OGV Energy - Issue 44 - May 2021 - Energy Transition

MAY 2021 - ISSUE AUGUST 2020 44

UK’s No. ENERGY SECTOR

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PUBLICATION

THE ENERGY TRANSITION ISSUE

GLOBAL ENERGY NEWS

UK North Sea - Europe - US Australia - Middle East

FEATURING

Worley - Glacier Energy Bilfinger Salamis - ORE Catapult 3t Energy - RenewableUK Orbital Marine Power

WORLD PROJECTS MAP ENERGY TRANSITION ZONE GREEN ENERGY

ENERGY TRANSITION P.22

INNOVATION & TECH

The biggest oil and gas companies in Europe are now committed to help the fight against climate change

CONTRACT AWARDS ON THE MOVE

OIL-PRICE P.16

The US oil and gas sector entered the second quarter with a dramatically improved short-term outlook

STATS AND ANALYTICS LEGAL & FINANCE

RENEWABLES P.32

EVENTS

North Star Renewables to build three brand-new service operation vessels (SOVs) to support Dogger Bank Wind Farm

INNOVATION P.35

Glacier Energy launches heat exchanger digital monitoring solution

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CHARTING THE COURSE TO A NET ZERO FUTURE

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CONTENTS

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COVER FEATURE 04 - Worley: Charting the course to a net zero future

GLOBAL ENERGY NEWS 04

11 - UK North Sea 14 - Europe 16 - US 17 - Australia 18 - Middle East

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WORLD PROJECTS MAP 24

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20 - EIC - World's latest project updates

ENERGY TRANSITION ZONE 22 - Energy transition overview 24 - ORE Catapult: Building back better through a Just Energy Transition 26 - Spectis Robotics: Wind farm inspection systems 27 - Namaka Compliance: Helping to transfer skills in oil & gas into the renewables sector 28 - 3t Energy Group: Interview with Kevin Franklin, CEO

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29 - Orbital Marine : World’s most powerful tidal turbine, the O2, arrives in Orkney Waters 30 - Bilfinger Salamis UK: Driving the energy transition

GREEN ENERGY

32 - North Star Renewables: Building and operating the North Sea project

INNOVATION & TECH ZONE 34 - EC-OG: A net zero future with subsea battery storage

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48

35 - Glacier Energy: Launches heat exchanger digital monitoring solution

EVERY MONTH 36 - Contract Awards 40 - On the Move 42 - Stats and Analytics 46 - Company News 48 - People in Energy: Alison Taylor, Emissions Reduction Lead, OPEX Group 49 - Community Partner: Aberdeen FC 50 - Legal and Finance 51 - Events

KENNY DOOLEY MAIN EDITOR Welcome to the May edition of OGV Energy Magazine, where this month we will be exploring the Energy Transition as our theme.

With the UK starting to open up and energy majors reporting a return to pre-pandemic profit levels, it’s an interesting time. The oil price has remained steady and there is a lot of talk and interest in exhibitions such as Offshore Europe and ADIPEC - will they or wont they go ahead and if so, how will they look? Hopefully over the next few months we will see that covid-19 cases are manageable and continue to decline and we will see the start of face to face events again and professionals returning to work!

We are thrilled with the response we have for our pavilion at ADIPEC, but there are still a few places left if you would like to exhibit with us and we can’t wait to deliver our business breakfast on Monday 15th November on the theme of “Energy Evolution”, so if you would like to join our panel, please let us know by contacting office@ogvenergy.co.uk

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We are delighted to welcome Worley as our front cover partner for our Energy Transition theme and you can hear from Eoghan Quinn – VP of Energy on decarbonising the North sea and Geeta Thakorlal – President of Digital on the workforce of the future, which makes a fascinating read. We also have insights from Bilfinger Salamis, 3t energy group, Glacier Energy, ORE Catapult and North Star Renewables.

The rest of this month’s magazine as always provides you with a review of the Energy sector in the North Sea, Europe, the Middle East, the US and Australasia along with industry analysis and project updates from Rystad Energy, the EIC and Renewables UK.

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Please come along to our online panel session on Thursday May 20th at 2pm, where Westwood Global Energy Group will be chairing on online panel discussion on the Energy Transition theme.

Thanks again to our readers for all their support as we move rapidly through 2021.

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VIEW THE OGV MAGAZINE ONLINE AT www.ogv.energy/magazine

02 4

COVER PARTNER

THE WORKFORCE OF THE NET ZERO FUTURE Opinion piece from Geeta Thakorlal, President, Energy Transition and Digital, Worley

Climate change is the defining challenge of our generation.

So, what does this mean for the future workforce?

Its stark reality is shifting societal expectations.

And brings a demand for low-carbon energy.

International net zero commitments are the rallying call for government, industry, and individual action.

And at the centre of the global response to the crisis is the oil and gas industry.

In years gone by, its workforce was stigmatised as being a part of the problem. Today, industry veterans and new recruits alike are better labelled as champions of our net zero future. And their talent and ingenuity will be critical for our shared future.

As the industry embarks on its greatest ever transformation, it’s clear that the workforce of the future will look dramatically different to previous generations.

New thinking will have a profound impact on the workforce Building a sustainable business is complex.

As oil and gas leaders move towards a digitally enabled, low carbon future, we’re often hearing our customers ask several common questions.

What transferable skill sets do our employees have? Where are the skill gaps? Which roles will we need to fill in the future? Can we retrain existing employees? What kind of company culture do we need to attract and foster top talent? And how do we use this information to inform our implementation strategy?

The answers to these critical questions, among others, are guiding industry leaders in designing the oil and gas organisations of the future. And we see three exciting trends emerging.

Trend one: A new industry culture is emerging The sustainability challenge comes at a time when skills and capabilities are being lost from the industry as the ‘baby boomer’ generation reaches retirement age.

www.ogv.energy I May 2021

This brings a skills shortage. But it also brings the opportunity to attract a new wave of talent into the industry. Sadly, though, their attraction isn’t a given. And Surveys show that younger people are still moving away from oil and gas.

Millennials and Gen-Z want to engage in work that directly contributes to a more sustainable world. And they need to be backed up by a culture that embraces experimentation, rewards creative solutions and ‘walks the talk’ to bring those ideas to fruition.

The oil and gas industry hasn’t always ticked this box. Practices have been well established and became difficult to disrupt. Operators have a responsibility to provide economic returns to shareholders. And fear of failure has all too often hindered innovation.

But that's changing. Shareholders today are demanding sustainable outcomes, not just economic ones. And as digital transformation becomes the strategic priority for many in the industry to enable this, the pace of change is accelerating.

Trend two: Digital is no longer the plaything of early adopters

The digital industrial revolution is unprecedented in scale and complexity. Digital technology has advanced at a breath-taking pace and is now intrinsic to our work and personal lives. And industry adoption is now breaking down barriers between the physical and digital worlds.

The industry still lags in aerospace, defence, automotive, or manufacturing. But there’s a real appetite now to rip up the rule book in the quest to meet sustainability goals.

Technologies like artificial intelligence, automation, and predictive analytics are changing how we work. And as a result, fundamental constructs of the industry are being reimagined.

But there’s a note of caution here. In recent years, we’ve started to see a more diverse and inclusive workforce emerging. And that's been like rocket fuel for creativity and innovation.

But a recent study by the UK Office for National Statistics found that more than 70 per cent of jobs under threat from automation are held by women.

The case for digital is unquestionable. But this example shows that it requires a well-thought-out adoption strategy and expert implementation to strike harmony with other business accelerators and fully capitalise on the opportunity.

Trend three: The nature of an energy career is evolving At first glance, the energy transition and digital transformation could seem like a threat to the existing and future oil and gas workforce.

It's true, there is a skill shift happening. But the capability developed through decades of experience within the existing oil and gas workforce is critical to the success of the energy transition.

By 2025, the new energy workforce is expected to scale up by around one third from its 2017 levels.

And decarbonisation of the oil and gas industry will create new and exciting ways of working. If you’re eager to utilise your transferable skills, the opportunities are vast.

If you’re feeling threatened by the emergence of digital, it’s important to consider that technology can't replace the human mind. Humans are problem solvers. It’s what we do best. Your intrinsically ‘human’ skills – critical thinking, creativity, strategy and technology management and upkeep, among many physical and technical skills – will become more important and sought after.

Businesses must undertake skills gap analysis to understand where opportunities exist. They must equip their people with the new skills they need to operate in the emerging industry context and collaborate effectively not just with each other, but also with new technologies.

Where there’s change, there’s opportunity Given the scale and urgency of the issue, change is inevitable. As individuals, we must be adaptive and open to new challenges and ways of working. And adopt a career learning mentality to keep pace. But great rewards await those that are brave enough to embrace the net zero future.

COVER PARTNER

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HOW CAN WE WORK TOGETHER TO DECARBONISE THE NORTH SEA? Opinion piece from Eoghan Quinn, Vice President, Power & New Energy, Worley

Could renewable and digital technology come together to revolutionise an ageing oil basin?

For thousands of years, humans have worked together to achieve incredible things.

When we look back at the world 12 months ago, could we have imagined finding multiple vaccines for a global pandemic that are being given to millions of people every day? It’s proof of what is possible when different industries come together to fund, develop and distribute something we desperately need to survive.

But as we begin to overcome one pressing global issue, we can’t afford to rest on our laurels. There is another pressing issue that we need to solve, and the stakes have never been higher.

The energy transition is both our greatest opportunity and our greatest threat We may have figured out how to extract energy sources from the earth and use them to power our lives, but it’s come at a cost. The excess carbon dioxide is trapping heat in our atmosphere and having a negative effect on our planet.

However, we’ve become dependent on this energy and we’re experiencing the impact it has on our natural environment. We need to find the solutions now to transform our energy systems, while keeping the lights on and our industries fueled, but using a fraction of the carbon emissions.

What does this mean for an ageing oil basin?

The UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) has produced around 45 billion barrels of oil since production began in 1967, and there’s still over 20 billion barrels of oil remaining. Today, producing and extracting oil and gas is responsible for around 3.5 per cent of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions, but we must reduce this figure.

We’ve already made progress toward net zero via Road Map 2035, but there’s a lot left to do. Oil and gas producers are struggling to retain their social license to operate and meet their carbon reduction targets, while they supply the energy we need to maintain the day-to-day life we take for granted.

Adding new technology to old assets With an ageing basin, it’s normal to see assets come to the end of their life, but what if instead of decommissioning assets, we can repurpose them, extend their life and upgrade them so they emit a fraction of the carbon dioxide?

The decarbonisation drive starts by benchmarking and publishing carbon metric data. This data is key to understanding how we get to net zero, by using new technologies to forecast production emissions and measure the carbon intensity of modification work.

This means we can estimate how much carbon we’ll emit by carrying out modification work, weighed against how much carbon will be emitted after. This output is then used to formulate decisions that will result in the fewest carbon emissions.

We’re seeing this with the shift in normally staffed assets becoming not permanently staffed assets, as new digital technologies enable less personnel onboard. With less travel and less need for supply boats, we’re emitting less carbon dioxide, while making the UKCS safer and our journey to net zero continues.

Powering oil and gas with renewables While net zero is one of the industry’s biggest challenges, it’s also one of the biggest enablers for both innovation and cross sector collaboration. Oil and gas production assets need to become greener, so what if we powered these facilities with renewable energy sources?

By powering assets with renewable electricity instead of traditional gas, we remove the need for gas turbines that require ongoing maintenance and there’s a growing renewables industry ready to make this happen.

But the UK supply chain needs to work together to make sure we can overcome the challenges we are facing, while having a positive environmental and economic impact.

We can take the tried and tested knowledge from oil and gas and combine it with the current innovation around renewables and in doing so we can accelerate the adoption of renewable energy while decarbonising the hydrocarbon industry.

From the North Sea to the world In order to make all of this happen, our supply chain contracting model needs to change. How we deliver projects in the future will be assessed on the proportionate value they bring to the client and the climate – low cost reliable delivery solutions will be key. We are now seeing encouragement for more green contracting models through global companies that deliver locally, supported by the North Sea Transition Deal.

If we bring together the technological capabilities of oil and gas, the availability of renewable energy resources, digital technology and the societal demand for decarbonisation, the North Sea could become an example of a collaborative decarbonisation powerhouse.

We can then lead the world in the transition to low carbon solutions as we export this knowledge around the world.

Decarbonising the UKCS isn’t going to be simple and there’s a lot of pressure to get it right, but as we remain focused on delivering a more sustainable world, I’ve never had more faith that we can make it happen!

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MEMBER'S FEED OGV COMMUNITY MEMBER OF THE MONTH (Most shares on OGV web in April)

Hydro Energy Group Expands Uk Team With New Divisional Manager Energy recruitment specialist Hydro Energy Group has expanded its UK team by hiring a new divisional manager with a ‘passion’ for the energy sector that runs in her family.

Nicole Shellard, 44, from Wiltshire, will primarily focus on placing suitable candidates in offshore ROV (remotely operated vehicles) and trenching roles for the company’s international clients.

Hydro Energy Group is one of the fastest-growing energy recruitment agencies in the sector, specialising in offshore and marine, renewables and hydrographic survey markets.

Nicole arrives at the company, headquartered in the South of England, with a wealth of experience having worked for 15 years at one of the world’s

KW Group - New Customer Order Success

ANYbotics Introduces End-to-End Robotic Inspection Solution ANYbotics, the Swiss robotics company, is launching a new end-to-end robotic inspection solution for operators of energy and industrial processing plants.

While demand for lower downtime and better safety increases on production sites, technologies have not yet caught up with the complex structures of industrial facilities. ANYbotics’ new fully autonomous four-legged robot ANYmal and its inspection analytics software provide a scalable solution to automate routine condition monitoring of equipment and infrastructure. The company has started onboarding early customers to bring robotic inspection into their facilities and is rolling out installations later this year.

KR Group Take On Virtual Kiltwalk To Boost Fundraising Efforts KR Group Scotland have signed up 23 participants to take part in the annual Kiltwalk, with walkers pledging to raise a minimum of £50 each for the company’s chosen charity, Alzheimer Scotland. This year, due to Covid-19 the Kiltwalk will be completed virtually from the 23rd – 25th of April, in small groups (as per government guidelines) or individually to raise funds for a variety of charities.

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KW Group is pleased to announce a new order success from a leading designer and manufacturer of oceanographic instruments to scientists and researchers worldwide. KW Group will supply a highpressure testing system that will accurately control the pressure vessel fill and drain module along with variable and automated pressures and temperatures to a precise level, ensuring the safe operation of advanced components whilst under test. KW Group's proven technical team have been chosen to design, manufacture and install the system enabling functions and environmental conditions to be accurately and efficiently automated, controlled and data recorded.

Nexans Aurora Deck Lay Equipment Install Complete The installation of the MAATS Tech cable lay equipment package onboard cable laying vessel (CLV) Nexans Aurora has been completed. The MAATS Tech team installed and tested the package which includes the carousel, loading arms, access tower and control cabin at the Ulstein Verft shipyard.

According to Nexans, the next step is the heeling test.

largest multinational oilfield services companies.

She has supervisory experience, a good understanding of IR35 compliance, national compensation trends and key recruitment legislation including AWR, as well as handling work permit applications.

Her husband Colin, also works in the energy sector, for a multinational offshore wind power and renewable energy company, while her two brothers, Noel and John Luck, sell electric cars.

Speaking about her appointment, Shellard said: “Hydro Energy Group has a gained a solid reputation in the energy recruitment sector so it was a very natural fit for me.

“I’ve worked in oil and gas for 15 years so continuing into other realms of energy is natural.

We can’t escape energy, in whatever guise, it’s around us everywhere we look but the desire to make energy greener is definitely a good and positive thing which I’m very passionate about."

ISO 27001 Certification QHSE Following on from a very busy Q1, we are pleased that Q2 has started so successfully, with several recertifications and first-time certifications for some of our new clients (keeping up our 100% pass rate) We assisted 2 Oil & Gas Organisations to implement and gain UKAS Certification to ISO 9001/14001/45001 Integrated Management System and we also assisted our new client but long-standing colleagues Appetite for Business implement and gain UKAS accredited Certification to ISO 27001. Appetite for Business have been and still are a vendor to us, assisting us with all things SharePoint and O365. It was easy to work with their Team who understand the importance of continual improvement and see the benefits of a robust management system.

Oceaneering Rotator Unveils New Topside Chemical Throttle Valve Oceaneering International’s Rotator business has launched a new high-performance Topside Chemical Throttle Valve (T-CTV) for multiple industries including oil and gas, chemical processing, wastewater treatment, medical, and pharmaceutical. The T-CTV leverages existing field-proven technology to address operational requirements for efficient topside chemical dosing.

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ENERGY NEWS

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MAY 2021

UK NORTH SEA

Energy Review

By Tsvetana Paraskova

The North Sea Transition Deal and its implications on the oil and gas sector was this past month’s highlight of the UK North Sea industry, which also saw production and development updates and a flurry of new services contracts.

The UK Government said at the end of March that a landmark North Sea Transition Deal was reached with industry—a deal to support the oil and gas industry’s transition to clean, green energy, while supporting 40,000 jobs.

The key commitments in the Deal include the sector setting early targets to reduce emissions by 10% by 2025 and 25% by 2027, while it has committed to cut emissions by 50% by 2030. The agreement is expected to see joint government and oil and gas sector investment of up to £16 billion by 2030 to reduce carbon emissions. This includes up to £3 billion to replace fossil fuel-based power supplies on oil and gas platforms with renewable energy, up to £3 billion on Carbon Capture Usage and Storage, and up to £10 billion for hydrogen production.

“We will not leave oil and gas workers behind in the United Kingdom’s irreversible shift away from fossil fuels. Through this landmark sector deal, we will harness the skills, capabilities and pent-up private investment potential of the oil and gas sector to power the green industrial revolution, turning its focus to the next-generation clean technologies the UK needs to support a green economy,” Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said.

“The North Sea Transition Deal is a transformative partnership which will harness the expertise of the UK offshore oil and gas industry to urgently meet the country’s climate ambitions of net zero emissions by 2050,” said Deirdre Michie, Chief Executive of the offshore industry organisation, OGUK, whose more than 400 members support the deal.

“It will unlock billions of pounds of investment and see government and industry work together to deliver a homegrown energy transition, realising innovative low carbon solutions that can be exported globally,” Michie added.

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ENERGY NEWS

UK Government Minister for Scotland, David Duguid, said: “The North East of Scotland has long been seen as a centre of excellence in the oil and gas industry – there’s no reason why it can’t now be seen as a global centre of excellence for energy transition. This is not just about making the transition from hydrocarbons to renewables. It’s about a transition of jobs, skills and expertise as well.”

Dr. Andy Samuel, Oil and Gas Authority's Chief Executive, also welcomed the North Sea Transition Deal and how the oil and gas industry can play its part in tackling the climate emergency.

“The deal, and the commitment to climatecompatible future licensing rounds, should provide confidence for investors along with the many thousands of people whose livelihoods depend on the North Sea,” Samuel said.

In deals and field development updates, the UK subsea and electronics organisations, Subsea UK and TechWorks, have signed an agreement to promote collaboration on critical and valuable areas in the development of underwater technology, helping to increase exports and create new jobs.

Aker BP UK, a newly-established subsidiary of Aker BP in Norway, has entered into an agreement with Eni UK to take over a 50% interest in licence P2511 in the UK part of the greater Alvheim area. Eni UK will remain operator, Aker BP said. The licence is located to the borderline of the Norwegian continental shelf.

Aker BP, as operator, has several discoveries in the Alvheim area on the Norwegian side, following a successful exploration campaign in 2019.

David Duguid

"It's not just about making the transition from hydrocarbons to renewables. It’s about a transition of jobs, skills and expertise as well."

“In essence, working together, we can learn from and collaborate with the electronics industry to develop new advanced technologies for underwater operations,” Neil Gordon, chief executive of Subsea UK, said.

Neptune Energy awarded at the end of March a US$21.4-million contract to Borr Drilling, consolidating development, exploration, and P&A activities in the Dutch and UK sectors of the North Sea, and reducing costs and operational emissions.

The activities will be carried out by Borr Drilling’s new Prospector 1 jack-up rig which is equipped with technologies that reduce carbon and nitrogen emissions from its operations by up to 95%, Neptune Energy said.

Deltic Energy confirmed that it and its joint venture partner Shell decided to drill the high impact Pensacola Prospect on Licence P2252 in the UK Southern North Sea. Shell, as operator, expects the well to be drilled in May 2022 and this timing allows the JV to take advantage of a drilling unit that will be contracted by Shell as part of a multi-well drilling campaign which in turn brings advantageous day rates and operational efficiencies for the joint venture.

i3 Energy has allocated £1.16 million in relation to its planned maiden dividend for Q1 2021, noting that the company can only pay a dividend out of distributable profits and i3 currently has retained losses.

In addition, “In the UK, negotiations with counterparties for a farm-out of Serenity appraisal drilling continue to be advanced,” i3 Energy plc CEO, Majid Shafiq said.

Following the completion of the all-share merger of Chrysaor Holdings Ltd and Premier Oil plc, the resulting company Harbour Energy plc’s enlarged ordinary share capital was admitted to trading on the London Stock Exchange’s Main Market on 1 April.

Wood is extending its 12-year relationship with TAQA following the award of a new contract to provide integrated facility services across the company’s North Sea assets. With the award of a five-year Integrated Facilities Services agreement, Wood will focus on supporting TAQA’s operations across the Cormorant Alpha, North Cormorant, Eider Alpha, Harding, Tern Alpha, Brae Alpha, and East Brae assets.

bp said in mid-April it had suspended production from the Foinaven fields off Shetland so the Petrojarl Foinaven floating, production, storage and offload (FPSO) vessel used for production could be removed from operation.

“Retiring the long-serving FPSO is now the safest and most economical option at this point. It also provides an opportunity to set the fields up for safe, efficient and more sustainable oil and gas production in the future,” bp North Sea’s senior vice president Emeka Emembolu said in a statement carried by the BBC.

Parkmead, an independent energy group focused on growth through gas, oil and renewable energy projects, said it had agreed in principle to become operator of the Platypus gas project, subject to further regulatory approval. Parkmead is also actively evaluating further acquisition opportunities in each of its areas of activity – renewables, gas, and oil, the company said.

Andy Samuel

"The deal, and the commitment to climate-compatible future licensing rounds, should provide confidence for investors along with the many thousands of people whose livelihoods depend on the North Sea."

Jersey Oil and Gas completed in early April its acquisition of the entire issued share capital of CIECO V&C (UK) Limited, owned by ITOCHU Corporation and Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC).

Tailwind Energy Ltd announced the acquisition of Decipher Energy Limited, which will allow Tailwind to continue to deploy its strategy of exploiting organic production and near-term reserves growth opportunities whilst building out the Tailwind portfolio. The transaction is subject to statutory regulatory and government approvals.

Ithaca Energy, as operator of the Captain field, sanctioned the Captain Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) Stage 2 project in the UK Central North Sea after receiving Field Development Plan Addendum consent from the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA).

The project is designed to significantly increase hydrocarbon recovery by injecting polymerised water into the reservoir through additional subsea wells, subsea infrastructure, and new topsides facilities, Ithaca Energy said.

Independent Oil and Gas plc, a UK gas company targeting high returns via an infrastructure-led hub strategy, announced the spudding of the Elgood development well, 48/22c-H1. This is the first of five planned development wells in IOG’s Phase 1 project and is expected to take approximately three months to drill and complete, after which the rig will move on to Blythe in early Q3.

UK NORTH SEA REVIEW sponsored by www.ogv.energy I May 2021

UK North Sea Worley has been awarded a two-year contract extension to provide engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services to CNOOC Petroleum's three operated assets in the North Sea, the Golden Eagle, Scott, and Buzzard platforms.

Pharis Energy Ltd announced on 12 April that it is changing its name to Orcadian Energy (CNS) Ltd. Orcadian is a reference to the Orkney Islands, which have long hosted the Flotta terminal, where the company could land some of the oil from its latest licence award in partnership with Parkmead.

Petrofac announced on 13 April the early award of a one-year extension to its Integrated Services contract with NEO Energy. The extension, awarded eight months ahead of the renewal date, takes Petrofac’s contract for operations, maintenance, engineering, and construction support for NEO Energy’s UK activities through to December 2022.

The Glengorm South appraisal well, which was the first appraisal well drilled on the Glengorm gas discovery announced in 2019, contained no commercial hydrocarbons, Energean, a partner in the project, said on 19 April. The existing Glengorm North discovery and the Glengorm Central appraisal well (expected to spud shortly) are considered to be independent of the Glengorm South appraisal well, Energean noted.

The York gas field in the Southern North Sea has been given another three years of life following a successful life extension project, owner Spirit Energy announced on 20 April. Located some 34 kilometres from the North East Yorkshire coastline, York started production in 2013 and was planned to produce until 2020. Now, production is extended until 2023/24, Spirit Energy said.

Serica Energy said in its 2020 results that it was preparing to drill the North Eigg gas prospect in 2022.

Tony Craven Walker

“This strong financial position, with no debt and considerable unutilised debt capacity allows us to prepare for drilling the North Eigg gas prospect next year as well as completing our existing projects this year, continuing investment in the BKR assets and pursuing further growth opportunities,” Chairman Tony Craven Walker said in a statement to shareholders.

BRENT OIL PRICES OVER THE YEARS May review

1

YEAR AGO

- BRENT OIL PRICE 2020 - $29.38 For the oil and gas sector in Scotland, coronavirus is merely one part of its current nightmare.

It's been the catalyst that has brought upon it a confluence of massive challenges around maturing assets and structural change, pressure over climate change, and geo-politics.

We learned from a survey by Oil and Gas UK - the representative body for the industry, which is also one of the more reliable sources of data about it - that up to 30,000 jobs are at risk in the UK sector.

That's a very rough figure. It could be significantly worse, but it feels unlikely to be much less serious than that. And the job numbers are a measure - a distillation, if you like - of the impact from numerous other changes coming down the pipeline.

5

YEARS AGO

- BRENT OIL PRICE 2016 - $46.74 International oil companies such as Shell and BP must completely change their business model or face a “nasty, brutish and short” end within 10 years, one of Britain’s most influential energy experts has warned.

Paul Stephens, a fellow at Chatham House thinktank, said in a research paper the oil “majors” were no longer fit for purpose – hit by low crude prices, tightening climate change regulations and their own wrongheaded strategies.

Stephens argued the only way forward for the companies lies in diversifying into green energy, drastically reducing their operations or consolidating through mega-mergers.

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10

YEARS AGO

- BRENT OIL PRICE 2011 - $114.99 North Sea oil production has shown its biggest quarterly decrease since records began more than 15 years ago.

The update, from the UK government's Department of Energy, recorded a drop in the quarterly figures of just over 15%.

The government said the decline stemmed from maintenance work and slowdowns in a number of fields.

It comes as industry leaders have warned a budget tax hike could threaten some major North Sea projects.

The Oil and Oil Products report for the start of 2011 said: "Indigenous crude oil production in the three months to March 2011 was 15.6% lower compared with the same period a year earlier. On a quarterly basis, this is the biggest decrease since quarterly records began in 1995.

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14

ENERGY NEWS

By Tsvetana Paraskova

Europe

Energy Review

Oil & Gas Equinor and its partners Vår Energi, Idemitsu Petroleum, and Neptune Energy announced at the end of March the biggest discovery so far this year on the Norwegian continental shelf.

The discovery is close to the Fram field in the North Sea and preliminary estimates place its size at between 12 and 19 million standard cubic metres of recoverable oil equivalent, corresponding to 75-120 million barrels of recoverable oil equivalent.

“The discovery revitalises one of the most mature areas on the NCS. With discoveries in four of four prospects in the Fram area during the past 18 months, we have proven volumes that in total will create considerable value for society,” said Nick Ashton, Equinor’s senior vice president for exploration in Norway.

Neptune Energy said on 29 March that an appraisal well confirmed significant discovery at Dugong in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. Neptune’s revised estimate of the indicative recoverable resources is 40-108 million barrels of oil equivalent, which will be subject to further

Low-Carbon Energy Targets & Milestones

The UK government said on 20 April it planned to set in law the world’s most ambitious climate change target, cutting emissions by 78% by 2035 compared to 1990 levels. The UK’s sixth Carbon Budget will incorporate the UK’s share of international aviation and shipping emissions for the first time, to bring the UK more than threequarters of the way to net zero by 2050.

“The UK will be home to pioneering businesses, new technologies and green innovation as we make progress to net zero emissions, laying the foundations for decades of economic growth in a way that creates thousands of jobs,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said.

www.ogv.energy I May 2021

detailed analysis and review. The discovery will be either linked to nearby infrastructure or developed as a stand-alone development.

Neptune Energy has also completed the acquisition of interests in several oil and gas fields in Emsland and the Grafschaft Bentheim region of Germany from Wintershall Dea. The agreement will increase Neptune’s existing interests in the Adorf, Apeldoorn, and Ringe gas fields and in the Adorf-Scheerhorn, Georgsdorf, and Ringe oil fields, adding around 1,800 barrels of oil equivalent per day to Neptune’s production portfolio in Germany, an increase of around 10%.

In another deal in Europe, INEOS Energy agreed to sell its Norwegian oil and gas business to Poland’s PGNiG for US$615 million. The deal includes all INEOS Oil & Gas interests in production, licences, fields, facilities, and pipelines offshore Norway.

“The deal allows us to monetise a non-operated, predominantly gas portfolio at an attractive price compared to our hold value. This will further balance our portfolio of oil and gas and open up new opportunities to reinvest further into the energy transition,” Brian Gilvary, Executive Chairman of INEOS Energy, said.

Great Britain’s electricity grid was the greenest it has ever been at 1pm on 5 April, National Grid said, noting that the carbon intensity – the measure of CO2 emissions per unit – dropped to 39 gCO2, the lowest figure on record which broke the previous record set last May. On 5 April, nearly 80% of Britain’s power was coming from zerocarbon sources—39% from wind power, 21% from solar, and 16% from nuclear power generation, National Grid said.

The UK tops the G-20 group of nations for the share of wind in power generation, climate and energy think tank Ember said in its Global Electricity Review 2021.

According to Ember, wind power generation is rapidly replacing coal, which is declining faster in the UK than any other G-20 country.

New oil and gas discoveries, mergers and acquisitions, the UK’s most ambitious emissions-cutting target in the world, low-carbon energy milestones, and wind and hydrogen projects were announced this past month across Europe.

Last year, the UK produced a greater share of electricity from wind than any other G20 country, as 24.2% of the UK’s electricity was produced from wind turbines in 2020. This is more than four times the global average of 6% and took the UK ahead of Germany to lead the G-20, Ember said. The UK also achieved the G-20’s fastest decline in coal generation since 2015, while the fall in the UK’s fossil gas generation in 2020 was the highest in the G-20, the think tank said.

Solar Energy Scotland called on the major Scottish political parties to consider boosting solar energy development in Scotland.

“Scotland currently sits bottom of the solar deployment league when compared to its neighbours, contributing just 2.5% of total capacity across the UK. Despite a comparable climate and population to Denmark, the land of innovation has less than a third of its solar capacity. With key barriers removed, Scotland could see its solar energy capacity grow by more than ten times existing levels,” Thomas McMillan, Chair of Solar Energy Scotland, said.

If barriers such as planning, business rates, and grid connection applications are removed, Scotland is well placed to increase solar power deployment to 4 GW, more than ten times current levels, by the end of this decade, McMillan said.

In wind power, the UK’s offshore wind sector will see the number of jobs jumping to nearly 70,000 by 2026, and the sector will invest £60.8 billion in total over the next five years in developing, constructing, and operating offshore wind projects as the industry expands rapidly to help the Government to achieve its net zero emissions goal, the Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC) said in a report at the end of March. Employment in the UK offshore wind sector is set to rise from 26,000 currently to over 69,800 by 2026, according to the Offshore Wind Skills Intelligence Model Report.

The UK financed the most wind energy in Europe in 2020, with 13.5 billion euro, almost a third of the total amount of all investment in wind energy in the region last year, WindEurope said in a report.

Europe

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Great Britain’s electricity grid was the greenest it has ever been at 1pm on 5 April, National Grid said.

A study commissioned by the UK Oil & Gas Authority found that the Bacton area in the Southern North Sea has the potential to demonstrate energy transition in action by becoming a significant hydrogen production site for London and the South East. Blue hydrogen will be the most commercially viable option in the 2030s and early 2040s, which will provide the time for the maturation of green hydrogen technology and for green hydrogen to become more cost-competitive on an industrial scale by the late 2040s and early 2050s, the study says.

Low-Carbon Energy Agreements & Projects

Shell, Harbour Energy, and Storegga became in mid-April equal partners in the Acorn Project, one of the largest and most mature UK CCS and hydrogen projects. The companies will develop Acorn through to Final Investment Decision, construction, operation, and beyond.

Acorn CCS and Hydrogen Projects, expected to be operational in the mid-2020s, could provide critically important CCS and hydrogen infrastructure, helping industries and homes across Scotland and the UK to decarbonise.

The UK financed the most wind energy in Europe in 2020, with 13.5 billion euro, almost a third of the total amount of all investment in wind energy in the region last year, WindEurope said in a report.

Doosan Babcock and Aker Solutions agreed to jointly deliver projects for low- carbon solutions and renewable energy projects in the UK. This partnership will focus on pursuing and winning contracts for new hydrogen production plants, and facilities for carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS).

SSE Thermal and Equinor unveiled plans to jointly develop two first-of-a-kind, low-carbon power stations in the UK’s Humber region, including

ScottishPower submitted in April a planning application to deliver the UK’s largest electrolyser. The 20-MW electrolyser will be the key component of a green hydrogen facility located close to ScottishPower’s Whitelee windfarm. The application also includes proposals for a combined solar, up to 40 MW, and battery energy storage scheme, up to 50 MW, to help power the electrolyser.

Baker Hughes and Horisont Energi AS have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the Polaris carbon storage project off the northern coast of Norway. The two companies will explore the development and integration of technologies to minimise the carbon footprint, cost and delivery time of carbon capture, transport and storage (CCTS).

Aker Offshore Wind and Hexicon entered a joint development agreement to explore opportunities for floating wind projects offshore Sweden that could generate several gigawatts of renewable power and support Sweden’s goal of reaching net-zero emissions.

Eight new projects have been launched to develop and test new wave energy technologies to help the UK achieve its net-zero goal, said UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), which supports the research with a £7.5 million investment.

bp joined forces with BMW Group and Daimler Mobility as a 33% shareholder in Digital Charging Solutions GmbH, to further accelerate the growth of electrification.

“Our aim is to make charging as convenient as refuelling at the pump – fast, reliable and a great customer experience,” said Richard Bartlett, bp senior vice president, future mobility & solutions.

one of the UK’s first power stations with CCS technology, and the world’s first major 100% hydrogen-fuelled power station.

The UK tops the G-20 group of nations for the share of wind in power generation, climate and energy think tank Ember said in its Global Electricity Review 2021.

Ørsted announced plans to develop one of the world’s largest renewable hydrogen plants to be linked to industrial demand in the Netherlands and Belgium. The SeaH2Land project is planned to link GW-scale electrolysis from a new 2-GW offshore wind farm in the Dutch North Sea to the large industrial demand in the Dutch-Flemish North Sea Port cluster through a regional crossborder pipeline.

Vattenfall, SSAB, and LKAB have launched the construction of a rock cavern storage facility for fossil-free hydrogen gas on a pilot scale next to HYBRIT’s pilot facility for direct reduction in Luleå in Sweden.

16

ENERGY NEWS

By Tsvetana Paraskova

US

ENERGY OVERVIEW

Outlook Improves as Crude Oil Prices Rise

The US oil and gas sector entered the second quarter with a dramatically improved short-term outlook due to the oil price rally in the first quarter.

Drilling activity across the US shale patch has been rising this year from the trough seen in the summer of 2020, as oil prices rise and outlooks on economic growth and oil demand growth improve. Employment in the oilfield services sector has gained back more than 23,000 jobs since last year, when the pandemic-related peak job losses were above 100,000.

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecast in its April Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) that this year’s US crude oil production would average 11.04 million barrels per day (bpd). This would be lower than the average 11.31 million bpd for 2020, however, production is set to increase month over month and quarter over quarter for the rest of 2021 to reach 11.35 million bpd by the fourth quarter.

By the fourth quarter of 2022, US crude oil production is expected to average above 12 million bpd, at 12.18 million bpd, as per EIA’s latest estimates.

Outlook Improves as Oil Prices Rise The primary drivers of higher expected production would be higher expected oil prices and the rebound in the economy and oil demand this year as vaccination rollouts progress and people travel more.

US oil and gas sector activity already expanded strongly in the first quarter of 2021, the Dallas Fed Energy Survey for Q1 2021 showed, although the base for comparison from the fourth quarter of 2020 is quite low.

Nevertheless, some metrics in the survey jumped to the highest since the Dallas Fed started surveying oil and gas executives in the largest oil-producing state in the US, Texas.

For instance, the business activity index—the survey’s broadest measure of conditions of energy firms—soared from 18.5 in the fourth quarter to 53.6 in the first quarter of 2021, reaching its highest reading in the survey’s five-year history.

Both exploration and production (E&P) and oilfield services firms experienced a strong expansion in activity. The index for capital expenditures jumped from 12.5 to 31.0, indicating an acceleration in

www.ogv.energy I May 2021

capital spending among E&P firms. Additionally, the index for next year pointed to firms already increasing their capital spending plans for 2022, the survey found.

“Six-month outlooks improved notably, with the index rising from 21.6 last quarter to 70.6—the highest reading in the survey’s five-year history.

Additionally, firms noted less uncertainty around their outlook this quarter than last; the aggregate uncertainty index fell eight points to -22.2. This is the lowest reading for the uncertainty index since its inception in first quarter 2017,” the Dallas Fed said.

the basin is set for production growth already in the second quarter,” said Artem Abramov, head of shale research at Rystad Energy.

Moreover, low-interest rates and higher oil prices have increased the capital availability in the US oil and gas sector.

“Since September 2020, debt and equity issuance has increased in all but one month, suggesting that increasing crude oil prices are encouraging U.S. crude oil producers to raise money to refinance debts, resume drilling activities, or purchase acreage,” the EIA said in its April STEO.

“Although primarily a result of higher crude oil prices, high capital availability for U.S. producers also supports EIA’s forecast for U.S. crude “The Dallas Fed study confirms what oil production to increase from our sector has been seeing on the 10.7 million b/d in first-quarter ground the past few months.

2021 to 12.2 million b/d by Activity is picking up as fourth-quarter 2022,” the America rebounds from the In February, the oil and Administration reckons.

COVID economic slump. We gas E&P industry in Texas appear to be on the cusp Moreover, the upstream of a huge surge in demand added 2,300 jobs, according sector in Texas has for all forms of energy, started adding jobs to data from the Texas and oil and gas will be a recently. In February, the big part of what satisfying Workforce Commission cited oil and gas E&P industry this demand,” said Tim in Texas added 2,300 jobs, Tarpley, SVP Government by the Texas Oil and Gas according to data from the Affairs & Counsel at Association (TXOGA) Texas Workforce Commission the Energy Workforce & cited by the Texas Oil and Gas Technology Council.

Association (TXOGA).

In a sign that activity is strongly The sector has added 7,400 jobs since the picking up, a report from Rystad Energy low point in September 2020, bringing the total showed in early April that fracking in North upstream employment in Texas to 164,900 jobs, America almost recovered to pre-pandemic and those are jobs that pay among the highest levels, as the count of started frac jobs had wages in Texas. reached a 12-month high in March 2021. The number of completed wells in the Permian “The resilience and reliability of the Texas oil and basin in Texas and New Mexico during the first natural gas industry is remarkable and it is the quarter of 2021 exceeded the required output reason this industry will be essential to the energy maintenance level, so oil production is set to rise mix for decades to come,” said Todd Staples, in the current quarter – but will likely slow again president of the Texas Oil & Gas Association. later in the year, according to Rystad Energy.

Drilling Activity is Picking Up Pace

“We have already detected 429 started frac operations in March, while February 2021 ended up at 260 wells. Permian oil production maintenance currently requires about 300 unconventional well completions per month, so

Oil & Gas Industry Concerned about President Biden’s Plans While activity and employment are rising from the low points of last year, the US oil and gas industry

U.S. overall expresses concerns about potential changes to the regulations about new oil and gas leases on federal land and in federal waters. The sector is also anxious about proposed provisions in President Joe Biden’s infrastructure and tax plans.

Australia

17

Diamond

By Andy Ocean HoganApex Semi-Submersible MODU

“Regulatory uncertainty creates a clear challenge to continued investment in energy development of our assets,” an E&P executive said in the Dallas Fed survey’s special questions.

“Rash and disruptive decisions do not help an industry that is already very volatile,” another executive noted.

Changes to new oil permitting would likely be a positive for states like Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, West Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, as more E&P companies would shift budgets to those states not impacted by the federal moratorium, one executive at an oilfield service firm said.

The oil and gas industry is also concerned about President Biden’s tax and infrastructure plans, which aim to eliminate tax preferences for fossil fuels.

Estimates from the US Treasury Department’s Office of Tax Analysis suggest that eliminating the subsidies for fossil fuel companies would increase government tax receipts by over $35 billion in the coming decade. The main impact would be on oil and gas company profits.

“The tax plan would end long-entrenched subsidies to fossil fuels, promote nascent green technologies through targeted tax incentives, encourage the adoption of electric vehicles, and support the further deployment of alternative energy sources such as solar and wind power,” the Treasury said in its report on The Made in America Tax Plan.

Commenting on the new infrastructure plan, Ed Longanecker, president of the Texas Independent Producers & Royalty Owners Association (TIPRO), said: “While ambitious and aimed in the right direction -- bolstering America’s infrastructure -- President Biden’s American Jobs Plan overlooks the backbone of America’s energy system: pipelines.

Pipelines are the most reliable and efficient means to transport the oil and natural gas that powers families across America. Placing a high tax burden on the oil and gas industry, including pipelines, hinders Texas producers’ ability to deliver the energy the country needs.”

The most powerful oil industry organisation, the American Petroleum Institute (API), said President Biden’s infrastructure proposal “misses an opportunity to take an across-the-board approach to address all our infrastructure needs – including on modern pipelines.”

“Targeting specific industries with new taxes would only undermine the nation’s economic recovery and jeopardize good-paying jobs, including union jobs. It’s important to note that our industry receives no special tax treatment, and we will continue to advocate for a tax code that supports a level playing field for all economic sectors along with policies that sustain and grow the billions of dollars in government revenue that we help generate,” said Frank Macchiarola, Senior Vice President for Policy, Economic and Regulatory Affairs at API.

“The View from Down Under” The onset of Autumn and the end of cyclone season Down Under has been accompanied by preparation for increased activity on the rig front.

The Diamond Ocean Apex Semi-Submersible MODU, having spent the last few months moored just off Rottnest Island near Perth over cyclone season, has now departed for the NW coast to prepare to start the 4 well campaign for Woodside.

The Valaris MS-1 SS MODU, formerly known as the Atwood Osprey, has returned to Australian waters after three years of stacking at Labuan. It is off Dampier, about to commence an infill drilling campaign for Santos on the Van Gogh Field.

The Valaris 107 Jackup MODU is also located off Dampier preparing to commence work for SapuraOMV and then Jadestone.

The Noble Tom Prosser jackup is also located off Darwin preparing to start the 3 well / 9-month infill campaign for Santos on Bayu Undan in Timor Leste waters.

Diamond’s Ocean Onyx and Maersk’s Deliverer continue to work for Beach and Inpex, respectively.

It was recently announced that Cooper Energy have a contract in place with Helix Energy Services for the Q7000 intervention vessel for the abandonment of 7 wells on the BMG field in the Gippsland Basin, this is subject to FID and is currently expected to take place over Q2 2022.

NOPSEMA announced a five-year decommissioning plan on 19th April, this is likely to be fallout from the liquidation of NOGA in 2019 resulting in responsibility for the decommissioning of the Laminaria and Corallina Fields now vesting with the taxpayer.

The strategy articulates how NOPSEMA will work with its stakeholders to reinforce and clarify decommissioning related requirements and undertake compliance activities in a risk-based way where there is a higher risk of non-compliance with the decommissioning obligations.

In the coming year, NOPSEMA’s compliance approach will focus on implementation where titleholders’ planning and progress towards decommissioning and the execution of decommissioning is not being undertaken in a timely, safe, and environmentally responsible manner. This may result in NOPSEMA taking compliance actions such as issuing directions to some titleholders specific to decommissioning and end of life requirements. The goal is to ensure that by 2023 decommissioning plans are in place for all facilities and wells where equipment or property is not in use.

By Andy Hogan

“The View from Down Under” is brought to you by: Networked Energy Consulting Pty Ltd, based in Perth, WA, Australia

18

ENERGY NEWS

MIDDLE EAST Energy Review

By Tsvetana Paraskova

The Middle East was once again in the spotlight of the global oil and gas markets this past month. The OPEC+ group and one of its leaders, Saudi Arabia, decided to gradually ease their oil production cuts, while Iran began talks with the world powers, including indirect talks with the United States, about a potential return to the nuclear deal that could ultimately lead to the lifting of the US sanctions on Iran’s oil exports.

Oil exporting nations in the Middle East are set to benefit from the recent recovery in oil prices and from the expected rise in global oil demand as the world emerges from lockdowns, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in its latest outlook on the region in April, expecting the fiscal breakeven oil prices of the major Middle Eastern oil producers to decline in the next two years.

Several major agreements and contracts with major oil and gas firms were also announced in the Middle East in the past few weeks.

www.ogv.energy I May 2021

OPEC+ Eases Cuts in Sign of Confidence in Oil Demand Growth The OPEC+ alliance decided at its meeting in early April to gradually add over 1 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil supply on the market over the next three months. The group is set to increase its production by 350,000 bpd in each of May and June and by more than 400,000 bpd in July. Additionally, Saudi Arabia will also gradually ease its unilateral cut of 1 million bpd over the next few months, beginning with monthly production increases of 250,000 bpd in each of May and June.

The decision from OPEC and its allies again surprised the oil market, which was largely expecting the coalition to roll over the April level of cuts into May. OPEC+, however, signalled with the planned easing of the cuts that it sees demand improving with people travelling more and economies stimulating growth with relief packages.

Iran Could Legitimately Return Oil to the Global Market Iran and the signatories to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) started talks in Vienna about a possible return of the Islamic Republic and the United

Middle East States to the so-called Iran nuclear deal which could, ultimately, lead to the US lifting the sanctions on Iran’s oil exports placed by the Trump Administration in 2018.

The talks are difficult, and the US and Iran are not talking directly. The two parties still appear distant in their positions regarding a return to the deal. Iran insists that the US lift all sanctions before it scales back uranium enrichment activities and returns to compliance under the JCPOA, but the United States insists that Iran should first comply with the terms of the deal before Washington could start considering the lifting of the sanctions, including those on Iran’s oil exports.

Analysts largely believe that a potential return of Iran’s oil will not create a new shock on the market. First, because Iran has quietly and covertly likely ramped up its crude oil exports to the world’s largest oil importer, China, which has never actually stopped buying Iranian oil since the US sanctions were imposed in 2018.

Second, the return of US-allowed exports would also come with advance notice and everyone on the market, including the OPEC+ group – from whose cuts Iran is exempted – would recalibrate supply if necessary.

Even if the talks on the nuclear deal achieve some progress, it could still be months before Iran’s oil returns. The market could absorb those additional barrels, analysts believe, because demand is expected to bounce back later this year, especially in the third and fourth quarters.

IMF Sees Higher Oil Prices Helping Middle East Exporters’ Growth Real GDP growth in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is expected to pick up 4.0% in 2021, the International Monetary Fund said in its latest regional economic outlook in April, upgrading the growth forecast by 0.9 percentage point from the October 2020 outlook.

“Activity in oil-exporting countries is set to rebound, reflecting a carryover from the last quarter of 2020, and amplified by the expected pickup in activity in the second half of 2021.

Higher oil prices and early vaccine rollouts support the outlook for many Gulf Cooperation Council economies,” the IMF said.

“The rise in oil prices supports the fiscal and external balances of oil exporters, and would support non-oil recovery, although OPEC+ production cuts limit the impact on overall growth,” the fund noted.

The regional economic outlook also showed that all MENA oil exporters—except for Iran— will see their fiscal breakeven oil price, the oil price at which the fiscal balance is zero, lower in 2022 compared to previous years.

The expectations are based on assumptions that the authorities will keep the current policies in place and that the simple average of the Brent, Dubai Fateh, and WTI crude oil prices would be $52.64 a barrel in 2021 and $50.07 a barrel in 2022, the IMF said.

In the case of the world’s largest oil exporter, Saudi Arabia, the fiscal breakeven oil price is set to drop to as low as $65.70 in 2022, compared to $76.20 this year, and $81.90 in the last pre-pandemic year 2019, according to the IMF. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is set to see its fiscal breakeven oil price at $60.40 next year, down from $68.20 in 2020 and $64.60 this year.

Qatar has the lowest fiscal breakeven oil price among all oil-exporting countries in the region, with its breakeven oil price expected to drop to as low as $40.40 in 2022, from $46.20 in 2020 and $43.10 in 2021.

Deals & Contracts Several major agreements and contracts with major oil and gas firms were also announced in the Middle East in the past few weeks.

Saudi Aramco signed in early April a major US$12.4 billion infrastructure deal with a consortium led by EIG Global Energy Partners to optimise its assets through a lease-andlease-back agreement involving its stabilised crude oil pipeline network.

Under the deal, a newly-formed entity, Aramco Oil Pipelines Company, would lease usage rights of Aramco’s crude oil pipeline network over a 25-year period.

“This transaction unlocks value from our assets and strengthen Aramco’s resilience, agility and ability to respond to changing market dynamics,” Abdulaziz M. Al Gudaimi, Aramco Senior Vice President of Corporate Development, said in a statement.

Italian engineering, drilling and construction company Saipem was awarded a new contract worth over US$1 billion and related to the North Field Production Sustainability Pipelines Project located offshore and onshore the northeast coast of the Qatar peninsula. The scope of work for this award includes three export trunklines starting from their respective offshore platforms to the Qatargas North and South Plants in Ras Laffan Industrial City, as well as associated onshore tie-in works and brownfield activities on existing onshore and offshore facilities, Saipem said in late March.

The UAE launched a new crude futures contract and signed agreements to explore the potential of hydrogen development and the hydrogen market.

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On 29 March, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) marked the official start of trading of the UAE flagship crude oil, Murban, as a futures contract on the new ICE Futures Abu Dhabi (IFAD) commodities exchange.

“The introduction of the world’s first Murban Futures contract is the latest step in ADNOC’s ongoing transformation into a more market and customer-centric organisation. By making Murban a freely traded crude, similar to Brent or WTI, customers have better price transparency, flexibility to hedge and manage risks and increased access to Murban crude,” ADNOC said.

In mid-April, ADNOC Group CEO Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber said on a virtual hydrogen forum that ADNOC was keen to explore the hydrogen market with India’s public and private sectors to support India’s growing demand for energy and need for cleaner fuels.

“And as we collectively navigate the global energy transition, we believe Hydrogen offers promise and potential as a genuinely zerocarbon fuel. Granted Hydrogen is still in its infancy, it could be a game-changer and a real opportunity to accelerate the broader energy transition,” said Al Jaber, who is also UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology.

A few weeks before that, Abu Dhabi’s sovereign investment vehicle, Mubadala Investment Company, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Italian energy infrastructure operator Snam to collaborate on joint investment and development initiatives on hydrogen. Under the agreement, Mubadala and Snam will carry out assessment activities, including technical and economic feasibility studies, to explore potential projects and solutions to promote hydrogen development in the UAE and globally.

Also in the UAE, Italy’s Eni was awarded Block 7 in the onshore of Ras Al Khaimah, under an Exploration and Production Sharing Agreement.

“The acquisition of Block 7 represents another step in Eni’s positioning in the Middle East and in the UAE in particular, where Eni holds the largest exploration acreage among the IOCs present in the country with more than 26,000 km2 gross, comprising eight exploration blocks onshore and in shallow waters offshore across the Emirates of Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah,” the Italian major said in a statement.

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WORLD PROJECTS

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WORLD PROJECTS MAP

SAUDI ARABIA - Saudi Aramco Zuluf Field Development Programme US$9bn

Saudi Aramco is expected to award two onshore EPC packages by the end of 2021 with technical and commercial offers expected to be submitted in July 2021. Package one covers a 600,00 b/d central processing facility, while package two comprise the Utilities and water treatment, and water injection facilities.

MAY 2021

The EIC delivers high-value market intelligence through its online energy project database, and via a global network of staff to provide qualified regional insight. Along with practical assistance and facilitation services, the EIC’s access to information keeps members one step ahead of the competition in a demanding global marketplace. The EIC is the leading Trade Association providing dedicated services to help members understand, identify and pursue business opportunities globally. The EIC is renowned for excellence in the provision of services that unlock opportunities for its members, helping the supply chain to win business across the globe.

WORLD PROJECTS SPONSORED BY

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BRAZIL - Petrobras Mero Oil & Gas Field (Phase 3) US$3.5bn

ALGERIA - Groupement Touatgaz Touat Gas Field US$220mn

TURKEY - Ronesans Holding Adana PDH and PP Plant US$1.4bn

BRAZIL - Enegix Base One Green Hydrogen Project US$5.4bn

MISC Berhad has awarded Siemens Energy an EPC contract for eight complete topsides modules for the Marechal Duque de Caxias FPSO.

Neptune Energy is to start FEED work on the second phase of Touat during 2021. The project which covers the development of the eight remaining fields in the associated block, aims of delivering plateau production of 75,000 b/d (450MMcf/d of gas) and will supply the Adrar refinery at a rate of 6,000 b/d of oil.

Renaissance Heavy Industries (RHI) and GS Engineering and Construction have been awarded a lump-sum turnkey EPC contract for the PP project. GS Engineering and Construction will undertake the engineering and procurement part of the LSTK while RHI will complete the project construction.

Enegix Energy has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Black & Veatch for the delivery of feasibility studies key to advancing the green hydrogen plant.

Siemens scope of supply includes the EPC work for all eight modules and several key components.

www.ogv.energy I May 2021

The facility is expected to be the first hydrogen hub in Latin America and will produce an estimated 600,000 tpa of green hydrogen.

WORLD PROJECTS

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ANGOLA - Eni Block 15/06 – Cuica Oil Discovery US$ Undisclosed

Eni has announced a light oil discovery at its Cuica prospect in Block 15/06.

The discovery well is close to the East Hub field development's subsea network, which will allow a fast-track tie-in of the exploration well and relevant production, thus immediately creating value while extending the Armada Olombendo FPSO production plateau. Eni said production is expected to start within six months after discovery. Eni is planning to sidetrack the discovery well.

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AUSTRALIA - Santos Caldita and Barossa Gas Fields US$3.6bn

PAPUA NEW GUINEA - Total Elk-Antelope Gas Field US$1.5bn

USA - Velocys Bayou Fuels Biomass-To-Fuels CCUS Project US$300mn

Santos has announced that a final investment decision (FID) has been taken on the gas and condensate project. BW Offshore has been awarded a major contract for the construction, connection and operation of the FPSO. BW will build the FPSO in South Korea and Singapore.

Papua New Guinea's government has approved the renewal of the retention lease over the large ElkAntelope gas fields for a five year period starting on 30 November 2021. This will allow the partners Total, ExxonMobil and Oil Search, to conduct project financing activities and strategic market studies.

The pre-FEED and federal permitting for the Bayou Fuels Biomass To Fuels Project have been completed. Velocys plans to sanction the Bayou Fuels project in Q4 2021.

WORLD PROJECTS SPONSORED BY

www.the-eic.com

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ENERGY TRANSITION

By Tsvetana Paraskova

THE ENERGY TRANSITION IS GAINING MOMENTUM In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments and businesses around the world have made more pledges to curb their carbon footprint and reach net-zero emissions by the middle of the century.

From the biggest oil and gas companies in Europe to some of the biggest economies in the world, everyone is now committed to help the fight against climate change by reducing carbon dioxide and methane emissions.

A growing number of governments have laid down targets to increase electrification in transport and raise the share of renewable power sources in their energy mix.

www.ogv.energy I May 2021

Hydrogen and carbon capture and storage (CCS) are no longer vague ideas as the oil and gas industry is betting on them to provide more low-carbon energy to increasingly demanding society and governments.

the capacity and the responsibility to take decisive actions to accelerate clean energy transitions and put the world on a path to reaching our climate goals, including net-zero emissions,” Birol added.

‘Build back better’ is now in most cases synonymous to ‘build back greener’ with government incentives and programmes to boost the use of renewable and low-carbon energy sources.

As economies re-opened at the end of 2020 and economic activity started rising, global energy-related CO2 emissions were 2% higher in December 2020 than in the same month a year earlier, the IEA said in March 2021.

Global installations of renewable energy sources hit a record in 2020 despite the pandemic which slowed down economies and delayed some operations in the early months of 2020.

“The rebound in global carbon emissions toward the end of last year is a stark warning that not enough is being done to accelerate clean energy transitions worldwide. If governments don’t move quickly with the right energy policies, this could put at risk the world’s historic opportunity to make 2019 the definitive peak in global emissions,” Birol noted.

Still, the world needs much more commitment, cooperation of governments, stronger policies, and a lot more investment, if it were to stave off a rise in temperatures well above the ones set in the Paris Agreement, analysts and forecasters say.

Stronger Policies Needed To Put World On Track To Meet Paris Agreement Goals

In 2020, global emissions saw the largest annual drop on record, but this was due to the lower overall energy demand and the economic slowdown. The world is still far from doing enough to put emissions “into decisive decline,” Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), said in October last year.

Many governments – including the UK, major energy importers in north Asia including China, and the European Union – already have timelines to curb emissions and reach net zero by 2050, and in China’s case, by 2060.

Most economies are set to roll out support to low-carbon energy sources and transport electrification. Policies will need to be stronger and investments from the private sector will need to rise exponentially in coming years if the Paris Agreement goals were to be met, international agencies say.

“Only faster structural changes to the way we produce and consume energy can break the emissions trend for good. Governments have

“No country can do this alone. If we want the transition to clean energy to happen quickly, the world’s major economies have to work much

Emissions Rebound after PandemicInflicted Slump

ENERGY SUBSEA TRANSITION REVIEW

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more effectively and closely together,” the IEA’s Birol said at the virtual IEA-COP26 Net Zero Summit at the end of March.

“Today’s Summit clearly showed willingness from governments, civil society and businesses to work together in each emitting sector to make this happen and keep the 1.5 degree target within reach,” said Alok Sharma, the COP26 President.

“This should not be viewed as a shouldering of a burden, but more a sharing of an opportunity. By working together, we can accelerate progress, create jobs and prosperity, and protect our planet for future generations,” Sharma added.

Renewable energy installations are setting records globally, and investment is rising, but a lot more investment is needed for large-scale deployment of electrification in transport, hydrogen solutions, and CCS.

More Low-Carbon Energy Investment Needed To Meet Climate Goals Capital expenditure for renewable energy projects is set for a new record of US$243 billion in 2021, Rystad Energy said in a recent analysis. Investment in renewables is narrowing the gap with CAPEX on oil and gas projects which is expected at around US$311 billion this year, more or less flat compared to 2020, according to Rystad Energy.

“Last year’s events forced leading oil and gas businesses to look at strategies to reduce exposure to the risky market amid the energy transition. Oilfield service suppliers, for instance, have started a considerable transformation, hoping to be more relevant in a greener market and become a more attractive option for investors,” says Chinmayi Teggi, energy service analyst at Rystad Energy.

energy transition alone will need as much as $1 trillion in investment by 2035. Investment in critical energy-transition minerals such as lithium, copper, nickel, cobalt, and aluminium will need to nearly double over the next 15 years compared to the investment over the past 15 years.

major oil and gas corporation now has plans to boost investment and participation in green hydrogen, blue hydrogen, and CCS projects.

“One can argue about both the pace and scale of the energy transition but the criticality of metals to its realisation is without question. Put simply, the energy transition starts and ends with metals. If you want to generate, transmit or store low/no-carbon energy you need aluminium, cobalt, copper, nickel and lithium,” said Julian Kettle, Wood Mackenzie Vice Chairman of Metals and Mining.

Who Will Finance the Energy Transition?

The share of electric vehicles (EVs) in global new passenger car sales is set to quadruple in 2026 from 4.6% last year and exceed 50% from 2033 onwards, Rystad Despite the pandemic, the Energy said in its latest Despite the pandemic, world added more than Energy Transition Report. the world added more 260 GW of renewable The increased adoption of energy capacity in 2020, EVs in major automotive than 260 GW of renewable beating the previous markets in Europe, North energy capacity in 2020, record by almost 50%, Asia, and North America data from the International will boost battery demand beating previous record Renewable Energy Agency for transportation, while (IRENA) showed in early battery demand for grid by almost 50% April. More than 80% of all storage, negligible at present, new electricity capacity added is also set for growth in the next last year was renewable, with solar two decades. and wind accounting for 91% of new renewable capacity, IRENA said.

“If battery costs continue to decline at current rates, they will comprise an increasing share Still, the agency predicts that energy of the power market and can, together with transition investment in a 1.5 degrees cheap renewables, potentially displace a Celsius pathway will have to increase by significant portion of the current fossil fuel 30% over planned investment to a total of baseload generation,” Rystad Energy said.

US$131 trillion between now and 2050, corresponding to US$4.4 trillion on average Outside the electricity sector, hydrogen and every year.

CCS are currently the main solutions on which oil and gas companies are betting for lowWood Mackenzie has estimated that the carbon energy solutions, especially for hardkey metals necessary for accelerating the to-decarbonise industry sectors. Almost every

These will need scale and more investment to become financially viable solutions in the energy transition.

Every existing or proposed low-carbon energy solution will need investment to scale up and reduce costs.

According to WoodMac, the world would need a bare minimum of US$30 trillion to US$40 trillion of investment for a 2-degrees-Celsius or lower pathway. Green stimulus worldwide could attract trillions of US dollars of private capital if governments use incentives to draw private capital.

“Governments can promote a wide range of early-stage technologies, setting the ball rolling with multiple pilot plants. As winners emerge, they can set clear goals on technology adoption, drawing in private capital for scaling up, as well as consumer acceptance,” WoodMac’s analysts say.

“We’d expect a private capital multiplier of two to three times to ‘crowd-in’. If the projects are there, that’s a massive US$12 trillion to US$16 trillion that can kickstart the drive towards a 2 °C or lower pathway,” Wood Mackenzie reckons.

Globally, governments are set to inject around US$4 trillion into the green economy over the next year and a half.

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ENERGY TRANSITION

Better

Building Back

through a Just Energy Transition

Hugh Riddell, Regional Partnerships Manager, highlights the future opportunities and various initiatives underway at the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult to accelerate the transition to Net Zero and realise a green energy future.

The next thirty years will see a radical shift in the way in which we generate and consume energy in the UK if we are to meet our Net Zero carbon emissions targets by 2050 and kick start a green economic recovery post-Covid-19. And in the year when COP26 comes to Glasgow, sustainability and tackling the climate emergency come sharply into focus.

The European Offshore Wind Demonstration Centre Credit Vattenfall

The UK Government has laid out its Build Back Better Plan for Growth. The Plan has three core pillars of growth: Infrastructure, skills and innovation, designed to level up the whole of the UK and support the transition to Net Zero and a vision for a Global Britain. Working within this framework, the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, the UK’s leading technology innovation and research centre for offshore renewable energy, has convened industry-leading projects and collaborations designed to accelerate the energy transition and achieve the estimated 100 GW of offshore wind the Committee on Climate Change projects we’ll need to achieve Net Zero.

The size of the prize on offer is enormous.

Our energy transition activities are focused on four main themes: decarbonisation, accelerating the development of floating offshore wind and green hydrogen technologies, and promoting a circular economy approach to a sustainable offshore wind sector. Green hydrogen and floating offshore wind could generate over £350bn for the UK economy by 2050 and sustain 137,000 jobs with huge export potential: Europe’s hydrogen market alone is anticipated to grow to £105bn by 2050.

At the global scale, circular economy approaches could help to reduce global carbon emissions by 63% by 2050 while opening $25 trillion in new business opportunities. In the UK, we estimate that a spin-off circular economy from wind could generate an additional 20,000 jobs.

As the demand for green electricity grows and we transition from fossil fuels towards a low-carbon, sustainable energy supply, the challenge will be ensuring we invest now in technology innovation and work collaboratively across the entire energy sector to realise these future economic benefits.

www.ogv.energy I May 2021

In the oil and gas and offshore wind sectors, in particular, there are synergies that should enable strong partnerships, facilitate crosssector innovation and drive supply chain growth. There is a natural alignment in terms of skills and technology transfer that will inevitably allow the offshore wind industry – particularly floating offshore wind – to grow, while aiding the decarbonisation of the oil and gas sector. We work closely with OGTC to support this cross-sector collaboration and foster supply chain growth opportunities for both industries. Our recent Reimagining A Net Zero North Sea Report highlighted that up to £416bn of investment is needed to create a net-zero North Sea over the next 30 years, but that, in turn, could deliver £125bn per year to the UK economy.

Both organisations recognise that leveraging our oil and gas industry's innovation, skills, experience and investment is imperative to a just energy transition, seizing this moment to protect and create thousands of jobs and deliver net zero.

This partnership has led to the creation of the Energy Transition Alliance (ETA). This groundbreaking collaboration will develop a roadmap to how the North Sea Basin will transition from an oil and gas-powered world today to a position that aligns with the Government’s Net Zero targets by 2050. The roadmap will set out an ambitious plan for decarbonising the production of oil and gas using floating wind power, an overall increase in renewable energy production, the generation of blue and green hydrogen, and the growth in carbon capture storage facilities.

ENERGY SUBSEA TRANSITION REVIEW

The next thirty years will see a radical shift in the way in which we generate and consume energy in the UK

The development of floating offshore wind is also a vital part of the race to Net Zero.

We’ve established the Floating Offshore Wind Centre of Excellence, an internationally recognised initiative to drive forward the commercialisation of floating wind, maximising UK economic benefit and job creation whilst reducing the UK’s carbon emissions. In collaboration with academia and 13 of the leading floating offshore wind project developers, the Centre will accelerate the build-out of floating farms, create opportunities for the UK supply chain, and drive manufacturing, installation and operations and maintenance innovations.

As well as supporting the decarbonisation of the oil and gas industry, the offshore wind sector is also beginning to focus on its own longterm sustainability and route to decarbonisation.

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Credit Equinor

One of the most significant contributors to carbon emissions in offshore wind is the use of offshore crew transfer and support vessels. In partnership with the Workboat Association and on behalf of the UK Government, we’re developing a technology roadmap outlining a route to the decarbonisation of North Sea offshore wind vessels. Due to be published in the near future, the roadmap will recommend a set of clear, evidence-based guidelines to inform industry, investors, and policymakers on how best to decarbonise the sector.

recyclable sources, and ensure components live longer lives – and even second lives - as refurbished, reused or remanufactured parts.

This can also dovetail beautifully into the UK’s post-COVID recovery as it presents a golden supply chain opportunity for the next decade: a spin-off circular economy from the wind sector that would create thousands of new jobs. Through various projects, including our new Circular Economy in the Wind Sector (CEWS) Joint Industry Project, we are laying the foundations of a circular economy supply chain for the sector, investigating the best reuse, recycling or sustainable disposal methods for decommissioned offshore wind turbines.

Finally, as our first generation of offshore wind turbines approach their end-of-life, the sector is turning its attention to embedding a circular economy model at the heart of future growth.

The environmental imperative to adopt circular economy practices throughout our economy is well documented. We need to reduce the use of virgin materials, move to more sustainable and

As we gear up for COP26 in November, we must invest now in the technology needed to develop an integrated, net-zero offshore energy system that will help us achieve Net Zero, deliver thousands of new jobs and billions of pounds to the UK economy - a welcome economic boost as we seek to recover from the global impacts of Covid-19.

ORE Catapult engineer at work

We are delivering the UK’s largest clean growth opportunity by accelerating the creation and growth of UK companies in offshore renewable energy.

For more information visit https://ore.catapult.org.uk

ENERGY TRANSITION

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SPECTIS ROBOTICS SUCCESSFUL ROV DEPLOYMENT for offshore wind farm inspection

Spectis Robotics were challenged to provide a solution for a complex inspection task. It required the inspection of four capped, and flooded, 650mm diameter HDPE landfall ducts.

Landfall ducts are used as a conduit for cables and pipework between land and offshore locations, particularly for the offshore wind sector. A combination of trenches and bored channels are lined with plastic or steel pipework, which are sealed with caps until required for use.

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ach duct extended up to 700 metres from the shore, and each contained messenger wires, which would complicate traditional crawlerbased inspection. As a specialist inspection equipment supplier, and authorised distributor of Deep Trekker equipment, Spectis Robotics mobilised the DTG3 underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) for this demanding application. Deep Trekker ROVs are routinely used for submerged inspections, although this specific case was interesting in that it was conducted over a distance of 700 metres.

Spectis Robotics have had a number of enquiries relating to the inspection of these ducts, primarily to verify cleanliness and unobstructed path prior to pull-in operations.

Spectis Robotics mobilised the Deep Trekker G3 underwater ROV with a neutrally buoyant 700m tether. The ducts were successfully and safely inspected. The DTG3 4K video recording equipment provided excellent quality high-definition video and still images.

Some anomalies were clearly identified and recorded during the course of the inspections, allowing remedial action to be planned and efficiently executed.

innovative trickle-charging system, which allows additional power to be sent through the lightweight tether to supplement the onboard batteries.

Deep Trekker underwater ROVs provide an easy, efficient and safe inspection tool for a variety of offshore structures including, sea chests, ballast tanks, moorings, risers and legs. Risk management is always a top priority, Deep Trekker equipment conducts remote inspection operations efficiently while providing for operator safety.

Spectis Robotics offer a wide range of robotic inspection systems, including worldleading ROVs, robotic crawlers, camera systems and retrieval tools for both sale and rental. Contact us on 01224 701444 or email sales@spectisrobotics.com for more information.

The G3 is a small, powerful, battery powered ROV with 4K video camera and floodlighting.

Video and stills are recorded onto the handheld controller. This handheld controller can also be connected to an additional external video screen if required, or video can be streamed from the onboard ethernet port. Options for the G3 include sonar, manipulator, water/sediment samplers, underwater GPS, UT thickness measurement, cutters and more!

The G3 can be used with minimal training and is ready for deployment out of the box in less than 5 minutes. Missions of up to 8 hours continuous use can be achieved thanks to the

www.ogv.energy I May 2021

World-leading Robotic Crawlers and Camera Systems For more information visit www.spectisrobotics.com

ENERGY TRANSITION

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NAMAKA COMPLIANCE ‘ATHENA’ ENERGY TRANSITION CAPABILITY N

amaka Compliance have been recently modifying ‘Athena’, our online Competence Management System, so that the skills being utilised in Oil and Gas can be transferred to Renewables. This new function, which is currently being integrated, allows organisations the ability to determine what position their personnel are capable of undertaking in the renewables sector and determines the gaps that exist as to build a comprehensive competence discipline. The new instalment will not only be able to identify

career transition but will also be capable of providing a defined career path in the industry.

Namaka Compliance believes with this unique function, it will allow the cross decking of many organisations to understand the requirements they need to undertake to develop their workforce for the Energy transition.

Jamie Murphy, Managing Director of Namaka Compliance, explained “With Oil and Gas now looking to transition across to Renewables,

it makes sense for ourselves to do the same with our innovative digital technology, it is vital to retain and attract new talent for these opportunities that exist”.

Namaka Compliance is looking to develop an online Competence platform for the Energy Sector that is not only unique to the UK but allows this technology to be able to be deployed internationally to all regions in the Energy Sector, whether that is a mature or emerging energy market with renewables at the forefront.

Winners of the IP100 2020 Software Category Steve Aitken - Founder of Intelligent Plant: ..."It is humbling to be awarded the first position in this illustrious ranking. We are not finished though and have big plans to help others make good use of industrial data in renewables, power distribution and manufacturing. Thanks to Metis for taking the time to understand what makes us different in this space"...

The IP100 is published across the UK and profiles and ranks innovative companies within the private sector, highlighting those which have significantly invested in their IP in the form of IP creation, IP managment policies, R&D activities and IP commercialisation.

Intelligent Plant opened the world's first Industrial App Store in January 2016. Taking operational data and making it easy for any industry, but today in Renewables, Manufacturing and Oil & Gas to use that data in order to drive positive results. The Industrial App Store allows clients to own, and understand their data without having to compromise on either. Now with a connector launched by Microsoft as a part of their Power Apps portfolio, and having won the Elastic (you know for search!) Award in 2020 - Intelligent Plant are grabbing the attention of companies, large and small, who need to understand and improve their operations at pace. By helping our customers to reduce emissions and increase efficiency, the Industrial App Store is actively contributing to the UK's Net Zero targets, helping to leave the world a better place for our children.

ENERGY TRANSITION

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INTERVIEW

Kevin Franklin CEO 3t Energy Group

Last month, 3t Energy Group announced its acquisition of Petrofac’s UK training centres, complementing the Group’s training portfolio and further cementing its place as the UK’s largest provider of global energy training services.

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he acquisition introduces marine and major emergency management training services to the Group, extending its capability to service customers’ requirements. We speak to 3t Energy Group CEO, Kevin Franklin, about his views on today’s training industry, set against the context of a global pandemic and as the energy transition continues to gather pace.

What does this acquisition of Petrofac training centres mean for 3t Energy Group?

Fundamentally, we are in a stronger position to help us deliver a wider array of products and solutions to our customers. Petrofac Training is a high-quality business with a strong reputation in the marketplace, and it has highly experienced and passionate people behind the brand. The acquisition brings with it a new, diverse client base.

As service excellence is something we are passionate about, bringing our high standards and the wider 3t offering to those customers is a really exciting opportunity.

The acquisition brings marine training capability to the Group, which we didn’t have previously; it also brings a much deeper capability in terms of emergency response management, consolidating the number one position we have already achieved in the UK energy training market.

Likewise, the acquisition opens up existing Petrofac customers to an increased service capability, particularly in terms of our e-learning, virtual learning, video learning and virtual reality. If this is something relevant to them (Which is increasingly likely in today’s landscape) obviously that's something that we're able to provide and we're keen to do that.

As we move towards the energy transition and a more sustainable energy future, how do 3t Energy Group’s products help the workforce of the sector to prepare for this?

More and more frequently, we notice delegates coming through our doors who are retraining to evolve and enhance their skills, and we have always been a supporter of this. We want to follow our customers on their journey as they evolve their own business models around Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) standards, carbon reduction and net zero commitments.

Being market leaders in renewables training, we have the expertise and capabilities to support all their needs, and we work in close partnership with our customers to ensure the highest level of compliance and competence.

How do you see the training industry within the energy sector evolving over the next 3-5 years? – Will there be more investment in remote learning products?

I think there's going to be an interesting journey ahead in terms of how the industry evolves and therefore the provision of training. It is vital that we follow both the sector and our customers on this journey, in order to understand how we can best support them with their commitments towards carbon reduction.

I would also see the deployment of technology increasing to provide the right learning outcomes, in order to be able to deliver a safer, smarter workforce. As far as remote learning goes, we already offer e-learning, video learning, virtual reality and other options to our customers, and as technology advances, we want to remain on the ball and be able to offer our clients the best and most up-to-date training services.

As a Group, we continuously invest in our technology, facilities and course capabilities, offering an extensive portfolio of market leading and specialist training, from oil and gas to renewables, under one roof.

Following the last 12 months, how has the global pandemic affected 3t Energy Group, and have you adapted your offering?

I think that we've come out of the pandemic stronger. We were the first in our sector to reopen back in May last year under COVIDcompliant regulations and were quick to react and have the correct protocols in place.

We have now increased PPE and operate temperature checks at point-of-entry at all of our facilities, as well as introducing reduced capacity in classrooms. Throughout, it has been paramount for us to remain focused upon an optimum experience for the delegates.

I would definitely say that there is an increased appetite for cloud-based technology solutions in the delivery and management of training. Particularly around Well Control and compliance aspects, we have deployed over one hundred licenses globally to our international clients. We were able to continue developing - and in fact accelerate the products during the pandemic, because we could see that the demand would be there.

Being highly committed to continuously advancing our technology offering, and quickly reacting to the trend, we moved our simulation product to the cloud and were able to quickly roll this out to the international market.

We have deepened the content in terms of technology, provided increased learnings and expanded our capability, particularly in Aberdeen, around our renewables training, as we help accelerate a smooth, efficient energy transition.

Being market leaders in renewables training, we have the expertise and capabilities to support all your needs.

www.ogv.energy I May 2021

We are transforming workforce training and competency around the world. To achieve this we use groundbreaking new technology that delivers world-class, industry-focused solutions across three key pillars.

For more information visit www.3tenergygroup.com

ENERGY TRANSITION

WORLD’S MOST POWERFUL TIDAL TURBINE, THE O2,

arrives in Orkney Waters Orbital Marine Power’s, O2, the world’s most powerful tidal turbine, arrived in Orkney Waters on Saturday, 24th April, following launch from the Port of Dundee on Thursday 22nd April.

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he turbine was towed to Orkney by Leask Marine’s new multicat vessel, the C-Force, in a voyage that took two days.

The turbine will be temporarily moored at Deer Sound while final commissioning is completed along with a programme of tow trials before installation at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) Fall of Warness tidal test site for a long-term project. Following connection to the national grid, EMEC will undertake an independent power performance assessment for Orbital.

The O2 is Orbital Marine Power’s first commercial demonstrator and represents the culmination of more than 15 years of product development and testing in Orkney.

It is envisaged that the O2 will become the basis for first commercial sales of the technology.

Speaking about the arrival of the O2, The Rt Hon Alistair Carmichael MP for Orkney and Shetland, said, “the arrival of the O2 turbine in Orkney is a milestone in the expansion of marine renewables in the isles. It is a reminder – if we needed one – that the Northern Isles have enormous potential to lead the world in tidal energy. What is needed now is support from the Government in order to leverage this potential and get to the next stage in deployment.

The proof of concept is there – today should be a spur for ministers to commit to the future of this vital green technology and provide the fiscal levers that can get us to commercial rollout. If there are any doubters in marine renewables left in government, I would invite them to come see the potential here for themselves.”

Matthew Finn, EMEC Commercial Director said, “The O2 is the third Orbital turbine to be tested at EMEC’s tidal test site, a great case study showing the value of testing multiple iterations in the sea gradually increasing in scale and optimising design towards a commercial product.

The O2’s arrival in Orkney also marks a major milestone in the Horzion2020 FloTEC project, which will see the O2 demonstrated in the sea and EMEC delivering an independent power performance assessment.”

Finn went on to praise Orbital’s achievement and commitment to the building back better agenda, “Congratulations to Orbital on completing the build of the O2. With 80% UK supply content followed by local employment through long term operation; this shows the economic benefits of tidal energy in supporting green recovery in the UK and the opportunity for the UK to be the world leader in tidal energy, providing adequate support is provided for continued development and demonstration.

About Orbital Marine Power Ltd. Orbital Marine Power Ltd is an innovative Scottish engineering company, headquartered in Orkney, and focused on the development of a tidal energy turbine technology capable of producing a dramatic reduction in the cost of energy from tidal currents. The Orbital technology has been under continuous engineering development, including rigorous testing of scaled systems in both tank conditions and open ocean environments since the company was founded in 2002. The company currently employs 32 staff with offices in Orkney and Edinburgh.

The O2 turbine has a 74m long hull structure with twin 1MW power generating nacelles at the end of retractable leg structures designed to give low-cost access to all major components for through life servicing. 10m blades give the O2 more than 600m2 of swept area to capture flowing tidal energy. The floating structure is held on station with a four-point mooring system where each mooring chain has the capacity to lift over 50 double-decker buses. Electricity is transferred from the turbine via a dynamic cable to the seabed and a static cable along the seabed to the local onshore electricity network.

O2 has the ability to generate enough clean, predictable electricity to meet the demand of around 2,000 UK homes and offset approximately 2,200 tonnes of CO2 production per year.

The O2 project has been supported through funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the FloTEC project and the European Regional Development Fund through the Interreg North West Europe Programme under the ITEG project. This project has also received support under the framework of the OCEANERA-NET COFUND project and co-funding by the European Union's Horizon2020 research and innovation programme.

The build of the O2 was also supported by the Scottish Government under the Saltire Tidal Energy Challenge Fund.

Orbital Marine Power is an innovative Scottish engineering company focused on the development of a low-cost, predictable, scalable floating tidal technology.

For more information visit www.orbitalmarine.com

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ENERGY TRANSITION

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Stephen Drabble, renewables operations manager of Bilfinger Salamis UK.

H

ow we move on from our reliance on hydrocarbons and transition to renewable forms of energy is the fundamental issue for our sector.

One thing that will not change is the continued reliance on the North Sea. The Offshore Wind Industry Council forecasts that the private sector is readying £60.8 billion to invest in developing, building and operating new offshore wind projects over the next five years.

But while wind energy generation technology has come on in leaps and bounds, the sector is still in many ways held back by inefficient processes that present an opportunity to accelerate the transition and boost productivity.

Overcoming an inefficient legacy Windfarm operators are still multi-contracting their Operations and Maintenance (O&M), with anything from a handful to dozens of small providers delivering services.

This is a legacy issue; the earliest wind turbines had a ten-year warranty and when these expired in the early 2010s utility companies found there were no tierone O&M contractors offering the service they needed, so they were forced to oversee it themselves.

support the kind of innovative thinking that the energy transition needs.

BILFINGER SALAMIS UK

Driving the Energy Transition

How we move on from our reliance on hydrocarbons and transition to renewable forms of energy is the fundamental issue for our sector.

At our new facilities at The Core in Aberdeen, we’re developing technologies that are making a real difference for our customers.

Our smart apps for service technicians in fabric maintenance and inspection are enabling work to be documented quickly and easily in the field, improving quality while saving time and money. And we’re supporting firms in transforming their business delivery through data, taking information from desks on to site through tablet technology to help them manage the workforce.

We’re also investing and collaborating with select specialist partners to expand the services we provide. We recently announced a partnership with blade repair and maintenance specialists GEV Wind Power that will offer wind farm operators a complete service for the repair and maintenance of full turbines.

Alongside Aerones, we’re offering robotic blade inspection and testing to reduce downtime and increase annual energy production (AEP) and with Amphibious Energy, we’re providing solar and wind-powered pods that will ultimately replace the diesel generators that are currently installed on every offshore wind turbine during their construction. We’re also working with Sabik Offshore to install and maintain a range of navigation aids.

Of course, it’s not just energy generation; carbon capture and storage will be vital if the UK is to transition to a net zero economy and there are decades of seismic data on North Sea wells to inform this process.

Bilfinger Salamis UK has been a major multi-disciplined service contractor to the North Sea oil and gas industry for more than 45 years, and our services cover the entire project life cycle: from consulting and engineering, technologies and components through to production, construction and maintenance; to support our clients in delivering their renewable projects.

Supporting bigger projects As more energy companies enter the offshore wind sector to support their energy transition, projects are growing in size and these businesses need tier one contractors with the scale to invest and innovate.

Innovation and partnerships Partnering with one contractor is less time and resource intensive than managing a team of vendors and generates typical administrative cost savings of approximately 20 to 30%.

Bilfinger Salamis UK is unique in the market in being able to match this scale. Our extensive labour pool and network of logistics facilities in key renewables hubs provide complete coverage of the North Sea and through the Bilfinger Group, we draw on the engineering expertise of Bilfinger Tebodin and Bilfinger UK; companies that work on some of Europe’s largest construction projects, including Hinkley Point.

This can be as simple as being able to provide clients with multidisciplinary teams with inspection engineers and technicians for site visits, which ensure repairs can be made there and then. It also means customers can be sure of consistent quality across their O&M function, from safety standards and regulatory compliance to service delivery and project reporting.

Another drawback of the existing multi-contracting model is that smaller providers can struggle to

www.ogv.energy I May 2021

Isla Bella Vessel in Service

Through the solutions and services we offer as a single operations and maintenance contractor covering the entire lifecycle, we help our customers focus on their core business and support them in delivering the projects that matter in the energy transition.

Leading industrial services provider Bilfinger enhances the efficiency of assets, ensures a high level of availability and reduces maintenance costs.

Learn more at www.bilfinger.com

APEX INDUSTRIAL CHEMICALS LIMITED - 25 - YEAR MARKET LEADER ACCELERATES GLOBAL GROWTH PLANS

ALTENS-BASED APEX INDUSTRIAL CHEMICALS LIMITED (AIC) ARE MARKET LEADERS IN THE MANUFACTURE AND SUPPLY OF EFFECTIVE, HIGH QUALITY AND HIGH PERFORMING CHEMICAL PRODUCTS TO THE UK AND GLOBAL OIL AND GAS SECTOR.

Established for over 25 years, we have excellent safety, environmental credentials, and speciality products to meet the offshore market's ever-changing needs.

We produce our range of products based on industry feedback and continuous improvement, providing effective results that match the immediate sector requirements.

They include corrosion removal and prevention, pipe dope remover, rig wash degreasers and wax, tar and crude removal.

At the core of our operations is a commitment to performance and outstanding customer care. Our triple ISO certification is evidence of our commitment to the highest industry standards. We re-certified this year for ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001.

Our unique in-house development and laboratory facilities are a testament to our innovation and

proactivity in meeting industry requirements. We oversee design, formulation, testing, filling and labelling, with unbeatable response times from our labs. Thus, our customers have access to an unrivalled range of cutting-edge, specialised products where they need it.

Each of our application products meets that of the OSPAR convention on the North Sea and North Atlantic. We comply with REACH regulations and avoid the use of components classified under those guidelines. All products specific to the Oil and Gas industry are classified and labelled according to the European CLP regulation.

In recent years, we have seen an increasing global demand for our products, so we are at an exciting point in our company's journey.

Our comprehensive growth strategy will see us lead the chemical industry into the future in new and emerging markets.

Our Managing Director, Ed C. Singer, notes, "We are excited about the future of AIC. Our business activities will see a return to Asia, and we have growth plans for Africa and the Middle East. We aim to be at the forefront of chemicals industry innovation. We already lead the way with our full range of products for the drilling industry."

To drive our growth aspirations, we have added new talent to the business in the last 12 months. Stephanie Lloyd re-joined us in June 2020 as Business Manager. Most recently, Mark Paterson joined us as Business Development Executive. Together, Stephanie and Mark bring decades of experience into the business. They are both based in Aberdeen but work internationally. We expect new additions to our team over the next few months to prepare for growth in the North Sea and globally.

To find out more about our full range of chemical products, call us on +44 (0)1224 878420 or visit www.apexchemicals.com.

Peterseat Drive, Altens Industrial Estate, Aberdeen AB12 3HT

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GREEN ENERGY

A FIRST

FOR NORTH STAR RENEWABLES North Star Renewables was recently awarded contracts to build three brand-new service operation vessels (SOVs) to support Dogger Bank Wind Farm – the world’s largest offshore wind farm, set to produce 3.6GW once completed. Equinor, SSE Renewables and Eni have partnered in a joint venture to build and operate the North Sea project, located 130km from the Yorkshire coast. As North Star’s first contract within the renewable energy market, this is no mean feat, rapidly repositioning the company as a major player in the field.

Matthew Gordon, CEO of North Star, comments on why he feels they were successful: “This is not something we rushed into, having taken the last two and a half years to learn

the renewables market and really understand the challenges. We have the taken time to bring in the right people and meet client requirements by adapting to customer demand.

Our comprehension of the sector and its challenges, plus the added value we could offer, combined with our tuned vessel design made us stand out. We have focused on optimising workability, safety, comfort, sustainability and uptime, working closely with our technology partners at each stage to achieve all this and ultimately reducing the fuel burden. As they say, the whole is always greater than the sum of its parts – we took a bird’s eye view; built-in value, improved forward planning and created the opportunity for a workwise operation. With so much planning and investment, this contract is a massive win for the North Star team.”

About North Star

North Star Renewables is part of North Star Group, which also comprises North Star Shipping and Boston Putford. The Aberdeen-headquartered business is the largest offshore emergency support vessel operator in the North Sea, employs 1,400 personnel, and has been supporting the oil and gas sector for the past four decades. It’s offshore support vessel fleet boasts 44 vessels and provides continuous infrastructure support services across more than 50 North Sea installations. By combining safety, service and quality, the company delivers exceptional levels of support to its clients in one of world's most challenging and demanding industries.

www.ogv.energy I May 2021

Halfdan Brustad, Vice President for Dogger Bank at Equinor, is one of many to welcome North Star’s success with this contract as a UK-based organisation: “Despite tough international competition, it is a testament to North Star that they won these contracts. This is an ideal opportunity for the UK supplier to develop its skills, resources and network within the sector, laying the groundwork for a fruitful future while significantly supporting the offshore wind market in the UK. Dogger Bank is at the forefront of innovation, and being able to advance such a ground-breaking project with a local workforce simply adds to what we are all trying to achieve.”

As recently announced, North Star will be working with VARD – a global designer and shipbuilder of specialised vessels – to build its new fleet for Dogger Bank. Fraser Dobbie, Strategic Development Director of North Star, offers insight into how the winning vessel design was achieved: “We didn’t want to take an off-the-shelf design from VARD. Our approach was to listen to exactly what the client wanted and with their support, designed a new, unique SOV solution.

We believe that our commitment to adding this value made the difference. For example, we considered the logistical flow of how cargo is transported onto and off the vessel, into the warehouse and out to the turbines.

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have already learnt and work with the technology supply chain to drive and improve sustainability and differentiate ourselves from others in all the sectors we operate within.

“North Star is unique with its long history of managing ships and offshore operations. The company is in a robust financial position with extensive experience maintaining an impressive safety performance under different conditions, which is always highly valued by our clients. This is the reason why we have already started winning contracts in adjacent renewable markets to offshore wind. We have the expertise, infrastructure and capital to support several fields.”

The highly experienced marine operator will be building three brand-new SOVs to support Dogger Bank, adding to the 27 ships they have built since the early 2000s and adding to their total fleet of 44 operational vessels. With all services delivered in-house, North Star is further able to manage every aspect from project development to vessel maintenance for maximum quality, efficiency and consistency.

About their future plans in the field, Matthew comments: “Our ambition is to be a leading supplier of offshore wind infrastructure services. We aim to further develop our understanding of the energy transition and diversify our capabilities and support. A contract of this magnitude cements our position on the starting line, rubber stamps our operator status and gives us access to exciting new opportunities. In the long-term, we want to grow, using our winning formula to gain more contracts and continue on our journey. We still have a strong oil and gas core business, and this work for the Dogger Bank wind farm is just the start of new ventures for the longer-term created company outlook.”

The new jobs by this contract in Scotland will play an important part in the UK’s green recovery and long-term economic stability.

The comfort for staff on board was also important to the client, so we embraced the concept of creating a comfortable second home for technicians, with features like an advanced gym area, as well as light and open spaces to encourage socialising and collaboration. This focus on wellbeing resonates with North Star’s values. In turn, our shared ethos for ensuring quality of life for offshore project staff drove innovation for this contract.

“With regards to the technical aspects of the ship, we have implemented the latest iteration of a specialist propulsion system that responds faster when holding position alongside the turbines transferring personnel, with less vessel sway and surge. This not only ensures a stable position but improves comfort while burning less fuel. We have also embraced digital innovations including decision support software which enables operators to best plan against the weather, monitor technology performance data and model the most efficient way to move between turbines at any given time.”

Although this is North Star’s first enterprise into renewable energy, it is likely just one of many yet to come. The company has already demonstrated how with innovation and a commitment to understanding the market, skills, infrastructure and services from the oil and gas sector can be very successfully adapted for renewables, as Fraser goes on to explain: “Our company is built on 40 years of experience in oil and gas and ERRV [Emergency Response and Rescue Vessel] services. We are known for providing the 24/7 support, 365 days a year - that is required for ERRVs - and our track record speaks volumes about our reliability. Our goal now is to take this knowledge and apply it to new markets in order to answer different questions. We wish to share the lessons we

In addition to the vast opportunities that North Star and the wind farm partners will be bringing to offshore wind – and the 6 million homes Dogger Bank aims to power – the building and maintenance of three new SOVs will also create employment prospects, with 130 new full-time, UK-based jobs in the making.

Indirectly, there are also positive implications for a boost in the supply chain for industry-wide growth.

Given the current drive for economic recovery across the UK, this could all prove most timely for individuals and providers in the sector looking to transfer into renewables.

Steve Wilson, SSE renewables Project Director for Dogger Bank Wind Farm adds: “The new jobs created by this contract in Scotland will play an important part in the UK’s green recovery and long-term economic stability. They will also provide an important opportunity to foster home-grown skills among the workforce and enable more individuals to get involved in the sector if they so choose.

“The state-of-the-art hybrid vessels being developed by North Star will have a critical role in ensuring the safe and efficient operation of Dogger Bank Wind Farm.

This is the first step in the next phase of development for offshore wind in Scotland and the wider UK.” With eyes from around the world on Dogger Bank, it is a project set to push the boundaries of what has previously been possible for offshore wind and, indeed, renewable energy. With several UK companies leading and managing developments, it is a clear demonstration of the innovation and success possible on our own shores.

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INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY

EC-OG EC-OG are innovators in smart, sustainable, clean energy technologies. Specialising in energy management and smart battery systems, EC-OG offer design and manufacturing services for alternative power systems for offshore and subsea assets.

With a focus on safety and quality, EC-OG identify innovative ways of solving power supply challenges in brownfield, greenfield and decommissioning applications.

Transferable across the blue economy, our technologies help our clients navigate the energy transition and identify alternative energy systems, offering not just high-quality battery and energy management technologies, but fully independent advice on clean energy technologies and energy storage.

EC-OG design and manufacture a range of battery products for applications, including environmental monitoring, oceanographic instrumentation, subsea communications and vehicles. Based in Aberdeen, UK, we are ideally located to service the global energy industry.

Company Details Website: www.ec-og.com Email: info@ec-og.com Tel: +44 (0)1224 933301 Address: Davidson House Aberdeen Innovation Park Campus One, Bridge of Don AB22 8GT, Aberdeen, UK

Technology Development stage: Commercial Launch date: 2020

www.ogv.energy I May 2021

A NET ZERO FUTURE - SUBSEA BATTERY STORAGE Driving emission reduction and integrated energy for subsea assets

As the subsea oil & gas industry evolves through the energy transition, it’s essential to keep the lights on at existing assets whilst simultaneously adopting new and better ways of working to meet the industries net zero targets.

EC-OG’s Halo smart battery storage and energy management technology provides the industry with tools to do just that; deliver emission reduction targets and build integrated energy systems for subsea and offshore assets.

Halo is EC-OG’s in-house developed Lithium-ion battery architecture and energy management system. Designed specifically for the demanding subsea environment, Halo provides a power and communications gateway to subsea assets using modular and scalable battery energy storage as a reliable and flexible power supply.

Adaptable for range of applications, Halo is primarily offered as a seabed power solution for brownfield and greenfield oil & gas subsea production control systems. A host of other subsea applications include autonomous vehicle recharging, seabed sensor packages, CCUS injection wells and over-the-horizon communication systems.

Brownfield power supply problems, power bottlenecks on existing assets and all-electric subsea systems all bring demanding and complex subsea power needs. Halo addresses these issues by providing an adaptable smart battery architecture that can be configured to provide the required power and energy to a subsea asset as either a retrofit or integrated solution. With the intelligence to operate with marine renewable energy converters, Halo provides the gateway for clean energy systems to help reduce the carbon emissions of offshore operations.

Halo as a standalone seabed, smart battery package is a commercially ready technology, with renewable energy integration for battery recharging available ‘out-of-the-box’. This means that a Halo system of several hundred kWh capacity (scalable) and an AC or DC power output (configurable) can be delivered in as little as 12 weeks from receipt of order.

In addition to subsea production control systems, the need to decarbonise offshore activities and an increase in demand for remote operations presents a unique opportunity for innovative power systems and smart battery technologies. Not least, widespread adoption of autonomous and residential subsea (and surface) vehicles is just round the corner.

Halo is an enabling technology for marine autonomy, providing a reliable power source for in-situ recharging of vehicles in the marine environment, allowing longer missions with a reduced reliance on expensive, manned surface vessels.

EC-OG’s Intelligent Energy Management System is the beating heart of the Halo system. It provides the intelligence to accept charge from a wide range of intermittent sources, including wave, tidal and wind energy. Other unconventional forms of offshore energy generation such as underwater fuel cells, floating solar and even maintenance charging from existing subsea umbilical cables can also be accepted, providing an unrivalled range of charge options to the operator.

EC-OG have the capabilities and expertise to offer custom battery products and systems for subsea, offshore, onshore and industrial applications. In-house design, prototype, qualification and manufacturing services can be undertaken, leveraging the companies multidiscipline engineering expertise built up from the companies heritage in subsea engineering and critical production infrastructure design.

With a constant focus on safety and dependability, EC-OG’s adaptable Intelligent Energy Management System and battery monitoring software places EC-OG as an ideal partner for the development of battery products and power systems to meet the energy industries emission reduction targets.

VIEW THE FULL TECH ANNUAL MAGAZINE ONLINE AT

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INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY

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GLACIER ENERGY LAUNCHES HEAT EXCHANGER DIGITAL MONITORING SOLUTION Glacier Energy, a leading international provider of specialist products, services, and engineering solutions for energy infrastructure, has developed a new predictive maintenance tool for monitoring heat exchanger performance.

Led by Glacier Energy’s UK heat transfer team, HTX Digital uses existing data, combined with predictive analytics, to trend and predict the future performance and degradation of heat exchangers leading to smarter decision-making, and more effective maintenance scheduling.

This allows Operators, who are under continued pressure to optimise the performance of their critical assets, to maximise productivity and reduce maintenance downtime.

Specifically, HTX Digital helps address the following challenges. carbon emissions reduction; energy efficiency; fouling; vibration; thermal expansion and operational limits & parameters.

Andy Scott, Director of Glacier Energy’s Heat Transfer division, said: “We are delighted to launch HTX Digital which reinforces the strength of our thermal-mechanical capabilities and our marketleading status in the heat transfer field.

“HTX Digital has been designed by our in-house experts with a deep understanding of the complexities of heat transfer equipment and built by data scientists to solve common failures and maintenance challenges.

“Using specially designed analytics and algorithms, our subject matter experts can interpret heat exchanger data into meaningful insights that can be acted upon in real-time, or predicted, to maintain and improve operational stability.”

“Glacier Energy is a proactive participant in the energy transition, and through the launch of HTX Digital, we are supporting the sustainability of our industry by helping our customers to achieve cleaner and more efficient energy production.”

Lost production in the UKCS due to heat transfer equipment failures, is estimated to be around £600million per annum. HTX Digital has the potential to reduce maintenance costs and unplanned downtime by up to 30%. Furthermore, it can measure and monitor the carbon footprint of heat exchangers to help reduce CO2 intensity and emissions from operations.

To support the ongoing development and launch of HTX Digital, Glacier Energy has recently appointed Daniel Deffley who joins as a Thermal Engineer. Daniel has many years of heat exchanger engineering, design and manufacturing experience which will supplement the knowledge and expertise of our existing technical teams.

Commenting on his appointment, Daniel, said: “Glacier Energy’s heat transfer division has an excellent reputation and track record across the energy sector, and I feel privileged to join the team at this exciting stage in the company’s development.”

As well as the launch of HTX Digital, Glacier Energy’s heat transfer team has recently moved to a larger design and manufacturing facility to support the company’s future growth and meet the demand for its services.

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Scott, adds: “This move demonstrates our ongoing commitment to the energy sector and indeed the delivery of more innovative and pioneering heat transfer solutions as we look to continue growing our market share across the oil & gas, onshore and alternative energy sectors.

For further information about HTX Digital or to request a demonstration, visit glacierenergy.com

www.leyton.com

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CONTRACT AWARDS

www.ogv.energy I May 2021

CONTRACT AWARDS

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$380MM Brazil Drilling Contract Goes to Seadrill Equinor Brasil Energia Ltda has awarded Seadrill Limited a four-year firm contract for the West Saturn drillship for work on the Bacalhau field in Brazil, Seadrill reported.

Seadrill estimates the firm portion of the contract, which includes four one-year options, at approximately $380 million. The drilling contractor noted the total value includes mobilisation, upgrades, and integrated services revenue and a performance bonus. To be sure, it added the total value hinges on the final investment decision by Equinor and its Bacalhau partners.

Equinor’s partners in the pre-salt Santos Basin field include Exxon Mobil Corp. and Petrogal Brasil.

“This announcement is an exciting new contract that builds on Seadrill’s years of experience as a global player of scale and footprint,” remarked Seadrill CEO Stuart Jackson. “The West Saturn is a true example of a modern, state-of-the-art drillship and showcases the best of Seadrill: our commitment to continuous innovation and our accomplished team.”

Seadrill noted the West Saturn, which already boasts the company’s managed pressure drilling system, will

receive further safety, efficiency, and environmental control upgrades in consultation with Equinor and its partners. Moreover, the drilling contractor noted that it expects to cut the drillship’s fuel consumption by 1015% by introducing a combined hydrogen and methanol injection system and other upgrades.

According to Seadrill’s most recent fleet status report (Fourth Quarter 2020), West Saturn is contracted to ExxonMobil offshore Brazil until this November.

“We are thrilled to announce the new contract with Equinor,” commented Matt Lyne, senior vice president of commercial with Seadrill. “It’s been a challenging period for the industry and our longstanding client relationship has been a significant contributor in the award of this new four-year contract, which could last up to eight years if all options are exercised. Brazil is undeniably one of the most important deepwater oil and gas basins in the world and we look forward to playing our role in the future of the industry in this key region.”

Assuming the Bacalhau partners go forward with the development, Seadrill stated that it expects the West Saturn contract to commence in the first quarter of 2022.

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CONTRACT AWARDS Key jacket foundation contract awarded Commenting on the announcement RenewableUK’s Deputy Chief Executive Melanie Onn said: "It's great to see an iconic company like Harland & Wolff creating 290 Scottish jobs with a big contract to manufacture steel foundations for a major Scottish offshore wind farm, especially as this will take place at the former BiFab site at Methil in Fife generating new opportunities there.

“This is another example of how the UK's offshore wind supply chain is a key part of the green industrial revolution which will play a leading role in the UK's economic recovery after the pandemic.

Harland & Wolff has been awarded a contract

by Saipem Limited for the fabrication and load-out of eight wind turbine generator (WTG) jacket foundations.

The jacket foundations will service the EDF Renewables and ESB owned Neart na Gaoithe Offshore Wind Farm project located in the outer Firth of Forth in Scotland. The contract schedule is due to commence from 1 July 2021 and is anticipated to create around 290 direct and indirect jobs.

The works for fabrication, consolidation and load-out of the eight WTG jacket foundations will principally be conducted at Harland and Wolff’s newly acquired Methil facilities in Scotland. Should there be an opportunity to further optimise the works programme and make the contract more cost-effective, Harland & Wolff and Saipem will work jointly to spread additional workstreams within the contract across its three other sites in Belfast, Arnish and Appledore.

“Our world-leading industry is stepping up fast to quadruple the UK's current offshore wind capacity by 2030, which offers significant supply chain opportunities. By the end of the decade, offshore wind alone will be providing well over a third of the UK's electricity - a huge step towards the UK's net zero emissions goal as well as generating massive economic growth".

Harland & Wolff’s four sites offer a combined footprint of over 334.6 hectares, with well over 72,000m² of undercover fabrication capacity.

Harland & Wolff is a wholly-owned subsidiary of InfraStrata plc (AIM: INFA), a London Stock Exchange-listed firm focused on strategic infrastructure projects and physical asset lifecycle management.

Worley Wins Services Contract for Phillips 66 Renewable Fuels Project Worley has been awarded a front-end engineering services contract on April 15

by Phillips 66 to convert its San Francisco refinery in Rodeo, California, into a renewable fuels-manufacturing facility.

The project will reconfigure the refinery and produce up to 650 million gallons per year of renewable transportation fuels from used cooking oils, fats, greases and vegetable oils. Once built, the renewable fuels facility is expected to be one of the world’s largest facilities of its kind.

Under the contract, Worley will provide FEED services for the facility, which will be executed

by Worley’s North America West team with support from Worley’s Global Integrated Delivery team.

“As a global company headquartered in Australia, this project aligns with our strategic focus on sustainability and delivering a more sustainable world,” Chris Ashton, CEO of Worley, said. “We are pleased that Phillips 66 has engaged Worley in this important renewable fuels project and look forward to supporting Phillips 66’s energy transition goals, while also supporting Worley’s strategic focus on future fuels.”

www.ogv.energy I May 2021

CONTRACT AWARDS

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Maersk Drilling hybrid rig awarded more work with Aker BP Denmark’s Maersk Drilling has secured an additional one-well contract with Aker BP for the 2015-built jackup rig Maersk Integrator.

The firm $9.6m contract is in direct continuation of the rig’s previously announced work scope, and will see the Maersk Integrator drill an exploration well for Aker BP offshore Norway.

The work should commence in December 2021, with an estimated duration of 36 days.

The ultra-harsh environment jackup rig recently completed a series of upgrades to convert it to a hybrid, low-emission rig.

According to Maerks Drilling, in the first month of operations featuring identical upgrades, the sister rig Maersk Intrepid registered a very promising initial data point of reducing fuel consumption and CO2 emissions by approximately 25% compared to the rig’s average baseline, along with NOx emissions reductions of approximately 95%.

Maersk Integrator is contracted under the terms of the frame agreement that Maersk Drilling and Aker BP entered into in 2017 as part of the Aker BP Jack-up Alliance which

also includes Halliburton. Contracts under the alliance are based on market-rate terms with incentive arrangement for all parties, based on actual delivery and performance.

Shelf Drilling lands three-year rig job in India Offshore drilling contractor Shelf Drilling has received a three-year contract for one of its jack-up drilling rigs with Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) in India.

Shelf Drilling said that the three-year contract had been awarded to the J.T. Angel jack-up rig for operations in the Mumbai High, offshore India.

The planned start-up of operations is in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Shelf Drilling has not provided any further details about the rig’s new contract, including the day rate.

According to its fleet status report from March 2021, the rig has been under contract with ONGC from March 2018 until March 2021.

The 300-foot jack-up rig J.T. Angel is of a Friede & Goldman L-780 Model II design built in 1982.

Petrofac extends Integrated Services for NEO Energy Petrofac, the leading international service provider to the energy industry, announces today the early award of a one-year extension to its Integrated Services contract with NEO Energy.

The extension, awarded eight months ahead of the renewal date, takes Petrofac’s contract for operations, maintenance, engineering and construction support for NEO Energy’s UK activities, through to December 2022.

Petrofac supported the transition of operations on the Quad 15 & Flyndre area in 2020 following NEO Energy’s acquisition of the assets, and at the same time assumed responsibility for ongoing operations, maintenance, engineering and construction under its integrated delivery model. In July of the same year, under a separate two-year agreement, Petrofac’s well engineering team were selected by NEO Energy to provide

Well Management and Well Operator support for 25 production wells across the Affleck, Balloch, Dumbarton, Flyndre and Lochranza fields.

Commenting, Nick Shorten, Managing Director for Petrofac in the Western Hemisphere, said:

We are thrilled to continue our support of NEO Energy’s late life asset strategy and pursuit of topquartile uptime and efficiency. The early extension of our integrated services contract provides further endorsement of our ability to seamlessly deliver services across the asset lifecycle.

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ON THE MOVE

ON THE MOVE

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With decades of experience in our specialist sectors, the breadth and depth of our networks, coupled with a meticious approach to research and consulting, provide us with reach and insight few other firms can offer.

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Logan Energy Names New Chair

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Ian Marchant

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Kpler Appoints Chief Financial Officer

Logan Energy, the Scottish hydrogen technology company, has named Ian Marchant as its new Chairman. Ian is the Former Chief Executive of utility firm SSE and is the current Chairman of Thames Water.

Kpler, the commodity markets data and analytics firm, has announced the appointment of Mark Cunningham as Chief Financial Officer who joins from Wood Mackenzie, where he held the role of Vice President of Finance.

He has also previously held board and advisory roles with Infinis, the 2020 Climate Group, Cyber Hawk and Linknode. Ian is joined on the Logan Energy board by Non-Executive directors Bob MacDonald, former Chief Executive Officer of Specialist Technical Solutions at Wood, and Derek Mathieson, former Chief Marketing and Technology Officer at Baker Hughes.

During his five years as Vice President of Finance at Wood Mackenzie, he was instrumental in managing financial operations, including the 2019 acquisition of Genscape, and went on to run the integrated business in 2020. Prior to Wood Mackenzie, Mark was Head of Corporate Finance, Treasury and Investor Relations at an Oaktree Capital Management backed maritime business based in London.

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Stuart Wheaton

www.ogv.energy I May 2021

OGL Geothermal Announce Non-Executive Appointment

OGL Geothermal, the geothermal energy development company, has announced the appointment of Stuart Wheaton as NonExecutive Director. Stuart is currently the Head of International Business at the newly formed Harbour Energy, which was formed by the merger of Chrysaor and Premier Oil. He brings over 30

Mark Cunningham

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Chris Durling

Energy Names New Director to Drive Expansion

3t Energy Group, the energy industry training services company, has appointed Chris Durling as its new Finance Director and will be responsible for the financial management of the group’s combined training businesses, integrating Petrofac’s recently acquired in-person training business and driving further expansion and additional acquisitions.

Chris joins from EY, where he led the Aberdeen transactions business and the firm’s focus on energy services. Prior to this, he was an Associate Director with KPMG and Associate with with Baker Tilly which included a secondment with the Co-operative Bank’s renewable energy and asset finance team.

years of oil and gas industry experience focused on field development planning, major project delivery, operations and upstream leadership. In addition to the executive posts he has held with Premier Oil, he also held leadership roles with Tullow in both the United Kingdom and Ghana, as well as holding senior subsurface positions with companies including Cairn Energy, BHP and ExxonMobil.business, based offshore in the North Sea, Aberdeen, Algeria and London.

ON THE MOVE

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California Resources Corporation Announces Appointment of New Chair

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California Resources Corporation, the independent oil and gas exploration and production company, has announced today that Tiffany Thom Cepak has been appointed as the Chair of the board of directors. She replaces Mac McFarland as following his appointment as the permanent President and Chief Executive Officer of the company. Tiffany brings over 26 years of experience in the energy industry and currently serves as on the board of Patterson-UTI and Penn Virginia Corporation.

Her executive experience includes holding roles including Chief Financial Officer of Energy XXI Gulf Coast, Chief Financial Officer of KLR Energy, Director of Yates Petroleum Corporation and as Chief Financial Officer of EPL Oil & Gas.

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Jersey Oil & Gas have announced the appointment of Les Thomas as an Independent Director. Les was most recently with Ithaca Energy as the company’s Chief Executive Officer he led the business through a significant growth phase, including the acquisition of Chevron's United Kingdom North Sea portfolio. He has 35 years of experience, holding senior leadership roles with Wood and Marathon Oil. Les is also currently a Non-Executive Director with AVINGTRANS, the buy and build investment firm focused on the global engineering market.

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Les Thomas

WSP Make Energy Transition Appointment

Adam Wright

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Paul Aronzon

Sea Ranger Service Appoints Managing Director

Sea Ranger Service, the North Sea focused emission free offshore workboat survey and research business, has announced appointment of Christel Pullens as Managing Director. Christel brings 25 years of technical and commercial experience in shipbuilding and offshore, including as Senior Sales Manager Projects at Dockwise (now Boskalis), Head of Sales and Marketing at Damen Shiprepair & Conversion and Global Sales and Marketing Director at Alewijnse.

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Noble Corporation Announces Appointment of New Director

Noble Corporation has appointed Paul Aronzon to the company’s board of directors. Paul is also currently on the board of Floatel International and was formerly a Co-Managing Partner of Milbank's Los Angeles office and Co-Leader of Milbank's Global Financial Restructuring Group.

He previously served as the Executive Vice President and Co-Head of the Corporate Finance Group at Imperial Capital and has held Partner roles for finance and restructuring Groups at Gendel, Raskoff, Shapiro and Quittner.

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Jersey Oil & Gas Appoint Independent Director

Clyde Training Solutions Makes Business Development Appointment

Clyde Training Solutions have announced the appointment of Adam Wright as Global Business Development Lead as the company works to expand its service offering to the maritime, offshore and renewables industries.

Adam joins having previously held several roles at Maersk Training including as Head of Business Development and with EFC Group as a Commercial Specialist.

Tiffany Thom Cepak

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ExxonMobil Names New Board Members

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Christel Pullens

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Lord Browne

General Atlantic, a global growth equity firm, has appointed former BP Chief Executive Officer Lord Browne of Madingley as a Senior Advisor. Lord Browne will advise the firm on WSP have announced the appointment environmental, social and governance considerations, with a particular focus on the path to of Mike Theobald as a Director to lead net zero emissions. He will work with General Atlantic to find new ways to invest in climate the firm’s energy transition team. As solutions and help develop corporate strategies for addressing global climate change. Lord director of energy transition, he will Browne became the first leader in the oil and gas industry to acknowledge the risk posed be responsible for overseeing and by climate and pledge to take action and under his leadership, BP sought to go ‘Beyond advising on WSP projects which support Mike Theobald Petroleum’, setting internal emissions reduction targets and launching new businesses in the UK’s transition to net zero greenhouse renewable and alternative energy. After departing BP, he joined Riverstone and served as Co-Head gas emissions by 2050. Mike has over 30 years’ of the firm’s USD3.4 billion renewable energy and power fund. He sits on the boards of IHS Markit experience in the power, energy, industrial and and SparkCognition, and is Chairman of Pattern Energy, a California-based wind and solar power infrastructure sectors and joins from AECOM developer established under his leadership at Riverstone. He has previously served on the boards of where he was Director of Power and Energy and Goldman Sachs, Intel, DaimlerChrysler and SmithKline Beecham. Lord Browne is currently Chairman was previously with companies including Network of Wintershall Dea and of the Francis Crick Institute for biomedical research. He is an advisor to Rail and Aker in senior project leadership roles. numerous companies operating at the intersection of science, engineering, energy and climate change.

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STATS & ANALYTICS

Conducted by Craig Jamieson and Oddmund Føre @ Rystad Energy

Service Market Drivers Greenfield project sanctioning

Sanctioning year (2016 - 2022)

Year (2016 - 2022)

Year (2016 - 2022)

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Rystad Analytics Offshore Rig Market Analysis

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Database version: Rystad Energy Databases May 2021 (April 2021 Review)

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Offshore Rig Market Analysis Global overview of current status

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STATS & ANALYTICS

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Database version: Rystad Energy Databases May 2021 (April 2021 Review)

Offshore Rig Market Analysis Utilisation

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OGV Energy is delighted to be working in partnership with global energy knowledge house, Rystad Energy, to bring industry insights and analytic detail to our readers in Oil & Gas. As the sector continues to digitise operations on a project and company basis, this high-level monthly data aims to provide key information in context from an industrywide perspective and demonstrate the technology available for those seeking deeper insights to enhance strategic planning and development.

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COMPANY NEWS

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HIRETECH INVESTMENT

Nitrogen Pump

Adds Nitrogen Pumps To Rental Offering

Hiretech Limited is further expanding its rental fleet offering with the addition of two 180k Zone 2 nitrogen pumping units as part of a £1million CAPEX investment planned for 2021.

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feels like the right time for us to take this forward. The skills sets and client base we have make this a great addition to our business.”

The addition comes as the company responds to increasing supply requests from its existing client base.

The nitrogen pumps will augment Hiretech’s existing range of pumps, hydraulic power packs, winches and powered umbilical reels which are utilised across various hydraulics, well service, pipeline, chemical cleaning, decommissioning, subsea and renewables client projects.

Andy Buchan, CEO at Hiretech, commented, “We have been encouraged by our clients for as long as I can remember to get in to the nitrogen business, and now

This latest investment comes as Hiretech continues to diversify and expand its rental equipment offering, and is in addition to two six-figure investments made in 2020, when subsea shears and air winches were added to the company’s growing rental fleet.

he pumps are currently being refurbished in the company’s workshop and are scheduled for completion late April 2021.

By Tom Murdoch, Engineering Director, Brimmond Group

INNOVATION

The key to cost-effective well intervention

In 2019, the Oil & Gas Authority (OGA) issued its updated asset stewardship expectations, a key element of the regulator’s Maximising Economic Recovery strategy, designed to provide clarity on expected behaviours and good practices.

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ne of the 10 expectations encourages the deployment of technologies designed to deliver optimum levels of performance – including production and cost efficiency; as important in oil and gas hubs worldwide as it is in the North Sea. When you consider the challenging times that the sector is navigating currently, we firmly agree on the crucial role technology innovation has to play in satisfying energy demand in the safest, most cost-efficient way.

AN EFFICIENT WAY TO LOWER OPERATIONAL COSTS Well intervention is one area that offers a practical solution for optimising performance, through deploying technology to manage declining production and maximise value.

According to the OGA’s 2018 Wells Insight Report, 21 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe) production was safeguarded through interventions in 2017, with 22.5 million boe production delivered by improving underperforming wells and/or reactivating shut in wells. The size of the prize is clearly significant.

However, well intervention does not come without its challenges. While a coiled tubing set-up can provide high-rate circulation, it can also be heavy, bulky and time-consuming.

Wireline, meanwhile, provides a smaller unit, but without the same circulation capability.

That’s why Expro, our customer, has introduced a new approach, an alternative solution for light well interventions. Its CoilHose Light Well Circulation System (LWCS) has been

www.ogv.energy I May 2021

COMPANY NEWS

designed to minimise the loss of hydrocarbon production and lower the overall cost of intervention, building on its heritage in this space, differentiating its offering and adding value through improved work practices.

Unlike conventional coiled tubing and downhole tractors, the CoilHose LWCS substitutes steel pipe with a small diameter hose that can be rigged up using standard wireline, integrating the benefits of time efficiency associated with conventional wireline, while still allowing pumping to take place; with a reduced footprint and decrease in mobilisation time.

A NON-STANDARD SOLUTION After more than a decade of providing Zone 1 centrifugal pumps to Expro, and recognising our inhouse design and manufacturing capabilities, and focus on high-quality engineered solutions, Expro asked Brimmond Group to help develop a nonstandard pump for the CoilHose LWCS solution.

The result is an ATEX Zone 2, Modular High Pressure Pump Unit, equipped with a 200kW diesel engine, designed to power a triplex plunger pump that is capable of pumping cement, water, glycol and hydrochloric acid.

Ensuring the technology’s ability to support a wide range of projects, we worked closely with the pump manufacturer to develop a pump with a super duplex head, ensuring its compatibility with acids, while a unique sealing arrangement was used to ensure the pump remains leak-free.

The pump has also been specified to have additional lubrication, allowing it to operate continuously from 5lpm to 54lpm at the full system pressure of 860 Bar. Weight too was a significant driver for this project, with the technology likely to be used to improve production from ageing oil and gas assets. With many of these assets equipped with derated cranes that are approaching the end of their usable life, there can be strict limitations in place in terms of what they can and cannot lift.

By using marine-grade aluminium for the pump’s doors and panels, engine base frame and tank support frame, we have been able to build units with a maximum lift of just 5.5 tonnes. Further, a plug-and-play, modular design – consisting two parts that can be bolted together – guarantees alignment with maximum craneage capacity. With conventional units typically weighing in at around 12-15 tonnes, this is an important feature of the solution.

By integrating low- and high-pressure filters into the design, components that would typically be standalone, we have reduced mobilisation time as well as the equipment’s overall footprint, while making for a simpler system overall.

OVERCOMING THE COVID-19 CHALLENGE With Expro placing the order for the new pumps shortly before the first outbreak of COVID-19, this presented us with a significant challenge to overcome – with the need to ensure the availability of personnel required to design and manufacture the equipment safely, while navigating the impact on our own supply chain, with some companies’ operations obstructed as a result of the pandemic.

This was particularly evident when it came to the drive trains for the pump units, for which the gearbox and clutch were both sourced from a supplier in Italy. With the country going into total lockdown, including its manufacturing sector, for a number of weeks, this naturally impacted our schedule.

However, through the adaptability and flexibility of our team, complemented by measures implemented in our workshop – such as social distancing and a split shift rota – as well as supporting our office-based employees in working from home – Brimmond Group has been able to keep going.

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Two of a total four units have now been delivered to the customer, with the final two due for shipment in the coming weeks. These will be deployed for use on jobs across Australia, South America, the Middle East and Norway.

THE TECHNOLOGY IN BRIEF • Each pump unit has a maximum lift of only 5500kg, making them among the lightest weight, 200kW, fully enclosed pump units of this type on the market.

• Designed for light well intervention projects, the pump units have been designed to be extremely versatile and can be used for acidising, cementing and water jetting.

• Configured with different heads, and with a flow and pressure range from 3500 Bar at 15lpm to 150 Bar at 450lpm, the pumps can be used for a variety of applications; from ultrahigh pressure jetting to high flow flushing.

• The technology has a number of safety features designed to negate the possibility of operator error, with a multitude of automatic shutdowns – including in response to various low oil pressures, discharge overpressure, engine overspeed and engine exhaust high temperature.

• With the unit being fully enclosed and acoustically lined, the operating noise level is extremely low in comparison to an open-framed equivalent.

• A pneumatically operated wet clutch means the diesel engine can be run and taken up to temperature under no load, allowing for easier starts.

• The unit has been designed with safety and ease of maintenance at the forefront, with no electrics and a number of other features – from removable panels for access and a removable tank frame, to separate outlets for cement and acid jobs.

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With over three decades of experience in sourcing the best talent in the upstream market, Prodrill are driven by people, passion and potential. Experts in human capital; Prodrill have a wealth of experience in providing tailored contractor management and staffing solutions for the global upstream & E&P industry.

OPEX provide a range of AI-driven software products that are helping customers optimise energy efficiency and reduce flaring and venting. AI can see things humans can’t, and our “Emissions.AI” solution is helping a number of our customers to monitor, reduce and control their operational emissions.

How have you coped personally and as a company with the pandemic?

Emissions Reduction Lead, OPEX Group Alison Taylor

Background: Alison Taylor joined OPEX Group in April of this year, taking on the role of Emissions Reduction Lead.

With a strong track-record as an HS&E Manager within the oil, gas and energy industry and as an Environmental Management Technical Lead with the Government’s regulatory body, Alison is passionate about helping companies prepare for a net zero future.

How did you get into the Energy sector and how long have you been working in it?

I started working in the energy sector way back in the 1990’s. I was always a science geek, and my first job was working for a drilling fluids company, starting in the lab then working my way up to HSE Manager. I spent some time in the construction industry as the HSE Manager for a factory in Dunbar, but ultimately the lure of energy pulled me back to Aberdeen. What is startling about energy is how much it has changed in the last 30 years - I am not sure I could ever have imagined the career I have had.

For OPEX, like many companies, the past year has brought challenges, but also a number of opportunities. It’s exciting to be joining them at a time when they are rolling out so many new solutions.

What has been the highlight of your career so far?

That’s a really difficult question, as there have been many things I am incredibly proud of. It could be the projects I have been lucky enough to be part of, or the major exercises I co-ordinated, but I think what means most to me are the little wins. The times when you manage to change someone’s mind, and they decide that they will do things differently, which then reduces environmental impacts - they feel the most significant. Those collective wins probably have bigger consequences than I will ever know and will hopefully snowball into a larger cultural change.

What ambitions have you still got to fulfil professionally in your career?

Having decided that I needed to know more about energy law, especially renewables, I recently returned to part-time study. I am undertaking my MSc/LLM in Oil, Gas and Renewable Energy Law at RGU. Being a small part of the solution to climate change is definitely my over-riding career ambition. I am lucky enough to be working in the energy industry at a time when everything is up for grabs. As an environmentalist it’s exhilarating to feel you can be part of the solution and I am absolutely convinced that as a sector we are fully equipped and have the resolve to find the right answers.

Being a small part of the solution to climate change is definitely my over-riding career ambition.

What does your job involve on an average day?

OPEX is a really dynamic company, and average days are hard to define. My day usually starts with the daily ops meeting - pretty standard for most of us in the sector - but then it can involve anything from working on the development of a new product and supporting the team with legislative requirements, to looking at developing trends in the sector.

www.ogv.energy I May 2021

Personally, the honest answer is badly! I am a sociable person - I like to spend time with the teams I work with, not just professionally but also socially. I have found this last lockdown challenging. I think many of us have struggled with the isolation. I think it’s right for us to acknowledge and share that, so we know we are not alone. I am lucky enough to have had my first vaccination and am incredibly thankful for the opportunity to work at home and contribute in small ways to preventing the spread of COVID, but like many others I am very glad the end of lockdown is in sight.

Over the next 10 years, what do you think will be the key challenges in the energy sector in the UK? The next ten years will see dramatic shifts in how we live our lives, yielding lots of challenges for the industry to contend with. We need to provide the solutions for our customers, the energy supply and the cultural shift we all need to make, whilst still providing the products we need during the transition.

Emissions reduction is a key and urgent priority for the oil, gas and energy industry right now, and going forward. I’m proud to be a part of the solution here at OPEX Group.

Given the experience you have now, what advice would you have given yourself when you were just starting out in the Energy sector?

I would say just get stuck in, don’t be afraid to try something completely new and out of your comfort zone. You never know what you are capable of until you try!

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“The sports marketing environment is increasingly being driven by data and we see this as a significant step forward as we strive to implement a ‘fansfirst’ ethos at the club, ranging from improving the matchday experience at Pittodrie to providing engaging and personalised digital content across RedTV and our social channels.”

Over the next few months supporters will see changes in the way that they interact with the club with a new Single Sign-On (SSO) process set to be implemented as part of the partnership.

On the significance of the SSO aspect of the deal, Rob added, “One thing we are really keen to do is simplify the process for supporters when they engage with us, and a big part of that is moving towards one account for every service we provide as a club. Initially the priority is on linking-up retail and ticketing but over the next year we also want to integrate RedTV, our hospitality offering as well as our memberships.

Dons partner with Sports Alliance to improve supporter experience Aberdeen Football Club is excited to announce a new partnership with leading sports data company Sports Alliance, which will significantly enhance engagement with supporters.

The team at Sports Alliance will draw on their experience working with 137 clubs and organisations worldwide to provide AFC with a dedicated Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system and data warehouse which will provide a single view of the way that each individual Dons supporter interacts with the club.

This new relationship with Sports Alliance will provide a crucial foundation as the club move

towards making every Dons supporter a member of AFC, building on the successful launch of the AberDNA membership and, more recently, the free U12 membership AberDNA Junior which has seen 7,000+ young fans sign-up as official members of the club.

When asked about what the new partnership would entail, AFC’s Commercial Director, Rob Wicks commented, “Based on their track record, not only in the UK but worldwide, we are excited by what Sports Alliance can help us achieve in the coming years. They have 20 years’ experience in this area and tick a lot of boxes in where we want to head as a club as part of our digital modernisation strategy.

“This process will not only make things easier for supporters, but we will also receive a clearer picture of how each fan engages with the club and as a result we will be able to provide more personalised information and offers to them.”

Sports Alliance’s Founder & CEO, Anthony Khan added, “We are thrilled to be working with Aberdeen at such an exciting and important time in the club’s history. We look forward to helping the club understand their fans at a deeper level and enable commercial growth through the unification of supporter identity.

“Working alongside the talented team at Pittodrie, we’re anticipating a long and successful partnership as we enhance their marketing capabilities.”

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LEGAL & FINANCE

There' life in the North Sea yet...

By Laura Petrie, Brodies LLP

The story of 2020 for the oil and gas industry in the North Sea was one of challenge. Delayed projects, stalled and abandoned deals, redundancies, insolvencies and financing issues and the obvious impacts of COVID-19 all suggested that North Sea prospects were questionable. Moreover, the uncertainty as to the future of oil and gas production within the UK's energy mix, posed new hurdles for the sector to overcome.

But if there is one word that describes the North Sea oil and gas sector it is resilience, and the first quarter of 2021 has clearly demonstrated that there is significant opportunity in the North Sea and confidence in the ongoing relevance of the oil and gas industry.

Deals Done and Assets Won The first few months of this year have seen significant deal activity. From the joining of Premier Oil and Chrysaor to create the new major, Harbour Energy, which now produces more than one eighth of all UK oil and gas output, to NEO's acquisition of Zennor Petroleum, corporate deals are back on the agenda for those companies looking to firmly establish themselves as key players in the UKCS market. Similarly, there has been a spate of asset transactions announced from large packages of assets being picked up

by NEO (its anticipated acquisition of assets from ExxonMobil will push it into the top five of UK producers) to bespoke field-based deals such as Waldorf's acquisition of specific assets from Cairn Energy. Other assets, such as BP's Andrew and Shearwater interests, remain on the market with apparent interest being shown by a range of well-known oil and gas producers.

This flurry of activity after a slower period demonstrates that confidence remains reasonably high in the future of the UK oil and gas market, notwithstanding the recent challenges. It also usually indicates that a period of investment will follow as the acquired portfolios are rationalised and developed.

As well as a significant increase in deal activity there have been increased reports

WTI vs BRENT 1 YEAR

www.ogv.energy I May 2021

of developments being progressed and new opportunities sanctioned. Ithaca recently announced the approval of the next stage of its enhanced oil recovery project on the Captain field showing that there remains a commitment to increasing hydrocarbon recovery in the North Sea.

Transformational Transition The first quarter of 2021 also saw the announcement of the partnership by the UK Government and industry focusing on harnessing the skills and expertise of the industry in meeting the UK's climate change ambitions. The North Sea Transition Deal will see government and industry working together to develop low carbon solutions to benefit the North Sea and the global energy community.

The future looks bright While the North Sea Transition Deal is still in its infancy, the aims and objectives it embodies show a clear commitment to help the North Sea transition from the home of oil and gas to a more widespread home of energy production and development. Similarly, while the number of transactions occurring may remain low in comparison to previous years, the deals that have concluded in 2021 so far have demonstrated a clear commitment to the North Sea by companies' intent on growth and further development.

The landscape is changing but the North Sea remains a very relevant landmark for the energy industry.

Through investment concentrating on reusing and repurposing existing oil and gas assets (such a carbon capture and storage projects) and the creation of improved energy infrastructure and clean-energy alternatives (for example, hydrogen power) the aim is to support the creation of new energy jobs, transition existing energy roles to ensure key skills are retained and also cut emissions and offer alternatives to oil and gas power. Alongside these key aims is the intention to retain Aberdeen and other towns focussed on the North Sea oil and gas industry as the heartlands of the energy industry.

BRENT 1 MONTH

WTI 1 MONTH

TRAVEL PARTNER Going above and beyond to support a vital service At Traveleads, we pride ourselves on building partnerships with our clients. We work tirelessly to look after your best interests in a number of ways – all with the aim of saving you time, money and adding value through expert consultancy. Ultimately, we want to make life easier for our clients, with a huge focus on the welfare of their most valuable asset - their people.

Never more so than at a time like this.

Supporting essential workers Our customers span a variety of sectors – from energy to medical services, manufacturing to sports teams. And whilst there is currently a global ban on the movement of people, the government has recognised the need to keep certain industries operating, meaning many still need to travel domestically and internationally. Whilst this may sound simple, it’s been a real complex challenge that our team has risen to.

Let’s look at the energy sector in particular, which like others is working from home where possible.

But with critical operations taking place up and down the country, on and offshore, there is no getting away from the fact that these essential workers need to travel; more than 12,000 UK staff are still working offshore, amounting to 40% of the total workforce across 147 offshore platforms.

With closed borders, reduced services and a myriad of other complications, our expert advice and continued support to keep them moving safely continues to be pivotal.

Traveleads Sales Director Sally Cassidy explains: “Arranging domestic travel to and from Aberdeen, as well as international travel to key energy hubs around the globe, has certainly been interesting at times. With border and quarantine restrictions, as well as complex visa requirements, our team’s skills are being put to the test but despite the odds, they always go above and beyond. Making it work for the client is non-negotiable.”

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Communication and forward-thinking The Traveleads partnership ethos is stronger than ever. Our team of experts are fully conversant with all the latest travel updates, guiding our clients on the best options available and alternative solutions in response to rapidly changing flight schedules and wider travel restrictions. Regular communication and proactive support for all our clients has been vital. Firstly, to provide reassurance that measures are in place for safe travelling. Secondly, as their travel partner, we are working closely with them to fully understand re-entry and return to work plans, offering assistance to update travel policies and procedures with passenger safety at the forefront, whilst continuing to deliver the efficiencies our clients depend on.

What the future looks like We know many of our energy clients are looking to resume travel as soon as is safe to do so and we stand ready to support them with this and the increasingly complex requirements that will no doubt continue. We continue to consult heavily, offering advice and knowledge even on speculative plans to support decision-making in a very challenging landscape.

As we look to the future, we recognise that welfare of travellers will be more important than ever and we’re already liaising with suppliers to ensure they’re putting in robust measures to uphold the highest possible standards as travel increases.

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We believe in delivering more than just travel management. We make our customers lives easier and this is proving to be invaluable at a time like this. So, whether our clients are travelling or not right now, we’re here.

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