European Oil and Gas Issue 104 Early Edition

issue 104 ď ˇ EARLY

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Countdown to crunch Why does the oil and gas skills shortage exist, and how can we solve the problem?

Monitoring performance Asset monitoring is vital for successful operations Achieving mobility Enterprise mobility is about more than mobile devices

this ISSUE: Optical fibre sensing for pipeline integrity

( THINK OIL & GAS ) The rugged and reliable Eurocopter range is put to the test transporting crews safely to and from assignments. Enduring extreme heat and freezing weather conditions to reach offshore rigs and wells in remote land-based locations.

Specify an EC225.

Thinking without limits

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11/10/2013 18:14

Editors Chairman Andrew Schofield Group Managing Director Mike Tulloch

Sales Director David Garner Corporate Advertising Sales David King dking@schofieldpublishing.co.uk Sales Finlay Johnson Head of Research Philip Monument Business Development Manager Mark Cawston Research Managers Natalie Martin Ben Richell Editorial Researchers Ed Hipperson Kieran Shukri Jeff Johnson

Saying that we are

on a countdown to crunch point may sound a little extreme, but as energy demand increases the skills challenge in the oil and gas industry remains a severe problem.

Of course, we’re all aware of the issues – that there is a serious drought in the mid-tier 35-50 age range, but how many people understand why this problem continues to plague energy companies? As we find out in our lead feature this issue, the skills shortage has its roots in the 1970s and 1980s, when energy crises meant: “With profits plummeting and cost pressures looming, companies simply shut down their recruitment and training programmes.”

And, as Andrew Speers of Petroplan goes on to explain, it seems the industry is finding it difficult to escape this legacy, particularly as recent figures reveal that the skills pipeline is a major concern for over 60 per cent of energy CEOs. Fortunately there is light at the end of the tunnel, and from page four you’ll find some key information to ensure this issue has minimal impact on your business.

“In fact, it is estimated that by 2050 CCS could reduce CO2 emissions by 0.6 billion tonnes in the EU and by nine to 16 billion tonnes worldwide

­Office Manager Tracy Chynoweth

© 2013 Schofield Publishing Limited all rights reserved 10 Cringleford Business Centre Intwood Road Cringleford Norwich NR4 6AU T: +44 (0) 1603 274130 F: +44 (0) 1603 274131 schofield-media.com please note: The opinions expressed by contributors and advertisers within this publication do not necessarily coincide with those of the editor and publisher. Every reasonable effort is made to ensure that the information published is accurate, but no legal responsibility for loss occasioned by the use of such information can be accepted by the publisher. All rights reserved. The contents of the magazine are strictly copyright, the property of Schofield Publishing, and may not be copied, stored in a retrieval system, or reproduced without the prior written permission of the publisher.

editors Libbie Hammond & matt high

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Art Editor Gérard Roadley-Battin Advertising Design Jenni Newman Production Manager Fleur Conway Production Administrator Vicky Howes

recent figures reveal that the skills pipeline is a major concern for over 60 per cent of energy CEOs”

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Managing Editor Libbie Hammond libbie@schofieldpublishing.co.uk Editor Matt High mhigh@schofieldpublishing.co.uk Staff Writers Jo Cooper Drew Dann Steve Nash Editorial Administrator Emma Harris

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Regulars

Lead feature

Why does the oil and gas skills shortage exist, and how can we solve the problem?

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IT

People development and leading-edge software are the lifeblood of refineries

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News

A look at some of the recent developments within the oil and gas industry

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Lead feature

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Profiles

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Operating in extreme environments makes monitoring assets increasingly important

Why enterprise mobility in oil and gas is about more than just mobile devices

Optical fibre sensing is proving to be a major asset in maintaining pipeline integrity

Discussing the potential issues that can arise in oil and gas industry joint ventures

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HSE

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Technology

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Special feature

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27 Humbly Grove 37 Skangass 40 Stolthaven Moerdijk 42 Audex Pte 44 44 Mørenot Offshore 47 Al Ghaith Oilfield Supplies

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& Services Co

49 Panalpina World Transport

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53 NeoDrill 55 Hale Hamilton 59 Remøy Shipping 62 IKM Subsea Singapore 65 Iceland Drilling Company 68 Valentine Maritime Gulf 70 Sullom Voe Terminal

72 SAL Heavy Lift 74 Hendrik Veder Group 76 STATS Group 78 VWS MPP Systems 80 80 Sonar Equipment Services 82 Score (Europe) 85 Holborn Europa Raffinerie

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Contents

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Countdown to crunch

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Why does the oil and gas skills shortage exist, and what can the industry do to solve the problem?

T

he skills shortage facing the oil and gas sector in the mid-tier 35-50 age range (those with approximately ten plus years industry experience) is growing increasingly acute, to the point of crisis.

With global energy demand showing no signs of slowing in coming decades, the demographic crunch point is looming larger than ever. Andrew Speers, managing director at Petroplan takes a look at how the industry got to this stage, the difficult challenges the skill shortage poses for the sector, and what can be done.

How did we get here?

Newer entrants to the sector may be aware of the issues, but less familiar with the history of the skills crisis. The story starts in the 70s with the energy crisis, when the

Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) forced systematic rises in the price of oil, culminating in the 1980 peak of $98 a barrel, inflation adjusted (and only recently surpassed). As a consequence, economic activity in industrial countries was slowed, significantly reducing oil consumption (by 13 per cent in the US, Europe, and Japan from 1979 to 1981). The high prices also spurred, for the first time, co-ordinated and effective energy conservation methods across the developed world. For example, the US saw a mandated increase in CAFE, increasing the average gas mileage in US car production; given that the US was still leading worldwide demand at this point, the move had a disproportionate impact on global consumption.

The shift in the balance of supply and demand was further exacerbated by the removal of traditional barriers to production, for example Carter and Reagan removing market

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Lead one

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controls that limited supply, as well as the lowering of the US Oil Windfall Profits Tax in 1981, further incentivising producers. These and other contributing factors led to what has been termed the ‘1980s oil glut’; a serious surplus of crude oil. Prices accordingly went into free-fall; with a six year long decline in oil prices culminating in a 46 per cent drop in 1986. The real 2004-dollar value of oil fell from an average of $78.2/barrel in 1981 to an average of $26.8/barrel in 1986.

Such a prolonged slump, combined with uncertainty as to future prospects for the industry, understandably led to a change in behaviour across the oil and gas sector.

With profits plummeting and cost pressures looming, companies simply shut down their recruitment and training programmes. Demand for such places also dried up, with skilled graduates looking elsewhere to build a future.

Where are we now?

As is clear to anyone who has been paying attention, the pendulum of supply and demand has firmly swung back in the other direction in the intervening years. The proliferation of low-gas mileage SUVs (exempt from CAFE) along with the growth of light trucks and rising commuter times worldwide has increased petroleum demand against initial expectations. But of course the major factor driving demand is the rise of emerging economies, particularly China and, to a lesser extent, India. The US Energy Information Administration’s recently released International Energy Outlook 2013 predicts world energy consumption will grow by 56 per cent between 2010 and 2040, largely driven by non-OECD countries where it will soar 90 per cent during the same period. The industry is now facing a prolonged boom, and difficult politics in major supplier countries such

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the industry is fast approaching crunch point. According to PwC, the skills pipeline is a major concern for over 60 per cent of energy CEOs. Opito (the industry training body) and the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board report that over half of firms in the oil and gas sector see the skills shortage as their number one challenge

6 as Iraq, Iran, Venezuela, and Nigeria mean that prices are very sensitive on the upside (the oil price hit its record peak in July 2008 at $145/barrel).

Yet the industry is still feeling the effects of the 80s downturn thanks to the shutting off of training and recruitment, which has now translated into a severe skills shortage at the mid-tier level. The gap is where the recruitsthat-never-were would be in their careers today: 35 to 50 years of age, with ten or more years of experience. The shortage is being felt right across the breadth of the industry, from the back office to the drill bit. The numbers speak for themselves. The average age of oil and gas workers is astonishingly high, at 56. Almost half of the industry workforce is now over 45, and over half of experienced engineers within the industry will be eligible for retirement in the next five to ten years. Recruitment at the lower levels is no longer a problem – the boom has seen to it that graduate programmes at all the major businesses are oversubscribed – the problem is the gap.

This is already a major headache for the sector, not just in the sense that getting good quality staff for new roles is increasingly difficult, but also in the sense that the dearth

of talent is driving up wages, and fast. So far the sector has been able to muddle through by leaning on that upper layer of experienced workers: in many cases said employees are working well beyond retirement age. The nature of the industry means this has worked as a short term solution; skyrocketing profits have allowed businesses to absorb the heavy remuneration costs required, and job satisfaction is very high relative to other sectors, meaning that for the most part convincing old hands to work past retirement isn’t an issue. But this is a short-term solution: there is an obvious demographic limit to this stalling tactic, and the industry is fast approaching crunch point. According to PwC, the skills pipeline is a major concern for over 60 per cent of energy CEOs. Opito (the industry training body) and the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board report that over half of firms in the oil and gas sector see the skills shortage as their number one challenge.

The problem is also no longer purely demographic. The rise of resource nationalism in developing countries (where a large portion of the future extraction lies) has added an additional dimension to the skills challenge. Understandably, Governments in these jurisdictions are keen to ensure that

newfound wealth from oil and gas makes its way, at least in part, to the domestic population. This has led to the proliferation of quotas for national workers in territories such as Azerbaijan and Brazil. For historical reasons, however, local talent pools are far more limited than those in developed countries, exacerbating the squeeze on skills. This is having a real dampening effect on exploration, with major companies in some cases having to abandon plans to exploit assets post-investment, due to not being able to fill national quotas. Initiatives to train up local talent face the difficulty of wage disparity: for example, an Azeri worker, once qualified, will be able to get around four times the level of remuneration in the States as opposed to their home country.

So where do we go from here?

Education in the form of training, shadowing programmes, and fast-tracking promising recruits will obviously be a key component of the solution, but the difficulties here underline just how much of a challenge the skills shortage poses. Any major training initiative will bring with it substantial cost. Companies in the space are reluctant to shell out the money to fast-track promising candidates

Petroplan Andrew Speers is managing director at Petroplan, a global organisation that delivers tailored recruitment, contractor management and support services, throughout the oil and energy industry. The company has regional offices and a global in-house team located across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, North America, Asia Pacific and Australasia. Solely focused on serving the oil, gas and energy industry, Petroplan’s aim is to deliver value across its global personnel and client network via tailored services that are delivered locally.

For further information please visit: petroplan.com

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to the mid-tier level due the commercial risk involved.

Once trained up, it is all too easy for rivals (who then don’t themselves have the overheads associated with the training) to swoop in and snatch a worker away with the promise of a slightly larger remuneration package. In effect, the danger is that companies end up subsidising the training costs for rival workforces. Companies can always ‘lock in’ such candidates to fixed periods of employment following the qualification, but such periods can’t be long enough to justify the costs without also falling foul of fair employment contract laws. No wonder then the reluctance for any individual companies to unilaterally embark on such an investment. The training and education portion of the solution will need to be co-ordinated, multilateral – a joint effort from across the industry, which includes Governments and national oil and gas organisations – but this is of course far easier said than done.

And training programmes cannot breach the gap alone.

Keeping experienced engineers on past retirement is one thing, but the industry will need to go further and use this talent – while it still exists – in a mentoring, educative capacity to help fast-track promising candidates from below.

Even then, another crucial component of the solution will have to involve the industry recruiting staff with the right skillsets sideways, from other, related sectors, such as construction, mining, engineering and so forth. There is a big cultural barrier here; the oil and gas industry is used to sourcing talent entirely from within, and usually reluctant to depart from this tradition. But another factor that has contributed to the skills shortage in the past two decades is greater competition for talent from sectors requiring similar skill sets, such as nuclear and power infrastructure – so why not return the pressure?

An important part of this process is also the need that oil and gas companies have to partner with external specialists to leverage their wide, global network of contacts and high quality relationships across the industry if they want to find the right people for an ever-expanding number of roles.

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The lifeblood of

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Allison McNulty of AspenTech on People development and embracing leading-edge software

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Below Allison McNulty, supply chain manager at AspenTech

nowledge and innovation are essential ingredients for success. With large numbers of experienced workers retiring and fewer younger, skilled workers entering the profession, the next generation of engineers will be vital in securing commercial sustainability for the refinery industry. A knowledge gap has developed and addressing this issue is a priority for many companies.

Investment in talent and technology is essential to remain competitive. Indeed, the current skills shortage is not just a short-term problem. It represents a serious issue for the longterm future of the oil and gas sector.

The UK Government addresses this issue in its recent paper, UK Oil and Gas Business and Government Action, in which it pinpoints the fact that: “Current demand for experienced engineers and geoscientists in the UK (and globally) outstrips supply. The industry expects it will require an additional 15,000 staff over the next four to five years across a range of disciplines, including design engineers (all disciplines), subsea and drilling.�

Moreover, building and sustaining technical and managerial skills in key occupations can be a constant challenge the world over. Organisations must proactively address succession planning to manage increasingly complex projects. Therefore, companies need to focus more on human capital management to avoid serious difficulties, which could affect the operation. Having the necessary skills and resources to keep pace with dynamic market changes, and responding quickly with informed decisions, is vital to influence profitability and to reduce risk to the refinery in the form of unexpected events stemming directly from a lack of the requisite skills sets. To nurture success, companies need to develop a culture of people development and embrace leading-edge software technology to future proof their business.

The global problem From the US in the West to Saudi Arabia in the Middle East, through to Russia and across the Far East, refinery planning has traditionally been conducted by experts who have been practitioners in the role for many years and who have specialist knowledge and the ability to interpret complex data sets in order to make informed decisions.

Many of these highly experienced planners are now reaching retirement age and their places are being taken by younger, less experienced personnel who often view refinery planning as another short-term role in their career progression. The skills shortage is endemic as large numbers of experienced planners have already or will soon exit the industry, leaving a smaller number of younger, less experienced workers remaining.

The next generation The younger generation of refinery planners typically has different expectations of what technology can deliver than the older generation that is retiring. This generation, widely dubbed Generation Y, has shown a marked increase in usage and familiarity with communication tools and digital solutions. They have witnessed a revolution in the development of social media, interactive and dynamic software across most industries. In comparison with preceding generations, Generation Y employees have much greater familiarity with innovative technology from smartphones to tablets, which are intuitive, easy to use and highly visual. Consequently, their expectation is to use similar types of solutions in the workplace. An increasing trend is to adopt software that can meet the needs of industry quickly rather than having to wait years to hone their skills and become effective. In addition, with increasing commercial pressures and a more dynamic economic environment in the refining industry, more and more people in the organisation want access to the data generated by

Investing for the future In order to address the skills shortage, several companies are taking measures to address this issue with their own training and graduate programmes. For example, MOL PIMS Academy is soon to enroll its fourth intake of students.

The goal of the programme is to make it possible for young graduates to quickly acquire the key technical competences and practical experience necessary to become effective supply chain professionals in the petroleum industry.

The training includes education in Downstream Business Fundamentals, Supply Chain Management, LP modeling,

Securing a generation for profitability The downstream oil industry has experienced dramatic changes in recent years with increased costs, declining demand for fuels leading to excess capacity, increased competition and reduced margins. At the same time, it is also facing a shortage of qualified workers. In order to remain competitive refiners must invest in leading-edge software technology to ensure they are able to continue to make the best economic decisions and extract maximum profit from the volatility in the market - it is the lifeblood to achieving commercial success, even with less experienced resources.

AspenTech Allison McNulty is AspenTech’s petroleum supply chain manager for refinery planning & scheduling, and joined the company in 2011.

McNulty brings to AspenTech more than two decades of experience in technology and professional services marketing, product marketing and business development. Prior to joining AspenTech, she led the marketing effort for supply and distribution management solutions at FuelQuest. McNulty also held strategic marketing positions at SunGard and Hitachi Consulting. She has a Bachelors degree from Texas A&M University. AspenTech is a leading supplier of software that optimises process manufacturing for energy, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, engineering and construction, and other industries that manufacture and produce products from a chemical process.

For further information please visit: aspentech.com

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the planners in order to make informed business decisions.

Equipping the organisation with leading-edge software helps address these challenges, by enabling less experienced planners to become effective more quickly and for the output from their effort to be accessible and understandable to others in the organisation.

Around three-quarters of the world’s refining capacity is planned using Aspen PIMS. As an industry standard, planners across the globe have relied on PIMS to help them make crucial business and operational decisions impacting the profitability of their refineries and allowing them to maximise margins. Aspen PIMS Platinum is a significant enhancement to the PIMS family, providing enhanced post solution analysis capabilities with a new set of features for visualisation and improved understanding of the PIMS results (including configurable flowsheets, 2D and 3D graphs and tables). It will support the capturing of expertise from the more experienced Planners, thereby speeding up the learning process for new Planners, enabling faster and more insightful decision making. Through leading-edge planning software, refiners can rapidly respond to changing market conditions or upsets in their operations. With powerful tools, such as Aspen PIMS Platinum, Planners will make crucial and timely decisions that drive powerful results.

Short Term Scheduling and other related topics. Other examples of investing for the future include, France Total, which created its own university in 2005 followed by an education department in 2010. In the United Arab Emirates, where it is a requirement to employ 75 per cent local nationals by 2014, the company created the Total Academy and the first group of students graduated in 2012. Recently, ExxonMobil set up the Sakhalin Technical Training Centre, running internationally accredited training programmes to allow it to raise the share of Russian nationals working on the Sakhalin-1 project to 90 per cent by 2012. Also, Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco) is renowned for its scholarship and sponsorship programmes. Since the 1960s, it has had a strong training and development element to its business and many leaders around Bahrain actually came through the “Bapco School”. It continues this tradition today through scholarships at local universities on a range of subjects.

Bapco also sponsors many employees to continue their personal and professional development through overseas degrees and courses.

In addition, there are many other case examples around the world where leading refineries and petrochemical companies have adopted Aspen PIMS and are using it to optimise feedstock, respond quickly to disruptions, capitalise on trading opportunities and optimise inventory and transportation assets.

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IT

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Above: SBM and MSTS/Falck Safety Services Malaysia were the winners at OPITO’s global safety awards

Winning performance The winners of OPITO’s annual global oil and gas workforce safety awards have been announced in the presence of Suhail Mohamed Al Mazrouei, the Minister of Energy for the United Arad Emirates.

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On 19th November SBM and MSTS/Falck Safety Services Malaysia were named Employer of the Year and Training Provider of the Year respectively at the OPITO Safety and Competency Conference in Abu Dhabi.

The global annual awards

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recognise companies that best demonstrate their commitment

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IHRDC, SEFtec, Atlas and Gulf

to building a safe and competent workforce through OPITO standards and are presented at the OSCC. The conference was supported by headline sponsor Shell as well as Technical & Safety Training Centre.

Global floating production and mooring systems provider SBM was chosen after adopting OPITO principles in its operations and training efforts and for its commitment to achieving continuous safety performance improvement.

The majority of the company’s 1700 offshore personnel are trained to OPITO survival standards and the courses are mainstays of SBM’s survival requirements.

David Doig, from OPITO, said: “The outstanding quality of this year’s entrants demonstrates that organisations are reaching the highest standards in safety across the oil and gas industry. It is pleasing to note that an increasing number are looking to standardise their training and implement a recognised set of procedures.”

Above: Walking to work on offshore facilities

Walkthrough guide DNV GL is initiating a Joint Industry Project (JIP) to provide guidance on an alternative means of personnel transfer onto offshore installations. The “Walk to Work” (W2W) approach, where offshore installations are manned from a ship via gangway is being increasingly considered and used in the North Sea and other oil and gas regions to replace or supplement traditional manning methods such as helicopter, floatel or barge.

W2W manning can offer many significant benefits including: cost reduction; increased productivity; greater and more flexible man-hour delivery; additional bed space; resource sharing; and, reduced worker major accident risk. The ability to use W2W also provides an alternative to helicopters should there be exceptional circumstances that impact helicopter availability.

The goal of the JIP is to develop and release W2W industry guidance within six months of the project beginning. The JIP aims to capture, collate and further develop existing experience and material from a number of parties including offshore installation and vessel operators, gangway suppliers, and regulators. The JIP will also seek experience transfer from the emerging offshore wind industry, which is actively researching W2W solutions to meet their need. The JIP will develop guidance that will assist regulatory compliance and adherence to existing industry guidance such as the Oil & Gas UK/Step Change “Marine Transfer of Personnel” Guidelines.

Firm agreement Harkand has entered into a charter agreement with Siem Offshore for the Offshore Subsea Construction Vessel (OSCV) ‘Siem Spearfish’. The agreement covers a firm period of five years with three yearly options and shall commence in May 2014. The vessel will support the development of the Harkand group in the provision of inspection, repair and maintenance (IRM) services in the deep water Gulf of Mexico.

The DP2 vessel, built by Vard in Norway, has a 250t crane and will be fitted with two Triton XLX ROVs, as well as a complete survey spread. The Spearfish addition to the Harkand fleet marks an important step forward in the company’s commitment to deepwater activities.

John Reed, chief executive officer of Harkand, said: “This commitment we are making in the US Gulf both in terms of our people and our assets underlines our strategy to become the leading international IRM contractor.

“The group has been expanding its global footprint over the last few months through organic growth and strategic acquisition and is now setting up its corporate office in London. We are looking forward in 2014 to continue the strengthening of our global position by further investment in all regions.”

News

Above: OilCareers.com managing director, Mark Guest

Team effort

Safe as houses

OilCareers.com, the leading

Eighteen months after establishing a Great Yarmouth office, business is so brisk for Safehouse Habitats that it has invested significantly with a move to new larger premises in order to meet the growing demand for its services.

Over the next two years the Dundee-based company expects to create up to ten new jobs in the town and further extend its safety engineering work into the oil and gas and petrochemicals market.

Already it has won contracts for work on platforms in the Southern North Sea and at terminals such as Bacton and Easington with its pioneering habitats - enclosed and pressurised fire retardant canopies which allow safe welding and other hot working, even near hydrocarbons and hazardous material.

“We've had tremendous support from the region and some significant companies, including AMEC and ODE, since I set up the Great Yarmouth office last year,” said Andrew Cossey, Safehouse business development and operations engineer.

“We've picked up enough work to justify moving into a new, bigger unit where we can store, assemble and demonstrate our products. That will mean more jobs over the next two years for technicians, project engineers, warehouse and admin.”

its commitment to the development

Making a connection Xodus Group has agreed a four-year Consultancy Support Framework Agreement to provide marine services for Interconnector Services Limited (ISL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Mutual Energy.

Xodus will manage the procurement of a survey contractor in order to perform survey investigations on the power cable and pipeline networks connecting Scotland and Northern Ireland. The aim is to assess and maximise the asset integrity of the two systems and refine inspection techniques and emergency response procedures as appropriate and dependent upon survey findings.

The scope of work is to provide marine services covering major aspects of maintenance activities for these assets. This will include survey procurement and management of the survey operations, results analysis and developing the O&M strategy, including the management and assessment of emergency response requirements. Xodus will also provide on-call emergency response and marine advice services.

James Hunt, global director for Low Carbon at Xodus, said the project will enhance the asset integrity management for ISL’s submarine power and gas assets between Scotland and Northern Ireland: “The cable and pipeline systems connecting the two countries are strategically important energy assets and there is a need to maintain maximised integrity now and in the future for consistent energy supply.”

international oil and gas jobs board, has presented four local sports teams with new strips underlining of young people in the northeast of the UK. The company has invested almost £3500 in total for the strips and kits of players at Newmachar, Westdyke

Aberdeen city and shire as they look

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and Stonehaven football clubs and

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Above: The familiar blue Safehouse Habitat in use on an offshore platform

towards potential careers is important

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Arduthie badminton club.

OilCareers.com managing director Mark Guest said: “Supporting the developing skills of young people of all ages across the communities of

to OilCareers.com.”

OilCareers.com will deliver a total of 80 full strips, the kits will be supplied to the Newmachar under 15’s football team, the under 14’s Westdyke Community Club, a squad that will be playing in the A league of the juvenile football leagues, the 2004s of Stonehaven Youth Football Club and the Arduthie Badminton Club for two seasons.

Mr Guest continued: “It is with great satisfaction that we can help support regular sporting activity in the northeast. Each of the football leagues and the badminton club carry a lot of talent and our investment will go some way towards helping individuals flourish. Training and development is paramount to our business and so we are advocates of team sports that encourage children to learn and work together to achieve their potential.”

Monitoring

performance European oil & gas

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As the industry continues to operate in harsher environments with extreme conditions, monitoring assets is becoming increasingly important

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R

ecent severe storms in the UK North Sea have resulted in a number of floating production, storage and offloading vessels (FPSOs) being shut down in order to assess and repair the damage caused.

Notwithstanding the possible safety implications for operations crew, oil and gas majors are facing weeks, if not months without a critical asset, which in turn, is having a significant impact on future production.

The design and operation of an FPSO in remote locations requires detailed information on the structural response of the vessel within the local environment offshore. Monitoring of critical components including the risers, hull and mooring lines simultaneously with the local environmental forcing of waves, wind and currents at the site location, provides a valuable insight into the performance and possible extension of the integrity life of the asset.

In the following article Louise Ledgard, head of oil and gas business development at BMT Group, explains that as new technology is introduced, riser design becomes more sophisticated and extension of design life is required, it becomes increasingly important to monitor an asset’s performance to assist with operational decisions, forensic investigation of marine incidents and the evaluation of design codes.

Over the last few years, an increase in the number of

offshore incidents1 related to FPSOs in the North Sea during extreme storm conditions has resulted in focused attention on the verification of design codes and a review of inspection procedures. With an average mooring failure projected at 8.8 years for an FPSO in the North Sea2 and the consequential damage this could have on the riser, a number of Joint Industry Partnership (JIP) initiatives have concluded that the management and audit of the FPSO integrity is required.

Furthermore, indicative costs resulting in the remediation activities required for a single mooring line alone have been estimated at ÂŁ2 million for a North Sea FPSO, and many companies believe that insurance premiums are likely to rise due to the number of claims now being made.

As an attractive and flexible option that eliminates the need to lay expensive long-distance pipelines, the number of FPSOs being put into service in remote locations is rising. As such, the complexities of understanding the performance of the vessel in given sea-states and the interaction of the FPSO with the subsea infrastructure, becomes imperative.

Marine monitoring systems have primarily been used to provide real-time information for operational support during production with typical examples of its use being: vessel position (particularly in storm conditions); information on the metocean conditions during operation; production riser tension, buoyancy and stroke and mooring line tension for failure detection.

Furthermore, monitoring systems provide information to verify the design of the asset and provide input into fatigue calculations for mooring lines and risers. Currently, finite mathematical modelling is carried out when designing the riser configuration for the FPSO, but what is often lacking is the robust data to validate the actual local environmental conditions. Feeding this data into the design process can help to validate the accuracy of the modelling tools being used and reduce uncertainty.

The standard sensors and parameters that should be measured within the system include: 66 Meteorological: The monitoring of the meteorological conditions offshore is critical to ensuring the safe operation of the asset. In 1981, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the Helideck Certification Agency (HCA) introduced the CAP 437 standard for the UK Continental Shelf and currently recommends that meteorological parameters and motion of the helideck are measured for an FPSO. Such parameters provide critical operational information, which is sent back to shore so that companies planning any crew changes or helicopter operations are fully aware of the weather status on the vessel before dispatch. Safety of employees is of the upmost importance, therefore companies want to ensure safe take-off and landing conditions.

66 Wave monitoring: Wave induced loads are the main source of fatigue for FPSO design and wave height is a significant factor to consider for the design of the risers, as well as assessment of mooring fatigue life and hull integrity. Recording the extreme events in storm conditions also provides valuable input to the marine forensic investigation of any offshore incident.

66 Ocean current: Surface currents can impact on any offloading operations from the FPSO to the shuttle tankers and influence the response of the risers and moorings, resulting in fatigue loads.

66 Position and attitude: Measurement of the position of the FPSO is essential in storm periods to understand the vessel response to environmental forcing and the coupling of the resultant fatigue on risers and mooring lines. The position of the vessel is also critical in the assessment of any marine incident.

66 Riser monitoring: A detailed understanding of the environmental forcing to the FPSO, combined with the riser response can aid the design process and provide the input to fatigue calculations.

66 Hull monitoring: Stress induced in the deck and hull of an FPSO can be monitored using a series of long base strain gauges positioned in strategic locations on the deck and flare tower. In addition, pressure sensors installed in the hull provide information on the vertical acceleration of the FPSO

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European oil & gas

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Significant advances in technology over the last decade have meant that oil and gas majors can monitor the effect the local environmental conditions have on their critical infrastructure offshore.

Sophisticated sensors on board an FPSO can provide real time information for operational support and provide valuable input into studies on the performance of the FPSO in varying sea states

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66 Mooring line: Monitoring the mooring line is challenging and there is a scarcity of long-term in-situ observed data sets for mooring line tension. For forensic engineering and validation of design codes, it is essential that mooring line tension is collected simultaneously with metocean parameters on a common time base.

Each of the components mentioned above are likely to involve a number of third party suppliers, therefore the challenge that oil and gas majors are faced with is ensuring they all integrate into one effective monitoring system, to provide a holistic approach and support the assets’ integrity management programme. Correct placement of the sensors on board the FPSO and full integration of the data within a common time base is vital. By carefully setting up the sensor clocks and sampling frequency during the installation of sensors at strategic locations on the FPSO, companies can use the resultant data set to

effectively study the coupled response of the vessel with the environmental and resultant dynamic loading on the risers and mooring lines to study fatigue.

Monitoring of all the different parameters within this common time base can also assist with forensic investigations of marine incidents. For example, companies want to be able to match the time the mooring line broke with the highest wave that hit the FPSO. If the clocks on the mooring sensor are different to that of the wave sensor, forensic engineers will not necessarily marry the two together. Instead of working in isolation, the different parameters must be fully integrated to allow the root cause of the incident to be clearly identified.

Significant advances in technology over the last decade have meant that oil and gas majors can monitor the effects the local environmental conditions have on their critical infrastructure offshore. Sophisticated sensors on board an FPSO can provide real-time information for operational

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support and provide valuable input into studies on the performance of the FPSO in varying sea states. However, to be fully effective oil and gas companies must look at the monitoring of their critical assets holistically with the end user taking an active role in the planning and implementation of an integrated marine monitoring system.

It is vital that data is archived and stored in a common portal to allow engineers and operational teams to make the most of this valuable information. Only then can they feel confident that the system is indeed, fit for purpose and the risks of lost production due to repair or worse, a lengthy shutdown, are minimised. ¹ http://www.upstreamonline.com/hardcopy/news/article1314343.ece http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-20989289 ² JIP FPS mooring integrity research report prepared by Noble Denton Europe Ltd for the Health & Safety Executive (2006)

BMT Group Louise Ledgard is head of oil and gas business development at BMT Group. Louise has a PhD in Materials Engineering and Design, a Bachelor's Degree in Applied Physics and a Masters in Business Administration. With over 15 years’ experience working within the offshore oil and gas sector, Louise helps clients to identify an optimum solution for their offshore operational and marine engineering requirements.

BMT Group is a leading international design, engineering, science and risk management consultancy with a reputation for engineering excellence. From initial concept, through to design, construction, operation and eventual decommissioning, the company supports clients at every stage of the project lifecycle, driven by a belief that things can always be better, safer, faster and more efficient.

For further information please visit: bmt.org

mobility

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Achieving

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Alastair Sorbie discusses why enterprise mobility in oil and gas isn’t just about mobile devices

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hile it would be facile to suggest that a greater use of mobile devices would have prevented the Deepwater Horizon disaster, mobile working technologies are critical for meeting the far more rigorous regulatory scrutiny of the post-Macondo world.

The pressure on oil and gas organisations to provide greater visibility and traceability of all aspects of their work – from planning through execution to documentation – is consequently driving a mobility revolution in the industry.

According to research from analysts IQPC, oil and gas companies will spend around £113 billion on enterprise mobile applications by 2015 – and more than £5 billion on oil and gas-specific mobile apps.

Yet mobile is about far more than just compliance with Health, Safety, Environment and Quality (HSEQ) regulations – vital though that is in today’s landscape. Mobility can be a powerful tool to combat new problems and pressures that are emerging in the industry. These are as diverse as a lack of project control caused by fragmented, poorly integrated systems, the increasing complexity of exploration and extraction in some of the most remote and hostile regions of the world, and the extensive use of subcontractors and collaboration between vendors. All these issues can only be overcome with the right tools and, crucially, the right mobility strategy.

Missed mobile opportunities?

The oil and gas industry is certainly no laggard when it comes to mobility: according to IQPC almost four in five organisations (78 per cent) report that their company has implemented a mobility strategy or project, while tablets, laptops and ruggedised smartphones are being purchased in bulk. This shows a strong commitment to the concept of mobility, as does the fact that almost three quarters of organisations say that mobile devices will ‘greatly enhance’ operations. It does not necessarily mean that the industry is making the best use of the technology though.

Take, for example, mobile applications: just one third of the world’s 50 largest oil and gas companies have created their own apps. This is significant because it suggests that even the world’s biggest firms are failing to maximise the utility and functionality of mobility. To be truly effective, mobile must be about so much more than mere connectivity with existing software and systems - it must harness the unique ability of mobile to provide a single tool that enables operatives to complete tasks and share critical information in real time.

Oil and gas firms must not fall into the trap of believing that mobility begins and ends with the device. A mobile phone or tablet is merely an endpoint in a complex information infrastructure. The industry will find that mobile will be far more effective if they instead focus on how

Business priorities: control and efficiency Every oil and gas project is faced with a unique set of constraints and operational challenges, but there are two common priorities for any organisation in the industry.

First, there is the issue of operational control. The scale and complexity of oil and gas projects bear close comparison to military operations, and require the same high level of command, control and intelligence as is found in the armed forces.

Operational control covers everything from project management, materials management and logistics to maintenance planning, resource allocation, document management, financial and performance measurement, job reporting and more. The difficulty of managing and controlling all these operational factors is further compounded by the increasing remoteness and lack of infrastructure in many of the territories in which oil and gas firms operate. This feeds directly into the second priority: efficiency.

As resources become scarcer and extraction more expensive, maximising efficiency and keeping unnecessary costs to a minimum is critical for any oil and gas project.

Failure to control service projects, inaccurate delivery of equipment and spare parts, inability to manage offshore logistics effectively, unplanned downtime on assets – all these control failures have a direct and significant impact on project efficiency and overall costs.

Mobile working goes some way to solving the issue of managing employees and projects remotely, but simply dishing out devices is obviously not enough to tackle these issues fully. What these organisations need is a mobility strategy that is closely aligned with the specific challenges they face.

Building a winning mobility strategy For oil and gas firms, mobility is not just a ‘nice to have’ as it is in most other sectors - it’s vital for operations. It therefore stands to reason that the more thought and attention that goes into planning a mobility strategy, the more benefits it will bring to the business.

While the specific needs will vary from organisation to organisation and project to project, any successful strategy will encompass the following five principles: 1) Address specific business challenges: Any mobility strategy must constantly refer back to the two overarching priorities of control and efficiency. Mobile may not be the solution to every problem your organisation faces, but by analysing and understanding the areas where inefficiencies and lack of control is negatively affecting your business, you can focus your mobility strategy on solving the most pressing problems.

2) Integration with other systems: Above all, think beyond the device. Mobile will only

deliver its potential functionality if devices can integrate with corporate infrastructure, software and data. This is especially true when projects involve multiple operators or sub-contractors. One of the aims of mobile is to simplify the complexity of fragmentation by enabling the highest possible degree of integration with different systems.

3) Project visibility: One of the main problems facing engineering, procurement and construction contractors is the inability to record work performed until well after the event. This means that work is often not recorded at all, or is recorded inaccurately.

Organisations therefore need to ensure high levels of transparency and visibility by using mobile to enable work to be recorded in real time, so project managers have immediate visibility of what’s being accomplished, while also making revisions immediately available to individuals working on projects so that they always have the latest versions to hand.

4) Asset control: In the oil and gas industry, failure of assets does not just mean lost revenue – it can easily mean an ecological disaster.

Mobility strategies should incorporate Asset Integrity Management (AIM), which ensures that regular scheduled maintenance is performed, and that assets’ readiness and serviceability is documented on a very granular level.

5) Applications strategy Most traditional IT systems and software do not work well on smart devices, and even mobile-optimised websites can rarely compare to the functionality and ease of use that apps bring. For tasks that are carried out on a daily basis a specific mobile application – a reporting app for example – could save users hours every week.

Top benefits of mobility Making enterprise data and functionality available on a mobile device will deliver a number of different benefits: 66 Improved project management and control by enabling you to access and report on critical information in real-time anywhere, anytime. Project managers have immediate visibility into what is being accomplished.

66 Increased efficiency and quality in your on- and offshore maintenance and service operations by enabling field workers to interact with the software as they perform work rather than at the end of a shift or when they return to the office.

66 Better decision-making due to less administration and greater data integrity.

IFS Alastair Sorbie is CEO of IFS, a leading global enterprise software vendor to industries where asset management, manufacturing, field service management, supply chain management, or project management are core disciplines. The company serves more than 2100 companies in over 60 countries and has been providing high quality solutions since 1983.

For further information please visit: ifsworld.com

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mobility can be implemented to meet the specific business issues with which they are faced.

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Maintaining

Jerry Worsley of OptaSense Ltd discusses the use of optical fibre sensing in the oil and gas industry

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M

onitoring long linear assets such as pipelines has always been a balance between labour-intensive guarding, periodic point sensors or CCTV, and costly practices such as flying the line.

Now optical fibre sensing is using methods previously used within the defence sector to locate, measure and report on operational, security and safety applications.

Fibre-optic sensing has been used for a number of years within the oil and gas industry in a number of guises.

Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS) has been utilised within downhole applications to monitor well production, in downstream to show vessel skin temperature and as a leak detection tool within LNG terminals. Strain sensors have been utilised in risers, flexible pipes and jackets to signify fatigue. In 2008 OptaSense installed the first Distributed Acoustic Sensor systems to detect Third Party Interference (TPI) on pipelines within the right of way. Now OptaSense is not only being used to protect pipelines from damage caused accidentally or maliciously but is also being used as a condition monitoring tool, allowing the operator to control

and schedule its PIG runs, and as an online leak detection system for liquid, gas and multiphase products.

Distributed Acoustic Sensing, or DAS, was originally developed within the telecoms industry to locate fibre-optic cables that carried no metallic components and were therefore impossible to trace. It was soon adopted within the security and defence sectors to protect large perimeters, borders and roads. The ability to protect long linear assets made this an obvious technology choice within the pipeline sector.

Using algorithms developed from 40 years of sonar deployment, OptaSense used the knowledge gained within the defence sector to detect, locate and classify intrusion events such as personnel, vehicles, manual and mechanical digging. The same techniques are now being deployed to locate and track the speed of pipeline inspection gauges and determine the presence of leaks.

The OptaSense system converts a standard single-mode fibre-optic cable (often the same cable used for SCADA communications) into an array of virtual microphones. A highly stable laser is pulsed at 10,000 times a second and the Rayleigh backscatter is monitored for signs of “excitement�

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Four-mode leak detection

within the fibre molecules. This is called Coherent Optical Time Domain Reflectometry (C-OTDR). These are monitored simultaneously to provide an acoustic fingerprint of the pipeline.

PIG tracking Imagine having an engineer every ten meters along your pipe route reporting on the progress of the PIG. The inline inspection gauge can be heard as it passes through the girth welds in the pipe. Now imagine they are all synchronised and can therefore provide you with velocity information and that they can remember the speed and sound of every single run and are able to compare and contrast this information.

This is the advantage of OptaSense.

As the inspection gauge passes through a weld a pressure pulse is released along the length of the pipe. This can travel for kilometres dependent upon the product and pipe construction. The speed of the pressure wave can vary upon product type. At the apex of this chevron is the location of the PIG. Using the latest PIG Tracking Tool Software, OptaSense is able to provide location, speed and estimated

Many methods of leak detection have been and are being deployed upon pipelines throughout the world. Some are widely recognised by API standards whilst others have become more regional or product-specific dependent upon their limitations. Distributed fibre-optic temperature sensing (DTS) has been used to detect temperature variations in cryogenic products such as LNG. This provides a significant Delta at the leak point and has become an accepted solution for receiving and export terminals. Natural gas pipelines provide a smaller change at leak, and liquid products can soon reach ambient temperatures especially when combined with the attenuation effects of the ground.

Although the OptaSense DAS solution is able to utilise Distributed Temperature Gradient Sensing (DTGS) as a measure, it expands upon this single leak phenomena by deploying three other measures. The combined detection of Negative Pressure Wave, Temperature Change, Orifice Noise and Environmental Strain provides a robust “AND GATE”.

The most obvious signature of a pipeline leak can be the failure of the pipe itself. The rupture event and the subsequent rapid pressure drop inject vibrational energy into the pipe wall and fluid and cause propagating modes down the pipe. Similar to the signature of a PIG these can propagate for kilometres. Unlike the PIG they are static in location. OptaSense detects the leak and localises it quickly (typically less than 30 seconds) to the nearest 10m at the apex of the signal “V” shown below. The increased speed and accuracy of the OptaSense system allows remedial action to be planned immediately, reducing product exposure and excavation costs.

For this leak detection mode, OptaSense has an advantage

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OptaSense showing the location and speed of the inspection tool

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arrival time at the catcher location. Current runs can also be compared to previous operations, therefore providing a greater picture of the changes over time and hence an indication of hydrate build-up. OptaSense has worked with a number of ILI operators and end users to provide this service. This helps to reduce the time taken to perform the operation and to be in control of the pipeline pressures to manage the headway between multiple gauges or speed of a single unit to ensure the warranty is not breached and the tool is not damaged.

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over other acoustics-based products that use discrete acoustic pressure sensors because OptaSense can detect the “negative wave front” or “rarefaction wave” along the entire route of the pipe.

If a small leak develops within a pressurised line, even if there is no major rupture event, the turbulent flow through the small orifice generates a distinct acoustic signature that can be picked up by OptaSense.

optic effects read out by the Rayleigh, rather than Raman scattering phenomenon. OptaSense can detect changes of better than 0.01°C and can be reported at per second rate to this accuracy, making OptaSense DTGS more sensitive than traditional DTS technology by several orders of magnitude.

High pressure gas pipelines will not only see effects of temperature gradient change but will also experience a ground heave within the surrounding environment via Joules Thompson expansion. Fluid lines may also experience wash out of surrounding soil caused by consistent flow and saturation, thus changing the relationship between surround and sensing cable. OptaSense detects the low frequency changes caused by these short-term strain effects.

The OptaSense Leak Detector Toolkit will rarely rely on one of the above phenomena alone. All leaks or breaches affect multiple aspects depending upon the product and the conditions. By fusing this information together, OptaSense is able to reliably detect and classify these events. By matching the leak location with the position of the maintenance team, response times, spill rates and excavation costs are reduced to an absolute minimum.

OptaSense monitoring turbulent flow and pressure pulse signature

Operational security OptaSense also utilise DTGS (Distributed Temperature Gradient Sensing). This can be used to measure temperature changes, and thus can also exploit this sensing modality.

DTGS does not measure absolute temperature, but instead measures temperature temporal and spatial gradients with an extremely low noise floor using thermal strain and thermo-

OptaSense was originally designed as a security product, and it is therefore this application that is most mature and widely adopted around the world. To date OptaSense has been deployed in most regions including South America, North and West Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Asia.

Our experience has taught us that a majority of threats are

Technology

threat will be handled. This could include email or SMS to internal reaction teams or collaboration with local police or government forces to manage the security of the asset.

not malicious. The image of an organised syndicate installing hot taps and drawing down product at will is one that has been widely used in the past. However, the common threat to operational security is that of the local farmer digging a bore hole for irrigation or construction worker digging foundations with a back hoe.

OptaSense is currently deployed on over 11,000km of pipeline and we have developed the solution to provide the real information required by the operator. We have found that there is an education period required at the very beginning of every project. When we inform a typical operator that we can detect and classify activities such as people, cattle, vehicles, mechanical and manual digging they say “Yes. We want it all”. It is then that we have to explain that a 500km pipeline corridor has many of these activities happening constantly and any alarms would soon be acknowledged and ignored.

Experience has taught us to use the information as a forensics tool and alarms should not only be classified but also prioritised. Activity during daylight hours may not be classed as a threat. But the same activity in the dead of night could be different. Likewise in a busy town this may be considered as normal but a remote location where activity is scarce has a different threat level. It is during this initial consultation period that we also help to develop an action plan with the client. This will include integration into other systems such as Control Systems (SCADA & DCS), CCTV or even Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAV). Along with this may be an escalation plan to formulate how the

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Activity during daylight hours may not be classed as a threat. But the same activity in the dead of night could be different. Likewise in a busy town this may be considered as normal but a remote location where activity is scarce has a different threat level

Our experience has not only taught us how to react but also how to present the information to the management team. The OptaSense online tool ensures that managers can easily view real-time or historical data to help develop their operational and security processes in the future. Types, locations and levels of threats can be presented. This helps to develop trends over the length of the asset. This quickly diagnoses where any improvements may need to be made or what effects and operational changes may have been caused.

Multiple assets can be viewed from multiple locations and reports generated at the click of a button. These have been developed with the clients to ensure the required information is captured and presented. OptaSense is not only listening along the length of the pipeline but we are listening to our clients to ensure we are providing the information that they need to maintain a productive, safe and secure pipeline.

In summary, through OptaSense pipeline operators now have the ability to implement a system which delivers total pipeline integrity management in real-time, delivering wide operational benefits through standard cabling, which itself is often already there.

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OptaSense Web Services displaying a history graph of activities over the length of the asset

OptaSense Jerry Worsley is global sales director for OptaSense Ltd, based in the UK office. OptaSense is a world leader in Distributed Acoustic Sensing and is driving asset performance by providing real-time Decision Ready Data™. OptaSense currently operates in five distinct industries – services, pipeline integrity management, critical site security, borders and military, and transport industries.

For the past five years Jerry has been dedicating efforts towards the oil and gas industry, and has been instrumental on projects in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific.

For further information please visit: optasense.com

venture

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Julianne O’Leary discusses the potential issues that can arise in EU joint ventures

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his article looks at a number of issues that can arise in the context of joint ventures (JVs) from an EU competition law perspective. The focus of the article is on the EU, but the issues considered could be relevant in other jurisdictions, especially those whose laws are based on EU law. More importantly, these issues are not just relevant for companies based in the EU, but to all companies doing business in the EU whether or not they have a physical presence in the EU. Broadly speaking, in analysing a JV from a competition law perspective the first question is normally whether it is a concentrative or co-operative joint venture. If it is the former it will be considered under the merger control rules and may require notification to the EU Commission. If it is the latter (for example a strategic alliance or other co-operative JV) then it will need to be analysed under the normal rules relating to anti-competitive agreements and abuses of dominance, respectively prohibited by Articles 101 and 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (“TFEU”).

Below Julianne O’Leary, partner and Concentrative JVs head of the competition practice So-called “full function” JVs are subject to EU Merger at Stephenson Regulation (“EUMR”) provided that they meet the relevant Harwood LLP

thresholds. EU notifications are mandatory and (subject to limited exceptions) transactions cannot be completed prior to clearance.

If a JV is notifiable to the EU Commission, then the EUMR acts as a one-stop-shop and none of the merger control regimes of the 28 member states apply (subject to

certain rules relating to referral back to member states in certain circumstances).

Full functionality A “full function” JV is one that acts as an autonomous economic entity. The key test of full functionality is that a JV should be capable of performing on a lasting basis the functions normally carried out by competing companies operating on the same market. Therefore if the JV is set up, for example, to solely provide services or products for its parents, and does not operate on the marketplace, then the JV would not be full function. In practice, determining whether a JV is full-function can involve a complicated analysis.

The relevant thresholds There are two sets of EU thresholds. The most straightforward requires: (i) Worldwide turnover of all the parties of €5,000 m; and (ii) EU turnover of each of at least two parties of €250 m, unless (iii) The parties achieve more than two-thirds of their respective EU turnover in one and the same member state. (There is a second more complicated test, which is designed to capture somewhat smaller transactions.)

Note that it is a question of the group turnover, both globally and in the EU that is relevant.

66 It is not necessary that the parents - or indeed the JV entity itself – should have a presence in the EU.

Practical consequences Burden of notifying versus certainty It can be frustrating for companies that a deal that has absolutely no, or very little impact in the EU is required to be notified to the EU Commission. Nevertheless, the law on this point is clear. In practice if a notification has been overlooked it will often come to light in the course of a subsequent notification and can incur significant fines or, worst case scenario, nulification of the transaction.

Some companies see an advantage to structuring a JV so that it meets the EUMR thresholds and is notifiable, as this gives some competition law certainty to the JV. This can be particularly attractive in industries where collaborations between actual or potential competitors are common (especially if they have been subject to competition law investigations in the past).

Information exchange and appropriate barriers and firewalls Parties also need to consider appropriate information exchange and whether safeguards, including appropriate firewalls, need to be put in place. This is considered further in the article, and is equally applicable to both concentrative and co-operative JVs.

Co-operative JVs Co-operative JVs fall outside the EUMR and, as discussed previously, will be considered in the context of Articles 101 and 102.

Unlike with mergers, there is no one-stop-shop for non full-function JVs. Articles 101 and 102 can be reviewed either by the EU Commission or by the national competition authorities.

A JV arrangement can fall foul of Article 101 where: 66 It has the object or effect of appreciably restricting competition within the EU; and 66 It has an effect on trade between member states.

The appreciability and effect on trade elements are reasonably easily satisfied. In practice, agreements between actual or potential competitors (so-called “horizontal agreements”) cause the most concern.

The EU Commission recognises that some horizontal co-operation agreements can be beneficial, but it has concerns that they can lead to competition problems. The EU Commission lists for example: fixing price or outputs, or sharing markets; or where the co-operation enables the parties to maintain, gain or increase market power and thereby give rise to potential negative market effects with respect to prices, output, product quality, product variety or innovation.

JVs that infringe Article 101 can lead to serious consequences: 66 The JV agreement is void and unenforceable.

66 The parties can be subject to substantial fines (up to ten per cent of group worldwide turnover of each of the infringing companies).  This can include fines on the parents where, for example, they are complicit in the JV's illegal activities or have set up the JV for an illegal purpose.

66 There is the possibility of third-party actions for damages in the national courts.

66 In addition, some national laws (including the UK) have criminal sanctions, which can involve imprisonment and fines for individuals; as well as disqualification of directors.

However, a JV can be exempt from such consequences,where: 66 There is an applicable EU Block Exemption.  For example, for R&D agreements and Specialisation (including production) agreements.

66 It meets the exemption criteria set out in Article 101(3).

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66 It is not relevant that the JV will have no sales or activities in the EU. For the purpose of jurisdiction, it is sufficient that the parent groups' turnovers meet the turnover thresholds.

66 Moreover, if the JV is between subsidiary companies, it is still the group turnover that is relevant.

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ď ľ There are four criteria which all must be satisfied: 66 The agreement must contribute to improving the production or distribution of products or services to contribute to promoting technical or economic progress; 66 The restrictions must be indispensable to the attainment of those objectives; 66 Consumers must receive a fair share of the resulting benefits; and 66 The agreement must not afford the parties the possibility of eliminating competition. ď ľ In the past it was possible to apply to the EU Commission for an individual exemption applying these criteria, but this is no longer possible (except in very novel cases), and the parties must self-assess their arrangements to make sure they are satisfied that they comply with competition law.

66 In certain circumstances, where the parties have a de minimis market share.

Practical consequences The main issue for clients in practice is the question of selfassessment. This can be a complex assessment of law, facts and economics.

In assisting clients we frequently encounter two particular issues. The first is in relation to information exchange and the second relates to issues around joint-marketing JVs between actual or potential competitors.

Information exchanges Under EU competition law, the exchange of commercially sensitive information between actual or potential competitors is a cause for concern. The actual or potential effects of an information exchange will be considered on a case-by-case basis, as the results of the assessment will depend on a combination of factors.

Certain types of information will not normally fall under the prohibition, for example: 66 Information already readily publicly available.

66 Historic information.

66 Sufficiently aggregated information. The level of aggregation will be closely scrutinised.

Information that is not historic and relates to parameters of competition, such as price, capacity or costs will be considered commercially sensitive and must not be exchanged.

Information exchange and erection of appropriate firewalls between JVs and parent companies A further area where companies need to consider appropriate information exchange is in relation to parent companies and their JVs. For the purposes of EU competition law, at any rate, a JV is not part of the same corporate entity as its parent, and therefore it is inappropriate for information to

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flow freely through the JV and between the parents.

At a minimum, firewalls will normally need to be constructed so that sensitive commercial information about one parent (which may legitimately, in appropriate circumstances, be shared with the JV) cannot be passed on to the other parent.

Equally where the JV is competing with the parents, some firewalls, or depending on the circumstances equally strong firewalls need to be constructed between the JV and both parents, i.e. to limit the flow of information from the JV to both of the parents not just with respect to protecting the other parent's information but protecting the JV information from both parents.

Joint marketing Joint marketing arrangements will not normally be regarded as a "concentration" for the purposes of EU law. Normally, a joint marketing arrangement will not qualify as a fullfunction JV because: 66 It only takes over one specific function of the parent companies.

66 There is a strong presence of the parents on the upstream market.

Conclusion This has been a very brief overview of some of the issues we typically come across in practice when advising on JVs.

Stephenson Harwood Julianne O’Leary is a partner and head of the competition practice at Stephenson Harwood LLP, a full service international law firm with over 115 partners and 600 staff worldwide.

Julianne has wide-ranging practical experience and academic background in competition law, at EU and UK levels, internationally and of several member states. She has advised on a wide range of transactional and behavioural issues, across a range of sectors, at EU, UK and international level for a variety of clients.

For further information please visit: shlegal.com/home

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competitors or potential competitors will always, in practice, be treated with scepticism by the EU Commission, especially where either, or both, of the parties have significant market shares in the EU, or part of the EU. Marketing arrangements which do not fall within the prohibition, or which can qualify for exemption are reasonably limited in practice.

Examples include: 66 Joint marketing between non-competitors will normally fall outside Article 101.

66 Joint marketing by competitors or potential competitors where either cannot enter or remain on a market on its own, for reasons of finance, technology, experience, risk or other factors, may be exempted in appropriate circumstances.

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66 It is dependent on purchases/supplies from the parents.

As such, joint marketing arrangements are normally considered under Article 101. Joint marketing between

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PROFILE

Humbly Grove

growth Humbly Grove Energy

Limited owns and operates the Humbly Grove Oil Field near Alton in Hampshire. In the early 1980’s two reservoirs were discovered, the Great Oolite at approximately 3500 feet below sea level, and the Rhaetic reservoir almost 1000 feet deeper. After more than 20 years of production the original gas cap reservoir became depleted and in 2005 the field, wells and surface facilities were redeveloped as a gas storage facility following modifications that enabled both reservoirs to be utilised.

The gas store at Humbly Grove boasts a working volume of close to ten billion cubic feet working with a maximum withdrawal and injection rate of 260 million cubic feet a day, and 300 million cubic feet a day from and to

the Oolite and Rhaetic reservoirs. The facility provides approximately six per cent of the UK gas storage capability and up to three per cent of the national transmission system daily demand.

The National Grid quality gas is injected into the reservoir where it becomes hydrocarbon and water saturated. During export the saturated gas is treated through a dehydration system and gas treatment facility to return the gas to the national transmission system to the correct specification.

During the seven years of gas storage operations, the site has withdrawn and treated almost 250 billion cubic feet of gas.

Health and safety of personnel, the public and the environment is becoming ever more dominant in the field of gas storage. The Serveso Directive is the main piece of EU legislation that deals specifically with the control of onshore major accident hazards involving dangerous substances. In the UK, storage activities where quantities of dangerous substances are kept and stored, exceeding threshold levels, are controlled and rigorously monitored by the Health and Safety Executive and Environment Agency under the Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations (COMAH). Initially the regulations were not specifically inclusive of the oil plant, the oil production facilities and the oil wells at the facility.

Managing director Arthur Moors has been at the site for over 25 years. In an interview with

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Humble

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PROFILE

Humbly Grove

European Oil and Gas he explains the development and evolution of the health and safety strategy of the business: “Humbly Grove, through consultation with the Health and Safety Executive, elected to bring the whole establishment under one umbrella, within the regulations, to raise the safety standards of the business and develop a common framework across the whole organisation. One of the major changes under the establishment as defined under the COMAH regulations is that the oil, the gas and the entire facility, or establishment as defined by the HSE, including the wells, the oil production and gas storage facilities, the well-sites and all pipelines now fall under the COMAH Regulations of the

Health and Safety Executive.

“It’s fundamentally a change in policy, systems, procedures, culture and standards, and the way we operate the plant, maintain it and regulate it, through inspection, maintenance and contingency planning, whether that’s through routine inspection against defined key performance indicators, or conforming to much more rigorous and stringent safety requirements under the regulations and the regulatory competent authority.”

The business has also been extending its facilities to improve production and increase its production capacity. Arthur continues: “Over the last 12 months we have gone through a major Capital Expenditure and integration of the plants through the enhancement of the facility. Previously, the gas storage facility functioned as a standalone unit from the oil production facility, with oil being a by-product.

As a consequence of that we had issues around the oil, water and gas handling, and particularly the gas handling capabilities. To overcome this and capitalise on, and increase, oil production we’ve worked over additional wells, we’ve put new surface facilities in, made improvements to control systems, re-configured our compression

European oil & gas

Burckhardt Compression is one of the worldwide market leaders in the field of reciprocating compressors and covers a complete range of reciprocating compressor technologies. The compressor systems are used in the upstream oil and gas, gas transport and storage, refinery, chemical, petrochemical and industrial gas sectors. Industryleading technology, high-quality compressor components and the full-range of services help customers minimise lifecycle costs.

Established Service Centres provide repairs and revamps, valves servicing, compressor overhauls and components for all brands of reciprocating compressor. For the Ingersoll Rand compressors at Humbly Grove, Burckhardt Compression performs scheduled services, supplies spare parts and attends call-outs. Recently, as cylinders needed relining or on-site machining, the decision was taken by Humbly Grove with Burckhardt Compression’s advice to revert to OEM standards as cylinder liners, piston rods and wear parts were all non-standard sizes. Original dimensions were used for all re-machining work and new wear parts and recoated piston rods were obtained to suit.

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Burckhardt Compression

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30 European oil & gas

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PROFILE

Humbly Grove

LS Engineering Services Formed in 2007, LS Engineering Services is a leading manufacturer and service provider of bespoke low and medium voltage switchgear. The company supports Humbly Grove Energy with expert advice, maintenance and service of their electric motor control equipment and associated electric motors. The company has formed close working relationships with similar minded companies and is also able to offer low and medium voltage soft starters, transformers and electric motors.

system to increase our gas handling capability on the oil production facility, and as a result are increasing our oil production, which has lifted our threshold level considerably from its base volume. The facility at Humbly Grove now functions as a gas storage facility and oil production facility, working in harmony and enhancing availability, reliability and profitability to our shareholder.”

The strategic importance of Humbly Grove was highlighted earlier in 2013. Following a period of well-documented study on climate

change the UK has been progressively witnessing more extreme weather conditions. The extended winter months are still surprising the population though, and the cold months that followed in 2013 through January and February to the end of March, put huge demand on gas supplies to keep Britain warm.

“Humbly Grove was one of the very few gas storage facilities that managed to produce gas to the National Grid system to support the European failures of the pipe-work, pipelines and interconnectors between the UK and Europe,

European oil & gas

A.Hak Industrial Services UK completed a number of key projects at Humbly Grove Energy in 2013, the key project being the August Shutdown.

A.Hak’s safe, flexible project executions have resulted in a strong, professional working relationship with Humbly Grove.

A.Hak Industrial Services UK benefits from a strong pedigree in industrial services, with a recognised international presence.

The industrial services portfolio includes, nitrogen purging, helium leak testing, pipeline pigging, decontamination, chemical cleaning, inspection and online tank services. A.Hak Industrial Services UK is driven to be a “Multiple Service, Single solution” provider.

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A.Hak Industrial Services UK

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32 European oil & gas

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Humbly Grove

it was one of the few that was still capable of producing gas at a time when most other gas stores had been depleted,” recalls Arthur.

With environmental issues close to heart, Humbly Grove is maintaining its position as a key business whilst operating within narrow emission allowances. The European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) was launched in 2005 to combat climate change and remains a major point in EU policy. The scheme covers more than 11,000 facilities in over 30 countries. It operates a ‘cap and trade’ principle setting a limit on the total amount of greenhouse gases that can be emitted.

In the UK, Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC), DEFRA and the EA have developed the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) Energy Efficiency Scheme, which is aimed at improving energy efficiency and cutting emissions in large public and private sector organisations that contribute to the greenhouse gas emissions. Participating organisations are required to monitor and report their energy use.

Allowances must be purchased and surrendered to offset their emissions. The scheme has been revised in an attempt to reduce overlap with other schemes, but this is currently a challenge

that Humbly Grove is faced with.

Shedding light on the issue Arthur says: “We fall into both categories - the CRC scheme, and EU-ETS scheme. The two systems are totally different so while we are actually reducing our carbon emissions on one, we are finding we are increasing them on another and getting penalised as a result despite our overall carbon footprint dropping.

“An example of one of the improvements that we are currently going through. We are currently investing significant capital to improve and upgrade our electrical supply to the site,

IME IME has been carrying out electrical work for HGEL for the past five years, covering dayto-day breakdowns, projects, inspections and many other electrical requirements.

In the summer of 2012, IME was invited to tender for the Well Enhancement Project covering the full electrical and instrument installation at sites X and A. IME was successful in its tender and supplied a 12 man team working closely with HGEL at both managerial and ground level.

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Humbly Grove

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PROFILE

Fisher German offers propertyrelated management and project services to energy and utility businesses throughout the UK. Its clients operate in the electricity, fibre optic, gas, oil, and water sectors.

Its team of 66 employees specialise in the management of pipelines and cables as well as providing professional advice on routing, legal documentation, surveys, installation and compensation.

Its LinesearchbeforeUdig service receives more than 120,000 location search enquiries per month on utility owners' equipment.

The safe and efficient installation and on-going management of facilities is vitally important to its clients and the economy and will only increase as regulation, energy security and the digital market grows.

European oil & gas

Fisher German

being a modification and enhancement of our power import capabilities. We are focused to a move from direct carbon emissions through combustion – i.e. power generation on site through gas turbines to indirect carbon emissions through imported electricity. Even though this actually creates a significant drop here in our carbon footprint overall, under legislation of the CRC scheme that has been released, when you import electricity from the grid it actually imposes taxation on the amount

of carbon emission tonnage and emissions that it is equivalent to.

“So Humbly Grove is currently investing on site, with major capital expenditure to be more efficient and reduce its carbon footprint, and as a consequence of that, through the legislation that is set down through DECC, DEFRA and the EA, we are being penalised with increased taxation through carbon emissions of indirect imports.”

Following breakaway from Star Energy Ltd in 2011, Humbly Grove Energy has continued to build on the relationship with its principle customer. Arthur states: “The relationship with our shareholder is very strong, we have a very good understanding, we communicate on a regular basis and they are fully aware of the importance of Humbly Grove as one of their flagships for gas storage, and as a consequence, with our parent company we are consistently looking at ways of reducing cost, improving energy efficiencies, increasing profitability, availability and reliability, to increase the benefit both on an operational and energy level and also on a financial basis.

Efficiency, effectiveness and customer satisfaction are our main drivers and vision.”

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Humbly Grove

Humbly Grove is in discussions with the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) with regards to costs that are holding back the industry.

Arthur explains: “We are actively lobbying with the VOA as far as rates are concerned at the moment. Our costs have increased over the last four years by almost 300 per cent and the rates payable to the VOA account to 25 per cent of our total operating expenditure.

Its not surprising that gas storage companies and operators with those sort of overheads are not investing in the future, and it’s obviously a concern as far as the gas storage industry is concerned because I understand that the UK gas

storage can only sustain gas production for, in the region of 13 days in a year.”

Summarising, Arthur concludes: “Cost reduction and efficiency are our main drivers at the moment. We are actually increasing our manning levels slightly to enhance communication and are in the process of a complete review of our surface facilities for de-bottlenecking to improve the available throughput of gas in the plant to our customer and shareholder. This includes a focus the availability and reliability of all of the surface and sub-surface facilities and equipment, with target availability during 2013 of 99 per cent. As far as the management team are concerned, anything that improves the availability, reliability, flexibility and the trading capabilities of our business must remain one of our paramount targets, objectives and business vision. We are consistently looking at the reservoir in terms of its injectivity and deliverability and we aim to ensure the plant is available to deliver what is required when the customer wants it delivered.”

Williams Shipping Williams Shipping provides Humbly Grove Energy with a range of site and transport services. Williams Shipping carries out one off transport requests through to complete rig movements throughout the UK and Europe. It has been operating since 1894 and is accredited to ISO 9001, 14001 and 18001. As well as its extensive road transport services, Williams Shipping also provides marine services, cabins and containers, offshore DNV containers and a range of storage solutions tailored to the needs of the oil and gas industry.

Humbly Grove humblyenergy.co.uk

Services Gas storage

market A future

When it was last featured

Above The LNG plant at Risavika, Norway Below The LNG vessel, Corel Energy

in European Oil and Gas Magazine during April 2010, Skangass AS was a young company jointly owned by Lyse AS and Celsius Invest AS and was in the final stages of competing its solid liquefaction plant in Risavika, in the Sola region of Norway. Three years later and LNG production at the plant is underway and it is able to produce 300,000 tonnes of LNG annually after its official opening during October 2011. Further to this major development in

the company’s history, Skangass has also had its ownership fully transferred to Lyse AS, which now owns 100 per cent of the business.

Lyse AS acquired 32.9 per cent of Skangass from Celsius after both parties agreed that the transfer of ownership was the best route for the development of the company. Lyse is currently owned by a group of 16 municipalities of Stavanger, where the company is currently headquartered, with Stavanger Kommune

controlling a 43.68 per cent stake in the business.

The completion of its LNG terminal plant has enabled Skangass to become the leader in small to mid-scale LNG supply within the Norwegian and Swedish marketplace. “The Stavanger plant is the second largest LNG power plant in Europe and has a production capacity of over 300,000 tons of LNG per year, which equals 4.5 kilowatt hours,” sales and marketing director Roger Gothberg elaborates. “Since we went into production we have developed the infrastructure to provide LNG to the Norwegian and Swedish markets. Our main focus has been on the industrial sector, typically metal producers, the pulp and paper industries, chemical industries and refineries. To service these markets we built a new hub terminal in a city called Fredrikstad, which is right at the border between Sweden and Norway on the Norwegian side. This hub terminal serves a local gas grid to industrial customers, as well as a being a loading point for LNG trucks delivering into the eastern part of Norway and the western part of Sweden. So far we are quite a young company and we have mainly, although not exclusively, been active in Sweden and Norway. Our mission for the future is to become the market leader in Northern Europe for delivering small-scale LNG supply to the industrial and marine sectors.”

The Fredrikstad terminal came into operation during Summer 2011 and the company has acquired 16 LNG trailers to support the logistical aspect of its operation. Further to this, Skangass

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Skangass

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38 European oil & gas

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PROFILE

ANNEBERG With more than 180 Tank trailers ANNEBERG is one of the leading providers of transport within liquid dangerous goods and waste in Scandinavia.

In close co-operation with Skangass we have built up a specialised section of drivers and forwarders dealing with LNG operations in Scandinavia.

Health, Environment, Safety (HMS) is a priority between ANNEBERG and Skangass, having regular theoretical and practical experience meetings to discuss HMS themes in the daily work, which make new standards and procedures for the future work in LNG.

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fossil fuel that is as good for the environment as natural gas. It has many positives on the production side because it is a very clean energy.

CO2 is one reduction you have with natural gas, when it is used instead of oil products, but better still is the fact that the sulphur content is basically zero. There are no particals and NOx emissions will be greatly reduced when more natural gas is used instead of oil product.

It works very well for the kind of industrial customer that we attract. The next benefit is that once you have invested in a structure that can use natural gas, you have invested in a structure that can use biogas, which is renewable and a very positive product to use from an environmental perspective. Also you are not investing in infrastructure that will be useless in the future, it will definitely have applications in the years ahead.”

Currently Skangass employs around 50 people, but the company expects to grow in the near future as LNG becomes an ever more relied upon energy source. The company has a pioneering lead in northern Europe’s emerging LNG market and it is keen to expand its expertise as it moves into new areas, as Roger concludes: “We are a young organisation but still have a lot of experience, especially here in Stavanger because we basically built the company and a majority of our staff have been here since the beginning. Of course we benefit from that when we introduce new people to the organisation. It is important that we use the competence that we have built up in quite a short time and we have learned a lot over the past few years that will help us advance into new areas of LNG. It is important that we pass that knowledge over to new members of the team.

“I would say that LNG is in the hype if you like.

It will be an energy source that will be used much more in the future, particularly in the marine market, so the future look’s very promising.”

European oil & gas

has a charter with Dutch ship owner Anthony Vader for a brand new LNG vessel called Corel Energy. A second, smaller vessel, the Coral Anthelia, will be taken into operation in October 2014. To further expand its reach within the Swedish market, Skangass has entered into an agreement with Sweden’s second largest oil company, Preem, to supply LNG to its refinery in Lysekil. To service the agreement Skangass is in the process of constructing a 55 million Euro LNG terminal to supply the refinery. Skangass will supply the facility with 150,000 tonnes of liquefied natural gas a year, which is expected to reduce the facilities CO2 output by 130,000 tonnes per year.

LNG is becoming an increasingly popular answer to Europe’s energy needs. From an industry perspective LNG offers a number of benefits to clients including lower operating costs, better efficiency, lower maintenance costs, better availability, a cleaner working environment and reduced environmental taxes.

Owing to the numerous benefits of using LNG as an energy source, operators are increasingly turning to LNG to power their businesses.

“Recently, Skangass entered into a long-term agreement with the Swedish company SSAB EMEA to supply LNG for its facility in Borlänge, Sweden,” Roger explains. “SSAB is a steel metal producer and they have facilities in three locations in Sweden. Skangass will supply LNG to the Borlänge location. The company has two ovens at this facility, one of them is running on LPG and the other one is using heavy fuel oil. What we are doing is changing the heavy fuel oven over to natural gas. We have now starting to build the receiving terminal at the site to receive LNG and SSAB is planning the conversion of the oven and that will be ready at the end of next year, so we will begin supplying from either November or December 2014.

“The conversion will reduce the facility’s emissions substantially. Industries have a cap on how much they can pollute each year so by converting to natural gas SSAB can increase its production because they will be releasing fewer emissions. LNG is a double benefit for the company.”

As well as allowing an increase in output across various sectors, LNG is an environmentally responsible alternative to more traditional fossil fuels, as Roger observes: “Natural gas is the best sort of fuel that you can find in the world. If you look at the environmental aspect you will never find a

Skangass

39 Above Hub terminal in Fredrikstad, Norway

Skangass AS skangass.com

Services LNG production and supply

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A unique SPIE Nederland SPIE Nederland has more than 2600 employees and generated a pro forma turnover of 416 million euros through its 21 branches. One of the divisions of SPIE Nederland is SPIE-Industry.

SPIE-Industry's work is the operation of client installations geared towards and around production units. The industry sector holds no further secrets for SPIE. The SPIE-Industry division is an experienced partner in terms of electrical engineering, measurement, and regulation, mechanical engineering/piping, HVAC, process automation, analysis and processing equipment. SPIE-Industry enables its clients to achieve higher effectiveness by bundling its knowledge, ability and applying this for the client during the construction and maintenance of its installations. SPIE-Industry has all disciplines in-house to increase and secure the reliability, availability, and safety of your installations. S ustainability is the priority above all else.

Operating as part of the StoltNielsen group, Stolthaven Moerdijk is a vital provider of services for Europe’s oil and gas sector. The terminal is strategically located between Antwerp and Rotterdam and benefits from ease of access through congestion and lockfree inland waterways, highways and rail links.

The terminal offers a host of services including tank storage for bulk liquids, drumming and an IBC filling station. It also features a multimodal tank container terminal, weigh bridge, jetty and services for repacking, tolling, blending and the heating and cooling of bulk liquids.

These features make the terminal an attractive prospect for Europe’s bulk operators, as terminal manager Krien van Beek elaborates: “We are in chemicals and it is something that you could say is in our DNA. With our combined experience in terminals, tank containers and parcel tankers, we have a deep understanding of the bulk liquid sector and we can offer clients the services that they need. We are strong financially and make a good partner for our customers.”

The facility at Moerdijk is part of StoltNielsen’s Stolthaven terminals division and this

represents one of Stolthaven Moerdijk’s main strengths. Stolt-Nielsen currently operates six divisions covering a broad range of services.

At present the group consists of Stolt Tankers, Stolthaven Terminals, Stolt Tank Containers, Stolt-Nielsen Gas, Stolt Bitumen Services and Stolt Sea Farm. This diverse portfolio of businesses gives Stolthaven Moerdijk access to a wealth of experience, while the strength of the Stolt-Nielsen brand provides the terminal with solid financial support for investment and expansion. The group has a rich history dating back to 1959 when the first company that would go on to form the group was founded. Parcel Tankers Inc. operated with the chartered ship Stolt Avance, beginning the company’s steady pattern of growth throughout the years. By 1980 the company, under the Stolt-Nielsen brand, had earned $100 million profit.

Stolthaven Terminals acquired the bulk-liquid storage terminal in the port of Moerdijk during 2012. The new facility provided the group with additional support to its intra-European coastal tanker and inland barging services. At present the terminal boasts 37 bulk storage tanks totaling 31,720 CBM, with tank sizes of 340 CBM, 500 CBM, 900 CMB and 2000 CBM. The facility also includes warehousing for dangerous packed goods. Three PGS-15 warehouses provide a total storage capacity of approximately 13,000 pallet places, with an additional 1600m2 warehouse for the storage of non-hazardous chemicals. Access to the terminal can be made via jetty, road and rail. Its jetty is ideally suited for loading and unloading barges and seagoing vessels with a maximum draft of 8.4m and an overall maximum length of 175m.

Other jetty features include vapour return and nitrogen blanketing systems and a pigging system for all jetty lines. Drumming facilities include a sheltered filling station with two filling lines connected to a transport rack. Each of the terminal’s filling lines is suited for filling steel drums from 190 to 250 litres, while one of the lines is suited for filling IBC’s of 1000 to 2500 litres, with the added possibility to pre-dose nitrogen (blanketing). These capabilities can be used to load and unload containers, trucks and vessels. The site also features a multimodal container terminal, with a container crane with a hydraulic spreader of up to 40 tons, and storage for up to 125 tank containers from 20ft.

The Moerdijk facility includes a large plot of undeveloped land, which Stolt has worked to develop over the past two years. A new tank

similar to what we are doing; we are an inland terminal with open water access without the hindrance of locks or bridges. We are six hours from Europort and that also gives us some advantages. So while we see the market as being busy over the coming years we don’t see that we are offering more of the same, we are offering something unique.”

During 2012 Stolthaven also acquired a liquid bulk facility in Dagenham, UK, raising the number of terminals in Stolthaven’s global network to 20. Formerly the terminal was owned by TDG, which was acquired by French logistics group Norbert Dentressangle SA. The facility has given the company a foothold in the UK market place and as the site is developed it will further drive Stolthaven’s growth, as Krien concludes: “We will continue to develop both sites and we will continue to do so in partnership with our customers. We select the customers that fit into our strategy best, which is important for establishing beneficial, long-term relationships between Stolthaven and its clients.

Stolthaven Moerdijk stolt-nielsen.com

Services Terminal and bulk liquid storage

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container terminal is planned for the site, which will bring the Stolt Tank Containers division to the Moerdijk facility and an office building, rail and truck loading station and additional tank pits are all recent and ongoing developments that have taken place since 2012. The completion of the new tank container terminal with a tank cleaning station and tank repair shop will result in Stolthaven Moerdijk serving as home to two Stolt-Nielsen divisions and will greatly increase the already diverse range of services the facility can offer. As Krien explains: “Sometimes we expand based on contract, but sometimes we also build opportunistically. It depends how we see the market and where we feel we can grow. In this part of the market we see a lot of companies offering a single solution but valuable added services are not offered. Other facilities may be based inland away from ports, or have drumming facilities but no connection to open water or warehousing.

“We see a lot of new capacity that is being built but we don’t see this capacity as being

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Notable

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Audex Pte Ltd

has enjoyed a successful and highly productive 12 months since it was last featured in European Oil & Gas Magazine in November 2012. As an industry leader in engineering, procurement, construction (EPC) and project management consultancy (PMC), the firm has further strengthened its position in the Middle East as well as in Singapore with even greater notable projects.

“The past year has been an exciting journey for the company. We have successfully completed two tank terminals, amassing approximately 340,000 cubic metres of storage capacity and have also opened a 30,000 square metres workshop and fabrication yard in Fujairah,” Mr. Leong Hoi Hoong, general manager of Audex said.

Another major project that Audex has recently secured is a piping fabrication and installation works contract in Jurong Island, Singapore.

This involves the conversion of existing tanks for chemical storage, a new truck loading bay and the revamp of supporting ancillary facilities.

“Though there is an emphasis to finish the project on time and within budget, workplace safety is of utmost importance to the company,” highlights Mr. Leong. He also reports that this project is currently “on schedule and en-route to achieving a zero loss time incident record.”

As of today, Audex’s primary business is offering integrated engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning services (EPCC) for storage facilities in the oil and chemical industries. In this area, the firm has earned an excellent reputation for delivery of premium quality and value complete engineering solutions that meet or even exceed global industrial standards. Ultimately, partnering with Audex, clients can enjoy solutions that encompass the delivery of costeffective, competitive pricing and unrivalled customer service.

In 1994, Audex was incorporated as a joint venture firm between Chiyoda Singapore and Plant Engineering Construction Pte Ltd. Over the years, it has greatly progressed to become an international, leading multi-discipline company with top-rated global standards in its field. During the middle of 2011, Audex’s renowned reputation was additionally strengthened when it became a wholly owned subsidiary of PEC Ltd – a leader in international business provision for integrated trade facilitating services. This acquisition boosted Audex’s success as the firm began leveraging on PEC’s leading expertise, technology, strong financial standing to expand its business activities into greater worldwide markets and participate in larger upcoming projects.

Owing to a great synergy between the parent company and Audex, another major triumph of Audex’s is the completion of Horizon Terminal Limited’s $100 million oil terminal in Fujairah, which was commissioned at the end of May 2013. Handling Class-1, Class-2 and Class-3 petroleum products, this terminal has the capacity to store more than 240,000 cubic metres of oil and will further establish the Emirate as a key regional hub in the oil and gas industry.

“Audex was awarded a contract for the engineering, procurement, construction, testing and commissioning works for EFDTT terminal, primarily intended for facilitating Horizon

PROFILE

With a list of past achievements under its belt, Audex has attained the status of a prominent and leading complete engineering service provider to global major industries

Audex Pte Ltd audex.com.sg/default.aspx

Services Engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning

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offices in China, in Chengdu and Shanghai.

In 2014 and ahead, Audex will be penetrating the Chinese market with additional projects through its team of highly experienced and certified engineering specialists.

“According to present developments, it is no doubt that we have witnessed a stable and steady growth in the Middle Eastern market over the years,” added Mr. Leong. “Our future goal is to continually enhance our standing as a major EPC player in the oil and gas, as well as petrochemical industries, by tailoring complete engineering services according to industrial requirements.”

Audex strongly believes in developing its commitment towards every client around the world and looks forward to deepening their partnerships in a long-term manner. The firm looks ahead to go the extra mile to achieve excellence, and will continue to work towards expanding its presence in new and existing markets as an oil storage terminal specialist so as to provide fit-for-purpose as well as cost-effective solutions for every industrial client.

European oil & gas

Terminal Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Emirates National Oil Company Ltd (ENOC) LLC,” explains Mr. Leong.

Working within a period of 22 months, Audex achieved a fruitful project mechanical completion for Horizon Terminal Limited’s oil terminal and this was according to the tight schedule set. As a result, Audex was awarded a certificate of recognition in appreciation of the valuable contribution made to this project in 2012, as well as another certificate of recognition for best EHS performance in 2013.

With a list of past achievements under its belt, Audex has attained the status of a prominent and leading complete engineering service provider to global major industries.

Nevertheless, the firm believes in striving for even better results and is fully aware of the latest opportunities, even in the Asian market.

“We are continually looking for opportunities to expand our EPC activities abroad through both new and existing customers and to ensure excellent delivery of our complete engineering solutions,” elaborates Mr. Leong. “Through our combined efforts, Audex has managed to secure and complete projects in the South East Asia region and also the Middle East. In the meantime, we have also progressed into the African market.”

When Audex last appeared in European Oil & Gas Magazine, the firm anticipated a specific increase of oil and gas activities in Indonesia, China, Vietnam and Myanmar over the next five to ten years. Subsequently, Audex has indeed made tremendous advances in these areas since then.

Mr. Leong elaborates further that with the discovery of several deepwater fields in Indonesian waters, this region “has quickly become Asia’s top country for gas reserves, around 3.18 trillion cubic metres,” and with this, “Indonesia’s oil and gas industry has fast tracked,” through “attracting many investors from around the world.”

With Audex’s expertise, vision and knowledge, it has been commissioned for several FEED design and EPC projects in Indonesia since 2007. Following the completion of a FEED project for an oil storage terminal expansion project in Indonesia, there are several ongoing discussions with one of the largest crude oil producers in the state for upcoming design projects in Surabaya.

On top of these developments in Indonesia, even greater opportunities have emerged in China. Presently, Audex has established

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competition European oil & gas

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Deflecting

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Mørenot Offshore

is located at the centre of the North Sea oil activities. The company forms part of a much larger group, Mørenot Holding, which established itself in the development of equipment for the fishing industry more than 60 years ago.

From its supply to the fisheries, the business moved later into fish farming equipment and oceanic seismology. In the early 1990s the focus offshore was operated as part of the trawl equipment department. Throughout that decade, the business established links with Petroleum GeoServices (PGS) and their building of the Ramform vessels. The following growth within the seismic market led to establishing the offshore department in 2007, before becoming its own company, Mørenot Offshore AS, in January 2012.

“The marine seismic industry is not that large. There are around ten to 12 companies that are major players in the sector and most of them are our customers. Traditionally we have focused a lot on marine hardware, shackles, hooks, chain and wires. Since 1995 we have been a manufacturer of Plexus rope made from Dyneema® fibres. Such ropes are an important part of our business within the seismic industry, used for main tow ropes, separation ropes, and handling ropes,” says Hans Jorgen Hjelle, sales and marketing manager.

Since its establishment Mørenot Offshore has been involved in product development supported by its dedication to understanding

customer requirements to create tailor-made towing solutions that improve their day-to-day operations. Hans explains: “In 2008 we started the development of a new deflector technology.

This has recently been very successful and we see a very bright future for this technology.”

Mørenot Offshore began working on the development of its technology, through its association with Injector Trawldoor, a Danish developer of trawl doors. He elaborates: “We saw the technology that the company possessed and implemented in their equipment for the trawl-fisheries. We noticed an opportunity to use similar technology in the seismic industry.

“To make a long story short, Injector Trawldoors went bankrupt in 2010, and we acquired all rights for know-how, IP and designs.

We also re-hired the key R&D personnel and continued the development of the deflector technology within our company.”

Deflectors are towed behind vessels for use in seismic surveys. In these studies sea acoustic sources are mounted in or close to a vessel, and they send direct signals toward the sea floor.

Receivers positioned in seismic cables being towed behind the vessel accept reflections of the signals. These cables are spread out to provide measurements of the geological conditions over an area with a certain width. As the use of the seismic vessel can be expensive it is advantageous to make the width of the tow as large as possible to cover a greater area in one pass. The technology developed

working in co-operation with this company in exhibitions like EAGE in London. When the opportunity arose we saw the benefits of incorporating the company into our own business. This acquisition fits our market strategy as complementary products to our already established product range.”

Looking towards business growth Hans says: “At this time we have very good relations with all the companies in the industry. The main companies are located in Norway, France, the US, Dubai, Russia and China. We have a strong name that is known offshore and we are recognised as a company that is delivering quality, and tailor-made products for the seismic industry.

The development of products has continuously improved throughout the last 20 years to have a better performance and better quality of lifetime.

We always aim for good quality.”

Concluding on the objectives as the business moves forward Hans emphasises: “Of course this year we have been focusing on deflectors and that will be one of our main focuses for next year, as well as further positioning the GeoPol product portefolio.

“We have invested a lot of time, money and smartness in our deflectors and buoys, in order to meet the competition of the competing products. We believe that our products make a difference for the end user. And most importantly, the feedback from the end users confirms this.”

europeanoilandgas.co.uk

by Mørenot Offshore supports the spread of the seismic cables transversally. The development has ensured that the deflectors can pull equipment to a transversal position to the moving direction of the vessel. The deflector is constructed with foils that provide a lifting force to achieve the transversal movement.

“We have always had a strong belief in the technology and can see that it has great potential, and our customers are confirming this. The technology has a high-efficiency and massive adaptability compared to other solutions that are available on the market. As a result it is possible to speed up and increase the size of the operations. That’s up to the customer to decide how they want to use our products, but there is very good feedback on what we have developed,” Hans continues.

Working towards its aim of providing a total solution package to the seismic industry, in August 2013 Mørenot Offshore acquired shares in Geopol Seismic Buoy Systems and became main shareholder. Hans adds: “Geopol produces and delivers a range of equipment including seismic buoys, tail buoys, front floats, and geo buoys with complementary electronics. Some of the equipment is fairly new into the market and supports our line of marine hardware and ropes, which are well established and recognised by all the seismic companies.

“The acquisition of Geopol was completed during August. Prior to this we have been

Mørenot Offshore

Since 1995 we have been a manufacturer of Plexus rope made from Dyneema® fibres. Such ropes are an important part of our business within the seismic industry, used for main tow ropes, separation ropes, and handling ropes

Mørenot Offshore morenot.com

Services Supplying equipment to the marine seismic industry

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11/6/13 3:13 PM

Al Ghaith Oilfield Supplies & Services Co

Established in 1995 as the oil and gas industry business division of Al Ghaith Group, Al Ghaith Oilfield Supplies & Services has the experience and facilities to co-operate with firms that are entering or developing the UAE market. With a mission to deliver the best value at a competitive price, the ISO 9001:2008/14001:2004 company is focused on serving its broad customer base with the highest quality sales, engineering and customer service through its team-orientated, dedicated team.

Committed to excellence in all areas of the businesses, Al Ghaith Oilfield Supplies & Services behaves in an ethical and transparent manner, which thus enhances its reputation and maintains a trusting relationship with customers such as ADNOC, ADCO, ADMAOPCO, ZADCO, GASCO, ADGAS, TAKREER, NDC, Borouge, FERTIL, ADNOC Distribution, NPCC, ESNAAD, Bunduq, Saudi Aramco, Qatar Petroleum, Ras Gas, Maersk Oil Qatar, Noble International Qatar, PDO & PTTEP in Oman. Working as one large, highly skilled family that is focused on the same mission, the dynamic company is determined to outperform the industry in all that it offers while continuously striving for ‘clean business dealings’; this aspiration to be the industry leader and contractor of choice through exceeding expectations has resulted in satisfied, returning customers. Services are provided based on International API standards in compliance with stringent safety procedures; these include

cleaning and repair of hydrocarbon steel tanks as well as the removal of waste oil, sludge and contaminated soil. Other services include pipeline intelligent pigging, cutting steel structures with high-pressure water jetting (5000 – 40,000 psi), steam cleaning, waste management and cryogenic blasting.

Among recent contracts for the organisation is an exclusive partnership with Oil Consultants Ltd, a specialist recruitment agency looking to increase its presence in the Middle East while also facilitating the provision of staff to local customers. Acting as an agent for more than 70 international companies, Al Ghaith Oilfield Supplies & Services has the expertise, broad portfolio and an extensive network to complement Oil Consultants Ltd’s ability to deliver specialist staffing solutions. Signed in November 2013, the mutually beneficial and exclusive partnership is anticipated to result in the establishment of a wide network of partnering agreements.

For almost 20 years Al Ghaith Oilfield Supplies & Services has constantly grown and expanded as part of Al Ghaith Group to become a successful multi-dimensional business, capable of offering comprehensive end-to-end solutions that are superior to its competitors on the market. Furthermore, the BS OHSAS 1801:2007 certified company can support all operations with intensive, high quality research and stateof-the-art technology. Divisions within the firm includes casing and tubing, well services, life

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Al Ghaith Oilfield Supplies & Services Co

line safety, chemical, rig services, drilling and production, instrumentation and controls and H2S/HSE training.

As one of the most diversified suppliers of oil and gas equipment, Al Ghaith Oilfield Supplies & Services offers a wide range of supplies and services for casing and tubular handling services, coiled tubing services, drilling mud chemicals, mobile multiphase well testing services, H2S Airloop system, H2S training services – basic and advanced first aid training, gas turbine repair – overhaul and spares of Ruston GEC and Solar, engineering services and repair of pumps – compressor – well head equipment and valves, tank cleaning and waste management, gyro survey services, and personal protective equipment, among others.

Providing comprehensive drilling solutions, the drilling and production division boasts an unrivalled ability to install, commission and provide an aftermarket service for a broad range of drilling systems and equipment. Assisting in this process are highly qualified, expert technicians that are fully trained and tested to provide environmentally safe, cost-effective solutions. On top of this, the division works as an agent for globally reputed manufacturers such as Downhole Products, TESCO Corp., Transcanada Turbines and Nao Inc., just to name a few, to provide a wide range of products and services. These include completion equipment, drilling and marine hose, electrical submersible pumps and drilling bits as well as the repair, overhaul, spares and testing of gas turbines, steam turbines and other high-speed rotating equipment. Furthermore, the division repairs and overhauls a comprehensive variety of accessories, fuel systems and components for aero gas and industrial turbines.

Meanwhile, in line with today’s competitive business environment, the rig services division took an increasingly larger role within the

company, creating value for the firm and winning the confidence of a number of global leaders in the drilling industry such as Sinchuan Honghua Petroleum Co., Ltd, and Bronco Manufacturing LLC. Aiming to differentiate itself in terms of product quality and competence throughout operations, Al Ghaith Oilfield Supplies & Services’ rig services division offers a broad portfolio of products and equipment; these include a complete offshore jack-up rig package, land rigs, derricks and masts, cooling systems for rigs, radiators and heat exchangers, air winches and reset relief valves.

Established in early 2003, the company’s crude oil storage tanks desludging, cleaning and refurbishment division was developed to bring new technology into the Gulf for the desludging and cleaning of refined product tanks, crude oil and the treatment of recovered sludge in order to vastly lower hydrocarbon residue. Through a variety of cleaning processes, the safety conscious firm provides the most secure tank cleaning systems for oil tanks in potentially hazardous atmospheres, or where a gas-freeing atmosphere is a requirement. Using an innovative, environmentally friendly system, devoid of chemicals, it also applies a new coating system for the floors and roof during the desludging and cleaning.

Offering advanced instrumentation and process controls technologies from its wellreputed business partners, the instrumentation and control division can deliver solutions to most industries. Actively involved in the market through supplying and supporting the control of its equipment and technology, it has executed some major projects in both the oil and gas and municipal industries over the last few years; for example, it was through the dynamic firm that ADCO used Al Ghaith to supply and commission MOL flowmeters in Jebel Dhanna and Mile Post 21.

With a ‘can do’ attitude at the heart of the company, an extensive network of manufacturers and the trust of major oil and gas firms, the future looks bright for Al Ghaith Oilfield Supplies & Services as it continues to grow through rigorous training, the enhancement of equipment and keeping a watchful eye on potential market opportunities. As the booming oil and gas industry continues to evolve, so will Al Ghaith Group and its divisions, thus remaining a relevant, reputable and in demand supplier of high quality services and products to its long-term and future customers.

Providing comprehensive drilling solutions, the drilling and production division boasts an unrivalled ability to install, commission and provide an aftermarket service for a broad range of drilling systems and equipment

Al Ghaith Oilfield Supplies & Services Co alghaith.co.ae

Services A comprehensive range for the oil and gas industry

foothold Since last appearing in European Above Panalpina invests in aircraft and its UK transport fleet Below More capacity - the 747-8F holds up to 139 tonnes of cargo

Oil and Gas Magazine in February 2012, intercontinental air and ocean freight services provider Panalpina World Transport Ltd has enjoyed ongoing growth and success, as Mark Woodhouse, strategic development manager of the UK oil and gas business, elaborates further: “We now have a new CEO and have seen a big rise in our share price, which can be seen in our recently released third quarter figures.

Gross profit has increased by six per cent to CHF 403 million. There has also been quite a bit of investment; we have added two 747-800 freighters to our aircraft fleet, one of which flies from Houston to the UK, and have spent £1 million on new trucks for our UK based transport fleet.”

Against the backdrop of a slow market, Panalpina’s overall results for the third quarter are in line with expectations, with market share gained in both ocean and air freight in terms of volumes. On top of this, logistics showed double-digit growth in gross profit terms, which is due to the group’s investments in value-added services, and consumer/retail, healthcare and the oil and gas industries displayed higher than average volume growth.

“Generally speaking, the industry is still quite weak as far as freight forwarding goes; however, for us in the oil and gas market, business has been buoyant,” enthuses Mark.

“Working in oil and gas, the biggest issues for Panalpina by far are space constraints and trying to recruit new people. It’s a general issue for the oil and gas industry at the moment, whether it is engineers or roustabouts, you just can’t get the staff. To deal with this issue we do a lot of in-house training and are increasingly having to bring staff in from our overseas offices just to fill the gap.”

With a superior network of 500 branches in over 70 countries, and partnerships in a further 90, Panalpina World Transport is a truly global organisation. Panalpina’s origins can be traced back to 1895, since which time the group has strategically expanded its service offering over recent years through a number of pivotal acquisitions. One of the more notable purchases for the group was Norwegian Grieg Logistics, a leading logistics provider to the Norwegian oil and gas, maritime and shipping industries, in February 2012, which further cemented its position within the global oil and gas sector.

Over four decades and counting, Panalpina

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supply bases,” explains Mark. “We have all our own offices in Africa and approximately 400 personnel working for us out there at the moment.” Specifically designed for the oil and gas industry, this unique cargo service delivers freight directly to shore bases along the coast, which avoids issues such as bottlenecks and customs delays.

Having developed a strong presence in West Africa, with over 50 years experience within the region, Panalpina is now setting its sights on burgeoning oil and gas areas such as Morocco, Iraq and East Africa. “Throughout 2013 we have been focused on emerging markets, with new developments in Iraq as well as Morocco, where we have a lot of projects coming up with service companies and drilling contractors. On top of this, we have also worked on further expanding into the Caspian area and East Africa, where we have recently established our own free trade area in Kenya. We can offer just-in-time services to our customers enabling them to hold stock whilst waiting for call-off without being registered in country,” highlights Mark.

With third quarter results meeting expectations and a recent global contract win with a major multinational oil and gas firm, the future looks positive for Panalpina as it gains a stronger foothold in emerging markets while continuing to deliver globally integrated, tailormade, comprehensive solutions to its customers around the world.

Above Aberdeen's logistics hub

Cargolux Cargolux, a leading all-cargo airline is the air freight industry’s specialist for outsized, heavy consignments. The airline’s nosedoor equipped 747 freighters easily accommodate pieces no other modern freighter in its class can carry. With a solid expertise gained over 40 years, the Cargolux team handles equipment and parts for the oil and gas industries almost daily. Covering a worldwide network and in close co-operation with its longstanding partner Panalpina World Transport, the modern Cargolux 747 freighters regularly serve the oil and gas centers in the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia or Texas with fast, efficient and reliable transport solutions.

Panalpina World Transport Ltd panalpina.com

Services Freight logistics

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has proven its long-term commitment to the oil and gas industry, with a particular focus on the highly challenging upstream sector. Previously talking to European Oil and Gas Magazine in 2012, Mark elaborated on this side of the organisation: “The Aberdeen facility works purely within the upstream aspect of oil and gas. We service our customer’s requirements by concentrating on managing the whole supply chain through an end-to-end approach, as opposed to just putting cargo onto a ship or plane, such as distribution, customs clearance and freight capacity management.”

To deliver superior solutions that go above and beyond the demands of its customers in a challenging and ever changing industry, Panalpina offers more than the shipping of homogenous containerised cargo within known consumer goods trade lanes. Dealing with volatile requests, the division transports freight such as sizable capital equipment, subsea installations, pipes, rig components, related chemicals and electronics equipment to or from extremely remote locations that include the Siberian tundra or shore bases along the coast of West Africa.

“One of our core services is a combined air/ocean/road transport concept called the African Star; we fly our own aircraft into the Congo, which we use as a hub for our own coastal vessels that operate up and down the West African coast delivering cargo to the oil

Panalpina World Transport

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PROFILE

NeoDrill

Fast track

sector efficient operation is naturally of vital importance. While the highest standards relating to the quality and responsible execution of operations will always and unquestionably remain of the upmost priority, it could be argued that a reluctance to explore new approaches to well construction is hampering the offshore industry in tapping as yet, unexplored cost saving potentials.

Harald Strand, founder and general manager of Norway’s NeoDrill has more than 40 years of experience in engineering and drilling, and founded the company on the 2nd of February 2000 to seize on an opportunity to increase the efficiency of top-hole well construction.

Through the use of its CAN (Conductor Anchor Node) technology, NeoDrill is able to reduce the amount of rig-time taken to install conductors on the ocean floor. However, despite the benefits of this technology within the offshore sector, it is found difficult to challenge established methods of operating, as Harald explains: “This is something that has become more difficult since I started in the industry 40 years ago. In the old days it was easier to bring in new technology if the drilling superintendent believed in it, whilst today the drilling operations groups have strict instructions to follow the drilling programme and not to experiment. Hence, it requires guts to dare testing out potentially better ways of doing it!

“When I started the company, it was with the

objective of saving rig time,” he continues. “As of the year 2000 and throughout the following years, saving rig time was not that important to the big oil companies because they simply had too many rigs. Then during 2006 ENI accepted the technology for deepwater drilling operations and ordered two CAN units. This meant that we started at the deep end of the pool so to speak.

As our first installation was at 1100 meters and the second one was at the depth of 860 meters.

We had a very good start with these projects and through them the technology was proven.

Up until then, 17 deepwater wells (>850m) had been drilled on the Norwegian continental shelf with an average of seven days taken to install conductors. The technical best conductor in terms of speed had been installed in four days.

With the CANs we were able to install the conductor within 24 hours.

“The basic idea was to develop a way to preinstall a conductor before the rig was moved into position,” Harald elaborates. “Looking around there were a few technical building blocks that we could use, one of which was a suction anchor and the other was the installation of conductors through driving using a subsea hammer. That allowed us to use a dynamically positioned vessel to install a conductor without using a drill string, which needs a vessel with a drilling facility for operation. So the development was really about taking established techniques and using them in a different way.

Also we had to learn how accurately we could

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NeoDrill

install a CAN. The criterion for a conductor is a maximum inclination of one degree or better.

We had no information in the industry regarding how accurately a suction anchor could be installed so this was something that we had to learn for ourselves.

“During this development we learned that indeed we could install at one degree or better and that also meant that we could make a longer centre pipe of the CAN. That is important because now the center pipe became as long as the CAN itself, this could be for instance up to 12 meters (longest so far) and thus may be used as a conductor. For some well locations it has the potential to do so, with the benefit of extremely rapid installation and turn around times.”

NeoDrill’s CAN products have now been matured into fully engineered solutions. For instance, through finite element analysis projects the company can compare the operation of CAN supported conductors and the performance of unsupported conductors. The CAN design was also developed taking into account soil and geotechnical information and analyses in collaboration with GeoDrive Technologies based in the Netherlands. The result of this investment of time and knowhow is a technology that provides a host of operational advantages.

The benefits of conductor installation via a NeoDrill CAN include reduced rig time, resulting in a more cost effective solution, extended well fatigue life, increased axial and lateral load capacities, increased bending, fatigue and accidental load capacity, ‘fast track’ field development and accelerated production.

In addition to offering a highly competitive solution the CAN technology offers a reduced environmental footprint and improved performance in terms of safe operation.

Important to note is also the “recycling” feature of the CAN: once being deployed for an exploration well, it can simply be pumped out of the seabed, after which it undergoes a simple refurbishment before being deployed again for the next well.

In addition to its CAN range, which is tailored to the project’s needs, NeoDrill provides additional solutions to aid installation and operational performance. The cuttings collection funnel (CCF) is designed for use on environment-controlled wells and is installed over the CAN prior to well spudding. Thus, all cuttings can then be removed via pumping either to the rig or to a disposal location. The CCF

can then be removed after the installation and cementing of the wellhead casting. The company also provides CAN Trawl Protector (CTP), for suspended well protection and wellhead support structure (WSS), which acts as a ‘repair kit’ for poorly supported wells. The WSS is installed over the conductor and is loaded with weight material for gravity and suction penetration.

After installation the annulus between the WSS and the well is cleaned out and grout filled with fit for purpose cement slurry.

Following its initial deployment with ENI in 2006, NeoDrill’s CAN technology has found customers and investment from a number of leading oil and gas operators. During June 2010 Statoil Technology Invest acquired 25 per cent of NeoDrill and the company has continued to deploy its CAN units for various operators such as Centrica in the Cooper field and Det Norske at its Dovregubben field, both located on the NCS. In addition to these projects, it has continued its co-operation with Statoil by installing two CAN units for the company and has successfully completed another installation for ENI this year, which is currently NeoDrill’s deepest installation at a depth of 1400 meters.

This summer the first installation took place on the UKCS, where a production well CAN suitable for more than ten years’ operations was successfully deployed.

In terms of proving its technology the company has seen a ‘trial by fire’ in what it considers to be the most challenging waters for its CAN units from a technical standpoint, and is confident that it will be able to deploy the technology throughout the world as Harald concludes: “We have started in what is actually the most challenging market. This is because, while our product offers advantages at all water depths, deep water with a soft seabed is the optimal candidate. Areas like the Gulf of Mexico, West of Canada, West Africa or Australia would probably have been easier to penetrate, but we have decided to first get up and running at home, which is the Norwegian and UK shelf.

The fact that the technology has shown that it can save rig days is important. It is adaptable to exploration and production and when deployed correctly and in an optimal way it can work with the objective of accelerated oil. So for operators that would mean harvesting higher returns from their investments, to me this seems like low hanging fruit, but you need to have the guts to go and pick it.”

Inovatum Inovatum AS is a ROV tooling specialist working closely with NeoDrill, and it has participated in a number of their projects, where Inovatum provides ROV equipment in support of NeoDrill’s CAN installation operations: 

Suction lids (light construction; pressure tested to 15 BAR)  ROV pump 

Service personnel in support of the ROV tool operations  ROV operated shackles NeoDrill has also placed an order for a number of Inovatum 85 T WLL ‘INOshakles’, their preferred shackle for the future, which will enable:  Shorter vessel time 

Improved safety in the splash zone 

Environment friendly (water operated) 

Safe and efficient ROV handling  Low unit weight, easy surface

handling.

NeoDrill neodrill.no

Services Drilling and field development technology

Hydraulic pressure regulator Hale Hamilton

has a long history dating back to 1947, when Douglas Hamilton originally founded the company. Since that time it has been involved in the design and manufacture of high pressure (500 bar gas and 690 bar hydraulic) valves and package systems, with around 60 per cent of its output represented by custom tailored solutions. The company remained in the Hamilton family until February 2006, until being acquired by Circor International Inc. Commenting on the company’s position today, industrial sales director Ian Davies says: “Circor International is an $800 million+ NYSE organisation based out of Burlington, Massachusetts. As a business it prides itself on acquiring and developing strong international valve and valve package brand companies. The biggest element of its business today is the energy sector, where the company is very strong in upstream, midstream and downstream valve and valve packages. From a Hale Hamilton perspective, we are a $30 million organisation.”

Hale Hamilton’s Industrial business is divided into two areas; Energy (Oil & Gas) and Industrial Gas. The Energy/Oil & Gas part of the business covers power generation, high pressure hydraulic applications and high pressure gases applications within a broad base of projects, working with majors including GE, Siemens and Turbomach, where the company primarily

supplies bespoke valve solutions for use within turbine packages. Within the oil and gas area, the business supplies a number of leading names including Divex based in the Aberdeen, Controls & Electrical of Singapore, Bauer Compressors as well as Occidental, Petronas and National Oilwell Varco. Its series of valves, regulators and packaged systems are used within breathing air applications, wellhead controls, blowout preventers, subsea valve actuation, and a host of other applications. The company is also active within seismic testing where it provides highpressure/high flow regulators and stop valves.

Within its Industrial Gas sector, Hale Hamilton manufactures a wide range of valves, manifolds and packaged systems used

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loaded gas pressure regulators, as well as complete skidded valve packages for breathing gas applications. These products are designed with customer requirements in mind and often solutions are tailored to a client’s exact needs, as Ian elaborates: “Around 60 per cent of what we do is based on tailoring the product to suit the customers’ application, particularly the gasses side of the business, where we work very closely with our customers on packaging the product onto skids and into manifolds, often streamlining the customers’ processes to give them a better and more reliable product. In short, we deliver a package to suit the customers’ exacting needs.”

Hale Hamilton is based in Uxbridge, UK, where the majority of its products are designed and manufactured. Circor has a strong design and manufacture base in India, which Hale Hamilton is keen to capitalise on over the coming years. The company has a mission to become the major supplier to the international oil and gas sector within the next three to five years. Part of its strategy will be to increase its footprint within North and South America, the Middle East and Asia.

To support its mission Hale Hamilton gives the quality of its manufactured products the highest priority. The majority of its vital components are produced in-house in the company’s on-site machining facility.

All of the company’s breathing air equipment is assembled and tested in clean rooms under ultra-clean conditions, with component products being adiabatic shock tested for safe us within high pressure oxygen systems by either CTE in France and BAM in Germany.

As the company moves into 2014 and beyond it will rely on its strong engineering expertise to ensure that the brand is strengthened by the highest quality products possible.

At present Hale Hamilton has a 15 strong design engineering team who are all experts in high-pressure valve design. It runs a strong apprenticeship programme, investing in training new generations of engineers and valve experts and brings in high-level graduate engineers every year. This, in conjunction with its strong product portfolio and dedicated quality assurance programme makes Hale Hamilton an industry leader in high-pressure valve technology.

In closing, Davies goes on to say: “At Hale Hamilton we pride ourselves on supplying our customer with solutions which ease their processes and efficiency.”

Recently Hale Hamilton released its new generation of hydraulic pressure regulator, the Series 2835.

This highly reliable new generation of regulator features ergonomic, compact design and excellent pressure control europeanoilandgas.co.uk

within high pressure cylinder filling, pressure reduction systems and hydrogen trailer valves (all being TPED tested). Included within this sector is a broad range of valves for use within high pressure industrial and medical oxygen systems, all of which carry independent adiabatic shock tests to ensure their safe use in 400 bar oxygen applications.

Recently Hale Hamilton released its new generation of hydraulic pressure regulator, the Series 2835. This highly reliable new generation of regulator features ergonomic, compact design and excellent pressure control.

While the company has produced hydraulic pressure regulators for many years, the Series 2835 has been developed to meet the requirements of clients and end-users, as Ian explains: “This is not a totally new product, but a development of our existing, proven range; this is technology that we have used for some years. What the Series 2835 represents is an enhanced product, which includes features that are the result of us talking directly to our customers; OEM’s, EPCs and end-users and taking their feedback to address the issues they had previously faced.”

The Series 2835 has been created with a number of features that make it the right choice for use in systems requiring accurate pressure control, integrated, adjustable accurate spill control, low operating torques (which are delivered by the inclusion of an easy grip control knob and sealed for life bearing) all of which contribute to a very reliable service over an extended period involving pressures up to 690 barg/10,000psig.

A large sensing piston provides highly accurate pressure control for applications less than ten barg. The adjustable liquid spill valve allows excess control pressure to be spilled back to tank at pre-determined set pressure.

Hard metallic components produced to a high standard of accuracy ensure the long life of the product. The versatile regulator is produced with eight outlet pressure ranges. It is available with NPT, BSPP and SAE connections, in two, three or four port variants. Alternative body and sealing materials are available upon request to meet the requirements of NACE or low temperature applications. Furthermore, a 15,000 psig variant is planned for 2014 giving the series an even wider range of application options.

As well as its series of hydraulic pressure regulators Hale Hamilton is proud to manufacture a range of spring and dome

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Hale Hamilton halehamilton.com

Services High pressure valves and packaged systems

Norwegian offshore fleet chooses NAVTOR ENC Service NAVTOR, an established leader in delivering innovative and user-friendly e-navigation solutions, is a preferred partner for Norwegian offshore operators. Owners representing more than 70% of the national fleet have now signed up for NAVTOR’s ENC Service, due to its simplicity and efficiency, which dramatically cuts down on navigators’ administration duties.

Offshore is a hugely demanding sector, where there’s a constant focus on quality. NAVTOR understands this and has harnessed the very latest technology to create a seamless digital package giving navigators what they want, when they need it. This makes the ECDIS Mandate easy for everyone to comply with, regardless of what type of vessel they operate.

Contact NAVTOR and learn how to optimise your ENC and e-navigation services.

NAVTOR’s ENC service is offered for distribution on the pre-loaded USB-based NavStick, allowing navigators to instantly download global charts and licences to the ECDIS, An online synchronisation feature ensures that the latest updates are always available on demand.

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NAVTOR AS P.O. Box 337 N-4379 EGERSUND, Norway Phone: +47 51 49 22 00 navtor@navtor.com www.navtor.com

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PROFILE

Remøy Shipping AS

has a long history dating back to the early 1900s, when the company was closely involved with Norway’s busy fishing industry. The Remøy Shipping brand was established during December 1975 and today it is active within the offshore, seismic, coastguard and chartering markets with strong ties to the oil and gas industry. The company is based in Fosnavåg, Norway and currently operates nine vessels including platform supply vessels (PSVs), seismic and seismic support vessels and a coastguard ship. Remøy operates in accordance with national and international laws and regulations, paying particular respect to health and safety, environmental and quality assurance (HSEQ) practices. It is ISM compliant and holds ISO 9001-2008 (quality management) and ISO 14001-2004 (environmental management) certification in accordance with the Norwegian classification society Det Norske Veritas (DNV).

The majority of Remøy Shipping’s operated fleet is PSVs, all of which are currently servicing operators on a number of contracts. The company’s Rem Stadt, Rem Hrist and Rem Mist are all on multi-year charters with Statoil. A final PSV, Rem Eir, is currently under construction with Kleven Maritime, valued at 70 million USD and is expected to be delivered in Q3/2014.

This large PSV has been designed for operation

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Reaching

on the Norwegian continental shelf and will be LNG powered with environmental friendly operation in mind. The vessel will undertake a three-year charter with Statoil upon completion.

Commenting on this new vessel and the company’s relationship with Statoil, Remøy CEO Karsten Saevik says: “The new vessel will be operating on the Norwegian continental shelf as our client requires. Statoil has an aggressive goal to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions. One such step towards doing that is to charter more vessels, driven by environmentally friendly LNG energy instead of ordinary fuel.”

In addition to PSVs, Remøy Shipping also owns and operates two seismic vessels, the Ocean Odyssey, a seismic source vessel and a seismic support vessel, Geco Scorpio, which both are on long-term charters to WesternGeco.

Remøy Shipping is also the manager of three third party owned vessels, the latest one being the Blue Guardian, which is currently also chartered to Statoil. Prior to this the vessel had been signed to service the jack-up rig Maersk Giant during the drilling of two wells for Ross Offshore on behalf of Det Norske Oljeselskap and Repsol. The vessel is an Ulstein PX121 and has been modified slightly for operation on the Norwegian continental shelf with an extra bow thruster, exhaust gas cleaning, as well as other minor additions The two other third party

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APPROVED

7 nAVtoR Remøy Shipping SignS up the fleet to nAVtoR enC SeRViCe NAVTOR, an established leader in delivering innovative and user-friendly e-navigation solutions, is proud to be chosen as supplier of navigational services to Remøy Shipping and pleased to see that the Navtor Pay As You Sail ENC service was the preferred choice.

Navtor’s goal has always been to simplify complicated tasks and enhance user experience and by reducing the administrative workload, navigators will have the chance to focus on what should always be their key task, navigation. This increases efficiency, while making operations simpler and, crucially, safer. Norwegian offshore companies, like Remøy, which operates in some of the most demanding environments on earth, have clearly demonstrated that they appreciate this focus.

NAVTOR has achieved a dominant position in the Norwegian offshore market just two years after the launch of its revolutionary ENC service, which is compatible with all ECDIS, regardless of make. The service is offered for distribution on the pre-loaded USB-based NavStick, allowing navigators to instantly download global charts and licences to the ECDIS, while an online synchronisation feature ensures that the latest updates are always available on demand.

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Navtor’s system is excellent, cost effective and simple, both to use and to update. Charts are available instantaneously for planning purposes, without having to go through a lengthy ordering process, and by using PAYS, only the charts used for actual navigation will be invoiced.

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There’s a complete overview of what charts are used, and when, which makes cost control much easier. The updating process is also quick and effortless, with no files to be copied, or emails sent or received.

NAVTOR is now looking to translate its dominance in offshore to new sectors, such as the cruise and ferry segment, which fall under the IMO’s ECDIS Carriage Requirement (ECDIS Mandate) in July 2014.

8 benteC

benteC gmbh DRilling & oilfielD SyStemS Bentec is one of the leading manufacturers of drilling rigs and oilfield equipment worldwide based on more than 125 years history and vast experience. Building on this experience, it maintains the highest quality standards across its drilling rig systems, with additional focus on health, safety and the environment. As fully vertical integrated systems provider, Bentec offers a unique combination of resources, industry experience and expertise.

Customised drilling solutions:  Engineering, design and manufacturing of fully customised drilling rigs  Full range of mechanical drilling components  Main electrical drilling and control systems Customer focused support services:  24 / 7 field support service  Repair and overhauling  Spare parts supply and logistics  Rig and equipment upgrades  Re-certification  System integration and commissioning  Global project management The Bentec is headquartered in Bad Bentheim, Germany, with additional production and service facilities in Tyumen, Russia and in Nizwa, Sultanate of Oman.

Bentec Rigs - Advanced technology for drilling operations.

Bentec rigs successfully operate in the major oil & gas fields around the world. Its drilling rig specifications vary from light units to heavy-duty ones with drawworks capacities of up to 3000 horsepower. Depending on the application and operation areas it offers any customer focused drilling solutions. Furthermore, Bentec has already manufactured and sold numerous land-based drilling rigs and equipment for the European geothermal energy market.

Bentec Drilling Equipment - customer driven, field proven drilling equipment with the highest uptime As a systems provider Bentec offers a comprehensive range of major rig equipment. One of Bentec’s core competencies is its fully integrated approach.

This enables the company to put together rig packages, which include the installation of all drilling systems, and to deliver comprehensive, qualified rig solutions. Bentec’s best-in-class drilling solutions help to reduce its customers’ cost of ownership due to their highest quality standards and efficiency ‘Made in Germany’.

Bentec Headquarters, Germany Bentec GmbH Drilling & Oilfield Systems, Deilmannstraße 1, 48455 Bad Bentheim / Germany www.bentec.com E-Mail: info(at)bentec.com Phone: +49 5922 7280 Fax: +49 5922 72457

entering the offshore market, in challenging areas such as Greenland and Svalbard so through this it has gained a lot of competency in these environments. Competency is and will be a major issue for us to focus on,” Karsten continues. “People train and stay with us a long time on long-term contracts, working with Statoil and Apache for example, which gives the company a lot of experience. Statoil and Apache are demanding customers and their efforts in being best in class also increase our competency by expecting high levels of service.”

To help develop the skills that are necessary to drive a successful business supporting the offshore oil and gas industry, Remøy Shipping works in collaboration with other companies operating within Norway to develop training facilities that will help current personnel remain up-to-date with current practices and teach the next generation of offshore workers.

“We are part of a small community working with other ship owners to establish an offshore simulator to train our crew members in all facets of shipping and offshore operations,” Karsten explains. “It will be a new simulator that five shipping companies have joined forces as part of a collaboration to invest in.

We all have the same needs in this area so it is something we can co-operate over instead of compete. This should be complete next year and will be located in close proximity to a new hotel currently under construction in Fosnavåg, at the mid West-coast of Norway.

It has been a joint effort to support the local community and to ensure that we have access to this accommodation and training facility.”

Remøy Shipping has a proven track record in operating in harsh environments in a number of different industry sectors. Its current focus within the offshore oil and gas industry has proven to be a challenging market, but one that the company has been able to expertly adapt to.

With its newly expanded fleet, well trained and experienced staff and its collaborative work to improve the region’s skill set, Remøy Shipping can expect an exciting and buoyant marketplace over the coming years. “I started last year in the company so I am quite new as managing director,” says Karsten. “Since that time I have focused on trying to work out a strategy plan and have been in discussions with the owners of the company where we focus on where we are going and at what speed. There has been a lot of activity recently, so it has been a very interesting time for me to join the business.”

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owned vessels, Blue Fighter and Blue Prosper, are PSVs chartered to Apache and operating on UK continental shelf.

The world’s increasing need for energy solutions has meant that exploration and extraction drilling operations have become increasingly important in recent years, creating a buoyant market for offshore oil and gas. While energy operators work to bring more products to the surface, the support services provided

by Remøy and its PSV fleet remain in constant demand. However, like all markets the sector can be volatile and subject to fluctuation, which is a challenge that Remøy is able to negotiate in the face of ongoing global economic uncertainty, as Karsten elaborates: “With our vessels on longterm charter contracts, changes in the market do not have as much influence on our operations.

If we had more vessels in the spot market we would be more sensitive to fluctuations in the overall market, but we have quite a steady and firm cash flow with our long-term contracts.

The one vessel we have in the spot market is, of course dependent on market conditions and while that has been slightly improving this year, we hope this will remain the same for next year.”

Having moved into the offshore sector to coincide with the global demand for energy and the increase of activity on the Norwegian shelf, with the delivery of its first PSV the Rem Stadt during 1996, Remøy has adopted the standards of the oil and gas industry and works to ensure first-rate operating standards. To ensure that the company is able to meet the expectations of the oil and gas sector, Remøy Shipping maintains high levels of training and works to retain experience within its business as Karsten explains: “We started in the offshore sector during the mid 1990s and we were one of the first companies in our region to qualify for the ISO and ISM certifications. By 1997 we were fully able to reach the new safety standards and received the ISM certification, it was a change because there was quite a different approach to HSE in this sector in comparison to how this was for instance within the fisheries where the company originated from.

“We are pleased to say that have very good personnel on board our ships; they are very well trained and have been involved in many different types of operation. A lot of our crewmembers have experience from working with the fisheries and working in harsh environments in the Antarctic. The company operated amongst others a shrimp trawler before

Remøy Shipping

Carlsen Offshore Systems BV The bulk handling system is supplied by Carlsen Offshore Systems BV. Carlsen is a Swedish originated company, previously HW Carlsen AB, but relocated in Holland, in the greater Rotterdam area.

Carlsen is specialised in the design, manufacturing, supply and commissioning of pneumatic bulk handling installations for dry bulk materials such as cement, barite and bentonite and similar powders.

The company has been in business for well over 45 years.

The characteristics of its systems are reliability, user-friendliness and low maintenance.

Remøy Shipping AS remoyshipping.no

Services Offshore supply

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IKM Subsea Singapore has over 15 years experience in supporting Asia’s growing ROV market. The division manages the sale and operation of the company’s ROV fleet within the Asian Region. The company is owned by its parent, IKM (Instrumentering Kalibrering og Måleteknisk) Gruppen, which is a multidiscipline sub-supplier to the oil and gas industry. The group was founded during 1989 when Laboratorium AS was renamed to IKM Laboratorium AS, and has since become a global operator that is active within 12 countries.

Today the group has 2500 employees and has a budgeted turnover of 4.1 billion NOK for 2013.

To service the Asian market, IKM Subsea Singapore is located at the Defu Industrial area in Singapore. It has dedicated marketing offices in Singapore and Malaysia as well as reputable agents in China and India. Furthermore, the company has established a joint venture to market in Indonesia and Vietnam so that it has access to all of the major oil and gas hubs in the region. The company provides simple, inclusive solutions to its customers’ requirements in a

cost-effective manner. Its services are tailored to match its clients’ requirements and it is able to provide specialised ROV drill support, inspection repair and maintenance, construction and diving support.

At present IKM Subsea Singapore owns and operates 15 ROVs for hire, which have carried out operations all over the world and have a proven track record of reliability. The company deploys the ‘Merlin’ ROV, a new generation of electric powered working ROV. The immediate environmental benefit of the Merlin’s electric power design is that less oil is used during operation, this is of great importance in the increasingly environmentally subsea sector. The Merlin has been designed and adapted to offer highest possible level of performance. Each motor is supplied from topside so that it is easy to carry on should one propeller fail. Operating at depths of up to 15,000 metres, this is a great advantage as it means that operators do not need to return the ROV to deck as often as they otherwise would. The Merlin is also designed with an open structure, which is important

Sub Atlantic Comanche Light Work class ROV and all the necessary components and personnel will be onboard the vessel to support the operation. “This is the first long-term contract in Singapore for the company. It is exciting to follow the footsteps of our Norwegian counterparts to have been doing this for many years. We hope this would be the first of many more to come,” comments IKM Subsea general manager Mahesh Govindan. “The Singapore office has expanded very quickly over the past year from operating one to five ROV systems in a year. We will continue our growth based on the market outlook.”

With the support of its parent company and over a decade of experience at its disposal, IKM Subsea Singapore is well placed in its mission to claim a significant portion of Asia’s growing ROV market. The multiyear contracts that it has won with several of the oil and gas sector’s most recognised operators is indicative of the company’s strong reputation for proving world-class ROV and support services. As the world’s energy needs continue to grow and ROV exploration and servicing becomes ever more vital, IKM Subsea Singapore will be on hand to support its clients with tailored ROV solutions.

Lawson Engineers Since early 2011 Lawson Engineers has built several ‘ship of convenience’ Launch and Recovery Systems (LARS) for IKM Subsea, Singapore, these are both free-swimming and deep water Work Class ROVs with TMS. Close co-operation between the two companies achieved the required specification, design, ROV/TMS interface to the LARS and also allowed delivery under tight timescales to meet prospective contracts. IKM knows that advice and assistance is only a phone call away. Lawson Engineers wishes the organisation every success.

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when operating in strong ocean currents and also provides ease of access for maintenance operations.

During 2012, IKM Subsea Singapore supplied ROV systems and personnel to a number of leading operators in the oil and gas sector. Its Olympic Hera and Zeus units were supplied to Olympic Shipping, the KI Saltfjord and Sandefjord units were employed by K-line, while the Siem Amethyst and Siem Aquamarine were supplied to Siem Offshore. During May 2013, the company was awarded a comprehensive fouryear contract by Statoil for ROV drill support services, with the opportunity for extension. The contract includes operation onboard the semisubmersible drilling rig Scarabeo 5, which is a deepwater drilling rig capable of drilling down to a depth of 2000 metres. Commenting on the project, Hans Fjellanger, business development manager says: “The drill support market is a new area for us, we are therefore extremely happy that a local Norwegian owned and operated ROV business was able to beat the big foreign owned ROV companies in winning such a big contract.

This is a milestone for us that will bring IKM Subsea to a new level and is according to our strategy of becoming one of the main players in the ROV industry. IKM Subsea will continue to grow in size and competence as an independent ROV operator.”

The company has also recently won a contract with BEKK Solutions International to provide ROV services onboard the dive support vessel (DSV) IES Pearl, formally the Jaya Pearl. The contract is scheduled to last for two years while the DSV is mobilised in Singapore to carry out a number of IMR contracts within the region. The first project will be riser replacement, and the

IKM Subsea Singapore

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IKM Subsea Singapore ikm-group.com

Services Subsea ROV services

Proven AROUND THE WORLD bentec DRILLING RIGS AND OILFIELD EQUIPMENT • Engineering, design and manufacturing of fully customized drilling rigs • Full range of mechanical drilling components • Main electrical drilling and control systems • 24 / 7 field support service • Repair and overhauling • Spare parts supply and logistics • Rig and equipment upgrades • Re-certification • System integration and commissioning • Global project management

Bentec GmbH Drilling & Oilfield Systems offers a wide variety of rig packages and equipment specifically designed and customized to meet client needs. Over the years, we have established ourselves as a market leader by delivering high quality, customer driven products based on a unique combination of resources, industry experience and expertise.

Bentec GmbH Germany | LLC Bentec Russia | IDTEC LLC Oman Phone: +49 5922 7280 | e-mail: info@ bentec.com | www.bentec.com

RZ_Bentec_Image_Europ_OIL_Gas_Mag.indd 1

19.11.13 14:15

Bentec Image Ad in European Oil & Gas (Iceland Drilling) 12/2013 | 1/1tel Full page/bleed: 210 x 297 + 3 mm

PROFILE

Iceland Drilling Company

steam Iceland Drilling Company has roots that extend back to 1946 when the Icelandic government began work to explore for geothermal activity to heat water for housing requirements in the country. Later, in the 1960’s began the development of steam fields at higher pressures and temperatures to produce electricity, making Iceland a leading nation in producing electricity from geothermal energy.

In 1986 the company was privatised and listed on the stock market, where it stayed until 2006 when acquired by private investors, today the company is held by Icelandic private investors and major pension funds.

Since then the company has exported its knowledge to other countries around the world and is continuing to dominate with its expertise.

“We have started operations in the Philippines and our work in New Zealand is ongoing. In the Caribbean we have just finished a project on the island of Montserrat and have moved over to Dominica to do another,” begins senior vice president Sturla Fanndal Birkisson.

There is a string of countries located in a region known to geothermal experts as the ring of fire, and two areas of particular interest to Iceland Drilling Company are Indonesia and the Philippines. The company has recently set up offices in Jakarta and Manila and is actively looking for projects in this sector of geothermal drilling on the high mountains located around this ring: “Geothermal drilling and the foundation of knowledge is the speciality that we bring to operations, but we know that when you enter a new country there is a different culture and new regulations. It is important to set up a new network of contacts and suppliers, and these things can be a big task. So we are planning ahead to be better prepared to undertake projects in these countries.

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Gaining

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8 benteC

benteC gmbh DRilling & oilfielD SyStemS Bentec is one of the leading manufacturers of drilling rigs and oilfield equipment worldwide based on more than 125 years history and vast experience. Building on this experience, it maintains the highest quality standards across its drilling rig systems, with additional focus on health, safety and the environment. As fully vertical integrated systems provider, Bentec offers a unique combination of resources, industry experience and expertise.

Customised drilling solutions:  Engineering, design and manufacturing of fully customised drilling rigs  Full range of mechanical drilling components  Main electrical drilling and control systems Customer focused support services:  24 / 7 field support service  Repair and overhauling  Spare parts supply and logistics  Rig and equipment upgrades  Re-certification  System integration and commissioning  Global project management The Bentec is headquartered in Bad Bentheim, Germany, with additional production and service facilities in Tyumen, Russia and in Nizwa, Sultanate of Oman.

European oil & gas

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Bentec Rigs - Advanced technology for drilling operations.

Bentec rigs successfully operate in the major oil & gas fields around the world. Its drilling rig specifications vary from light units to heavy-duty ones with drawworks capacities of up to 3000 horsepower. Depending on the application and operation areas it offers any customer focused drilling solutions. Furthermore, Bentec has already manufactured and sold numerous land-based drilling rigs and equipment for the European geothermal energy market.

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Bentec Drilling Equipment - customer driven, field proven drilling equipment with the highest uptime As a systems provider Bentec offers a comprehensive range of major rig equipment. One of Bentec’s core competencies is its fully integrated approach.

This enables the company to put together rig packages, which include the installation of all drilling systems, and to deliver comprehensive, qualified rig solutions. Bentec’s best-in-class drilling solutions help to reduce its customers’ cost of ownership due to their highest quality standards and efficiency ‘Made in Germany’.

Bentec Headquarters, Germany Bentec GmbH Drilling & Oilfield Systems, Deilmannstraße 1, 48455 Bad Bentheim / Germany www.bentec.com E-Mail: info(at)bentec.com Phone: +49 5922 7280 Fax: +49 5922 72457

PROFILE

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take a local one then we will always consider it based on how good they are and how much experience they have. We have a reasonably new fleet of equipment utilising computerised technology and must train people up to operate this equipment. There are not always enough resources or good hands available so as a drilling company we are focused on education internally to develop our own personnel.

“We are looking to distinguish ourselves from the conventional drilling companies who will rent out a rig with a crew, without managing the project or offering that service. We happily take on this responsibility and work with subcontractors under the contract to help further the project. We are happy to work with power companies, investors or developers who are starting on new concessions that haven’t been drilled before, or in remote locations. As an IPM contractor we are able to offer solutions for these stages where there is not a huge technical team behind them ready to go ahead with a project.

We currently have ongoing IPM contracts with Orca Energy in the Philippines, Government of Dominica on the island of Dominica in the Carribean and with Alterra Power in Iceland.”

Assessing the outlook of the market Sturla has examined other regions: “We are keeping a close eye on geothermal activity in South America, especially Chile. Much like Europe there is not too much happening at the moment but there is the potential for geothermal activity.

“The future is looking positive. Over the next three years we aim to become established in Indonesia and Africa as well as retaining a strong presence in our existing markets,” he concludes.

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“We are going to these areas with a slightly different approach in recognition of their culture.

To win contracts in this region you inevitably have to have a presence, to show yourself and prove you really exist. We set up the offices to market ourselves better and be a connection, close to our customers. The resource in Indonesia is probably the biggest in the world.

Around 40 per cent of all geothermal energy is stored there, there hasn’t been too much development there yet, mainly because oil and gas has been fulfilling the electrical production needs, but as this has become more expensive the governments have started preparing a change in legislation to develop this renewable possibility, so we want to be present if it starts to move,” explains Sturla.

Iceland Drilling Company has a history of working with power entities owned by governments, but with a unique flexible structure offers its services to developers and investors that require a specialist in geothermal drilling. With the footprint growing in recent years further away from Iceland the company has become more visible to the world. Sturla continues: “The work we have been doing is becoming well known and we have been pulled to the table to work on the development of some projects in Africa. We are an Integrated Project Management (IPM) contractor. This means that we can supply a total service fabricated to the needs of developers who don’t have a strong background in this area. Our work in the Caribbean was carried out under one contract as have the decades of working within Iceland, and this has proved to be successful and economical for our clients.

“Normally we use a mix of local service providers and companies along with our own staff depending on the location. We have resources in our company that can take care of some special services, but if it is an option to

Iceland Drilling Company

The resource in Indonesia is probably the biggest in the world. Around 40 per cent of all geothermal energy is stored there, there hasn’t been too much development there yet

Iceland Drilling Company jardboranir.is

Services Drilling

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Building on

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excellence

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Privately owned offshore Cobro International Inc (USA) For more than 20 years Cobro International has been serving Valentine Maritime (Gulf) LLC (VMG) and its sister companies, procuring a range of equipment from pumps, welding machines and motors, through to supplying spare parts for hotel type equipment, winches, cranes, pumps, refrigeration, and pipeline equipment.

Over the years Cobro has built a strong relationship with VMG, based around its high level of service, competitive prices and its unique approach to always completing a project in the most efficient and effective manner.

Cobro hopes to continue this close relationship for many years to come.

construction company Valentine Maritime (VM) was established in 1990 to deliver services to the offshore oil and gas industry in the Arabian Gulf region and the Indian subcontinent. Since its inception the firm has evolved with the changing needs of the offshore construction market, thus ensuring it continuously fulfills customer demand in areas such as India, the East coast of Africa, the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. Primarily specialising in EPC offshore construction of wellhead platforms, submarine pipelines, topsides, maintenance and hook-up services, VM has emerged as a respected EPC offshore contractor in the region; the company has successfully executed EPC projects worth more than $1 billion over the last five years, working for major clients such as ONGC in India and Saudi ARAMCO. Keen to continue strengthening its service offering, VM anticipates the launch of a new yard in the third quarter of 2013 will significantly enhance its ability to

fabricate offshore jackets, modules and topsides for the oil and gas market in the future.

In addition, VM has provided chartering services for more than 20 years, acquiring its first major marine asset, the Regina 250 Derrick Lay Barge, in June 1992. By 2012, the company had acquired a large fleet of 13 construction vessels and increased its level of specialised, highly skilled personnel in line with robust growth and the substantial rise of assets and revenues. VM currently owns and operates two work barges, four cargo barges, three tugboats and four pipelay barges. The most recent addition to the fleet is a DLB pipelay barge, which boasts a 1600 tonne revolving crane onboard that has enabled the company to lay larger pipelines in deeper waters and develop a presence in the heavy-lift market. As a part of VM’s future development plans, the DLB-1600 crane capacity will be upgraded to 2200 MT and the barge shall be equipped with a dynamic positioning system, which will allow laying subsea pipelines and installing platforms in congested oil and gas fields.

The DLB-1600 proved its capabilities in 2013 by successfully completing the Hilal-B jacket and deck offshore installation project for Gulf of Suez Petroleum Company (GUPCO). In early 2013 GUPCO awarded VM the contract for the development project involving the construction, engineering and installation of a four legged 780 tonne jacket, four long piles of 1312 total tonnes, a pile cut off and transition piece, boat landing, six barge bumpers and ancillaries and a topside deck of 440 tonnes at a water depth of 78 metres.

Due to VM’s ongoing efforts to add more vessels to its fleet and strengthen its business operations, the dynamic firm has extensively expanded its services in the offshore construction sector. The scope of services includes: EPC offshore construction, single buoy mooring fabrication and installation, the installation and modification of jacket, topsides and decks; subsea survey and installation, cable laying, salvage and pipe-laying.

Fully prepared to carry out major offshore projects through a combination of a strong team of expert professionals, state-of-the-art equipment, targeted facilities and compliance to a strict code of conduct that ensures a superior level of safety for all personnel, VM lives up to its reputation as one of the leading regional offshore construction contractors.

No stranger to challenges, VM was recently

of a 525 million AED ($143 million) contract from Petrofac International for ADMA-OPCO’s Satah Al Razboot (SARB) package field offshore development in Abu Dhabi. The project involves laying 190 kilometres of submarine pipelines in diameters from 12-48 inches, the installation of a single point mooring system in the northeast of Zurku Island as well as offshore structures such as three flare platforms, four bridges, two riser platforms and lay subsea cables. This major project is due for completion in April 2016.

With an established history of successfully executed projects, the future looks bright for the ISO 9001: 2008, OHSAS 18001:2007 accredited firm as it continues its commitment to meet and exceed the requirements of its clients, to improve the competences of its employees through skills development, open dialogue between personnel to encourage the exchange of expertise and also a strong team spirit. By retaining its core values throughout its ongoing growth, the company is sure to have incredible future success in the pipeline.

The scope of services includes: EPC offshore construction, single buoy mooring fabrication and installation, the installation and modification of jacket, topsides and decks; subsea survey and installation, cable laying, salvage and pipe-laying Valentine Maritime Gulf vmgulf.com

Services Offshore EPC construction

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involved in the installation of the longest HDPE liner for Occidental Petroleum Qatar. The high density polyethylene pipe, at a length of 2.5 kilometres x 590 millimetre diameter x 15 millimetre wall thickness was pulled through a 2.5 kilometre long, 24 inch diameter subsea steel pipeline in one single segment. The successful shore to offshore subsea installation was operated in 20 metre water depths and provided a major cost saving to the operator as the utilisation of Inconel, an expensive, exotic material, was avoided for the overlay/lining of the CS pipeline. Completed in the summer of 2013, this project was unique and significant being the longest and biggest outside diameter HDPE pipeline pulled in a single string for offshore facility.

Committed to executing awarded projects with maximum efficiency, VM has experienced a steady growth over the last 20 years. The company is maintaining its plans to achieve further growth in the future. These ambitious plans have been strengthened through an award

Valentine Maritime Gulf

European oil & gas

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last Built to

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Dale Power Solutions Dale Power Solutions recently manufactured and commissioned secure power systems for a major upgrade project at BP’s Sullom Voe Terminal.

Industrial ERSKINE Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS) were provided by Dale for installation in an electrical substation and control room, where these UPS now provide a high quality source of continuous power for essential loads associated with the gas processing plant.

The Dale Power Solutions equipment includes dual 20kVA AC UPS and dual 200A DC UPS backing up controls and instrumentation, while an additional 10A DC UPS supports switchgear operating in the substation.

of the Shetland Islands, the BP operated Sullom Voe terminal is one of the largest of its kind in Europe, producing its eight billionth barrel of oil in mid 2010. Constructed between 1975 and 1981 and covering 1000 acres, Sullom Voe’s main purpose is to handle production from 38 oilfields in the East Shetland basin and to act as a buffer between these fields and the tankers that ship oil to refineries across the globe. Production is received through the Brent and Ninian pipelines East of Shetland and through the Clair pipeline and shuttle tanker West of Shetland, with massive investment plans currently in place to cope with the future influx of North Sea onstream oil and gas projects.

“Sullom Voe was built for the production of around 1.3 million barrels a day back in the 1970s and in 2010 reached a major milestone with eight billion barrels of oil. Its capabilities are to take hydrocarbons from offshore to stabilise the oil, to split the hydrocarbon into oil and gas and to then export the stabilised crude oil by tanker to refineries. Over the past ten years we have been 99 per cent available to our customers,” explains Peter Miller, vice president of North Sea Operations (Midstream), at BP. “Approximately 28 different companies have interests in the terminal and we are working together to invest in a multi-million pound intervention programme to give it a new lease of life. This is a very simple programme of shutting down parts of the site for renewal, putting up scaffolding, taking off insulation, replacing lines and returning all of the metal to the thickness it needs to be. We are doing this to ensure the site is fully operational throughout 2020, 2030, and 2040; a major task considering a lot of the equipment has been in constant operation since the 1970s.”

Already more than a decade past the period it was designed to last, the ageing terminal requires

a major upheaval that is expected to last eight years. These changes are in line with BP’s plans to invest £3 billion on the development of the Schiehallion project and a further £4.5 billion on the massive Clair oil field. “Clair is a very exciting field with between seven to eight billion barrels of oil in place and is Europe’s largest reservoir,” explains Peter. “BP is the operator of this field and is currently investing in its development.

The oil we recover will be transferred through Sullom Voe. The project is going very well, with BP confirming the safe installation of the platform structures in 2013. From here, the rest of the platform’s construction is ongoing and it is expected to come onstream in 2016.”

Originally discovered in 1977, the Clair field is located 75 kilometres west of Shetland and spreads across a vast 220 square kilometres, in water depths of 140 metres. The Clair Ridge development will boast the capability to produce approximately 640 million barrels of oil over a 40-year timeframe, with peak production anticipated to reach 120,000 barrels of oil per day.

Facilities will consist of two bridge-linked steel fixed steel jacket platforms and topsides, one of which will be a drilling and production platform and the other will be for quarters and utilities.

Furthermore, BP and its co-venturers are also proceeding with a two-year appraisal programme, named Greater Clair, which involves looking into the potential in developing a third phase of the Clair field. Starting with a two year programme to drill five appraisal wells, the number could increase to between eight and 12 wells if results are positive.

Meanwhile, the Schiehallion oil field was shut down in April to make way for its £3 billion redevelopment, which could last up to three years. “There is still a lot of oil left in Schiehallion, which is why we are investing in a brand new floating, production, storage and operating vessel (FPSO) vessel that

we can. To supplement that we are hiring, and continue to hire BP staff from around the rest of the UK who will come and work on rotation here,” highlights Peter. “We are also looking at all of our capability and ability to support the work and accommodate the people, as well as our ability to have that number of people working here safely. There are certainly a lot of employment prospects here.”

Focused on bringing these investments into fruition, BP is creating a positive future for Sullom Voe and its operations in the Shetland Islands, as Peter concludes: “The vision for the terminal is basically to continue the success of the past through being online, available and running at lowest possible cost. Although this involves us spending a lot of money in the short term, it will get the terminal in a place where its life can extend to 2020, 2030 and 2040. Our strategic plan is nothing more complicated than that; we aim to be here, be operating, be safe and be efficient - as we have been for the past 30 years.”

Sullom Voe Terminal bp.com

Services Handles production from oilfields

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will be stationed on the oil field. Again, the hydrocarbons from Schiehallion will come through the terminal, hopefully for many years to come,” says Peter.

To cope with the large increase in offshore production, new facilities at Sullom Voe include a plant that will be utilised to sweeten the gas that is produced at Clair Ridge, which will involve the removal of hydrogen sulphide so the gas can be used at Sullom Voe and also exported to the Magnus field – where it is injected into the reservoir to increase recovery (EOR scheme).

BP anticipates more than 1000 people will be based at Sullom Voe throughout the development process of these major upgrades, almost doubling the current 220 staff and 300 contractors based at the terminal. In preparation for this, BP is currently searching for experienced oil and gas personnel, particularly trained engineers, to work at the terminal.

“We have ongoing employment prospects in the Shetland Islands and aim to draw as much of our workforce from the Shetland Islands as

Sullom Voe Terminal

European oil & gas

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capacity

European oil & gas

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High 72

Lindsay-Blee & Co Lindsay-Blee & Co Ltd is a progressive international bunker brokerage. Lindsay-Blee has partnered with SAL to deliver cost efficient, timely bunker supplies to SAL's fleet. With a combination of market intelligence and expertise, Lindsay-Blee has helped reduce costs and streamline purchases in what is often a very difficult market to navigate.

SAL Heavy Lift

GmbH, a member of the “K” Line Group, is one of the leading carriers worldwide specialised in the transportation of heavy lift cargo. This includes equipment for the oil and gas industry, offshore wind, cranes, heavy machinery, and floating cargo. The company is headquartered in Hamburg, and maintains an international network of agencies and subsidiaries in Japan, China, Australia, UK, Finland, Singapore, the Netherlands, and the US. In order to deliver its services SAL Heavy Lift owns and operates a fleet of 16 modern heavy lift vessels. These are characterised by their lifting capacities of up to 2000 tonnes SWL, low draft, voluminous intake capacity, and high speed of 20 knots. “We also have an in-house engineering department which develops innovative transportation solutions for individual customer requirements,” adds Lars Rolner, CEO and managing director of SAL Heavy Lift.

“One of our great advantages is our fixed crew, which is employed by the company, and is well-educated by the “K” Line Maritime Academy,” he continues. “We have developed a very strong corporate identity throughout the entire organisation, and always comply with the

highest industry standards, with all staff trained and briefed according to task. Safety is our highest priority in all aspects of our business and is never to be compromised upon.”

Turning his attention to the areas where SAL Heavy Lift has seen the most growth, Lars says: “Apart from our heavy lift semi-liner service from the Middle East to Far East, and vice versa, SAL Heavy Lift is deeply involved in a number of larger projects involving lifts of above 1000 tonnes. This includes the loading of a living quarter of 1425 tonnes, and measuring 42x37x36-metres – a total of 54,353 cbm, in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. With a tight timescale of just two weeks planning and preparing, SAL Heavy Lift was able to make all of the necessary arrangements. This included the design, manufacture and certification of tailor-made equipment, and MV Svenja’s standard equipment also had to be adapted to this unique job.

“After loading the living quarters from a barge into the hold, the vessel transported the cargo with an open hatch and overhang of 20-metres to Geoje, Korea. Due to the huge co-operation of all involved parties, the project was completed

He concludes with SAL Heavy Lift’s overarching vision: “We want to expand further and grow within the super heavy lift market and the offshore installation segment. With our modern fleet combining transportation and offshore installation, we see great potential for the installation of mooring spreads, transition pieces, foundations, tidal turbines, and oil and gas equipment.”

SAL Heavy Lift sal-heavylift.com

Services Transportation of heavy lift cargo

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within the expected time frame.”

Meanwhile, the MV Lone has recently broken the Bremen port record for its heaviest cargo to date, as Lars elaborates: “This was for a ship loader of 775 tonnes, measuring 57.89x23.20x34.80-metres, which had been built directly on site at the Port of Bremen, which is Europe’s biggest port for heavy cargo.

The biggest challenge was to keep the ship loader’s balance while being lifted, so to generate counterweight special water pockets, each capable of holding up to ten tonnes additional weight, were fixed on the cargo and regulated during the whole lifting operation.

“In this way, a safe embarkation was ensured.

The entire loading was completed successfully in only three hours due to the excellent co-operation of all parties involved. After two more days of thorough cargo fixing, MV Lone made its way to Port Cartier in Canada, where the ship loader was discharged smoothly,” he continues.

At the end of 2012 MV Lone was awarded its first offshore installation contract to be undertaken using its DP2 system. The success of this project saw the vessel win one of its most high profile projects – assisting with the removal of the Costa Concordia wreck.

The Lone transported and installed several of the large platforms that the wreck now rests on, the largest of which weighed 1000 tonnes.

Furthermore the MV Lone installed all the sponsons on the port side, which assisted in the righting of the vessel and ultimately the re-floating of it. The final part of the contract was the largest lift of all - the blister tank. This structure was ultimately attached to the bow of the Costa Concordia to assist with re-floating but also to ensure the bow didn’t break off during the righting process. Weighing 1500 tonnes and comprising of two hinged sections, the complete unit was lifted using both the vessel’s cranes from a barge and set down on the water for towage to the wreck.

The general freight market may be under pressure with rates particularly competitive, but within SAL Heavy Lift’s niche segments business remains good. Describing the changes that have been made in the company throughout the year, Lars notes: “We have established SAL Offshore B.V. in the Netherlands, which with a dedicated team of well experienced commercial engineers and HSEQ people originating from the offshore industry, will bring our company the expertise needed to successfully operate in the offshore field.”

SAL Heavy Lift

European oil & gas

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interests In September 2012

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Merged

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Below Large cable-laid sling in Rotterdam workshop

a single, market-orientated organisation was officially established. The creation of Hendrik Veder Group was the result of a merger between three companies; Hendrik Veder, RopeQuip and European Rope Services.

As a sole operator, Hendrik Veder entered the steel wire rope product industry in 1800. With an excellent reputation in the heavy offshore lifting industry it has been creating tailor made solutions for, amongst others, maritime services, lifting and the rigging industry ever since.

European Oil and Gas Magazine spoke with Hans Struijk, sales director within the group: “Having registered as a one company organisation, we chose to operate under two names,” he explained. The group’s interests in the energy market would be managed by the historically established Hendrik Veder name, and the supply to the wholesale market would be through RopeQuip. “By using two trade names we are able to keep a clear identity within the markets.

“We have an enormous production and good distribution capacity. Geographically we limit ourselves to the European market as we have a fair share in many different applications. To service these areas we have satellite sales offices in France, Germany, Poland, Scotland, and England,” he continued.

Adding to its portfolio, in April 2013 the group purchased the G. van der Lee rope factory.

Explaining the fundamental beliefs, Hans said: “We believe in craftsmanship, and its history. The new acquisition exists with a strong background that compliments our principles. It has a very old factory, and it’s a very old company.” Van der Lee was established in the 16th century and remained within the family, making it the longest family-owned business in the Netherlands. “We foresee a great future for the company within our group. It provides us with a lot of knowledge and production capacity in the field of high performance fibre ropes which can be used in our operations. It is the main, and the last, such operating facility in the Netherlands, and to our European clients it is of great importance that from a product liability and responsibility perspective we are not just a trader but also a manufacturer ourselves,” he confirmed.

Reviewing the European market Hans assessed the financial goals: “We have an interest and strategy to grow our business and our footprint within the European market. Today the business has a turnover of 62 million euros and we will grow our business over the next three years to a 100 million euros turnover. We are driven to remain as one of the top three players servicing our clients.”

To develop in this way the company is focused on its clients. Hans addressed this vision: “We can make a difference in providing a quality of services to our customers by securing availability and a high level of craftsmanship. We believe that this has been underestimated for a long time in the industry. Today, many people forget that modern equipment must be produced, handled, and assembled by knowledgeable skilled people.

We believe that by keeping control of that aspect our business will grow securely.

“Being a main player, we have a good understanding of the areas we supply. Energy is a market where we must follow our customers both in size as well as in the type of products, and the level of quality required. As our top clients are moving towards geographical areas like the arctic and extreme deepwater, which are not easily serviced, there is an increased demand

months. We do not just present ourselves as a provider of certain products or services. With our direct communication with clients we are selling a truly one-stop-shop service for the lifting and mooring industry. Our high-profile clients are looking for somebody who can supply a project and remain as a partner providing servicing, as well as assisting in initiating solutions for projects.”

Shortly it will be announced that Hendrik Veder Group has established a new strategic partnership in Scandinavia, further enhancing its growing resources. Looking forward Hans commented: “You can’t do everything from a distance. You must have a capacity to be closer to the customers. That means that geographically we must be looking for opportunities. As a result we have an add-on strategy. We will be growing our business in the European market by organic growth as well as purchasing businesses. We all know that turnover costs money and you must plan where you want to go, and you must be sure that you can handle the additional business.”

Above Endless cable-laid slings up to 304 mm (12”) diameter

Hendrik Veder Group hendrikvedergroup.com

Services Steel wire and fibre rope solutions, products and services

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for the highest level of quality of materials, and it is our goal to service them, if necessary on the locations where they operate. So we follow our customers and we need to be prepared with the highest level of equipment,” he adds.

As a manufacturer for heavy industry the group faces pressures on its flexibility, and seeks continuous improvement in its product scope.

“We have a natural method of developing sophisticated solutions. We look at the demand and by remaining in continuous contact with our clients we are able to supply the correct products. If we are unable to provide the solution ourselves we will source from other companies. It is that level of understanding that sees us achieve results,” explained Hans.

Hendrik Veder Group was at Europort 2013 in November. This is the latest in a series of exhibitions it has attended. Hans spoke of this aspect of sales targeting: “It’s our continuous strategy to present ourselves in exhibitions around Europe, and we are already planning a presence at a further nine over the next 12

Hendrik Veder Group

European oil & gas

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brand A growing

European oil & gas

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During the past 15 years

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STATS Group has evolved from a two-person start-up business to a firmly established brand with a strong global presence and an annual turnover of £26 million. The company was founded in 1998 by managing director Peter Duguid and Lorraine Porter, a brother and sister team local to the Aberdeen area. Over the course of its history the company has continued to expand and diversify and now offers a broad portfolio of process and pipeline isolation, intervention, repair, subsea and shutdown services worldwide.

The company’s success has been built on a culture of innovation, value and fast response, allowing it to transition through several defining milestones during recent years. During 2009 STATS Group opened a purpose built headquarters building on a four-acre site at the Midmill industrial estate in Kintore, just outside of Aberdeen. The total investment in the facility was valued at £5 million and provided 40,000 sq ft. of workshops, storage and testing facilities as well as 10,000 sq ft. of office space.

Remarking on the move STATS’ managing director, Peter Duguid, commented: "We have vastly increased working space to extend our range of tools and increase our product development and we now look forward to bidding for larger and more complex work scopes. While other businesses are contracting, we are determined to maintain a measured drive towards growing the STATS brand globally, and we now have the capability to recruit additional staff to achieve our objectives."

During February 2012 STATS Group marked its second big milestone when it received a £7.8 million equity investment from the Business Growth Fund (BGF). The BGF was established to support the UK’s fast growing smaller and medium-sized enterprises (SME) and the investment in STATS marked the Fund’s first entry into the oil and gas sector. Regarding the investment BGF regional director for Scotland, Simon Munro said: “Our investment in STATS is a milestone for BGF as our first in the vibrant oil and gas sector. STATS' highly specialist approach to pipeline isolation, and in-depth understanding

of the technical issues involved, results in safe operations and significant savings for its clients.

"I am hugely impressed by what Peter Duguid and his management team have achieved to date and have no doubt that there is much more to come. As a technically differentiated business, offering unique products to a large and growing international market, STATS represents exactly the sort of business that BGF wants to invest in."

STATS has not been slow to capitalise on the boost provided by BGF’s investment. During the following 12 months it has relocated its Canadian holdings to a new office and workshop facility in Edmonton, opened a new facility in Abu Dhabi in the Middle East and established a new technical support centre in Cumbria, UK. In addition to these, the company is in the process of opening a workshop in Texas, which will give STATS a truly global footprint. COO Dave Shand expands: “Within oil and gas it is often a small world and customers that operate in the North Sea also work internationally, and it has primarily been our previous clients who have asked us to assist them elsewhere. Initially these are one-off projects, however once we have established those projects we have created bases from which we can offer further services throughout the world.”

In 2012 STATS Group was also awarded a global frame agreement by BP to provide pipeline isolation and intervention services.

STATS has worked with BP in the past but the three year agreement formalises the relationship covering all BP’s regional business units. STATS has committed to developing industry best practice by working with BP and three other contracting parties to develop and promote industry standards. Recent projects performed by STATS on BP assets include workscopes in the North Sea, Azerbaijan, Angola and Trinidad.

STATS Group is a trusted partner in providing process and pipeline isolation and intervention services. Its dedicated team offers a consultation service to assist operators in assessing the optimum solution for their operational requirements. Pipeline intervention and isolation can be achieved using STATS’ patented fail-safe BISEP™, which provides double block and bleed isolation deployed through a single full bore hot tap penetration. This high integrity isolation is provided by the spherical BISEP head, which houses twin compression seals and provides a facility to bleed and monitor the intermediate annulus. The seal annulus port proves and monitors the seal integrity before

includes all equipment to isolate the pipelines prior to repair, provision of call-out services to maintain the equipment in a state of readiness of deployment, as well as personnel to assist in the field deployment, tracking, operating, monitoring, and retrieval of the tools. The tools will be located in storage for up to ten years on a standby status, awaiting call off to complete live projects in Qatar should an emergency deployment arise.

Concluding with an outlook for the future of STATS Dave says: “I can see the company tripling in size during the next three to five years. The demand is certainly there, as the infrastructure of pipelines is not getting any younger. As clients look to extend the lifetime of their assets they are going to need more and more isolation and repair services.

“The most importing thing for us going forward is building good, solid relationships with our suppliers, who we consider to be part of our team. It’s about building long term relationships and helping to encourage mutual growth.”

STATS Group statsgroup.com

Services High integrity pipeline and infrastructure solutions

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and during intervention work. This technology revolutionises the market with significant safety benefits and fail-safe features compared to traditional line stop technologies with cup seals and additional bleed ports.

Furthermore, the company differentiates itself through its application of engineering solutions as Dave points out: “We have got competition but our competitors are big established companies whereas the market we cater to is for more tailored, engineered solutions to the pipeline isolation sector. Because we are smaller we can be flexible and tailor solutions exactly to our client’s needs.”

STATS is in the final stage of Factory Acceptance Tests for a range of patented remotely operated Tecno Plugs™ for Qatargas.

The multi-million pound contract covers the design, manufacture, test and storage of a new range of high integrity Remote Tecno Plugs for 32”, 34” and 38” pipelines, which will become part of Qatargas’ Emergency Pipeline Repair System (EPRS). The EPRS provision

STATS Group

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solution The clear

MPP Systems

was installed by the Dutch company AkzoNobel in 1994. The name originates from macro porous polymers, the material developed in the 70’s and used as controlled release agents for medical applications. In 2006 MPP was acquired by Veolia, the largest water treatment company in the world.

Most of its business activity is based around the MPP technology for extraction (MPPE) purposes, as managing director Erik Middelhoek begins: “We can remove dispersed and also dissolved hydrocarbons from water. It doesn’t matter where that water comes from, whether it is ground water, wastewater or produced water from oil and gas. We can reduce hydrocarbon levels down by 99.9999 per cent, which is beneficial to oil and gas companies who have to meet stringent legislation. They are looking for proven technologies that can remove dispersed but also dissolved hydrocarbons at these separation levels. MPPE is the clear solution for this process. It is robust, low in maintenance and is one of the best available options suitable for this market.”

All offshore operations allow for a direct discharge to sea after MPPE treatment as all hazardous compounds are removed.

Onshore discharge often requires additional biotreatment for (non-hazardous biodegradable) COD removal. In some cases it is efficient and environmentally friendly to treat the MPPE effluent up to boiler feed water quality by adding additional treatment units as has been done at the Pluto LNG plant of Woodside in Burrup. The Pluto project clearly demonstrates the advantage of Veolia by offering an integral EPC solution for the treatment of wastewater with additional oil recovery and re-utilisation.

“Our world-wide footprint helps us enter new markets confidently so for example, we are involved in business in Korea where we utilise the support from our native Korean colleagues who are able to overcome the cultural and language barriers. It’s a great help in overcoming the language barrier that would otherwise exist,” says Erik.

In today’s market operators require equipment to be designed with a lifetime of 25 to 40 years, and be adaptable to new projects mid way through its life span. As the business expands to new areas Erik notes: “It is quite a challenge to meet these demands that have implications on cost, delivery periods, and influence the quality of materials that we purchase. Achieving this has

time,” Erik adds.

The future is looking very promising for MPP Systems as Erik concludes: “The fact that MPPE enables Zero Harmful Discharge and the flexibility we offer potential clients makes us a very attractive option. We aim to deliver systems with minimal deviation to the specification.

Our technology has a high removal efficiency, no waste streams, a 100 per cent oil recovery, a small footprint with low volume and weight compared to other technologies.

“We are always looking five years ahead.

Shell is planning to build up to ten more FLNG vessels in the coming ten years and our work on these will remain our focus, keeping Australia and other stringent legislation developing countries in vision for the near future. We also plan to continue to work on some other interesting developments. Beyond hydrocarbons we are developing processes for the removal of other harmful components from produced water and interest in this area will increase over the next decade.”

We can reduce hydrocarbon levels down by 99.9999 per cent, which is beneficial to oil and gas companies who have to meet stringent legislation

VWS MPP Systems vwsmppsystems.com

Services Waste water treatment, specialising in Macro Porous Polymer Extraction (MPPE)

European oil & gas

been one of the most striking developments in the last couple of years.”

Erik recalls the company’s initial steps into the market and its continued success: “The first stringent legislation focusing on Zero Harmful Discharge (ZHD) of water was in Norway, and MPP held a relatively good position as one of the few technologies that could do the job. We had interest in the UK, Danish and Dutch shelves of the North Sea and have a couple of operations there. Today in Australia a large portion of the gas fields are being discovered and developed.

Legislation there is similar to Norway with a policy to reduce the harmful discharge as much as possible. One of the sole technologies that can do that is MPPE.” MPP Systems was preselected by Shell Global Solutions and was awarded a contract by Samsung Heavy Industries to supply an MPPE water purification unit to a Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) facility. The MPPE unit will be used for Shell’s Prelude FLNG project in Australia, the largest offshore floating facility

VWS MPP Systems

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ever built in the world. “It is one of the major projects we have been involved in. In June we delivered the technology to Samsung in Korea, which is installing the MPPE unit in the hull of the vessel.

“Currently we are manufacturing an MPPE unit for the Ichthys LNG project of the Japanese company Inpex. The Gas Produced Water will be treated on the Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel laying next to a Central Processing Facility (CPF). The gas will be piped from here to an onshore LNG Plant in Darwin. More Australian LNG projects are in the pipeline so we expect to be in Australia for some

blue

European oil & gas

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Echoes out of the

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In 1994 industry expert Les Ford founded Sonar Equipment Services (SES) and began working extensively with key components to produce marine survey equipment designed to meet customer’s needs.

With 15 years of experience, the company today supplies engineered and trusted products to the oil and gas industry, construction industry and renewable energy sector. The company was founded with the concept of offering customers a competitive edge by delivering integrated, forward thinking technology and innovative engineering solutions.

As a leading supplier of marine survey equipment SES has assisted clients, and worked directly, on a diverse range of subsea projects including cable surveys, UXO clearance programmes, wreck searches, pipeline inspections and much more. The business has successfully integrated and adapted marine technology solutions into various deep water applications on platforms ranging from ROVs to deep towed systems.

With the backing of knowledge gained within the industry, SES has developed a comprehensive range of equipment that is offered for both sale and rental to support customers in their offshore and near–shore operations. Located on the edge of the North Sea in Great Yarmouth, UK, SES has a modern workshop facility that is manned by a multi-disciplined engineering team specialising in maintenance, repair and modification of the extensive range of equipment.

To remain at the forefront of the industry the company has established a dedicated research and development team that has exceptional experience in delivering technical solutions

when the client requires more than just a standard stock item. By taking a back to basics approach the company is able to develop adaptations that can meet the ever-changing operational requirements of its clients.

All the equipment offered by SES is subjected to rigorous test procedures in the in-house facilities before being released into the field and depending on the product SES has a range of test processes. In Great Yarmouth it has a purpose built, acoustically baffled water tank for the purpose of subsea sensor testing that utilises calibrated hydrophones and receivers with Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) analysis to produce fast and accurate measurements of system performance. For subsea equipment that is under extreme pressure when operating in deep water, SES has developed a pressure test chamber to simulate conditions where it can test components including transducers, subsea electronic housing and connectors.

In mid 2013 SES delivered its first multisensor ROV survey package to Calesurvey, a marine division of Calecore. SES integrated, tested and mobilised an array of subsea equipment for the client to use in marine surveys in Norwegian waters. The project is using environmental and geotechnical studies to survey pipeline routes. SES has supplied the technology that is fitted to the work class ROV at the centre of the survey, equipped with an extensive range of geophysical and bathymetry sensors. The equipment supplied included an Innova Matrix MKII fibre optic multiplexer that transports all survey data by a single fibre. This product was tested at its factory and the engineering team led a full sensor integration that ensured an

compound for strength they are well suited for field installation and maintenance.

SES regularly introduces new equipment, enhancing what it can offer clients.

Recognising that the correct and safe operation of the products is vital to the success of projects and ultimately for the reputation of the company, the business has developed a series of training courses. The aim is to help customers maintain a competent and trained workforce through the programmes that accommodate all abilities and professionals.

The proven technology demonstrates the ability of SES to innovate solutions to clients’ requirements, and a track record of projects delivered on time and to satisfaction highlights the reasons demand has been high during 2013. As exploration and surveying continues it is the ability to identify and source the right technologies and then integrate these together to produce a reliable, functional and effective package that sets SES in good stead to remain a leading supplier.

The proven technology demonstrates the ability of SES to innovate solutions to clients’ requirements, and a track record of projects delivered on time and to satisfaction

Sonar Equipment Services sonar-equipment.com

Services Rental, sales and manufacture of marine survey equipment

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efficient delivery onto the vessel. The SES Matrix design is a fully adaptable, compact plug and play interface solution that can integrate with all subsea sensors and equipment, and is suitable for any host platform.

Forming part of the company’s portfolio is a range of products and services for reliable termination of subsea electrical connections.

With a cable moulding and termination facility Sonar Equipment Services has developed a technique for chemically moulded bonds using hot curing rubber that provides strong, watertight and oil resistant connections, which have been proven to last, even in very deep waters. The range is complemented by stainless steel and plastic cable grips designed to terminate cables towing lightweight vehicles. For higher load applications a high-grade stainless steel tow termination is available for armoured cables between six to 15 millimetres in diameter.

The product is DNV tested to 90 per cent of the cable’s maximum breaking strain, and because the terminations are not reliant on a potting

Sonar Equipment Services

European oil & gas

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goal

European oil & gas

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A beautiful

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Established in 1982

by Score Group founder and current chairman Charles Buchan Ritchie, Score (Europe) Limited has enjoyed rapid growth and success over the last three decades to become the leading single source provider for valve services; a reputation that stems from unrivalled expertise, excellent customer service, state-of-the-art facilities and continuous investment in both staff and infrastructure. The chairman is clearly a visionary and has developed a unique team of top industry professionals, who think in the same mindset and are always trying to work out what is going to happen next in the market.

The Group, now over 30 years old, was focused mainly on valve repairs in the early days before moving to its current integrated valve services approach, which is marketed as Intelligent Valve Management™. The company grew rapidly, due to strong relationships with its local customers, through delivering great service. In 1984, an enhanced testing facility was set up to enable Score to independently type test and certify valves for all manufacturers. The enhanced testing facilities also introduced the capability to test valves’ performance in extreme pressure and temperature environments, prior to going into service, instead of just testing to industry minimum acceptance standards. This development was necessary to ensure valves were fit for purpose in every instance and assured that they would perform when installed in, for example, harsh environments such as North Sea offshore oil and gas production facilities.

Today, Score (Europe) offers its services to the oil and gas, petrochemical, Ministry of Defence, marine, utilities and power generation

industries – both nuclear and fossil fuels. It has a broad spectrum of valves available for immediate supply to the sectors it operates in. Meanwhile, geographically, the company has developed a presence in more than 30 strategic locations across the globe; these include the UK, Scandanavia, Central Europe, North and South America, Africa, the Middle East, the Far East and Australia.

One of the key things that gives Score (Europe) a competitive edge in the valve market, is not just the 30 years of developed valve knowledge and engineering capabilities, but its highly committed and competent team of people. Score is a people driven business and recently won the large employer of the year award at the Skills Development Scotland Modern Apprenticeships Awards; to win these awards you need to invest in the infrastructure of the company as well as the personnel. The training Score offers is unrivalled; it has even set up its own specialist training company within the group, which is something its customers are also benefiting from having access to.

Dedicated to continuing its sustainable growth through investing in people and infrastructure, Score (Europe) started its highly successful apprenticeship programme in 1984. Today, the company has almost 300 apprentices following a wide range of disciplines, accounting for around 20 per cent of its 1500 strong global staff. This number is expected to continue to rise, with the firm keen to take on up to 70-100 extra apprentices each year. The company doesn’t have a “hire and fire in boom and bust economies” approach, but instead favours the “job for life if you want it” approach.

In its early life, Score (Europe) excelled in managing and maintaining populations of safety valves and block valves, delivering cost savings and improved in-service valve performance to its customers in doing so. However, seeing the opportunity to expand into control valves, the company developed a strong team of control valve specialists and invested heavily in emerging technology such as valve diagnostic equipment, which was designed to focus valve maintenance

when) and furthermore their owners could not provide evidence of what condition the installed valves were in. Looking at this issue on a wider international basis, the ISO 55,000 series of standards for asset integrity management are due to come into effect in 2014, which will recommend that all owners of high risk operating processes with mechanical equipment will have to manage their installed assets in line with best practice, which is to document the installed equipment and then monitor its condition over time. Score has invested heavily over the last four years and is continuing to invest to make the required valve condition monitoring products available. It is consequently now in the best possible position to support its customers in these activities.

With the Score team’s enthusiasm and passion for continuous improvement, investment and innovation, it is sure to continue to deliver benefits to its customers, creating opportunities and delivering success to all stakeholders in its chosen markets along the way.

Score (Europe) Limited score-group.com

Services Intelligent valve and gas turbine solutions

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budgets and activities and to verify valve and operators’ performance, whilst also improving process efficiency for its customers. This focus on technology has accelerated significantly over the last few years, with the dynamic firm investing several million pounds in designing, developing and manufacturing its own range of condition monitoring equipment and services.

This has resulted in the delivery to market of products perfectly suited for compliance with performance criteria on for example safety critical ESDVs. Score’s ultra-portable MIDAS Meter® is designed to monitor valves’ in-service performance at normally manned plants, using Acoustic Emissions (AE) technology to find leaking valves and then quantify their leak rate. The equipment helps owners to make the exact maintenance intervention required, at the optimum moment, to maximise in-service reliability, reduce exposure to risk and enhance process efficiency. Its MIDAS® Sensor is designed for more critical valves, where there is a need for continuous monitoring of valve performance in service. The permanently installed sensor does the same thing as the MIDAS Meter®, but without the requirement for manual data collection. A 4-20mA electrical output signal is sent back to the control room, where the signal is processed such that a graphic interface then displays the performance of the valve it is attached to. The user interface is designed to give a quick and easy to understand visual indication of valves that are not performing to the required standards. The most complex and advanced valve monitoring system on the market, Score’s V-MAP® system, uses additional sensors which allow customers to monitor their most critical valves - such as Emergency Shutdown Valves (ESDV’s), Pressure Safety Valves (PSV’s) and Blowdown Valves (BDV’s) - for any/all signs of developing failure modes.

Score’s innovative new products and services have put the forward-thinking firm ahead of the curve when it comes to upcoming compliance requirements. By no coincidence, these innovative new products and services exactly satisfy the HSE’s recommendations for valve lifecycle management, following their “KP4” audits of ageing assets, both onshore and offshore. The “KP4” audits found that platforms built 40 years ago, with a life cycle of 25 years, are still operating with in some cases unknown valve populations; i.e there was no up-to-date database of what valves had been installed (or

Score (Europe)

European oil & gas

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84 European oil & gas

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taste Refined

Originally established in the Voith Industrial Services The planning and execution of complex turnarounds is one of the core competences Voith Industrial Services offers for the process industries oil and gas, petrochemical and chemical.

Whether your plant shutdowns are scheduled or unscheduled, a comprehensive performance, 100 per cent punctuality and long-term experience, especially in rebuilding FCC or alkylation facilities, make Voith a competent partner with award-winning safety behavior. Since 1987, the Holborn Europe Refinery GmbH relies on Voith as their main contractor for executing their refinery’s turnarounds.

EURENCO VeryOne Cetane Improver is the EURENCO trade name for the 2-Ethyl-Hexyl-Nitrate, which is used all over the world to reach the right Cetane Number in diesel fuel for vehicles. Depending on the fuel’s crude quality and operating units, the use of Cetane Improver highly fluctuates at the refinery’s blending pool. It is with regards to this aspect that Holborn Refinery has chosen EURENCO as a reliable supplier for Cetane Improver. VeryOne’s high production capacity, large stocks and efficient supply chain are key to meeting the just-in-time production needs of refineries like Holborn.

1920s, the formerly Exxon owned Holborn Europa Raffinerie GmbH was acquired by Tamoil Group in 1986 and operated by Holborn.

Following this, the Hamburg based cat-cracking, medium conversion refinery has progressed through the modernisation of its units, which has thus ensured its long-term productivity.

Previously in European Oil and Gas in February 2013, Frank Heyder, managing director, discussed the history of the refinery further: “It was originally built in the 1920s and expanded in 1950 and again in 1972, at that time by Exxon. It was shut down 13 years later, and taken over by Holborn Europa Raffinerie GmbH, a member of the Tamoil Group, in 1986. As a result it restarted the crude processing exactly 25 years ago in January 1988, and in April 1988 we restarted the FCC unit. Since the acquisition, the refinery has progressed with the modernisation of our units, which are essential to long-term productivity.

As a result we are fully equipped to produce oil in today’s most stringent fuel qualities, all sulphur-free. Our nameplate processing capacity is 100,000 barrels of crude per day, but we can do at least five per cent more.”

Consisting of approximately 87 hectares of land, the Holborn Europa Raffinerie GmbH is located on the south fork of the Elbe River and seaport basin, an advantageous position, which allows access to ships arriving from the North Sea, the inland Elbe waterways as well as by motorway and rail; in addition to this, it has sidings on-site and an adjacent rail yard. The refinery also has a dock, which is capable of receiving crude oil or feed stock carrying ships up to 80,000 metric tonnes, while other blend

stocks, intermediate and refined products, are delivered on coasters or barges.

Critical to the success of the refinery is a 147 kilometre long pipeline that supplies crude oil from the North West Oil Management deepwater terminal in Willhelmshaven. Off-site areas of Holborn Europa Raffinerie GmbH include the tank farms, product blending systems, waste water treatment plants and product shipping and receiving facilities.

Committed to complying to today’s stringent quality standards for transportation fuels, the group built new plants for desulphurisation and dearomatisation as well as the production of hydrogen by steam reforming, between 2000 and 2003. This significant development at the refinery, known as the ‘Clean Fuels Project’, was undertaken in order to comply with a European Union Clean Air Directive, which came into effect in 2005. Approximately 200 million euros was invested at the refinery as part of the project; acquisitions included a deep desulphurisation unit for diesel and distillates, an isomerisation unit, a crack naphtha desulphurisation and steam reforming unit. In addition, the refinery benefitted from desulphurisation and modification of its original gas oil hydrotreater.

“This was an old design from the 1970s and is now a unit that can also produce diesel and sulphur, at sulphur-free quality. Today, the Hamburg refinery is not only able to fulfil the European Union specifications but can also produce high quality products for niche markets and cyclohexane for the chemical market. Since we went through the clean fuels project the refinery has been running smoothly and on a

stable level,” explains Frank.

This ongoing focus on strategic investment programmes ensures Tamoil meets strict product specifications and environmental obligations, while also boosting its position in the competitive refining industry.

Present in several European countries, in all sectors of the downstream oil industry, Tamoil Group has two refineries, one of which is based in Germany and the other in Switzerland. On top of this, it has distribution networks in Germany,

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Switzerland, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain, enabling it to deliver products to the retail and wholesale market; this includes major oil firms, large industrial consumers, independent whole same clients, heating oil sellers, garages and exports. Able to offer a complete service to its customers, Tamoil refines crude oil to offer products such as petrol, diesel, fuel oil, heating oil, liquefied petroleum gas and jet-fuel at any of its 390 service stations. Furthermore, as the demand to combine performance with environmental protection grew, the group began developing lubricants for cars, motorcars and the industrial industry. Automotive spare parts are also available to buy in the majority of its service stations, along with lubricants and brake fluid, car wash facilities, refreshment services and a shop for customers to use.

The refinery processes any type of available crude, from areas such as the North Sea, Russia, North or West Africa, the capacity of which has bee fully committed to the Holborn European Market Company. With group refinery production at around 50 per cent of middle distillates, such as kerosene and

diesel, and approximately 30 per cent of light distillates, such as LPG and gasoline, Tamoil is continuously focusing on initiatives to protect its strong product sales results and return on capital as crude oil remains a volatile market and margins are under unceasing pressure. This has resulted in a highly versatile refinery that can produce high quality products for niche markets in the oil and gas industry, as well as cyclohexane for the chemical industry.

As the stringent sulphur emission regulations come into effect in 2015, Tamoil is keen to assess any opportunities for developments at Holborn Europa Raffinerie, given its capabilities in low sulphur fuels. Already selling notable quantities of one per cent bunker fuel to the European bunker fuels market, the refinery’s presence and knowledge in this area could result in some attractive options to convert some heavy fuels into lighter fuels in the future. There is also potential in bio and marine fuels; however, as a refinery operating in a shrinking market, the core focus for the future is to execute smaller efficiency programmes, cost improvement projects, and energy conservation investigations.

Johann Rohrer GmbH One of the very reliable partners of the Holborn Europa Raffinerie with a high performance is Johann Rohrer GmbH, an industrial service company, carrying out all industrial cleaning and tank cleaning requirements in the daily maintenance and in turnarounds.

Furthermore, the Rohrer Group takes care of the loading of tank wagons as well as assistance for loading/discharging of inland and seagoing tankers. In total the family owned Rohrer Group has a capacity of 1800 employees in the field of industrial cleaning, waste management, scaffolding and insulation works.

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