Statoil has, on behalf of the Johan Sverdrup license, awarded a contract to Jacktel AS, a wholly owned subsidiary of Master Marine AS, for providing accommodation services on the Johan Sverdrup field.

Jacktel AS, a wholly owned subsidiary of Master Marine A, located in Oslo/Norway, has been awarded a contract for the Haven jack-up accommodation rig for the installation and commissioning period for the Johan Sverdrup project phase 1.

The Haven jack-up accommodation rig. (Photo: Sondre Steen Holvik)

Included in the accommodation services is bed capacity and catering services for project personnel. The accommodation rig will provide up to 400 beds on the Johan Sverdrup field.

To ensure required capacity for working on the Johan Sverdrup field, Haven will undergo an upgrade related to strength and length of the legs, including provision of new spud-cans/suction-caissons. The upgrade is expected to be performed at a yard in Norway.

The contract period is 18 months with an estimated start 15 June 2018. In addition there are 5x2 months options. The total value of the firm contract period is approximately 178 million USD. including expected upgrade cost of approximately 100 million USD.

"We are very pleased with the contract awarded to Jacktel AS. The Haven jack-up accommodation rig will be an important tool in the final offshore installation and commissioning phase, putting together the different pieces of the Johan Sverdrup puzzle "says Kjetel Digre, senior vice president for the Johan Sverdrup development project.

The development concept for Johan Sverdrup phase 1 will consist of four installations, including a utility and accommodation platform, a processing platform, a drilling platform and a riser platform, in addition to three subsea templates for water injection. 

Also announces Humpback well results offshore the Falkland Islands

Noble Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NBL) announces that the Big Bend oil development in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico commenced production on October 26, 2015. The single-well field is ramping as expected and is anticipated to reach a maximum gross production rate of approximately 20 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day (MBoe/d) over the next couple of weeks. Approximately 90 percent of the volumes being produced are oil. In addition, the Company has continued to accelerate the Dantzler development and now expects first production from the Dantzler field by early November. Big Bend and Dantzler, located in Mississippi Canyon 698 and 782, respectively, are subsea tiebacks to the third-party Thunder Hawk production facility. Combined, the fields are estimated to contribute a maximum net production rate of 20 MBoe/d to Noble Energy.

Gary W. Willingham, Noble Energy's Executive Vice President of Operations, said, "We continue to build on our strong track record of major project execution with Big Bend coming online less than three years from discovery and within our sanctioned budget. Big Bend is the first of three major projects planned to come online for us in the Gulf of Mexico over the next nine months, contributing significant oil production and cash flow to the business. Short cycle times to first production, strong well deliverability, and low production costs from our Gulf of Mexico projects deliver attractive returns even in today's environment."

Noble Energy operates Big Bend with a 54 percent working interest. Other interest owners are W & T Energy VI, LLC (a wholly owned subsidiary of W & T Offshore Inc.) with 20 percent, Red Willow Offshore, LLC with 15.4 percent and Houston Energy Deepwater Ventures V, LLC with 10.6 percent.

The Company is also the operator of Dantzler with a 45 percent working interest. Partners include Ridgewood Energy Corporation (including ILX Holdings II, LLC a portfolio company of Riverstone Holdings, LLC) with 35 percent working interest and W & T Energy VI, LLC with 20 percent.

Noble Energy also announced that the Humpback well offshore the Falkland Islands reached total depth and is being plugged and abandoned. Humpback was drilled in the Fitzroy sub-basin of the Southern Area License and encountered non-commercial quantities of crude oil and natural gas. Full well assessment and the integration of drilling results into the Company's geologic models is ongoing to determine remaining exploration potential in the Southern Area License. The geologic play including Humpback is only one of a number of prospect play types in the Southern Area License.

The rig which drilled the Humpback well will be released to another operator before returning to Noble Energy to spud the Rhea prospect in late 2015 or early 2016. Located in the Northern Area License offshore the Falkland Islands and approximately 265 miles from Humpback, Rhea is in a proven petroleum basin near existing oil discoveries. Rhea is a Cretaceous-aged prospect with multiple reservoir targets and total estimated gross mean unrisked resources in excess of 250 million barrels of oil.

The Company now expects total third quarter 2015 exploration expense to be approximately $200 million, which includes the majority of net costs related to the Humpback well.

Brazil will lead global growth in the Floating Production, Storage and Offloading vessel (FPSO) industry despite the country’s national oil company, Petrobras, recently facing allegations of corruption, says research and consulting firm GlobalData.

Petrobras registered its biggest ever loss in 2014, partly due to the write-down resulting from the corruption scandal, which in turn resulted in spending cuts on its future projects.

GlobalData’s report* states that despite the challenges, Brazil has spearheaded recent growth in the global FPSO industry, with the country deploying 17 FPSOs between 2009 and 2014.

Adrian Lara, GlobalData’s Senior Upstream Analyst, says: “Petrobras’ strategic plans in 2013 and 2014 had almost 40 FPSOs deployed in Brazil through 2020. Based on the company’s latest plan, there are currently seven FPSOs still on time for delivery, whereas 11 have had their delivery date moved back a couple years and about 12 FPSOs are now expected after 2020.”

While Petrobras is planning to spend $108.6 billion, or 83% of its total capital expenditure, on the exploration and production sector as part of its 2015-2019 Business and Management Plan, corruption allegations have hampered its ability to execute the planned projects, including those involving FPSOs.

Lara comments: “Planned projects have been affected in large part by the ongoing investigation into corruption. In particular, domestic shipyards have been hit hard.

“Sete Brasil was set to build 29 offshore rigs for Petrobras but has scaled back to 15. The uncertainty around when and how many rigs will be available will have a knock-on effect on FPSO delivery dates.”

Despite these challenges, Petrobras plans to prioritize oil production projects focusing on sub-salt resources and will deploy and operate a higher number of FPSOs than any other company in the world by 2019, according to the report.

Matthew Jurecky, GlobalData’s Head of Oil & Gas Research and Consulting, concludes: “FPSOs are an ideal development option for offshore oil fields given current uncertain oil prices, as they can easily be scaled up if the market improves, or scaled down to maintain economic viability despite low oil prices.

“For example, the Sea Lion development in the Falkland Islands is progressing through reducing the initial scope despite being a frontier project.”

*Global FPSO Industry Outlook – Brazil Leads Record FPSO Deployments Despite Deteriorated Project Economics

The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) and Mexico’s National Agency for Industrial Safety and Environmental Protection of the Hydrocarbons Sector (ASEA) have signed a letter of intent to strengthen cooperation, coordination and information sharing related to the development, oversight, and enforcement of safety and environmental regulations for development of offshore hydrocarbon resources.

The ceremony of signature was conducted by BSEE Director Brian Salerno and ASEA’s Executive Director, Carlos de Regules Ruiz-Funes. The signing took place after the closing of this year’s International Regulators’ Forum (IRF) Offshore Safety Conference in Washington, following on their earlier meeting in September. Mexico and the U.S. have a long history of mutually beneficial cooperation on conservation, management and sustainable development of natural resources. This continued cooperation between BSEE and ASEA is in keeping with broader bilateral efforts for cooperation in the environmental and hydrocarbons sector between the two countries. The letter of intent lays out areas in which the two agencies may coordinate, to include:

Periodic information and experience exchanges;

Organization of bilateral events and visits of delegations; Participation as observers in activities related to their respective authorities;

Conducting of joint studies and research where appropriate; Training of staff; and

Further cooperation by way of any other terms BSEE and ASEA may hereafter mutually determine.

ASEA was formally established on March 2, 2015 and is responsible for the regulation and oversight of all oil and gas production, as well as industrial safety and environmental protection in Mexico. The Mexican agency works with the goal of providing certainty to both investors and society. ASEA’s vision is based on adherence to international standards and best practices in regulation across the world, and it carries out its international collaboration with the intent of implementing the best technical processes in the newly established Mexican hydrocarbon sector.

McDermott International, Inc. (NYSE:MDR) announced on Monday, November 9th, that it has been awarded a large brownfield contract by RasGas Company Limited (RasGas) for the engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) of a flow assurance and looping project consisting of 74 miles of 6- and 8-inch pipeline and topside modifications, offshore Qatar. Work is scheduled for completion by the end of the third quarter of 2017.

McDermott and RasGas have worked closely together for two decades with McDermott having fabricated and installed numerous RasGas facilities offshore Qatar. Currently, the companies have an Engineering Service Agreement (ESA) under which McDermott has executed several concept studies and Front End Engineering Design (FEED) projects. Additionally, the McDermott team is assisting with the upgrade and replacement of three helidecks.

“Some 20 years ago, McDermott and RasGas began building what has become a historically strong working relationship,” said Tom Mackie, McDermott’s Vice President, Middle East. “This set the stage for this award. By combining our knowledge of the customer’s current production infrastructure, early collaboration through our ESA, and our unique brownfield capabilities, McDermott provided RasGas with an optimal EPCI solution.”

Engineering, procurement and fabrication is expected to be performed by McDermott’s teams based in Dubai, U.A.E. Vessels from the McDermott global fleet are expected to undertake the installation work.

Revenue for the order will be included in McDermott’s third quarter 2015 backlog

Statoil has completed a farm-in transaction with ExxonMobil Exploration and Production South Africa Limited (ExxonMobil), acquiring a 35 percent interest in the ER 12/3/154 Tugela South Exploration Right.

The remaining interests are held by the operator ExxonMobil (40%) and co-venturer Impact Africa Limited (Impact Africa) (25%).

“This opportunity is in line with Statoil’s exploration strategy of access at scale. It represents access into a frontier basin where we believe we see indications of an active petroleum system and which has impact potential,” says Nick Maden, senior vice president for Statoil's exploration activities in the Western Hemisphere.

“The position strengthens and increases the optionality in Statoil’s long-term international portfolio. We look forward to working with ExxonMobil, Impact Africa and the South African government to explore for oil and gas in this new area for Statoil,” says Maden.

The Tugela South Exploration Right covers an area of approximately 9,054 square kilometers. It is located offshore eastern South Africa in water depths up to 1,800 meters.

The farm-in represents a country entry for Statoil into South Africa. Statoil enters in an early exploration phase with a step-wise exploration program. Work commitments between 2015 and 2017 include the acquisition of 1,000 square kilometers of 3D seismic data and geology and geophysics (G&G) studies. There are no commitment wells during this exploration period.

The information obtained from the initial studies and seismic survey will form the decision basis for the co-venturers’ next steps in the Exploration Right.

Statoil has decided to cancel the contract with Songa Trym, four months before the expiration of contract on 4 March 2016.

Songa Trym (Photo: Kjetil Larsen - Statoil)

Statoil has previously notified Songa Offshore that the rig would be suspended for a period, and Statoil has tried to find other assignments for the rig after the suspension period and up to the expiration of contract.

“We informed the supplier earlier in October about suspending the contract after the rig has completed the drilling operation on the Tavros well on the Visund field. Statoil has hoped for further activity in the remaining contract period, but we now realize that we must cancel the contract, as we have not succeeded in finding more assignments. We regret that we need to cancel the contract before it expires,” says Tore Aarreberg, head of rig procurements in Statoil.

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate wants unmanned wellhead platforms to be considered more often as an alternative to subsea tie-back in connection with development decisions.

A new study will look into the benefits and disadvantages of wellhead platforms.

The unmanned wellhead platform Tambar (BP) in the North Sea.
(Photo: BP)

"The main argument in favor of unmanned wellhead platforms as a concept, is that this could be an efficient development solution in terms of both cost and production. In fact, it is just as functional and robust as a subsea development, and it is also more accessible for inspection and maintenance," says Niels Erik Hald, principal engineer in the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate.

An unmanned wellhead platform is a facility with a fixed substructure installed on the seabed, with dry wellheads located on the platform deck. The concept is an alternative to subsea wells where the wellheads are placed on the seabed. There are various types of unmanned wellhead platforms – from simple facilities to more advanced solutions including e.g. process equipment. Some can be entered from vessels, while others have bridges or helicopter decks.

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate has commissioned a study with the objective of gaining further knowledge about the different types of unmanned wellhead platforms. The plan is for the study, to be performed by Rambøll Oil & Gas, to be submitted to the authorities towards the end of December of this year.

Statoil (U.K) Limited has awarded contracts for the catering and facilities services for its UK offshore and onshore operations to ESS Offshore and 14forty, both part of Compass Group UK & Ireland.

The offshore catering and facilities contract was awarded to Aberdeen-based ESS Offshore and includes the provision of offshore catering services to the Mariner A platform and Mariner B floating storage unit, as well as housekeeping services, helideck operations and emergency response duties. The agreement is due to start in 2016.

The onshore total facilities management contract was awarded to 14forty, previously known as Eurest, and covers Statoil’s offices in Aberdeen, London and its Dudgeon wind farm operations base in Great Yarmouth.

The provision of catering, cleaning, security and property services will start immediately in Great Yarmouth and in 2016 in the London office and Aberdeen, with the opening of Statoil’s new UKCS operations centre.

“Combining the offshore and onshore scopes has created significant synergies and efficiencies for Statoil in the UK. We appreciate the innovative and cost-effective solutions presented by ESS Offshore and 14forty. This type of close collaboration with our suppliers is critical to ensuring efficient operations for Mariner in the long term,” says Tove Stuhr Sjøblom, managing director for Statoil Production (UK) Ltd.

Each contract has a duration of five years with options to extend to up to four years.

Statoil is the operator of Mariner with 65.11% equity. Co-venturers are JX Nippon Exploration and Production (U.K.) Limited (28.89%) and Dyas UK Ltd. (6%). The Mariner Field is located on the East Shetland Platform of the UK North Sea, approximately 95 miles east of the Shetland Isles.

The Mariner platform is currently under construction. Predrilling will commence in 2016, and production is scheduled to start in 2018. The development of the Mariner field will contribute more than 250 million barrels reserves with average plateau production of around 55,000 barrels per day.

Based in Aberdeen, ESS Offshore delivers market leading services to offshore locations in the UK and around the world. 14forty is one of the world's leading food and support services businesses, offering integrated facilities management.

CGG announces that it has been appointed as technical consultant by the Gabonese Republic’s Ministry of Petroleum and Hydrocarbons to help with the promotion of its 11th Licensing Round focusing on five highly prospective deepwater blocks.

The round was formally opened on 27th October 2015 by His Excellency, Minister for Petroleum and Hydrocarbons, Mr. Etienne Dieudonné Ngoubou, at this week’s 22nd Africa Oil Week conference in Cape Town South Africa. The round will then be promoted by a series of road shows starting in Libreville on 24th November, followed by Paris on 26th November, Singapore on 30th November and Houston on 3rd December 2015. A delegation from the Direction Generale des Hydrocarbures (DGH) as well as a technical team from CGG will be attending to answer any questions.

The round will be open for five months starting on 27 October 2015 and bids can be submitted from 15 February 2016 onwards and by no later than 31st March 2016. Prequalification for the bid round will require the purchase of a minimum amount of seismic data.

The deep water of Gabon has significant unexplored potential within a structurally complex setting, particularly in the pre-salt section. In response to the exploration challenges, CGG has been appointed to advise the Gabonese Republic on the promotion of the 11th Licensing round and has worked directly with the Ministry to acquire over 25,000 km2 of new 3D BroadSeisTM multi-client seismic data as part of an integrated geoscience program to support it. The new survey will enable better imaging of this exciting and underexplored area, and covers areas downdip and adjacent to recent pre-Aptian salt discoveries, such as Leopard, Diaman, Ruche and Tortue. It will benefit from integrated gravity and magnetic interpretation to enhance the pre-salt imaging and additional, complementary datasets including offshore hydrocarbon seeps and a full geological prospectivity report will be available.

Jean-Georges Malcor, CEO, CGG, said: “Ever since we acquired our first geophysical survey there in 1932, CGG has actively supported Gabon’s development of its natural resources. We are delighted to continue our fruitful cooperation with the Gabonese Republic by offering our full portfolio of Geoscience expertise to help promote the 11th Licensing Round. Given the high quality of the intermediate results we have seen so far from our recent BroadSeis survey, we expect the final results to be a significant resource for clients to de-risk this promising exploration arena. We are pleased to announce that several companies have already pre-committed to the dataset.”

The two new giant compressors that started up on the Troll A platform this month will help increase gas recovery by 83 billion cubic meters. The occasion attracted a platform visit from EEA and EU affairs minister Vidar Helgesen.

“Europe is in a transition phase with regard to both competitiveness and climate. Stable and competitive gas deliveries from the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) play a key role along these two axes. Higher production and flexibility from the Troll field is therefore good news to both Norway and Europe,” said Helgesen during his visit.

The compressor module before departure from Thailand. (Photo: Aibel)

“This is a new strategic milestone for the Troll field. The compressors are an important investment to ensure sustainable, long-term production and activity on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS),” says Gunnar Nakken, newly-appointed senior vice president for the operations west cluster.

The compressors ensure a daily export capacity from the Troll field of 120 million standard cubic meters of gas, totaling 30 billion standard cubic meters of gas per year. This is equivalent to the consumption of 10 million households in Europe.

The compressors are an important measure to meet the Troll field's long-term production profile, currently extending to 2063. They are operated by land-based power from Kollsnes west of Bergen, ensuring zero emissions of carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxides from the platform. “This is an important climate contribution from Statoil,” Nakken emphasizes.

During the past 18 months Statoil has started up low-pressure compressors on Troll A, Kvitebjørn, Heidrun, Kristin, Åsgard and Gullfaks, the last two on the seabed. This increases the recovery rate by more than 1.2 billion barrels and extends the life of the installations. The project has extended the expected life of Troll A from 2045 to 2063.

These investments in existing fields give highly profitable barrels. The field recovery increase the compressors provide, 83 billion standard cubic meters of gas or 533 million barrels of oil equivalent, is more than the Aasta Hansteen and Valemon fields combined,” says Nakken.

The main supplier Aibel built the compressor module at its yard in Thailand, the integrated utility (IU) module was prefabricated in Poland and assembled in Haugesund, where the smallest module was also built. The three modules total more than 6,000 tons.

Five new 70-kilometre-long cables have been laid between Troll and land, and a converter station has been built at Kollsnes. On the platform the current is converted back into alternating current. The converters, cables and the compressors' engines have been supplied by ABB.

Leading engineered servicing company for wellbore clean up and abandonment, Coretrax, has successfully completed an extensive three year decommissioning contract with global operator Hess Corporation for the first designated abandonment campaign of its kind. The project began in 2012, involving 30 well abandonments at the FFFA and IVRR fields in the UK North Sea.

As part of this abandonment campaign, Coretrax successfully ran 45 bridge plugs and cement retainers, including some with a drillable brush. Due to extensive section milling operations required on the project, Coretrax provided its BOP cleaning and swarf recovery string to remove swarf from ram cavities and protect the blow out preventer (BOP). In some cases up to 40kgs of swarf was recovered per run.

John Fraser, global business development director of Coretrax, said: “At a time when decommissioning is climbing the agenda within the oil and gas industry, we really valued the opportunity to be part of this successful collaboration with Hess and its contracted partners.

“As part of the project we ran the blow out preventer magnet and jetting sub up to three times after over 30 milling operations and there was virtually no swarf within the cavities, which gave the entire team the confidence to progress to the next stage immediately. Our products were highly successful, and none of our cement plugs had to be re-set.

“As abandonment continues to be a costly and lengthy process, the utilisation of products that offer cost and time efficiency as well as safety benefits, are imperative for efficient and effective decommissioning operations. We are proud to have achieved real success for our client. These results are a real testament to our products, services and team. I believe this project will lead the way for future decommissioning and abandonment projects in the North Sea and beyond.”

Coretrax was established in 2008 to provide a bespoke and tailored service and offers a wide range of downhole tools and services which provide progressive solutions to improve time efficiency, maximise cost reduction, reliability, damage prevention and technological advancement to the global oil and gas industry.

The company currently employs 36 people across its bases in Aberdeen, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. This number is projected to increase within the next nine – 12 months due to increased business activity globally.

Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) announces that its subsidiary, Chevron Overseas (Congo) Limited, has commenced oil and gas production from the Lianzi Field, located in a unitized offshore zone between the Republic of Congo and the Republic of Angola.

Located 65 miles (105 km) offshore in approximately 3,000 feet (900 meters) of water, Lianzi is Chevron's first operated asset in the Republic of Congo and the first cross-border oil development project offshore Central Africa. The project is expected to produce an average of 40,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

"This milestone demonstrates that we continue to make steady progress on delivering major development projects," said Jay Johnson, executive vice president Upstream, Chevron Corporation. "We have the industry's strongest queue of major capital projects that are expected deliver significant value and production growth."

"As the first offshore energy development spanning national boundaries in the Central Africa region, Lianzi represents a unique cooperative approach to share offshore resources and may serve as a model for the development of similar cross-border fields between two countries," said Ali Moshiri, president of Chevron Africa and Latin America Exploration and Production Company.

The field, discovered in 2004, includes a subsea production system and a 27 mile (43 km) electrically heated flowline system, the first of its kind at this water depth. The system transports the oil from the field to the Benguela Belize–Lobito Tomboco platform in Angola's Block 14 and utilizes a Direct Electrical Heating (DEH) system to ensure fluid flow under a wide range of conditions.

Chevron Overseas (Congo) Limited is operator of the Lianzi Field and has a 15.75 percent interest, along with its affiliate Cabinda Gulf Oil Company Limited (15.5 percent), Total E&P Congo (26.75 percent), Angola Block 14 BV (10 percent), Eni (10 percent), Sonangol P&P (10 percent), SNPC (the Republic of Congo National Oil Company – 7.5 percent), and GALP (4.5 percent).

Global integrated drilling waste management and environmental services firm, TWMA, has been awarded two major contracts, building on a strong relationship with Maersk Oil North Sea UK (Maersk Oil) spanning more than a decade.

The projects, which are led by an Aberdeen-based team, involve work on the Culzean development – one of the largest gas discoveries in recent years in the UKCS – and the continuation of provision of innovative technology across Maersk Oil’s Central North Sea operations.

To ensure the company continues to offer the best, most cost-effective and safe solutions available to the global oil and gas industry, multi-million pound equipment investments are being made. The new work will also result in the creation of up to 20 new jobs.

TWMA men at work

Neil Potter, Chief Operating Officer at TWMA, said: “We are delighted to have been selected to support Maersk Oil on these projects as they expand their drilling activity within the UK sector of the North Sea.

“Our experienced, skilled team are working closely with Maersk Oil and have been since the award to carry out the pre-fabrication R&D activity needed for the Culzean operations. To date, this has included working on-site in Singapore with rig builder Hercules to develop solutions where we aim to use our proven technical know-how to design, manufacture and install best-in-class technology to handle Maersk Oil’s drilling waste processing requirements.

“By delivering exceptional results that improve operational efficiency while maintaining a quality service over a considerable period of time, we have nurtured a strong working relationship with Maersk Oil. We are delighted to have been awarded a new scope of work on the prestigious, high-profile Culzean development and a renewed agreement for the continuation of our services across Maersk Oil’s Central North Sea projects.

“Despite extremely challenging market conditions, TWMA has maintained high-levels of investment in R&D which is exceptional in the current climate and demonstrates our awareness of the need to continue to build on our strengths and offer the best possible integrated drilling waste management services and environmental solutions.’’

The Culzean project involves TWMA providing drilling waste processing and waste management services for five years with the option of two one-year extensions.

Delivered using a 950kW electric drive within TWMA’s proprietary TCC RotoMill and EfficientC equipment, the Culzean project will also see TWMA recruit up to 20 personnel to support the existing workforce within the engineering, commissioning and operations phase.

The second contract will provide existing drilling waste processing and management services for Maersk Oil’s Central North Sea projects, again utilising the firm’s TCC RotoMill and EfficientC technologies. The new agreement will continue for the next three years, with the option for two one-year extensions.

Through its venture capital arm, Evonik has invested in Airborne Oil & Gas (IJmuiden, Netherlands). The specialty chemicals group now holds a minority interest in the Dutch company. The investment was made jointly with HPE Growth Capital (HPE) and Shell Technology Ventures. The parties have agreed not to disclose the volume of the transaction. Airborne Oil & Gas (AOG) possesses a unique technology for the production of thermoplastic composite pipes for a variety of offshore oil and gas applications.

The current offshore oil & gas infrastructure consists of either rigid steel pipes or so-called flexibles. The latter comprise of multiple layers of steel and polymers. AOG’s thermoplastic composite pipes dispense with steel entirely and are therefore not susceptible to corrosion. They have extremely high mechanical stability but are also flexible. As an added advantage they are lightweight and can be fabricated in lengths of up to 10 kilometers, which means that AOG’s pipes can be installed relatively simply and cost effectively. Rigid steel lines are welded together from segments that are 10-20 meters long, using highly specialized and costly pipelaying vessels.

AOG’s thermoplastic composite pipes are suitable and beneficial for a wide range of offshore applications. A number of operators have qualified AOG’s pipes for offshore oil & gas transport lines, where the benefits of low cost installation and the absence of corrosion offer breakthrough improvements. A considerable amount of the 150,000 to 200,000 km of globally installed transport lines is over 20 years old and in need of replacement, which is an attractive entry point for AOG.

AOG Flowlines ready for shipment to a customer

For Evonik, the oil & gas industry is an attractive growth market and an important innovation field. Furthermore, the company is a market leader in polyamide 12, marketed as VESTAMID®, which is well-proven in pipes for oil and gas production and transport “Airborne Oil & Gas is an excellent strategic match for Evonik,” says Bernhard Mohr, head of Venture Capital at Evonik. “Their unique pipe technology and Evonik's high performance polymer portfolio enable us to develop new solutions for the industry.

“In Evonik we’ve gained a strategic investor with an extensive knowledge of plastics for oil & gas applications,” says Eric van der Meer, CEO of AOG. “We hope this will give us additional impetus to develop our business further.”

Excellent mechanical properties thanks to unidirectional tapes AOG’s pipelines consist of three layers: An inner plastic pipe is covered with a composite of unidirectional tapes, which in turn is sheathed by plastic. Polymers such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polyamide 12 and PEEK can be used. Unidirectional tapes are thin plastic bands in which continuous reinforcing fibers are embedded in parallel alignment. When a number of such bands are stacked vertically at defined angles and fused together, it results in an extremely stable composite.

AOG’s special expertise lies in the design of both the composite material and the finished pipe, for a variety of applications: All the layers are melt-fused to one another inseparably, which explains the outstanding mechanical properties of the pipelines. AOG is therefore regarded as an innovation leader in thermoplastic composite pipelines for oil & gas applications.

As part of its venture capital activities, Evonik plans to invest a total of €100 million in promising start-ups with innovative technologies and in leading specialized venture capital funds. The regional focus is on Europe, the US, and Asia. Evonik currently has holdings in seven start-ups.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) was the world's sixth-largest oil producer in 2014, and the second-largest producer of petroleum and other liquids in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), behind only Saudi Arabia. Because the prospects for further oil discoveries in the UAE are low, the UAE is relying on the application of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques in mature oil fields to increase production.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, International Energy Statistics

Using EOR techniques, the government plans to expand production 30% by 2020. EOR is an expensive process, and at current prices, these projects may not be economic. However, despite today's low oil prices, the UAE continues to invest in future production.

The Upper Zakum oilfield is one region that has been targeted for further development. The field is the second-largest offshore oilfield and fourth-largest oilfield in the world, and it currently produces about 590,000 barrels per day (b/d). In July 2012, the Zakum Development Company awarded an $800 million engineering, procurement, and construction contract to Abu Dhabi's National Petroleum Construction Company, with the goal of expanding oil production at the Upper Zakum field to 750,000 b/d by 2016. Production from the Lower Zakum field should also increase, with oil production eventually reaching 425,000 b/d, an increase from the current level of 345,000 b/d.

The UAE produced 1.9 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of natural gas in 2013. A top-20 global natural gas producer, the UAE also holds the seventh-largest proved reserves of natural gas in the world, at slightly more than 215 Tcf. Despite its large reserves, the UAE became a net importer of natural gas in 2008 as a result of two things: the UAE reinjected approximately 30% of gross natural gas production in 2012 into its oil fields as part of EOR techniques, and the country's rapidly expanding electricity grid relies on electricity from natural gas-fired facilities.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, International Energy Statistics

To help meet growing internal natural gas demand, the UAE has increased imports from Qatar and plans to increase domestic natural gas production. However, the UAE's natural gas has a relatively high sulfur content that makes it difficult to process, making it hard for the country to develop its extensive reserves. Advances in technology and growing demand have made the UAE's reserves an economic alternative to imports from Qatar, and UAE has several ongoing projects that will increase the country's production in coming years.

The UAE has also announced its intention to expand non-oil energy assets, in an attempt to reduce reliance on natural gas for power. For more analysis of the UAE's energy sector, see EIA's Country Analysis Brief on the United Arab Emirates.

Principal contributors: Alex Wood, Kelsey Tamborrino

Source: www.eia.gov