OGV Energy - Issue 27 - November 2019 by OGV Energy

ISSUE 27

UKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s No

ENERGY SECTOR

PUBLICATION

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FEATURES IN THIS ISSUE

UK North Sea Review Renewables Zone Renewable energy output: UK vs Southern Africa Offshore Wind Market overview

Decommissioning ADIPEC 2019 Review People in Energy Christina Brun Chief Pilot, Bristows Helicopters

Innovation Zone Intelligent Plant's Industrial App Store leads the way 3T Energy Group Virtual reality: bringing danger to life Spectis Robotics Ultra mobile inspection robot

Read on page 22

Offshore Gas Turbine Solutions Established Reputation At AAF, we have built an established reputation in offshore gas turbine solutions, whilst aiming to remain at the forefront of product innovation. With the release of the new N-hance® Filtration System we are helping customer increase production efficiency and remove the need for offline water washing all within an existing high velocity filter housing. Many customers appreciate the added value N-hance® can provide and the product is growing in demand with installations now around the world. We have also maintained our focus on gas turbine air intake, exhaust, ventilation and acoustic systems and understand they are vital components for any platform. When they are regularly maintained they serve to protect gas turbines and provide added value to customers.

significant upgrade projects and new equipment speak to AAF to understand exactly how we can support you. We ensure gas turbine auxiliary equipment is kept within optimum working conditions by understanding your past and current plant performance, as well as ambitions for improvement. Equipment of this importance requires the right calibre of support, with years of experience and a highly qualified team, AAF will work with you to fulfil all your requirements. Our Site Services Team is made up of qualified Service Engineers with years of experience and a reputation for delivering high levels of customer satisfaction.

A Flexible Approach We understand the need to offer flexibility to our customers, and with a tiered approach to service levels you can be confident we will meet your needs; from simple routine maintenance to

Tel

| +44 (0)1670 713 477

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| www.aafintl.com

Upgrades and modifications form part of AAF’s gas turbine services and support.

CONTENTS 6

FEATURES THIS MONTH

INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY

Better HSEQ for all - eGroup

Intelligent Plant's Industrial App Store leads the way

Decommissioning in the Oil & Gas Industry

3T Energy Group - Virtual reality: bringing danger to life

Overview: Global Oil & Gas Reserves

Spectis Robotics - Ultra mobile inspection robot

ADIPEC 2019 Review

Lokring - Achieving better efficiency with pipework modifications

DSL - RigCentralÂŠ Inspection & Asset Tracking Software

EVERY MONTH 6

UK North Sea Review

On the move - Recruitment

Renewables

Bassoe Analytics - Rig Utilisation

People in Energy

OGA Project Tracker - Pathfinder

World Projects Map

Events

Contract Awards

Legal & Finance

Editorial

Advertising

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LETTER AND CONTRIBUTIONS Journalists Tsvetana Paraskova Katie Milne Loren Steffy Design Ben Mckay Fara West Contributors Lokring TEXO Group 3T Energy Group Neutron VR Ltd Namaka Subsea Ducatus Partners Brodies eGroup AAF Stats Group EDR Medeso Intelligent Plant Thre360 Energy Derrick Services Deltatek Global Ecotech DNV GL Bristows Leyton Spectis Robotics RCP

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Editor’s Letter

Kenny Dooley Managing Director

This month we dive into issue 27 of the OGV Energy magazine after a successful trip to the largest globally attended Energy show in the world, ADIPEC, in Abu Dhabi. OGV Energy supported the UK and Scottish pavilion during this event and hosted our business breakfast on the 12th November, which was moderated by Oil and Gas UK. This was our first event held at ADIPEC and provided a great chance for companies to network and connect with each other and I’m sure will be the first of many! A brand new feature to look out for this month is the utilisation of “QR Codes” that can be found alongside some of our featured articles. Just download our new App “OGV Energy” and then scan these codes to provide a whole new feeling of engagement and bring the article to life! Our publication kicks off with a review of the North Sea followed by the “Renewables Zone” which focuses on the UK vs Southern Africa and a low-carbon future. Next, we move on to decommissioning in the Oil and Gas industry and as a growing number of mature oil and gas wells deplete around the world, the issue of decommissioning those wells and attached facilities is on the rise. We also provide a review of the ADIPEC show, giving focus to “Digitalisation & Beyond”, where some of the biggest global

players provide an insight into their direction of travel for next year and beyond. Along with this, we have an overview of the Global Oil and Gas reserves. After decades of intensive exploration and production of hydrocarbons, there are billions of barrels of crude oil and trillions of cubic metres of natural gas reserves still lying in the ground around the world. Our cover star for issue 27 is “Lokring”, who provide a mechanical solution for producing permanent weld equivalent pipe connections, eliminating the need for hot work and the associated health & safety issues. The “People in industry” feature focuses on Christina Brun - Chief Pilot for Bristows Helicopters. Christina reflects on her experience as Chief Pilot and the challenges and motivations that come with the job. Christina states that she feels very fortunate to work for a company which not only supports, but actively encourages women into the aviation sector. Lastly, the “Innovation and Technology Zone” focuses on Intelligent Plants’ ”Industrial App Store”. The Industrial App Store is an online shop window and secure data sharing portal that allows industry to analyse data in the cloud without it coming to rest outside their organisational infrastructure.

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UK NORTH SEA

UK North Sea Oil & Gas Review By Tsvetana Paraskova

U K

N O R T H

S E A

Several industry reports, exploration success, and completion of major deals marked this past month in the UK North Sea oil and gas sector.

The Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) said that the 32nd Offshore Licensing Round, launched on 10 July 2019, closed on 12 November. The authority will now proceed with evaluating submissions.

become the world’s net zero capital, grasping part of the £1 trillion of business opportunities presented by moves to net zero in the UK.

OGUK published at the end of October its annual Health & Safety Report 2019, providing an overview of the UKCS offshore oil and gas industry’s health and safety performance in 2018. Last year was the second consecutive year without a fatality on the UKCS and the longerterm rolling reportable non-fatal injury rate continues to fall, the report found. Although 2018 remains one of the best periods on record for personal safety, the over-seven-day and specified injury rates both saw year-onyear increases. In helicopter operations, the fatal accident rate per 100,000 flying hours dropped to zero for the first time since 2001, and the all-accident rate halved to 0.26, OGUK’s report found. Hydrocarbon releases (HCRs) were the single largest category of reportable incidents (37 percent), followed by dropped objects (25 percent). Last year, the number of confirmed major releases increased to four, OGUK said, noting that “if left unaddressed, this situation could change from progress stalled to progress reversed.”

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Deirdre Michie, Chief Executive, OGUK

“Aberdeen as Europe’s oil capital has served us all well and we are hugely appreciative of the support from the north east. The opportunity is now as the industry shifts its focus, for Aberdeen to also position itself not just as Europe’s net zero city but as the world’s net zero energy capital,” OGUK Chief Executive Deirdre Michie said at the State of the Cities Conference in Aberdeen on 5 November.

OGUK’s inaugural health, safety, and environment (HSE) Conference was held in Aberdeen on 6 November, at which OGUK Chief Executive Deirdre Michie said, commenting on the Health & Safety Report:

In project execution, OGUK published on 7 November new guidelines to improve project delivery, providing companies with a systematic framework for ensuring oil and gas projects are on time and within budget.

“And while there are ongoing improvements in aviation safety, there is much more to be done to reduce major hydrocarbon releases. The downward trend in HCRs shown in a three-year moving average plateaued in 2018, meaning that if the rate continues the current trajectory this year there will be an increase – that would be the first in a decade.”

“Improving how the sector stewards our oil and gas assets is vital to securing a safe and sustainable future for the UK Continental Shelf,” said Katy Heidenreich, OGUK’s operations optimisation manager.

The industry discussed in the past month how it could benefit from the UK’s net zero ambitions. OGUK believes that Aberdeen can-

Earlier in November, the OGA released its 2018 UKCS Projects Insights Report, discussing the recent performance of capital projects, comparing them with past performance (20112016), and offering an insight into the future project portfolio on the UKCS.

UK NORTH SEA

The UK oil and gas industry has made significant improvements to project delivery performance and budget overspend, the OGA said in its report, which showed that 60 percent of projects were delivered on time compared with 25 percent of projects before 2017. Budget overspend has dropped to 10 percent in 2018 from overspend of 35 percent for the years before 2017, according to the report. In addition, Average Unit Development Cost (UDC) has reduced by nearly 60 percent from pre-2017 figures to £8/boe in 2018. Recently, 20 developments have been approved with a total capital expenditure (capex) of £3.9 billion, while a total of 60 projects are currently being worked on by operators over next 5 years, the OGA’s report found.

ern Gas Basin in an undrilled area four kilometres east of the 500 BCF Tolmount gas field.

the development programme to deliver First Gas in July 2021.

“We are delighted with this commercial discovery at Tolmount East, the development of which will add significant value to our UK portfolio. Elsewhere in the Greater Tolmount Area, we are making excellent progress with our sanctioned Tolmount development which remains on schedule for first gas by the end of next year and will add a net 20,000 to 25,000 boepd to Group production,” said Premier Oil CEO Tony Durrant.

Spirit Energy said on 29 October it had raised production from the Chiswick gas field in the Southern North Sea as part of a £68.5 million campaign. First gas from a new well at Spirit Energy’s Chiswick field was achieved in July 2019 and has added up to an additional 25 million standard cubic feet of gas per day to the field. The Chiswick field off the coast of Norfolk has been producing gas since 2007. The new well, named C5Y, brings overall production from the Greater Markham Area to 50 million standard cubic feet of gas per day – enough to heat 427,000 UK homes, Spirit Energy says.

On 7 November, the OGA announced the winner of its MER UK Award 2019, which recognises innovative and sustainable ways to maximise economic recovery from the UKCS. The Neptune Energy, BP, and Japex UK E&P Ltd alliance was awarded for unlocking the Seagull development in a collaborative approach which allowed them to secure FDP approval against licence expiry and asset decommissioning.

Energy logistics group Peterson said on 28 October that it had renewed a long-term contract worth over £20 million with Premier Oil. Peterson, which has worked with Premier since 2010 providing integrated logistics services to support its North Sea activity, will now support Premier for up to a decade, with the first five years confirmed, and an optional five year extension in addition. Under the deal, Peterson will extend the services it already provides to Premier, co-ordinating and managing resources, capabilities and technology, and applying intelligent logistics. Peterson will support Premier through bases and quaysides across the UK, including Aberdeen, Lowestoft, and Shetland.

Tony Durrant, Chief Executive Officer, Premier Oil

Premier Oil announced on 17 October the success of the Tolmount East well in the UK South-

Independent Oil and Gas plc announced on 28 October it had taken Final Investment Decision (FID) on Phase 1 of its Core Project of reserves and resources across six discovered UK Southern North Sea gas fields, initiating

“The discovery of the Serenity oilfield, a potentially very large oil resource, is a transformational event for i3 Energy plc. We now have proven oil in a second structure on our licenses,” i3 Energy CEO Majid Shafiq said. The company then said in November that the Liberator A2 well had been spud, with CEO Shafiq commenting: “We are excited to be drilling again at Liberator on the back of our success at Serenity. The A2 location has been selected as a low-risk target in close proximity to Liberator’s two well penetrations, giving us a high-level of confidence when tied into the recently reprocessed seismic that was used to select the Serenity discovery well location.” Fluor Corporation’s Diversified Services company Stork said it was awarded a five-year contract by EnQuest to provide multi-skilled deck crew services for its offshore oil and gas assets in the northern and central North Sea. Stork’s crew will provide services for the Heather, Thistle, and Magnus offshore platforms in the northern North Sea and the floating production, storage and offloading vessels in the northern and central North Sea under the five-year contract that began in September and includes two one-year extension options.

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S E A

“With the backing of MW&L and existing shareholders, we’ll be bringing the Well-Safe Guardian into operation in the first half of 2020 and looking to acquire further assets as planned to accelerate the delivery of our campaign-based approach to the plug and abandonment of wells in the North Sea and Continental Europe,” Well-Safe chief executive Phil Milton said.

i3 Energy said on 29 October it found oil in the Serenity 13/23c-10 well on its 100-percent owned Serenity prospect.

N O R T H

Well-Safe Solutions announced on 28 October it had secured new £66 million investment to fund the next phase of its journey as a tierone well decommissioning company. Private investment vehicle MW&L Capital Partners has led the new round of investment, bringing together a consortium of private investors to acquire a major stake in the business, WellSafe Solutions said.

DeepOcean said that from 1 November 2019 its subsea trenching division will become Enshore Subsea, known as Enshore. Enshore will be based at the Port of Blyth in the North East of England, from where it will develop, maintain, and operate worldwide the largest tool kit of subsea trenching vehicles, DeepOcean said.

U K

In company news, asset developments, and projects, energy group Parkmead said on 15 October it had submitted to the OGA a draft Field Development Plan (FDP) and Environmental Statement for the development of the Platypus gas project in the UK Southern North Sea. The selected development concept is a subsea tie-back to the Cleeton platform, significantly reducing initial capital expenditure and field operating cost, said Parkmead, which has 15 percent equity in the project. Platypus is expected to produce 47 million cubic feet of gas per day at peak production, and the anticipated producing life of the field is approximately 20 years.

On the same day, Cairn Energy said that the Chimera well it had drilled some 40 kilometres north of the Kraken field was dry.

U K

N O R T H

S E A

UK NORTH SEA Maersk Drilling said on 31 October that Serica UK awarded it a one-well development contract to drill a subsea development well at the Columbus Development in the Central part of the UK North Sea. The contract, whose value is US$8 million, is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2020 and is estimated to last 70 days. A harsh environment jack-up rig will be used for the job. Shell obtained in early November an approval from the UK government for the Goldeneye decommissioning programme. Under the approved options of the programme, the topsides and jacket will be removed to shore for re-use or recycling, while sections of pipelines from the Goldeneye Platform, excluding the main pipeline tie-in flanges, will be removed to shore for re-use or recycling.

Dave Bruce, Chief Executive, Sword UK

Sword, a provider of Business Technology Solutions to the energy sector, among others, said on 5 November it had acquired DataCo (Data and Information Management experts) based in Aberdeen, Perth (Australia) and Houston (USA). DataCo will join the Sword Venture Business Unit in further developing its Upstream Data and Information Management expertise. “This deal reflects our commitment to the Energy Industry and allows us to deliver a more complete Information Management solution

to our customers,” Sword UK chief executive Dave Bruce said. Smart infrastructure solutions company Costain said on 7 November it had secured around £4 million worth of consultancy contracts for the energy market. Costain will work for sustainable operations and improved efficiencies at several UK onshore gas terminals by providing engineering design services. The contract awards also include topside modification projects for several subsea tie-backs in the North Sea, and pre-FEED for a carbon capture usage and storage project. Baker Hughes announced on 7 November that Apache Corporation’s North Sea subsidiaries had awarded it a multi-year subsea frame agreement. The suite of subsea equipment and services includes six trees, wellheads, and an associated service package. Project management and engineering will take place in Aberdeen, while all manufacturing will be conducted in Montrose, Scotland, at Baker Hughes’s Global Centre of Excellence opened earlier this year. Siccar Point Energy has submitted a letter of application to the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) for the Field Development of the Cambo oil field, located approximately 125 kilometres to the west of the Shetland Islands. According to Siccar Point’s plan, the field will be developed using a dedicated, moored Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel to produce hydrocarbons from two drill centres.

www.three60energy.com

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Oil will be exported via shuttle tanker, while gas will be exported via a new gas export pipeline which will tie into the West of Shetland Pipeline System. Offshore development activities are expected to begin in 2020, with first drilling operation in 2021. First oil is expected in 2023, according to the plan.

Les Thomas, Chief Executive, Ithaca Energy

Ithaca Energy said on 11 November it had completed the US$2 billion acquisition of Chevron North Sea Limited, which held Chevron’s oil and gas assets in the UK North Sea. The deal, announced in May 2019, adds ten additional producing field interests to Ithaca Energy’s portfolio in the UK North Sea. “The significantly enlarged operations provide an excellent platform from which to maximise the value of our high-quality asset portfolio and establishes the Company as a leading UK North Sea oil and gas producer,” Ithaca Energy’s CEO Les Thomas said.

GREEN ZONE

Renewable energy

output:

UK vs Southern Africa

G R E E N

Z O N E

The most recent statistics from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) have found that the UK has consistently improved in its production of renewables and currently generates one-third of its total electricity from renewable sources.

Despite this, renewables only account for 11 per cent of the UK’s final consumption – far from the 2020 target of 20 per cent. In contrast, the majority of Southern African nations are generating close to, if not 100 per cent renewable energy. Angola, Zambia and Namibia are just some of the Southern African countries that are producing at least double the percentage of the UK. Energy experts have analysed recent global data from the International Energy Agency (IEA) and have created an interactive map to visualise how much renewable energy each country generates and how much renewables impacts their fuel mix.

Countries with the cleanest fuel mix

Across the globe, nations are producing nothing but renewables. With four countries already hitting the coveted 100 per cent mark, there are a several others who are proudly placed at over 90 per cent. Southern African countries, for example, are performing disproportionately well with Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia and Mozambique all generating a fuel mix of at least 50 per cent renewable energy. The UK, on the other hand, is not only missing from the top 10 but sits at a disappointing 59th position. What’s more interesting is that the majority of countries that position higher

If the UK has any hopes of hitting its 2020 energy targets, or its legally-binding goal of being net-zero by 2050, some serious developments need to be made. Business Electricity Prices has explored how the top green countries have committed to renewable energy resources, and how harnessing all of a country’s natural resources could be how the rest of the world catches up.

What percentage of power produced in each country is renewable?

Iceland 100% Paraguay 100% Albania 100% The Democratic Republic of Congo 100% Namibia 99.3% Costa Rica 97.7% Tajikistan 97.5% Norway 97.2% Uruguay 96.5%

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than the UK are less developed and more impoverished nations.

GREEN ZONE

Offshore Wind Market overview

The Wind Energy sector has been experiencing a solid growth in the recent years, with a total installed capacity increasing over threefold in the 2010-2018 period, passing from 185 GW to 600 GW. While the on-shore wind Industry reached its maturity and it is expected to keep delivering a

The main drivers could be summarised as follows: • The off-shore installation allows for the deployment of larger turbines (both in terms of capacity and physical size), mostly due to constraints related to on-shore transportation of the relevant heavy and expansive equipment: a wind farm comprised of larger turbine will necessarily require lower CAPEX & OPEX per installed capacity, hence decreasing the Project LCOE. • Off-shore winds tend to be steadier and have higher average speeds; this means that more energy can be generated during the year compared to a similar on-shore installation.

It is hence likely to assume that in certain markets, foundations and towers combined would account for approximately 20% of the total Project LCOE. This is why reducing the cost of such heavy equipment becomes of critical importance.

2 3

With 90 GW of wind power due to be installed in the next five years Europe could reach 227 GW of installed capacity by 2023.

Germany, Spain & the UK will still have the most wind energy capacity by 2023. Growth is due to slow in Germany and accelerate in France, Spain & Sweden.

€208bn will be invested in new wind energy assets in Europe by 2023.

Germany, France and Spain will lead the wind energy installation growth in Europe over the next five years.

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Z O N E

Compared to on-shore installations, building off-shore windfarms presents several technical difficulties. In particular, it results very challenging to provide large and very large turbines (nowadays reaching up to 12MW) with a solid anchoring to the seabed. According to the Norwegian Energy Partners Global Off-shore Report 2018, off-shore foundations accounts for approximately 14% of the total Project LCOE in Europe. This figure is likely to be even higher in other Markets where seismicity forces the Developers to design heavier foundations (such as for Countries surrounding the Pacific Ocean – the so-called ring of fire). The same Report states that the towers contribute for approximately 4% of the aforementioned LCOE.

Wind energy could grow by 90 GW in Europe in the next five years but there's a lot of uncertainty.

G R E E N

• Coastal areas typically have high energy needs, with both population and industry concentrated in major coastal cities.

steady 45-50 GW of additional capacity each year, the offshore wind sector is surging. According to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) the off-shore installations should account for over 20% of the total added yearly capacity by 2023, reaching a total capacity of 63 GW (compared to 23 GW in 2018).

GREEN ZONE

Partnership between renewables and decarbonised gas critical to unlocking

low-carbon future

G R E E N

Z O N E

According to DNV GL’s third annual Energy Transition Outlook (ETO) report, global oil demand will peak in the mid-2020s but the requirement for gas will keep rising to 2033. In tandem with extraordinary policy action, Hari Vamadevan, regional manager, UK and West Africa with DNV GL - Oil & Gas, urges a partnership between the hydrocarbon and renewables sectors to avert an impending climate crisis… The global ambition to meet the COP 21 1.5oC target is accelerating efforts for a less carbon-intensive energy mix within decades. How is the energy picture looking over the next 30 years? Our independent forecast of developments in the world energy mix to 2050 (Figure 1) foresees a massive, technology-driven energy transition leading to rapid decarbonisation of the energy mix by mid-century. By then, almost half (46%) of the world’s primary energy will come from oil (17%) and gas (29%), and most of the rest from renewables. By comparison, in 2017, oil and gas counted for 54%. Our model predicts that natural gas will overtake oil as the world’s primary energy source in 2026. Gas demand rises until 2033 and then peaks but remains dominant in the global energy mix through to 2050. At this stage, we envisage that gas and variable renewables may be the only energy sources in higher demand globally than they are today.

Hari Vamadevan, senior vice president and regional manager for UK and West Africa, DNV GL – Oil & Gas.

Figure 1: The annual Energy Transition Outlook report is the most downloaded document ever produced by DNV GL

will be exhausted in 2028 and the 2oC carbon budget will also be expended before 2050, when we expect emissions to be 26Gt/yr.

New sources of gas, for example, biogas, hydrogen and synthetic methane, will be introduced to domestic and industrial energy systems, helping to further decarbonise gas consumption. The supply of energy from renewable sources will also increase, from 14% of the world energy mix today to 40% in 2050 (Figure 2).

Figure 3: Carbon emissions and carbon budget

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The ETO reveals there is no single pathway to a lower-carbon energy mix. A combination of energy sources – primarily gas and renewa-

Figure 2.

Figure 2: World primary energy supply by source If this future outlook becomes reality how will it impact global climate change targets? In contrast to scenario-based approaches, the ETO presents a single forecast of the future of energy, essentially a ‘best estimate’ of challenges and consequences. Our model-based predictions encompass demand and supply of energy globally, and the use and exchange of energy between and within ten geographic regions. Within the projections, it also considers future populations, cost projections and legislative planning. While geopolitical aspects are not included in the research, they will undoubtedly have an influence.

Figure 1.

As a ‘best estimate’ look at future energy supply, what is the solution to achieve a lower-energy mix?

Crucially, we believe global emissions from energy use will peak by 2025. However, this will not fall sufficiently enough by 2050 to limit global warming to the 2oC target (Figure 3). Our analysis expects the remaining 1.5oC carbon budget

bles – will be the quickest route to delivering a supply of affordable, decarbonised energy in the lead-up to mid-century. Gas will increasingly complement variable renewables, meeting demand in peak periods such as winter in colder climates. Despite oil demand peaking in the mid-2020s, largely due to the rapid electrification of the world’s road transportation fleet, it will still account for 17% of primary energy supply in 2050 (Figure 4). Figure 4: World primary fossil fuel supply by source The use of oil and coal is relatively flat towards 2030, after which both sources decline significantly. As gas secures its place as the world’s largest energy source from the middle of the next decade, the impact of carbon footprint through production and consumption must be reduced to help achieve national and international targets for climate change mitigation.

GREEN ZONE

Ultimately, the opportunity to decarbonise can only be continued if the sector maintains society’s trust through a sharp focus on safe operations and environmental performance (Figure 5) throughout the energy transition. Figure 5: Energy transition timeline: the oil and gas horizon

Figure 3.

It is widely acknowledged that all major routes to deeply decarbonise hydrocarbon use rely on the large-scale uptake of CCS. In practice, how can the net-zero target be achieved?

Large-scale uptake of CCS technology will unlock significant opportunities for hydrocarbon and renewable energy technologies to work together towards a more sustainable energy mix. Such prospects can only be achieved if the energy industry shifts its mindset from ‘gas vs renewables’ to ‘gas and renewables’ for success. In addition, alternative options, such as the greening of gas consumption, must be rapidly developed.

Technological approaches for a more cohesive and sustainable alignment encompassing production and consumption includes a variety of advances. This includes the introduction of new, carbon-free forms of gas, such as hydrogen, to national gas networks. Existing gas pipelines can then be used to transport hydrogen produced from electrolysis using offshore wind power, or from offshore-based methane reformers. Gas can also be used to produce power offshore for transport to shore via nearby windfarm cabling. Offshore, platform electrification, with offshore windfarms installed nearby, can import renewable electricity directly. Pressure on the oil and gas industry remains relentless to safely deliver a long-term, secure and environmentally sustainable supply of affordable energy. How critical is it for the industry to preserve this social license to operate?

Z O N E

Without governments enacting policy, and industry reducing the cost of technology, our research asserts that CCS will not be employed at-scale until the 2040s. By 2050, analysis suggests that only 4% (0.8 gigatonnes of CO2 per year [GtCO2/yr]) of fossil fuel-related emissions will be captured by CCS.

The successful and rapid decarbonisation of the gas mix will rely on strategies to allow hydrocarbon and renewable energy technologies to work more closely together.

There is no ‘silver bullet’. If the planet is to avoid dangerous warming and its potentially catastrophic consequences, policies must be urgently developed to tackle at least three fronts simultaneously: higher energy efficiency, more renewables, and industrial-scale CCS. Affordability is key.

Figure 4.

While the planet’s future energy system forecast is more expensive than today’s, in relative terms, it becomes much more affordable. With reduced fossil fuel spending, and the rise of low-cost, efficient electrification, this will lead to operating savings which will more than offset ongoing, substantial-high capital expenditure on grids. With this reasoning, we believe the energy transition is indeed affordable and attainable and will allow for additional investment to tackle such critical challenges.

Figure 5.

G R E E N

The future of CCS largely lies in the hands of policymakers setting a higher carbon price than the cost of the technology, or through supporting investments from taxation. Industry can also play a role in stimulating quicker adoption by focusing on finding ways to reduce the cost of CCS technology.

Traditionally, hydrocarbon and renewable energy technologies have been rivals within the energy mix. What positive difference can closer collaboration, rather than competition, have for a more decarbonised future?

However, even with the rapid changes in decarbonisation and energy intensity forecasted, CO2 emissions are still at about half of today’s level in 2050. Extrapolating the trends, our analysis points towards a 2.4°C warming of the planet by the end of this century, well over the preindustrial average. A level considered dangerous by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the world’s scientific community.

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Workforce engagement leads to better HSEQ for all The oil and gas industry has made important strides towards better understanding the behaviours that cause accidents in the workplace, both on and offshore, and adapted over time with vital improvements.

Mark Tartaglia HSEQ Manager at eGroup

With a concerted effort to prevent accidents and reduce the frequency and severity of those that do occur, the North Sea is rightly viewed as a global benchmark for excellence in terms of health and safety. Culture is vital to this. Through working with personnel at all levels of an organisation, we are not only educating people about their own roles and responsibilities but also increasing awareness of how these impact upon the rest of the company. In my former role as operations director for an HSEQ consultancy, I worked with oil and gas clients to deliver health, safety, environmental and quality principles and ensure continual improvement across all aspects of their businesses. Having recently joined eGroup, I am excited about the challenge to build upon the strong foundations already in place and foster a culture of openness where safety is paramount. Operating in high-risk industries, such as oil and gas and construction, our team is wellversed in the importance of safe working practices and compliance. The scale of the company – spread out across an 18-acre site in Kintore, and with staff working on clients’ sites across the country – does present certain challenges and opportunities from a health and safety perspective; not least in bringing everything together under a group function. Part of my remit will be to change employees’ mindsets through greater standardisation and learning from practices that have proven successful in one part of the business and rolling these out group-wide; ensuring they are a core part of the job.

Working alongside colleagues, there is scope to build and implement a new management system that better identifies risk management and prescribes additional training, where necessary, to mitigate certain occupational risks. One area that has been introduced since my arrival at eGroup is the Golden Rules initiative. We intend to use these rules as a catalyst for driving cultural change. Based on HSE standards, these are a set of 10 core areas that affect personal safety and are used to communicate critical requirements to employees in all operations. Given the nature of our work and the amount of traffic on-site at any given time, some of these rules – ranging from working at height and driving safely to confined spaces and handling chemicals – are just good business sense.

Ultimately, our priority is to ensure that everyone gets home safely and in good health at the end of every working day. Another initiative we are introducing to further help prevent accidents at eGroup is the new Intervention System, which allows all employees to record and highlight any un-

safe activities. Most importantly, this tool empowers staff to stop work if they have any concerns over safety. As a management team, we recognise that familiarity can sometimes breed complacency when it comes to performing a role that you are accustomed to. When it comes to our business operations, especially working with heavy and dangerous machinery, there can be no room for taking risks. Our target as a business is for zero safety and quality incidents. To achieve this, we need all staff to have the confidence to stop any behaviour or activity which they believe to be unsafe or which breaches the company’s safety rules and policies. Safety is a vital part of our culture at eGroup. But for this to be truly successful we need to make sure that these values are properly embedded right across the company. Any system, policy, or procedure that we implement is only as good as the people who use it, after all.

www.deltatekglobal.com

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NOVEMBER RIG STATISTICS

eGroup is a leading provider of integrated services to the oil and gas and construction industries. The company re-branded following the amalgamation of four separate divisions – eBlast, eClad, eFab (formerly RIM Fabrications) and eTest (formerly CSD Scotland). The family-run business, which can trace its roots back to 1976, operates from an 18-acre facility in Kintore – just 10 minutes away from Aberdeen International Airport. eGroup is the largest company of its type in Scotland, boasting an array of specialist services including surface preparation, specialist protective coatings, non-destructive testing (NDT) and hydro testing, passive fire

protection (PFP), steel fabrication, chartek application, thermal spray aluminium (TSA) application and wall/roof cladding – internally transporting clients’ projects between its onsite facilities to reduce costs and time. The company works closely with clients across the oil and gas, construction and renewables sectors, among others, to offer commercial and industrial coating, painting and surface preparation (eBlast); cladding installation, roofing and site detailing (eClad); structural steel fabrication, accredited by Lloyd’s Register to Execution Class 3, as well as coded welding and site erection (eFab); and, non-destructive testing services (eTest).

Source: Infield Rigs 18/11/2019

www.theegroup.co.uk

The data above focuses on the marketed rig fleet and excludes assets that are under construction, retired,

destroyed, deemed non-competitive or cold stacked.

DECOMMISSIONING

Decommissioning in the

Oil & Gas Industry By Tsvetana Paraskova

As a growing number of mature oil and gas wells deplete around the world, the industry of decommissioning those wells and attached facilities is on the rise.

Decommissioning—the process of plugging non-producing oil and gas wells and removing installations and relevant infrastructure—is set to become a growing market within the energy sector. Although it involves costs for operators, offshore oil and gas decommissioning represent a rapidly growing market offering opportunities for decommissioning specialist companies and the supply chain, especially in mature basins like the North Sea. The global decommissioning market is set to continuously grow over the next decade, adding billions of US dollars worth of services and opportunities for contractors and the supply chain. According to a report by ResearchAndMarkets from October 2019, the world’s offshore decommissioning market is valued at a total of US$6.2 billion in 2019. By 2027, the value of the market is set to hit US$8.9 billion. In other words, the market is set to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.8 per cent through 2027. The key drivers of the market over the next decade will be maturing oil and gas fields, ageing offshore infrastructure, and low crude oil prices, according to ResearchAndMarkets. By

service,

the

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well

plugging

and

abandonment (P&A) segment is forecast to be the largest market in the decommissioning industry, because it is the key and indispensable activity regardless of the type of decommissioning performed. Europe will continue to be the biggest market for offshore decommissioning in terms of value, and it will also be the fastest-growing decommissioning region in the world because of maturing oil and gas fields in the UK North Sea. Europe will also be the region with the highest offshore decommissioning spending, also thanks to its stable and well-developed regulatory framework compared to other markets in the world, ResearchAndMarkets says. In the shorter term, between 2019 and 2021, the decommissioning obligations in the global oil and gas industry—or the total decommissioning cost of ceasing production—is set to hit US$36 billion globally, independent energy research and business intelligence company Rystad Energy said earlier this year. In view of the bearish oil market, several hundred offshore oil and gas wells could stop producing by 2021. In 2018, the decommissioning obligations rose to US$11.7 billion from US$5.5 billion in 2017. Over the next three years, global decommissioning costs are expected to hold steady at an average of about US$12 billion annually, according to Rystad Energy.

L a s t y e a r, costs reached an all-time high and they are on course to break that record in the next few years, Rystad Energy partner Audun Martinsen said. “To put this into context, the global oil and gas industry is facing total decommissioning obligations in the magnitude of six Johan Castberg field development projects in the Barents Sea within the next three years,” Martinsen noted. After the 2015-2016 oil price crash, operators realised that many oil and gas fields better be decommissioned rather than trying to extend field life in the lower-for-longer oil price environment, according to Martinsen. “Although oil prices have recovered to more sustainable levels, the elusive $100 dollarbarrel still seems like a distant dream for most operators. As a result, numerous operators have begun realising their obligations to decommission elderly uncompetitive assets,” Martinsen said. Driven mostly by the UK, Europe has so far been the most active offshore decommissioning market, holding a market share of more than 50 per cent in recent years, according to Rystad Energy.

YEAR AGO

- BRENT OIL PRICE 2018 - $64.75

According to the 2019 Cost Estimate Report from the OGA, the total cost of decommissioning remaining UK offshore oil and gas production, transportation and processing infrastructure has reduced by 17 per cent to £49 billion on a like-for-like basis, compared with a 2017 baseline estimate of £59.7 billion. The key drivers of the cost reduction have been continued improvement in planning and execution practices, leading to reductions in the estimated cost of well P&A in the Northern North Sea (NNS) and Central North Sea (CNS); platform running costs in the NNS; and platform and subsea infrastructure removals in the NNS and CNS, the OGA’s report found. “There is considerable opportunity for future cost improvements, to meet the targeted UKCS cost reduction target of greater than 35% (to levels below £39bn), as decommissioning operators and contractors extend industry learning to other offshore assets, and other cost categories,” the OGA said.

The UK is expected to spend more than US$2 billion per year on decommissioning over the next three years, but other regions in the world will also see significant growth in decommissioning activity and spending. “In Asia, North America and Latin America, a growing number of fields are currently under evaluation for dismantlement in the face of today’s bearish oil market,” said Martinsen. Between 2019 and 2021, Europe and Asia will spend on average US$3.5 billion each on decommissioning, while North America is set to spend US$1.5 billion per year over the next three years, Rystad Energy reckons. In the UK, the Oil & Gas Authority (OGA) aims to achieve the maximum economic extension of field life in the North Sea, and when decommissioning plans are in place— to ensure that decommissioning is executed in a safe, environmentally sound, and cost -effective manner. “These achievements may also deliver significant value and competitive advantage to the UK in the global decommissioning market,” the OGA says. The industry and government have a shared objective to achieve a 35 per cent cost reduction by 2035 relative to the 2016 baseline.

Oil & Gas UK (OGUK)’s Decommissioning Insight Report 2018 showed that the UK will be the largest global market for decommissioning spending over the next decade. A total of US$15.3 billion is expected to be spent on decommissioning on the UKCS by 2027, the report found. Over the next decade, 203 oil and gas fields in the UKCS are set to undergo decommissioning activity, and decommissioning is a growing market in parallel with the drive to maximise economic recovery of resources. As part of the efforts to continue to excel in decommissioning, the National Decommissioning Centre (NDC) opened in early 2019 in Newburgh—a long-term £38-million partnership as part of the Aberdeen City Region Deal. The NDC is a global technology research and development (R&D) hub and a partnership between the University of Aberdeen and the Oil and Gas Technology Centre. The Centre will work in partnership with companies to become the global leader in R&D focused on reducing costs, extending field and asset life, and transforming the traditional approach to decommissioning. “The launch of the National Decommissioning Centre makes clear our ambition to become a trail-blazer in decommissioning. The UK’s oil and gas industry is renowned across the globe thanks to its dynamic supply chain and expert capabilities,” said Deirdre Michie, Oil & Gas UK’s chief executive. The UK is a global leader in decommissioning, with technical, commercial, regulatory, and environmental leadership in the market, OGUK says, adding that “decommissioning on the UKCS offers a first-mover advantage for the UK supply chain.” image: Freepik.com

Weir Oil and Gas awarded another contract in Iraq. The multi-year contract with an international oil company was worth more than US$4 million. Gardner Denver expanded pump rental network. Gardner Denver Petroleum & Industrial Pumps added fluid transfer technology and O’Connell jetting its rental partnership programme. Leybold unveiled a new gas analysis series. The Leyspec series was designed for measuring tasks in research and industry.

YEARS AGO

- BRENT OIL PRICE 2014 - $75.20 Moyno secures offshore order for 10 progressing cavity pumps. The pumps transferred up to 24 pounds of liquid mud to and from the vessels, which was offloaded when they reached the drilling rigs. The pumps transferred mud at volumes up to 1000 GPM, handling pressures of 200 psi. The order was secured through Moyno’s partner company Chemetec Engineered Equipment. Flexibility and efficiency key to DEF dispensers. A new range of dispensing solutions for diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) was introduced by Graco. GE Oil & Gas is investing US$60 million to expand and modernise its foundry operations in Lufkin, Texas, USA.

YEARS AGO

- BRENT OIL PRICE 2009 - $76.66 John Crane upgraded and maintained oil wells in Romania. John Crane provided pump repair services and equipment from more than 8,000 Petrom wells in Romania in the second phase of a key modernisation project. Moyno had a tri-phase system for the oil and gas industry. The cavity solution from Moyno was designed for multiphase pumping applications, allowing fluids at the well site, including oil, water and gas.

OIL & GAS

Overview: Global Oil & Gas Reserves By Tsvetana Paraskova

Even after decades of intensive exploration and production of hydrocarbons, there are billions of barrels of crude oil and trillions of cubic metres of natural gas reserves still lying in the ground around the world.

Oil and gas producers and oil and gas producing countries are regularly updating the volume of reserves and resources left in all parts of the world. Despite the fact that not all reserves are commercially exploitable and extractable at current oil and gas prices, the world is unlikely to run out of reserves any time soon. Years of technological breakthroughs and hydraulic fracturing have made shale oil and gas resources, especially in the United States, economically viable. Offshore exploration in new frontiers has found resources in basins not previously known to hold oil and gas, for example offshore Guyana, Senegal, and Mauritania in recent years.

Various estimates give annual updates on the total reserves and commercially recoverable resources in the countries with the greatest resources of fossil fuels. In oil reserves, total proved reserves in the world stood at 1.730 trillion barrels at the end of 2018, up by 2 billion barrels from end2017, according to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2019. BP calculates total proved reserves of oil as those quantities that geological and engineering information indicates with reasonable certainty can be recovered in the future from known reservoirs under existing economic and operating conditions. BP used a combination of primary official sources, third-party data from the OPEC Secretariat, World Oil, Oil & Gas Journal, and Chinese reserves based on official data and information in the public domain.

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According to BP’s 2019 annual review, Venezuela holds the highest proved reserves in the world, at 303.3 billion barrels. Venezuela is followed by Saudi Arabia with 297.7 billion barrels, Canada with 167.8 billion barrels, Iran with 155.6 billion barrels of oil, and Iraq with 147.2 billion barrels of oil. Russia follows with 106.2 billion barrels, then come Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with 101.5 billion barrels and 97.8 billion barrels of oil, respectively. In the top five countries in terms of share of global reserves, Venezuela has 17.5 percent of global reserves, Saudi Arabia holds 17.2 percent, Canada has 9.7 percent of world reserves, and Iran and Iraq have 9.0 percent and 8.5 percent of total world reserves, according to BP’s estimates. The global reserves-to-production (R/P) ratio last year accounted for 50 years of current production. The R/P ratio is calculated as the reserves remaining at the end of any year are divided by the production in that year. The result is the length of time that those remaining reserves would last if production were to continue at that rate. Among regions, South and Central America have the highest R/P ratio of 136 years, while Europe has the lowest such ratio of 11 years, according to BP. Still, huge reserves do not necessarily mean enormous production volumes. This may be the case for Saudi Arabia, which currently produces just below 10 million barrels per day and exports around 7 million bpd of those, making it the world’s largest crude oil exporter. However, Venezuela, which by many estimates holds the biggest oil reserves in the world, currently produces just around 600,000 bpd—as the severe economic crisis and the U.S. sanctions on its industry have crippled its production from 2 million bpd two years ago. In terms of the amount of recoverable oil resources, independent energy research firm Rystad Energy estimates in its latest annual report that the United States currently holds 293 billion barrels of recoverable oil resources. The US is the world leader in recoverable oil resources, holding 20 billion barrels more than Saudi Arabia and nearly 100 billion barrels of oil more than Russia. Rystad Energy’s estimate of US recoverable oil is five times higher the officially reported proven reserves as published in the BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2019.

Rystad Energy applies the standard of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) when it calculates reserves and resources in fields, so reserves can be compared consistently across the world, both for OPEC and nonOPEC countries, and for conventional and unconventional fields. Official reporting from national authorities apply more diverse and less transparent standards. Among non-OPEC states, the US leads in recoverable oil resources—estimates for existing fields plus contingent resources in discoveries, plus risked prospective resources in yet undiscovered fields. The US is followed by Russia, Canada, Brazil, and China among the non-OPEC countries with the highest recoverable oil resources. Among OPEC states, Saudi Arabia leads, followed by Iran, Iraq, Venezuela, and the UAE, Rystad Energy reckons. In natural gas, the BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2019 shows that the world had 196.9 trillion cubic metres (Tcm) of gas reserves at the end of 2018, up by 0.7 Tcm from end-2017, thanks to increased reserves in Azerbaijan. The countries with the highest natural gas reserves are as follows: Russia with 38.9 Tcm, Iran with 31.9 Tcm, and Qatar with 24.7 Tcm. The current global R/P ratio shows that gas reserves in 2018 accounted for 50.9 years of current production, 2.4 years lower than in 2017, according to BP. The Middle East and CIS, the states of the former Soviet Union, are the regions with the highest R/P ratio—109.9 years and 75.6 years, respectively. In the UK, the Oil and Gas Authority’s (OGA) latest ‘UK Oil and Gas: Reserves and Resources’ report shows that overall remaining recoverable reserves and resources range from 10 to 20 billion barrels plus of oil equivalent, as at the end of 2018. The OGA’s estimate for proven and probable (2P) reserves at end-2018 is 5.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe), slightly higher than as at end-2017 despite a year’s production. Based on current production projections, this could sustain production from the UKCS for another 20 years or more. UKCS petroleum reserves and discovered resources are both approximately 70 percent oil and 30 percent gas, when expressed in oil equivalent terms. Exploration success in 2018 added 239 million boe to the total of contingent resources, the OGA said in its report.

Oil and gas still accounts for about 75 percent of the UK’s primary energy demand, of which around 60 percent is met by the UKCS, the OGA Overview 2019 shows. The UKCS has decades of productive life left, the OGA’s Chief Executive Andy Samuel said in the introduction to the overview, commenting on the Vision 2035 strategy for the shelf. “Vision 2035, co-created with industry, sets out two specific ambitions; to add an additional 3 billion barrels of production by 2035 and to grow supply chain turnover by being a world leader in specific sub-sectors, doubling the UK’s share of service sector exports,” Samuel noted.

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ADIPEC 2019 REVIEW

ADIPEC - 2019

Oil, Gas

& Beyond Digitalisation By Tsvetana Paraskova

Abu Dhabi hosted between 11 and 14 November the annual Abu Dhabi International Exhibition & Conference (ADIPEC)—one of the key gatherings of oil and gas professionals, top executives, and thousands of exhibiting companies.

As many as 51 national oil companies (NOCs) and international oil companies (IOCs), plus more than 2,200 exhibiting companies showed their latest products and discussed the future of energy during the four days of the ADIPEC exhibition. “ADIPEC is one of the world’s largest and most important oil and gas events that brings together the industry’s full value chain from government ministers, CEOs, policy makers, think tanks and senior industry executives including technology experts and market analysts,” said Jean-Philippe Cossé, Vice President – Energy, at DMG events, the organiser of ADIPEC. The 2019 exhibition was the biggest in ADIPEC’s 35 years of history. More than 150,000 energy professionals from 167 countries attended the event, while more than 10,400 conference delegates took part in over 160 high-profile panels, technical conferences, round tables, and live sessions focusing on the future of the oil and gas industry in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Industry leaders, top executives from the world’s largest oil companies, government officials, energy ministers, and experts shared their views on how the energy industry is meeting opportunities and challenges. ADIPEC also hosted 23 exhibiting national country pavilions, including a Scotland Pavilion. As many as 45 companies exhibited their products as part of the Scotland Pavilion. Forty percent of those exhibitors were visiting ADIPEC for the

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first time, said Ivan McKee, Minister for Trade, Investment and Innovation for Scotland. Additionally, Scotland had a large number of companies exhibiting with the UK pavilion, the Digitalisation Zone, and on their own stands, McKee noted. Referring to Scotland’s role in the future of energy, the minister said:

“Scotland remains at the forefront of the worldwide oil and gas industry. The city of Aberdeen, Europe’s oil and gas capital, is playing a central role in this drive towards international growth. It is recognised as a strategic hub for operations, maintenance and technology development for operators and service companies alike.” In addition, the closer collaboration between the energy sector and Scotland’s academic and research communities brings new technology to the energy market, McKee said. The exhibition featured the ‘Digitalisation in energy zone’ where companies and delegates showed and discussed the latest developments and novelties in Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), robotics, blockchain technology, cloud computing, edge computing, Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The Young ADIPEC part of the exhibition featured an engineering zone, a robotics zone, an innovative engineering zone, Technology & Innovation Zone, and Electrical Engineer Zone.

ADIPEC hosted dozens of ministerial sessions, global business leader sessions, keynote speeches, live sessions, roundtables, and technical panels, at which top industry experts and executives discussed the energy sector and its interaction with technology and innovation. Speakers concurred that digitalisation is now a key part of the oil and gas industry’s journey to innovative and efficient solutions. As climate awareness globally continues to grow, experts also focused on discussions about how to cope with the rising global energy demand while cutting the environmental impact at the same time. The live session topics included diversity in the energy sector, as well as digitalisation and workforce. Experts discussed how oil and gas companies are responding to the energy transition and talked about space exploration. The growing importance of natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the energy transition was another theme for discussions. The sessions also featured debates on ways to minimise potential digital vulnerabilities in the age of digitalisation. Experts and panellists agreed that today’s digital transformation is a key growth opportunity for the future. “This era of disruption is just the beginning and will only gather pace over time. Yet, the oil and gas company of today can be a winner

tomorrow, if it operates at a lower level of cost and a higher level of performance; if it brings digital into the core of its operations; if it embeds sustainability into its DNA; and if it rethinks how to leverage its partnerships, enable its people and re-centre its customer relationships,” Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and ADNOC Group CEO, said during his speech at the opening of ADIPEC. “The fact is by 2040, all the energy currently consumed in the United States, India, and Japan will be added to global energy demand. And in even the most fast-paced transition scenarios, oil and gas will provide the source for over half of it. These facts are undisputed and simply make a compelling business case to invest in the future of our industry,” Al Jaber noted. OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo noted in his keynote address at ADIPEC that by 2040, oil and gas will account for 53 percent of the global energy mix. Suhail Mohamed Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy and Industry of the UAE, expects demand for fully recyclable petrochemicals to continue to rise with the advance in global economies, which will underpin the need for crude oil for many years to come. “There is growth for non-fossil fuel disruption in the forms of solar and wind, where cost has dropped significantly. Greener forms of energy will grow, but conventional forms will also grow,” Al Mazrouei said. At ADIPEC’s Global Business Leaders Session ‘How is the industry embracing digital innovation?’, Schlumberger’s CEO Olivier Le Peuch noted that innovations significantly cut cots from exploration to drilling, boosting performance at the same time. At another Global Business Leaders session, Michele Fiorentino, Chief Investment Officer at ADNOC, said that successful partnerships distribute the types of risks on the entities in the partnership that are best capable to deal with the particular risk. The top executives of international oil majors took part in the Global Business Leaders Session “Oil and Gas 4.0; the nexus of technology and energy,” sharing their views on digitalisation and data analytics. Total’s CEO Patrick Pouyanné, BP’s CEO Bob Dudley, Eni’s chief executive Claudio Descalzi, Siemens’ President and CEO Joe Kaeser, and Baker Hughes’ Chairman, President and CEO Lorenzo Simonelli were some of the speakers at the session. Digitalisation and data analytics have the potential to transform the oil and gas industry, BP’s Dudley said. Eni’s Descalzi reckons that technology helps things move faster in the energy sector, while Siemens’ Kaeser thinks the speed of technology will be crucial. Total’s Pouyanné wrapped it up:

“Energy is a long-term investment.”

Breakfast at ADIPEC OGV Energy were delighted to host our first ever Business breakfast at ADIPEC this year at the Aloft Hotel, Abu Dhabi on Tuesday 12th November in partnership with Kuro Consulting, which saw executive search firm “Ducatus Partners” as our Gold sponsor. Building on the progress of our first Business breakfast at OTC in May earlier in the year, we were thrilled to have Ross Dornan – Market Intelligence Manager at Oil and Gas UK as our moderator and and six leaders from the Energy supply chain, including: John Pearson – COO of Petrofac, Jim Collins – President of Strategy for Wood, Geeta Thakoral, President of Intecsea (Worley), Ian Wilson – Director of Consultancy ME&I at Lloyds Register, Ahmed Salem – Executive Business Leader at Baker Hughes and Dr Satyam Priyadarshy – Chief Data Scientist at Halliburton. After a comprehensive introduction form Ross Dornan of OGUK, outlining the key objectives of “Roadmap 2035”, John Pearson at Petrofac spoke very candidly about the speed of change of the sector and his desire to help Petrofac transform into a “Digital ready” business which can capitalise on these changes and ensure sustainable change for the business. The key themes of Business Transformation, alternative energy sources and diversity and inclusion were all handled expertly by our panel with a real passion for what the Energy sector has done so far and its hunger to do even more as we move into 2020. OGV Energy filmed the event live so please feel free to view it on our website to see the key points discussed and we look forward to welcoming you to our next one soon!

Thanks again to our key sponsors for making this possible: - Ducatus Partners, Nucore Group, Wellpro, Travleads, Petrasco, RCP, Kaseum.

A Pit stop for platforms During the heat of a World Touring Car race, Gordon Shedden needs everyone in his team to be work at their best. He needs them to adapt to changes in the race conditions instantly to give him the best chance of executing his skill to win.

At Lokring Northern, we have always prided ourselves on our ability to adapt quickly to changing market conditions. Traditionally, at Lokring, our product has been used where a customer couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t weld; however, since 2016 and the downturn in the Oil and Gas industry, operators have become more cost-conscious.

An operator now will look to do more with less. And with the Forties pipeline planned shutdown in 2020, there will be huge pressure on affected operators and contractors to fit as much work into this period as possible. This is no different to a planned Shutdown or Turnaround. In these, time is an extremely valuable resource. Lokring has always been faster than a weld. In some cases, by over 90%. So, in these time-pressured situations, it pays to be able to execute work quickly, efficiently and with excellent reliability. Furthermore, with Lokring, fabrications can be made onsite and systems and can be fully field-routed, significantly reducing design, fabrication and off-site costs while still enhancing safety. Lokring has been used in shutdowns and

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turnarounds globally almost since its inception as a product. With these clear and obvious benefits, Lokring is used on such Projects & Turnarounds providing more efficiency & reducing schedules. Training is provided to non-skilled personnel, so that coded welders can focus on large-bore or critical path piping. This means multiple trades can be stacked during Lokring installation, contributing to higher productivity and quicker turnaround times. Often customers will turn to Lokring when their backs are against the wall and time is running out. In some cases, where a customer has bought stocks of Lokring for a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;just in caseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; scenario, where the extra product can be placed on a sale or return agreement, Lokring is used as a pre-arranged insurance policy to get plants back online quickly and within the time limitations of such events.

COMPANY FOCUS

Namaka Subsea Implement Bespoke Auditing Method Namaka Subsea, a subject matter expert company based in Aberdeen, has recently developed and implemented a bespoke auditing method for use when auditing hyperbaric welding and subsea cable repair systems. The company has pulled upon the experience and knowledge from several of their expert technical advisors to develop the auditing method for use with new, and existing, hyperbaric welding and subsea cable repair systems. The newly developed method ensures compliance with applicable legislation, industry guidance and established good practice; with the express purpose of achieving client confidence in the hyperbaric systems and their processes prior to project mobilisation. This new tool was initially developed on behalf of an industry-leading client to ensure technical and legislative compliance for their new hyperbaric welding system. Since its initial application, the tool has been successfully applied to several other existing and newly constructed habitat systems. The results from this new method have been well received from both the diving contractors and end clients alike.

With the success of this new method, Namaka Subsea is now in discussions with further clients for the continued development of bespoke auditing processes, tailored to their specific needs. The application of these processes and methods are aimed at varying levels of technical complexity and to fulfil various legislative compliance requirements. Namaka Subsea is an established global subject matter expert who specialises in subsea operations, offering innovative solutions to ensure client requirements and expectations are met anywhere in the world. Projects are carried out both safely and efficiently in accordance with best industry practices to ensure the contractor, and the subsequent client has sufficient confidence to carry out global operations, assuring compliance with current best industry practices as well as geographical legislation.

RigCentral© Inspection & Asset Tracking Software RigCentral© Inspection & Asset Tracking Software

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www.ogvenergy.co.uk

PEOPLE IN ENERGY

Christina Brun

Chief Pilot, Bristow's Helicopters

difficult, but I knew it would pay off and I was so focused on the end result. I eventually gave up my job in sales and focused on gaining my commercial licence. More recently, I became a mum for the first time last year and that’s brought a whole new set of challenges. Returning from maternity leave this year was a new adjustment but I’m lucky to work for an extremely supportive company and Bristow could not have made the transition any easier for me.

What are the key skills/ attributes you need to be a good chief pilot? Most of my time as a chief pilot is spent managing people so it’s very important that you have good communication skills and can work effectively as part of a team. We work in what is often a high-pressure environment, so being able to calmly and successfully communicate with others is a key part of the job.

What attracted you to become a pilot? I’ve always had an interest in aviation, and the idea of becoming a pilot was initiated when I was around 12 years old. I had a keen interest in golf and I always remember attending a competition where a player landed on the course in a helicopter. I just remember thinking how amazing it was and being completely fascinated by the aircraft. My passion for helicopters really started from there and I knew it was something I wanted to pursue as a career.

Can you describe your role as chief pilot? I joined Bristow as first officer in 2008 and progressed through the ranks to become chief pilot in 2016. In my role, I’m responsible for 86 pilots in Aberdeen, and ensuring the safe and timely runMadeleine Harkestad Dømbe ning of our flight programme. We serve a large proportion of the offshore installations in the UK Continental Shelf and every day brings new challenges. My position often involves problem-solving and I have to react quickly if external factors change to ensure effects to flights are minimised. This also involves dealing with a number of external parties including air traffic control, oil and gas operators and airport authorities.

The role also requires you to be able to adapt quickly. Offshore is a unique environment, where changes such as the position of a rig or weather conditions mean we often have to modify our approach to achieve an efficient solution.

What motivates you? I’m definitely motived by working with others and nurturing the new talent that joins Bristow - it’s fantastic to watch the personal progression in our young pilots as they move up the ranks. We’ve recently recruited some great people and I’m already excited to watch them develop. I’m able to help facilitate change and support improvements in the business and this really drives me too. As the link between the pilots and senior managers, I pass on feedback to ensure that our processes are always evolving while maintaining our high safety standards. I’m also very motivated to show young girls that working as a pilot is a viable and exciting career path which offers so many opportunities. If more young women see people like me in these positions, it shows they can do it too.

Christina Brun

When I’m not liaising with on-the-ground support or carrying out administrative tasks, I’m in the air flying passengers to rigs all over the North Sea. The role is so varied, even after 11 years I love the diversity it offers and how consistently engaged and concentrated I must be when in the air.

Have you had to face any challenges in your career? Learning to fly was of course very challenging. It was made more testing by the fact I was in full-time employment as a sales account manager when I started taking lessons. It’s very expensive to learn to fly on your own and, in addition to regular lessons I had to pass 14 exams on the ground and in the air. Arranging lessons and study time around my job was

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I feel very fortunate that I work for a company which not only supports, but actively encourages women into the aviation sector.

PEOPLE IN ENERGY

People

in energy

What’s your opinion on the aviation sector at present? Would you like to see any changes? I would love to see more women entering the aviation sector. I recently received 150 applications for pilot positions at Bristow and less than 10 were from women. I can’t understand why more women don’t want to join the industry. I think more could be done to promote the benefits of the sector to young girls as there is a lack of understanding as to the opportunities it offers. While I work in an environment where there are more male employees, everyone is treated the same, as we are all part of the same team. I feel very fortunate that I work for a company which not only supports but actively encourages women into the aviation sector.

What would be your advice to other women looking to enter the aviation sector? First, explore your options and speak to people who work in the industry to gain first-hand knowledge of what this sector is like to work in. Also, don’t be afraid to put yourself out there, I knew I wanted to work for Bristow so I actively pursued the head of training until I finally received an offer. It shows that perseverance is key. As a new mum, I hope I can stand as proof that a successful career as a female pilot is possible, even with a family.

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INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY ZONE SPONSORED BY LEYTON

INTELLIGENT PLANT'S INDUSTRIAL APP STORE LEADS THE WAY

Z O N E T E C H N O L O G Y &

Well, it manages access to client data and only allows apps to request the data for which they have been given the necessary privileges to obtain. The data request from an authorised app is routed to the client data historian from where the data resides by the Industrial App Store and passes the data back to the app. The results of any computation performed in the app are then passed back from the app via the Indsutrial App Store and made available to the client. The client maintains intellectual and physical ownership of their data and there is no write back to their own data historian, only to a separate app results historian that Intelligent Plant provides for free.

nt.com/

I N N O V A T I O N

SO HOW DOES THE INDUSTRIAL APP STORE FUNCTION?

Most of OGV Energy readers are familiar with the term “apps” which is simply an abbreviation of “applications”, which are simply computer programs with a user-friendly interface. There are now hundreds of apps available on the Apple App Store that people download onto their iPhones and iPads providing both games and useful tools to book flights (British Airways), identify music tracks from their audible signature (Shazam) or monitor your heart rate (Fitbit) during exercise etc. These are great for personal use and tend to be easy to obtain at little or no cost once you have an iTunes account.

In the business world there is a need for a similar platform to allow the efficient and safe distribution of industrial apps and this is where Intelligent Plant’s Industrial App Store leads the way. The Industrial App Store is basically an online shop window and secure data sharing portal to allow anyone to provide a service that requires secure access to their client’s process data over the internet via an app they develop that is hosted in the cloud.

LET’S EXPLAIN THIS IN A BIT MORE DETAIL... Historically major automation companies developed and sold expensive infrastructure and systems that locked-in clients, as once an investment had been made, only they could provide products and services compatible with that infrastructure. Clients were then dependent on that original equipment manufacturer (or OEM) to have the solutions they wanted for a myriad of problems they might encounter across all their global assets. This prevented clients from picking the best in class or lowest cost solution, they were locked into their main equipment vendor (MEV) who would only develop a new product when they felt there was sufficient demand from their own client base and could

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then charge what they liked as there was little or no competition as clients could not easily go to another vendor as their infrastructure was not “open” to fair competition. What Intelligent Plant are doing is disrupting the market with their Industrial App Store, which is completely open to anyone wanting to develop and sell an industrial app over the internet whilst taking away all the difficulties normally associated with connectivity and data security. In addition, app developers retain and host their own apps so they don’t have to disclose to Intelligent Plant or the end-users the domain knowledge contained within the app which protects them from cloning or hacking their intellectual property. It also means that the client doesn’t need to expose their network to an app developer who may be a small outfit. Sounds too good to be true? For the first time, we have an even playing field where app developers can compete to gain market share from a growing number of active Industrial App Store users, many of whom are international blue-chip companies in the oil and gas and wind farm sectors. No longer are apps only available from the major equipment vendors, smaller, more-nimble, specialist knowledge workers can now access global markets deploying their expertise using value-adding apps held in the cloud.

SIMPLE BUT EFFECTIVE. The beauty of this arrangement is that Industrial App Store clients don’t have to manage multiple connections and data requests in different formats and protocols to their servers on an ongoing basis. This reduces their cybersecurity risk to a single app store connection, which is established and tested once, is more easily monitored and once set up needs very little maintenance to support.

SO WHAT SORT OF APPS ARE AVAILABLE ON THE INDUSTRIAL APP STORE? Well, many are just industrial versions of the apps we are all using already. Remember we mentioned Spotify? Well, there is an application called Valve Signature Analysis that looks at the hydraulic pressures associated with subsea gate valves and can detect when they are performing as expected within their operating envelope and when there is a problem suggesting that maintenance needs to be scheduled. Knowing the valves are ok prevents unnecessary and expensive subsea interventions and early detection of emerging valve or valve actuator degradation allows spares to be organised and the intervention planned efficiently saving production and reducing operating costs (Opex). Another app called Alarm Analysis reads all the thousands of alarms recorded on an operating asset (an offshore installation, a wind farm, a food processing production line or a paint factory) and condenses them down into meaningful summary reports highlighting where HSE key performance indicators for alarm management are being achieved and where further action is required to reduce the “bad actors” – those alarm events which occur most frequently.

INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY ZONE

The latest apps released include OpMode and an app that is so new we haven’t finalised the name yet. OpMode provides a machine learning tool for identifying production critical excursions in the relationships between process data points that in themselves may not be in alarm but their relationship deviates in an unusual way that could be an early indication of an incipient equipment failure occurring.

WHAT NEXT?

The costs of all apps are transparent to encourage competition and customer ratings in the form of ***** ratings are all built into the Industrial App Store providing purchasers visibility and confidence in user feedback. If you think this sounds like shopping on Amazon then it’s not a bad analogy. The only difference is that clients buy App Store Credits, a form of local currency to spend so that there is no need for individual corporate users to make payments once their parent (centrally funded) account is in credit. How these credits are assigned to individuals is entirely up to the clients’ primary IAS account manager who handles the minimal administration required. The key difference between the IAS and Apple’s app store is that our clients don’t download anything onto their own machines apart from the Industrial App Store Connect application and don’t need portable devices to use the service. No executable files can be transmitted over the connection, which doesn’t require special network permissions or ports opened through which data can be securely sent following data requests sent from authorised recipients. Why is this important? Again for simplicity, this portal is 100% safe and does not require any special permissions on a firewall so can be quickly operational.

“Leyton’s specialism is not only in their tax knowledge around R&D legislation, but in their technical knowledge. Their technical team have done our job, therefore they are readily able to identify areas of R&D that we previously thought were routine. The ease of the process really helps our staff get on with their work, and gives us peace of mind that such a niche area is being looked after. Would highly recommend them to businesses even if they already claiming, their record speaks for itself.” MD, Oil & Gas Engineering.

If you have enjoyed this article and want to find out more then log onto the Industrial App Store via the Intelligent Plant website or go onto YouTube and find all the videos available when you subscribe to or search for Intelligent Plant.

With the changes in the industry, now is the ideal time to understand what help is available to your business from government incentives or to review your existing process in claiming relief.

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In the UK, in addition to our tax expertise, Leyton’s specialism sits with our Technical Consultants. Coming from a broad range of industries and sectors, they understand our clients’ processes and the challenges they face in day to day projects. As a result, they can easily relate to the advancements being sought to proactively highlight your R&D activity.

T E C H N O L O G Y

There are plenty of other apps already available on the Industrial App Store and in development both by Intelligent Plant and their growing network of development partners.

Leyton is proud to have returned over £35million in R&D Tax Relief, R&D Allowances, Patent Box Relief and Grant Funding to our Oil & Gas and supply chain clients. In many instances, our clients were already claiming under these schemes, often with the support of accountants or other specialist firms. In these situations we have been able to enhance their existing claims processes, resulting in a typical claim uplift of 40% for R&D tax relief alone.

Well, the future is already happening now! Microsoft’s latest ground-breaking Power BI (BI= Business Intelligence) data visualisation tool is now shipped complete with Intelligent Plant’s App Store Power BI connector (One of the few Microsoft Certified connectors). This is a true acknowledgement from one of the world’s software giants of just how revolutionary and powerful they see this connector. This link to Microsoft opens up the global market for Intelligent Plant and all their developer partners using the Industrial App Store who want to see their products downloadable from the cloud from anywhere in the world.

Leyton, with 20 offices, is Europe’s largest R&D Tax Consultancy, having assisted over 8,000 UK clients and returned over £500million in reliefs and incentives. The challenges and opportunities faced within Oil & Gas mean that now more than ever, firms are thinking differently about how they do things and are continually developing and improving their products and services.

I N N O V A T I O N

The other is an exciting addition to the store and provides the user with the instant ability to access and process seamlessly all subscribed data for an industrial asset using the open-source Jupyter Hub workbook tool that supports interactive data science and scientific computing across all programming languages. Put simply, in-house engineers and data analysts can now focus on writing applications and algorithms in computer languages they are familiar with like Python and R to derive value from their data rather than worry about data connectivity and data security issues. These tools are major enablers of the digitilisation revolution that has long been sought and is finallyat our fingertips, literally.

Finally, let’s mention speed. Once an app has been purchased it can be linked to client data very easily and be up and running within minutes. This is the beauty of the whole solution provided by Intelligent Plant, robust, secure, fast, open and enabling the delivery of Operational Excellence for its clients.

Whilst innovation plays a fundamental role in every economy, many UK firms remain unaware of the full range of Government incentives available to them in support of their product or service developments.

INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY ZONE

VIRTUAL REALITY: BRINGING DANGER TO LIFE A virtual reality training programme is helping to hammer home the safety message to oil and gas personnel.

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The DNV GL training programme, which was developed by 3T Energy Group company, Neutron VR, provides a highly engaging way for people to witness and experience large scale fires and explosions safely while learning how these events can be prevented and mitigated.

Richard Coates Director Technology Operations 3T Energy Group Co Founder at Neutron VR Ltd

NeutronVR specialises in virtual reality software and has worked across a range of sectors and for large multinationals such as McDonald’s, Galliard Homes, Samsung UK and Equinox Gyms delivering virtual reality experiences and games. Neutron’s roots are grounded in gaming. The company’s founders previously worked for games developer, Eutechnyx, which creates PlayStation titles such as James Bond 007 and The Fast and The Furious, so the Neutron team is extremely experienced in creating striking visuals and immersive experiences. DNV GL approached Neutron VR to create a memorable training experience, which it could take to a global audience. Located at Spadeadam in Cumbria, DNV GL Research & Testing provides experiential training for personnel involved in oil and gas operations in relation to major accident hazards - primarily fires and explosions. Because major accident hazards are outside normal working experience for personnel, the ability to witness and experience large scale fires and explosions in a training setting brings the whole experience to life and reinforces how such events are prevented and mitigated. Virtual reality provided the perfect platform to place people at the heart of the action. Co-founder of Neutron, Richard Coates explains: “DNV GL wanted to develop a platform that could allow major accident scenarios to be played out through virtual reality. Using a base set of different emergency scenarios, virtual reality would enhance the ‘major accident hazard’ learning experience.

"Many of the scenarios we recreated were based on actual events or events which could have happened. We actively involve the user in making mistakes to ensure better memory retention. Delegates seeing the consequences of their actions remember the experience. The entire project was highly innovative and unique and will significantly help oil and gas personnel in learning lessons from past events and potential hazards to ultimately improve safety in the industry.”

“Over a period of 18 months, we worked very closely together with DNV GL to develop storyboards, capture 360-degree video footage and apply the narratives to a virtual reality platform. Since we were visualising extreme situations such as explosions and major fires, it was important to make them look believable. This was one of the most innovative aspects of the project and is unique in the marketplace within this type of application.

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Gary Tomlin, Head of Research and Testing, UK and West Africa at DNV GL said: “Our virtual reality programme has proved extremely popular with clients and we are now planning to develop this further. We want to work with our clients to add more scenarios and learn more about how this type of application can help individual businesses and the industry in general. Eventually, we hope to extend the learning to help control operations and incident findings.”

SPECTIS ROBOTICS BIKE PLATFORM: ULTRA MOBILE INSPECTION ROBOT BIKE PLATFORM and sensor technology can provide solutions to reduce costs and risk of such procedures.

climbing obstacles such as stairs and 90 degree corners (convex & concave).

In this framework, the BIKE inspection robot has been developed. The BIKE platform is a magnetic wheeled robot capable of inspecting power plant facilities and multiple applications in the oil&gas industry, such as a vessel or pipe inspection.

With integrated navigation cameras and 3-dimensional position sensors, the operator gets precise information about the robot's position even in complex environments. Multiple additional modules, such as Ultrasonic probes or borescope holders are available to extend the functionality of the robot and open new ways for inspection without human entry in confined space.

The innovative locomotion concept allows

ULTRAMOBILE ROBOTIC PLATFORM

ultra-mobile robotic platform. • Can be deployed through a 10" manway • Capable of passing convex and concave corners of up to 90 degrees (steps, obstacles, flanges, ...) • Fully remote controlled and equipped with navigation aids (front & rear view cameras and 3D pose view.) • Payload of 10kg, can be equipped with NDT sensors (Ultrasonic / Phased Array,

One engineering masterpiece of the BIKE platform is its ability to overcome obstacles and maneuver in complex environments. The fourwheeled robot can pass 90 degree inner and outer corners. In industrial environments this means transitions from horizontal to vertical pipes and even movement upside-down is possible. Practical examples are interconnected pipes like t-joints or flanged connections. Furthermore this technology enables to drive directly into confined spaces from an accessible man-way.

Eddy Current) and/or Pan-Tilt inspection camera

REMOTE NAVIGATION To safely navigate to the points of interest the BIKE is equipped with several navigation aids. Internal IMUs (Inertia Measurement Unit) constantly sense the pose of the robot in the 3-dimensional space. Furthermore, internal encoders deliver information about wheel rotation. All sensor data is processed by the control software and displayed live in a 3D model. To give the operator an even more precise indication of his position and path the control software allows to load 3D CAD models of the inspected asset. This leads to a great user experience and confidence in the inspection.

INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY ZONE SPONSORED BY LEYTON

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In the oil & gas market the main tasks are visual pressure vessel and pipe inspections. By installing the Ultrasonic probe module the platform turns into a proper thickness measurement gauge which can even perform line scans.

• The BIKE platform is a lightweight (10kg)

PASSING OBSTACLES

T E C H N O L O G Y

In the power generation market the platform is used for the inspection of gas turbines or hydro power stations by carrying videoscope probes. Other applications are visual inspection of pipes, exhausts, pressure tanks or heat exchangers.

AT A GLANCE

With the BIKE platform GE Inspection Robotics has realised a truly ultra-mobile inspection platform. Where existing inspection crawlers are reaching their limits in terms of accessibility and maneuverability the BIKE platform is just beginning to perform.

I N N O V A T I O N

One of the main advantages of mobile robots is their ability to reach locations inaccessible by human because of size constraints, temperature, immersion in liquids or safety reasons. Certified and experienced engineers today enter confined spaces and “look” at the predefined locations to take pictures for reporting. This is the state of the art procedure. Beside very expensive organisational issues such as watchmen and ventilation, this procedure is very dangerous for the experts. New robotic

WORLD PROJECTS MAP

WORLD

PROJECTS MAP

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Aker BP and its partners Equinor, Wintershall DEA and PGNiG have agreed to go ahead with the Ærfugl project phase 2 in the Norwegian Sea with an objective to bring it online three years ahead of the original target of 2023.

Source: allafrica.com

NORWAY- Aker BP and partners to go ahead with Ærfugl project phase 2

Source: mmtimes.com

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Source: NS Energy

The partners expect to bring the second phase development of the offshore Norwegian field into production as early as in the first half of 2020.

SOUTH KOREA - Drilling of new wells in Shwe gas field project to start early 2020

NIGERIA - Total Planning to Sell $750 Million Stake in Major Nigerian Oil Block

The Ærfugl project will produce through the Skarv FPSO.

Eight commercial-scale development wells at the Shwe natural gas project will be drilled in January 2020, the field’s operator, South Korean conglomerate Posco International Corp revealed.

Total is seeking to sell its 12.5 per cent stake in a major deepwater oilfield off the coast of Nigeria, industry and banking sources have said.

Both the phases of Ærfugl project will be tied into the existing floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit at the Skarv field, located about 210km west of Sandnessjøen. The Skarv field is the northernmost producing field of Aker BP, which has been in production since December 2012. The overall investment of the Ærfugl project is around NOK8bn ($880m). The project aims to unlock nearly 300 million barrels of oil equivalent from the Ærfugl field. Aker BP Operations & Asset Development SVP Kjetel Digre said: “Acceleration of Ærfugl Phase 2 means earlier production and increased value creation from the field. This is good news for the Ærfugl joint venture, the supplier industry and the Norwegian society in the form of increased revenues.” Aker BP and its partners submitted the plan for the development and operation (PDO) for the two phases of the Ærfugl development to the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy in late 2017. Phase 1 of the offshore project will involve the development of the southern part of the Ærfugl field through three new wells. The second phase will see the drilling of an additional three wells in the northern portion of the offshore Norwegian field. The start-up of phase 2 was originally intended for 2023, owing to capacity restrictions for processing gas on the Skarv FPSO. Skarv operations VP Ine Dolve said: “In parallel with development of Ærfugl Phase 1, work has been proceeding to increase gas processing capacity on Skarv.

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The overall Shwe natural gas project includes the A-1 and A-3 blocks. The A-block contains Shwe and Shwe Phyu fields and A-3 contains the Mya field. The four development wells will be dug first at the Shwe and Shwe Phyu fields in block A-1and the work is expected to take eight months. Once the wells are completed, a pipeline will connect to the platforms and commercial gas production is expected to begin end-2021 or early 2022, said Posco International Myanmar Production Engineer U Win Nyunt Aung. The sites of the eight wells have already been explored and preliminary yield calculations for the sites have been completed. Daewoo International, which after restructuring became Posco International in 2016, started exploration of the Shwe offshore natural gas reserve in Myanmar in 2000 and began commercial production in 2013, after drilling and development for more than a decade. Ownership of the Shwe natural gas project is split between Posco International, which owns 51percent, Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) 15pc, Korea Gas Corp 8.5pc, and Indian companies Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Videsh and GAIL Ltd which own 17pc and 8.5pc, respectively. In 2016, Daewoo and Posco International merged, and Posco ‘s share increased to 51 pc after its takeover as the operator of the project in early 2019.

The plan is reportedly an effort to adjust the energy company's Africa portfolio amid a broad expansion. Reuters reports that the stake in Oil Mining Lease (OML) 118, which is located some 120 kilometres (75 miles) off the Niger Delta, is valued at up to $750 million, according to two of the sources. Investment bank Rothschild is running the sale process for Total, Reuters sources also said. A spokeswoman for Total declined to comment. Rothschild equally declined to comment. The sale process is part of Total's plan to sell $5 billion of assets around the world by 2020, the sources said. Formerly Bonga field (Nigeria's first deepwater project) before being renamed as OML 118, it is said to contain approximately 6,000 million barrels of oil. It was discovered in 1996, and the federal government gave approval for its development in 2002 and began production in 2005. It produced around 225,000 barrels of oil and 150 million standard cubic feet of gas per day at its peak. The field produces both petroleum which are offloaded to tankers and natural gas which are piped back to Nigeria where it is exported via an LNG plant.

WORLD PROJECTS MAP

NOVEMBER 2019 2

Source: Bloomberg

Source: seattletimes.com

USA - Haynesville Shale expected to play crucial role in meeting future natural gas demand, says GlobalData The recent resurgence of drilling activity in the Haynesville shale is expected to continue for the foreseeable future, considering the projected rise in demand for natural gas worldwide and the ensuing increase in the US liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Source: OGJ

MOL will pay $1.57 billion for a 9.57% interest in Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) offshore oil field and an effective 8.9% interest in the Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan (BTC) crude oil pipeline from Chevron Global Ventures Ltd. and Chevron BTC Pipeline. The consideration is subject to adjustments at closing, when Azerbaijan will become the 14th country in which MOL holds upstream interests. ACG field, 120 km offshore, produced an average 584,000 b/d of oil and 6.4 million cu m/day of associated gas in 2018 from six platforms. Partners earlier this year approved investment in a 48-slot drilling and production platform able to process 100,000 b/d of oil (OGJ Online, Apr. 19, 2019). BP PLC is operator with a 30.37% interest. Other interests besides Chevron’s are State Oil Co. of the Azerbaijan Republic, 25%; Inpex, 9.31%; Equinor, 7.27%; ExxonMobil, 6.79%; Turkish Petroleum, 5.73%; Itochu, 3.65%; and ONGC Videsh, 2.31%. The 1,768-km BTC pipeline carries crude from ACG field and condensate from offshore Shah Deniz field from the Sangachal terminal through Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey to the Ceyhan terminal on the Mediterranean. It has a throughput capacity of 1.2 million b/d. BTC pipeline interests other than Chevron’s are BP, the operator, 30.1%; Azerbaijan (BTC) Ltd., 25%; Equinor, 8.71%; Turkish Petroleum, 6.53%; Eni and Total, 5% each; Itochu, 3.4%; Inpex and ExxonMobil, 2.5% each; and ONGC Videsh, 2.36%.

Andrew Folse, Oil and Gas Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The demand of natural gas feedstock for conversion into LNG is focused on the USGC. This demand is expected to steadily increase over the next five years as there is approximately US$18bn to be invested in planned LNG facilities in Texas and Louisiana. Furthermore, an additional US$7.9bn is related to announced facilities, which could further increase natural gas demand. Given Haynesville’s proximity to the Gulf Coast, the natural gas produced in the play will have easy access to market, specifically to LNG plants which will depend on gas produced in the region.” The Haynesville shale is spread across Northwest Louisiana and East Texas, in the US, covering an area of around 9,000 square miles. The strategic location of this shale play - near some of the world’s largest petrochemical complexes, LNG export facilities, and the Gulf of Mexico - makes it one of the most revenue-generating shale plays in the US. The facilities around the shale formation help in rapid ‘spud-to-sale’ cycle times, thus, making it more attractive to investors. Folse adds: “In 2018, the most active-producing areas in the Haynesville shale were De Soto, Caddo, Red River and Bossier parishes in Louisiana, as well as San Augustine County in Texas.” Folse concludes: “Chesapeake Energy, Indigo Natural Resources, Comstock Resources, BP and Range Resources were the leading producers in the Haynesville shale play in 2018.”

Rouhani made the announcement in a speech in the desert city of Yazd. He said the field was located in Iran’s southern Khuzestan province, home to its crucial oil industry. Some 53 billion barrels would be added to Iran’s proven reserves of roughly 150 billion, he said. “I am telling the White House that in the days when you sanctioned the sale of Iranian oil and pressured our nation, the country’s dear workers and engineers were able to discover 53 billion barrels of oil in a big field,” Rouhani said. Oil reserves refer to crude that’s economically feasible to extract. Figures can vary wildly by country due to differing standards, though it remains a yardstick of comparison among oil-producing nations. Iran currently has the world’s fourth-largest proven deposits of crude oil and the world’s second-largest deposits of natural gas. It shares a massive offshore field in the Persian Gulf with Qatar. The new oil field could become Iran’s second-largest field after one containing 65 billion barrels in Ahvaz. The field is 2,400 square kilometres (925 square miles), with the deposit some 80 meters (260 feet) deep, Rouhani said. Since the U.S. withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal, the other countries involved — Germany, France, Britain, Russia and China — have been struggling to save it. However, they’ve offered no means by which Iran can sell its oil abroad. Iran since has gone beyond the deal’s stockpile and enrichment limits, as well as started using advanced centrifuges barred by the deal. It also just began injecting uranium gas into centrifuges at an underground facility. The collapse of the nuclear deal coincided with a tense summer of mysterious attacks on oil tankers and Saudi oil facilities that the U.S. blamed on Iran. Tehran denied the allegation, though it did seize oil tankers and shoot down a U.S. military surveillance drone.

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MOL Group, Budapest, has agreed to buy Chevron Corp.’s major interests in Azerbaijan.

According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the US produced just under 81 billion cubic feet of gas per day (bcfd) in August 2019. The Appalachia Basin and Haynesville sites accounted for over 50% of the total value, and are currently showing an increasing trend in their production levels - with the Appalachia Basin producing over 32bcfd, and the Haynesville over 11bcfd.

The announcement by Hassan Rouhani comes as Iran faces crushing American sanctions after the U.S. pulled out of its nuclear deal with world powers last year.

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AZERBAIJAN - MOL to buy Chevron’s Azerbaijan interests

The company’s latest report, ‘Haynesville Shale in the US, 2019’, reveals that the increasing natural gas production from the Haynesville Shale play will propel it as the main supplier to LNG operations along the US Gulf Coast (USGC).

Iran has discovered a new oil field in the country’s south with over 50 billion barrels of crude, its president, a find that could boost the country’s proven reserves by a third as it struggles to sell energy abroad over U.S. sanctions.

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IRAN - Iran’s president: New oil field found with over 50B barrels

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CONTRACT AWARDS

CONTRACTS Maersk Drilling wins contract extension from Aker BP for jack-up rig Danish rig operator Maersk Drilling has won a contract extension from Aker BP for the CJ70 XLE ultra-harsh environment jack-up rig Maersk Integrator. Expected to commence from next September, the rig is now due to spud a well at Aker BP’s Tambar field in the southern North Sea. The $10.9m contract excludes a potential performance bonus. The programme is expected to last for about 40 days. The rig is contracted as part of the alliance agreement that Maersk Drilling signed with Aker BP and Halliburton in 2017. Before it begins the drilling operation on the Tambar field, Maersk Integrator will undergo upgrades to turn it into a hybrid, low-emission rig, similar to the ones previously announced for the Maersk Intrepid. The upgrade involves running the rig on hybrid power with low levels of nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions, and adding data intelligence to further limit energy consumption and CO2 levels.

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Backed by support from the Norwegian NOx Fund, the programme has a separate compensation scheme signed with Aker BP. Maersk Drilling COO Morten Kelstrup said: “We are very happy to continue our close collaboration with Aker BP, and to announce the low-emission upgrade for another XLE rig. “The great collaborative efforts in the alliance are producing high efficiency, leading to wells drilled much faster than planned and mutual benefit for all parties involved. “Higher efficiency in itself reduces the CO2 emissions associated with a drilling campaign, and this aspect is now further strengthened by adding hybrid, lowemission technology.” The Maersk Integrator is specially designed for operations in the North Sea. It is currently operating on the Ula field offshore Norway, with work expected to be completed by next July.

CONTRACT AWARDS

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CONTRACT AWARDS

Over £4m worth of contract wins for Costain’s Energy business both at front-end engineering design (FEED) and preFEED phases as well as providing subsea engineering support to nuclear sector projects. Other work secured involves the pre-FEED for a carbon capture usage and storage project that includes the onshore and offshore dimensions. Sean Close, Costain’s director based in Aberdeen said: “Oil and gas remains a key focus area as we help the UK transition to a low carbon economy by continuing to apply our 60 years of hydrocarbons experience in other energy markets such as nuclear, hydrogen and carbon capture. In particular, we are leveraging our expertise in gas processing to help make hydrogen a reality for the UK’s power, transport and heating sectors. Costain, the smart infrastructure solutions company, has secured some £4m worth of design, engineering and consultancy contracts for the energy market which will see the Group shaping the future for sustainable operations and improved efficien-

cies at several UK onshore gas terminals. The contract awards being delivered by the Aberdeen team also include topside modification projects for several subsea tie-backs in the North Sea,

“These wins are testament to the broad range of capability in our Aberdeen team and underline the city’s status as a hub of engineering provision.” Costain’s Aberdeen office is on Carden Place in the West End of the city.

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Serica Energy charters Maersk jack-up for Columbus drilling Maersk Drilling has entered into a contract with Serica Energy UK Ltd. to drill a subsea development well at the Columbus Development in the Central part of the UK North Sea. The contract value is $8 million. The contract is expected to start in the fourth quarter of 2020, with an estimated duration of 70 days. The harsh environment jack-up rig to be used for the job has yet to be assigned. Serica submitted a field development plan for the Columbus field in the UK authorities in June 2018 and was granted development and production consent in October 2018. The FDP provides for the supply of up to 40 million cubic feet of gas per day (gross) at peak to the UK gas market and 1,150 barrels per day (gross) of condensate and natural gas liquids (“NGLs”). The development plan includes a single subsea

well connected to the Arran-Shearwater pipeline, through which Columbus production will be exported along with Arran field production.

into gas and liquids and exported via the SEGAL line to St Fergus and Forties Pipeline System to Cruden Bay respectively.

The Arran export pipeline was approved at a similar time to Columbus and development began immediately. When the production reaches the Shearwater platform facilities, it will be separated

The Columbus development timing will depend on the Arran-Shearwater pipeline being tied into the Shearwater platform in Q3 2020. Columbus start-up is expected during the first half of 2021.

Saipem wins $100 million Equatorial Guinea pipeline contract Italy’s Saipem has been awarded a contract in Equatorial Guinea worth $90-$100 million to build a 70 km subsea pipeline linking the Alen platform with the Punta Europa petrochemical hub. Gas deliveries from the project, operated by Noble Energy, are expected to begin in early 2021, Oil Minister Gabriel Obiang Lima said in a statement. The pipeline will serve offshore gas fields and have a capacity for 950 million cubic feet of gas per day as Equatorial Guinea looks to extend the life of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) production assets.

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“We anticipate that this contract, which is being approved exceptionally under the given circumstances, will contribute immensely to improving the performance of local businesses and the creation of employment,” Obiang Lima said. Equatorial Guinea, a small West African member of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, derives more than 90% of its foreign revenue from oil and gas. The pipeline forms part of plans to link various offshore gas fields to onshore LNG facilities and turn the island of Bioko into a gas processing hub.

CONTRACT AWARDS

Subsea 7 wins offshore contract from OneSubsea Subsea 7 has secured a contract for front-end engineering design (FEED) study for the subsea umbilicals and flowlines system of the Ormen Lange Field. The deep-water natural gas filed is operated by Norske Shell and located 120km off the coast of Norway in the Norwegian Sea. The contract was awarded by Schlumberger’s subsea technologies, production and processing systems division OneSubsea. OneSubsea was awarded an engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) contract to deliver a subsea multiphase compression system to the Ormen Lange Field. A positive final investment decision (FID) will be taken by Norske Shell and partners, Petoro, Equinor, INEOS and ExxonMobil. According to the company, work under the contract will be performed as a ‘Subsea Integration

Alliance’ project. Once the FID is finalised, the sizeable contract, according to Subsea 7, is expected to be valued between $50m to $150m. Subsea 7 Norway vice-president Monica Bjørkmann said: “This award is an important demonstration of the value Subsea Integration Alliance brings by combining the technologies and capabilities of OneSubsea and Subsea 7 into a seamless integrated offering, resulting in the delivery of optimised solutions, with reduced execution and interface risk.

“This compression tieback project builds on the Subsea Integration Alliance integrated boosting tieback packages supplied to Taqa Otter in the North Sea and Murphy Dalmatian in the Gulf of Mexico.” OneSubsea’s compression system will be installed at 850m below water. It consists of two 16MW subsea compression stations connecting existing manifolds and pipelines The compression system will be powered and controlled from the Nyhamna onshore gas processing plant, which is located 120km from the subsea location.

Dolphin Drilling wins contract extension with i3 Energy

The successful relationship between Dolphin Drilling and i3 Energy has encouraged the two compa-

Bjørnar Iversen, chief executive of Dolphin Drilling, said: “We are delighted to be able to offer i3 Energy the flexibility to use the Borgland Dolphin to complete its planned activity.

Mr Iversen added: “The demand for the Borgland Dolphin reflects the rig’s excellent efficiency and performance record and reaffirms the industry’s growing confidence in Dolphin Drilling’s determination to provide the very best quality of service, in a green and sustainable way to our clients at the best possible price.”

“We welcome the opportunity to develop a longer-term agreement with i3 Energy due to the excellent relationship we have built between each other so far, and we look forward to working together on further projects in the years ahead.” Majid Shafiq, Chief Executive Officer in i3 Energy, said: “We have been very impressed with Dolphin Drilling as a company and the Borgland Dolphin rig. The excellent performance and flexibility of its approach has given us the confidence to agree to enter into a long-term strategic operations agreement with Dolphin Drilling where it will be our first choice rig supplier for future campaigns.” Following completion of the latest work for i3 Energy, the Borgland Dolphin will go straight to the Knarr field on the Norwegian Continental Shelf to

The Borgland Dolphin is a fifth generation drilling rig, which was completely rebuilt in 1999. It is part of the deep - and harsh environment drilling specialist’s fleet of assets, most of which have been recently refurbished to incorporate the latest technology. The Borgland Dolphin also rates as one of the “greenest” mobile drilling units in the North Sea. One of the first drilling companies to operate in the North Sea in 1965, Dolphin Drilling, also has a presence in Singapore and Brazil, is net-debt free and recently announced its new international headquarters in Aberdeen, and operational bases in Aberdeen and Stavanger.

Archer awarded a $200m land drilling contract in Argentina Archer Limited (“Archer”) announces that YPF S.A. (“YPF”) has awarded DLS Archer Ltd. (“DLS”) a new five year drilling contract for three high specification drilling rigs currently under contract with YPF in the Vaca Muerta region of Argentina. As part of the contract, the three rigs will be upgraded to meet technical specifications for the extended well design of YPF. The estimated total contract value for three rigs over five years is approximately USD 200 million. Furthermore, the contract stipulates that two more rig upgrades could be added to the contract at a later stage. Greg Helmen, Vice President of Land Drilling,

comments: “DLS has been providing drilling services to YPF for more than three decades, and we are proud to have been chosen to continue this strong partnership in developing one of the most prolific shale plays in the world. There has recently been a drive towards high specification rigs with capabilities to drill horizontal phases of more than 3000 meters in Vaca Muerta. These rig upgrades will secure Archer’s position as the leader in drilling services for unconventional plays in Argentina, and we look forward to continuing to provide safe and efficient operations to YPF for many more years to come.”

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Dolphin Drilling previously agreed a 94-day contract with i3 Energy for drilling operations on the Liberator oilfield, and the Serenity prospect in the UK’s Central North Sea. The harsh environment drilling specialist has agreed the contract extension by approximately 55 days, to enable i3 Energy to complete its planned drilling campaign.

provide the drilling and completion of a gas production well for AS Norske Shell in Norway.

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Global contractor Dolphin Drilling has announced a two-month contract extension with i3 Energy for use of the Borgland Dolphin semi-submersible drilling rig and agreed to enter into a four-year strategic operations agreement between both companies.

nies to agree to enter into a four-year strategic alliance to enable i3 to meet its future rig demands.

www.ducatuspartners.com ON THE MOVE