fleet of structures undergoing continuous brownfield project developments to ensure sustainable oil production over the extended field-life,” explained Dr. Tarek Omar, civil/structural engineering team leader, ADMA-OPCO. “Of these assets, 70% have already reached design life, and ADMA has taken a strategic decision to lead in the area of managing their integrity.”

Case study: ADMA-OPCO

ADMA-OPCO has developed a comprehensive structural management system (SMS) framework based on a fully quantitative approach. All changes are monitored and managed through an in-house developed management of change (MOC) system for structures which meets all the company’s requirements. ADMA's SMS uses a fleet management system (FMS) to manage the quantification and risk ranking of its fleet.

Continuous improvement is important, Ghosal agreed: “Technological advances provide opportunities to produce more hydrocarbons economically from existing structures. Low oil prices create the need to extract best value from current facilities. Other drivers include improved data on reservoirs, heightened regulation, updated design standards and knowledge, advances in risk management, and enhanced focus on safe operations.”

ADMA-OPCO plans to further increase effectiveness of SIM by: mandating use of the management of change system company-wide; continuously updating structural assessment methods; and continuous interaction and joint innovation with industry partners.

Greater activity around asset and structural integrity will generate substantial know-how for the Middle East and elsewhere. ADMA-OPCO’s structures, for example, are forecast to be among the industry’s longest lasting, Omar said. The company is actively taking key initiatives in joint industry R&D projects, and in adopting international standards for structural management. One key learning from ADMA-OPCO’s SMS is the importance of an effective MOC process and sophisticated inspection in capturing the risks, Omar said. “This earned continuous support from company management to make it a company-wide culture.”

One solution does not fit all

Another lesson is that one-size does not fit all when developing an SMS, he added. “Each company and region has its own special requirements and a structural management system needs to cater for these.” Ghosal commented: “Operators here face challenges encountered elsewhere in the world, but also ones that are specific to, or more pronounced, in this region, such as sour gas. DNV GL has had a presence here for more than 30 years and understands local needs.”

DNV GL’s software, database, quantitative and qualitative approaches, and other expertise in capturing, analyzing and managing information for SIM assists customers to scope, design and implement life extension strategies. The company’s ‘missing data methodology’ addresses the absence of historic documentation, a common challenge for operators in the region.

Key structural integrity goals

Engineering experts at oil and gas companies operating in the Middle East see ageing effects in grouted piles as one of the top structural integrity management (SIM) challenges. This emerged from interviews by DNV GL, and in a survey at its annual Ageing Structures Day in September 2015.

Some operators also expressed a desire to see regional acceptance criteria formulated for SIM of existing fixed structures, but with operators having flexibility to respond to local circumstances.

For offshore Abu Dhabi, they wanted to know: how lateral pile capacity might be enhanced in carbonaceous rocks; more about the seismic vulnerability of platforms; and, how a spectrum of site-specific responses might be formulated.

Others were interested in the implementation of online health-monitoring. Respondents saw a need for engineering studies to verify requirements for replacement of degraded appurtenances such as riser- and conductor-protectors.

Region-specific guidance on the below elements is useful when developing life extension strategies for ageing offshore structures.

1 Wave spectra suitable for benign sea conditions in the Arabian Gulf to predict fatigue reliability and to assess the remaining fatigue life of structures.

2 Corrosion mitigation strategies for structures and critical appurtenances to optimize the operating expenditure of ageing offshore structures.

New technology to acquire missing data on actual pile penetration depth and ageing grout strength to assure drilled and grouted foundation integrity.

Johan Sverdrup is by far the largest ongoing project on the Norwegian Continental Shelf for the next few years.

Statoil has awarded contracts to DNV GL for verification of all 4 topsides, the 3 bridges, 3 of 4 jackets, topside installation by use of the Allseas single lift vessel ‘Pioneering Spirit and extended site assessment for the jack-up.

Johan Sverdrup is by far the largest ongoing project on the Norwegian Continental Shelf for the next few years. Credit: Statoil ASA

Third party verification gives the operator and the authorities confidence that the project development has the required safety and quality level.

“The contract demonstrates that our investment in technology, service development and efficient operations is making us competitive also in this cost challenged market. We sincerely look forward to supporting Statoil and the Johan Sverdrup partners on this important project,” says Regional Manager for DNV GL- Oil & Gas Norway, Kjell Eriksson.

The value of the contracts is approximately 60 MNOK. 


Third party verification builds trust


Through third party verification, operators, public authorities and society at large can rest assured that operations, structures and systems meet the requirements set by legislation, the industry, authorities - and in some cases - voluntary commitments made by commercial operators. For the structures at Johan Sverdrup, a risk based verification approach is chosen to assess compliance with NORSOK standards, VMO standards (developed by DNV GL) and Statoil’s own technical requirements.

A total of 36 crude and natural gas projects are expected to commence operations in the North Sea by 2025, with the UK being responsible for 25, while nine will be located in Norway and the remaining two in Denmark, according to research and consulting firm GlobalData.

The company’s latest report* states that of these planned projects, 31 will be for crude, with all five gas projects to be undertaken by the UK. In terms of their impact on global crude production, key planned projects in the North Sea are expected to contribute 819,000 barrels of oil per day (mbd) and 1.1 billion cubic feet of gas per day (bcfd) by 2025.

Joseph Gatdula, GlobalData’s Senior Upstream Analyst, explains: “The UK will contribute the most planned projects in the North Sea region to 2025 as most new fields are smaller, less expensive tie-backs that utilise existing infrastructure.”

GlobalData’s report also states that the total capital expenditure (capex) incurred by key planned projects is expected to total US$86.5 billion, of which US $43.4 billion is anticipated to be spent between 2016 and 2025. Norway is expected to lead the region in these terms, with capex of US $27.8 billion during the 2016-2025 period.

Matthew Beven, GlobalData’s Upstream Analyst, comments: “Norway will lead North Sea capital expenditure, with Statoil contributing around 65%. This is mainly due to the Johan Sverdrup project due on stream in 2019.”

*Production and Capital Expenditure Outlook for Key Planned Upstream Projects in North Sea

Asset Guardian Solutions Ltd (AGSL), which specializes in protecting companies’ process control software assets, announced that it has been awarded a contract by TAQA.

A subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, TAQA’s UK operations include five platforms that produce from 13 fields spread across the Northern North Sea and the Central North Sea.

TAQA Eider Platform

As a result of this contract award, AGSL is providing its Asset Guardian software management toolset to TAQA for use on its North Sea offshore assets.

Ensuring integrity and availability of process control software data and files

Asset Guardian can ensure that backups of new and modified software are securely stored and easy to access from any location, making certain that effective version control is in place. This reduces associated downtime caused by a potential process system software failure. As part of the project, AGSL is also helping TAQA to electronically migrate its existing process control software files and data into Asset Guardian.

Effective training

AGSL is also delivering an online computer-based training (CBT) program so that employees can learn to use the Asset Guardian toolset.

“We are proud to have been selected by TAQA to provide them with our method of securing and managing process control software assets,” said Sam Mackay, Chief Executive Officer of Asset Guardian Solutions Ltd. “We look forward to working with them.”

Building on success

Since 2004, AGSL has been supplying the process control industry with the Asset Guardian toolset. Total E&P UK, Nexen Petroleum U.K. Limited, Woodside Energy, GDF Suez, Inpex, Dolphin Drilling, Stena Drilling, BP, McDermott and nuclear energy provider EDF Energy are among those using Asset Guardian to protect and enhance management of their critical process control software assets.

INDUSTRY CAUGHT IN CATCH 22, SAYS DNV GL

Only one in five oil and gas companies see themselves as highly digitalized today. However, close to half of senior oil & gas professionals1 (45%) already see solid or high potential for big data and analytics to transform the operating efficiency of the industry in 2016, according to research by DNV GL, the leading technical advisor to the oil and gas industry.

The research among over 900 senior oil and professionals reveals that despite it’s potential, only 36% plan significant or moderate investment in big data and analytics in 2016.The IT related technology expected to by most respondents to have significant or high investment is cyber security attack / prevention (44%), followed by automation / remote operation (43%).

“Early adopters are emerging, but many in the industry are still at early stages of maturity in data analytics and data-based decision making. The industry is in something of a ‘Catch 22’ situation; close to half of seniors in our industry see solid or high potential for big data and analytics to transform the industry’s operating efficiency in 2016. However, investment seems to be lagging just when we need it most. Our in-depth interviews point to cost constraints and uncertainty about the cost-saving potential of digital technologies as the key reasons,” says Nada Ahmed, Senior Engineer at DNV GL – Oil & Gas.

“As for other areas of innovation, collaboration could prove essential to bridge this digital gap and ensure experience transfer in the conservation of data, efficiency drivers and ways to ultimately leverage the opportunities big data represent for the industry,” adds Ahmed.

DNV GL has identified key opportunities to reduce costs by optimizing day-to-day operations2:

Condition monitoring for more effective maintenance and inspection regimes, dictated by specific, industry, historical and real-time data. Replacing planned maintenance with preventive maintenance, driven by early warnings from sensor data, can significantly reduce downtime.

Instant information from wells can provide timely decisions on underperforming wells and other potential issues that, if not dealt with, could lead to enormous costs.

Detecting anomalies while drilling and during operation can also lead to more effective decisions for cost savings.

Elisabeth Tørstad, CEO of DNV GL – Oil & Gas, says: “Our customers say that a number of challenges need to be addressed to capitalize on the opportunities within Big Data; robust strategies to capture, manage and utilize critical data, access to reliable, trustworthy data, and stringent security to minimize security breaches. We are working with the industry to help it manage the risks and leverage the opportunities associated with digitalization.

“Cyber-attacks on in the oil and gas industry have grown in stature and sophistication in recent years, making them more difficult to detect and defend against, and costing companies increasing sums of money to recover from,” adds Tørstad.