OGV Energy - Issue 50 - November 2021 - Digital Transformation by OGV Energy

NOVAUGUST 2021 - ISSUE 2020 50

UK’s No. ENERGY SECTOR

PUBLICATION

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION FEATURING

GDI - Stena Drilling - Proserv Spectis Robotics - Namaka Compliance Dekra - DQ Offshore - EC-OG - ONE Arnlea Systems - Aize

GLOBAL ENERGY NEWS WORLD PROJECTS MAP MONTHLY THEME INNOVATION & TECH RENEWABLES CONTRACT AWARDS ON THE MOVE DECOMMISSIONING

OIL-PRICE P.16

OPEC+ decided to ease their collective oil production cuts by 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) in November.

STATS AND ANALYTICS LEGAL & FINANCE

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION P.20

EVENTS

The pandemic and the global push to cleaner energy solutions have accelerated digital innovation in the oil and gas industry

RENEWABLES P.34

This month, the UK is hosting the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow to confront the global climate emergency

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MEET US AT ADIPEC #4170

Digitize. Visualize. Collaborate. Open your eyes to the new way of working. FieldTwin from FutureOn revolutionizes the way energy companies plan, develop, and maintain their subsea assets. This powerful platform consumes and presents huge data sets into a highly visual digital 3D environment that are easy to navigate, manage and understand. Add the newly updated FieldTwin Design and workflow efficiencies increase exponentially with an enhanced 3D engine for faster performance and a streamlined interface facilitating more conceptualization in less time. FieldTwin delivers a complete asset visualization and integrated data model that unlocks value through increased efficiency, improved safety, reduced costs, risk mitigation, lower emissions and increased uptime. futureon.com www.ogv.energy I November 2021

CONTENTS

COVER PARTNER

04 - GDI - Ultra-efficient digital asset management, engineering and inspection solutions

COMMUNITY NEWS

06 - Latest updates from our OGV Community members

GLOBAL ENERGY NEWS

23 22

9 - UK North Sea 12 - Europe 14 - US 16 - Middle East

WORLD PROJECTS MAP

18 - EIC - World's latest project updates

MONTHLY THEME 20 - Digital Transformation is accelerating 22 - Aize revolutionise project execution and operation in heavy asset industries

23 - Dekra: Optimising Safety for the renewable energy sector 25 - Stena Drilling: Data-driven approach to emissions reduction 26 - Proserv Controls: Harnessing digital twin technology 27 - Arnlea: Partners for the digital transformation journey 28 - Namaka Compliance - Embracing Digital Transformation through smart CMS

29 - EC-OG - Battery storage as a key enabler of subsea electrification 30 - DQ Offshore - Making business intelligence central to sales growth

31 - Spectis Robotics - Digital Representation of confined difficult to access areas

INNOVATION & TECH ZONE 32 - FutureOn: Bridging the gap between the real and virtual worlds

EVERY MONTH 34 - Renewables 36 - Contract Awards 40 - On the Move 42 - Decommissioning 44 - Stats and Analytics 47 - Community Partner 48 - Legal and Finance 50 - Events

KENNY DOOLEY MAIN EDITOR Welcome to our 50th issue of OGV Energy, firstly I just want to say thank you to everyone that has supported us over the last four years with the publication. Our very first issue was released at Offshore Europe (Aberdeen) in 2017 and following the coronavirus pandemic our 50th issue features in Abu Dhabi at ADIPEC. It’s hard to say if we are moving out of the lockdown or possibly looking to move back in to some sort of restrictions over the winter period however for the moment we are very much looking to participate in ADIPEC for the first time in 2 years. We are fortunate to be joined there by several UK and international clients on stand 4170, if you are in attendance please stop by for a chat and a coffee.

CELEBRATING WE ARE NOW 50 ISSUES STRONG!

This month we are delighted to feature GDi as our front cover partner for our ‘Digital Transformation’ theme as they provide an insight into their end to end delivery methodology underpinned by GDi Vision, a digital twin application. We also have insights from Aize, Stena Drilling, Proserv, Dekra, EC-OG and Opportunity North East. 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 Westwood Global Energy Group, the EIC and Renewables UK. Please come along to our online panel session on Thursday November 24th at 2pm where Jen Scott – Senior Digital Development Manager at Opportunity North East will be chairing our panel on Digital Transformation. Thanks again to our readers for all their support as we move quickly towards the end of 2021.

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COVER PARTNER

www.ogv.energy I November 2021

GDI leverage big data analysis and enhanced software solutions to deliver cost & time savings to our clients, whilst increasing safety & quality by utilising technology. For more information visit www.globaldi.co.uk

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STR makes a splash at Ocean Business with the launch of the ‘STR SeaTow-6000’

also be supported. Typical applications for the STR SeaTow-6000 are sidescan sonar, combined sidescan sonar and sub-bottom profiler systems, marine magnetometers, gradiometers, drop camera systems and oceanographic sensors.

Subsea Technology & Rentals (STR) is delighted to announce the launch of the ‘STR SeaTow-6000’ Electric Winch. The announcement of STR’s latest product was made at Ocean Business 2021 in Southampton, United Kingdom.

Scott Johnstone, STR’s Group Managing Director said “As the industry’s elite gather at Ocean Business 2021 to celebrate the Offshore Energy Industry with a key focus on marine survey, we couldn’t think of a more appropriate platform to launch the STR SeaTow-6000 Electric Winch.

The STR SeaTow-6000 is the latest addition to STR’s class leading field proven electric winch systems that are used extensively for hydrographic, geophysical, and oceanographic survey globally. This winch is designed for deep water applications typically utilising 6000m of 11.4mm armoured coaxial cable. Alternative armoured fibreoptic cables can

Case study: collaborative working the key to effective project execution

North-East HSEQ consultancy supports greener future for global group

Magma Global contracted Flowline Specialists/ Motive Offshore Group to supply a Linear Cable Engine, Turntable, Pallet and 5 Multi-disciplined Personnel to form part of a project they were delivering for end-client: Deep Sea Development Services Inc. (DSDS).

New technology aims to reduce energy consumption in household appliances by a third.

The project came at a time when the Flowline and Motive teams were naturalising as one team, following Motive Group’s acquisition of the former at the end of 2020. It provided an excellent demonstration of how the individual teams worked brilliantly together as one, to achieve the desired outcomes.

Quensh, based in Ellon with additional offices in Western Australia, has supported leading refrigeration group Bundy Refrigeration (Bundy) to conduct a worldwide audit of its operations over a six-month period.

Nexans Engage MAATS Tech for Bespoke Service Agreement MAATS Tech Ltd are happy to announce that French energy experts, Nexans, have selected a 1 year Gold Level Service and Support provision for the deck lay equipment on the Nexans Aurora. The Gold Level support package give access 24/7 to dedicated MAATS engineers, included engineering days, discounted spares provision and documentation updates. MAATS dedicated Service and Support facility is based in Durham, North East England, and can assist with material spares provision and delivery of the Standard, Silver and Gold Framework Agreements.

www.ogv.energy I November 2021

Aberdeenshire HSEQ consultancy, Quensh, has helped a global industrial group to analyse its operations with the aim of reducing environmental impact.

Semco Maritime to develop key technology for Greensand Project In the lead up to COP26 Semco Maritime would like to share the involvement in an exciting new project. This pilot project aims to pave the way for realising the political ambition of storing 4-8 mill tonnes of CO2 from 2030 and to enable CO2 storage from 2025. As one of the five leading strategic partners in the Greensand consortium, Semco Maritime will draw on competencies and experience from our Oil & Gas division to provide innovation solutions for storage and transportation of CO2 to develop oil reservoirs in the North Sea.

Our innovative and diverse team of highly skilled engineers have developed this winch from the key feedback they have received from our customers and their operational requirements. As we progress into 2022, we will look to further compliment our Electric Winch range with the launch of the STR SeaTow-500 and STR SeaTow-2000”.

Interventek launches API 17G qualified 'Revolution-7' Subsea Landing String to market Interventek, has announced the commercial launch of a new API 17G qualified, in-riser subsea landing string system. The Revolution-7 landing string is an advanced, 7-inch nominal, 10,000psi rated system incorporating Interventek’s unique Revolution safety valve, which is proven to provide superior shearand-seal performance. The system also includes Interventek’s PowerPlus technology, which is a unique arrangement of a locally integrated, gasaccumulated power source, providing the fastest, failsafe valve actuation in less than a second.

North East recruitment firm wins Entrepreneurial award A north-east business that created an online talent platform for energy sector professionals is celebrating winning the ‘Unlocking Ambition award’ , presented by Scottish Enterprise. The idea for Nudge evolved during founder, Darren Nicol’s, studies at Strathclyde University and launched in June of this year. The Unlocking Ambition business programme from Scottish Enterprise selected a number of innovative businesses throughout Scotland for its 2021/22 cohort.

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8 48

COMPANY COMPANY NEWS TEMPLATENEWS Acoustic Camera Inspections RCP's acoustics camera service can help clients locate pressirised leaks in compressed systems and detect partial discharge from high voltage electrical systems. An acoustic camrea can identify issues up to 10 times faster than with traditional methods. Built with 124 microphones, the acoustic camera produces a precise acoustic image that visually displays ultrasonic information, even in loud industrial enviroments.

Providing Advanced Power Quality Solutions

RCP has partnered with a leading global provider of advanced power quality solutions offering power quality meters and power management software for every industry. ELSPEC offer fixed and portable power analysers equipped with the revolutionary PQZIP patent algorithm for continuous waveform recording. These products optimise equipment configuration and evaluates the performance of apparatus such as circuit breakers, protection devices and switchgear etc by allowing users to store, analyse and monitor real time information.

The acoustic image is transposed in real time on top of a digital camera images, which allows for accurate pinpointing of the source sound. Equipped with the inteligent NL cloud service, this smart tool automatically generates real time detailed reports reducing time spent on report generation, and also provides analytics such as leak size and leak cost analysis.

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Senior Electrical Engineer, Jez Kitchen commented, "We see the Elspec products as the best portable products for power quality monitoring in the field, nothing else comes close! It simply records all waveform data for voltage and current across all phases, neutral and ground connections at 1024 samples per cycle for voltages and 256 for current at either 50Hz/60Hz for a period of up to 2 years. This continuous super fast long term monitoring eliminates the need for setting complex triggers, thresholds and other parameters, you just simply start recording the data and nothing gets missed" The Elspec unique intelligent PQS Sapphire software then allows users to bring the data to life in any resolution, zooming in from a years worth of data down to a 20 milliseconds block and back out again.

Electrical Control Systems RCP's range of electrical control systems has been developed over many years. Our equipment is used in many safety critical control and monitoring applications globally where they have been proven time and time again. RCP offer expertise in electrical control, PLC automation, software engineering and offer clients bespoke design solution services. Instrumentation, Monitoring & Data Acquisition Each system is designed to display accurate information derived from a wide range of sensors and also maintain control of different components such as valves and motors; all control and monitoring signals are processed using the most robust hardware available ensuring responsive control with high reliability. Data acquisition and playback is an option for clients who may need to log certain parameters for further analysis.

RCP's BD Manager Stewart Henderson commented, "We highly recommend and encourage clients from any industry to come along to RCP for a demonstration of the power quality equipment to see for themselves how brilliant, user friendly and simple to use these products are, and for a limited time only clients can take advantage of a 25% discount on the PURE BlackBox, single or 3 phase power quality analysers"

For further information on any of RCP's products and services, contact out technical sales engineers at sales@rcpat.com or call us on 01224 798312

Clients can contact Stewart directly at s.henderson@rcpat.com or by calling him on 01224 798802.

www.ogv.energy I November June 2021 2021

RCP (Aberdeen and Singapore) are specialists in the design and manufacture of automation and control equipment used predominantly within the oilfield and petrochemical industry. Find out more at rcpat.com or contact us at +44 (0)1224 798312 | sales@rcpat.com

ENERGY NEWS

NOVEMBER 2021

UK NORTH SEA

Energy Review By Tsvetana Paraskova

The opportunities and challenges of the energy transition, the UK’s energy security amid surging natural gas prices, and updates on drilling and development projects featured in the North Sea oil and gas news flow in the past month.

The leading association of the offshore industry, OGUK, published its Energy Transition Outlook 2021 in October, which showed that direct emissions from the UK oil and gas sector are being driven down with a 2 million tonne cut in emissions during 2020, of which OGUK estimates that around half can be attributed to operators’ actions. While production in 2020 fell 5%, mostly due to the impacts of COVID-19 on production and activity, emissions fell by 10%, OGUK said. The emissions reduction was expected due to the decline in activity. Yet, compared with previous years, emissions declined significantly further than would have been expected from the reduced activity and associated decline in production, the association noted. Operators are beginning to realise near-term emissions reduction through continuous improvements, including reduced flaring and venting, streamlining operations, and investing in targeted plant modifications, all while maintaining and improving on an 80% production efficiency target, OGUK’s survey showed. The UK Government is making rapid progress in developing market structures for carbon capture and hydrogen market design, the association noted in the report, but it also said that “Current volatile market conditions underline the need for diverse sources of oil and gas and ongoing development of indigenous resources.” Without additional investment, the proportion of anticipated oil and gas demand supplied from local resources could fall to around one third by 2027, OGUK warned. In addition, more work is needed to ensure the energy transition will support local economies and jobs, according to the association. Increased investment associated with the North Sea Transition Deal (NSTD), and more widely across the energy sector, will have its greatest impact where it can make the most of the UK’s existing supply chain. “This means building on existing advantages and expertise derived from oil and gas projects and moving quickly to develop competences in new market segments as they emerge,” OGUK’s report says.

Continues >

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This year, the association expects a 10% reduction in oil and gas output as a result of outages that were postponed from 2020. The overall impact of this, combined with further reduced drilling activity, means that emissions for 2021 are likely to remain around the level in 2020.

“Greenpeace’s legal action to block production from the Ithaca Energy and BP Vorlich oilfield in the North Sea has been turned down by Scotland’s highest court in a decision strongly welcomed by OGUK, which represents the UK’s offshore oil and gas industry,” OGUK said. “This is a victory for common sense and for the UK’s energy security. If the ruling had gone the other way, it would have generated uncertainty among the hundreds of companies involved in producing the nation’s oil and gas. They might spend millions of pounds on getting a new oil or gas field licenced only to see it revoked by a court action,” said Michael Tholen, OGUK’s sustainability director.

“In conclusion, new production with improved emissions intensity can be brought online whilst maintaining industry’s emissions reduction progress in line with the North Sea Transition Deal,” OGUK said.

The UK’s Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) announced at the end of September a £1-million decarbonisation competition for the electrification of offshore oil and gas installations. The competition is designed to advance the widespread electrification of offshore installations on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS), which are powered by gas or diesel. Power generation accounts for around two thirds of oil and gas production emissions, according to OGA.

“The progressive greening of our energy consumption and supply will involve largescale and complicated projects carried out by companies with access to the required financial capital. I firmly believe that our operators and supply chain are in prime position to make this change happen at pace and to the wider benefit of the UK economy and communities it supports,” OGUK’s CEO Deirdre Michie said in foreword to the report. Responding to the UK Government’s announcement on the selected carbon capture and storage ‘cluster’ projects to be taken forward for Track 1 negotiations for deployment in the mid-2020s, OGUK has underlined that the UK will need all of the proposed cluster projects – and more – if it is to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The same association noted at the end of September that surging global gas prices showed the UK must maintain its North Sea supplies. “This price surge shows how we continue to need UK gas. Letting production fall faster than we can reduce demand risks leaving us increasingly dependent on other countries, and at the mercy of global events over which we have no control,” OGUK Energy Policy Manager Will Webster said. “While the UK continues to use oil and gas, we should make the most of the resources in our control while working for a low-carbon future,” Webster added. A few days later, OGUK said that the UK’s North Sea gas reserves could buffer consumers against energy shortages and price rises. However, much of that gas lies in fields and resources that have yet to be developed. Without any investment in those new resources, the UK’s gas output is likely to decline by 75% between now and 2030, the association noted. “The gas resources off our own shores can boost our energy security and protect jobs. The UK industry’s own greenhouse gas emissions, generated during production from these new fields, would also be a lot lower than those generated by liquefied natural gas imports,” OGUK’s CEO Michie said. Greenpeace lost in October a court case in which it had challenged the drilling permit for the Vorlich site off Aberdeen given to bp in 2018.

“Electrification of oil and gas installations is a vital part of industry’s licence to operate and to meet its North Sea Transition Deal emissions reduction targets,” OGA Chief Executive Dr Andy Samuel said.

OGUK’s CEO Deirdre Michie

"The gas resources off our own shores can boost our energy security and protect jobs. The UK industry’s own greenhouse gas emissions, generated during production from these new fields, would also be a lot lower than those generated by liquefied natural gas imports"

“This is also a big opportunity for industry to support offshore wind expansion, with lasting infrastructure that will provide benefits beyond oil and gas, long into the future,” Samuel added. In October, OGA awarded a carbon dioxide (CO2) appraisal and storage licence to Harbour Energy, expected to boost the drive to reach netzero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.  The licence will cover an area in the Southern North Sea off the coast of Immingham in North East Lincolnshire. Harbour’s proposal is to reuse the depleted Rotliegend gas fields, Viking and Victor, some 140 kilometres from the Lincolnshire coast, to securely store the CO2 in deep geological formations around 9,000 ft below seabed, and potentially utilise the Bunter Formation aquifer which could offer additional options to increase the future storage capacity of the project. OGA also unveiled on 14 October the new digitised Pipeline Works Authorisation (PWA) system which will make consents quicker and easier to request and save time and money for industry users. The authority published its inaugural Emissions Monitoring Report, which shows the UK upstream oil and gas industry must go much further and faster in its drive to cut emissions. OGA urged the UK upstream oil and gas industry to accelerate the pace of emissions reduction activities. In company news, Serica Energy said in its halfyear update to the market that its growth strategy would continue into 2022 as it would drill the North Eigg exploration well. “In the case of success at North Eigg we believe that it would be possible to develop the resources in a carbon neutral manner,” the company said. IOG plc said it had successfully drilled, cleaned up, and flow tested to a maximum gas rate of

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UK North Sea

BRENT OIL PRICES OVER THE YEARS November Review

YEAR AGO

- BRENT OIL PRICE 2020 - $42.69

45.5 mmscf/d the Blythe well 48/23a-H1, the second Phase 1 development well. The Blythe field is planned to be produced through the Blythe normally unmanned platform, via the pipeline laid earlier this year, which connects to the main Saturn Banks pipeline to Bacton. The IOG continues to expect First Gas from both the Blythe and Elgood fields in Q4 2021, once the final subsea and onshore installations are complete. Wood expanded its operations in the Southern North Sea with the award of a new operations and maintenance contract with Shell UK in the Southern North Sea and Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij (NAM). Cognite has signed a new agreement with bp to provide single consolidated data layer for bp’s well operations. “bp is pleased to extend our strategic partnership with Cognite to focus on optimisation through contextualised data,” says Ahmed Hashmi, Senior Vice President Digital, Production & Business Services, bp.

Ahmed Hashmi, Senior VP Digital, Production & Business Services, bp

Deltic Energy announced that the company and its operating partner, Shell U.K. Limited, had completed the final phase of the site survey programme over the planned Pensacola exploration well location on Licence P2252 in the Southern North Sea. EnQuest said it had completed the acquisition of a 26.69% non-operated equity interest in the Golden Eagle Area Development. “As a highly cash generative asset, delivering material incremental production, reserves and resources, Golden Eagle is a great addition to our portfolio, further strengthening the Company,” EnQuest CEO Amjad Bseisu said.

OGV Energy welcomes you to our online event for November, where we will be investigating the key digital technologies and latest industry thinking that is shaping the future of the Energy Sector.

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MARINE & SHIPPING

YEARS AGO

- BRENT OIL PRICE 2016 - $44.73 Analysts criticise fund – which focuses on cutting the impact of fossil fuels but will not support renewable energy - calling it a ‘drop in the ocean’. A $1bn fund for cutting the climate change impact of oil and gas has been announced by 10 of the world’s biggest oil companies, aimed at keeping the firms in business and cutting the burning of coal. Global action to cut carbon emissions threaten the future of the oil industry and the fund was revealed on the day the global Paris climate change agreement came into force.

YEARS AGO

- BRENT OIL PRICE 2011 - $110.77 The new pilot plant, for a planned larger installation, was commissioned by ZADCO on Zirku Island, which is located 140 kms north-west of Abu Dhabi. ZADCO required a produced water treatment system on a very short lead time to meet the plant’s operating deadline. The pumps for the filtration system required a low shear design so that the oil and water were not emulsified. Because the produced water was high in H2S, the Amarinth pumps had to be manufactured in a high nickel alloy to resist corrosion.

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ENERGY TRANSITION

Restarting offshore oil and gas projects stalled by the pandemic and the sharp drop in energy prices could take three years, it has been claimed. Oil and Gas UK (OGUK) said drilling activity was at its lowest level for nearly 50 years. The industry body said price volatility was putting off decisions on new projects. It said UK gas demand fell by 16% in the second quarter of the year compared with the same period in 2019. A halt in drilling and engineering construction was blamed for the sudden loss of 4,000 jobs. Although numbers offshore have since risen steadily they only peaked at 9,000 in August.

ROBOTICS & AI

ENERGY NEWS

Europe

Energy Review By Tsvetana Paraskova

Surging natural gas and power prices in Europe continued to be a hot topic in European energy this past month, along with new oil and developments offshore Norway, the UK net-zero strategy, and many company investments in low-carbon energy projects. Energy prices set records Natural gas and power prices continued to set records in early October, prompting the European Commission to present a toolbox of measures to tackle the exceptional situation and its impacts on consumers. The toolbox includes providing emergency income support for energy-poor consumers; temporary, targeted reductions in taxation rates for vulnerable households; aid to companies or industries in line with EU state aid rules; and investigating “possible anti-competitive behaviour in the energy market and ask the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) to further enhance monitoring of developments in the carbon market.”

Norway continues oil & gas development under new government The new government in Western Europe’s largest oil and gas producer, Norway, pledged to continue its support to the oil and gas industry. The new minority government will continue to grant permits for oil and gas exploration on the Norwegian shelf and will keep the current system of oil auctions. Over the next four years, most of the exploration activity will take place in mature areas of the shelf, the government says. Meanwhile, Neptune Energy announced that drilling had commenced on the Dugong Tail exploration well in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea.

www.ogv.energy I November 2021 2021

More oil developments come on stream Lundin Energy AB said that first oil from the operated Solveig field was achieved on 30 September. Solveig is a subsea tie back development into the Edvard Grieg platform. Phase 1 has gross proved plus probable reserves of 57 million barrels of oil equivalent and with gross peak plateau production of 30,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, it will be a significant contributor to the extension of the plateau production period at Edvard Grieg, which has already been extended by five years to the end of 2023, Lundin said. Longboat Energy announced in early October a discovery at the Rødhette exploration well, the first well in its fully-funded, seven well exploration programme. The Petroleum Safety Authority Norway gave Equinor consent for extended operation of the Sygna field in the northern North Sea, just northeast of the Statfjord Nord field. Consent for operation of Sygna expired on 9 March 2024, and the authority has now given consent for extended operation of the Sygna field until 10 August 2026. Equinor said that due to the COVID crisis and related delays, cost estimates for the Njord Future and Johan Castberg developments have increased, with the start-up of Johan Castberg now scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2024. Despite cost increases and delays in timing, Johan Castberg still has a break-even price below $35 per barrel, Equinor said.

bp announced at end-September it had agreed to sell a 25-% participating interest in the Shallow Water Absheron Peninsula (SWAP) exploration project in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea to LUKOIL. After the transaction bp will continue to hold 25% in the project.

UK net-zero strategy The UK government unveiled on 19 October its net-zero Strategy, setting out how the UK would deliver on its commitment to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. The strategy outlines measures to transition to a green and sustainable future, helping businesses and consumers to move to clean power, supporting hundreds of thousands of well-paid jobs, and unlock up to £90 billion of private investment by 2030, the government said. Reducing reliance on imported fossil fuels will protect consumers from global price spikes by boosting clean energy, according to the strategy, which the government expects would create 440,000 wellpaid jobs in green industries. “By moving first and taking bold action, we will build a defining competitive edge in electric vehicles, offshore wind, carbon capture technology and more, whilst supporting people and businesses along the way,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said. The strategy also includes the commitment to decarbonise the UK’s electricity system by 2035 announced earlier in October. In this commitment, the UK will rely on home-grown, green technologies such as offshore wind and nuclear energy to support the transition away from reliance on fossil fuels.

The UK must scale up renewables faster to achieve the target of green electricity by 2035, RenewableUK said.

Norway has been ranked number one in KPMG’s first-ever net-zero Readiness Index (NZRI), followed by the UK and Sweden. Denmark, Germany, and France follow in the ranking, which compares the progress of selected countries in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and assesses their preparedness and ability to achieve net-zero by 2050.

Scotland’s energy transition The industry also urged the government to set a target to double the UK’s onshore wind capacity to 30 gigawatts (GW) by 2030. This would reduce consumer bills by £16.3 billion over the course of this decade and also help achieve the pledge to decarbonise electricity completely by 2035, RenewableUK said. Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said in a speech ahead of the COP26 climate summit that Scotland should transition away from dependence on oil and gas. “We must accept - as our Co-operation Agreement already does - that continued unlimited recovery of hydrocarbons is not consistent with meeting the aims of the Paris Agreement,” Sturgeon said. “Our focus will be on achieving the fastest possible just transition for the oil and gas sector - one that delivers jobs and economic benefit, ensures our energy security, and meets our climate obligations,” Scotland’s first minister said.

UK’s onshore and offshore wind opportunities

Louise Kingaham, UK head of country and senior vice president, BP

“BP wants to play a leading role in Scotland’s energy transition as is evidenced by this news and our transformational bid in the ScotWind offshore wind leasing round”

The total pipeline of onshore wind projects which are operating, under construction, consented, or being planned in the UK has grown to nearly 33 GW from 30 GW a year ago, new research by RenewableUK showed.

A diverse mixture of energy supply technologies with different operational profiles is preferable, the report said. Diversity would make it easier for the system to respond in periods of high stress. Aberdeen City Council announced at the end of October bp as its preferred bidder for a commercial partnership which will accelerate the city’s ambitions to become a world-class hydrogen hub. Phase 1, which involves delivery of a green hydrogen facility, is targeting first operations from 2024. As the preferred bidder, bp will now work with Aberdeen City Council to conclude the contractual process which will lead to the set-up of the joint venture. Work will then commence on the required front end engineering design (FEED) work, with the aim of making a final investment decision on the selected development concept in 2023.

Offshore Wind Power Limited (OWPL) – a consortium formed by TotalEnergies, Macquarie’s Green Investment Group, and Scottish developer Renewable Infrastructure Development Group (RIDG) – has announced it is studying the use of offshore wind to power the production of green hydrogen on an industrial scale on the island of Flotta in Orkney, Scotland. TotalEnergies opened a UK offshore wind hub in Aberdeen as it unveiled plans for a £140 million investment, together with its partners in the bid in the ScotWind leasing round, Macquarie’s Green Investment Group and RIDG, in its proposed 2-GW offshore wind project “West of Orkney Windfarm”. INEOS announced in mid-October what it said would be Europe’s largest ever investment in electrolysis projects to make green hydrogen with the potential to transform zero carbon hydrogen production across Europe. The company will invest more than €2 billion into electrolysis projects to make zero carbon, green hydrogen across Europe. Its first plants will be built in Norway, Germany, and Belgium, with investment also planned in the UK and France.

33 GW of onshore wind capacity would power more than 21 million homes all year round, playing a significant role in decarbonising the UK’s electricity system, RenewableUK said. A new report has found that the future UK electricity system could handle up to 150 GW of offshore wind, as long as essential technical integration and market reforms were delivered, the Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC) said, commenting on an analysis by Energy Systems Catapult.

Shell signed in early October a framework agreement with renewable energy developer Island Green Power to develop solar PV projects in the UK with co-located battery storage potential, with an initial collaboration on over 700 MW total generating capacity.

Renewable energy firms Octopus Energy and RES have formed a new partnership, planning to invest £3 billion to build new green hydrogen plants across the UK by 2030. Alex Brierly, Octopus Renewables Co-Head

“The supply of green hydrogen will be critical to the success of many industries in meeting the UK’s net-zero targets and with this partnership we are providing a solution for those businesses to help deliver on the government’s ambitions,” said Alex Brierly, Octopus Renewables Co-Head. Spain’s Repsol raised its targets for renewable electricity generation by 60%, to reach an installed capacity of 20 GW by 2030, with a target of 6 GW by 2025. Wintershall Dea has started working with the OTH Regensburg University of Applied Sciences to explore how existing natural gas pipelines in the southern North Sea can be used for future CO2 transport. “Results obtained so far suggest that the offshore pipelines could be safely and efficiently repurposed for transport of liquid CO2,” Wintershall Dea said, adding that the study continues.

ENERGY NEWS

ENERGY REVIEW

Slow increase in US oil and gas production, rising cost inflation pressuring companies, high petrol and energy prices, and the industry calling on the Biden Administration to start supporting American energy instead of pleading for more oil from OPEC+ were the key developments in US oil and gas over the past weeks. By Tsvetana Paraskova

The US oil and gas industry continued to expand activity in the third quarter of 2021, according to the Dallas Fed Energy Survey of E&P and oilfield services companies in the Eleventh Federal Reserve District, which comprises Texas, southern New Mexico, and northern Louisiana.

Oil & Gas Costs Rise Sharply Oil production rose, but at a slower pace than in the previous quarter, while costs jumped for a second consecutive quarter, company executives said in the survey.

Petrol prices in the United States stayed in October at their highest level since 2014, due to high crude oil prices.

“We are encouraged by the restraint shown by U.S. upstream operators. By restricting capital expenditure, we are healing historic overproduction of both oil and natural gas. We believe investors will be attracted back into the E&P space if, as an industry, we continue on this path for at least a year or two more to deleverage balance sheets and return capital to investors.”

Among oil and gas support services firms, one executive commented:

“Among oilfield services firms, the index for input costs increased to 60.8, a record high and indicative of significant cost pressures. Only one of the 47 responding oilfield services firms reported lower input costs this quarter,” the survey found.

“We are finding it difficult to increase prices to match our increase in costs.”

Restraint in the US shale patch continued in the third quarter, despite the higher oil prices.

Petrol prices in the United States stayed in October at their highest level since 2014, due to high crude oil prices, recovering US economy and demand for fuel, and continued declines in US petrol stocks.

An E&P company executive said in comments to the survey:

www.ogv.energy I November 2021

US Petrol Prices Hit Highest Level in 7 Years

“Sorry folks, but the cost of gasoline is still going up,” AAA said on October 18, and its spokesperson Andrew Gross noted that “unfortunately, it doesn’t look like drivers will be finding relief at the pump any time soon.”

“API’s primary data on U.S. petroleum markets for September reinforced a combination of developments that has been recurrent so far in 2021 – that is, demand outpaced supply, inventories fell, and consequently imports and prices rose,” the American Petroleum Institute said in its Monthly Statistical Report on 15 October. As per the API data, US petroleum demand set a record high for the month of September of 20.6 million barrels per day (bpd), including the highest refining and petrochemical demand for other oils – intermediate products in refining and petrochemicals – ever for the month. On the other hand, US crude oil production was constrained by the storms in the Gulf Coast, the API noted.

US Faced with the highest petrol prices in seven years, the US Administration continues to engage with OPEC members to address the slow (according to the White House) supply response from the OPEC+ group.

ConocoPhillips into second place for total Permian production, Enverus noted. “We have seen a red-hot market for upstream M&A since the industry recovered its footing from the initial shock of COVID-19,” Andrew Dittmar, director at Enverus, said.

“We are continuing to press, through member countries — member countries of OPEC, even as we are not a member — to address the supply issue and work to address it here as well,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said during a briefing on 18 October.

“It was inevitable that the hungriest buyers and sellers would find their deals and activity would revert back toward the average. We seem to be hitting that inflection point,” Dittmar added.

“We are certainly well aware of the impact on any increase in gasoline prices or any costs on the American people, and we’re going to use — continue to use every lever at our disposal,” Psaki added.

Meanwhile, employment in the US energy technology and services sector rose by an estimated 1,914 jobs in September, which marked a seventh straight month of growth, according to preliminary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and analysis by the Energy Workforce & Technology Council.

President Biden Vs US Oil Producers

“The energy services and technology sector has added nearly 44,000 jobs over the past seven months after hitting a pandemic low of 597,067 jobs in February, according to BLS data,” the Energy Workforce & Technology Council said.

While the White House pledges action to address the high petrol and energy prices, House Republicans call on the Administration to stop putting hurdles ahead for US oil production and to stop pleading with OPEC+ to come to the rescue. A total of 145 House Republicans sent in mid-October a letter to US President Joe Biden, urging him “to reverse his antiAmerican agenda of emboldening adversarial foreign energy producers and empower American energy producers instead.” “It is total hypocrisy to kneecap Americanmade energy while simultaneously begging our adversaries like Russia, Iran, and Venezuela to increase their oil production. Your policies are making things much, much worse—for everyone,” said Kevin McCarthy, Republican Leader and Representative of California’s 23rd District in the House of Representatives. “We disagree with your Administration’s efforts to decrease access to American energy resources while soliciting OPEC+ nations to increase production of their resources. As you are aware, OPEC+ includes nations that are known American adversaries, such as Russia, Iran, and Venezuela. It is not in America’s interest to rely on these nations for energy,” the letter reads.

Upstream M&As slow down, oilfield sector employment rises again Mergers and acquisitions in the US upstream sector slowed in the third quarter of 2021 from the record-setting deal value in the second quarter, but at US$18.5 billion, deal value in Q3 still topped the five-year quarterly average for M&A value of about US$16 billion, excluding the Occidental/Anadarko mega-merger, energy data analytics firm Enverus said in October. ConocoPhillips’ acquisition of Shell’s Permian assets for US$9.5 billion was the largest deal in Q3 2021, and it moved

bp invests in cutting emissions at Washington refinery, Chevron sets net-zero goals

UK-based supermajor bp announced in early October plans for a US$269-million investment in three projects at its Cherry Point Refinery in Washington state. The projects are aimed at improving the refinery’s efficiency, reducing its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and increasing its renewable diesel production capability. The investment is aligned with bp’s goal to be net-zero across its operations by 2050 or sooner and to reduce the carbon intensity of the products it sells by 50% by 2050 or sooner, the company said. Meanwhile, US oil and gas supermajor Chevron said on 11 October it had adopted a 2050 netzero aspiration for equity upstream Scope 1 and 2 emissions. In an updated climate change resilience report aligned with the Task Force on Climate-Related Disclosures (TCFD), Chevron describes how it would incorporate Scope 3 emissions into its greenhouse gas emission targets by establishing a Portfolio Carbon Intensity (PCI) target inclusive of Scope 1 and 2 as well as Scope 3 emissions from the use of its products.

“We regularly engage with stakeholders and investors to understand their views and to be responsive to their increasing expectations on all issues, including ESG,” Dr. Ronald Sugar, Chevron’s lead director, said in a statement. “Our updated report demonstrates our goal to partner with many stakeholders to work toward a lower carbon future.”

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By Tsvetana Paraskova

Continued control of the Middle East-dominated OPEC+ group over global oil markets, the pledge of the world’s largest oil exporter to achieve net-zero emissions by 2060, and the rebranding of Qatar’s state energy firm, which is a major exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG), were the highlights of Middle East’s oil and gas sector over the past month.

OPEC+ keeps firm control over oil market During a short meeting in early October, the OPEC+ alliance – led by Saudi Arabia and Russia – decided to ease their collective oil production cuts by 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) in November, as previously planned. The OPEC+ group made the decision despite calls from the United States and other major consumers such as India that OPEC+ should do more to reduce the price of oil – and therefore the price of fuels – by increasing oil production by larger volumes than initially intended.

www.ogv.energy I November 2021

We’re always looking for new ways to add value and routinely introduce new technological solutions to make service delivery even simpler, smoother, faster.

Middle East OPEC+, however, kept its ground and opted for keeping the market relatively tight going into the winter season in the northern hemisphere.

The capacity expansion will come fully online by 2027 and will come on in chunks, Nasser said at the Energy Intelligence Forum.

Analysts, the International Energy Agency (IEA), OPEC, and Saudi Arabia itself forecast that global oil demand could rise by 500,000 bpd more than expected in the fourth quarter if the winter is colder than usual, as the record-high prices of natural gas have already resulted in a gas-to-oil switch in power generation, especially in parts of Asia that do not have strict emission targets.

Oil demand is strong right now, Nasser said at the forum, expecting 99 million bpd by the end of 2021 and more than 100 million bpd in 2022.

OPEC and Saudi Arabia, however, warned the market to look beyond the end of this year. In 2022, especially after the middle of the year, the market is expected to be in a surplus, due to the continued easing of the OPEC+ cuts and a rise in oil production from countries outside the agreement, primarily the United States and Brazil. OPEC currently sees US crude oil production growing by an average of 800,000 bpd in 2022, compared to this year’s expected average production level. The expected surplus in a few months is the key reason OPEC and its leader Saudi Arabia give to the market for keeping it tight right now. Even some US shale producers acknowledge that the OPEC+ group is currently firmly in control of the market, while American E&P companies, especially the public ones, are not rushing into boosting production as they seek to channel some of the record cash flows into rewarding shareholders, instead of chasing record oil production again.

Moreover, one of the IEA’s scenarios of oil demand at just 24 million bpd in 2050 under one of the net-zero pathways is “not feasible,” Aramco’s chief executive added. “We still expect growth in oil demand,” Nasser said. Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia “aims to reach net-zero in 2060 through the Carbon Circular Economy approach, in line with its development plans and enabling its economic diversification"

As a result of the tightening market, oil prices hit multi-year highs by 25 October, with the US benchmark, West Texas Intermediate (WTI), hitting the highest level since 2014 at over $84, and Brent prices topping $86, the highest since October 2018.

Days before that, Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, had dismissed calls for OPEC+ to raise supply, saying that the group was sparing the oil market the fate of the skyrocketing natural gas and coal prices.

Saudi Aramco aims for 13 million bpd production capacity by 2027 Saudi Arabia’s state oil giant Aramco expects robust global oil demand ahead and aims to raise its oil production capacity to 13 million bpd by 2027 from 12 million bpd now, chief executive Amin Nasser said on 4 October.

“We maintain 25-year production profiles for new projects. Our philosophy is to provide cleaner oil and gas for the long term. We are developing it for the long term, not the short term,” he added.

Saudi Arabia commits to net-zero by 2060 The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia “aims to reach netzero in 2060 through the Carbon Circular Economy approach, in line with its development plans and enabling its economic diversification,” Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said on 23 October at the Saudi Green Initiative forum. During the same day and event, the Energy Minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, “announced that the Kingdom’s goal is to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2060, taking into account that this will not have an adverse financial or economic impact on oil exporters,” as carried by the Saudi Press Agency. “The minister stated that by 2030, Saudi Arabia will be a model for the production of all energy sources and the best in terms of energy efficiency, highlighting the Kingdom's efforts to make the share of gas and renewable energy in the energy mix 50% for each of them by 2030, indicating that shale gas in the Kingdom will contribute in providing 50% of energy, while the remainder comes from renewable sources, stressing that this balance will reduce carbon emissions,” the Saudi agency says.

The White House continues to engage with OPEC+ about the high oil prices, and has not given up on trying to have the alliance boost supply to the market to bring down crude and US petrol prices, which stayed at a seven-year high at the end of October, more than a month after the US driving season ended. “We are continuing to press, through member countries — member countries of OPEC, even as we are not a member — to address the supply issue and work to address it here as well,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said during a briefing on 18 October. The U.S. Administration will “continue to use every lever at our disposal,” the press secretary added.

Saudi Arabia Energy Minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman

"The Kingdom’s goal is to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2060, taking into account that this will not have an adverse financial or economic impact on oil exporters"

Saudi Aramco, for its part, announced its ambition to achieve net-zero Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions across its wholly-owned operated assets by 2050. The announcement complements the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s aim to reach net-zero emissions by 2060. “The road ahead will be complex, as the world’s transition to a more sustainable energy future will require collective action and major technological breakthroughs. But we remain focused on delivering reliable and affordable energy, investing for the long term as our efforts to further reduce emissions gain momentum,” Aramco’s president and CEO Amin Nasser said in a statement.

Qatar Petroleum rebrands to Qatar Energy Another major energy producer in the Middle East, top LNG exporter Qatar, is rebranding its state oil and gas firm to reflect its broader energy strategy. As of early October this year, Qatar Petroleum became Qatar Energy, and pitches itself as “your energy transition partner delivering the cleaner energy that the world needs.”

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Energy projects and business intelligence in the energy sector

www.eicdatastream.the-eic.com

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. It 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. The EIC provides one of the most comprehensive sources of energy projects and business intelligence in the energy sector today.

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ITALY - BlueFloat Energy Floating Offshore Wind Farm Kailia Energia US$5bn

Falck Renewables and BlueFloat Energy have formed 50:50 partnership to develop floating offshore wind farms off the Italian coast. The joint venture have kicked off works with their first 1.2GW project in Puglia by starting the authorisation process. Documentation will be submitted to the Ministero per la Transizione Ecologica (Ministry for Ecological Transition) to start the preliminary consultation.

USA - BP Cherry Point Refinery Upgrade US$269 million

TURKEY - TPAO Sakarya Gas Discovery – Phase 1 US$3.6 billion

BP will invest US$269mn in the refinery in Ferndale, Washington, to increase output of renewable fuels and improve plant efficiency as the company seeks to reduce its carbon footprint. The investment will consist of three major components: the Renewable Diesel Optimisation (RDO) project, the Hydrocracker Improvement Project (HIP), and the Cooling Water Infrastructure Project (CWI). The CWI project is scheduled to be finished in 2022.

The Subsea Integration Alliance has been awarded the engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (EPCI) contract which will cover the subsurface solutions to onshore production, including completions, subsea production systems (SPS), subsea umbilicals, risers and flowlines (SURF) and an early production facility (EPF). The job includes providing and installing infield flowlines, control umbilicals, tie-in connections, associated subsea equipment, 170 km of gas export pipeline, and monoethylene glycol injection pipeline to the EPF.

www.ogv.energy I November 2021

5 AUSTRALIA - Beach Energy Trefoil & White Ibis Gas & Condensate Fields - Subsea Tie-Back US$390 million Wood has secured two Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) contracts to support Beach Energy’s Trefoil field development opportunity. Wood will provide FEED services for both the platform topside modifications, and the subsea and pipeline system that would maximise recovery and extend the lifecycle of the assets.

GUYANA - ExxonMobil Stabroek Exploration Drilling Campaign US$2 billion The Cataback-1 exploration well found 74 metres of net pay in high-quality, oil-bearing sandstone reservoirs. The discovery adds to the resources present at the Turbot-Tripletail area, according to ExxonMobil. Following the discovery, the resource estimate for the Stabroek block has been updated to 10 billion barrels of oil equivalent.

6 NORWAY - Equinor Edmonton Hydrogen Plant US$346 million COSL Offshore Management has been granted a contract by Equinor to drill four firm wells with the COSLPromoter rig. The deal, which is set to begin in Q2 2023, includes options to drill five additional wells for Statfjord satellites. Equinor announced that the fixed portion of the deal, which is expected to last 220 days, is valued at about $56 Million. Drilling and completion services, fuel, wastewater treatment, cuttings handling, and modernising the rig by installing an autonomous drilling control system are all included in the contract.

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CHINA - CNOOC Kenli 10-2 Oil Discovery US$100 million

CNOOC Limited has made a large-sized discovery of Kenli 10-2 in Bohai Bay. The Kenli 10-2 oil field is located in Laizhou Bay Sag in Southern Bohai Bay, with an average water depth of about 15.7 metres. The main oil-bearing formation of Kenli 10-2 oil field is in the lower member of Neogene Minghuazhen Formation and the oil properties are conventional heavy oil. CNOOC reported that the discovery well Kenli 10-2-4 was drilled and completed at a depth of 1,520 metres, and encountered oil pay zones with a total thickness of approximately 27 metres.

FALKLAND ISLANDS Harbour Energy Sea Lion Oil Field US$1.8bn

MALAYSIA - Samsung Engineering H2biscus Green Hydrogen & Ammonia Project US$1 billion

USA - Air Products Ascension Parish Blue Hydrogen Complex US$4.5 billion

Harbour Energy has announced that it will be selling out of the Sea Lion project and all associated licences following a strategic review by management. Rockhopper has said that it will stick with the development and is currently in talks with Navitas around the implications of Habour Energy choosing not to proceed with the project.

Samsung Engineering is planning to develop a green hydrogen and ammonia project in Bintulu dubbed H2biscus Project. The Sarawak H2biscus Green Hydrogen/ Ammonia Project will be sponsored and developed by the Posco, Lotte Chemical, Sarawak Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) through its subsidiary SEDC Energy and Samsung Engineering consortium. The pre-feasibility study has been completed and the feasibility study is expected to start in late 2021.

Air Products plans to build, own, and operate a US$4.5bn blue hydrogen complex in Ascension Parish, Louisiana. The complex is designed to produce more than 750MMscf/d of blue hydrogen, with the carbon dioxide (CO2) produced captured for long-term sequestration. The project is expected to generate 170 permanent jobs and is Air Products' largest investment in the United States. The project is scheduled to be completed in 2026.

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DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION Artificial intelligence (AI), advanced analytics, machine learning, automation, the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), and cloud-based data aggregation platforms have also become popular in the oil and gas sector which is creating intelligent assets to boost uptime and efficiency. The Gartner survey found that 50% of oil and gas companies plan to increase investments in AI-related and cloud systems.

By Tsvetana Paraskova

Digital Transformation in Energy

The use of augmented reality and machine vision has jumped amid now wellestablished remote operations, which accelerated during the pandemic. “The unique stresses of 2020 have elevated three business imperatives for 2021: optimising business performance, creating new capabilities and strengthening technology foundations,” Simon Cushing, Senior Director Analyst at Gartner, said, commenting on the report. Intelligent automation, advanced analytics, AI, and IIoT will be key enablers for greater adoption of digitalisation in the oil and gas industry, which is pressured to remain competitive in the energy transition and reduce costs while boosting efficiencies, EY said earlier this year.

The pandemic and the global push to cleaner energy solutions have accelerated digital innovation in the oil and gas industry as performance and cost optimisation, employee safety, and emissions reduction have become even more prominent drivers of efficiency and reliability.

“The current situation will accelerate strategic and operational reviews of companies, with digitalisation at the heart of this process. The convergence of digital, cloud computing and the new normal in oil prices has positioned the oil and gas industry for a massive transformation,” Sanjeev Gupta, EY Asean Energy Leader, and JuangWei Mok, EY Asean Consulting Markets Leader, wrote in May 2021. “Given the scale of oil and gas operations, incremental improvements can have a tremendous impact,” the EY executives noted.

Oil & Gas firms embrace digital transformation A growing number of major companies in the sector are embracing technology, which is changing the way industry professionals interpret seismic data, improve the operational efficiency of upstream, midstream and downstream assets, monitor emissions, and protect critical assets from cyber threats.

The energy sector had already started to recognise the value of investing in digitalisation even before the COVID-induced slump in the industry last year. As companies and their supply chain partners exit the crisis, they are increasingly focused on optimising existing businesses and creating new avenues of business lines for diversification into cleaner energy sources. From oil and gas supermajors to start-up tech firms and oilfield services providers, all companies active in the energy sector acknowledge that the digitalisation trend is accelerating and technology will play an increasingly important role in the future of energy supply and distribution.

Digital innovation is a top trend in Oil & Gas This year, as companies in the industry emerge from the pandemic slump with higher cash flows and stronger balance sheets, digital innovation is accelerating and chief investment officers (CIOs) in the sector expect an increase in digital platforms and investments, technology research and consulting company Gartner said in a report in August.

At the beginning of this year, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) was awarded the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) 2021 Distinguished Achievement Award for Companies, Organisations and Institutions for its Panorama Digital Command Center (Panorama). The centre, launched in 2017, has already generated more than over $1 billion (AED3.67 billion) in business value for ADNOC and uses AI, big data, and other advance technology to increase efficiency, optimise performance, and unlock additional value, the company says. The facility at ADNOC’s headquarters displays 250,000 real-time data points from all operational sites and provides complete integration of data innovation is between offshore and onshore facilities.

Digital accelerating and chief investment officers (CIOs) in the sector expect an increase in digital platforms and investments.

According to the Gartner 2021 CIO Survey, a total of 87% of CIOs expect their digital programs to increase or stay the same in 2021. The commitment to digital innovation is a relatively new priority for oil and gas companies. In 2019, it was ranked the third-highest priority for CIOs, and in 2014, there was no specific funding allocated to it. 85% of CIOs in the oil and gas industry have assumed responsibility for creating a change-enabling technical platform and 79% say they are working to build a stronger change leadership culture in IT, the survey found. Digital twin technology is also among the top ten trends in the industry, as digital twins have the capacity to improve operational efficiency, prevent downtime, reduce maintenance and maintenance costs, and allow for more effective collaboration between experts and operators, Gartner said.

www.ogv.energy I November 2021

“Through sustained investments in technology and innovation, ADNOC has become a champion in artificial intelligence and digitisation, and we will continue to use cutting-edge and advanced technology to generate value, drive efficiencies and optimise our operations as we deliver on our 2030 strategy,” said Abdulmunim Saif Al Kindy, ADNOC Executive Director for People, Technology and Corporate Support.

Another example of technology helping oil and gas companies to innovate is U.S. supermajor ExxonMobil field testing last year new methane monitoring technologies, including satellite and aerial surveillance monitoring, at nearly 1,000 sites in Texas and New Mexico to further reduce methane emissions. The field tests were evaluating effectiveness and scalability of a range of next-generation detection technologies that in addition to satellites use drones, planes, helicopters, ground-based mobile and fixed-position sensors. Technology company ABB launched in April 2021 a Mobile Gas Leak Detection System, HoverGuard, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)-based system that detects, quantifies, and maps leaks up to 300 ft from natural gas distribution and transmission pipelines, gathering lines, storage facilities, and other potential sources. The system automatically generates comprehensive digital reports that summarise results and can be shared in minutes after a survey. Shell and technology solutions provider Kongsberg Digital entered this year into a strategic agreement to collaborate and accelerate digital solutions and transformation for well delivery and performance. Shell has been utilising Kongsberg Digital’s real-time data products in its global wells portfolio for several years.

“Advances in cloud technology, ML delivery and visualisation techniques open up opportunities to improve operational safety and decision making. This will position both companies at the forefront of drilling and wells digital journey,” says Jon Crane, Vice President of Wells Digital at Shell International. Shell, together with Baker Hughes, Microsoft, and C3 AI, launched early this year the Open AI Energy Initiative™ (OAI), a first-of-its-kind open ecosystem of AI-based solutions for the energy and process industries. The OAI provides a framework for energy operators, service providers, equipment providers, and independent software vendors for energy services to offer interoperable solutions, including AI and physics-based models, monitoring, diagnostics, prescriptive actions, and services, powered by the BHC3™ AI Suite and Microsoft Azure, said Baker Hughes, one of the world’s largest oilfield service and technology providers.

“Taking energy forward requires new approaches to technology that leverage collaboration, open data standards, and cutting-edge AI capabilities,” said Uwem Ukpong, Executive Vice President, Regions, Alliances & Enterprise Sales for Baker Hughes. The other two major oilfield services providers, Schlumberger and Halliburton, are also expanding their digital portfolios as E&P companies and downstream operators are increasingly looking for digitalisation of operations. At the end of September, Schlumberger and AVEVA announced an agreement to integrate edge, AI, and cloud digital solutions to help operators optimise oil and gas production. Schlumberger and AVEVA will work together to streamline how energy operators acquire, process and action field data for enhanced wellsite efficiency and performance. “Digital transformation of critical infrastructure requires a strategic vision that transcends technology to drive efficiency, achieve profitable

business outcomes and deliver sustainability,” Andrew McCloskey, Chief Technology Officer at AVEVA, said. “Recent macroeconomic events have highlighted the need for agility throughout all industries,” McCloskey added. Halliburton, the top fracking services provider in the world, said in August it had successfully launched its SmartFlee intelligent fracturing system with a major operator in the Permian Basin. Halliburton says that its SmartFleet technology integrates intelligent automation and visualisation with subsurface measurements across multiple wells simultaneously to dynamically respond to reservoir behaviour. “We view the SmartFleet system as a tool that provides valuable insights into subsurface fracture placement,” Aaron Hunter, vice president of the Midland Basin for ConocoPhillips, says. “These insights lead to informed decisions that improve fracture performance.”

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION «How will our product help them in their day-to-day?» That is the question being asked all the time in the Aize offices, and finding the answer becomes slightly easier by just having the right people working on it. – Our approach as a product-driven company is to create scalable value, and in the end, reach a much wider audience. However, the lessons we are learning right now, in collaboration with our partners in Oil and Gas, are invaluable going forward. Solving actual problems on actual things with actual people, Møller says. In essence: With Aize, the abstract becomes concrete. We understand what our customers do, and we understand who we serve.

THE END-USER IS HELPING US BUILD IT Aize: The product-led approach powered by domain knowledge

– If you offer an engineer, maybe the best in the world at what he does, a tool that helps him work more efficiently – that’s fantastic. But if that engineer has not gotten any say in what that software looks and feels like – you’re out. Jarle Skrebergene, CEO, Aize. Aize is right now playing a key part in the Aker family’s efforts to be at the forefront of digital transformation of the heavy asset industry, a transformation by some estimated to be worth trillions of dollars every year. The maturing of these technologies over the last half-decade means we are finally ready to change the way we work, collaborate, share information. Aize wants to help. Recently Aize took a big step: Focus shifted from our software solving problems in specific projects to developing our scalable product. This shift is forming the company’s future. - First of all, there is no contradiction between being product-centric and being customeroriented. Being product-centric just means spending enough time with the users of your product. Of course, it helps when people who have that experience work for your company, says Christian Møller, Chief Product Officer. The people with the experience he is talking about are people like Jason Brown, UK Country Manager, with more than 25 years of upstream and downstream experience. Or Senior Director Fergus McCann, a long-time Aker employee whose 30+ year journey led to software that is today a big part of Aize.

– Intelligent data management and analytics makes it so much easier to keep your energy assets running smoothly. It gives you faster and smarter decision-making, and the opportunity to optimise operations across the most complex and challenging environments. The energy industry is filled with unused data, we just want to go harvest, says the Aize CPO.

Aize wants to revolutionise project execution and operation in heavy asset industries. We want to improve collaboration and reduce costs. The ultimate goal for our software is to create a fully digital experience, from gathering insights, to design, fabrication, construction, and ultimately the operation of an asset.

Five reasons to keep watching our progress:

Being a child of Aker does not hurt in this regard. Being able to draw on the ocean of domain expertise that exists in-house puts Aize in a unique position as a young company. We know who we are trying to help, and we know how.

Have it your way

– And we keep talking to all new and potential end-users. They voice their experience, motives, and vision. Rather than simply coming up with a solution that fits their immediate needs, we broaden our perspective by breaking down the more general problem, Christian Møller explains.

We are passionate about our users and their interaction with Aize. The day-to-day activities of our customer’s Subject Matter Experts now live in the fast lane.

– We ask questions. We come up with hypotheses, which we then test and iterate on. We have had a lot of workshops with different companies, trying to align problem statements that are out there with what we provide already. We try to align what we have to what they need.

Experience counts

Aize harbours over 30 years of experience to offer our customers the opportunity to forge and maintain an operational digital twin. We speak the customer’s language, moulding our knowledge into our solution.

Aize is completely configurable and scalable. Couple that with self-service, and our customers have complete control of their journey.

Fast forward your tasks

Release your value

E2E operational management with clear, measurable value in maintenance, integrity, and related support costs. The prize of 30%-60% savings is there to be grabbed.

Bring on the future

Fast deployment and future-ready. Not only does Aize protect existing infrastructure investment, but we are ready for a changing world.

People who truly understand the value of what we are trying to achieve, and actually managed the tasks Aize now are helping solve faster, more efficiently, and safer. – We have always put end-users first. We have just become more focused, Christian Møller says.

www.ogv.energy I November 2021

Aize combines reliable asset data with advanced machine learning allowing you to put your digital twin to use and optimise operation and maintenance. For more information visit www.aize.io

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

OPTIMISING SAFETY

for the renewable energy sector By Mark Walker – Vice President of DEKRA, Organisational & Process Safety

A culture of care is the foundation Renewable sources of energy—wind, water, solar, geothermal—are widely viewed as the engines that will power the world one day, and companies specialising in renewables are already making headway toward that goal. But no matter how innovative or new, every industry has to consider safety, and the renewables sector is no exception. Fortunately, the basic tenets are somewhat universal, and are reflected in a ‘culture of care’ approach that informs every aspect of an organisation.

Culture of care through 3 lenses It’s helpful to think about how a culture of care can be expressed in three critical areas: people; processes and systems; and equipment. Caring for people means seeing and valuing them as human beings. This is evident in how leaders interact with their teams, for example, acknowledging their successes, motivating them to do better, allowing them to use their strengths and encouraging them to understand their weaknesses. At the organisational level, it might be codified in company policies that support a work-life balance or promote employee health.

When it comes to systems and processes, demonstrating care means making timely updates, conducting regular reviews and implementing needed improvements. Since many of today’s processes and systems are technology-enabled, staying abreast of advancements and alert to gaps is part of exhibiting care. Taking care of equipment through proper usage and regular maintenance probably seems obvious. However, it can be tempting to forego routine care of this type when machinery appears to be working problem-free and a tuneup stretches the budget. Or when the usage recommendations in the operator’s manual feel unnecessary. The fact is, investing time and money in proper maintenance will save both resources in the long run, and respecting its operating instructions can extend a machine’s lifetime and prevent accidents.

Beyond safety Cultivating a culture of care results in people who thrive, processes and systems that meet companies’ needs and equipment that lasts longer and works better. This is certainly a recipe for better safety outcomes, but that’s not the only positive effect. When care is

prioritised, companies can also expect improved efficiency, quality, reliability and predictability. Organisations of any size or sector can benefit.

A culture of care for renewables It is, of course, important to take context into account when adapting a culture of care approach to a particular company or industry. One relevant feature of the renewables sector is that workers are often on-site temporarily, as contractors, or for shorter periods of time. Multiple companies naturally means multiple company cultures, so the goal in this case is to ensure that the site culture dominates and that everyone present not only understands, but also ‘owns’ it. To explain what this looks like, DEKRA is hosting a webinar on the 10th November 2021. You can register here or download our expert white paper which explores the issue in depth. As always, don’t hesitate to contact us for more information about how our services can support your goals.

DEKRA Organisational and Process Safety are a behavioural change and process safety consultancy company. Working in collaboration with our clients, our approach is to assess the process safety and influence the safety culture with the aim of ‘making a difference´.

DEKRA Organisational and Process Safety are a behavioural change and process safety consultancy company. For more information, visit www.dekra-uk.co.uk/en/dekra-organisational-and-process

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Permanent pipe to flange connection where welding may be undesirable. The slipover design and external gripping assembly enables a quick and cost-effective solution, with no specialist installation or testing equipment required.

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

DATA-DRIVEN APPROACH TO EMISSIONS REDUCTION The Paris Agreement framework states that the world should pursue efforts to limit global temperature increase to 1.5°C compared to pre industrial levels. To reach this goal, the world needs to achieve net-zero by 2050. In 2019, the UK & Scottish governments both passed legislation for net-zero targets for carbon emissions by 2050 & 2045 respectively. Digitalisation is a key driver of the oil and gas industry. As processing power continues to increase and communications speeds improve through improving technologies (such as 5G, low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellations & Wi-Fi 6) opportunities to reduce emissions offshore are being continuously enabled through implementation of new technology. Over the past 18 months, Stena Drilling have implemented a ‘data-first’ strategy to develop a technology ecosystem that integrates and liberates data. By connecting data & making it accessible, advanced analysis can be performed that leads to increased learning & improved decision making. In line with the ‘‘Stena Drilling Carbon Reduction Roadmap’’, each business case is prioritised based on its impact against the carbon reduction roadmap, including direct, tangible improvements & less tangible benefits identified through process improvement. Digitalisation can play an important role in decarbonisation. Whether through electrification, automation, performance

“This visualisation is an example of a comparison between Dynamic Positioning Force & Rig Activity. This is used to determine how much energy is consumed whilst performing standard rig activities. This information is clustered to visualise the mathematical relationship between sea state, energy usage and operational activity.”

Stena Carron Drill Ship

improvement, or circular collaborative supply chains, opportunities for rig contractors, operators & service companies exist to significantly reduce carbon output. “When you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind. … It may be the beginning of knowledge, but you have scarcely in your thoughts advanced to the stage of science.” – Lord Kelvin (1824 – 1907) University of Chicago

consumption data, increased knowledge can be had to evaluate ‘predicted’ energy utilisation by what the rig is doing at any point in time. By better understanding the energy demands from each individual system, emissions can be predicted & managed with increased efficiency. Through a connected ecosystem, it is possible to accurately predict emissions levels created against a well programme. In addition to predicting the expected emissions, an emissions reduction plan should also be co-created between the parties to optimise delivery as an integral part of the well delivery plan.

Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, Stena Drilling have continued to invest in digital technology. Hardware has been deployed A huge part of energy management is the culture across the fleet to connect and liberate data. within the organisation & there is no better way to OPC UA servers have been deployed on mould a performance improvement culture than drilling & BOP control systems and connected through the transparent sharing of data. In recent to Kongsberg’s Kognifai platform. By times we have seen rigs actively compete to making data accessible, it can be the most carbon efficient asset in the be measured. For example, Stena Drilling fleet. It is compelling energy consumption can be to see the rig crews fully get analysed against ‘Rig State’. behind the strategy. By connecting the drilling Throughout the data to the engine & fuel “Energy Culture, that is coronavirus pandemic, one of the main areas we have to focus on. Data Stena Drilling have plays a significant role as it enables awareness of continued to invest in consumption and provides digital technology feedback on improvements we are making. Data will allow us to identify hardware upgrades that will improve performance but equally important is that individuals recognise they have a responsibility to reduce consumption and that we can all make a difference.” – Graham Brunt – Chief Technical Officer

Stena Drilling's culture of innovation, combined with a strong digital platform has resulted in multiple new opportunities to further reduce emissions across our fleet in recent times. The streamlined process for implementation means that these initiatives are now being actively deployed across our fleet. So far in 2021, through the effectiveness of the carbon reduction roadmap, emissions have been reduced by 8.74% against predicted levels. From upgrades to the HPU Pump Management system to implementing vessel smart meters, the data-driven carbon reduction roadmap at Stena Drilling is on track to significantly reduce emissions in-line with the Paris Agreement.

At Stena Drilling, we live by our values – Care, Innovation & Performance. That’s why our Business Transformation goals are targeted, value-driven innovations. For more information visit: www.stena-drilling.com

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

EMPOWERING TECHNOLOGY: IT’S A TEAM EFFORT Stuart Harvey, Digital Innovation Manager, Proserv Controls explains how human inputs, alongside digital solutions, drive performance optimisation. Proserv technicians inspecting one of the company's digital solutions

F1 followers may have scrutinised the disagreement between World Champion Lewis Hamilton and his Mercedes support team following the recent Turkish Grand Prix. A decision by management to change Hamilton’s tyres eight laps from the end “seemed” to cost him two places and precious points in the title race.

An evergreen (or up-to-date) digital twin of an asset, backed by real-time industrial data, acts as one source of truth, a live fingerprint, offering accurate visibility of a system to personnel, potentially located hundreds of miles away yet able to plan immediate remedial action if any set of parameters in the regular function of that equipment is breached.

The team trusted data indicating that his tyres were so badly worn, it risked an imminent blow-out, and actioned the change, seemingly negating Hamilton’s own insights as the skilled operator of that equipment. It appeared to be a classic machine versus human stand-off – and the machine won. We’ll never know who was right.

In an industry where there can be reams of documentation, the digital twin also acts as a receptacle for reports or tests which are available at the click of a button – again representing a bedrock of truth.

A headset computer means just one team member might need to visit a platform and carry out inspections or remediation with other The irony is that, for many colleagues, and clients, years, the relationship directing or observing via between Hamilton and his the live video capabilities – Stuart Harvey data-crunching backroom team bringing up documents on the has culminated in multiple trophies headset’s lens for that technician on as digital technology, allied to human site, before attaching the latest update to the input and domain knowledge, has made for a digital twin’s database. powerful combination. The scanning technology harnessed to build Transformative tech the digital twin recreates such a precise model of an asset that when an issue like corrosion A joined-up digital strategy where technologies necessitates the reverse engineering of a such as digital twins and headset tablet replacement piece of pipework, it can be computers come together to provide remote manufactured direct from point cloud datasets monitoring capabilities can positively impact eradicating any human error and bringing the the performance of an organisation and the reassurance of “right size, first time” to speed daily experience of its employees. up maintenance cycles. Seven-time F1 world champion and vital Mercedes team member Lewis Hamilton

Technology, when deployed effectively, presents multiple benefits. For individuals: remote monitoring means fewer personnel being exposed to potential HSE risks and reduces the need for time and cost intensive travel. For businesses: sophisticated real-time fingerprinting of systems means maintenance can be planned proactively not reactively, while the associated performance enhancements of that process lead to better efficiencies, less downtime, the maximising of the life of equipment – asset optimisation. These are the foundations of profitability. In the current landscape with organisations alert to the threats from global warming, real-time data generation and evergreen scans of a digital twin of an asset can have significant environmental impacts for energy companies with eyes firmly on a net-zero future. When monitoring is done remotely and not physically, when components last longer and need replacing less often, when more efficient processes mean reduced CO2 gases entering the atmosphere – then carbon footprints and waste generation are heading south.

The human element Mercedes might have great technology and aerodynamic designs, but they also benefit from having a supremely talented driver, attuned to the characteristics of their vehicle, behind the wheel. When you have analysts working in concert with asset operators normalising the live data being provided by the digital twin, they will be alert to the fact a bearing in a compressor needs replacing after only 12 months, although it should have a design life of five years, or if a valve is opened and the pressure reading is noticeably different to usual, so through that human interpretation and intervention, proactive action can be enabled promptly. The combination of domain knowledge with the analysis of live data means system set points (triggering automatic alarms when exceeded) can be recalibrated, reflective of how the equipment really operates and whether that drop in pressure or increase in temperature is truly of concern. The subsequent gains from this are fewer alarm trips for personnel to have to handle while they manage multiple systems, thus reducing their stresses, workload and supporting their welfare. But ultimately, it is trust that is vital for the powerful combination of digital technology and human engagement to succeed. As a necessity, digital twins and data must remain evergreen, live and totally reliable. If scans of assets are not regularly updated or data is not supplied real-time, then naturally their potential impact, and associated value, are greatly reduced. When new technology is integrated as an augmentation and support to personnel, a widespread culture shift can occur and once there is buy-in, the ingredients are in place for a highly effective digital strategy.

www.ogv.energy I November 2021

Providing leading controls technologies to enhance performance, optimise assets and extend life right across the energy sector. For more information visit: www.proserv.com

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

By Allan Merritt - CEO Arnlea

ARNLEA

Partners for the digital transformation journey Arnlea’s partnerships are already bearing fruit across a number of sectors and we are always actively seeking more, not just in the Energy industry.

In one of my previous articles, I said that the journey many customers are taking towards digital transformation could be described as ‘steady as she goes’. I discussed how there are a number of different steps along that journey, and part of that is also ensuring that Arnlea is always understanding and anticipating the needs of our customers, in terms of software updates and the latest hardware. In this respect, we actively seek out commercial partners who share our values and have similar goals. A critical reason for creating strong partnerships with other suppliers is that organisations are looking for fewer interfaces; they’re simply after high performing solutions from partners who understand and meet their needs. It’s also about forging stronger customer/supplier partnerships as well because customers are now getting more seamless service delivery and spend less time involved with procurement. Partners are finding

synergies and shared values to bring their complementary services together. From our perspective, it’s far better to be in control of that process than on the receiving end of a buying decision that forces you to work with partners you’ve no track record or common understanding with. This strategy means that Arnlea can better serve our customers and our partners can better serve theirs. Sometimes this means we collaborate on customer projects, sometimes we use each other’s capabilities with our own customers. We work closely with our partners, at different levels, depending on the relationship we establish and we work hard to establish good operational relationships early on, so that if any issues arise, we can resolve them together because of the good communication and can-do attitudes we share. We make every endeavvour to support the vision our partners have for their operations and our customers have for their businesses.

Part of that comes from how we progress and develop our Intrinsix software solution to optimise our asset management data with other operational information and controls. Our technical capability, continual upgrade capacity and superior UX/UI means that we intentionally seek out partners who also value long term relationships and provide exceptional service, because those are precisely what our customers seek. We’re expanding in all areas of our business and our ambitions mean we need partners who can support us as we grow. The benefits we get from working with different hardware and inspection businesses means that our customers can significantly reduce their inspection times and the many associated resources that go with it. It ensures they achieve much better control of their inspection and asset data, so we can anticipate further upgrades and developments and assist as they continue to pursue digital transformation projects for their global operations. By working closely together, we can identify any potential challenges customers may be experiencing, and we can resolve them before they become fully aware of those issues. We can demonstrate and implement our solutions, which allows the customer to focus on running their business.

"Partnership for us is a win/win and the way forward for any right thinking proactive global organisation seeking to grow, expand and thrive."

Arnlea, the global leader in industrial mobile software for tracking, inspection & maintenance for the global Oil & Gas industry For more information visit: www.arnlea.com

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

NAMAKA COMPLIANCE

Embracing Digital Transformation Namaka Compliance has embraced Digital Transformation by creating Athena, an online Competence Management System (CMS) that allows organisations to track their personnel’s competence in the Energy Sector and allow for career progression and Energy Transition from Oil and Gas into renewables.

The old method of conducting competence assessment was the use of logbooks, excel spreadsheets and checklists. Athena has now replaced these old and antiquated ways by using an online CMS in the Oil and Gas sector. This is vital as the world is now advancing into the 4th Industrial Revolution of technology. Such applications are now critical for business operations. Any company that operates in the environment of High Risk, High Hazard industries such as, Oil and Gas where the potential for Major Accident Hazards (MAH) exist must be legally able to demonstrate under the Control Of Major Accident Hazard (COMAH) Regulations 2015 that they have competent personnel. This must be demonstrated as part of their Major Accident Prevention Policy (MAPP) or Safety Case. COMAH has also stated, “The COMAH regulations and the lessons learnt from major incidents indicate that it is not enough to assume that exposure to training and experience assures competence”. Athena was designed after a workforce engagement in the offshore industry from a variety of trades to gain a better understanding of the type of system they

www.ogv.energy I November 2021

would like to see and utilise. Creating the system this way means it not only aligns with industry and organisations requirements but is also compatible with the end-user needs. In addition to this, Training and Competence experts were consulted to ensure that the process flows adequately. Namaka Compliance has created a CMS that allows the workforce competence to be assessed and verified as competent in organisations undertaking safety-critical roles. Namaka Compliance has recently assisted PETRODIVE, an independent diving company providing the Maritime and the International Oil and Gas Industry with a complete underwater contracting service with this offering. As part of this development, Namaka Compliance has developed a competence framework that looks at the safety-critical tasks of divers in Trinidad and Tobago. The initial period was developing all the policies, procedures, forms etc, that would be required initially. All staff and contractors were then assigned to Athena to allow the organisation to view their competence profiles as part of a digital transformation in real-time.

Namaka Compliance has created a range of unique features within Athena, these include a structured Training Development Plan, Competence Tree Mapping which allows candidates to progress and pursue relevant career structures. Identification of Leadership and Supervisory positions and ensuring safety critical roles are captured. As part of the digital system, it allows the workforce to include video evidence along with Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality headsets to be used. This allows organisations and their clients, regulators etc. to view in real time the competence of their personnel. The key benefit of Athena is allowing organisations to utilise digital technology to no longer require assessors or verifiers to be onsite, eliminating risks of additional personnel present on Major Accident Hazard sites and reducing their carbon footprint. Being a digital system also reduces their environmental impact by reducing the requirement to print documentation by up to 95%. Jamie Murphy, Managing Director of Namaka Compliance, said, “We certainly see more organisations utilising Digital Transformation to capture Training and Competence of their personnel. Therefore ‘Athena’ our online CMS, has been built in mind with, and we look forward to rolling this out to further markets in the near future”. As part of the digital transformation, Namaka Compliance currently has clients utilising ‘Athena’ online CMS in European, African, Middle Eastern and Caribbean regions.

For further information ‘Athena’, please get in touch with Namaka Compliance at:

support@namakacompliance.com

Namaka Compliance delivers dynamic and innovative services to the Energy Industry, encompassing Training, Competence, Compliance and Local Content. For more information visit: www.namakacompliance.com

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

By Paul Slorach, Business Development Director, EC-OG

BATTERY STORAGE

as a key enabler of subsea electrification

As part of the recent OGUK Energy Transition report, OGUK outlined the importance of electrification in reducing the emissions associated with powering offshore oil and gas installations and operations. A key enabler of this electrification will be battery storage.

A dramatic scale up in the usage of battery storage technologies, particularly when integrated with local marine renewable power generation, will be necessary to meet emission reduction targets and make current and future operations more environmentally and economically sustainable. Throughout the development of EC-OG’s Halo technology, a modular and scalable battery storage system for subsea applications, we have explored the diverse range of functions for underwater battery and intelligent energy storage across subsea infrastructure. I have outlined some of the main applications below. Of course, there are many more.

Centralised Energy Storage Battery storage can provide centralised energy storage, power accumulation, conditioning and distribution to multiple applications such as subsea production control systems, chemical injection skids or water filtration systems. This can either be renewable energy fed, from wind, wave or tidal systems, or supplied by a topside or shore umbilical. By de-bottlenecking the system, energy storage in this application can optimise the power distribution network, for example assisting with start-up peak loads or enabling the addition of new equipment to power-limited brownfield systems.

Using modular subsea plug and play battery skids, large capacities can be achieved

Data Collection and Transfer

Decommissioning

For applications such as hydrocarbon leak detection or carbon dioxide seepage, batteries can provide power to subsea sensor nodes and arrays. In particular, for retro-fit systems where no connection point is available. In terms of transfer of this data, battery storage can enable subsea edge computing, acting as a processing hub for data prior to communication to surface, reducing data packet sizes.

Within a decommissioning context, battery storage can provide power to wells at the pre-plug and abandonment phase for bore pressure and temperature monitoring. This could be after the decommissioning of topside and subsea power distribution architecture.

Underwater Vehicles Through the delivery of low carbon power and communications, battery storage allows temporary or permanent residency of remotely operated or autonomous underwater vehicles for inspection and intervention operations, by providing a subsea charge point.

Renewable Energy For renewable energy systems, seabed energy storage provides additional capacity that may not be accommodated elsewhere in the system such as onboard a wave energy converter, due to onboard space limitations. Crucially, this provides greater redundancy and longer battery autonomy periods to overcome intermittency resulting from weather or maintenance. It is encouraging to see the significance of battery storage being recognised as our industry strives towards reduced emissions and more environmentally friendly operations. We believe that on the path to a net-zero future, battery storage will have a significant role to play.

Uninterrupted Supply Actuator and Christmas tree mounted batteries can be used for safety and production critical functions such as valve actuation or emergency shutdown. Additionally, if there are any power outages or shutdowns, battery storage can provide an uninterrupted power supply. There is also the capability for energy storage to provide quick-to-install, emergency power delivery to subsea infrastructure in the event of primary system failure.

Subsea energy storage and remote power generation for the energy transition, low carbon offshore operations and zero emission hydrocarbon production. For more information visit: www.ec-og.com

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

DQ OFFSHORE

Making business intelligence central to sales growth Quintin Milne - Managing Director - DQ Offshore

As the world comes out of the global pandemic, the Energy sector supply chain needs to ensure that it is optimising every resource to ensure survival and lay the foundations for tangible growth. The role of an organisations’ sales function and its capability to harness leads and generate valuable tender opportunities has never been greater. The advent of global data management companies that use algorithms to mine the internet for ‘key words’ and pass on well organised publicly accessible information is useful to some extent, but clearly the more companies that have access to this tool, the less useful the information becomes. Information is far more accessible from larger operators via these sources within the Oil and Gas industry, so ‘DQ Intel’ differentiates its offering with a focus on independent operators and niche geographical areas that can produce valuable results.

Breaking from the herd Differentiating your organisations’ sales strategy from that of your competitors is becoming increasingly important and this is why DQ Offshore’s business database ‘DQ Intel’ has worked so well for its client base, as

Lewis Hamilton

it utilises a team of industry experts to qualify sales opportunities for its customers and uploads the information to its GDPR compliant database as soon as the information is qualified, ensuring its clients are notified in a timely manner. Managing Director of DQ Offshore, Quintin Milne, said: “We supply qualified project data for upcoming Oil and Gas contracts far in advance of their tendering phases, ensuring our clients are able to benefit immediately. All of our leads are generated from personal interactions with the supply chain and verified by our research team, ensuring they are authenticated in an appropriate manner”. The cost of attending global events within the Energy sector is not insignificant and an organisation’s budget will only stretch so far, so it is reassuring to know that the DQ Offshore team are able to leverage their network at these events and provide the key data to their customers quickly, eliminating the requirement for travel costs, accommodation and event fees.

Commercial flexibility In addition to the DQ Intel database tool, DQ Offshore offer a full business development package that can be tailored to its customers’ requirements.

Market Intelligence Using the business growth database ‘DQ Intel’ to work with the business development team and execute live opportunities. Richard Farnfield - Sales Director - Petroleum Pipe Group commented: "DQ Offshore's database has been an integrated part of PPC’s sales process now for 2 years and already we have seen strong results. With the limited sales resources we have available, coupled with the travel difficulties faced by Covid, it is very difficult to keep track of developments in different geographical regions. This has been particularly true in the emerging markets that Independent operators are working in, without making additional hires, we can access DQ’s information in a cost effective way and leverage the results in a very timely manner, which has helped us greatly speak to the right contact. We have been successful in a number of projects in Africa and the Caribbean as a result of working with Quintin and his team at DQ."

Business Introductions Leveraging existing market contacts and DQ Offshore’s well-established network to open DQ Offshore’s consultancy service combines the skills of a team of business development experts with networks in different geographical regions that can not only provide their clients with lead generation, but also act as a quasi sales representatives who can attend events on your behalf or just provide you with the key information derived from it. Clients can choose to use the DQ Intel tool on its own or combine with the consultancy service for maximum potential. The commercial model for DQ Offshore is a tailored monthly retainer which ensures it is cost effective and flexible and regular commercial reviews ensure guaranteed return on investment for their clients. For DQ offshore, providing a flexible and tailored approach with their clients is paying dividends as Roy Greig, Vice President of Resman Wireless Reservoir Surveillance for UK & Africa has testified: "DQ Offshore's database has only been part of our sales process for 3 months, but we are already seeing the results in lead development and new client engagement. It has been very difficult to keep track of developments in different geographical regions, especially with the Independent operators, without our sales resources spending countless hours on inefficient research, we can now access this information in a cost-effective way and leverage the results in a very timely manner, which has helped us greatly!” With competition increasing within the energy supply chain and the world opening up again, the importance of identifying competitive advantage is key to commercial success and leveraging outsourced and cost-effective business intelligence is clearly proving popular!

www.ogv.energy I November 2021

As a leader in commercial intelligence and business development support for the energy sector, DQ provide objective analysis and advice, giving clients the insight they need to make better strategic decisions. For more information visit: dqoffshore.com

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Lidar scan pointcloud

DIGITAL REPRESENTATION OF confined and difficult to access areas

Safe inspection of confined and difficult to access spaces presents significant challenges to industry. To allow personnel to enter these spaces significant resources are required, from confined space entry assessments and permits, to standby personnel acting as a rescue party. If any areas of interest are missed during the inspection, additional inspections may be required, incurring additional cost and putting more personnel at risk.

Zenith system can be programmed to capture a full set of images for processing into an interactive panorama, representing 100% of the visible areas inspected. Additional inspection payloads (such as LIDAR scanners) can be attached to the underside of Zenith to provide additional

detail to the digital representation of the inspection item. The LIDAR point cloud shown below was captured by the Zenith in less than 5 minutes, and contains over 26 million data points! Learn more at: www.spectisrobotics.com

Interactive Aerial’s Zenith system

At Spectis we are driven by the need to reduce the risk to personnel from completing these difficult inspections. We offer innovative remote inspection systems that will remove the need for people to enter potentially hazardous locations, as well as capturing multiple datasets that can be combined to present a complete digital twin of the inspection item. Interactive Aerial’s Zenith Inspection System is ideal for confined and difficult to access spaces. In its base form the system is a stabilised stills and video camera that can be lowered vertically and controlled manually or automatically. Using manual control the inspector can operate the system as a pan, tilt, zoom camera, but without the unwanted twisting of a traditional drop camera inspection. In automated mode the

Interactive Aerial’s Zenith system is available in the UK and Europe to purchase and rent exclusively from Spectis Robotics. Please contact us for further information 01224 701444, info@spectisrobotics.com

INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY SPONSORED BY

The UK’s largest innovation funding consultancy Our expert teams work in close partnership with thousands of businesses each year to maximise the financial benefit they receive from R&D Tax Credits, Grants, and other innovation funding schemes.

www.leyton.com

In the past year alone, we have helped our clients successfully claim more than £200m in tax relief to support their future growth.

FutureOn FutureOn based in Oslo, Norway provides the first real, global collaborative tool for energy companies to visualise their field assets. FieldTwin is currently deployed operationally in real-world fields and reports show that the digital twin cloud solution reduces pre-FEED field planning time and investment by at least 60%. With offices in the UK, France, USA, Dubai and Australia, FutureOn is growing to become the digital twin field design solution for the offshore energy industry.

Company Details Website: www.futureon.com Email: info@futureon.com Tel: +47 901 28 005 Address: FutureOn a.s. Kongens Gate 11 0153 Oslo Norway

Technology Development stage: Commercial (with new release expected in March 2021)

Launch date: 2019

BRIDGING THE INFORMATION GAP between the real and virtual worlds

Nascent digital twin technology is poised to revolutionise how real-world operations are reflected in the digital oilfield in real-time. A digital twin, sometimes called a digital shadow, is a virtual replica of an oil and gas company’s physical assets. The digital twin can be used from the planning stages of a field through to the end of the field’s decommissioning and abandonment. Currently, the oil and gas industry creates digital twins for fields, vessels, and platforms, as well as for all the individual pieces of equipment necessary for managing the many aspects of hydrocarbon production. Such twins can be static, or dynamic. A static twin is only updated manually as new information is available or when documents are created or revised. FutureOn’s Field Activity Planner (FieldAP) is an example of a static digital twin that digitally represents the field layout and its equipment data. A dynamic digital twin is updated automatically in real-time, such as via sensors connected to the Internet of Things (loT). FutureOn’s FieldTwin is a dynamic digital twin that is a real-time, data-driven visual representation of a field.

INNOVATION &

TECHNOLOGY

IN ENERGY ANNUAL

202 1 www.ogv.energy I November 2021

It incorporates real-time data through loT sensors connected to equipment in the field. In essence, the digital field twin is a repository of smart and connected data that can be leveraged in multiple use cases and monitored in real-time . In many ways, FieldAP is a blueprint of the field, accurate as long as it’s been manually modified with the most recent information, while FieldTwin serves as a single source of real-time truth about the field, ambient, and operating conditions.

A real-time digital replica of an oil and gas company’s physical assets makes it possible to critically assess and interact with equipment. FieldTwin provides the foundation for accepting the vast flow of data from the loT sensors and raising alerts about the status of equipment before it fails and causes non planned downtime. FieldTwin can be embedded as an interactive object within any web-based operational dashboard. Users can access it globally via any device. Dashboards that are user- and content-sensitive can be easily configured. Because the FieldTwin is intrinsically smart, any aspect of the virtual field can be connected to workflows to speed and improve operational decision making. loT sensors placed throughout the facility collect ambient conditional data, such as temperature, humidity, gases, and pressures. They transmit the data in real-time to a platform in the cloud, such as FieldTwin. For example, a sensor may record a significant change in pressure, temperature or humidity. Depending on the parameters set for the equipment, the sensor may trigger an alert that equipment may need to be inspected and potentially maintained before the equipment in question breaks and brings operations to a halt. The sensors can generate and report vast quantities of data every second, which makes it critical that the receiving platform is capable of processing the information. Through artificial intelligence, FieldTwin can “learn” what is normal for a specific field or piece of equipment and only flag anomalous conditions, such as those that exceed a specified threshold. The aggregated information can be analysed against operations or business data, or other contextual data, to yield actionable insights.

INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY Some companies working offshore have started cutting-edge pilot projects to bring loT sensing technologies into their projects. Currently, loT sensors are expensive, but as the technology improves and component prices drop, offshore companies will increasingly turn to sensors to provide information about their equipment in the field. Such an investment will minimise unplanned nonproductive time, save time and resources, reduce risk, and prevent delays. The digital twin is relevant from the planning stages of the field all the way through decommissioning and abandonment. Use cases include: •

asset integrity alerts;

•

maintenance efficiency by providing immediate and easy access to all relevant documents;

•

production tracking through links to real-time operational flow data;

•

identification of custody transfer issues;

•

and predictive analytics when linked to machine learning algorithms, plus many more.

There are many possible uses because FieldTwin starts with a truly digital representation of the field with all the assets embedded with actionable metadata.

FutureOn’s FieldTwin is a dynamic digital twin that is a realtime, data-driven visual representation of a field.

As a data visualisation platform, FieldTwin provides real-time information about the status of equipment in the field in order to optimise assets. Over time, the system can identify unacceptable trends in equipment functionality or changes in production rates. It can issue alerts and instantly provide relevant documents to take the guesswork out of maintenance. Access to this information can completely transform how asset managers run their inspection, maintenance, and repair programs for offshore assets. The system can also provide an evolving digital profile of the field in question. In terms of monitoring production, the information sent to the digital twin from the sensors can provide operational flow data in real-time and identify custody transfer issues. A true digital representation of a field, with all assets embedded with actionable metadata, can transform the way project managers design, develop, staff, and manage risks in their fields all the way through the end of the field’s life cycle. The digital twin gives project managers the power to see the field from the desktop.

INNOVATION & TECH SPONSORED BY

RENEWABLES SPONSORED BY

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EXPORTING THE UK TO A GREENER FUTURE

advantage of these opportunities, it can sometimes prove challenging to ensure bids are competitive or to secure the appropriate financing or insurance from the private sector.

By Mike Freer, MP

For those businesses working in offshore industries, UKEF is uniquely placed to support this shift and speed up the country’s transition away from fossil fuels to low-carbon energy sources.

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Exports) and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Equalities)

This month, the UK is hosting the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, in a "make or break year" to confront the global climate emergency. The recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report was described by UN Secretary General António Guterres as “code red” for humanity, driving home the reality of what we need to do to avert climate catastrophe – namely, combining forces, with no time for delay. ‘Combining forces’ is precisely what UK Export Finance (UKEF), the UK’s export credit agency, has been focused on over the past few years, supporting businesses across the country to get behind the green energy revolution, connecting them to overseas partners and helping them to export their specialist equipment and world-leading expertise around the world. UK companies have an important role to play in the global transition to a low carbon economy, and there are huge opportunities across the board. Experts predict that the UK’s lowcarbon economy could grow by 11% per year between 2015 and 2030 – four times faster than the rest of the economy – delivering between £60 billion and £170 billion of export sales in goods and services by 2030. Green trade presents a major economic opportunity for Britain that will drive high-value jobs and deliver sustainable growth. As Minister for Exports, I look forward to working with businesses supporting the transition to renewables, as boosting green exports and tackling climate change are amongst my top priorities.

www.ogv.energy I November 2021

And UKEF has made tackling climate change and supporting clean growth industries a top priority. Such has been the scale of support provided to clean and green projects that in 2020 UKEF doubled the amount of support it provided for sustainable projects to £2.4 billion, ranking second for sustainable finance in a global league table of export credit agencies. This September, UKEF unveiled an ambitious new plan to go net-zero by 2050, through decarbonising its financial portfolio and increasing its support for green exports. The announcement forms part of a wider Climate Change Strategy to increase UKEF support for clean growth and renewable exporters minimising the impact of climate change.

Mike Freer, MP

And yet, while many companies are already taking

The offshore oil and gas industry has been a major British industrial success story, and UKEF can help ensure that these livelihoods and communities are protected. One such example is Aberdeen-based engineering and consultancy firm Wood Group, which benefited from the first ever green transition loan backed by UKEF. The £430 million loan guaranteed by UKEF will help the business to capitalise on opportunities linked to clean energy, hydrogen and decarbonisation. Alongside the renewable energy projects UKEF has already financed overseas, it is actively seeking out new projects to finance. It has already identified a substantial pipeline which could benefit from UK expertise and has £2 billion of direct lending available to finance them, with the proviso they procure from the UK.

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For instance, in the last 18 months, UKEF has supported three major wind farm projects in Taiwan, with £500 million in financing. This has enabled companies like FoundOcean, a construction company based in Livingston, secure a contract to supply the grout for the foundations of a 100-turbine offshore wind farm off the coast of Taiwan. With that contract in place, 80% of FoundOcean’s revenue now comes from renewable projects, and this project created 30 new jobs in the local area. Almost every year since 1995, world leaders have met at COP26 to discuss the global response to the climate crisis. As hosts of this year’s summit, all eyes will be looking at what the UK is doing to tackle climate change. UKEF’s net-zero pledge demonstrates the UK’s climate leadership and, I hope, is an example for other countries to follow suit. Meanwhile, its world-leading financial products will help British businesses capture billions of pounds worth of foreign deals, boost green exports and give hope that global temperatures can be kept in check.

MORE INFO Find out more about UK Finance Exports at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ukexport-finance or call 020 7271 8010 for general enquiries

For details about RenewableUK, please visit: https://www.renewableuk.com/ or call +44 (0)20 7901 3000

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We have a simple and straightforward objective: to help our clients manage and successfully drive change, mitigate risk, grow, and succeed.

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Our portfolio of integrated Leadership Acquisition & Advisory Services, coupled with our #ClientFirst philosophy, collaborative innovative culture, and trusted brand, makes us a proven business partner.

By Sean Buchan

Manageing Partner - EMEA at Ducatus Partners Ray Riddoch

Mark Halliday

Sentinel Subsea announcement the appointment of new Chair

Sentinel Subsea, specialists in advanced passive integrity monitoring solutions for subsea infrastructure and equipment, have announced the appointment of Ray Riddoch OBE as their new Chairman. Ray is an industry expert within the energy sector for 40 years including key leadership roles in CNOOC, Nexen Total & Elf

Ricardo Rosa

Mark Foley

Subsea 7 announces CFO Succession Plan

Ricardo Rosa, CFO Subsea 7 retires from his position at the end of December 2021. He will be succeeded by Mark Foley who will start on 1st January. Mark joins Subsea 7 from Petrofac where he has held the position of Group Financial Controller & SVP Finance for the Engineering & Construction business unit.

www.ogv.energy I November 2021

New Operations Director appointed for the 3600 MW Dogger Bank offshore wind farm

Mark Halliday is moving from EDF Renewables where he was Offshore Operations Manager and most recently worked on the 50MW Neart na Gaoithe office wind farm project off Scotland. Mark joins the Equinor team and will be responsible for overall operations across the three phases of the wind farm.

Anja-Isabel Dotzenrath

Anja-Isabel Dotzenrath appointed as new Executive Vice President of bp

bp announces the appointment of AnjaIsabel Dotzenrath as their new Executive Vice President, joining them in March 2022. AnjaIsabel joins bp from RWE Renewables where she held the position of CEO and has over 35 years of experience in the energy, industry and management consultancy, including the highest level in leading and transforming major renewable energy companies.

Dev Sanyal

Varo Energy announces the appointment of CEO

Mr Sanyal has over 30 years experience within the energy sector he will be leaving his role as Executive Vice President, Gas and Low Carbon Energy. Mr Sanyal has been a member of bp’s Executive Leadership team for over 10 years and has led bp’s gas and low carbon energy business and prior to this was Chief Executive of bp Alternative Energy as well as Executive Vice President, Asia & Europe from 2016.

Arthur Stautzenberger

Coretrax appoints first Norway country manager

Coretrax, the global well integrity and production optimisation leader, has reinforced its commitment to Norway with the appointment of Arthur Stautzenberger as its first Norway country manager to lead business growth in the region. Based in Stavanger, Mr Stautzenberger joins Coretrax from Halliburton where he most recently held the position of senior technical sales advisor – liner hangers.

ON THE MOVE

Bob Sanguinetti

Bob Sanguinetti joins Aberdeen Harbour as CEO

Mr Sanguinetti joins Abderdeen Harbour from UK Chamber of Shipping, and will be overseeing one of the most pivotal points in the port’s history as the £350m South Harbour expansion operation commences. The multiuse port sees more than 9,000 vessel arrivals each year and handles more than 4-million tonnes of cargo and 170,000 passengers. On completion of the expansion project, Aberdeen Harbour will be the largest berthage port in Scotland, with vessels up to 300 metres in length able to berth alongside the South Harbour quays. Mr Sanguinetti said: “The port is a vital piece of infrastructure and will play a key role in the development of offshore wind and green hydrogen production, and as the existing oil and gas industry adapts into one which is sustainable for future use.”

Philip Wolfe

Appointment of Independent Non-Executive Director at Hurricane Energy plc

Hurricane Energy plc (AIM: HUR), the UK based oil and gas company, is pleased to announce the appointment of Philip Wolfe as an Independent Non-Executive Director, with immediate effect. He will chair the Audit and Risk Committee and serve as Senior Independent Director. Mr Wolfe has 30 years' experience within the energy and utilities industry as an executive, adviser and corporate financier. Mr Wolfe has served as Chief Financial Officer of various private and listed oil and gas companies, including Phoenix Global Resources plc, an AIM quoted oil and gas exploration and production company focused on Argentina.

Peter Mann

Richard Slape

Kistos announces new additions to their board of directors

Kistos (LSE: KIST) is pleased to announce that Peter Mann and Richard Slape are being appointed to the board of directors with immediate effect. Peter Mann is appointed as Chief Executive Officer and Richard Slape as Chief Financial Officer of the Company. Following these additions to the Board, Andrew Austin, founder of Kistos, revert to his previous role as Executive Chairman (in place of the current Interim Chairman Richard Benmore) and will step down as Interim CEO. Richard Benmore will re-assume his role as a Non-Executive Director of the Company alongside Julie Barlow and Alan Booth.

Ulrika Wising

EV Private Equity strengthens net-zero focused advisory board with Ulrika Wising

Global energy technology investor, EV Private Equity (EV), has appointed Shell’s Ulrika Wising to its Advisory Board. Ms Wising joins a group of senior industry representatives to create a board with over 200 collective years of energy industry expertise. Ms Wising brings insight from a varied career building businesses across the energy mix, which EV will leverage as it works to accelerate development its portfolio of sustainable energy technologies focussed on decarbonisation. In 2019, Ms Wising joined Shell as VP of Strategy and Portfolio, where she helped establish and then subsequently chaired Shell’s first capital investment forum.

Tatiana Moguchaya

Gavin Duncan

Online Electronics Limited appoint Gavin Duncan as Research & Development Manager

Gavin is a Chartered Electronic and Electrical Engineer with 33 years’ experience in R&D and Engineering roles and has spent 20 years working in senior management positions. Commenting on his new role Gavin said “I am very pleased to be joining a successful innovative company like Online Electronics and leading and growing the R&D team. I am looking forward to the challenge of developing their current products and identifying new technologies that will reinforce their position in the current markets and move into and develop new markets.”

Tatiana Moguchaya announced as new CEO of Earth Science Analytics

Industry leading seismic data, analysis and machine learning company, Earth Science Analytics, has announced the appointment of its new CEO, Tatiana Moguchaya. An expert in software development and strategic leadership, Tatiana has more than 15 years’ experience in both the technology and energy sectors. Her appointment marks an expansion from Earth Science Analytics’ traditional core oil and gas exploration and production market into the wider business of new energy. Prior to joining Earth Science Analytics, Tatiana worked at the Norwegian unicorn start-up, Cognite, where she was responsible for customer success and research and development.

Content provided by Norman Broadbent

DECOMMISSIONING SPONSORED BY

www.wellsafesolutions.com

SAFE, SMART & EFFICIENT The complete package for well decommissioning Well-Safe Solutions provides a ground-breaking approach to the safe and cost-efficient decommissioning of on and offshore wells. We offer a specialist well abandonment service that allows operators to meet the challenges and regulatory imperatives around decommissioning, while significantly reducing costs.

Offshore oil and gas field decommissioning: Disputes and Other challenges As offshore assets age, oil and gas companies face a wave of decommissioning obligations, with expenditures estimated to exceed US$200 billion in coming decades. Decommissioning is not simply demolition. It requires plugging and abandonment of subsea wells. It requires reverse engineering structures in order to dismantle them safely and efficiently. It requires the destruction or recycling of substantial waste products, including hazardous chemicals. It also may require substantial environmental remediation.

As offshore assets age, oil and gas companies face a growing wave of decommissioning work. This wave could accelerate depending on market conditions, particularly the future erosion of oil and gas prices. If the transition to alternative energy sources and other economic factors push prices down, assets will reach the end of their economic lifespan more quickly. Assets that can be operated economically in a ~$100-per-barrel environment may not be economical in a ~$60-per-barrel environment.

Decommissioning represents not just an operational challenge but also a legal one. The global dispersion of facilities and their offshore location necessarily implicates a complex and overlapping set of international, regional, national, and intranational legal regimes. Decommissioning activities inevitably will entangle oil and gas companies in a wide range of disputes, including with host governments, regulators, business partners, and contractors.

Decommissioning is not simply demolition. It includes all activities necessary to manage and dispose of installations and platforms and to restore the environment. It includes pre-abandonment surveys, development of a decommissioning plan and its submission for regulatory approval, plugging and abandonment of wells, dismantling and removal of topsides, subsea structures and pipelines, and disposal of associated waste. It requires reverse engineering

structures in order to safely and efficiently dismantle them. It requires the destruction or recycling of substantial waste products, including hazardous chemicals. It also may require substantial environmental remediation. The cost and scope of decommissioning operations varies widely depending on the type and location of the structures at issue. Small structures in shallow waters sometimes can be decommissioned for several hundred thousand dollars. A complex web of large and heavy structures in deep water are more challenging and can involve costs running into the billions of dollars. The scope of anticipated future decom activity is massive. Global decommissioning expenditures between 2010 and 2040 have been estimated at more than US$210 billion. An estimated 2,000 offshore projects will require decommissioning between 2021 and 2040.

Dales Marine successfully decommissions MV Oceanic Pintail, recycling 100% of the vessel

Dales Marine Services Ltd (Dales Marine), an EU List approved supplier of vessel decommissioning, announces the successful decommissioning and recycling of MV Oceanic Pintail. MV Oceanic Pintail, launched in 1987, was owned by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and operated by its transport business Nuclear Transport Solutions. MV Oceanic Pintail arrived at the Dales Marine's Leith dry dock facilities in mid-November 2020, and Dales commenced with decommissioning operations at the end of that month. Cargo vessels like the Oceanic Pintail are designed and constructed to counter harsh environmental

www.ogv.energy I November 2021

and climatic conditions. Unfortunately, at the end of their serviceable life, they can often be contaminated with unsafe substances that can make decommissioning vessels a complex and hazardous process.

stipulating that 98% of the vessel's materials had to be recycled in line with their commitment to environmental responsibility Dales Marine exceeded the target and recycled 100% of the vessel’s materials.

Dales Marine is very experienced in conducting vessel decommissioning safely and responsibly at their Leith dry dock. The dry dock is regularly used for decommissioning ships and is set up to accommodate these types of projects.

Throughout the decommissioning process, Dales worked closely with its contractors discussing how best to remove the waste material from site for recycling. By working with contractors, they found several solutions to streamline the process. Detailed reports of materials removed, recycled, or repurposed were supplied regularly to the client. Finally, by working closely with contractors, Dales ensured that any waste that wasn't recyclable was either repurposed, resold or went as waste for energy schemes.

On 24 November 2020, MV Oceanic Pintail was issued a ready to recycle certificate, de-pollution, soft stripping, and removal of the accommodation were completed by Dales Marine at the end of March. The vessel was then prepared for and manoeuvred into the dry dock for the hull's final disposal, which commenced early August. Dales Marine removed the last piece of MV Oceanic Pintail from the dry dock on 15 September, and the completion certification was issued. The contract for the project was for the removal and disposal of the vessel, with the client, Nuclear Transport Solutions,

Michael Milne, CEO, Dales Marine Services, said: "Our team's decommissioning expertise and experience have been invaluable in our achieving the 98% recycling targets. Dales prides itself on being a high achiever in its recycling and greener approach. For this project, having the support and strong working relationships with our contractors and suppliers has allowed us to work together in finding the best solution for improving how we went about recycling or repurposing waste materials from the vessel.".

DECOMMISSIONING Offshore Decommissioning market to grow $8.0 billion by 2027 The Offshore Decommissioning Market size is expected to grow from an estimated USD 5.2 billion in 2021 to USD 8.0 billion by 2027, at a CAGR of 7.4%. Aging offshore oil & gas infrastructure and maturing fields are driving the offshore decommissioning industry. Low oil prices of the past couple of years have made it even more difficult to maintain low production mature reserves, driving companies to accelerate decommissioning plans for such oil & gas fields. The well plugging & abandonment is expected to be the largest contributor to the offshore decommissioning market. The market has been segmented by service type, water depth, structure, removal type, and region. The market has been further segmented, by service type, into project management, engineering and planning, permitting and regulatory compliance, platform preparation, well plugging and abandonment, conductor removal, mobilisation and demobilisation of derrick barges, platform removal (includes topside, jacket removal, subsea), pipeline and power cable decommissioning, materials disposal, and site clearance. The well plugging and abandonment service segment accounted for the largest share of the market in 2020 and is also projected to grow at the fastest pace during the forecast period. Well plugging & abandonment involves the safe and permanent closure of production or exploration wells and is one of the biggest and most critical activities in any decommissioning project. The shallow water subsegment is estimated to have the highest growth rate in the Offshore Decommissioning Market. Based on depth, the market has been segmented into shallow water and deepwater segments. The

application of offshore decommissioning in shallow water projects is estimated to lead the market, both in terms of market value and growth. The shallow water basins on the UK Continental Shelf and the Norwegian North Sea will play a major role in driving the Offshore Decommissioning Market. Shallow water operations are typically less expensive compared to deepwater operations, and a majority of the old and aging offshore installations are in shallow waters. Thus, the market for offshore decommissioning will be the largest in shallow water projects. Europe is expected to be the largest Offshore Decommissioning Market. Europe was the largest market, by value, for offshore decommissioning in 2020, driven mainly by activities in the UK, Norway, and Netherlands. The UK offshore industry leads other regions in terms of well-developed and mandatory decommissioning guidelines. The production of oil, gas liquids, and liquid products in the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) peaked at around 1,027.5 million barrels in 1999. Ever since the country has struggled to offset the decline in production with both onshore and offshore fields. With a large number of fields in the country near the end of their lifecycles, the market in the UK is projected to be the largest for offshore decommissioning during the forecast period. Authorities in the region are taking active steps to commit operators to decommission old infrastructure by providing expertise, policy support, and financial incentives. Some of the top service providers in the Offshore Decommissioning Market include Heerema Marine Contractors (The Netherlands), Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. (The Netherlands), Petrofac (Jersey), Oceaneering International (US), Baker Hughes Company (US), Halliburton (US), and Schlumberger (US).

Aker Solutions, AF Gruppen given go-ahead to create Decom JV The merger will create a global player for environmentally friendly recycling of offshore assets and provide a significant contribution towards a sustainable, green transition of the offshore sector. It is worth noting that the recycling of steel from decommissioned oil platforms represents a significant contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions compared with ordinary steel production. The business concept is based on solving a significant societal challenge by removing and recycling decommissioned oil platforms. The unit aims to recycle as much of the materials from the decommissioned offshore platforms as possible. The Norwegian Competition Authority (NCA) has not had any objections regarding the creation of a decommissioning joint venture between AF Gruppen and Aker Solutions.

Decommission of the offshore market has a vast untapped potential globally, with approximately 10,000 operational platforms. The North Sea alone holds a significant potential with an expectancy of more than 900,000 metric tons of top deck to be removed during the period from 2020 to 2029. This applies to the British, Norwegian, Danish, and Dutch sectors.

Aker Solutions informed that the transaction was subject to due diligence and final board approvals, expected to be completed during the fourth quarter of 2021.

As for AF Offshore Decom, it managed to achieve a source separation rate of 94 percent for the recycling of structures where the main component is metal. Reusing steel results in 70 percent less CO2 emissions than ore-based production, which corresponds to an emission reduction of 1 kg CO2 per kilo of recycled steel.

To remind, Aker Solutions and AF Gruppen signed the letter of intent to merge the two companies’ existing offshore decommissioning operations into a 50/50 owned company on July 1, 2021.

According to Aker Solutions, it will take operators approximately 100 years to deplete liabilities for current assets. Thus, a further ramp-up of pace is necessary, leading to a positive contribution to the demand for this type of service. The joint company will have an order backlog of approximately $292 million.

DECOMMISSIONING SPONSORED BY

Offshore Energy Services Dashboard September / October 2021 Offshore Energy Services Dashboard September Offshore Energy Services Dashboard September/ October / October2021 2021

available from available from

www.ogv.energy I November 2021

10 0

42.9 42.9

31.2 31.2

10 0

31.7 31.7

14.4 14.4

2018 2018

2019 2019

2020 2020

2021 2021

2022 2022

Westwood’s 2021-22 outlook assumes a $60/bbl Brent oil Westwood’s 2021-22 outlook assumes a $60/bbl Brent oil price price

Subsea Tree Awards Subsea Tree Awards

#XTs #XTs

2021 2021

140 140

2020 2020

26 21 6 26 21 6 Sanctioned Firm Sanctioned Probable Firm Possible Probable Possible

191 191

FPS Throughput Additions by Year of Sanction FPS Throughput Additions by Year of Sanction kpoepd kpoepd 3000 3000 2500 2500 2000

LNG Gas LNG GasLiquids Liquids

2000 1500 1500 1000 1000500 500 0

2018

2019

2018

2019

2020

2021

2020

2022

2021

2022

Offshore O&G EPC Awards 2021-25 by E&P Offshore EPC Awards 2021-25 by E&P $billions toO&G be awarded $billions to be awarded

112.1 29.7

29.7

18.5

16.9

10.8

18.5

16.9

10.8

10.2

10.1

9.8

9.7

9.1

7.5

112.1 Others Others

The past month has also seen the installation of the GE Haliade-X 14 MW and partial installation of the SG 14-222 DD prototypes in Dutch and Danish waters, with Vestas’ V236-15MW prototype likely to be installed in 2022. The 14MW rated turbine models are anticipated to be commercially available by 2024 given its (likely) deployment in Hai Long, Coastal Virginia, Sofia and Dogger Bank C developments.

78.3 78.3

TotalEnergies TotalEnergies

Turbine installation at the 1,386MW Hornsea 2 development is almost two-thirds complete, with 100 (of 165) 8.0-167 DD turbines installed as of early October 2021. DEME’s Wind Turbine Installation Vessels (WTIVs) Sea Challenger and Sea Installer are currently deployed at the offshore site and working towards completion of the turbine installation campaign and project commissioning in 2022. Relatedly, the WTIV Sea Installer has also been booked for turbine installation work at the Vineyard Wind 1 development whereby DEME will adopt the “feeder” concept in compliance with the US Jones Act. Prior to its deployment to the US, the WTIV will have its crane upgraded from 900mt to 1,600mt.

20.6 20.6

4040 3030

ExxonMobil ExxonMobil

Offshore Wind Update 139 orders have been placed since the last issue, all of which are attributable to projects offshore USA. 77 SG 11.0-200 turbines were firmed up for Orsted/Eversource’s 715MW Revolution Wind 1 and 2 and 132MW South Fork developments, with a further 62 GE Haliade-X 13 MW ordered for Avangrid/CIP’s 800MW Vineyard Wind 1 project, which announced financial close in mid-September. Year-to-date turbine orders now stand at 517 globally, excluding that of Mainland China. For the remainder of 2021, Westwood expects a further 273 turbine orders to be finalised.

5050

CNOOC CNOOC

Offshore Rig Update The offshore rig count increased by two units in September, with one jackup in Southeast Asia and one drillship in the US GoM. Effective utilisation for the jackup fleet crept above the 80% mark for the first time since the pandemic and oil price crash in March 2020, whilst effective utilisation for the floater fleet (drillships and semisubs) maintained at around the 70% mark. Recent fixtures are beginning to observe an uptick in dayrates, with the average fixture rate for drillships increasing by c. 25% quarter on quarter and jackup rates stabilising at c. $95,000/day since the beginning of this year.

6060

Saudi Aramco Saudi Aramco

Based on E&P’s reported development plans, a further $20.6 billion of formal offshore EPC awards are still expected before the end of 2021. Key projects to watch include Woodside’s Scarborough and Shell’s Crux gas developments offshore Australia, CNOOC’s Lufeng 25-1 project offshore China and Shell’s HI Development offshore Nigeria. There has been a $5.6bn downward revision to our 2021 total EPC forecast spend due to delays to major contract awards such as Petrobras’ Parque das Baleias FPSO (Brazil), TotalEnergies’ North Platte project (USA), Petronas’ Limbayong FPSO (Malaysia) and Siccar Point’s Cambo development (UK) previously expected in 2021 but now anticipated in 2022. This downward revision brings the full-year 2021 forecast EPC contract award value to $52.3bn.

7070

QatarEnergy QatarEnergy

Field Development Update Brent crude oil spot prices averaged $74/bbl in September and has traded above $80/bbl since 11 October 2021. This positive momentum has also been reflected in the offshore oil & gas sector, with engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract awards worth over $2.4billion announced in the last 30 days, bringing the year-to-date total to $31.7 billion (excluding pre-awards). Notable contract awards in September/October includes the Subsea Integrated Alliance (SIA) of Subsea 7 and OneSubsea contract award for the integrated engineering, procurement, construction and installation (iEPCI) in the first phase of Turkish Petroleum’s (TPAO) Sakarya in the Black Sea, as well as McDermott’s engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning (EPCIC) contract award for Shell's Whale development. Elsewhere, Shell sanctioned its multiphase subsea compression system for its Ormen Lange field in the Norwegian Sea, whilst DeNovo Energy also awarded the construction contract for its Zandolie East unmanned fixed platform powered by a hybrid solar/ wind generation system offshore Trinidad & Tobago to United Engineering Services.

PlatformLogix PlatformLogix

Expected Expected Sanctioned Sanctioned

8080

Shell

www.westwoodenergy.com

9090

Shell

Westwood Global Energy Group are specialist providers of detailed market intelligence for the offshore energy sector, covering; offshore rigs, production facilities, subsea equipment, subsea services, offshore marine and offshore renewables and power.

SubseaLogix SubseaLogix PlatformLogix PlatformLogix

Offshore O&G EPC Awards Offshore O&G EPC Awards $billions $billions

Equinor Equinor Woodside Petroleum Woodside Petroleum Chevron Chevron

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Petrobras Petrobras

STATS & ANALYTICS

SubseaLogix SubseaLogix

Westwood Westwood Global Energy Global Energy Group Group

45 Offshore Energy Services Dashboard September / October 2021 Westwood Westwood Global Energy Offshore Global Group Energy Offshore Energy Energy Services Services Dashboard Dashboard September September // October October 2021 2021 Group

available from available from

RigLogix RigLogix

Month Month on on Month Month Backlog Backlog

May May Rig Rig Counts Counts Jackups Jackups

Semisubs Semisubs

65 65

494

85 85

54 54

19 19

494 Jackups Jackups

Drillships Drillships

21 21

24 24

October 1 October 1

September 1 September 1

191,484 191,484

22 22

28,799 28,799

41,200 41,200

95.3

104.5

104.5 Semisubs Semisubs

95.3 Drillships Drillships

59 59

25 25

345 345

RigLogix RigLogix

54 54

19 19

Contracted Contracted

Available Available

200,556 200,556

Stacked Stacked

30,071 30,071

42,365 42,365

Regional Regional Month Month on on Month Month Rig Rig Counts Counts

85% 80% 75% 70% 65% 60% 55% 50% 45% 40%

70% 70% 65% 65%

75% 75%

60% 60%

70% 70%

55% 55% 50% 50%

65% 65%

Sep-19 Sep-19 Nov-19 Nov-19 Jan-20 Jan-20 Mar-20 Mar-20 May-20 May-20 Jul-20 Jul-20 Sep-20 Sep-20 Nov-20 Nov-20 Jan-21 Jan-21 Mar-21 Mar-21 May-21 May-21 Jul-21 Jul-21 Sep-21 Sep-21

45% 45% 40% 40%

available from available

SE SE Asia Asia

Latin Latin America America

Arab Arab Gulf Gulf

US US GOM GOM

SE SE Asia Asia

NW NW Europe Europe

NW Europe Europe NW

Global Global

Latin Latin America America

75% 75%

Arab Gulf Gulf Arab

SE SE Asia Asia

Effective

-0.7

Global Global

Latin Latin Arab Arab Gulf Gulf America America

Sep-19 Sep-19 Nov-19 Nov-19 Jan-20 Jan-20 Mar-20 Mar-20 May-20 May-20 Jul-20 Jul-20 Sep-20 Sep-20 Nov-20 Nov-20 Jan-21 Jan-21 Mar-21 Mar-21 May-21 May-21 Jul-21 Jul-21 Sep-21 Sep-21

May-21 May-21

Jan-21 Jan-21

Mar-21 Mar-21

Sep-20 Sep-20

Nov-20 Nov-20

Jul-20 Jul-20

May-20 May-20

SE SE Asia Asia

Global Rig Utilisation US US GOM GOM

Global Global

US US GOM GOM

Total

80% 80%

60% 60%

NW NW Europe Europe

NW Europe Europe NW

Jan-20 Jan-20

Gulf Arab Gulf Arab

Global Global

0.4 0.4

Latin America America Latin

85% 85%

Mar-20 Mar-20

-0.5

Latin Latin Arab Arab Gulf Gulf America America

Latin America America Latin

SE SE Asia Asia

US US GOM GOM

Europe NW Europe NW

Global Global

NW NW Europe Europe

Sep-19 Sep-19

-0.1 -0.1 Global Global

1.1 1.1

0.7 0.7 Nov-19 Nov-19

0.4 0.2 0.2 0.4

Jul-19 Jul-19

2.4 2.4

US US GOM GOM

85.00% 85.00% 80.00% 80.00% 75.00% 75.00% 70.00% 70.00% 0.8 65.00% 0.8 65.00% 60.00% 60.00%

WindLogix WindLogix

Offshore WTG WTG Awards Awards by by Status Status (exc. (exc. Mainland Mainland China) China) Offshore #WTGs #WTGs 1200 1200 1000 1000

Expected Expected

General General Electric (GE) Electric (GE) 14% 14%

Awarded Awarded

800 800

Others Others 3% 3%

Awarded by by Awarded OEM OEM

600 600

Asia Asia 26% 26%

Siemens Siemens Gamesa Gamesa 53% 53%

Vestas Vestas 25% 25%

400 400

Western Western Europe Europe 60% 60%

200 200 0 0

Goldwind Goldwind 5% 5%

2018 2018

2019 2019

2020 2020

2021 2021

Expected by Expected by Reigion Reigion North America North14% America 14%

2022 2022 STATS & ANALYTICS SPONSORED BY

UNLOCKING DIGITAL SUCCESS We develop cutting-edge digital solutions to streamline and automate complex multi-faceted processes. Combining deep industry expertise with Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, our intelligent systems provide real-time visibility to improve performance. Fennex – Digitally enhancing operational efficiency.

www.fennex.net

www.ogv.energy I November 2021

COMMUNITY PARTNERS

Young talent set for greater recognition with launch of monthly Player Awards

Amplus Energy Services Ltd has agreed a two-year deal with Aberdeen Football Club, launching a monthly player award programme to nurture talent in Aberdeen FC’s Bobby Clark Youth Academy. The Youth Academy Player of the Month award scheme, which will recognise young players for their work ethic and performance in training and games, was officially introduced at Cormack Park last night with Alfie Bavidge (U16) and Rory Phillips (U11) presented with their awards for this month by Gavin Levey, AFC Youth Academy Director and Ian and Ali Herd from Amplus Energy Services Ltd. Both players were nominated by their AFC Youth Academy coaches for their continued desire to improve and develop their talent with both setting good examples to their peers, pushing

NORTH EAST SCOTLAND’S

digital tech sector can look to the future with confidence

The outlook for digital tech in north east Scotland is very positive and Opportunity North East is leading activity to stimulate and accelerate the growth of the tech ecosystem in the region. The focus is to support and nurture technology businesses from the early start-up phase through to fully scaled maturity, drawing on deep sector knowledge and expertise from across the ONE team and partners.

The north east of Scotland is home to a thriving and growing digital tech sector with big ambitions to maximise new opportunities and markets. Businesses with their roots in the energy supply chain are building on their experience to develop products to address opportunities presented by energy transition and by other industrial sectors faced with similar challenges. Accelerating growth among established digital tech businesses is a key priority and the region is home to a number of high potential, scalable businesses. The ONE Digital Business Growth

their development out-with training and games and focussing on their future ambitions. The renewed agreement will also see Amplus Energy Services Ltd continue its sponsorship of Angus the Bull, making the Aberdeen based floating production services firm one of the longest running sponsors of the Club’s beloved mascot. Amplus Energy Services Ltd Managing Director Ian Herd said: “We are proud supporters of Aberdeen Football Club and are thrilled to be strengthening our relationship, particularly as the Club continues to make positive improvements across the Youth Academy. “This is an exciting time for the Club, and I’m pleased that as a local company we will get the opportunity to play a small part in its ambitious plans to be the best developer of young talent.”

AFC Commercial Director, Rob Wicks, is delighted to see another long-term commercial partner bolster its relationship with the AFC. “Having been a key partner of the Club since 2014, Amplus Energy Services Ltd have reaped the many positive benefits of partnering a football Club and it is really encouraging to see the desire from them to not only increase their level of engagement but also broaden the partnership to see them supporting the young players emerging from our Youth Academy. “In addition to highlighting talent and rewarding hard work, the partnership with Amplus Energy Services Ltd will also tie into their long-running association with the charity North East Sensory Services (NESS) which will see AFC support Amplus Energy Services Ltd with the provision of goods and services to support the annual NESS fundraising event.”

Programme, sponsored by Inoapps and Sword ITS, supports established digital tech business owners and leaders to develop and scale their business faster. Jen Scott, Opportunity North East Digital Development Manager, said: “It’s extremely encouraging to see eight north east companies build on their experience, create new products and have success in new markets as part of the ONE first Digital Business Growth Programme.” Businesses from the first cohort seeing success include STC Insiso who have introduced new software products for different sectors, Solab IT who have secured significant, multi-year contract wins and Core 29 who have increased their team to support new and existing clients in the UK and overseas. Kevin Coll, Solab Managing Director, said: "The concept of encouraging growth amongst strong, established tech companies is long overdue as their success directly results in quality job creation that attracts and retains people in the region.” The north east of Scotland is also home to an exciting and growing cluster of early-stage digital businesses at the forefront of disruptive technology. These emerging digital tech companies are working with major players from across the energy industry to drive digital transformation and culture change as part of EnergyTech, an initiative delivered in partnership by ONE, Barclays Eagle Labs and CodeBase. The ambition for EnergyTech is to create a community for people to learn and collaborate – pushing the dial on conversations between incumbents and start-ups to better understand each other’s challenges and ultimately bridge the gap. A key element has been bringing in experience from outside the energy sector from companies including Airbus, Shazam and Palantir to help accelerate the sector’s digital take-up.

Jennifer Craw, Chief Executive, Opportunity North East, said: “EnergyTech builds the trust and relationships to harness the agility and fail fast methods of early-stage companies to support the energy sector and help it to embrace digital technology as a key enabler to shape the future of energy.” At the heart of all ONE digital activity is ONE Tech Hub – an inspiring place for founders to connect with practical know-how and expert advice relevant to their stage of company growth and to be part of a community with a shared ambition. Following 18 months of virtual activity and support ONE Tech Hub opens again in November offering hot desking, co-working, on-site expertise and an exciting programme of events and meet ups. Upcoming activity will include the launch of two new programmes for early stage tech businesses as part of the ONE lead delivery of £6 million of new business growth, innovation and skills programmes within the Scottish Government’s £14.3 million North East Economic Recovery and Skills Fund (NEERSF). With a clear vision for growth, focused, expert support and a vibrant home at ONE Tech Hub north east Scotland’s digital tech sector can look to the future with confidence.

LEGAL & FINANCE

WHY FRAMEWORK AGREEMENTS ARE FABULOUS By Bryan Wilson and Caroline Sodersten

Earlier this year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) commented on the improved growth of the Middle East oil and gas market, focusing on oil price recovery, and OPEC+ agreeing to extending oil production cuts. This was coupled with additional voluntary production cuts in Saudi Arabia. IMF also commented on subdued oil activity in the short term and a longer-term outlook of growth. This longer-term outlook is supported by the recent announcement from the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) that it has signed framework agreements worth in the region of $1billion for concept and Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED) Services for major projects across its value chain. These framework agreements, allocated across eight top-tier engineering contractors and with terms between 2021 and 2026, highlight ADNOC's future planning for continued development in the region. But why is entering into these type of framework agreements so beneficial for a national oil company, or indeed for any other operator or contractor?

Effecting Effective Efficiencies The primary purpose of any framework agreement is to create efficiencies in the contracting lifecycle. And one advantage for any operator is building structure for a long-term relationship with a select group of contractors. The cornerstone of this structure will be terms that are beneficial to both parties at the time of contracting, with the operator entering into the framework without the need to commit to immediate work (unless required). At the same

www.ogv.energy I November 2021

time, the contractor will have the comfort of early notice of scopes and anticipated timelines. All of this will thereby allow for efficient resource planning by both parties. Furthermore, framework agreements will typically cover a larger scope of activities than discrete, individual contract awards. Also, securing pre-agreed terms and conditions with large and experienced contractors, rather than entering into a number of smaller value agreements, greatly reduces the duration of the tender negotiation process. This in turn will lead to a reduction in hours and costs for contract administration by both the operator and the contractor. This then allows contractors to offer more streamlined costs, giving the best value. Crucially, the standardisation process of applying an overarching set of terms consistently to each call-off for work covered by the wider scope will help to maintain project timelines and delivery schedules, which will also assist in keeping costs under control.

Rewarding Performance As well as achieving cost-efficient performance, awarding work under a framework agreement also allows for other key performance indicators

to be standardised and managed throughout the contract lifecycle. For the operator this may mean delivery of projects in a reduced timeframe, again reducing overall cost. For the contractor there is an opportunity for milestone rewards that may not otherwise be available in a traditional single scope contract. Utilising framework agreements also benefits the wider industry and economy, achieving improved performance in areas of employment, sustainable business investment and, where applicable, management of in-country investment. Operators and contractors who are able to identify future projects and workstreams and plan for them in advance are more likely to employ and invest in the market, leading to greater stability for the industry supply chain as a whole. Therefore, while ad-hoc contracting allows greater flexibility, it invites greater risk of variable employment markets, supply chain price fluctuations, supplier instability, and less sustainable business relationships. With an economic climate where fluctuations are a daily occurrence and an industry where a future of significant change is certain, framework agreements offer the opportunity to create stability, realise efficiencies and add a measure of hope for the future.

LEGAL & FINANCE

THE ESG OPPORTUNITY By Hazel Gray – Investment and Innovation Incentives Tax Partner, Deloitte

Climate change has been a topic across boardrooms for some time, but it hasn’t always been at the top of the agenda. However, as eyes turn to Glasgow for COP26, business leaders are keen to be seen to place great importance on the actions they are taking across environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives. This focus has been given renewed attention as business leaders look for ways to contribute to climate change targets and solutions; a result of shifting societal, political, and regulatory environments as the world aims to address this challenge and the threat it poses. These initiatives are already delivering progress, and there is evidence that this shift has had the desired effect in accelerating environmental sustainability efforts. However, there is always more that can be done, and when done well, an effective ESG strategy can have a positive impact for an organisation at all levels, driving growth and contributing to long-term competitive advantages. Additionally, customers, investors, and potential employees increasingly look to a company’s ESG impact before making purchasing and investment decisions. It can also help attract millennial talent, enhance brand value and reputation and support growth ambitions. In a survey conducted by Deloitte Global and Forbes Insights on the impact of sustainability efforts of 350 executives, more than half of respondents indicated a positive impact on revenue growth and overall company profitability. Beyond positive financial implications, 48% of respondents indicated increased customer satisfaction, while 38% indicated that embracing strong ESG values enhanced their ability to attract and retain talent. For some firms though, there may be questions about how to create and integrate an effective ESG strategy. For these companies, there are some key things to keep in mind. Firstly, because an ESG strategy impacts every facet of an organisation and is relevant for all stakeholders, integrated thinking is key. This collaborative and connected approach ensures ESG principles remain at the core of a business and helps companies understand value creation through a new lens that balances short- and long-term outcomes and acknowledges the diverse range of resources on which all companies rely. Setting the foundation and committing to action is an obvious starting place and without that, it’s impossible for businesses to set meaningful targets or measure progress and Deloitte’s study into Business’ views on environmental sustainability highlighted the issues created by an inconsistent measurement and reporting process. Setting targets aligned with the Science Based Targets Initiative can add additional rigour and credibility to stated ambitions. It also allows businesses to demonstrate that their subsequent targets are in line with the latest climate science. Already we are seeing these types of metrics being asked for by providers of finance. Something else for businesses to remember is the ‘social’ side of ESG. This is typically forgotten about in strategies, perhaps because it is less easy to define or capture in metrics. However, there is no doubt it makes a difference to trust, confident, diversity & inclusion and the engagement of its stakeholders. A social impact mindset could just be the key to driving your business forward. Ultimately, the development of a strategic plan is generally accepted as the easy part and the difficulty is how to turn it into reality. However, ownership and accountability of aligned goals for business units, geographies and individual teams can help meet goals, as can willingness and openness to transformation. In doing so, businesses can benefit operationally while accelerating solutions to climate change.

OIL & GAS: IT’S TIME FOR SOCIAL CONSCIENCE

Our social licence is under threat – not delivering is not an option.

When discussing ESG in oil and gas, the focus traditionally is on the ‘E’ in ESG (especially Health, Safety and Environment). This is rightly critical amidst this rapidly shifting societal and political landscape. However, in the eyes of third-party rating agencies, it’s not just a climate story, it’s a whole story, with all three pillars of ESG equally weighted. A low score in one aspect of ESG could result in a missed opportunity to secure capital from potential investors. While the governance and environmental aspects of ESG now, to some degree, take care of themselves due to standardised metrics and frameworks; social disclosure continues to be a laggard, yet it remains a financial imperative. The oil and gas sector has the potential to be an exemplar of good social practice. Its global supply chain, which heightens exposure to potentially poor working conditions and human rights challenges, has seen many in oil and gas demonstrating strong corporate social responsibility such as supporting opposition to modern slavery, responsible sourcing of human capital and investing in local communities. Furthermore, recent OGA/industry workshops on the ‘S’ of ESG have highlighted that many in the sector are doing great work on diversity and inclusion, and this needs to be made more apparent to investors. Despite this, internal OGA analysis has shown that disclosure of social metrics pertinent to the investor community is varied. In order to meet an increasing demand for transparency of social targets many businesses struggle to showcase all the social good they do. Companies need to understand that there is a changing investor landscape amid radical shifts in societal attitudes and keep pace. This is evidenced by global fund manager Blackrock’s new 2021 proxy voting guidance which requires businesses to be clear and consistent in reporting their handling of human capital management. There are many frameworks, and sector reports available to the oil and gas sector, but these can be confusing, and may add to the alphabet soup of ESG standards. The OGA is committed to assisting the sector in improving and demonstrating its social disclosure, and the revised OGA strategy highlights the importance of good ESG policies and practice. In addition, the North Sea Transition Deal includes guidance on how businesses should approach critical social challenges including equality of opportunity, workforce upskilling, and utilisation of local content. The OGA recognises the challenges associated with the disclosure of social issues and has reconvened its ESG taskforce which has agreed to review social disclosure to better help businesses meet the demands of investors.

Our sector cannot afford simply to take a wait and see approach, we must adapt quickly to improve our social performance and report clearly on those areas in which we already do brilliant work. Failure to do so will see our social licence to operate further decline.

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