European Oil and Gas Issue 118 Final Edition

issue 118 ď ˇ FINAL

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Who will pay the How can companies combat plummeting oil prices?

Keep it clean Maintaining hygiene practices on offshore installations Right on schedule Using one integrated schedule platform to achieve success

this ISSUE: Extending bearing life

Editors Editors Chairman Andrew Schofield Group Managing Director Mike Tulloch Managing Editor Libbie Hammond libbie@schofieldpublishing.co.uk Editor Matt High mhigh@schofieldpublishing.co.uk Staff Writers Jo Cooper Andrew Dann Steve Nash Art Editor Gérard Roadley-Battin Production Manager Fleur Daniels Sales Director David Garner Corporate Advertising Sales David King dking@schofieldpublishing.co.uk Sales Joe Woolsgrove Head of Research Philip Monument Business Development Manager Mark Cawston Research Managers Edward Hipperson Natalie Griffiths Editorial Researchers Marke Boote Jeff Johnson Kate Jones Wendy Russell ­Office Manager/Advertisement Administrator Tracy Chynoweth

I believe that we are seeing a system-wide change and I’m not convinced the price has bottomed out”

Much has been

made of the changes in the sector over recent months, with prices crashing to less than half of their previous high. In such an uncertain market, where many believe that things could even get worse, companies are having to take drastic measures including job cuts and curtailing investments in new products in order to combat the challenges.

Taking this into consideration, in this issue we take a look at what the evolving market means for companies and how they should best prepare for the future. In fact, there could be much to do, as Charles Dewhurst explains on page four. “I believe that we are seeing a system-wide change and I’m not convinced the price has bottomed out,” he warns. “Producers are being buffeted by a combination of surging US production, slow economic growth in many markets and of course OPEC not slowing down supply, instead believing that lower prices will stimulate demand.”

This is a problem that is being felt industry-wide, from the majors such as BP, Shell, ConocoPhilips, Chevron and Schlumberger, through to smaller niche service providers, meaning that we, as an industry must take action sooner rather than later. As Charles points out: “It’s safe to assume we aren’t going to see a spike in oil prices any time soon, so with producers and their suppliers under mounting pressure, that means taking action now to get themselves fit for the immediate and long-term future.”

Have a read to see what you can do!

editor matt high

© 2015 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.

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Regulars

Profiles

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Lead Feature

What can companies across the sector do to combat plummeting oil prices?

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IT

Using one integrated scheduling platform to achieve multiple business benefits

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News

Some of the recent developments within the oil and gas industry

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Technology

To ensure reliability it is essential to eliminate oil bearing contamination

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HSE

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The importance of maintaining hygiene practices on offshore installations

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20 Global Marine Systems 23 InterOil Corporation 29 Advanced Actuators 35 32 Evoqua Water Technologies 35 TME Hydraulics 37 Subsea Technologies (UK) 40 Bowtech Products 42 Silicone Engineering 44 Parkburn Precision Handling Systems

46 E.ON Gas Storage 48 CSUB 50 Infinity Oilfield Services 2

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53 Inter Terminals 58 EV 61 Rubis Terminal 64 Technip Umbilicals 67 Kongsberg Maritime 70 North Sea Systems 70 73 Perforator 75 Pipeline Precision Engineering 79 Dales Marine Service 83 John Dahle Skipshandel 85 Top Oilfield Industries 88 Shepcote Engineering 90 Caspian Offshore Construction 92 Nexans Norway 94 EDM Zone 96 Niras 98 Stockton Drilling 96 100 Bhagwan Marine

Contents

102 VWS MPP Systems 104 Chesterfield Special Cylinders 106 Concord Shipping 108 Leemberg Pijpleidingen en Apparatenbouw

110 Osiris Marine Services 112 Gulf Petrochem Group 114 Ferguson Group 116 Height Specialists 108

118 Thermal Transfer Technology 120 Lankhorst Ropes 122 A.Hak Drillcon 124 Magma Global 126 North Sea Shipping 128 Timmerman EHS 128 130 HCS Control Systems 133 Cranemaster

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Who will pay the

Charles Dewhurst discusses how plummeting oil prices are impacting companies in the oil sector. What are the factors determining future outlooks and how should organisations prepare for the future?

Below Charles Dewhurst, global head of natural resources at BDO

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hroughout 2010 until towards the end of last year, oil prices were pretty much a case of steady as she goes. While other commodities – iron ore, gold, lead and copper – had all been hit by stalling Chinese demand over the last 18 months or so, oil was the exception to the rule. It managed to hold up. Such stability seems a long way away now, with prices more than halving in the past six months.

Are we talking structural change or is this a case of boom and bust? With plentiful supply thanks to new discoverers of shale and the global economy struggling to pick up the pace, we are seeing dwindling demand.

Indeed, many people I speak to would be happy if the

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price point makes it back up to $80. As a result, I believe we are seeing a system-wide change and I’m not convinced the price has bottomed out.

How is this manifesting itself?

Producers large and small are being buffeted by a combination of surging US production, slow economic growth in many markets and also of course OPEC not slowing down supply, instead believing lower prices will stimulate demand. With the US showing no signs of slowing down production and newly crowned Saudi monarch King Salman Bin Adbulaziz confirming he will extend the policies of his predecessor King Abdullah, it seems that there will be no let-up in the impasse and that

Lead one

we will be left with the oil equivalent of pile it high, sell it cheap.

But as prices plummet and producers attempt to navigate ever more choppy waters, what are the factors that will determine the future for companies in our sector?

The first is size… and in this situation, size matters. Size provides room for insulation. So for example at the end of last year, BP announced plans to restructure, including the loss of hundreds of back office jobs, many of them in the US and UK. Shell has also said it will cut $15bn from its global investments.

So, it seems to me, sensible contingency planning from BP, and they aren’t the only ones, with operations in the North Sea being particularly hard hit. ConocoPhilips, Chevron

and Schlumberger are examples of companies to have cut jobs in the area and other organisations have either frozen or reduced wages. Smaller companies might not have such room for manoeuvre, especially when we look longer term and at potential capital expenditure - Robin Allan, chairman of the independent explorers' association Brindex, has said hardly any new projects in the North Sea are profitable with oil below $60 a barrel.

It’s not just the majors and mid-caps who are feeling the effects – service provision industries in markets around the world are seeing their businesses hit too. In particular, the technology, human resources and safety service providers in the UK are seeing a decline in demand as the majors look to cut spending.

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Why is this the case?

What’s the story in Europe?

It comes down to the second future-determining factor… efficiency. This is particularly prevalent in the North Sea, where high production costs are draining what little profits are possible at this time. However, McKinsey believes all is not lost. In its 2014 paper ‘Meeting the challenge of increasing North Sea Costs’ it set out an assessment that ‘Many parties are responsible for the North Sea’s rising costs — the industry as a whole has not been co-operating or co-ordinating, and individual operators and suppliers have allowed inefficiencies to creep in, with a multiplier effect.’ On this basis, it recommended actions to:

In some markets shale might be the answer. Fracking operates at a significantly lower cost compared to deepwater offshore production, but we all know that there remain a number of political questions over this often controversial method.

In the UK, Prime Minister David Cameron has been supportive of exploring the shale option and given security of supply issues, Poland and Ukraine might also be tempted to investigate. In addition, Russia themselves could well be investigating shale further. Shale or no shale, Russia faces a difficult balancing act. It loses around $2bn worth of revenue every time a dollar is shed from the oil price, but at the same time refuses to cut production and in so doing shore up prices. The worry is that in so doing, Russia would lose its foothold with importers.

Looking further afield, other markets being hugely impact by the current situation are Canada and Venezuela. Although the Canadian oil sands are not the most efficient, they have been well managed and so far successful - Canadian crude supply to the US has meant Saudi supply being squeezed, and now there’s a risk that the oil sands could be victims of their own success, with the danger of being priced out by a sustained period of low prices. In the meantime, the

1. Increase productivity in currently operating assets 2. Improve the economics of new investments through standardisation and simplification 3. Collaborate to ensure industry-wide, structural and lasting cost reduction Looking more broadly across the continent, Raymond James Euro Equities said in a note earlier this year it would ‘not be buyers of any’ of the European integrated oil companies it covers if Brent averages over $70 a barrel in the longer term.

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Lead one

However, it’s not all doom and gloom. Yes, the world in which we operate is fundamentally changing, but there are also tremendous opportunities for ambitious businesses operating in the natural resources sector around the world

Congressional debate over whether or not to approve the Keystone XL pipeline from Alberta down to the US continues, with environmental and now also economic concerns at the heart of the debate.

Elsewhere Venezula’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mining reported in January that prices had halved from their June peak. This is decimating the Venezuelan economy and inflation is at over 63 per cent, with China having to pledge $20bn in financing.

So what does the future hold?

It’s safe to assume we aren’t going to see a spike in oil prices any time soon, so with producers and their suppliers under mounting pressure, that means taking action now to get themselves fit for the immediate and long-term future.

It’s no surprise that the disparity of high lifting costs and plummeting prices per barrel will have dire implications for many, particularly the smallest firms where we’re likely to see more and more bankruptcies.

So for many small and mid-cap companies, I believe it will be a case of biting the bullet: Some revenue stream is better than none. We’ve seen a huge exploration wave for a number of years but are now feeling the pressure as majors look to cut costs and dial down investment to break even.

We only need to look at the junior equity market and the disproportionate number of oil and gas companies to see the squeeze. Larger revenue projects inevitably give more yield but they take more investment. Against a backdrop that is unprecedented in recent times, small and midcaps are likely to find themselves plumbing for smaller deals around the 10,000 barrel rather than 200,000 barrel mark.

However, it’s not all doom and gloom. Yes, the world in which we operate is fundamentally changing, but there are also tremendous opportunities for ambitious businesses operating in the natural resources sector around the world.

Demand for efficiency, for resources, for improved access to credit and technological innovation is fuelling growth opportunities, particularly for those focused on nonconventional resources – whether harnessing the power of technology for responsible shale fracking or capitalising on the potential of liquefied natural gas to answer energy needs.

Midstream and exploration are two areas in particular where we’ve seen opportunistic companies going out and snapping up weaker ones. For those mid-caps and majors with the financial resources and infrastructure, joint ventures must look an appetising prospect to expand their portfolios.

In fact, I’m already starting to see that our teams around the world will increasingly be called on to help facilitate these partnerships or deals, whether making the introductions or undertaking the necessary due diligence, and I predict it’s something we’ll only see continue as more companies look to capitalise on the current climate.

The changing dynamic means that small and mid-sized companies in particular must get fit for a rapidly changing future. These are the companies without the insulation that scale provides. They must be prepared to mitigate challenges and maximise opportunities, be that through the likes of debt financing or exploring merger and acquisition options.

They need to look at themselves in the cold light of day and think about where they want to be this time next year and in five years’ time.

It’s clear that our industry is experiencing an era of unprecedented change – in recent times at least. With the landscape evolving so quickly after such a sustained period of steady, it might seem difficult for companies of all sizes to diversify their risks. But in facing the future, there really is no time like the present.

BDO Charles Dewhurst is global head of natural resources at BDO. BDO provides public accounting, tax and advisory firms provide advisory services in over 150 countries, with almost 60,000 people working out of over 1300 offices worldwide.

For further information please visit: bdo.com

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schedule Right on

Allison McNulty on managing crude through refined products and using one integrated scheduling platform to achieve multiple business benefits

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Below Allison McNulty, Supply chain manager for AspenTech

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nformation is power – mastering dynamic information delivers a competitive edge.

Automated scheduling with refinerywide visibility helps to mobilise crude oil through production to refined products, enabling companies to optimise operational efficiency and maximise profitability.

As new feedstock becomes available on the market and petroleum supply chain complexity increases, having a comprehensive overview of the process is vital in today’s marketplace. Tracking crude and product movements from a single platform is necessary to master multiple events occurring within the refinery, via pipelines, dock operations down to ancillary terminals. With cutting-edge software, global refineries can now manage movements more effectively, reduce errors, save time and increase visibility within the refinery schedule.

Bridging the gap Scheduling bridges the gap between the monthly plan and daily operations. Where planning determines ‘what is to be done’ (i.e. what crude to buy and what products to make), scheduling determines ‘how and when’ products must be produced. Tankage and storage is not only expensive it is also frequently one of the biggest constraints within the supply chain. Hence, understanding where things are and being able to minimise holding costs is essential to maximise

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production. The challenge is being able to streamline the process and execute the plan as efficiently as possible.

Technology is a lifeline. The adoption of automated cutting-edge petroleum supply chain software extends the refinery scheduling capability beyond the refinery gate to include pipeline movements and dock operations. Refineries, therefore, can increase agility and perform all key scheduling activities within the same platform. The software helps to streamline production, respond quickly to disruptions, and improve inventory and transportation assets.

Tracking crude and product movements via pipelines Pipelines provide an economic method to transport petroleum, especially when huge volumes of petroleum derivatives have to be pumped across long distances. In practice, the pipelines are sectioned into many parts and require experienced operators to manage the oil transfer between different parts. In the US, for example, nearly twothirds of all petroleum products are carried by pipelines.

Usually, crude oil and refined products are transported via different lines. Therefore, managing the overall pipeline network presents many challenges.

Schedulers sit at the heart of the plant and a key part of their role is to accurately track incoming and outgoing movements via pipelines down to the ancillary terminals, enabling more accurate crude unit scheduling. Managing multiple and bi-directional pipeline segments with injection

IT

points and pipeline fill is a complex task. Dock scheduling is an equally complicated affair, especially trying to take all unassigned ships and assign each to a legal berth, as well as taking into account economic feasibility and the physical characteristics of both ships and berths. Managing the daily operation of a refinery, its pipeline and dock operations using Excel spreadsheets is now widely recognised as inadequate.

The use of traditional tools is an inefficient way of handling highly complex scenarios in the dynamics of today’s petroleum environment. Using such tools as Excel spreadsheets, costs are immediately incurred when essential information is delayed to schedulers. Dedicated advanced petroleum supply chain software, however, enables schedulers to optimise the process from crude feedstock to the refinery through production of refined products. Pipeline schedulers need the cutting-edge tools to schedule batch injections to and removals from the pipeline along with tank loading or unloading operations. Tracking movement in the pipeline and having up-to-date data on the status of the product movements to shippers and the refinery significantly helps optimise production.

longer time scales (medium to long-term) 66 Reduce demurrage costs by as much as $60,000 per day for a single supertanker 66 Easily manage incoming and outgoing shipments all the way down to the docks 66 Easily manage multiple and bi-directional pipeline segments with injection points and pipeline fill management 66 Track crude and product movements via pipelines 66 Manage in-transit inventory to assist material balance management outside the refinery fence, including ancillary terminals 66 Minimise wasteful man-hours by eliminating the need for inefficient spreadsheets and other external pipeline scheduling tools

One scheduling platform – greater accuracy and yield predictability

Visibility, volumes and value

Now refineries can schedule from a single platform - crude receipts through refined products shipments. Aspen Petroleum Scheduler (APS) software enables fast, accurate and collaborative creation of the refinery schedule with integration to refinery planning, blending, pipeline and dock operations. As an event-based, single-blend optimisation solution, the tool supports the scheduling of all refinery scheduling activities for over 45 per cent of global refineries.

Unlike traditional tools, a key advantage with the APS tool is that it provides greater accuracy and predictability for yields and product properties, allowing the scheduler to understand what is being made over longer time horizons. The scheduler can easily generate reports, giving greater visibility of the schedule, and reconcile data quickly when any changes may occur to the plan. It seamlessly integrates with Aspen PIMS planning software to achieve greater profitability through more accurate planning and scheduling. For optimised blending, Aspen Petroleum Scheduler also integrates with Aspen Refinery Multi-Blend Optimizer.

Over 200 refineries worldwide leverage the power of Aspen Petroleum Scheduler to manage refinery-wide schedules in a multi-user environment. The integrated software provides crucial benefits to schedulers, including the ability to: 66 Avoid disconnect between refinery operations, pipelines and dock operations 66 Eliminate product downgrades and unplanned blends 66 Predict yields and product properties accurately over

Automated petroleum supply chain software also helps schedulers anticipate issues before they occur and, in turn, enables better decision-making in the overall management of the refinery. Hence, transparency maximises profitability and dramatically improves the ability to meet customer demand.

Scheduling all activities from one platform provides greater visibility of the entire petroleum supply chain. Implementing an effective automated scheduling software solution improves co-ordination and results in increased margins.

A single standardised platform helps to optimise feedstock volumes, respond quickly to disruptions, and optimise inventory and transportation assets.

So, moving away from traditional tools is a major step to achieving a comprehensive refinery-wide view of the operation. By adopting automated scheduling software, refineries can gain a better understanding of feedstock management, efficiently schedule crude through refined products, and deliver optimal results across the entire petroleum supply chain.

AspenTech Allison McNulty is AspenTech’s petroleum supply chain manager for refinery planning & scheduling and she joined the company in 2011. She brings to AspenTech more than two decades of experience in technology and professional services marketing, product marketing and business development. Prior to joining AspenTech Allison led the marketing effort for supply and distribution management solutions at FuelQuest. She also held strategic marketing positions at SunGard and Hitachi Consulting, and has a Bachelors degree from Texas A&M University.

For further information please visit: aspentech.com

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News

Above: Henrik Adam, chief commercial officer of Tata Steel in Europe

More in the pipeline Tata Steel, Europe’s second largest steel producer, has celebrated the supply of one million tonnes of pipeline for oil and gas projects in the North Sea. Henrik Adam, chief commercial officer of Tata Steel in Europe, gave the opening address at a special event in Aberdeen, UK, in which he highlighted the company’s key achievements in the North Sea – including 88 projects completed in conjunction with 28 customers.

The event included presentations from Tata Steel representatives and guest speakers – including Subsea 7, Wood Group Kenny and Shell UK – who examined the challenges facing North Sea operators.

Richard Broughton, commercial manager of Tata Steel exploration and production, says: “Tata Steel has been providing solutions to the North Sea market for more than 21 years, culminating in one million tonnes and four million metres of welded pipe. In excess of half a million metres has been installed using reel lay construction methods. Over this period we are also proud to have invested over a quarter of a billion pounds in subcontracts for North Sea projects.

“It was fantastic to celebrate these achievements with our valued customers and partners in Aberdeen and also introduce our latest welded Subsea, Umbilicals, Risers and Flowlines (SURF) offering.”

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Above: Alexander MacLeod, owner and project services manager at Cambla

Game change technology Independent project services consultancy, Cambla, has announced the launch of its state-of-theart technology software, the Schedule Animation Tool (S.A.T), a first of its kind for the oil and gas industry.

The company will unveil its groundbreaking technology during Subsea Expo, which will take place between 11th-13th February 2015 at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre. The multi-user software has been developed to meet the needs of businesses operating within the subsea sector, significantly reducing man-hours and offering substantial cost savings.

S.A.T provides an accurate visual representation of a vessel’s actual location and planned activities, making it easier to understand Simultaneous Operations (SIMOPs), construction sequences and plan global subsea and marine operations.

Transforming the way that vessel schedules are analysed before, during and after performing subsea operations, the software is capable of identifying occasions when vessels are required to be in close proximity to other vessels or installations. In addition, it can generate a list of relevant SIMOPs or Close Approach Risk Assessments required to be carried out in advance.

Alexander MacLeod, owner and project services manager at Cambla, says: “This is a monumental step for Cambla and a game changer for the entire industry. The team has been dedicated to producing an innovative product that will benefit the oil and gas sector.”

Salaries under pressure According to Adam Burden, consultant at Hay Group, in the face of increasing uncertainty, employees in the oil and gas sector are likely to receive significantly lower increases in 2015 compared with previous years. After several years of high salary increases compared to the all industry average in Europe, companies are increasingly pessimistic heading into 2015. Across Europe, the average 2015 salary increase forecast for the sector is 2.3 per cent, which is below the all industry European average of 3.1 per cent.

After several years of high salary increases while companies competed for the scarce key technical talent they needed to grow, base salaries in the sector have increased significantly. On average in Europe, a senior professional in the sector receives 15 per cent more base salary than their peers across all industries and 25 per cent more in the UK. There are now real opportunities for organisations to take back control of their salary spend.

Before making any significant changes, companies should benchmark to fully understand the competitiveness of their pay packages and also find out what their employees value. Employee opinion surveys can provide insight into where savings could be made, such as changing or removing costly but unpopular benefits.

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Above: Topsides UK Launch: Gavin Esslemont, director of Aberdeen-based event organisers Xcite Media Ltd and commercial consultancy Xcite Oil and Gas, and Darren Ross (front) fellow director of Xcite Media Ltd by an RNLI vessel in Aberdeen

Top event

Europe’s first and only oil and gas event focusing solely on topsides installations is set to take place at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre (AECC) on 16th and 17th March 2016. Topsides UK will tackle some of the challenges facing the industry by shining a spotlight on the supply chain community to present opportunities for unlocking value from ageing topsides infrastructure in the North Sea. With an integrated conference arena and over 1000m2 of exhibition space, Topsides UK will give attendees a powerful opportunity to debate and interact directly on industry hot topics such as production enhancement, cost efficiencies, education and career progression.

Gavin Esslemont, director of Aberdeen based event organiser Xcite Media and commercial consultancy Xcite Oil and Gas, says: “We are continually made aware of the significant challenges facing the energy sector and particularly operators as they seek to recover remaining hydrocarbons with existing ageing assets. These challenges have resulted in ever-increasing costs over the last number of years meaning a less attractive proposition to potential investors. The supply chain supporting the industry is key to unlocking value by creating innovations that lead to enhanced production and cost efficiencies. Here in Aberdeen, we have a fantastic opportunity to bring everyone together to interact directly to discover and establish realistic opportunities for smarter working to the benefit of our economy – both in Aberdeen and further afield.”

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life Extending bearing

Dr Chris Carmody, special products manager at AESSEAL, looks at the need to eliminate oil bearing contamination

T

he reliability of most rotating equipment is almost inevitably linked directly to bearing life, and it is estimated bearing failure is responsible for almost 21 per cent of these equipment failures (Bloch, 2011). Research into bearing failures1 shows that just over half of these are a result of contamination of the bearing oil (Figure 1). Clearly it is therefore essential to ensure that contamination of the bearing lubricant is minimised and if possible eliminated if optimum bearing life is to be achieved, thereby improving the equipment reliability (MTBF).

Prevention of bearing lubricant contamination can be provided by use of commercially available bearing isolators (or ‘bearing protectors’), however, before applying such devices it is advisable that the user ensures that the protection device used does not itself adversely impact on the equipment reliability.

The use of labyrinth design bearing protection seals can eliminate bearing oil contamination. This is further demonstrated through the use of statistical modelling and analysis of field data such that a properly designed device will last at least as long as the theoretical life of the bearing it is protecting.

One of the significant contributors to bearing oil contamination is the bearing enclosure breathing process required by rotating equipment. When equipment rotates the bearing housing heats up and the oil/air mixture inside expands and this is forced through the seal (Figure 2). The real problem arises when the equipment cools because the oil/air mixture cools and contracts sucking air from the external atmosphere through the bearing seal back into the housing (Figure 3). If bearing seals are to work effectively they must facilitate this ‘breathing cycle’ in order to extend bearing life.

Figure 2: When the equipment rotates the bearing housing heats up and the oil/air mixture inside heats up forcing air through the seal

Figure 3: As the equipment cools the oil/air mixture contracts sucking air Figure 1: Causes of bearing failure1

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from the atmosphere through the bearing seal into the housing

Technology

The effect of water contamination on a continuous digester that was originally fitted with inadequate bearing protection is shown below (Figure 4). The moisture contained in the atmosphere was able to penetrate into the bearing housing. This was enough to destroy the bearings.

Independent research2,3 has shown that water contamination as low as 0.002 per cent (20ppm) in some oils can reduce bearing life by as much as 48 per cent. The challenge for maintenance and engineering professionals is to reduce this contamination and provide an effective method of sealing the space between the bearing housing and the drive shaft.

An alternative to lips seals are bearing protector seals. The design of bearing protectors varies significantly. Typically some of these bridge the gap between rotating and stationary components with an ‘O’ ring or wedge ring (Figure 6). These components often wear or don’t adequately effectively seal the bearing housing. As a consequence of this many of these designs are now viewed as outdated and ineffective.

Figure 6: Two different “generic” versions of bearing housing seals.

Styles with contact between O ring and sharp edge grooves are vulnerable, especially if rotors incorporate low clamping forces.

Some styles have high drag force between the rotating and stationary components

Labyrinth design Figure 4: Water contamination on a continuous digester prior to a LabTecta® 66 being installed

In recognition of these shortcomings, more advanced labyrinth bearing protection seals have been developed, which can offer dust tight protection against both solids and liquids and are also non-contacting in operation.

LabTecta 66 is one such labyrinth bearing protection seal that incorporates patented dynamic lift technology to protect against the ‘breathing’ issues that contribute to 52 per cent of all bearing failures5. This dynamic lift technology uses the centrifugal force of rotating equipment to open a temporary micro gap, allowing expansion of the oil air mixture in the bearing housing, which consequently allows the equipment to breathe (Figure 7).

Figure 5: Traditional lip seals cause damage to shafts

Early bearing protection design Historically the most common way of protecting bearings was to use a lip seal. Today however it is generally accepted that lip seals have limitations4 (due to inexpensive initial cost they continue to be widely applied). They also rely on surface contact between the seal lip and the shaft to form the seal. This surface contact often results in costly damage to the shaft itself (Figure 5). In addition, lip seals can’t fully protect the bearing from moisture or particle ingress, which ultimately results in bearing failure. Other factors to consider are that they have short service life compared to labyrinth seal designs, they cannot be used in API applications and they don’t prevent the loss of bearing oil and hence gradual loss of lubrication resulting in premature equipment failure.

Figure 7: Centrifugal force causes a temporary micro gap to be created allowing expansion of the oil air mixture in the bearing housing, allowing the equipment to breathe

When the equipment stops rotating the micro gap immediately closes, forming a perfect seal (Figure 8). This prevents dust and moisture being sucked back into the bearing housing and eliminates bearing oil contamination.

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Technology

Figure 8: When the equipment stops the micro gap immediately closes

Rated to IP66 of the ingress protection code, LabTecta 66 is capable of reducing water contamination of the bearing oil from as high as 83 per cent to just 0.0003 per cent compared to lip seals6, even when exposed to high pressure water jets. The range is ATEX certified for use in explosive environments and a number of special designs make it suitable for a wide and varied range of applications.

LabTecta 66 is also designed with a thinner cross section and seal length than competing devices, which means that it can be retrofitted on more equipment without having to carry out modifications. Furthermore, the design of the LabTecta 66 enables it to be positioned differently on the shaft meaning that shafts already damaged can be fitted with LabTecta 66 without replacing the shaft.

Life expectancy LabTecta 66 is a labyrinth bearing seal design that is noncontacting during operation. Once the seal starts to rotate centrifugal force acting on the dynamic o ring forces it outwards creating a micro gap and hence no wear can take place during rotation. Therefore, a carefully specified, properly installed and operated non-contacting labyrinth bearing protector can have an infinite life expectancy.

Year 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 (Aug)

Quantity Supplied 5182 11721 17714 14245 16925 20993 20132 13785

Number of Returns 5 1 5 10 8 7 6 10

Note: All reported failures were attributed to installation errors.

None of the instances were design or wear failures

Table 1 details the recorded LabTecta® 66 returns between January 2006 and September 2013 (note that the first occurrence was in June 2006).

A recent research paper7 produced by AESSEAL analysed the 120,000-plus LabTecta 66 products that had been supplied in the eight years since the product was launched.

During the period from January 2006 to September 2013

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only 52 of the 120,000 plus LabTecta 66 bearing protector seals were removed from service. After detailed examination, it was concluded that any abnormality was found to be operator based (such as mis-installation and lubricant overfilling) and that the failures were not actually attributable to the design of the product.

The research also conducted an accelerated life test with a stop start cycle of four times a day, which determined that the average LabTecta 66 life expectancy was over 10.5 years.

The paper also showed that by using an established statistical (WeiBayes) technique, the average life expectancy was also in excess of 10.5 years. However, because such statistical data can only be modelled with failure data, and as no LabTecta 66 has ever failed, the results have to be viewed as conservative.

With an average life expectancy of over 10.5 years a LabTecta 66 bearing protector seal has been proven to be the most effective way of protecting and extending the life of the bearing fluid and hence the bearing itself. The cost of this kind of protection is minute compared to equipment failures, machine downtime, lost production and more onerous maintenance requirements that are caused by premature bearing failure.

The real life examples of LabTecta 66 in service today show that such upgrades can have payback periods of as little as one month. Even in the arduous moisture laden environments frequently found in pulp paper manufacture, LabTecta 66 has the longevity that both experimental and statistical data suggests.

1.Bloch, Heinz; “Pump Users Handbook: Life Extension” 2011 2.Schatzberg and Flsen 1983, “Effects of Water and Oxygen During Rolling Contact Lubrication”, Wear, Volume 12, 1968, pp. 331-342.

3.Cantley 1977 “The Effect of Water in Lubricating Oil on Bearing Fatigue Life”, ASLE Transactions, Volume 20, No. 3.

4.Heinz Bloch, “Rotating Seals or lip seals” Plant Engineering July/August 2014 5.Heinz Bloch and A. Budis. Pump Users Handbook: Life Extension 2nd Edition 2006 6.AESSEAL Internal Test Results 7.C. Carmody and C Rea. “Predicting product life expectancy of the LabTecta bearing protector” Sealing Technology, August 2014

aesseal Dr. Chris Carmody has 25 years of experience in the design of mechanical seals and is a named inventor on many AESSEAL product designs.

In addition to his responsibilities at AESSEAL he also sits on several different bodies including the API692 Compressor Dry Gas Seal Committee.

For further information please visit: aesseal.com

clean Keep it

The importance of maintaining hygiene practices offshore: infection prevention and pest control

I

n this article Dr Peter Barratt, technical manager, Initial Washroom Hygiene, discusses how managers can look to maintain the highest hygiene standards on an offshore rig and prevent the spread of illness with some simple, practical top tips. David Lamont, offshore and marine specialist, Rentokil Pest Control, also provides some information on which pests can be found on rigs, and what can be done to prevent them from setting up home on yours Working conditions in an offshore environment can be challenging. Employers in this sector must adhere to some of the toughest industrial health and safety regulations in the world. Moreover, they are faced with the added challenge of creating an environment that will attract and retain employees with the right skills.

Protecting employees from illness Professional hygiene practices play an important role in maintaining safe and appealing conditions for staff on offshore sites. Not only do they ensure a happier workforce, but also they limit the spread of infections in the enclosed environment of a rig where there may be high-risks of crosscontamination if proper hygiene practices are not followed.

A healthy workforce means less disruption to the day-today running of a business, particularly offshore, where staff replacements cannot necessarily be easily or quickly brought in. A report conducted by the Centre of Economic and Business Research (CEBR) on behalf of Initial Washroom Hygiene, showed that illness caused by a lack of proper hygiene costs the UK economy £13.7 billion per year, equating to £700 per employee.

It is vital that businesses and staff have effective hygiene standards in place, to reduce the chances of colds, flu and other illnesses disrupting the workforce. Oil and gas rig workers become increasingly vulnerable to illnesses in the winter months, as temperature extremes coupled with the

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high density of people confined to a small space increases the chance of infection.

Contagious infections, such as Norovirus and the common cold, are often passed from person to person through indirect contact; for example via an infected person’s environment or personal belongings.

Encourage good hygiene practices on your rig Good hygiene maintenance applies to all sections of an offshore premise, from washrooms and kitchen areas, to work spaces and storage units. But there are certain risk hotspots in the washroom and canteen area where employees can pick up germs from contaminated surfaces, including toilet seats, flush and cubicle handles, and even the buttons and handles associated with canteen equipment.

Norovirus and bacteria such as coliforms and Campylobacter can be found in these areas, both of which can cause

HSE

gastric ailments. However, the spread of infection can be significantly minimised by encouraging proper and regular hand washing, and the use of hand and surface sanitisers along with regular and thorough cleaning of the washrooms.

Door handles between rooms and entrance areas can harbour bacteria, which can be transferred from surface to hand. Skin infections, food poisoning and respiratory diseases can all be contracted from touching these surfaces.

To counteract this, managers are encouraged to provide hand and surface sanitiser dispensers in all rooms to help kill germs and prevent the spread of infection. Good hand washing and, just as importantly, effective hand drying products, will always help to minimise the risk of infection.

Bad odours can also be a symptom of a confined environment, and are often related to bacterial activity.

The corridors in between workstations, kitchen and living areas including the gym and activity rooms, can harbour

unpleasant smells. Air disinfection and scenting products can help to control, minimise and mask aromas that might derive from malodour-producing bacteria. There are many different scents available and using a scenting unit could make the environment far more pleasant for those that work on the rig. Air disinfection units, which can be installed on walls, will also help reduce airborne microorganisms.

Strict hygiene practices should always be encouraged in the kitchen and catering facilities. Food preparation surfaces in kitchens can become home to pathenogenic strains of bacteria and viruses, such as Listeria and Norovirus. These could be transmitted from surface to hand, hand to mouth or by infected food, and can lead to illnesses from low-level intestinal infections, to more serious and debilitating illnesses such as urinary tract infections.

Here are eight top tips that can be introduced in the washroom in order to maintain high hygiene standards:

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1. D O: Ensure hand sanitisers are always available for employees and visitors to the rig. Non-alcoholic sanitisers, like Initial’s UltraProtect, are generally the most effective at protecting against a wide range of bacteria and viruses, including Campylobacter and Norovirus, and form a gentle, long-lasting and invisible barrier across hands, inactivating for hours after use.

O: Install air disinfection units in washroom facilities 2. D and other busy indoor environments. They help reduce harmful airborne microorganisms and odours, while scenting products will help mask low levels of malodour and positively enhance washroom ambience.

O: Promote good hand hygiene amongst employees 3. D by encouraging regular and thorough hand washing throughout the day and between shifts. Fingertips and thumbs are often missed, according to research, and it is recommended that you should wash your hands for as long as it takes to sing happy birthday twice (up to 30 seconds). Thorough hand washing helps to reduce and remove potentially harmful bacteria and viruses.

O: Schedule a professional deep clean in the washroom 4. D and kitchen at least twice a year. This helps to remove any contamination and prevent the build-up of hidden

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embedded dirt and associated microorganisms. High footfall makes corridors and common areas particular germ hotspots, so concentrate cleaning efforts in these areas.

O: Minimise your use of handles in the washroom 5. D to prevent the spread of germs. Touch-free sensors can now routinely be used for taps, soap dispensers and hand dryers, so limiting what employees touch in the washroom can dramatically reduce the risk of bacteria spreading.

ON'T: Install hot air hand-dryers as modern cool air 6. D dryers use much less power than conventional hot air ones, are more cost efficient and help reduce your carbon footprint. Their high air speed also dries hands quickly, eliminating damp hands that are attractive to bacteria.

ON'T: Forget to ensure communal areas such as 7. D washrooms are cleaned thoroughly and regularly. It goes without saying that your workforce will be happier if their facilities are pleasant to be in and they’re not exposed to harmful germs.

ON'T: Miss those critical areas outside washrooms which 8. D can be hot spots for microbial cross-contamination. Tea,

HSE

Offshore hygiene should be high on the installation manager’s agenda. Not only will it make the rig a more pleasant and enjoyable place to work, but also it will positively affect the health of all employees and improve the financial performance of the business as a consequence

marks, droppings, a strong ammonia smell, damage, ripped food packaging, nests and burrows. For unwelcome visitors in sleeping areas, such as bed begs you should look out for small, dark marks on bed frames, headboards and mattresses and a distinctive sickly sweet smell.

When a pest problem is suspected onboard a rig or marine vessel, expert pest control help should be sought quickly.

The first step a pest control technician will take will be to undertake a thorough inspection and survey of the entire vessel to establish the level of infestation and the locations of main pest activity. Once these details have been investigated then the appropriate treatment can be advised, and very often can be carried out with minimal disruption to onboard personnel and business activity.

It is worth remembering that the majority of pests can carry bacteria and viruses that can pose a serious health risk to humans. It is therefore advisable that, following a pest outbreak on board, a thorough disinfection service is undertaken to reduce the risk of the illnesses associated with pest infestations.

Concluding remarks

coffee and food preparation areas are frequently and wrongly ignored from a hygiene perspective. Make sure that surface sanitising wipes are present, and that where there are sinks as well, both soap and paper towels are provided and managed.

Dealing with unwanted pests offshore An offshore installation or marine vessel can easily harbour unwanted visitors such as bed bugs, cockroaches, mosquitoes, flies, fleas and even rodents. These may enter a vessel directly via access points such as portholes, ramps and hawsers, or come on board with cargo, food deliveries or on the personnel themselves.

Such infestations can quickly spread through any rig, so detection and eradication of pests at the earliest possible stage is essential. Discovering a pest on board is, at best, an unpleasant experience and, at worst, a major health and safety issue. Once a foothold has been gained, it is important to not only treat the infestation but also to investigate the source of entry to ensure any future pest problems can be mitigated.

The first sign of a pest problem varies by species; cockroaches are one of the most common offshore and marine pests. Evidence of an infestation includes droppings, damage to foodstuff, live and dead insects and cast skins.

The telltale signs that rodents are present include smear

Offshore hygiene should be high on the installation manager’s agenda. Not only will it make the rig a more pleasant and enjoyable place to work, but also it will positively affect the health of all employees and improve the financial performance of the business as a consequence. If you have a pest problem, or are simply looking to prevent one, it’s important that you know who to contact. It is the job of external contractors to be fully up-to-speed on the latest legislation changes in their area of expertise.

Initial Washroom Hygiene Dr Peter Barratt is technical manager at Initial Washroom Hygiene, a leading provider of support services including washroom servicing, medical and clinical waste management and floor care services. Since 1903 the business has built a large national network of core support services that allows it to combine them into a single solution.

For further information please visit: initial.co.uk/washroom-services/

Rentokil Pest Control David Lamont is offshore and marine specialist at Rentokil Pest Control, a leading expert in pest control. For 85 years the business has been protecting homes and businesses across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland from all kinds of pests.

For further information please visit: rentokil.co.uk

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supplier Distinguished

Since

Global Marine Systems Limited was last featured in European Oil & Gas Magazine during January 2014, it has continued to strengthen its position as a leading supplier of specialist subsea cable installation, and it has also witnessed exciting developments that will allow the business to further define its place as the premier subsea cable installation solution throughout 2015 and beyond.

The roots of the company date back to the 1850s, giving Global Marine a 160-year history that ranks it as one of the longest serving organisations in the subsea cable installation market. During this time it has distinguished itself through the execution of a number of industry firsts, including the delivery of a contract for Uninett – a non-profit that supports Arctic Circle research institutions with highspeed networks. The new networks delivered during 2014 provided network support to the Ny-Ålesund research station, which is the world’s most northerly research community.

Indeed, Global Marine has nurtured a proven track record in cable installation across a number of applications both within and outside of the oil and gas industry, as CEO, Ian Douglas elaborates: “In reality 2014 was a great year for us from an operational perspective. We had a number of projects, three of which were quite large and that was an opportunity to showcase our skill in the installation of cables in telecoms, oil and gas, and through a charter to our JV company, SBSS in offshore power. So for me it was a great example of how the future looks, with our main activities being diversified across these three markets.”

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Following a highly successful year on an operational level, 2014 also proved to be a landmark year for the company when it was announced in September that the business had been purchased by the New York listed investment fund, HC2. The acquisition of Global Marine by HC2 is a reflection of the focus that has gone into growing the business over the last decade and a strong indicator of confidence surrounding the company.

The acquisition has been warmly welcomed by the Global Marine team and lent the company even greater resources with which to maintain its leading position as the premier name in subsea cable installation. “The purchase

by HC2 has been very good for us,” Ian adds: “It has given us a very long-term view of the world and also a lot of stability, which has been great. It is an investor group that is committed to buying and growing businesses, which is of great benefit to us as a capital-intensive business. It is important to have a shareholder that is committed to supporting us.” As such, Global Marine is in a firm position to execute new projects and grow the business heading into 2015, as Ian continues: “We have a strong pipeline of upcoming work in both installation and maintenance in the North Sea, West Africa and East Asia, and this gives us a strong commitment to strengthening our team. We increased our headcount by around ten per cent during 2014; most notably this was around strengthening our solutions development and project engineering capability, i.e: the people who actually go out and design the solution both before contract award and who then actually put

PROFILE

together the detailed engineering once we have won the contract.”

In addition to its own success in delivering groundbreaking services on a turnkey basis, ranging from design and planning through to installation and finally lifetime support and maintenance, Global Marine is also a jointventure partner to some of the largest players in the offshore and telecoms industries. For example, during November 2014 Global Marine and Huawei Marine undertook successful sea trials of second-generation RPT 1660 R2 Repeater and BU 1650 R2 Branching units in the Atlantic Ocean. The new RPT 1660 R2 provides an optical loop back facility for performance monitoring and accurate fault location. The upgraded product supports up to six fibre pairs and incorporates a unique 4x4 pump redundancy architecture, further enhancing reliability and performance parameters. The BU 1650 R2 enables fibre pairs to be routed to multiple destinations in a submarine communications system either through direct routing of fibres or through an optical add-drop function, which facilitates sharing of bandwidth. Multiple terminals can be connected supporting up to eight fibre pairs from each port. A new bipolar power supply and power switching function provides the necessary configuration options during system operations and maintenance, which enables the Branching Unit to function even when cable faults occur.

Such functionality is further enhanced with a dual polarity remote earthing design providing additional system powering flexibility.

Further to the RPT 1660 R2 Repeater and BU 1650 R2 Branching units, Global Marine has recently achieved another industry first with the introduction of the first digital submarine cable x-ray Camera, DXr1 developed in conjunction with leading UK radiography company, JME. This digital x-ray camera will supersede traditional film based cameras and eliminate wet chemical processing. The camera itself retains a rugged design while incorporating fully digital technology, which reduces equipment repair time by eliminating the film processing stage and allowing image assessment to commence as soon as the first image is available. The digital images are stored in a dedicated folder on the vessel server, and are immediately available to the assessor to assess them with special software incorporating a range of drop-down tools such as wall-thickness and inclusion gauges.

Global Marine Systems

Digitalisation and the deployment of fibre optic infrastructure is an increasingly important development within the offshore oil and gas industry. The ability to transmit data quickly and efficiently is of growing interest to operators looking to enhance their operations and reduce operating costs. Within the North Sea for example, Tampnet selected Global Marine during 2014 to extend its offshore fibre network.

“We discovered in telecom that when we were able to increase capacity and install fibre cable, it is possible to give people a very large internet ‘pipe’ if you like and people will find a way to use this additional capacity,” Ian concludes.

“Operators are able to take data from the well in real-time and send it to people in Houston, Stavanger and Aberdeen, for example, and this means that you do not need as many people out on the platform. Another thing that is very interesting, which is happening in the North Sea with Tampnet is that they are using the platforms as hubs for mobile networks, so when your support vessel comes into the field you can give it a 4G data card that allows it to become part of a private wireless network. We will continue to support various activities across the industry, particularly as people start to realise the capacities and the efficiencies that digital communications can bring, and then to leverage those benefits to make fields more efficient.”

European oil & gas

Global Marine has nurtured a proven track record in cable installation across a number of applications both within and outside of the oil and gas industry

Global Marine Systems globalmarinesystems.com

Services Subsea cable installation

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PROFILE

InterOil Corporation

potential Unlimited

Formed in 1997

by Phil Mulacek to establish an oil refinery in Papua New Guinea, independent oil and gas business InterOil Corporation today is focused on high-value exploration and LNG development. A year after its inception the company acquired its first exploration licences in Papua New Guinea and drilled its first exploration well in 1999; four years later the first crude oil was refined, a development that was followed by the discovery of Triceratops in 2005, Elk in 2006 and Antelope in 2007. In 2009 the successful firm was listed on the New York stock exchange and in 2013, in line with plans to transform InterOil Corporation into a well funded, streamlined organisation, Dr Michael Hession, a former BP and Woodside executive, was appointed CEO. Continuously exploring for oil and gas across 16,000km2 (four million acres) in the south of PNG, the company discovered Raptor and then Bobcat, its fifth consecutive discovery, in 2014.

Following these major developments, the company made the strategic decision to stabilise

its business, monetise its gas resources and invest in new growth through its PNG exploration licenses, which were granted in March 2014, last up to 11 years and cover 16,000km2 in the Eastern Papuan basin; a move that led to the selling of its refinery and downstream business, a new management team and board renewal.

With its vision in place, the company signed a

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PROFILE

NauticAWT At NauticAWT we offer fit for purpose technical greenfield development services and brownfield enhancement and extension solutions.

We undertake a wide range of technical consulting and contracting work streams in the areas of geoscience and subsurface engineering, well design, well completions and well interventions, engineering design of structures and pipelines, reassessment and requalification of aging subsea structures, design of offshore topside modules and facilities engineering as well as manufacturing Ultra High Performance Cementitious (UHPC) materials.

We have a global reach of 11 offices across Australasia, the Middle East, and Latin America with more than 200 personnel creating innovative and optimised energy solutions that continuously set new benchmarks and maximise the potential of our clients’ assets.

multi-billion dollar LNG development deal with Total in December 2013 and appointed Don Spector and Jon Ozturgut as CFO and COO respectively. Jon is a senior oil and gas executive with comprehensive experience in multi-billion dollar investments in exploration, development and production projects, while Don brings experience in senior roles in Woodside, BP and CRA, which has since been renamed Rio Tinto.

On top of these appointments, the company’s board was complemented further with the inclusion of industry veteran Chris Finlayson, who became chairman in August 2014. As a geologist, physicist and petroleum engineer, Chris brings to the company nearly four decades of global experience in leading exploration and production ventures in locations such as Russia, Nigeria and the North Sea; he also boasts 15 years senior level experience in the LNG industry. Also strengthening the board are Dr Ellis Armstrong and Katherine Hirschfeld, two former BP executives, who join Ford Nicholson, president of Kepsis and Pobe financial group, Samuel L Delcamp, former executive director and chief investment officer of the Fuller Foundation, Sir Wilson Kamit, former governer of the bank of Papua New Guinea; Roger Lewis, former group financial controller of Woodside Energy and Sir Rabbie Namaliu, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister from 1988 to 1992.

In February 2014 Oil Search joined the Elk-

InterOil Corporation

Antelope joint venture, with Total closing the deal in March 2014; so far this partnership has progressed positively, with the companies involved using their expertise to ensure optimum development and exploration, as vice president of InterOil Corporation Rob Milhouse discusses: “InterOil is well placed as an

exploration and development company. We have one of the region’s biggest gas fields and great partners in Total, a global super-major, and Oil Search, a partner in PNG’s only LNG project so far that has been active in PNG for more than 80 years. For the Elk-Antelope joint venture we are currently working on market surveys, LNG site screening, meteorological and ocean analysis, European oil & gas

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PROFILE

geophysics, topography, and environmental and social studies as part of development planning for the LNG development. The venture expects to select a preferred site for the LNG facilities in 2015, with early works in 2016, and for us to commit to construction contracts in 2017. First gas is expected in 2021-22.

“Our primary focus is on developing the ElkAntelope LNG project with Total and Oil Search.

According to some analysts, Elk-Antelope has the potential to be among the lowest-cost LNG projects in the world. PNG is on the doorstep of the world’s largest LNG markets in Asia and has demonstrated it can deliver mega projects ahead of schedule and on budget.”

With more than 500 personnel working on the Elk-Antelope LNG project, InterOil notes that the gas field provides a number of advantages to those involved: “Elk-Antelope is closer to infrastructure than any other developed gas field in the country, is close to a major river - an important cost benefit when transporting

InterOil Corporation

people and equipment to remote areas – and is in a less-mountainous region than other major gas fields, which is a big factor in development cost. Furthermore, it is a single gas field that can

be developed without the expense of pipelines and processing facilities to collect gas from multiple fields.”

Operating in a region that will lead global gas demand by 2025 and have the largest amount of middle class people in the world by 2030, InterOil Corporation is in an enviable position as a limited supply of conventional gas creates dependence on the import of European oil & gas

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PROFILE

InterOil Corporation

LNG. To meet that demand the company has a comprehensive drilling campaign that has yielded the Raptor discovery, 12km west of Elk-Antelope. It has been drilled to a measured depth of 4032 metres below the rig rotary table and was recorded to have gas and condensate at surface in November 2014.

Following this discovery, the company notified the Papua New Guinea Department of Petroleum and Energy of a discovery at Bobcat, about 30km north-west of Elk-Antelope. “The Raptor discovery is promising, particularly as it is close to Elk-Antelope. Appraisal of the field is planned for the second half of 2015. Depending on its size, the field could be tied in to ElkAntelope,” says Rob. Benefiting from a new team, secure tenure, strong financial backing and increased interest from investors, the company is keen to monetise its resources and secure its future through further exploration. Committed to its mission of being a world-class organisation with world-class resources, InterOil Corporation will focus on optimising operations and continuing the largest exploration and appraisal drilling programme

InterOil Corporation will focus on optimising operations and continuing the largest exploration and appraisal drilling programme ever to be conducted in Papua New Guinea

ever to be conducted in Papua New Guinea, as Rob concludes: “We have a premium position in the highly prospective Papua Basin, where we have drilled five consecutive discoveries. This puts us in an enviable position. Our focus over the next year is on developing Elk-Antelope; we will also explore our licences and look to monetise discoveries.”

InterOil Corporation interoil.com

Services Developer of oil and gas fields

HELIX OPERATIONS LIMITED Helifix Operations has established a strong market presence in PNG’s mining, resources and construction sectors as a supplier of first class aviation support since 1997.

Since 2013 Helifix has been contracted to Interoil to supply both rotory and fixed wing support for their PNG Operation. During this time Helifix has flown in excess of 15,000 hours, transported over 18,000 personnel and carried over 11,000 underslung loads all without accident or serious incident.

As well as Interoil, the company has forged relationships with many of the world’s leading mining, resources and exploration companies including ExxonMobil, Saipem, ENI, Xstrata, and Harmony Exploration to name but a few.

Helifix Operations is now a market leader in aviation services and has differentiated itself from other competitors by adding value to its contracts. The company has an effective, highly focused team providing first class support, assisting site managers to maintain a high level of efficiency and low cost of production using Helifix Operations.

Helifix is approved for flight operations under CAR Part 119. Helifix has CASA Air Operators Certificate No.026/119 and from PNG Transport Department Air Service Lic No.PNG151. Helifix is also BARS accredited and provides comprehensive aviation solutions to industry and governments through a wide variety of operational roles, including: S Oil & Gas industry support - offshore and onshore S Mining industry support S Heli-rig - oil and mineral exploration S Seismic surveys S Special mission support S Medical evacuation - including search and rescue S Passenger transport - VIP and general S Ship to shore transfers S Aerial construction work The diverse nature of the company’s many clients’ needs is matched by the equally diverse range of skills, experience and aircraft configurations it can provide.

No matter how large or small or how unique the task, Helifix has a proven track record of delivering unique aviation solutions in a safe, efficient and cost effective manner.

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PROFILE

Advanced Actuators

market An eye on the

Advanced Actuators started

Below Chris Woodhead, managing director Advanced Actuators

business in 1999 in Bradford West Yorkshire, evolving from a company known as Elram International Actuators Limited. In 2005 the business moved to a purpose-built factory outside the town of Skipton, and since that time has focused its efforts on manufacturing a range of electro-hydraulic actuators used primarily for valve controls in the oil and gas, water and power generation markets.

As Chris Woodhead, managing director explained, its products come in a number of guises from linear modulating units to quarter turn actuators for ball and butterfly control.

“With our specialist team of design engineers we also get involved with unusual applications, for instance radio controlling a Chieftain tank for the British Army,” he added. “Hydraulic actuators lend themselves to applications of high thrust or torque requirements, fast speeds or a high degree of positional accuracy, and we address all these with our actuator range.”

The company was last featured in European Oil & Gas Magazine during March 2011, and since that time it has seen several significant developments. Said Chris: “One example of this was the need to establish a general manager for the Middle East, as this is a huge market for valves and actuators, primarily to be used in the oil and gas sector.

“We had tried breaking in to this market at ‘arms length’ by visiting from the UK every four months but this proved to be unsatisfactory, as

even though we were seeing great interest in the product we were not offering support for what is a niche market, where the workings of these products is not well understood. Having studied how our customers cover the region and canvassed their thoughts, it became imperative that we had a general manager based out there, and as a result we appointed Alistair Carson as our Middle East general manager.”

He added: “There are a number of large projects under review in the Middle East at present that we would like to be involved with, and also one of Alistair’s key tasks is strongly pursuing end user approval. Middle Eastern clients require that you have end user approval to do business with them, so this is at the top of the agenda.”

As well as the Middle East, Advanced Actuators is currently involved in new projects in Brazil, and the projects in both countries are on oil or gas field developments, both on and offshore. “In the majority of cases the applications are on choke valves,” said Chris.

“The actuator types being built for these projects are our linear modulating control version and our stepping type actuator. We have also expanded into the Indian and Far East sectors, and our end users include blue-chip names such as Koso, Cameron, Weir, ADMA, Petronas, Petrobras and Statoil.”

Alongside the expansion that Chris highlighted in the Middle East, Advanced Actuators is also growing in the UK, currently European oil & gas

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PROFILE

Advanced Actuators

The Chancellor was ‘hugely impressed’ with the business and our investment in apprentices and the future generations of engineers

being in the process of enlarging the factory by a further 350 sqm. Such has been its success over the past three years that in 2014 Chancellor George Osborne heralded this factory as an example of the national recovery in manufacturing following a visit. “The Chancellor was ‘hugely impressed’ with the business and our investment in apprentices and the future generations of engineers,” stated Chris. “He was shown the depth of innovation taking place within the company, from actuators that have an output torque of over 1.2 million Newton meters to linear actuators that develop 2500kg of thrust from a total power consumption of 50 watts.”

He continued: “In September 2014 we also showed our commitment to developing the future of hydraulic engineering by partnering with the University of Bradford on a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) to employ a graduate on a two year, part-funded government project.” KTP is a national programme supporting UK businesses to innovate and grow by partnering with UK universities and colleges to gain access to the technology, expertise and skills available. “As part of this Evangelia Tsasliagkou has been hired as a mechatronics development engineer to work on the design and prototyping of power generators for remote valve actuation,” Chris added.

This project perfectly illustrates Advanced

Actuators’ dedication to the development of staff, and to ensuring that as the business grows it can continue to find skilled and valuable employees.

“Even though we are not a large company, we have a policy of encouraging young people to look at engineering as a career. Without more students becoming part of engineering, our manufacturing base will go into further decline, and so we are doing what we can to avert this,” Chris stated.

Thanks to its growing order books and new projects in the Middle East, Advanced Actuators is set to achieve 40 per cent growth in 2015.

Chris highlighted what he believes are the key strengths of the company: “Innovation and standardisation are the two key words I would use. We have taken a product that normally sold in quantities of four to ten and standardised it such that we can bulk purchase and compete for quantities of 100 plus. Furthermore, we are constantly looking to see how we can improve what we do whether by design of the product or how we assemble and test the units.”

As we enter 2015 and oil prices continue to decline, Chris and his team at Advanced Actuators are keeping their eye on the market, to ensure that they can meet the future needs of clients. “Even with the oil price heading down on what seems to be a never ending spiral and a number of major players trimming budgets for 2015, from where we stand and for what we want and can offer, the market is still strong,” Chris confirmed, adding: “Even though politics is denying or preventing business with countries such as Russia or Iran at the moment, at some stage these policies will change. Both these locations have huge oil and gas reserves, as well as Russia being a major player in coal mining. So for the longer term we must be prepared to be ready to enter into these markets as well.”

European oil & gas

Eckart GmbH Eckart is an innovative and dynamic mechanical engineering company providing solutions for limited rotating movements and combined rotary - linear movements. As one of the leading manufacturers worldwide, Eckart develops, designs and manufactures valve actuators, rotary actuators, rotary-linear combinations, linear cylinders and special equipment.

With more than 45 years of experience, the Eckart name stands for innovation, reliability and success.

Advanced Actuators is an official representative for Eckart products.

Advanced Actuators adcomtec.co.uk

Services Electro-hydraulic actuators

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concepts Refreshing

January 2014

saw the birth of Evoqua Water Technologies following the sale of Siemens Water Technologies to the investment organisation AEA. “We are a global organisation with 170 locations across the world, employing more than 4000 people,” says Darren Dale, Sales and Marketing Director. The company actually has a very long history in the water treatment market, with the Wallace & Tiernan systems brand name being synonymous with disinfection for over 100 years, whilst its Electrocatalytic brand has been accepted in the power and marine markets for over 50 years.

“Through the Electrocatalytic brand Evoqua supplies the oil and gas industry with our industry standard Chloropac® system, providing the most effective, environmentally safe method of preventing biological marine fouling, using technically superior equipment for energy efficient and reliable long-term plant operation,” highlights Darren, continuing: “The perpetual growth of sea life (marine fouling) within a platform’s or floating vessel’s cooling systems can have a high cost, which is often overlooked, not to mention the shortened life of equipment affected by corrosion caused by marine fouling.

Marine fouling can restrict cooling flow in pipe runs and certainly reduces heat transfer rates across the heat exchangers and condensers

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thereby reducing the efficiency of the system and potentially even increasing fuel consumption.”

The Chloropac® system treats the water system by producing and injecting a sodium hypochlorite seawater solution in to the main water cooling flow to provide a hostile habitat in which organic life cannot thrive. “The Chloropac® system assures that marine growth is not only prevented, but can clean previously fouled equipment due to fitting ineffective alternative treatments and thereby restoring the efficiency of heat transfer,” explains Darren. The Chloropac® system has for over 40 years been of great interest to the marine market, with over 3000 installations globally.

“Currently there is a pressing interest from the Shipping industry in reliable Ballast Water treatment solutions that will met the stringent requirements of the US Coast Guard. We have submitted our SeaCURE™ ballast water treatment system for US Coast Guard testing, which will commence shortly and this is expected to be concluded in the summer of 2015. These tests will take place at US Coast Guard approved laboratories, located within the United States for all three required salinities, including fresh water. The SeaCURE™ utilizes some patented features to enhance reliable operation and has the Chloropac® technology at it’s core. First the ballast seawater is filtered before injecting generated hypochlorite (from seawater) back into the ballast line at a consistent and repeatable level, which can be monitored and recorded. The SeaCURE™ design allows the system to be used in a dual purpose mode for marine growth prevention to provide some return on investment on equipment that is otherwise fitted for regulatory compliance.” explains Darren. The SeaCURE™ system is available as a compact skid or as modular components depending on customer requirements for installation in new builds and existing ships. “We are also seeing our clients request a standardised container approach,” he says, adding: “The system is particularly well-suited for retrofit installations because hypochlorite generation takes place in a small side seawater stream from the ballast water main to minimise footprint. The side stream generation method offers advantages for installation on tankers because the modules can be placed in a way that only the filter and analysers are installed in the hazardous area of the pump room, while the main parts of the system remain in a safe area.”

PROFILE

To complete the company’s portfolio for the Shipping industry the CAPAC® System (impressed current cathodic protection) for cathodic protection of ship hulls from biological growth and corrosion from attacking the submerged surfaces of a broad range of seagoing vessels and fixed or mobile offshore structures. “Our CAPAC® systems are the ultimate long-term solution to corrosion problems, and are recognised as a superior alternative to sacrificial anode systems, which require frequent replacement. The systems are preferred by ship owners because they reduce fuel cost and work by supplying a controlled amount of DC current to submerged surfaces, using durable long life platinum anodes with a 25 year life.” explains Darren.

Evoqua Water Technologies

Understanding the many challenges that owners can face to meet legislation in an uncertain market, Evoqua has optimised its solutions to customer requirements. Current market conditions pose great opportunities, as well as challenges that need smarter solutions, as Darren highlights: “Notably, the recent dramatic drop in oil prices can increase the pressure on our customers to demonstrate best value. Our flexibility as a business to offer a range of upgrade services and certified engineers to go on to the offshore installations, we are able to help owners continue their operations without the immediate requirement for capital investment and demonstrates a willingness to work in partnership.”

As a global organisation, Evoqua relies on its vast network to support the product lines, and its experience within the oil & gas and marine markets to deliver the right solution its customers.

“Through our engineered solutions that provide technologically sound products to the market, we aim to continue to meet the requirements of our customers, increasing the speed and precision of our service,” concludes Darren.

European oil & gas

The systems are preferred by ship owners because they reduce fuel cost and work by supplying a controlled amount of DC current to submerged surfaces, using durable long life platinum anodes with a 25 year life

Evoqua Water Technologies Ltd evoqua.com

Services Water treatment

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PROFILE

TME Hydraulics

specialist An established

Having built upon a reputation for providing bespoke services to local companies, TMA Hydraulics has become an established hydraulic specialist, employing technicians and engineers capable of undertaking some of the most challenging hydraulic projects and installations for the oil and gas industry.

“We offer both local services in engineering, as well as more specific hydraulic systems. The biggest investment for us as a young company has been into people and skills, taking our time to build a team to accelerate the business within the oil and gas market,” begins Frederic Besse, general manager. Over the last 18 months the company has continued to evolve to meet the needs of customers and the marketplace.

“Clients are now more aware of the importance of hydraulic piping in the scheme of their overall system performance, and as we take on larger builds of hydraulic power units, we have further increased our engineering and design capacity,” adds Angela Cameron, sales and marketing executive.

The provision of detailed pipe route modelling and installation plans in advance, increases the initial engineering time, but substantially reduces the overall cost saving and reduced time on-location. “By undertaking this work before ordering fixed components such as manifolds and filter housings it is possible to identify and eliminate common problems such as irregular size steps and minimise the use of tees and elbows. When the high specification

of materials and high pressure rating of hydraulic lines are considered, it is possible to save £10,000’s on large installations through collaborative engineering between the hydraulic installer and the equipment design company,” points out Angela.

Reinvestment of funds into the business forms part of a key strategy that has helped TME grow within the market. Commenting, Angela continues: “We are improving and expanding our hydraulic installation service through our partnership with Tube-Mac Industries, as an authorised installer of the weld-free pipe connection technology. Investment in an EO2 Form F3 Workstation for standard DIN2353 connections was also a logical step. The use of weld free connectors for offshore applications is becoming the norm, although the UK still lags behind other regions in the full adoption of some of these technologies.”

The system is very well suited for hydraulic systems, not simply through the elimination of weld-associated debris but also the speed of installation. As a product suited to large bore pipe, the oil and gas industry is an obvious candidate to benefit from it. “It takes time and cost out of projects, as well as eliminating hot works permits, NDT testing on wells, and well procedure approval. It is very universal and compatible with SAE flanges, allowing it to be connected with any other type of system,” says Angela. TME was recently involved in a project installing stainless steel hydraulic pipes of up to European oil & gas

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PROFILE

TME Hydraulics

2”diameter with 37o flare technology. “We were able to demonstrate to the operator that should the need arise the pipes formed and installed by TME could be connected to any corresponding SAE flange without the need to stock special parts,” explains Frederic.

“People are beginning to notice the benefits of our systems. If you can take hot works out of jobs, and reduce risks and hazards on any kind of working, then people become interested and we are seeing more companies using us,” highlights Angela. The reality is that Tube-Mac, has been proven for a number of years in the US and Norway, receiving DNV and Lloyds approval. “It is an established product, and we are just bringing that to a new market, and showing people that it works really well. It is important to focus on bespoke engineering, and highlight that by outsourcing the hydraulics, customers can achieve cost savings and better efficiency, ending up with systems that work better,” she adds.

The company’s hydraulic installation capabilities have been put to the test on demanding projects over the last year, including a novel walk to work gangway for offshore personnel transfers and a large subsea trenching vehicle. Both highly time sensitive as well as requiring high levels of documentation and quality assurance, one of the requirements was to have full traceability for each pipe and hose installed. To achieve cross-referencing of the material certification, line configuration, flushing report and pressure test report whilst still progressing the work on-site the business devised a common installation report format that could be completed on-site but gave the client the necessary information, working with the component supply chain to ensure full traceability of materials through batch numbering.

With a customer base centred on the north east of England and Scotland, TME sees continued opportunity for growth with offshore

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equipment manufacturers. The end location for these projects is diverse, spread throughout the North Sea, West Africa, Australia and GOM and Brazil. “We have recently established a full time presence in France to support business development in the region and expect to see continued diversification of our customers geographic base,” says Frederic. The business already holds very close links with French manufacturers able to provide a competitive and proactive offering, resulting in a very short time scale between order and delivery.

Following the increase in the company’s internal capacity for the design and assembly of hydraulic power units for offshore applications, many of the projects in which it is now involved are for hazardous (ATEX) areas. At present, preparations are underway for the assembly of a twin 132kW power unit, to be supplied within a container for location on the deck of an FPSO. “Our main strength comes from our engineering knowhow and ability to take on difficult projects and offer expertise as well as manufacturing capacity. We see plenty of opportunities, particularly through the work with our existing customers. We also expect that as larger companies are pushed to review costs and supply chain this will create new demand for technologies such as Tube-Mac that save time and money,” says Angela.

Highlighting the company’s appearance at Subsea 2015 in Aberdeen, Frederic concludes: “We are working towards building a rapport with new customers, driving forward installation, and show casing the Tube-Mac products, providing hands on interaction.

Increasing our presence in the UK with TubeMac will be one of our primary targets for the period ahead, not only selling the product, but the full package, including installation.

We are very keen to undertake more complex installations in the coming 12 months, increasing the technicality of those projects.”

People are beginning to notice the benefits of our systems. If you can take hot works out of jobs, and reduce risks and hazards on any kind of working, then people become interested and we are seeing more companies using us

Renson Products Ltd Congratulations to TME Hydraulics on continued growth, we are proud to be one of their main suppliers. Renson Products Ltd has been established for over 20 years and in this time we have covered all aspects of fabrication, including hydraulics, tanks and auxiliary equipment, material handling stillages and coal mining.

We have an ever-growing reputation for high quality products and OTIF. Standard industry working practice includes ISO9001 2008, TUV287 – 4872 and accredited welding is adhered to.

At Renson Products Ltd we have invested in the latest 3D design, advanced manufacturing techniques and the newest Robotic Welding Systems. All of these allow us to keep costs to a minimum and give us the flexibility to ensure that the final products are made to exact requirements.

If you require a steel fabricator with in depth knowledge, a flexible team and the resources to help you move forward then please get in touch.

TME Hydraulics tmehydraulics.co.uk

Services Design, supply and installation of hydraulic systems

PROFILE

Subsea Technologies (UK)

pressure Cool under

Managing director

Drummond Lawson and technical director Dave McKay founded the subsea pressure equipment specialist, Subsea Technologies (UK) Ltd. (STL) in January 2010 to provide subsea engineering solutions to blue-chip oil majors and service organisations requiring well control, well intervention and subsea control system applications. Since that time the company has continued to develop its service offering and won highly regarded acclaim throughout the subsea sector within the UK and around the world.

From its base in Aberdeen STL specialises in the design and manufacture of first-class subsea pressure control equipment, which is delivered as a bespoke solution designed to meet the specific requirements of each of the company’s clients. The STL team is committed to the provision of high quality and innovative well intervention, well control and subsea control systems that often include the company’s proprietary application-specific connectors. Developing products for this technically challenging business segment means that STL has built a team capable of delivering engineering design, finite element analysis, 3D graphical visualisation, systems integration engineering, project management, QA, and assembly, test and maintenance.

Since it was first established Subsea Technologies has worked to grow its product portfolio and offer its clients the very best

in subsea pressure equipment solutions. In February 2010 for example, it acquired the intellectual property and assets of Lewis Ltd., adding its highly regarded Extreme Release (XR) Connector and Stackable Lightweight Intervention Connectors (SLIC) to STL’s existing portfolio of products. Lewis Ltd. had previously been founded by Drummond Lawson in 2005 and was subsequently acquired by a Norwegian entity in 2008. The Norwegian parent company got into financial difficulties during the economic crisis and ultimately went into liquidation in late 2009, prompting Dave McKay and Drummond Lawson to establish a new venture to acquire the technology previously owned by Lewis Ltd. In under a year of operation STL secured a prestigious contract through Halliburton to develop and deliver SLIC products to Shell in Nigeria, which provided a huge boost in confidence to the young company as during this time the SLIC existed only as a highly detailed concept. The belief and support of companies like Shell and Halliburton allowed STL to finally transition SLIC from design to field and allowed it to go on to sell a number of SLICs in a variety of configurations.

“STL’s technical director Dave McKay and I believed in the business and the technology, so we created STL, re-employed a number of the former staff, gathered support from the previous clients and suppliers and ultimately managed to acquire the intellectual property European oil & gas

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Specialising in repair of surface and sub-sea drilling equipment, blowout preventors, drilling and production tubulars, new equipment manufacture and cold extrusion.

Experts in the provision of services for the Oil, Gas, and Heavy Engineering Sectors.

AJT are accredited by BSI

BS EN ISO 9001:2008 Quality Management System

BS EN ISO 14001:2004 Environmental Management System

AJT Engineering Ltd. Craigshaw Crescent, West Tullos, Aberdeen, AB12 3TB. Scotland Tel: +44(0) 1224 871791. Fax: +44(0) 1224 890251 info@ajt-engineering.co.uk | www.ajt-engineering.co.uk

group compan y

ajt_advertising_(A4)_09_2014.indd 8

03/10/14 15:00

PROFILE

that we had initially developed. I think that the demonstration of our commitment to both our clients and suppliers, and some of the technology foundations laid prior to founding STL can be acknowledged as contributors towards the reason why STL has developed at such an impressive rate,” explains Drummond.

The SLIC comprises of a family of products, which provide the user with a riser connector, a subsea lifting tool or a wireline pressure control head through the installation of different cartridges. Drummond explains: “Designed specifically for the well intervention market, the SLIC Connector is made to be constantly connected and disconnected, unlike previous connectors used in this market, which were originally designed for a different, much less onerous purpose and so were not ideally suited to this application. The SLIC connector’s interface is extremely robust and can be used even in marginable weather conditions.”

Patented worldwide, the SLIC Connector features built-in redundancy and was designed for maximum ease of maintenance offshore.

During 2013 STL continued in its success, winning a significant contract through Interwell with Shell in the North Sea to build a simplified well intervention system. Shortly after this highly successful project STL began work with Malaysian firm Bumi Armada Berhad, delivering a FEED study for the design of a complete subsea well intervention system. Again, this project was delivered successfully and received positive acclaim from Bumi Armada as the project entered into its construction phase.

“The Bumi Armada project stands out as the first time that a client has asked us to design, develop and supply a full specification subsea well intervention system. It is a significant step forward in terms of the company’s progress,” Drummond explains.

Subsea Technology’s Xtreme Release (XR) Connector; highly regarded within the subsea industry and removes the entire concept

Subsea Technologies (UK)

of Maximum Riser Disconnect Angle, as Drummond highlights: “The XR Connector is designed for occasional use in an emergency; for example, if you have a vessel connected to the seabed by a riser and the vessel drifts off, you need to be able to disconnect from the subsea infrastructure quickly and reliably. Patented worldwide, the XR Connector is able to release in situations where previously existing connectors could not release.” Significantly improving vessel safety and reducing environmental risk, the XR Connector also lowers costs through vastly increased vessel operability.

“We have grown fairly rapidly in both position and in recognition within the subsea well intervention industry as a whole over the last few years. In fact, we were told by Bumi Armada that an industry survey it carried out identified us as the recognised source for subsea well intervention systems, hence the company came to us,” he adds.

Since the company was established it has worked with its suppliers and clients to develop its global presence and has worked with service companies such as Helix Energy Solutions Group and Halliburton in the UK, and Weatherford and Well Wild Control in the US, as well as major oil firms such as Shell and Statoil. Furthermore STL has developed a renowned reputation for providing high quality solutions to technically challenging requirements through innovative engineering. As such, a major contributing factor to the company’s success is its focus on delivering bespoke solutions and innovative products that maximise operational uptime in subsea and surface applications in any weather.

Today STL continues to grow and strengthen its position within the offshore market through the delivery of its bespoke solutions to some of the industry’s leading blue-chip companies. During 2014 STL won high-level recognition in the prestigious Institution of Mechanical Engineers Manufacturing Excellence Awards, indicating that the future of STL is very bright indeed.

European oil & gas

AJT Engineering AJT Engineering Ltd looks forward to growing its support to Subsea Technologies Ltd (STL) on future projects.

AJT Engineering Ltd is part of the global company ‘Camellia’ and forms part of an engineering group focused sub-division, which includes British Metal Treatments in Port Glasgow and British Heat Treatments in East Kilbride.

AJT Engineering’s main area of expertise is centred around new manufacture and refurbishment of various equipment including blow out preventers, casing hangers, wellhead connectors, riser, flanges, hubs and bodies predominantly in the oil and gas industry incorporating its comprehensive machining, welding, cladding, PWHT, fitting and assembly capabilities on customer specific turnkey projects.

AJT Engineering’s company philosophy is to support the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) in both manufacture and refurbishment of equipment where it can operate under an approved vendor status, which ensures the equipment is in full compliance with the OEM standards and specifications.

Subsea Technologies (UK) Ltd subseatek.com

Services Subsea pressure equipment specialists

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portfolio Impressive

From its humble beginnings

as a net importer of US manufactured products specifically designed for the subsea arena, Bowtech Products Ltd has grown over the years to become a specialist in the design, manufacture and supply of underwater harsh environment vision systems, as Mike Winstanley begins: “Bowtech Products Ltd (Est. 1989) began trading in January 1990 with just two members of staff: founder Steve Bowring and myself, then operating as sales executive. Bowtech grew over the next 18 years to become a specialist in the supply of cameras, lighting, connectors and multiplexers. In 2008 we decided to concentrate on the design, manufacture and supply of our own range underwater harsh environment vision systems. Today our underwater vision systems are deployed in the harshest environments within the ROV AUV, oil and gas, defence, oceanographic, nuclear, leisure and marine science industries.”

On the verge of celebrating its 25th anniversary in operation, Bowtech has expanded in all areas over the years as it developed a strong reputation for meeting market demand for innovative and game-changing products. Beginning with two personnel, the Aberdeen-based company today boasts 50, of which over 30 are highly trained electrical and mechanical engineers

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and technicians that strive to provide high quality technical support to the entire product range. The growing numbers of staff operate at Bowtech Products’ brand new headquarters, located in Aberdeen’s major new international business park, ABZ, which it moved into in December. Having secured a prominent entrance plot, the company developed a high specification office and manufacturing facility, which centralised its operations to one site and ensured there is potential to double staff numbers over the next five years.

“The new building is an enabler; with all departments under one roof it allows us to take innovations from concept through design and production as well as the ability to offer training in house now and ongoing support. The new facility is 2.5 x larger than all our previous facilities combined, which will enable us to grow to over 100 personnel in the coming years,” highlights Mike.

Key to this ongoing expansion is Bowtech Products’ impressive portfolio of innovative underwater harsh environment vision systems, which includes video inspection systems, underwater LED lights, xenon underwater emergency relocation strobes, custom moulded cable assemblies, pan and tilts, underwater electrical and fibre-optic connectors, fibre-optic multiplexers and slip rings for use in hazardous areas or subsea, to 6000 metres.

“Bowtech Products’ underwater vision systems are deployed in the harshest environments within the ROV AUV, oil and gas, defence, oceanographic, nuclear, leisure and marine science industries. We pride ourselves on listening to customers to ascertain their requirements and supply to OEM manufacturers such as SMD, one of the largest suppliers of work class ROV’s, trenchers and ploughs as well as Sub Atlantic and Seabotix who manufacture electric ROV’s primarily for light intervention and observation tasks. Contractors such as Subsea 7, Oceaneering, and ROVOP are key clients as well as drilling contractors such as Transocean. SBM head up the customer base for FPSO’s but are often specified by operators such as BP,” says Mike.

The most recently launched product within the company’s range is the high-resolution Pioneer multipurpose underwater camera with six integral high intensity LEDs. Suitable for general underwater viewing observation at depths as great as 4000 metres, the product measures only 53 mm diameter and 78.8 mm

PROFILE

in length, and provides a cost effective solution for projects involving tooling and manipulators.

Enclosed within a high quality titanium housing, the camera is fitted with a fixed focus wideangle lense, thus providing customers with a 58 degrees diagonal angle of view when submerged through its highly scratch resistant and 98.8 per cent optically pure sapphire window.

“The Pioneer is a product that is so typical of how Bowtech create new products. A Norwegian client, FMC, was being supplied by a competitor but found that they were lagging behind in technology and non-responsive.

Bowtech listened to the clients’ needs and created with them their ideal solution, which was to fit within the existing space envelope but deliver higher performance,” explains Mike. “The camera is 4000 meter rated with a 720 TVL resolution camera, 300 lines greater than the incumbent. In addition it has greater sensitivity, draws less power and is manufactured with a highly corrosion resistant titanium housing and sapphire viewport. The camera has been designed with other markets in mind and is already being introduced to other clients.”

Although the innovative firm boasts a global client base, the highest areas of activity are the North Sea, Asia Pacific and Brazil, where its products are used in projects involving equipment such as ROVs, semi-submersibles and FPSOs. In fact, Bowtech Products was recently involved in BP’s Quad 204 project, which involves the redevelopment of the Schiehallion and Loyal Fields in the North Sea. The project, which was approved in July 2011 and is due to begin production in 2016, will extend the life of both fields, thus enabling them to continue production beyond 2035. Since being awarded the EPC contract for the internal turret mooring system (TMS) for the Quad 204 project, SBM Offshore subcontracted Bowtech Products to supply its Chain Stopper Monitoring System during the TMS’s installation.

Following this contract win, the global market leader in subsea vision systems announced the delivery of a new £100,000 Chain Stopper Monitoring System in July 2013; the system will allow visual monitoring of each chain stopper ratchet when chains are being tensioned during the installation phase. The TMS has a total of 20 chain stoppers located on the chaintable on the lower turret; because these will be based approximately 15 metres below sea level during the phase, the company’s

Bowtech Products

scope of supply for the subsea system includes high sensitivity, high resolution monochrome cameras and LED lights. These will be installed on the I-tubes above the chain stoppers to allow downward viewing of operations throughout the installation. Meanwhile, the scope of supply for the topside system includes a video inspection and control system, which will enable viewing and controlling of the cameras and LED lights.

On top of this, Bowtech Products supplied all associated cables, connectors and brackets for the contract.

Having earned a reputation for excellence in the oil and gas industry, Bowtech Products is now focusing on its strategy for future growth by taking its products overseas to new geographical markets and continually improving its portfolio in conjunction with its client base. “We want to work with customers to enhance the vision systems and create solutions which make remote operations safer, more reliable and more cost effective,” concludes Mike.

European oil & gas

Bowtech Products Ltd bowtech.co.uk

Products Underwater harsh environment vision systems

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solutions Silicone

Silicone Engineering

was established in 1959 as a manufacturer dedicated solely to the production of silicone rubber products. Today, it maintains those same values, producing the product in sheet, rolls, extrusion and moulded form. Drawing on over 55 years’ experience, the business has the ability to formulate silicone formulas to specific industry requirements, satisfying the toughest specifications and standards.

“We separate ourselves from the competition by providing solutions to today’s industrial applications and pride ourselves on working closely with customers and channel partners

to understand their exact requirements. With a state-of-the-art laboratory combined with industry leading mixing facilities, customers benefit from high quality, fully traceable materials that can be processed and delivered

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in very short lead time,” says Simon Holmes, marketing manager.

Being one of the largest consumers of Heat Cured Rubber (HCR) silicone in Europe, processing in excess of 2000 tonnes per annum, Silicone Engineering has gained an international reputation for providing the best quality silicone sheets, rolls and extrusions in both solid, closed cell sponge and reinforced fabric ranges. “The amount of silicone we consume also allows us to be very competitive on price, giving us great economies of scale. Our materials are generally applied in the outer construction of oil and gas pipelines. Due to silicone’s extreme temperature resistance, typically running from 250°C to -60°C (482°F to -76°F), it can be used to protect oil and gas pipelines that run through extreme environments,” explains Simon.

Silicone Engineering’s products are continuously meeting challenges and helping transform the industry and its applications, and one such product is the solid silicone rubber.

The silicone acts as a protector between the pipe and the pipe brackets that hold the pipeline in place. “The silicone sheet gets adhered to the bottom of the pipe bracket and allows the pipe to sit in place without any metal on metal contact. If this occurred, any movement or abrasion between the pipe and the bracket could cause damage and cracks to develop in the pipeline. The benefit of using silicone for

PROFILE

this application is mainly for its temperature resistance at low and high temperatures.”

Another advantage of silicone, especially silicone sponge, is its insulation properties.

Again, due to the harsh environments where the pipelines are situated, silicone can be used around the outside of the pipe to provide insulation and protection from the environment. With excellent weather resistance properties, silicone is resistant to UV, Ozone, oxidation, corona discharge, and cosmic and ionising radiation.

As a silicone elastomer manufacturer actively doing business within the oil and gas arena in Northern Europe, Russia and Canada, the company has seen great potential within the market for its specialist materials. “Business as a whole has been very positive for the last seven years. We have seen consistent growth year on year and emerging market sectors such as oil and gas and rail have been very successful in recent years,” highlights Simon. As demand for both natural resources and speed in extracting these resources grows, silicone as a material comes into its own. “Higher performance, as a rule of thumb, generates high heat at the source.

Silicone will most certainly be used where sealing is needed under high temperatures. This is where we see potential going forward with the ability to formulate silicones to suit varying performance requirements and environments.

“One challenge to the oil market in particular, is the fact that silicone has poor performance when in direct contact with oil/petroleum. However, there are many application requirements for silicone in the industry that do not have contact with oil or gas, with one example being silicone sheeting used on the outside of the pipelines.

This is where we have seen great demand for our products,” he continues. Fluorosilicone is a material that can be used in direct contact with oil/ petroleum, however the premium of this elastomer is very high.

From its laboratory, technical engineers are able to create silicone formulations in house, with full control of the process. By working closely with clients, understanding their problems and requirements the company successfully helps develop a perfect silicone to serve that purpose.

“With over five decades of experience solely in silicone, our team of experts can advise on performance, ensuring a silicone solution is provided,” points out Simon. “We have a vast range of formulations such as low smoke, low toxicity grade – used heavily in the rail industry and developed after the Kings Cross rail disaster,

Silicone Engineering

high temperature grade (250°C), and neutraSil - our antimicrobial grade used in the food, beverage and medical industries,” he adds.

The business is investing heavily into stateof-the-art processing equipment to ensure it can continue to produce the highest quality silicone rubber in the marketplace. Combined with investment into staff through training and expansion of departments, it continues to search for new applications of silicone in emerging sectors to expand its reach. “Working with innovative channel partners and industry leaders, our vision is to be the silicone partner and market brand of choice internationally.

With over 65 per cent export figures and selling into 44 different countries we are already in a great position to build on this vision. In essence, Silicone Engineering is not just a silicone manufacturer that makes and sells silicone, instead we develop solutions and material innovations for industry leaders to transform their sector,” concludes Simon.

European oil & gas

Again, due to the harsh environments where the pipelines are situated, silicone can be used around the outside of the pipe to provide insulation and protection from the environment

Silicone Engineering Ltd silicone.co.uk

Services Silicone rubber manufacturer

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excellence Commitment

to

Operating out of its two UK bases

Prout Engineering Prout Engineering is a family owned and run company based in Kingston Upon Hull. We have developed a strong working relationship with Parkburn PHS over recent years, which we are keen to develop further.

We have supplied a vast range of components from shaft keep plates to painted and assembled sheave assemblies, all complete with fully traceable documentation. As Parkburn PHS continues to grow our aim is to continue in supporting them and be a vital part in their supply chain.

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in Hamilton and Telford, Parkburn Precision Handling Systems is a specialist marine handling systems provider that was rebranded in October 2002 to combine the extensive experience and complimentary products of Parkburn Controls, Dowty Precision Handling Systems and Marine Project Development (MPD). Engineers Dennis O’Hara, Campbell McFall and Andy Lawson, who today remain equal shareholders and owners as well as working directors within the business, originally founded Parkburn in 1989 as a private limited company providing control and drive solutions for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) across a wide range of industries. Later during 2002 Parkburn, having made the conscious strategic decision to become its own OEM product manufacturer, completed the acquisition of its largest customer at that time, Dowty Precision Handling Systems, part of the Smiths Industries Group.

Today, Parkburn has evolved into a total handling systems solution provider to the oil and gas, offshore, naval, and oil and renewable energy sectors. With three engineers running the company, there has always been a total commitment to technical excellence and full customer support. “The company remains engineering driven as well as a strong believer in research and development and continues to re-invest significant turnover in this respect,” elaborates director, Andy Lawson. “Partnerships with both customers and suppliers are key. europeanoilandgas.co.uk

We believe that the best project solution is for all involved to feel that they are a valued team player with a combined ‘desire to succeed’ rather than a ‘commercial fear of failure.’ We do not promote blame culture or complacency and believe that it is a constant learning process in moving ahead and appreciating where improvements can be made.”

Through its commitment to technical excellence and dedicated research and development, Parkburn has been able to deliver many differing types of Marine handling system solutions for applications including diving bell launch and recovery, rigid and flexible pipelay, HV cable storage and lay, seismic and sonar system deployment, deck module handling and seabed landout in both offshore and renewable sectors. Additionally, complete carousel cable or pipe storage and handling systems, land and sea, with payloads of up to 7000 tons have been provided year on year.

Increasingly, as oil and gas operators move into ever-deeper waters the demand for robust and reliable equipment is becoming an ongoing concern. Through its in-depth experience, Parkburn has devised a new deepwater heavy lift fibre rope winch system, which aims to revolutionise deep sea operation, as Andy explains: “With the move into deep water, beyond 1500m depth, for the majority of future oil and gas developments; the need to

be able to safely and economically deploy and recover equipment to and from these depths has brought many challenges to the industry. At depth, the weight penalties of current steel wire systems are becoming a major issue and as we go deeper we will soon reach the point where the wire weight alone will be too much even to support itself, therefore alternative solutions are essential. The industry for the last 12 years has been striving for reliable solutions utilising synthetic rope in lieu of steel wire as this type of rope is effectively weightless in water and has

PROFILE

Parkburn Precision Handling Systems

no penalties associated with depth. Parkburn has worked and developed patented solutions for handling and deploying synthetic ropes as part of its R&D work in addition to its normal project work and after extensive testing, is now looking to take these solutions to the offshore heavy lift and crane sectors in the coming year.

Parkburn’s system, we believe, provides the kindest de-tensioning, handling and storage of rope in the market today and coupled with the rope termination technology of our partners; we believe this will be the game changer for deepwater heavy lifting.”

Further to the development of bespoke equipment that the company delivers, Parkburn is also keen to ensure that it invests in its facilities and testing capabilities to ensure that it is able to fully meet the demanding needs of its clients and to ensure all equipment delivered is fully tested and validated prior to delivery. “In the UK and Europe, there is a major lack of good facilities that would allow winch and handling systems to be thoroughly tested prior to being installed

on to a ship,” Andy says “The cost of these ships at the quayside when not working is very high so downtime for the vessel must be mitigated wherever possible. Our new test facility at Telford will allow a far higher and more thorough set of tests to be carried out on our handling systems, far more like its actual use and installation on the ship. In this way, the client can be thoroughly satisfied that the system will work as required.

Our new test tower is 30m tall and is capable of lifting loads up to 125te, we can also simulate many of the emergency situations likely to be seen in an offshore environment, such as full speed dynamic testing and black ship situations, to ensure safety circuits and back-up systems are fully functioning” Parkburn has a strong dedication to achieving ‘best in class’, which is reflected in its rolling fiveyear plan to raise the bar of what is technically possible. With continued focus on technical excellence and customer support Parkburn is set to remain a vital partner to operators looking for the most demanding and reliable solutions.

European oil & gas

Parkburn Precision Handling Systems parkburn.com

Services Marine handling systems

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supplies Securing

Having started its activities in 2008, today E.ON Gas Storage (EGS) can be counted as one of the major European gas storage companies. Together with its Austrian affiliate Gas Storage Austria, the company has a total of 14 underground storage facilities at 12 locations in Germany and Austria, with a total working gas capacity (which also includes the company’s subsidiary in the UK) of approximately 9.0 billion cubic metres.

Underground gas storage facilities play an important role in securing gas supplies in line with demand. They are an element in the infrastructure of the gas industry which makes it possible to create a balance between the virtually continuous supply of gas from the producing countries and deliveries to the customers where demand fluctuates sharply depending on the season. Underground storage facilities also help to bridge temporary supply bottlenecks.

To put it in basic terms, there are two ways of storing gas underground: the storage caverns or porous rock formations. The two differ with regard to the reservoir rock and the storage mechanism. One of E.ON’s major gas storage locations, Etzel ESE, is a cavern storage facility, and as Dr Peter Klingenberger, EGS CEO and managing director explained, is a joint project of E.ON Gas Storage GmbH, OMV Gas Storage Germany GmbH, VNG Gasspeicher GmbH und Gas-Union Storage GmbH. “The cavern storage facility, which is located in Friedeburg in East Fresia (northern Germany) has a projected working gas volume of about

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two billion cubic metres, and has been in operation since 2012. The facility is technically operated on behalf of the consortium by EGS, and is the largest of four EGS storage facilities in northern Germany,” said Peter.

He went on to highlight some of the essential factors that gas cavern storage facilities need to meet today’s market needs: “The ESE project is a very successful project, which was completed on schedule and within budget. The plant reflects the current status of safety engineering and allows high flexibility together with high availability,” he stated.

“All success factors for today’s market, such as parallel gas withdrawal and injection due to a dual pipeline connection, rapid change between withdrawal and injection and a large overall capacity, which can make a significant contribution to supply security, are fulfilled.”

Moving onto another of EGS’ storage facilities, the 7Fields gas storage association is unique in Europe and connects the German and Austrian gas markets to each other. “Through this we have enabled customers to use crossborder storage. The gas storage facility creates maximum flexibility and makes an important contribution to supply security in Austria and Germany,” said Peter.

In fact, in the light of the Ukraine crisis, the topic of security of supply in the gas market is at the top of the German and European energy policy agenda. “In recent years, the German gas storage facilities have proven their high performance, also in particularly long cold

PROFILE

periods, and have already made an important contribution to the high degree of security of gas supply,” Peter confirmed. “E.ON has made extensive provisions to continue to supply its customers with the gas they have ordered, some of which can be in difficult supply situations.

These provisions also naturally include storage capacity reservations. Storage facilities make a major contribution to network stability and reduce investment costs in network expansion.”

Alongside its operations in gas storage, EGS also heads the E.ON Innovation Centre Energy Storage. The Centre makes a key contribution to the shift to renewable energy with its developments in the area of energy storage, and works on a number of different technologies for the storage of electric power.

One of these technologies, Power to Gas (PtG) helps to integrate electricity generated from renewables into various gas applications.

The main step is to split water (H2O) into hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (O2). “This process is known as electrolysis and it converts electrical

E.ON Gas Storage

energy into chemical energy,” explained Peter.

“The process has been around for a long time, but what is new is that it is now used for electricity generated from renewable energies.”

Two of EGS’ projects in this area are WindGas Falkenhagen and WindGas Hamburg.

Using innovative technology, the WindGas Falkenhagen plant produces up to 360Nm3/h of hydrogen from about 2MW wind power through electrolysis. It had already produced 2.8 million kWh by December 31st, 2014.

“Power to Gas opens up the huge energy storage capacities, which are part of Germany’s natural gas infrastructure, to renewable energies.

This way the technology can play a key role in balancing volatile electricity production from renewable sources such as wind and solar,” concluded Peter. “The chemical energy contained in the hydrogen is also made available to different markets including the power and heat markets, industry and mobility. The need for storage capacities will grow as the use of renewables increases.”

European oil & gas

The chemical energy contained in the hydrogen is also made available to different markets including the power and heat markets, industry and mobility.

E.ON Gas Storage eon-gas-storage.de

Services Gas storage

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global Going

Founded in 2003 the Norwegian composite subsea products and solutions specialist, CSUB has developed a market leading reputation in the provision of all types of composite related products to the offshore subsea market according to relevant standards such as NORSOK DNV-OS-C501.

This business has been in operation for some 12 years and in that time CSUB has both evolved to respond to the needs of its local clients and gone on to grow into a global player in the offshore subsea market. “The company was founded in 2003 and was started mainly for the local marine industry,” explains managing director, Jon Inge Brattekås. “But there was more activity within the offshore oil and gas industry.

In 2005 we began working with subsea projects and today this represents close to 100 per cent of our activity.”

CSUB was actually founded under the name Sørkomp but has recently taken the decision to rebrand to reaffirm its position as a truly global business, as Jon goes on to discuss: “The main reason for changing the company name to CSUB was that we saw more and more of the business was growing outside of Norway. Sørkomp is derived from the Norwegian word for south, so the main reason for the change was to drop the Norwegian letter as we are expecting the business to continue to grow outside of Norway.

Over the next few years most of our business

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will be for international customers.”

Indeed since 2005 CSUB has built a strong reputation as an international supplier to the industry’s most renowned subsea service companies and has also supplied some of the world’s largest oil majors directly. The list of clients serviced by CSUB includes service companies such as Subsea 7, Technip, FMC and Ocean Installer as well as oil majors including BP TOTAL, Statoil and Shell. Today CSUB continues to work with the market’s leading oil majors and service companies in locations throughout the world, as Jon elaborates: “When it comes to projects the biggest so far has been the Laggan Tormore in the North Sea for Subsea 7. We are currently working with Subsea 7 and Total on the Mariner project in the UK and we

PROFILE

are also involved in BP’s Caspian project Shah Deniz 2. We have a lot of repeat business and a very good track record with the major oil companies. Last year we had a lot of deliveries to West Africa with Technip and Total, we also started work with some Far Eastern projects in Indonesia. This region will continue to grow and we will also look at future projects in the Gulf of Mexico and Brazil.”

CSUB has established itself as a premier supplier of composite products that offer robust solutions in the protection of subsea equipment. It also offers benefits in reduced operating costs and improved survivability. “The company’s main products are focused on the protection of pipelines and subsea equipment using glass reinforced plastics (GRP), which have been a core part of the business. However, during the past two years the market for seabed foundations has grown substantially and we see a lot of activity for supporting pipelines and structures. A similar development is seen for pipeline crossings. All of the products can include buoyancy elements for flexible access and these are also provided in composite materials,” Jon says.

“Glass reinforced plastics are able to withstand impacts, these materials are very strong when compared to steel - especially in terms of structural integrity and impact. Secondly they are non-corrosive and can easily withstand 40 plus years in operation, and they are also lightweight and can normally be installed at one third of the weight of steel structures,” he continues. “Our products are stackable, which is important when there is limited deckspace onboard ship. This means that when undertaking offshore campaigns it is possible to save vessel time during the installation phase as more units can be installed per campaign.”

Although the current low oil price is creating a certain level of uncertainty within the market, CSUB is confident that the combination of its in-depth subsea knowledge and the demonstrated benefits of its GRP products will allow it to continue to operate as a global leader, as Jon concludes: “I would say there are challenges but also certainly some opportunities.

Everybody knows that oil prices have gone down, and as such some projects will be postponed or even cancelled. However, we also see a lot of opportunity because CSUB’s products and solutions reduce costs, and this makes it easier to discuss alternative solutions with oil and gas companies, as GRP is a proven

CSUB

DSM A brighter future with composites As leading global innovator of sustainable Composite solutions, DSM tailored its Synolite 1967 resin for the CSUB infusion process. The resin has been approved by Statoil for offshore installation, and has demonstrated excellent corrosion resistance and continued structural integrity in submerged structures for over ten years. DSM has also been successful in supplying Atlac resin solutions for use with carbon fiber in deepwater sea cables, and Daron resins for parts that require resistance to chemicals and elevated temperatures.

cost-saving solution. We have an extensive knowledge of the subsea environment, the market and its challenges. We have talented personnel with the correct design and engineering competence to design the right equipment for our customers. We are renowned for being very agile in developing the best solutions in co-operation with our clients.”

European oil & gas

CSUB csub.com

Services Composite subsea products and solutions

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beyond Infinity and

With its headquarters in Aberdeen and facilities in Singapore and the UAE, Infinity Oilfield Services Limited (Infinity) is a dynamic, customer driven engineering business with a comprehensive portfolio of services covering hydraulic services, project management, engineering, integrated services, ROV technical services and subsea tooling design. Infinity Oilfield Services International (IOSI), the parent company of Infinity was founded in 2002 with operations in Abu Dhabi and Tunisia. Following a decade of success overseas, it was decided to bring the talents of the IOSI services ethos to the North Sea and Infinity was founded in 2013,” reveals CEO, Andrew Mackay.

“Infinity opened up the IOSI family to the drilling sector, particularly in the North Sea, and our first client was Transocean with whom we have developed a good working relationship,” he explains. “IOSI has since been almost constantly employed on or for Transocean rigs including the John Shaw, Monarch, Sedco Energy and Sedco Cajun Express. We also provide services to the production sector with manpower and equipment working for Total E&P UK, BP, CNR and Shell.”

Although the company is presently most active in the North Sea, Infinity is a truly

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global enterprise with a proven reputation for providing high quality engineering and project management services with on-going work in West Africa and the Mediterranean.

Its committed and high-calibre core of engineers give Infinity a particular strength in inspection, repair and maintenance (IRM) and re-certification in upstream exploration and production and drilling sectors, with emphasis on hydraulic and ROV systems. A key-differentiating feature of the business is its ability to provide turnkey support services to clients at the planning and execution phases of maintenance programmes with proven and detailed maintenance, testing, inspection, design and operational experience. As such, Infinity is the ideal solution for in-field support during both the start-up and operational phases. The company values close working relationships with its customers, as such Infinity encourages its clients and associated engineering and service providers to integrate with it appropriately to create a seamless project team, working towards one common goal and overall success.

Presently Infinity Oilfield Services is working closely with Total E&P UK and was recently awarded the campaign management contract for all of the company’s North Sea assets, as Andrew elaborates: “The contract covers all Total E&P UK North Sea assets including ElginFranklin, North Alwyn, Dunbar, and St. Fergus.

The campaign is intended to manage both the certification status and condition of all the pressure vessel units on these assets, including accumulator bottles and pulsation dampeners.

The activities are composed of offshore survey and repair/replacement and onshore information management on SAP data conducted out of Total’s offices in Altens.”

Furthermore Infinity has recently signed a service agreement with Paladon Systems Ltd, which will see the two companies working to provide a solution to fix process valve actuator deterioration. “Paladon are a manufacturer of valve actuators and valve actuation systems, including HIPPS systems and were previously the sole packager for Bettis in the North Sea. As such Paladon have a large embedded equipment portfolio and IOSL provides the support services to survey and maintain these systems and equipment when required. Our technicians are trained by Paladon for this work and are able to interface with Paladon design staff on technical and design issues as they arise,” Andrew details.

“The importance from a Paladon point of

PROFILE

view is that they have come from a traditional manufacturing background, but more and more are being asked by their customers to increase their presence and service capability in Aberdeen and abroad. Paladon are a worldwide provider of equipment servicing many areas including non-oil and gas projects and Infinity brings a pure oil and gas service capability to the Paladon value proposition.”

In addition to its on-going co-operation with Paladon, Infinity is currently providing a large amount of support services on the Energean Force drill ship located quayside in Athens for its five-yearly SPS. “The scope of the work being performed by Infinity includes BOP overhaul, Koomey (BOP control) system overhaul including accumulator bottle overhaul, choke and kill manifold, cementing manifold, all HPUs, and hose integrity management,” Andrew said.

“Infinity are providing a multi-skilled team and specialist equipment spreads to undertake this work. It is being done in conjunction with Lloyd’s Register as the certifying authority.”

Indeed 2014 was a highly successful year for Infinity, with a number of significant projects for clients throughout the oil and gas industry. A further milestone for the company is a memorandum of understanding that was signed between Infinity and TSC GROUP, which promises to present a number interesting opportunities for both companies well into 2015 and beyond, as Andrew elaborates: “Possibly Infinity’s most important contract was signed at the end of 2014 after a year of working together with TSC. Similar to the Paladon situation, TSC (owners of the MOS and Ansell Jones brands) have a large infrastructure worldwide, but are only beginning to move into services on the huge amount of their installed kit in the North Sea. As well as providing customer relationship management support and mutual business development resources, Infinity are providing onshore mobilisation and offshore workscope services as TSC’s partner in offshore survey, maintenance, repair, and installation of new equipment. Most recently regarding new equipment installation, Infinity have been providing critical support to TSC in the upgrade of two umbilical tensioning systems on the Prospector 5 and Prospector 1 jackup drill rigs and are currently embarking on survey and FEED opportunities with Transocean in West Africa.”

As Infinity transitions into 2015 it can boast a

Infinity Oilfield Services

number of highly significant contracts, that will enable the company to continue to grow and pursue its vision to further develop its expertise, as Andrew concludes: “Our first priority is investing in bringing in new people with new skills, and enhancing our existing work force with more skills. We feel that a multi-skilled engineer or technician is more valuable to the industry as, for one, there is so much pressure on bed space and efficiency. Perhaps more importantly though, a multi-skilled person is better able to look holistically at offshore work programmes, bringing additional insight and solutions to the customer, assisting in driving down costs and reducing downtime. Our second target is bringing in the ROV and subsea technologies IOSI is developing overseas into the North Sea arena. This latter effort will be a big push for 2015 and we are very excited by their prospects, having already approached clients in the ROV sector in the North Sea and having received excellent feedback.”

European oil & gas

Agra Precision Engineering Co Ltd We have worked on a number of projects with Infinity including reverse engineering work, traversemechanisms, sheave pins, worm wheels and gearboxes, load-testing, gearcutting along with Jack-up gearbox fabrication, overhaul and testing to meet international standards. They are a highly diverse, flexible company we are proud to work in partnership with.

Infinity Oilfield Services infinityoilgas.com

Services ROV, hydraulic and BOP systems engineering

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PROFILE

Inter Terminals

vision

One

The Inter Terminals business

represents one of the largest independent bulk liquid storage businesses in Europe, encompassing more than three million cubic metres of storage capacity situated across 12 terminals throughout Europe. Prior to 1st

January 2015 the company was divided into two separate entities, wholly owned by the parent company Inter Pipeline Ltd. based in Calgary, Canada. Inter Pipeline Ltd. represents a major petroleum transportation, storage and natural gas liquids extraction business and is one of the largest infrastructure businesses in Canada that ranks among the top 50 companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Originally Simon Storage was responsible for terminals located within the UK, Germany and Ireland, while Inter Terminals in Denmark operated deep draft coastal terminals providing build bulk, break bulk and custom blending services for distillates and heated oil products.

Today all of these terminal facilities are managed under the Inter Terminal brand, led by chief executive Martyn Lyons who brings with him over 25 years experience in the tank storage

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PROFILE

Inter Terminals P&I Design Ltd P&I Design Ltd has provided process, instrument, electrical and automation design services to Inter Terminals Ltd in the UK and Ireland for over 20 years. P&I Design Ltd has a multi-disciplined engineering team capable of delivering projects from design conception to commissioning (including 24/7 support) and works extensively throughout the UK in the tank storage and refinery sectors, with no project being too small. Other areas of expertise include safety instrumented systems, training and competency demonstration.

Southbay Civil Engineering Southbay Civil Engineering (SCE) specialises in civil engineering construction and design and build contracts in a marine environment. In 2014, Inter Terminals awarded SCE the design and build contract to upgrade and refurbish the Jetty 1 facilities at its Seal Sands Terminal.

SCE and the Inter Terminal teams developed a close working relationship ensuring the works, undertaken in harsh environmental conditions, were completed in 20 days with an excellent safety record and minimal disruption to the jetty operations.

sector. Martyn is well known throughout the tank storage industry and continues to serve as chairman of the UK Tank Storage Association. He succeeds Richard Sammons who is moving into a new role as executive chairman. “I am delighted to see the integration of our operations under one unified management structure and I wish Martyn and his team every success in their new roles,” Richard says. “Adopting the Inter Terminals name across our European terminal network will strengthen brand recognition and the marketing of our integrated suite of storage services. It also creates a stronger branding affiliation with Inter Pipeline Ltd., our Canadian parent, which continues to provide strong support for our operational and growth initiatives across Europe.

We look forward to serving both existing and

new customers in the future.”

Inter Terminals is a world-class operator that brings first-rate engineering skill to the tank storage market. The business has a proven track record of operating handling and storage facilities for a number of industrial clients that encompass a wide range of specialist requirements. Indeed the technical knowhow of Inter Terminals extends beyond the oil and gas industry, with infrastructure solutions extending into the chemical, food and drink, agricultural and pharmaceutical sectors. Furthermore it is able to offer a full suite of intermodal and management services as part of a fully integrated package.

Management solutions can be delivered in part or fully outsourced packages to suit its clients’ individual business needs. These options European oil & gas

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PROFILE

Inter Terminals

Inter Terminals boasts a full range of extensive terminal infrastructure that reflects its position as one of Europe’s largest gas and liquid storage terminal operators

can range from the training and management of customer employees through acquiring a customer’s existing facility, upgrading it to the latest industry standards and then operating and managing the site as required. Key to this is Inter Terminal’s leading position in operational safety, which enables it to develop tailored training programmes and competency assessment schemes that allow clients to trust their storage needs to Inter Terminals in full confidence.

Within the oil sector Inter Terminals is a leading supplier of bulk liquid and gas storage and handling facilities and maintains a specialised position in the provision of fully integrated solutions for clients within the oil sector at its own terminal facilities and through the expert management of third party facilities. Additionally, Inter Terminals operates a respected engineering division that boasts a proven track record in the construction of new facilities as well the upgrade of existing sites. The company’s turnkey services include the design and installation of advanced automation systems for stock management and road loading. As such, many oil majors rely on Inter Terminals’ technical and management skills in forming proactive partnerships that allow clients to focus on their core business activities.

Further to its extensive competence in terminal operation and management, Inter Terminals boasts a full range of extensive terminal infrastructure that reflects its position as one of Europe’s largest gas and liquid

storage terminal operators. Its terminals within the North East of England include ready access to major road, rail and shipping routes that facilitate the receipt and further distribution of product to clients operating throughout the UK and Europe. Its terminal located in Immingham for example, offers flexible tanking and pipeline configurations with rapid transfer rates as well as a prime location adjacent to two of the UK’s largest oil refineries. Within Denmark the company’s terminals provide specialist oil storage and handling services to some of the industries leading oil companies and traders. The facilities and services on offer within Denmark include an extensive range of tank capacities, pipeline connections to deep draft facilities, tank-to-tank and into-tank blending to order, as well as high loading rates. The terminals can accommodate Suezmax and Aframax vessels as well as VLCC-class tankers at some locations, demonstrating the full range of services available to clients of all sizes now operating under the Inter Terminals umbrella.

Since Simon Storage was last featured in European Oil and Gas Magazine during April 2014, both it and Inter Terminals have indeed undergone an important transformation. By becoming a single entity unified by the Inter Terminals brand, the company can offer a uniform and proven solution in storage and support services that will continue to be an attractive and effective option for its clients.

European oil & gas

Inter Terminals interterminals.com

Services Support services, storage

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leader Technological

Above Complexity of EV downhole video leading edge technology Below Downhole video equipment bench test workshop

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European oil & gas

Founded by

chief technical officer Jonathan Thursby in Norwich in 2001, downhole video specialist EV began as a small team of engineers who developed their expertise in ruggedized CCTV cameras for use on boats or cars, to give close up views of action related events. “The original designs were used in racing environments such as the British Rally Championship, Formula One, the BT Around the World Yachting Challenge and also Top

europeanoilandgas.co.uk

Gear,” explains Federico Casavantes, VP marketing for EV. “However, in 2004 we were commissioned to develop a camera for a UK customer that would be used for diagnostics in oil and gas wells in the North Sea. From here the first generation of our OPTIS RT-120 was launched and deployed commercially.”

Following this strategic move into the oil and gas industry, the company’s expertise in this business segment was further strengthened with the appointment of Francis Neill, an experience oilfield services professional, as CEO in 2010. “Mr Neill has taken EV from a small Norwich based organisation to the global service provider it is today,” confirms Federico.

“Since 2010 we have grown from 15 employees with annual revenues of approximately one million pounds, to a global entity of 115 employees and annual revenues of more than £20 million. In the last 12 months we have run more than 1400 downhole camera jobs in 35 countries and witnessed a profit increase of 109 per cent; this success stems from our consistent delivery of high quality downhole video cameras that are able to operate in the most extreme environments as well as our knowledge on how to obtain images in these conditions. It is not only our leading edge

PROFILE

technology that is key to our success but also our highly experienced and competent operations team that is able to advise our customer base on the best procedures and preparation to capture the best video images.”

By using the expertise it gained from operating ruggedized cameras in fast paced yet moderately benign environments, EV has been able to transfer and develop its know-how into the oil and gas industry and thus transform itself into the global market leader in downhole video technology. “Our headquarters are in Aberdeen and Norwich, but we also have 17 operating locations across the world; our region head offices located in Canada, the US, Latin America, Europe, Western Africa, the Middle East, South East Asia and Australia,” says Federico.

To retain its technology leadership in the downhole video market, the company invests more than ten per cent of its annual profits into research and development, which has resulted in camera systems that can work to 10,000m below the surface in environments up to 125 degrees Celsius and 15,000 psi. Proud of its success in obtaining images that can help customers find solutions in the harshest of environments, EV has a success rate of more than 95 per cent thanks to its ultra-modern technology and

expertise in high speed data transmission, video compression techniques, CCD sensors, optical and lighting technology and image processing.

“We specialise in providing well diagnosis services to oil and gas operators; our services are based on a range of downhole video cameras, which we call OPTIS. These can be deployed on electric line, slick line, drill pipe and coil tubing. The main feature of our cameras is that they utilise a proprietary telemetry, which enables us to stream up to 300 kilobits per second of data on a monoconductor cable and can thus provide a full colour video of up to 25 frames per second. We can also record up to 35 frames per second in memory. In terms of ruggedization, OPTIS Downhole Video cameras hit a record in 2013 when a job was successfully run to 28,522 feet/8695 metres for an operator in the Gulf of Mexico,” highlights Federico.

EV’s HD E-line camera works on 35,000 feet of mono-conductor cable; this combined with sensors that also operate at up to 15,000 psi, means customers can rely on quality video diagnostics deeper than ever.

The most recent example of the company’s commitment to innovation is its new Integrated Video Caliper (IVC), which provides real-time answers to well integrity issues and is based on EV’s proprietary telemetry that transmits data to surface at a speed two to three times greater than industry standard systems. “Thanks to our telemetry, the main feature of the IVC is that it combines qualitative HD video data with quantitative Multifinger Caliper dimensioning.

Normally, in the realm of video imaging, it is not possible to quantify the size of the problems or anomalies encountered in the well. However, by combining our cameras with our Multifinger Caliper, we’re not limited to only seeing what is happening, but now, we can also accurately assess the dimensions of the problem we are looking at. The benefits of this integration are all too clear; in a single run in the well, EV is able evaluate downhole completion problems like corrosion, pitting or ruptures to even greater detail than has ever been possible before with standalone electromechanical measurement devices,” explains Federico.

“With IVC, the axial downview camera is run as the tool goes into the well, capturing a real-time overview of the well features. When at bottom, the Multifinger Caliper is opened to obtain a dimensioned circumferential profile of the well as the tool is pulled out. By switching European oil & gas

ev

Above EV HD video sideview camera

EV Engineering Limited EV Engineering is a key supplier of complex machined prismatic components and assembled to the oil and gas industry. We pride ourselves on delivering excellence; with emphasis on ensuring every component meets the rigorous standards and specifications required.

EV Engineering is a trusted supplier to EV Offshore, one of the most innovative providers of downhole video technology. Our two companies enjoy a close working relationship, working together with their design department to ensure all components are designed for manufacture with a focus on developing unique solutions and providing solutions that exceed expectation.

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PROFILE

EV

on the lateral camera we can further inspect any serious conditions or anomalies by taking a circumferential 360 degree video at any point of interest. All this data can be streamlined instantaneously, as it is being acquired, to our customers’ remote offices so they can make decisions on whether additional information is required or whether they will begin to deploy equipment to start a repair operation. The thing to note is that when EV pulls the IVC out of the well, our customers have 100 per cent certainty

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of their well integrity conditions,” he adds.

Officially launched in 2014, the IVC has successfully completed in excess of 40 operations, primarily in Canada where it was tested and developed, but also in the UK and Italy. Following the success of this innovative product, Federico anticipates further opportunities for the EV as its remains focused on growing customer awareness of the value of downhole video by providing them with robust, high quality and unique answer products. “As a firm specialising in well diagnosis, our focus is to continue to build on our downhole video expertise to retain industry leadership and to add further value to our customers. Wherever there is an opportunity to provide more robust answer products, we will look to integrate complementary sensors. We anticipate further market growth in the regions where we are already present, and will actively open operating bases in new geographical regions to ensure we are better able to support our growing customer base,” he concludes.

The thing to note is that when EV pulls the IVC out of the well, our customers have 100 per cent certainty of their well integrity conditions Left Field engineer preparing downhole video camera for a job

EV evcam.com

Services Downhole video specialist

PROFILE

Rubis Terminal

Evolving

infrastructure Formerly known as

the Compagnie Parisienne des Asphaltes, the Rubis Terminal was originally founded in 1877. By 1992 the total recorded storage capacity of the business peaked at over a million cubic meters across two locations in Rouen and Dunkirk. These coastal locations and connections to the main French pipeline infrastructure provided major strategic assets that allowed Rubis to further establish its presence in the chemical and oil markets within France and later throughout Europe.

Rubis Terminal is a subsidiary of the wider Rubis Group alongside the associated company, Rubis Energie. The Group is an independent, international operator specialising in the downstream petroleum and chemicals sector that has continued to grow and expand through a combination of organic growth and acquisitions.

Between 1992 and 2002 the Rubis Group acquired almost one million cubic meters of additional storage in France by taking over strategic terminals in Brest and Saint-Priest as well Strasbourg PĂŠtrole and the Propetrol Company. These acquisitions raised the total storage capacity to two million cubic meters. Over the course of two decades, Rubis Terminal has successfully grown to be the number one independent operator in France and the fifth in Europe.

Fifteen locations Today Rubis Terminal maintains 2.6 million cubic meters of bulk liquid storage and is present across fifteen locations within the Netherlands, Belgium, Turkey and France.

The majority of these operate as fully owned facilities, while others are run as joint ventures between Rubis and its partners. While the business is headquartered in France, in recent years it has undertaken targeted expansion outside of its home market. In 2007, Rubis Terminal expanded with the formation of its Rotterdam terminal followed by Antwerp, the

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Today Rubis Terminal maintains 2.6 million cubic meters of bulk liquid storage and is present across fifteen locations within the Netherlands, Belgium, Turkey and France. The majority of these operate as fully owned facilities, while others are run as joint ventures between Rubis and its partners

second busiest port in Europe, in partnership with Japanese group Mitsui in 2010.

More than 160,000 cubic meters of versatile storage capacity The terminal at Rotterdam in the Netherlands represents a significant capacity with construction of the Greenfield site beginning during 2007. Rubis Terminal BV went into operation a year later in 2008 with a storage capacity of just over 85,000 cubic meters.

Since then Rubis Terminal has embarked on a continuing programme to develop the terminal and its facilities, steadily increasing the amount of storage available at the site. “If you look at the development of Rubis Terminal BV over the last two years, we have expanded our capacity to currently encompass more than 160,000 cubic meters of storage capacity, of which half is chemical and the other half is mineral storage,” explains general manager Paul van Herrewegen. “If you look at the size of the current terminal it was originally planned to fill the location to create an efficient terminal in terms of both size and scale, both from a cost and commercial perspective, and growth has been a natural process since. Due to the combination of an increased number of clients and the diverse transportation connections we have at the terminal, all stakeholders, but primarily our customers will benefit from this increase in capacity.”

pump speeds up to 1500 m3/hour from its three jetties designed for deep-sea vessels up to 225m. A fully dedicated barge jetty completes the highly flexible infrastructure. This allows clients to react quickly to market demands by homogenising and blending different grade mineral products 24/7.

Extension area of 4.5 hectares As of January 2014 six new tanks went into operation at Rubis Terminal BV consisting of four 2500 cubic meter mild steel tanks and two 2500 cubic meter stainless steel tanks for chemicals. This represented the last of several phases of expansion for the Rotterdam terminal at the existing terminal, and will now be followed on a site adjacent to the terminal in agreement with the Port of Rotterdam for the lease of 4.5 hectares of land. Presently Rubis Terminal is developing new tank sizes, which will vary between 500 cubic meters and 10,000 cubic meters in capacity and will be suitable for chemicals and niche products. “The present expansion represents the first period of development with all phases scheduled to be undertaken over a ten year period,” Paul elaborates. “We have an extension area of 4.5 hectares of land to develop and we divided the construction into five phases. The first phase will be available during the fourth quarter of 2016 and will deliver extra capacity equal to 35,000 cubic meters.”

Unique fuel oil configuration

Strong interest in different tank sizes

With a state-of-the-art vapour treatment system, Rubis Terminal BV currently reaches

“We will expand to almost double our current capacity in ten years time thus offering a wide range of chemical tanks in an even wider range of capacities,” adds commercial manager, Marlies Tol. “We currently see strong interest from clients in different tank sizes that we have on offer. In addition, we also receive a lot of requests for tank sizes we cannot offer, simply because we do not have the right tank sizes available.

Adding additional tank sizes is an important step forward for us.”

Small and flexible As the petrochemical market within Europe continues to evolve, Rubis Terminal perceives itself as being well placed to navigate the changing tides of the market. “If you look at our position both geographically and commercially, we are a smaller player that is able to take advantage of the fact that we are small and therefore more flexible,” Paul says. “We have

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PROFILE

direct contact with clients, short communication lines and rapid decision making. Within Rotterdam, we target our market growth mainly in chemicals. In the longer term I believe the market will see a change in production, which is already becoming apparent through the trends in refineries and chemical production facilities where some locations are ceasing their activities.

This means that North West Europe will change into a predominantly import based continent, which will require more storage.”

The best infrastructure As Rubis Terminal heads into 2015, it will continue to promote itself as a highly buoyant and agile business that is able to deliver bespoke storage solutions to clients within the mineral fuel and chemical sectors. As the market adapts, Rubis Terminal BV will continue to evolve to ensure it maintains the best infrastructure to meet the needs of is clients, as Paul concludes: “There is a big difference in the logistics for mineral products and for chemical products. Fuel

Rubis Terminal

oil is only ship or barge related while chemicals require connections via train and truck as well.

It is important to be flexible, especially in the chemical market, where it is very important to be able to adapt in a short timeframe. Generally speaking, when you change the product you also need to change the system.

“Next to being a state-of-the-art terminal for chemicals Rubis Terminal also provides especially designed services for bunker fuels.

The availability of two deep-sea jetties with high pump rate capabilities (up to 1500 m3/hour) and a fully dedicated barge jetty completes the highly flexible infrastructure. Together with our homogenising and heating possibilities it allows clients to react quickly to market demands.”

European oil & gas

Rubis Terminal BV rubis-terminal.nl

Services Independent mineral oil and chemical storage

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provider Global

With a history dating

as far back as 1977, Technip Umbilicals (TU) has designed, manufactured and supplied subsea umbilicals for the oil and gas industry for more than 30 years.

Formally known as DUCO Ltd., the company has been developing pioneering umbilical designs since the first subsea production systems were installed in the 1970s. Business expanded in the 1990s when these systems became an accepted means of offshore hydrocarbon recovery; the early systems tended to involve short tieback distances installed in water depths accessible to divers, which are typically less than 200 metres, and used umbilicals constructed almost entirely from thermoplastic hose fluid

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conduits. Technip Umbilicals’ track record of thermoplastic umbilical supply showcases some of its previous projects, which contain DUCO manufactured hose.

Steel tube conduits were gradually introduced in the mid-1990s, and their use has escalated in recent years due to increased tieback distances and the exploration of deeper water depths. As such, Technip Umbilicals has been supplying steel tube umbilicals to the industry since 1994, and introduced the first steel tube umbilical to the Gulf of Mexico region in 1995. In some instances, combinations of steel tubes and thermoplastic hoses are employed in umbilicals.

Pioneered by DUCO in the late 1990s, this hybrid concept provides the subsea system designer with greater flexibility in optimising the performance of the subsea production system.

Acquired by the Technip Group in 2003, the company today is a major designer, innovator and global provider of umbilical systems for use by the offshore industry. “We operate globally,” confirms Technip Umbilicals’ managing director Jean-Louis Rostaing. “If you look at our portfolio in terms of current projects we have a lot of work going on in the North Sea, with further demand in West Africa, Asia and Australia. Because of this growth, we decided that integrating our facilities in the UK, the US, Angola and Malaysia was important to show customers that we maintain the same values with regards to safety, quality and ethics as the Technip Group. We changed our name from DUCO to Technip Umbilicals in September 2014, a move that lets our customers know when they deal with Technip Umbilicals Ltd. in Newcastle, UK, or Technip Umbilicals Inc. in Houston, US, they still receive the same level of service in terms of safety, quality and delivery as all segments of the Technip Group.”

Viewing quality, health, safety and environmental (QHS&E) guidelines as key to safe and efficient operations, the ISO 9001:2000, ISO 14001:2004 and OHSAS 18001:1999 certified company places safety at the forefront of all projects.

Taking the rebrand as an opportunity to continue consolidating and developing best practices across the three additional umbilical units of the Technip Umbilicals Group –Technip Umbilicals Inc., Angoflex Ltda. and Asiaflex Products Sdn Bhd. - Technip Umbilicals is keen to not only evolve with market demand, but also maintain the North East’s position as a leader within the subsea industry. “We have

PROFILE

invested vast amounts into our facilities to ensure we have the modern assets needed to meet the capacity and capability demands of the current market, whilst also being prepared for future demand. Technology is also a key strength for Technical Umbilicals, as we have developed products that can comply with client application requirements and meet the needs of the subsea market as it moves into deeper waters. Key to these technological developments is our Research and Development Centre in Newcastle, which is linked with all other research and development centres within the Technip Group; in addition, having a highly skilled and loyal workforce means we have long-term experience readily available in-house,” highlights Jean-Louis.

Considered a fundamental part of the division’s current and future capabilities, the Research and Development Centre receives a significant amount of revenue to ensure Technip Umbilicals continues to provide groundbreaking products and capabilities. Well positioned to handle any challenging requirements in the future, the Research and Development Centre focuses on umbilical/functional component structural improvements to boost performance and reliability, improvements in hardware design to ensure complete protection from harsh environmental conditions, integration of electric power conductors into umbilicals and hardware designs for deepwater dynamic and static service, and the development and improvement of mathematical modelling and analytical tools to further grow engineering capabilities and understanding. With strong links to other Technip Research and Development groups, the team are able to draw on expertise such as flexible pipe manufacture and installation expertise to ensure the optimal installation ability of the umbilical and hardware.

As leaders in technology development, the four strategically located umbilical entities are able to design, manufacture and supply bespoke umbilical products to customers from project inception to project completion. Viewing each clients’ requirements as unique, Technip Umbilicals is a specialist in delivering optimised industry solutions to the shallow and medium water markets as well as the ultra-deepwater markets. In fact, the division as a whole has developed umbilicals for the harsh environments of the North Sea and Atlantic Frontier region and ultra-deepwater locations in the Gulf of

Technip Umbilicals

Mexico and West Africa.

With a strong history of successfully providing thermoplastic hoses to the oil and gas industry, the company’s products offer a broad spectrum of control and chemical injection fluids and are available in seamless lengths in excess of 20,000m depending on bore size. Meanwhile,

steel tube umbilicals can provide high pressure, corrosion resistance, tensile strength and deepwater and long distance operation.

Although diverse in physical characteristics, combining both functional components can deliver technical and commercial advantages.

Having developed a strong reputation for superior services, Technip Umbilicals is currently working on a major contract with Chevron North Sea to manufacture a 28 km umbilical for the Alder field; a critical link in subsea operations as it relays power, chemicals and communications between a platform or support vessel and hydraulically operated subsea equipment. The umbilicals are being wholly manufactured at the Newcastle, UK site to coincide with Chevron’s goal to develop the field via a single subsea well. Meanwhile, parent company Technip’s Aberdeen operating centre will be involved in the engineering, procurement, installation and construction (EPIC) contract for the project.

“This is an important project for us because we are manufacturing a 28 km hybrid umbilical, which merges our original thermoplastic hose technology with steel tubes,” says Jean-Louis.

“To take advantage of this demand and meet the needs of our customers, we came up with the idea of combining these two technologies; this innovation is called hybrid because it is made up of both steel tubes and thermoplastic hoses, which thus results in an improved field development solution. The 28 km umbilical will be made up of steel tubes and then wrapped in thermoplastic hoses; this is a competitive European oil & gas

All of our efforts over the last four years have been with the intention of positioning ourselves as a leader in the umbilical market; over the next 12 months we will continue to consolidate this position and work more closely with clients to anticipate demand in terms of technology and delivery

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Technip Umbilicals

solution for a challenging bespoke project.”

Having invested in its main facility, equipment and increased plant size over the last four years, in addition to hiring an extra 100 personnel in 2014, the strong team at Technical Umbilicals Ltd. in Newcastle, UK, remains committed to operating within the North East. However, as energy demand continues to grow in developing countries, the company is also keeping vigilant of any potential opportunities further afield.

On top of this, Technip Umbilicals maintains its vision of continuous improvement with the implementation of a quality improvement programme, as Jean-Louis concludes: “All of our efforts over the last four years have been with the intention of positioning ourselves as a leader in the umbilical market; over the next 12 months we will continue to consolidate this position and work more closely with clients to anticipate demand in terms of technology and delivery.

“Moreover, we will also be focused on the implementation of our quality improvement

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programme “Quartz”; this Technip Umbilicalsborn programme has been adopted by the Technip Group and aims to boost quality in all areas of the company, including engineering and manufacturing. These developments have been well received by our clients as it means we can meet their demands in an increasingly stringent and challenging market. We will also be deploying a lot of new products such as aluminium cable umbilicals for deepwater applications and will continue to actively work internally as well as with clients to extend our performance.”

Technip Umbilicals technip.com

Services Subsea umbilical systems

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Kongsberg Maritime

Reaching a

milestone This year Kongsberg, one of

Top Bluewater Aoka Mizu Above Thermopylae House, Aberdeen Below Kongsberg process automation control room

the world’s leading providers of systems for merchant marine, subsea and offshore, is celebrating a milestone anniversary. For two centuries the business has been at the forefront of technology and innovation, transforming from a manufacturer of small arms to a leader in many technological fronts including marine, oil and gas, space and defence. “The company was originally founded in 1814 and is one of the oldest industrial concerns in Norway,” says Dave Shand, general manager offshore at Kongsberg Maritime in the UK. “This year we celebrated our 200th birthday, and we have reached this milestone by constantly developing through innovation.” Indeed, the history of Kongsberg is steeped in innovation, success and a strong vision for development, dating back to 20th March 1814 when Poul Steenstrup established Norway’s first factory – Kongsberg Vapenfabrikk.

Poul was a visionary who believed in industrial progress and technical understanding, combined with national pride and strong determination.

Innovation remained key to Kongsberg as the business continued to develop into the 20th century, being involved in a range of industries and technological developments, from manufacturing world-class rifles to the ground breaking dynamic positioning systems that the Kongsberg Maritime business division is worldrenowned for today.

Kongsberg Maritime itself was established in 1992 to capitalise on Kongsberg’s growing international business within the maritime dynamic positioning sector. Today the

business is a globally respected organisation serving key markets in the offshore, shipyard, and the energy exploration and production industries. Kongsberg Maritime provides a plethora of services and solutions to these sectors; for example in field development it supports construction and offshore vessels with innovative solutions for operation and specialist applications, in production it offers automation systems and software to enhance output and minimise downtime, whereas for maritime transport and offshore vessel clients it offers a complete package of solutions such as navigation, automation, training and safety systems.

“We have several divisions which address the oil and gas industry, including Subsea and Offshore Divisions,” says Dave. “In general we address all phases from exploration through production to transportation. One of our specific focuses is integrated control and safety systems for oil and gas floating fixed production installations. In conjunction with this activity we established a subsidiary, Kongsberg Maritime Engineering, which undertakes EPC contracts to deliver complete packages. We are one of the leading global providers of marine systems in the oil and gas industry, encompassing drill ships and rigs, LNG vessels, offshore support vessels, offshore survey and ROV support vessels.”

Indeed, for the offshore sector the business provides a vast catalogue of products and services that encompasses bridge systems, camera systems, deck systems, engine room and automation systems, engineering, safety European oil & gas

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Northrop Grumman Sperry Marine Northrop Grumman Sperry Marine supplies competitive technologies and services to maritime customers worldwide, and is proud of its longstanding relationship with Kongsberg Maritime, providing safe passage, performance and reliability to its customers. As supplier of gyro and magnetic compasses and radar top units, Northrop Grumman Sperry Marine is committed to first-class customer service and world-class navigational efficiency.

systems, simulators, sensors and transmitters, tank gauging and measurements. On a wider scale Kongsberg is even active in other areas of offshore energy through its Kongsberg Oil & Gas Technologies division, such as drilling operations support, integrated operations, process simulation, and riser management.

“One of our main strengths is the ‘Full Picture’,” Dave highlights. “For example, in floating production we can utilise our strengths in marine with our experience in topside to realise a common solution for all control aspects of a production installation. In conjunction with our colleagues in Kongsberg Oil & Gas Technologies we can deliver a solution that includes dynamic process simulation and operator training systems. We have built up a strong customer focused MMO support team in the UK as part of our global support team, which works proactively with the customer to maximise the operation and productivity of their assets.”

The company is globally renowned for its range of dynamic positioning systems, which have been developed to minimise

Right K-Chief system

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fuel consumption and wear and tear on the propulsion equipment of a vessel. These can be used across a wide range of vessels such as drill ships, cable laying vessels, crane vessels, FPSOs, diving support vessels, floatels, and various other ships and vessels for a wide array of applications.

Kongsberg’s system can be provided as a standalone system or can be offered as part of an integrated system that communicates with other Kongsberg systems on board the vessel including the K-Chief (marine automation system) and the K-Thrust (thruster control system).

Kongsberg Maritime is also a leader in the development and production of subsea systems covering a broad scope of applications and technologies. This can range from acoustic communication and control, autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) through to environmental monitoring solutions, seabed mapping and underwater positioning systems.

The ability of Kongsberg to provide an entire suite of products for offshore, subsea and maritime operations ensures the company continually secures major contracts and significant projects. For example, since the business was last featured in European Oil & Gas Magazine in August 2013 it has been selected to supply safety, automation and lifecycle simulation technology for the Johan Sverdrup field development by Statoil. The business was awarded a Project Specific Agreement, including FEED, for the delivery of its safety and automation (SAS) systems in May 2014, and the deliveries will include Kongsberg Maritime’s industry-proven SAS technology, which is applicable for process control, power distribution control, process shutdown, emergency shutdown and fire and gas systems. Ultimate delivery will also include the company’s latest systems

PROFILE

and technology for production, integration, presentation, simulation, training and operation.

The company has already installed a range of similar systems before on ten Statoil production platforms, illustrating the high levels of regard that Statoil holds the Kongsberg name, and this particular project will further strengthen Kongsberg’s position as a leading supplier of automation and safety systems to the global offshore production market.

Also, more recently the business has won a significant contract from BW Offshore to provide all control systems for its new Premier Oil Catcher Field FPSO, which will operate in the UKCS. “This is a significant project for the Kongsberg Maritime business and for the UK business in particular as it builds on the current portfolio of ICSS installations, including Statoil Mariner,” Dave highlights. “It continues our strong relationship with BW, which includes the BW Athena FPSO in the UK sector, and builds on Kongsberg’s strengths in the FPSO market,

Kongsberg Maritime

including Bluewater Aoka Mizu, Hawene Brim and Maersk Gryphon Alpha in the UK sector with many more operating globally.”

With such a strong history and an equally high reputation, there is little doubt that Kongsberg Maritime will remain the leading name in automation systems into the future, as Dave points out: “We are encouraged with the amount and quality of enquiries for our solutions given the current market, but we have technological differentiators that make our solutions attractive in a sector that looks to reduce lifecycle costs.

“We will continue to focus on the oil and gas market, encompassing production control systems and the subsea IRM market, where we have key technologies such as AUV and environmental monitoring systems. Our vision is to be a key provider of ICSS systems in the UK sector, building on our success in the Norwegian sector and what we have achieved to date in the UKCS,” he concludes.

European oil & gas

The company is globally renowned for its range of dynamic positioning systems, which have been developed to minimise fuel consumption and wear and tear on the propulsion equipment of a vessel

Kongsberg Maritime kongsberg.com

Services Automation Systems

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fish Go

Founded in 2012 with the vision of providing premium quality survey systems for highly kinetic subsea environments, North Sea Systems is the only company in this sector that is dedicated to the development and operation of systems for high flow offshore environments.

“We provide bespoke survey equipment for offshore environments,” confirms Ben Baker, project manager and CableFish operator at North Sea Systems. “As an R&D business at heart, we are able to discuss any technical problems a client may have and work to find a solution for them. This sometimes may involve utilising products already available in the market place, or perhaps in developing a new solution, such as our innovative products CableFish and DataFish. With a pedigree in tidal marine renewables, we are able to offer turnkey solutions to all industries, not only with products, but also with services thanks to our in-house engineering team.”

With the capability to offer a complete solution for met-ocean survey, the company provides high quality support to the burgeoning tidal, wave and wind industries, as Ben notes: “At present North Sea Systems has focused efforts on the tidal marine renewables industry. We have worked for various developers and are currently looking to secure a contract with the largest tidal energy project globally. North Sea Systems is also looking to enter other industries, such as offshore wind and the oil and gas sector.”

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Aware that there are unique challenges when operating and collecting data in some of the harshest environments, North Sea Systems has developed two patented systems to meet the needs of this demanding market, as Ben discusses: “We have two products currently; DataFish is a met ocean survey buoy, which has the ability to mount a variety of instrumentation on the water surface, on the seabed, and throughout the water column. All data is transmitted from the buoy in real-time.

DataFish can provide environmental data for real-time operations and can survey a location prior to an operation; it can also monitor environmental restrictions.”

Highly suitable for unforgiving marine environments, DataFish is capable of undertaking long duration, multi-application surveys and is the only system able to provide real-time data from tidal energy sites. A key benefit of DataFish is its customisable platform; by using mountings on the anchor and mooring, the system can collect a range of metaocean data thanks to instrumentation that can be positioned at any depth. Instruments include ADCP, which measures flow profiles, heave sensor to provide wave heights, GPS, hydrophone for measuring acoustics and PAM and cameras. DataFish can also be configured for acoustic monitoring, which enables developers to assess the acoustic output of vessel noise, mammal presence and marine turbines. Not only does DataFish provide

PROFILE

groundbreaking advantages to customers, it is also designed to overcome issues such as lost equipment, poor quality data and failed deployments in extreme environments.

Ben continues: “Our second product is CableFish, a subsea camera system that monitors the touchdown point of a sub marine cable during its installation. CableFish houses cameras, lights, altimeter, and a USBL to provide the client with a detailed understanding of their cable route. It is controlled by a single operator, and its data can be incorporated into the navigation suite already being used onboard the vessel.”

As a low cost, low risk solution for monitoring submarine cable installation, CableFish is designed to operate in up to six knots of tidal flow, conditions that were previously viewed as notoriously challenging for cable installation.

However, by using instruments mounted on a cable mounted carriage, as well as a fibre optic umbilical, CableFish can provide live information from both video and GPS co-ordinates of the cable touch down point. Moreover, the highly adaptable system can operate from most cable installation vessels and is easily modified to accommodate a broad range of sensors. Capable of reaching 50 metre water depths and adaptable to customer demands, CableFish eliminates the need for an expensive post-lay ROV survey. The system’s onboard instrumentation includes three cameras, two of which face forward, while one faces aft, two dimmable lights, a motion sensor and altimeter and USBL beacon that provides accurate subsea positioning.

The first stage of CableFish’s test programme was completed in August 2014, with favourable results that prove the system will be a

North Sea Systems

benchmark in submarine cable installation for high flow environments, as Ben highlights: “The CableFish development was funded

by The Carbon Trust Marine Renewables Commercialisation Fund programme. The final stage of the project was to prove the system could operate in a tidal location, so CableFish was tested at EMEC’s tidal test facility in Scotland. The system was deployed throughout a tidal cycle, and was able to monitor the touchdown point continually. Cable lay scenarios were represented, and CableFish did not impede the speed of cable lay. North Sea Systems were very pleased with the performance of CableFish and that the objectives of the testing were met.”

Following extensive testing of CableFish and a number of successful DataFish deployments, North Sea Systems is keen to increase awareness of its innovative products, as Ben concludes: “Having spent time developing the survey systems, North Sea Systems will now focus on commercialisation of the products and prove their worth to various industries. Following this North Sea Systems will continue to develop current products; and also look to meet client needs by creating new technologies.”

European oil & gas

Highly suitable for unforgiving marine environments, DataFish is capable of undertaking long duration, multiapplication surveys and is the only system able to provide real-time data from tidal energy sites

North Sea Systems northseasystems.com

Services Premier supplier of bespoke survey systems

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Perforator

core Quality at its

Perforator

Tuboscope | NOV Wellbore Technologies Optimise your drilling and production programmes with the proven products and services you have trusted for over 75 years.

Tuboscope | NOV Wellbore Technologies has continued to raise the global standard with a comprehensive and integrated suite of value-added solutions that maximise the life cycle of your assets, helping you to drill safer and more efficiently, increase production and decrease downtime. Tuboscope | NOV Wellbore Technologies has honored Perforator as a professional and competent manufacturer of drill pipe in the oil and gas industry for more than 20 years.

, under the direction of CEO Wolfgang Schmidt, offers customised solutions for worldwide drilling projects, supplying innovative and technically advanced drilling products to an international range of customers.

The company has significantly evolved since it was founded, and today the cornerstones of its production are drill pipes and tools for oil and gas field drilling, DTH and HDD pipes, augers for vertical and horizontal drilling, and drilling tools and injection systems for applications in mining, tunnelling and reconstruction.

It is thanks to Perforator’s experience in the market that customers keep returning, and as Steffen Henning, sales director noted, the company also keeps a keen eye on quality and product development. “Drilling equipment is our business; we have decades of experience in the range of different horizontal and vertical drilling techniques,” he stated. “High quality products secure our good reputation, but as well it is most important to remain flexible and to

continuously adapt the design and manufacture of products to keep up with customer requirements or new technical standards. A close collaboration between our engineers, production, sales team and customer guarantees that customised products can be supplied within a short time frame. At this time, we have a staff of 120 motivated and highly trained employees, which also helps to ensure that the quality of our products is first class.”

He continued: “We are convinced that the quality of our products is reflected in our customer satisfaction and that forms the basis of our success. Thus we pay attention to maintaining our high manufacturing standards, such as in the production of drill pipes according to API 5DP, and continuing to update our quality management system according to ISO 9001. Both of these are traceable through regular certification, which offers peace of mind to our customers.”

The clients that Steffen referred to are drilling European oil & gas

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Perforator

Drilling equipment is our business; we have decades of experience in the range of different horizontal and vertical drilling techniques contractors, rental companies or customers in the construction and mining industry. “We take care to keep in close contact with our customers through an experienced field sales force and a well-structured net of associated companies and partners, mainly independent local companies, who ensure the distribution of our equipment worldwide,” he explained.

When European Oil & Gas Magazine last spoke to Perforator in 2014, one area that was highlighted was the need to focus on new product development. The company has indeed sustained its focus on these areas, and at the beginning of 2015 it produced a complete, newly designed reverse circulation (RC) drill string including a new generation of RC pipes for a customer in central Africa. “The main focus concerning the design was easy handling and maintenance of the string, since both the technical requirements as well as the infrastructure of this region do not correspond to the European standard,” Steffen highlighted.

In addition to products such as this for the oil and gas sector, Perforator is also very active in the development of customer specific soil conditioning solutions. “Using advanced technologies for the production of polymer foams we were able to shrink the needed technology to not only fit into small- to midsized TBM’s but also into custom crafted excavators,” said Steffen. “This enables our customer to use the advantages of polymer foam-based soil conditioning in completely new cases, for example dam repairs or excavations under problematic soil conditions. Modern PLC based controls give the customer full control of the process and the use of well-chosen components

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extends the reliability of our systems.”

It is through creating new and innovative products such as these that Perforator can continue to grow and develop. Steffen noted that there are good orders on the horizon, but that is not a reason to sit still: “We need to stabilise and further expand our position,” he agreed.

“However, the current oil price deterioration and consequently the decreased demand of drill pipes do pose major challenges to us. Therefore it is important not to lose sight of developing our other product groups that are apart from the oil and gas industry.

“So the challenge will be not only to assert our position but to extend our share in a highly competitive international market. Manufacturing customised high quality products is only one side of the coin - the cost factor of course influences our customers’ decision to buy. As a medium sized company we are able to keep these two factors in balance.

“We also aim to strengthen Perforator’s market position in the future as a global, flexible supplier of high quality drilling equipment and to increase our market share continuously by entering any ‘white spots’ on our global map. At the same time it is important to keep pace with the changing requirements of our customers and to have an eye on new product development – so for example, we are looking at our own high torque connections for oil field applications.

“This year’s target is to consolidate our position in Europe and to intensify our activities in the Middle East and South America,” he concluded. “We will be focusing on our DTH and rotary drill pipes, field-tested reliable equipment with a high market acceptance.”

Perforator GmbH perforator.de

Services Customised solutions for drilling projects

PROFILE

Pipeline Precision Engineering

value Accurate

Pipeline Precision Engineering

Ltd (PPE) is an engineering design, fabrication and precision machining company providing multi-disciplined project management, design, manufacturing, installation, maintenance, testing and commissioning services to multi-national oil, gas, petrochemical and mineral extraction companies across the world. The business was founded in 2010 by its directors Simon Hannar and Stewart Walker. With a background in

pressure vessel design and fabrication, Simon brought with him a wealth of experience that was complementary to the experience of his partner, Stewart, who comes from a precision machining background.

The UK based business today remains predominately focused on pressure vessel/ piping design and fabrication, utilising its in-house precision machining facility to deliver its services to a broad section of industries.

With the flexibility to supply a single item or a complete multi-disciplined turnkey project, its extensive portfolio provides an insight into its strengths. Extending from its general design and fabrication capability, it has built up an international reputation for the design, fabrication and testing of high-pressure pipeline pigging systems for the oil, gas petrochemical and mineral industries. Originally manufacturing for third party specialist suppliers, the majority of its business is now carried out directly with the end user or multinational Engineer, Procure, Construct (EPC) contractors.

As a natural progression from its factory design, fabrication and machining capability, PPE has also moved into on-site fabrication and erection of storage tanks together with the associated interconnecting pipe work systems.

Currently, this side of the business is specifically focused on UK based oil, gas and petrochemical plants, particularly in the North East of England.

“By its very definition, PPE’s main products are pressure vessels, piping systems and precision machining,” begins George Bailey, business development manager. “However, within those three core areas there is an extensive list of specialist items, with some of the more important being pipeline pig launchers/receivers for onshore, topside and subsea, together with the associated pig lifting/handling/loading equipment,” he continues.

The business also undertakes on-site fabrication and installation of general pipe work, as well as European oil & gas

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PROFILE

the supply of specialist machined components where required. “The application of our products and services spans all sectors of the oil, gas and petrochemical industry, and to a large extent depends on the type of projects being planned and executed at any particular time. Currently the construction of high pressure gas and oil transmission pipelines is very buoyant so we are seeing enquiries for pipeline pigging systems, required on all new pipelines to facilitate the commissioning, cleaning, gauging and inspection over the life of the pipeline,” says George.

With a client base on both national and international levels the company has completed a wealth of successful projects, and whilst busy executing ongoing contracts, it seeks to expand its business with potential clients, both in the UK and overseas. “We are actively promoting our pipeline products in the UK, UAE, Algeria and Oman, and would hope at least to see enquiries for the pigging systems for theTrans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) in Turkey/ Greece/Albania, as well as markets in Korea and Iraq,” highlights George as he expands on current projects: “We currently have an order from Genesis Oil & Gas in Aberdeen for a subsea pigging structure. Genesis is the engineering and procurement contractor for the Aberdeen-based Nexen Petroleum company. The order is for subsea pig receivers, temporary tie in spools, mud mat and Alignment frame. The project will allow Nexen Petroleum to conduct cleaning and intelligent pigging of the 18” Buzzard Export Pipe line.”

PPE is certified to ISO 9001:2008, accredited with engineering, design and fabrication, installation, testing and commissioning on a worldwide basis. Further still, through its registration with First Point Assessment Limited (FPAL), it is initially pre qualified to bid for work to the oil and gas majors together with the major FEED and EPC contractors working in the UK Continental Shelf. “Additionally we are registered with the Utilities Vendor Data Base (UVDB), a similar system to FPAL but applicable to the energy utilities such as National Grid,” adds George.

Reviewing how the market has faired over the past few months and what the future holds he adds: “Obviously the oil industry is being hit quite hard by the reduction in the price of oil, and regrettably this is resulting in staff reductions both in the UK and overseas, but more importantly from our point of view we are starting to see some of the oil and gas majors

Pipeline Precision Engineering

cutting back on their 2015 Capital Expenditure budgets, resulting in some quite large offshore projects either being put on hold or abandoned completely. This will obviously reflect in the level of enquiries that we receive for both UK and overseas oil based projects. Where the oil production price is relatively low, such as in the Middle East, I would expect existing projects to carry on to completion.

“Fortunately the high pressure gas transmission pipeline sector is still buoyant with some very large projects already committed for construction. We obviously need to ensure that PPE, working where applicable with our overseas based colleagues, is in a position to bid for any equipment that falls within our scope of supply.”

The business faces a tough market, with some very strong competitors operating on the international scene, but as George points out, PPE’s size and resilience plays an important role: “The phrase “large enough to cope, small enough to care”, is very much applicable to our organisation and reflects our attitude to our to clients.” As well as aspiring to develop this ideal throughout the company, it recognises that the future of the business is dependant on many other factors.

It seems to be generally accepted within the industry that the price of oil will remain at around $50/barrel for the foreseeable future. If this is the case then we will need to work extra hard to ensure that PPE is on the bidders list for every major pipeline project. This means continuing to work very closely with the government export support organisation, UKTI, and trade organisations such as NOF Energy and the Energy Industries Council.

A complete overhaul of our export communication system is currently underway, and our use of social media sites will need to be looked at carefully to ensure that PPE keeps in step with current trends,” says George as he draws to a conclusion. “Through a combination of promoting our services, expanding our core products and services and listening carefully to our clients’ requirements we would hope to see a steady growth in sales over the next three to five years in all three areas of our work, factory design and fabrication, precision machining and on-site fabrication and installation. To ensure that PPE has the skilled personnel to meet the predicted future growth we currently have six young engineering apprentices under training, all recruited from the area local to our works.”

European oil & gas

It seems to be generally accepted within the industry that the price of oil will remain at around $50/barrel for the foreseeable future.

If this is the case then we will need to work extra hard to ensure that PPE is on the bidders list for every major pipeline project

Pipeline Precision Engineering Ltd pipelineprecision.com

Services Pressure vessel/piping design and fabrication and precision machining company

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PROFILE

Dales Marine Services

On time,

every time With a strong background Dales Marine Services has an unquestioned history of first-class fabrication and market growth that has solidified its reputation as a leading partner within the oil and gas, marine and offshore sectors

in fabrication, structural steelwork, dry dock facilities, mechanical engineering, services and facilities for a range of industries, Dales Marine Services has a proven track record in providing reliable engineered solutions to clients through the marine, offshore and oil and gas industries.

The business was established as an offshoot of Dales Engineering, which was established in 1987. Dales Marine Services was incorporated in Aberdeen during 1991, predominantly carrying out ship repairs afloat for vessels within the oil market. The business grew steadily and changed location on a number of occasions to cope with the increasing demand for its services, which resulted from its ongoing success. The company finally settled at its current location at Aberdeen’s only dry dock in 2004. Today the Dales Marine Services facility incorporates large fabrication and engineering workshops from which it caters to, and dry docks a host of vessels including small tugs, ferries, platform supply vessels (PSV), emergency response and rescue vessels (EERV), diving support vessels (DSV), tankers and coasters.

A major milestone in the company’s history came in May 2014, when Dales Marine Services announced that it had acquired the fellow

marine engineering company, Forth Group. “We were approached to purchase the Forth Group late in December 2013,” elaborates director, Michael Milne. “The acquisition went through late March 2014 and it was a natural progression for us to take over the group and was something we had considered for some time. We now have a total of six dry docks and seven workshop locations. At the time of writing, this weekend was the first time we have had a vessel in all six dry docks and something we hope to continue with. Clients also get the comfort that they do not have to phone around different companies to organise dock space, they have one point of contact and one price for any of the locations.

“Dales Marine Services operates two dry docks in Aberdeen and Leith and we also operate a workshop in Montrose. Forth Estuary Engineering operates a dry dock in Leith, while Grangemouth ship repairers operates a dry dock in Grangemouth and Garvel Clyde manages two dry docks in Greenock and Troon located on the west coast. We have workshops at all locations with overhead cranes and we operate nine mobile cranes up to 100 tonne capacity, 14 forklifts and some 43 company commercial vehicles, which service the whole of Scotland.

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Dales Marine Services

EPSCO

There are plans to expand the workshops and facilities within the current locations but nothing is firm as yet.”

Prior the purchase of the Forth Group, Dales Marine Services took the decision in May 2013 to extend its lease at both its Aberdeen and Leith harbours by a further 20 years, cementing its position as a vital part of the marine and offshore community. “It was crucial for us to extend the lease of both facilities in order for us to show commitment to both employees and clients,” Michael explains. “Quite a number of our clients book vessels up to two years in advance so they need to know that we will be here and are committed to the locations. We also want to be able to improve the facilities so the longer leases make that more viable.”

Over the years Dales Marine has worked with worked with a number of clients covering a spectrum of maritime sectors including Technip, Subsea 7, Saipem, Stena Drilling and Maersk Line to name a few. As such the company can boast a strong global reputation and an established presence in a host of market sectors. “Dales Marine and Forth Group have hundreds of clients worldwide,” says Michael.

“The businesses’ west coast facilities focus is mainly on tugs and inter-island ferries, while the east coast is predominately oil related work.

We have recently completed two stability tank installations on sister PSVs in Aberdeen, where the units weighed in at 56 tonnes each and were pre-fabricated in three weeks. They were then installed on the vessel over three weeks. We are always looking into new revenue streams and are currently engaged in meetings regarding power station work.”

Dales Marine Services has an unquestioned history of first-class fabrication and market growth that has solidified its reputation as a leading partner within the oil and gas, marine and offshore sectors. As such, it is confident that it has the right capabilities and knowhow to enable it to continue to grow, as Michael concludes: “Clients are keen to secure dry dock space with a reputable company who they know

will deliver their project on time and to budget.

Fabrication has always been a difficult market, especially in the northeast where there are many companies competing for the same work.

Fortunately we have a reputation for being able to supply large amounts of labour at short notice and always exceed our clients’ expectations when it comes to delivery of goods rapidly. We always have night shift working and weekends so are able to slot in last minute requests without falling behind with our normal day to day work.

We have increased our turnover this year by some 50 per cent at Dales Marine and at Forth Group by 25 per cent.”

European oil & gas

EPSCO is Europe’s leading specialist in fresh water services for offshore supply and support vessels. Working collaboratively with Dales Marine Services for more than ten years EPSCO’s services have ensured vessels are fully cleaned and disinfected during dry-docking periods, whilst satisfying MCA and representing industry best practice. Through flexible teams of water hygiene specialists EPSCO has proven that fresh water systems can be safely and effectively maintained, with short turnaround times during busy docking periods.

Dales Marine Services dalesmarine.co.uk

Services Fabrication, structural steelwork, dry dock facilities, mechanical engineering, services and facilities for a range of industries

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growth

John Dahle Skipshandel

Impressive Celebrating

Red Rooster Industrial (UK) Ltd For over 25 years Red Rooster Industrial (UK) Ltd has supplied our dealers with high quality lifting equipment, providing a variety of lifting solutions for all types of industries.

Over the years we have built a strong relationship with John Dahle Skipshandel supplying a range of standard and special design pneumatic hoists, trolleys and winches for sale or rental. In addition we have supplied a range of load measuring links and shackles up to 500 tonne.

its centennial anniversary in 2015, John Dahle Skipshandel AS originally began as Nygaard and Dahle in 1915 when John Lie Dahle and Torstein Nygaard entered into a fruitful partnership. Offering a wide range of goods at their store in Breigaten, the partners enjoyed steady growth, leading to the acquisition of Verksgaten 14a in 1917. Following this development, Torstein Nygaard left the company and John Lie Dahle took over, renaming the company John Dahle Skipshandel in 1945.

“The company began operating in the bunker market in the 1950s and got an agreement with Esso for the vessels to bunker; we also owned a small tanker. After the Second World War the fishery business faced a negative trend, so we became one of the first organisations to mechanically splice steel wire; this is used to produce lifting slings and has identified us in the market. It is even in our logo,” says Jan Christian Bernhardt, managing director at John Dahle Skipshandel AS. “Our next major development happened in the 1960s when we foresaw the oil age coming, which meant we began importing a lot of wire and other goods from the US and the rest of Europe to meet the challenges of the oil sector. We also started with inspection of fall arrest equipment in the in the 1990s, and are today one of the leading players within this field in Europe. From 2000 to 2014 we have enjoyed tremendous growth; in 2000 we had 11 employees and a turnover of 19 million Norwegian kroner and in 2012 we had a turnover of 138.5 million kroner and 34 people employed. Having moved into our new 9700 square metre building in 2014 we have got 42 personnel employed and the space for further growth,” he adds.

Focused on its ambition to be a dynamic and financially viable company in constant development, John Dahle Skipshandel aims to be the preferred supplier of products

and services within lifting equipment, fall protection, protective equipment, tools and other consumables for oil and shipping activities.

Furthermore, the company believes it should be perceived as an attractive place to work and operations should be financially profitable; to meet these goals, it will maintain a clear focus on health, safety, the environment, creativity and quality. Meanwhile, customers will be working with a reliable and strong partner that focuses on respect, quality, credibility, security, health, creativity and economic profit.

“We want to be a one-stop-shop for our customers with our 15 different product groups; this diversification gives us a competitive edge as other companies have been narrowing their products and services. One brand I’d like to highlight is Acera, which is made up of HMPE fibre to create ropes or round slings; these fibres are as strong as steel while being 1/7th of the weight. Ropes and round slings made by these fibres are easy to operate and are developed by Timm AS, an old company that has been in the rope business since 1772, and today owns the Acera brand and delivers worldwide. We stock 12-braided HMPE fibre from six millimetres to 80 millimetres,” says Jan Christian. “Another product range to mention are the Tiger hoists, which are high quality lever- and chain hoist produced by Tiger Lifting UK Ltd; we have had tremendous success with this product, which we anticipate to grow in the Norwegian market as it can be used underwater at high pressures and is mechanically excellent.”

On top of this, the company has worked with Gunnebo Industries on ROV shackles for the offshore industry, as Jan Christian highlights: “We have been delivering ROV shackles to our customers for many years, but the products always had to be modified to work properly with the load and the shackle. To rectify this, we worked with Gunnebo, a company that has a strong presence in the offshore market. We used our ideas and designs, while Gunnebo manufactured it so there are now no European oil & gas

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PROFILE

John Dahle Skipshandel

modifications needed. Other important aspects of the shackle are that it is release and retrieve and it has a very good quality safety mechanism.”

To further strengthen its services as a supplier, the company merged with Red Rooster Norway on 1st February 2015. This development has resulted in John Dahle Skipshandel adding products such as rental air hoists, powered winches, load measuring equipment and wire rope running line monitors to its range. In addition, this merger enables the company to offer competent inspections according to Norwegian legislation as well as maintenance, not only to its own customers, but to Red Roosters too.

“There is a lot of negativity in the market currently because the oil price is lowering, however we are looking at these challenges positively and are on the offensive with our future strategies,” explains Jan Christian. “We have stopped being conservative with five year strategy plans and are now looking into how to improve areas such as sales, marketing, cost-effectiveness and competence. During 2000 to 2014 we didn’t really have to be active

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in the market because engineers had a lot of purchasing power, but now we are more in the saddle with regards to our sales activity.”

Despite challenges in the sector, the company will continue to find ways to maintain its leading reputation and growth, as Jan Christian notes: “We have HSEQ policies such as ‘work should instil joy’ and regularly conduct internal and external surveys to find out if we are viewed as a friendly organisation. In the last survey we got 4.8 out of five, with five being excellent. Other ways we keep a competitive edge in the market is through successful programming, so when we make our documentation for say 500 pieces of one article of lifting gear this would previously mean printing 500 different certificates. Now we can provide these certificates directly into our customer’s databases in seconds thanks to an auto generated multiplier system, which is a programming link between our customers and us.

“We will also continue to have someone available to answer the phone immediately; other companies have an automated commercial or music, but we believe care equals availability,” he concludes.

Tiger Lifting Tiger Lifting manufactures and provides the full range of Tiger Hoisting products globally, including the Tiger Subsea Lifting range. Tiger has many close partnerships with successful lifting equipment distributors across the world and is very happy to be working with John Dahle Skipshandel to deliver products that meet the specific requirements of the Norwegian sector, ensuring full compliance with relevant standards. Robust, reliable products, constant innovation and patented designs ensure Tiger meets your lifting requirements.

John Dahle Skipshandel AS john-dahle.no

Services Supplier of lifting products and services

PROFILE

Top Oilfield Industries

quality Delivering

Top Oilfield was founded in 1994 in Sharjah, UAE as a drilling equipment repair/ refurbishment service company. Over the ensuing years the company pursued a policy of continuous improvement in terms of the quality, production methods and product offerings.

Significantly, this vision has resulted in Top Oilfield receiving both ISO and API certifications and a region wide reputation for delivering high quality, and timely and value for money products and services.

Ian Midgley, managing director/CEO, expanded further on the company’s offering: “Our services mainly cover the manufacture, refurbishment/re-certification, repair and upgrade of land drilling rigs. Alongside this we also offer specialist manufacture and maintenance services for land and offshore drilling equipment including engine overhauls, as well as supplying mechanical, electrical and engineering field technicians throughout the Middle East and beyond, who undertake vital repair and maintenance projects in support of our clients.”

He added: “Our commitment is that every piece of equipment that leaves our workshops

has been overhauled to the highest industry standards, tested and will perform to its design specifications. We offer a ‘one-stopshop’ concept, whereby drilling equipment, engines, electrical work and steel fabrication work are all undertaken in-house, by our own personnel. This means that we retain full control over all aspects of the projects we are commissioned to do.

“In addition, the savings we make (by not sub-contracting work) are passed on to our customers, making us the most competitive service provider in the region.”

Top Oilfield Industries was last featured in European Oil & Gas Magazine during May 2014, and over the past eight months it has maintained its drive to manufacture highly reliable, high performance and fair priced land drilling rigs and equipment. “We have been commissioned to build four rigs for completion in 2015, these are designed for desert operations, are fast moving and because our field engineers and maintenance personnel are available throughout the Middle East, our clients are assured of full after sales support,” Ian noted.

It was also during 2014 that the company European oil & gas

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Top Oilfield Industries

Ethos Energy

opened a new division, Top Oilfield Rentals, for drilling equipment. Ian explained the thinking behind the launch and the benefits it has generated: “Top Oilfield Rentals provides highly reliable, high performance equipment drilling equipment, engines/generators and service equipment on a rental or lease purchase basis. These products are available throughout the Middle East and include BOP control units, independently driven mud pumps, engine/ generator sets and batch mixers, cementing units and so forth. For us the division provides an opportunity to demonstrate the high reliability and performance of the equipment we manufacture. For our customers who wish to restrict their ‘CAPEX’ purchases and use operating revenues to undertake their activities, renting equipment provides them with an economical means to do so.”

The clients that Ian referred to for both rental and purchase are major and minor drilling rig operators throughout the Middle East, India and North Africa. Ian noted that whilst the issues that prevail in such places as Iraq, Libya and Egypt etc. have without a doubt made drilling operations more difficult in these areas, Top Oilfield is still finding opportunities and continued demand in the remaining (nonsanctioned) locations.

Illustrating the organisation’s growing order books, during 2015 the company will be tendering for a number of projects in new regions, as Ian highlighted: “For most of our existence, we have provided products and services to oil and gas drilling rig operators throughout the Middle East. Whilst we continue to develop our traditional regional presence, the company’s reputation has spread and we are now receiving interest and orders for our products

and services in new areas such as the North Sea, Far East and newly emerging oil producers in North Africa.

“Historically we also have supplied highly experienced and qualified field service personnel for projects being undertaken in Norway and other North Sea oil producing nations, and this will continue going forward.”

It is very encouraging that despite the significant drop in oil prices over the past few months, Top Oilfield is still finding strong demand for its products and services within its operating region. “I am optimistic that this will continue,” added Ian. “Long-term, I believe that once the current troubles affecting various Middle Eastern oil producing countries subside, the desperate need for rebuilding collapsed oil/gas producing infrastructure will provide opportunities for companies such as us to be part of the recovery process.”

One month into 2015, Top Oilfield has several significant orders on its books to complete this year, as well as a strategy for further development and growth. “We are dedicated and on course to complete the four new build land rigs I mentioned previously, and our focus is on ensuring that these rigs are manufactured to the highest standards available anywhere in the world and provide highly reliable and high performance service for our customers for many, many years,” concluded Ian. “Looking further ahead, our vision is to become the manufacturer of choice for land rig operators both here in the Middle East and globally. By ensuring that our drilling rigs are manufactured to the highest available standards, are built on time and are priced in accordance with Top Oilfield’s ‘fair pricing policy’, we believe that they will be in high demand.”

European oil & gas

Ethos Energy is focused on providing value-added solutions to customers through a wide portfolio of products and services supporting the upstream oil and gas industry. Our API-licensed workshop facilities in Dubai and Abu Dhabi support oil and gas operators, rig builders, owners, contractors, service providers and OEMs through a dedicated mix of API monogrammed products (API 6A, 16A, 5CT, 7-1 & 16C). The scope of our products and services include design, manufacture, overhaul, repair and re-certification of API equipment and components including BOPs, valves, crossover connectors, downhole tools and accessories, high pressure pipes and fittings, drilling spools, adapters and choke and kill/standpipe/cement manifold systems. Our strong customer partnerships are built on the loyalty resulting from consistent service excellence. Ethos Energy’s partnership with Top Oilfield is a clear example of such shared value of ensuring the highest level of customer satisfaction.

It is very encouraging that despite the significant drop in oil prices over the past few months, Top Oilfield is still finding strong demand for its products and services within its operating region

Top Oilfield Industries Limited topoilfield.com

Services Drilling equipment repair/refurbishment

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made Custom

Shepcote Engineering

is probably the largest hydraulic cylinder manufacturer in the UK with over 25,000 sq ft of production floor with 50 tonnes lifting capability. Despite that position, and having extended its services beyond the initial hydraulic cylinder repairs and general machining for local industries, it remains a small private company. With over 30 years experience Shepcote Engineering today provides hydraulic and engineering solutions to all industry sectors.

In 2001 the company took the opportunity to acquire a business that had for many years served Shepcote itself with machining solutions for some of the biggest types of cylinders in the UK. As a result of the acquisition the new owners began to establish many client based relationships with previous competitors, who themselves required the services for specific machining projects including deep-hole boring and honing of large tubes.

Combined with the expertise of an in-house designer with a proven track record in the special application cylinder market, the

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new look Shepcote Engineering was able to develop its foothold in the offshore oil and gas market, where equipment has always been of a significantly specialised level, manufactured to high standards. As a key sub-contract machinist, the acquisition of large turning lathes, the deep-hole borer, and honing equipment complemented one another ensuring the business was able to firmly strengthen its position. In fact, the business continues to invest in new machinery regularly, with investments including a 12-meter bed CNC lathe that was acquired in response to customer demand over recent years. “As the search for oil and gas goes deeper, and pressures become heavier, ultimately pipe lengths and wall thicknesses of pipes become greater, and customers are attracted to our extensive capabilities,� says Robert Ketteringham, sales manager. The development of the company from a small general machine fabrication workshop to more specialised hydraulic cylinder and large capacity specialised machining has seen the business produce a range that includes riser joints, and various components for down-hole applications.

An example of the type of work, previously undertaken by the business, it supplied Dutch

PROFILE

company Krohne Oil and Gas BV with large bore stainless steel pipe for installation at the Euroloop site in Rotterdam. Each piece of the 1120mm diameter material was bored, honed, turned and then drilled before sections were bolted together to form 11 metre lengths. The bores were then honed once more for even greater accuracy and fit over the assembled length. The finished sections were then shipped to Rotterdam where Shepcote engineers oversaw the final assembly.

“It references exactly what we do for the oil and gas industry in a big way,” adds Robert.

“Our strengths are the physical size of the material that we are capable of machining, we have machines that can perform larger and longer than anyone else, we can produce hydraulic cylinders with bore sizes from 40mm to 1600mm and with strokes up to 25 metres, and by nature of it, we do specialised machining work,” points out Robert. As an engineering based organisation with unique equipment, there is a lack of skilled personnel available for direct employment. “As a result, we recruit and train through apprenticeships schemes and with two apprentices currently in the early stages of training, and another now studying towards a degree, the programme is proving successful,” he adds.

In recent times the business has become involved in renewable energy projects, producing hydraulic cylinders for use on tidal generators and to test the turbine blades on offshore windfarms, with the size of the hydraulic cylinders reflecting the large blades of the turbine.

With a huge degree of variation in projects today, there is often a piece of it that is outside existing manufacturers, or their regular subcontractor’s machining capabilities, inevitably promoting the company’s capabilities. “On any

Shepcote Engineering

given day in any week, someone is wanting material machined to a custom size, and since becoming established with our large machines, progress has been ongoing. Both the subcontract machining and hydraulic cylinder sides of the business have been very busy since 2012, manufacturing and assembling deck handling and associated equipment for cable and pipe laying vessels, undertaking cable handling projects and supplying cylinders for launch and recovery systems on ships supplying to the market, and this work will continue to 2016,” he adds.

A strong market position holds the business in good stead for the future: “We respond to demand for projects, so it is hard to plan ahead, but of course our aim is to continue offering a good service, as that has proven our strength throughout our history. We are a small independent company, which gives us the freedom to react quickly to clients’ requests, so we are very used to helping people out of situations,” he concludes.

European oil & gas

Our strengths are the physical size of the material that we are capable of machining

Shepcote Engineering shepcote-eng.com

Services Hydraulic cylinder manufacturing and specialist machining services

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partner A reliable

Caspian Offshore Construction LLP (COC) was established in Almaty, Kazakhstan during 2003 before finally commencing operations in 2005 following the purchase and complete overhaul and refurbishment of the Shkotov and Caspian Princess floating living quarters. Today COC operates as a leading provider of marine fleet operation and management services in the North Caspian Sea as a 100 per cent private Kazakhstani entity, with offices in Aktau, Bautino, Astrakhan, Ashgabad, and Turkmenbashi.

The company continues to be headquartered in Almaty while from Aktau it manages a fleet of around 45 vessels, including 21 vessels belonging to NCOC – the present operator of Kashagan Oilfield, Kazakhstan. COC maintains its own fleet of 21 vessels including five shallow draft tugs of ice class 1B and five shallow draft icebreaking tugs of ice class 1A super as well as a stand alone fleet of five newly built oil spill response (OSR) ultra shallow crafts, which were built and delivered in 2012 following the company’s receipt of an OSR license during the same year.

European Oil and Gas magazine last profiled COC during March 2014 and since that time the company has continued to grow, while serving its clients within the North Caspian Sea. “Most of the company’s owned fleet is chartered for the present and following navigation seasons and in addition to several long term contracts, we have a couple of our tugs on the spot market with

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good potential for mid-term contracts subject to tenders’ award,” elaborates Aktau branch director, Stanislav Belov.

In addition to maintaining strong order books covering several navigation seasons, COC has further strengthened its business through targeted investment into its fleet as well as its operational offices. During 2014 COC began the construction of a new operating base in Bautino incorporating accommodation, canteen and workshop facilities with work expected to conclude in August 2015. Furthermore company took delivery of the multicat Kulan and survey vessel Kanysh Satpayev while modernising its Shkotov and Caspian Princess floating living quarters.

Within winter period 2013-2014 Shkotov and Caspian Princess were refitted to include a temporary refuge space to shelter personnel in case of a threat due to the release of hazardous gases associated with oil production. The refuge space on each vessel is capable of holding 270 personnel in case of an emergency. “The Shkotov and Caspian Princess fully comply with all safety requirements and can be used in areas where there is a threat of H2S gas release,” Stanislav says. “As part of the upgrade program both LQs were equipped with modern biological plants for the treatment of wastewater into domestic household water with a capacity of up to 50 m3 per day.”

The multicat Kulan was built by Damen in Holland and completed in April 2014. “The

PROFILE

shallow draft multicat is a modern multipurpose support vessel with 51 tons deadweight, nine knots top speed and (1,2) meter maximum draft. It is equipped with a (2,9) ton crane, towing winch with maximum pull twenty tons on first layer, two Caterpillar C12 engines with a total power of 574 bkW (770 h.p), and has an ergonomic wheelhouse with 360 degrees overlook,” Stanislav explains. “This small manoeuvring vessel can render a wide range of exclusive services, including towing of barges, support of dredging operations as well as anchor handling operations for pipe layers and cable layers and other vessels in very shallow water areas.”

Later in September 2014 COC took delivery of the new-build survey rescue vessel Kanysh Satpayev, built by the Vard shipyard in Romania. “The vessel is designed to be capable of independent operation in the North Caspian Sea during open water season,” says Stanislav.

“The ship is a survey vessel for very shallow waters and intended especially for marine, environmental and other sort of research activities. In addition, the ship is equipped with arrangements and equipment to reach the requirements needed to act as a stand-by rescue vessel for salvage and evacuation up to 20 people. The drive system is comprised of two main diesel engines with azimuth thrusters for propulsion and bow thruster for additional manoeuvrability.”

Towards the end of the year in November 2014, COC attended the 19th international Oil and Gas Turkmenistan (OGT) conference as part of its ‘Caspianisation’ strategy to solidify its presence in the Caspian region, as Stanlislav explains: “This event is of great importance for us and it should be mentioned that this is the second time we have had an official booth at OGT because in 2013 visitors could have noticed the COC flag waving amongst the other respected participants. Our long-term strategy covers not only our native Kazakhstan, but also Russia and Turkmenistan as well as our intention to have constant presence in Azerbaijan. All Caspian Sea littoral countries have centuries of lucrative and mutually beneficial interrelations and we would like to follow this tradition by providing offshore oil and gas companies with marine support services, widening the horizons of our relationship and friendship.”

Moving forward COC is dedicated to strengthening its position through its

Caspian Offshore Construction

experienced, professional personnel and firm relationships with partners old and new, as Stanislav concludes: “One of the strengths of any company is its partners. Last year for instance we established exclusivity agreements with two reputable international companies: Griffon Hoverwork and Lamor Corporation and we hope that these relationships will be successful and beneficial not only for our companies, but also for the market.”

European oil & gas

Caspian Offshore Construction LLP coc.kz

Services Marine fleet operation and management

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Data Nexans Norway AS

is the leading supplier of power and telecommunications cables in Norway, and is one of the world's leading manufacturers of subsea umbilicals and high-voltage sub-marine cables. “Since manufacturing of our first power cable in 1919 we have continued to make improvements, advancing technologies and taking a leading role in changing communication capabilities, hence improving people's quality of life. As demand from society changes, we have evolved and grown, today employing 1600 personnel in five different plants in Norway, and 26,000 dedicated employees worldwide,” says country communication manager, Trude Larstad.

Its contribution has successfully linked not only people, but also infrastructure such as offshore platforms, industrial plants and nations together.

Capable of producing lengths of heavy umbilicals and submarine powercables up to 1000km and fiberoptic submarine telecommunication cables in longer lengths beyond 5000km, the scope of the projects ranges from small scale production sites to trans-oceanic crossings. Offshore subsea umbilicals, ROV umbilicals and other specialized cables in fact generates approximately three quarters of the Hybrid Underwater Cables Division’s business, with the last quarter a result of the presently booming sub-marine telecom market. Beyond specialising in the supply of heavily demanded cables, Nexans also operates

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its own installation vessel and barges, which as Ragnvald Graff, marketing and sales director points out: “Operating our own installation equipment completes the full turnkey capability that we are able to provide.”

For Nexans, 2015 marks a major milestone as it celebrates its centenary in business. As the company continues to play a key role in the Norwegian oil industry, supplying innovative solutions, day-in and day-out, it is the skills and innovations of its employees, which has ensured such success, and its continuation. Highlighting the company’s latest project Trude comments: “In February we were awarded the NordLink HVDC interconnector project between Norway and Germany. To receive such a large order on our anniversary has been a welcome gift.” The first ever power connector between Norway and Germany will be Nexans’ largest subsea power cable contract to date in terms of length and value, with a contract value of approximately 0.5 billion euros.

“We have a specialised plant in Halden where the subsea cables for the Nordlink project will be produced and tested. The plant was first built 40 years ago, for the purpose of delivering the interconnector on the Cross-Skagerrak facility. Nordlink will be installed by Nexans Skagerrak, its own vessel and protected by Nexans own submarine trenching machine, Capjet for mechanical protection on the seabed.

It is very satisfying for us to be trusted with the NordLink project, and provides a boost to continue with forward investment,” says Ragnvald. Engineering works associated to the project have already begun, reflecting the anticipated cable production, beginning mid 2016. “The next stage is to implement a number of those investments so that we are able to begin with manufacturing,” adds Jens Gulbrandsen, product-development director.

As the demand to produce more cable in a shorter time becomes greater, the business looks to further increasing its capacity in preparation for the growing future market. “Since the 1950’s we have supplied and exported power cables to worldwide clients on both turnkey as well as separate and individual installations. As a business we are responsible to have installed 30 to 40 per cent of the world’s capacity on submarine cables,” says Ragnvald.

In 2011, Nexans was awarded a significant project with Statoil on the Asgard field for supply of power cables, static and dynamic umbilcals. Winning all three packages of

PROFILE

the tender. “I believe that illustrates Nexans position in the market. We are different from other umbilical manufacturers in that we have developed from a cable background,” says Jens.

His statement is supported when considering that competitors such as Technip and Aker extend from process, pipeline and mechanical backgrounds. “We have a competence within Nexans for all aspects of cables, and this instills the customer with the confidence that we are able to deal with any situation,” he adds.

Later, in 2012 the business signed a global agreement with BP, for the supply of a Direct Electrical Heating (DEH) system, announcing in 2014 that it had provided to BP the first delivery in what will be the world’s largest and most complex DEH system to date. The Shah Deniz DEH contract, forms part of a ten-year frame agreement between Nexans and BP, to supply umbilicals, DEH systems, accessories and services for various deep-water oil and gas projects worldwide. “We have since signed several additional contracts with BP for

Nexans Norway

projects in countries throughout the world.

We are recognised as a supplier that is able to deliver on time and to cost, in addition to the other technical advantages that we offer,” explains Ragnvald.

Through long-term contracts with Statoil and BP, Nexans has benefitted from an opportunity to fine tune project execution and design philosophy, developed further by its close relationships. “Everybody in the oil and gas industry is aware of the drop in oil price, which has enhanced the need to work closely as an industry to provide cognitive solutions,” says Ragnvald. “As well as active projects, we retain a focus on those yet to be realised. We are very capable of handling long lengths and heavy weights, determining our ability to assist with these future developments,” adds Trude.

Awarded its first telecom-repeater cable contract in 2014 for the supply of 1200km of cable for installation between Nigeria and Cameroon, Nexans Norway has set the course to continue growth in the market.

European oil & gas

Capable of producing lengths of heavy umbilicals and submarine powercables up to 1000km and fiberoptic submarine telecommunication cables in longer lengths beyond 5000km, the scope of the projects ranges from small scale production sites to trans-oceanic crossings Nexans Norway nexans.no

Services Power and telecommunications cables

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Delicate

operations

EDM Zone has over three decades worth of experience in precision engineering, ensuring that its customer’s needs are met for rapid response, high quality, value for money and sub-contract manufacturing. Specialising in batch production, particularly with involvement in complex geometry, it is able to supply oneoffs, prototypes and research and development (R&D) projects to the highest standards.

As a specialist in a number of industry sectors, its expertise and machining capacity is almost unlimited. “We work in various sectors ranging from oil and gas, subsea, renewable energy, textiles, medical devices, automotive, F1 racing, electronic components, food manufacturing, rail, defence, nuclear and aerospace,” says managing director Paul Wilson. Additionally, the business provides press and mould tool making, specialist R&D solutions and works under a number of collaboration projects with universities.

Employing only highly skilled machine operators and toolmakers, it is through this vast knowledge and experience that it is capable of producing high precision components and assemblies, supplied in the shortest possible time. The driving force for the company is to give a value for money service, through quality manufacture, short lead times and fast response.

The company is extremely passionate about its customers and its people. “We have developed our own apprenticeship programme that works in partnership with our local college and training providers. The requirement to educate people in

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new methodology is essential, and in continuing that drive, our investment into training has been recognised, winning the Top 100 National Apprenticeship Employer Award in 2014,” highlights Paul.

Following a successful career that started in 1978 with himself as an apprentice, it was almost 30 years later that Paul took the decision to start up his own engineering firm.

Establishing the business in 2007, Paul launched the company, utilising just three machines.

First signs of growth became apparent after just three months when investment was made into a fourth and brand new machine, triggering exponential growth in 2009 when the number of employees and apprentices began to increase, as well as a move to substantially larger premises.

Today, with over 25 machines and 14 employees the business is actively seeking expansion into yet another bigger location.

In response to its customer needs, the business is able to provide a fast turnaround service of precision-machined components that not only live up to its reputation for providing quality products, but are also offered as very cost effective solutions. As a vital part of its service, and as the name suggests, EDM employs electrical discharge machining (EDM) to ensure it is able to continue to respond to such level of demands. Commenting on the benefits of this technology, Paul points out: “We have specifically developed our business to be highly responsive with the ability to operate on a 24/7 basis,

PROFILE

including an overnight ‘lights-off’ operation, unattended factory at night. This allows us to remain highly competitive not only on a cost basis, but also being able to produce high volumes of components and ultimately reduce the overall production time, achieving repeated and consistent results through the EDM process.

“We are capable of dealing with one-off pieces of work, or running multiple batches, as well as drip-feeding customers as and when calloffs are required over several months or more.

Complex geometry and exotic materials can be cut where conventional methods of machining would struggle.” Commenting on the decision to continue expanding the business, he adds: “Wire EDM machines alone have a capacity of 1000 hours available per week. We need to maintain our position of fast response times and as such we need more capacity, operating the latest technology to keep us at the forefront of the industry. Essentially, CNC milling and CNC turning needs strengthening to ensure we meet customer demands.”

More electrical power supply, as well as larger premises for growth is required, ready to serve its mainly UK based customers from within the oil and gas sector. The combination of the growth, and maintaining the level of quality and service has provided a strong platform for the future, and as that continues, the importance behind selecting a new greenfield site for its premises continues to rise. “We are able to offer to our clients the service they require, providing top quality with a price to match. Because we are lean and efficient, we are confident for the

future, and certainly expect to remain in line with our competitors, despite the oil price currently being down. It is an important factor that within our business we have the latest technology, the most experienced team, and a truly ‘can do’ attitude. Reducing waste, and having halved material costs on some occasions ensure we are able to maintain the competitive edge within the industry,” explains Paul.

Looking toward the future years, Paul provides his concluding insight into the implemented strategy to drive the business forward: “It is important that we continue to expand our customer base, through a continued and steady, sustainable growth, via training, and with more machines, inevitably improving customer experience. Having recently joined NOF, we have made significant improvements to our networking, and we are committed with a clear and focused goal to be world class in all our endeavours, and continue to strengthen our ties with universities, schools and colleges.”

European oil & gas

EDM Zone

The driving force for the company is to give a value for money service, through quality manufacture, short lead times and fast response

EDM Zone edmzone.co.uk

Services Electrical discharge machining, CNC Milling and CNC Turning

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knocks Opportunity

Founded in 1956 by graduate engineers Jorgen Nielsen and Konrad Rauschenberger, Niras has grown over nearly 60 years to become an international, multidisciplinary consultancy firm with approximately 1700 employees based in its offices in Europe, Africa and Asia. “Niras was established to plan and design the development of infrastructure in Greenland,” explains director in Niras, Jesper Harder. “Since then, the company has diversified into every aspect of consulting, engineering and planning. As a Danish company we have a strong focus on Denmark, however, through acquisitions we developed a stronger presence in Nordic countries and the UK. For overseas operations Niras works through a network of offices in East and West Africa; we have traditionally been very active in North Africa and the Mediterranean region.”

Headquartered in Denmark, the company’s other main offices are in Finland, Germany, Norway, Poland, Sweden and the UK. On top of its operations in Europe, the company has a strong interest in boosting its presence in developing countries, as Jesper notes: “Our work in developing countries such as Asia, Africa and Latin America falls into two categories; planning and engineering for infrastructure and development aid. The former includes marine terminals for oil and gas, container terminals, offshore wind farms and water supply, while the latter is related to capacity building in a variety of sectors, climate change, environment, poverty alleviation and so on.

“Africa is experiencing tremendous economic development, which has partly been driven by natural resources, and has provided a vast

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number of opportunities for Niras to work on projects related to the export of natural resources, including oil and gas.” Another development in the region is the increased demand for the import of goods such as fuel, which has led to the development of a new import terminal in the Kenyan port of Mombasa; Niras recently began the planning and design of the terminal and anticipates to put out for tender, with Kenya Port Authority as the client, in the second quarter of 2015. “In addition to this project, at the end of 2014 the operation of Vasilikos Oil Terminal, Cyprus, commenced.

The terminal is operated by VTTV (Vitol Tank Terminals Vasilikos) and has been constructed

by J&P Energy; it was designed by Niras,” highlights Jesper.

Assigned to projects throughout their full lifecycle, Niras provides its services to a broad range of industries such as building, industry and oil and gas. “When the company first began in 1956 experience had been gathered in the field of oil and gas storage and terminals, first in Greenland and later in Denmark,” says Jesper.

“So when Denmark embarked on a substantial scheme for bringing natural gas from the North Sea ashore during the early 1980s, Niras was one of the key consultants in this interesting project.

We developed valuable experience during the introduction and phasing in of natural gas from the North Sea in Denmark during this period, which enabled Niras to offer services to the oil and gas sector as a whole for the past 30 years.”

Services offered by Niras include analysis and strategy, the building and design of commercial properties, leisure, education retail properties and renovation. Moreover, it provides customers with development consulting services with regards to climate change, forestry, sustainable energy and environment and private sector development. One of the key strengths of Niras

PROFILE

is its superior reputation as a major player in the creation of a new generation of infrastructure such as ports, roads, bridges, tunnels, railway stations and airports and runways. Within this business segment, the company has become one of the largest port development consultants in Scandinavia and developed the expertise to handle the challenging decommissioning sector of the oil and gas industry.

Aware that there is an increasing need to replace and decommission existing plants and offshore installations across the world, Niras uses its 20 plus years of experience in the decommissioning industry to provide services such as legislation, financial analysis and quality assurance, risk management and health and safety issues, production cessation and well abandonment for the oil industry and preparation of cables for separate decommissioning. On top of this, the company provides the phased shut down of life support and safety systems, the dismantling, removal and disposal of topside facilities as well as

transportation and waste management.

Moreover, to capture a considerable part of the offshore wind decommissioning market, Niras formed a strong alliance with Vattenfall, Maersk Broker, DTU Wind and The Welding Institute (TWI) in July 2014. With the first generation of offshore wind farms due to be retired over the next few years following 20 years of service, the overall market for offshore decommissioning of oil, gas and wind installations, according to Douglas-Westwood and Deloitte, amounts to ÂŁ47.5 billion in the North Sea alone. As part of its alliance with Vattenfall, Maersk Broker, DTU Wind and TWI, Niras has begun developing a process tool that will help all companies involved to optimise the decommissioning of the wind farms. The process tool has massive potential and is anticipated to be ready by the end of 2015.

With opportunities set to flourish in the North Sea and business booming in developing areas such as Africa, Niras is certain to have a fruitful future ahead.

European oil & gas

Niras

Niras niras.com

Services Consultancy

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way Finding the

Founded in 2001 Stockton Drilling Ltd. operates as a family owned business based in Wakefield UK with around 50 dedicated members of staff, with some of the team bringing as long as 25 years of industry knowledge to the business. During its history the company has delivered projects internationally to clients including major industry players, such as Shell, BP, Aquamarine Power, E.ON UK, National Grid and Wessex Water.

Stockton Drilling is a highly experienced and reliable contractor that consistently delivers traditional pipeline installation, specialised horizontal directional drilling (HDD) and equipment hire services. Within the field of pipeline installation Stockton Drilling provides a technically adept and efficient turnkey service that encompasses design, feasibility, procurement, installation and reinstatement.

Furthermore Stockton Drilling is able to support installation operations with in-depth hydrographical services including bathymetrical survey and bottom survey procedures.

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Horizontal directional drilling is a specialised technique that is designed to install pipelines under obstructions, rivers, roads, canals, railways, estuaries, sites of special scientific interest, farmland and even other pipelines.

Although the principle of HDD is relatively simple, the procedure requires significant skill and experience to be executed correctly. In the simplest terms the process is executed in three stages; first a pilot hole is drilled; the pilot hole is then reamed out to the required diameter to accommodate the product pipe; finally the pipeline is pulled or pushed through the pre-drilled hole. HDD represents a unique and effective solution to pipeline installation in naturally challenging environments or locations that harbour pre-existing infrastructure. The diameters involved in HDD can range from six inches through to 48 inches, with lengths extending from 300 metres to 1800 metres.

Even though the business is based within the UK, Stockton Drilling has delivered projects all over the globe and has installed pipelines in

PROFILE

some of the world’s most complex environments, which often incorporate difficult geological formations and adverse climactic conditions. As such, in addition to numerous projects within the UK, Stockton Drilling has successfully executed installations in Egypt, Ireland, Libya, Holland, Croatia, France and Belgium.

Examples of the comprehensive services provided by Stockton Drilling can be found in its work for the Bacton Gas Plant and its work for SSE to complete a HDD exploratory borehole on the north eastern extent of the Scottish mainland at Noss Head, Caithness.

Stockton Drilling was called on to provide specialist support to AMEC in executing the first HDD operation within a ‘live’ gas plant, for the Shell UK Bacton natural gas plant in Norfolk.

The project consisted of a 600 metre horizontal drill to install a 914.4 millimetre steel pipeline.

The project also necessitated the construction of a cofferdam at the site helipad to enable safe access. HDD enabled Stockton to create a secure route without disturbing the plant and equipment within the Shell compound. A pre-welded and tested pipeline string was then pulled through the prepared hole completing the installation with no risk of subsidence or post construction settlement. Safety was naturally an integral concern and as the project was undertaken on an operational gas site, all personnel required OFGES approval and were trained in all of the relevant Shell health and safety policies for the Bacton plant.

Key to the project’s success was Stockton Drilling’s close involvement with AMEC and Shell in the up-front project design and care planning into how to best utilise the specialist HDD technique. A vital prerequisite of the operation was to limit its impact on the local environment and by adopting strict traffic management and environmental controls the local environment and community remained undisturbed throughout the entire drilling process resulting in a highly successful project.

Later working with SSE, Stockton Drilling completed its HDD exploratory borehole (HDDEB). The purpose of the site investigation was to establish whether HDD was an achievable technique for potential future installations in the given location and geology approximately 3.5 kilometres north east of Wick, Caithness, Scotland. During the course of the project a 12¼inch diameter HDDEB was drilled to a length of 470 metres to the chosen offshore target zone. A single pilot hole was drilled; the pilot hole was

Stockton Drilling

drilled using a 12 ¼ inch triconebit, downhole mud motor assembly with 1.75 degree offset bent housing to enable it to follow the predetermined profile trajectory. The position of the drill is monitored by gyroscopic directional guidance equipment (steering tool) positioned behind the bit and jetting assembly. The signal from the steering tool is then transmitted up the drill string via a wire line to a read-out in the drilling control unit so that the direction of the drill can be guided. The system as described above was not affected by magnetic or any other external interference, nor did it emit any signal that would cause any external interference.

With a proven track record in the delivery of specialist HDD drilling as well as traditional methods and equipment hire, Stockton Drilling Ltd has established itself as a trusted partner in national and international markets. Thanks to successful projects such as those referenced above, the organisation is set to continue to impress in the years to come.

European oil & gas

Clear Solutions Clear Solutions is Europe’s leading independent drilling fluids service provider. We are pleased to support Stockton Drilling on their highly challenging, technically complex projects, where Clear Solutions drilling fluids provide a host of benefits including superior hole cleaning, borehole stability and environmental benefits. The superior quality of our products and proven track record makes us a clear choice. We pride ourselves on the tailored solutions and support that we can offer customers to find the most effective solution for their business.

Stockton Drilling Ltd stocktondrilling.com

Services Traditional pipeline installation and HDD drilling

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numbers Strength in

Established in 1998 when it began operating with one single vessel, Australian firm Bhagwan Marine developed a strategy that focused on providing customers with exactly what they need through a positive ‘can do’ attitude, which resulted in a rapidly growing fleet and strong reputation. From the versatile Bhagwan K’s service as a spot charter vessel, the company has witnessed significant growth and currently operates over 140 vessels of various types. These include crew transfer vessels, dive support vessels, flat top barges, landing craft, multi cats, tugs and utility vessels.

Feeling fortunate to be a positive part of Australia’s maritime history over the last 13 years through its capable delivery of optimum solutions, the company took the strategic decision to create a new logo in 2013 that not only symbolised its desire for growth, but also its roots as a strong and forward thinking firm. The new design was that of a strong man, flexing his muscles and looking up and out to the future as he forges ahead through the bow wave. As the company continued to grow over the next two years, this logo has become increasingly synonymous with its focus on financial strength, a forward-thinking approach, reliability and superior service.

Not only does Bhagwan Marine boast an impressive number of vessels within its fleet, it also incorporates the very latest technology and safety features to every vessel that it delivers; a move that has proven highly successful against the challenges

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of operating at sea. Identified as the first Australian Marine Company to become certified for all three internationally recognised standards for quality (ISO 9001:2000), environmental management (ISO 14001:2004) and occupational health & safety (OHSAS 18001:2007) in April 2009, Bhagwan Marine has since maintained its focus on these areas of operation.

In fact, by continually looking for improvements in all areas of the business, the company remains at the forefront of innovation, design, certified vessel operation systems, health and safety procedures and quality assurance systems. On top of this, it focuses on leading the way in integrated management systems and the training of its personnel and crew, whether they operate offshore or on. This way of running a business has proven highly fruitful for Bhagwan Marine, as it doubled its profits from $13 million to $27 million and expanded its footprint over the last 12 months.

One of the key drivers of this major spike in growth was the company’s award of a long-term contract to supply a state-of-the-art dive spread for operations off the North West coast of WA. In line with this contract, Bhagwan Marine began the construction of a 56 metre DP2 hybrid catamaran DSV, which was given the title ‘Bhagwan Dryden’ and was completed in August 2014; operations began in November 2014.

February 2014 was a busy month for Bhagwan Marine, as it was also the time it chose to launch its free fleet app, BM LiveFleet

PROFILE

Bhagwan Marine

October 2014. Under this contract, Neptune and Bhagwan Marine can market the vessel to third parties for chartering.

Following the arrival of Bhagwan Dryden, the company announced the acquisition of UK based firm Marine & Towage services (MTS) in October 2014, a move that has resulted in an immediate international presence for Bhagwan Marine, thanks to MTS’s offices and support facilities in Brixham and Falmouth. In addition to its two new offices, the company already boasts well-established Australian offices and support facilities in Geraldton, Dampier, Onslow and Exmouth (WA), Gove and Darwin (NT) and Brisbane and Gladstone (QLD).

Furthermore, the company now boasts a fleet of 170 vessels and more than 850 personnel.

With the new acquisition in place, Bhagwan Marine looks set to flourish as it takes on the expertise of towage, salvage and civil engineering provider MTS and merges these capabilities with its own operational strengths.

Not only does Bhagwan Marine boast an impressive number of vessels within its fleet, it also incorporates the very latest technology and safety features to every vessel that is delivers

Bhagwan Marine bhagwanmarine.com

Services Vessel operator

for iOS and Android; the device allows anyone on a mobile device to view the company’s extensive fleet, read the specifications of vessels, examine schematics, look at photographs and track the location of each vessel in real time via a mapping interface. Initially released onto iTunes, the app was also made available on Android at Google Play and is a prime example of the firm’s commitment to delivering an increasingly efficient and improved means of sharing information. Furthermore, BM LiveFleet boasts Bhagwan Marine’s content management system, which saves on administration time, printing costs and eliminates inaccuracy across all mediums.

Meanwhile, the company’s fleet was further strengthened in September 2014 with the delivery of Bhagwan Dryden, a new-build dive support vessel collaboration. Arriving in Dampier, Western Australia, the state-of-theart 57 metre DP2 hybrid catamaran Bhagwan Dryden was supplied with permanent air diving, inspection and survey capabilities. She can work in shallow waters and is fitted with a TMS light work class Comanche ROV; she also boasts 260 m2 of clear deck space, a DP2 dynamic positioning system, a four point mooring system, firefighting capabilities, emergency hybrid capabilities and is fitted with a 21 tonne deck crane as well as a 20 tonne A frame. Based in Australia, she has been mainly operating on the North West Shelf and began a five-year contract, with the potential for a further three years, in European oil & gas

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pays Consistency

VWS MPP Systems

operates under the oil and gas division of Veolia Water Technologies. Originally part of the Dutch chemicals company Akzo Nobel, it was responsible for the re-launch of a technological concept that had been shelved for nearly two decades. Macro Porous Polymer Extraction (MPPE) technology was first developed by Akzo Nobel’s fiber division, where the special capabilities of absorbing significant volumes of liquids were discovered.

However, a potentially uncontrollable slow release of liquids led to it being put aside until 1992 when it was decided to review previous ideas. “The idea of using these macro porous particles as a carrier for nontoxic and biodegradable extraction medium that can absorb and extract hydrocarbons from water was suggested,” explains Erik Middelhoek, managing director, continuing: “Having reviewed the process, we began working closely with Elf Aquitaine, in the belief that we could extract dissolved benzene and other hydrocarbons from a produced water stream coming from gas production, whilst overcoming previous flaws.”

Having undertaken a range of pilot tests, a full-scale system was ordered and installed by 1994. “The client continues to achieve the results in treating the gas produced water. Now owned and operated by Vermilion Energy, the system is additionally used for treating water from all production wells onshore,” says Erik.

It was at this milestone that the development of the material and technology really picked up, with Shell, NAM, and Total involved in the supply of the first offshore MPPE system.

Installed on the Dutch shelf of the North Sea in 2003, the system, like its decade earlier

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counterpart, continues producing satisfactory performance of the low maintenance system with great efficiency.

In 2004 VWS MPP Systems began working with Norske Hydro (now Statoil), on a large oil and gas specification MPP unit, which was installed in 2008 and has continued to operate ever since. The resulting reputation that the business has built up ensures it continues to work with major players, including Total, Shell and Statoil. With several high-end oil and gas specification MPP installations to its name, it is currently involved in a project with INPEX Australia, on the multi-billion dollar Ichthys LNG project off the coast of Australia. “This is such an interesting but also challenging project, and at the moment a large portion of our resources are working on it,” highlights Erik, as he goes on to comment on the current market climate.

“It is noticeable that there are several projects which have been put on hold as a result of both changes in oil price, as well as legislation.” Various political issues have an impact on projects, as seen recently when Noble Energy signaled that it was suspending further development of the Leviathan and Tamar gas fields in the Mediterranean until Israel makes a final decision on resolving the natural gas monopoly and other regulatory matters. “Also noticeable however is that more companies are adopting stringent discharge rules for produced water, so projects actually highlight discharge limits resulting in the provision of an MPP solution,” he adds.

Produced water, especially gas and LNG produced water, contains high concentrations of toxic compounds such as benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene and xylene (BTEX), poly aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), and dispersed

PROFILE

and dissolved aliphatic compounds. All these compounds can be difficult to remove without MPP technology. “As a result, we are able to meet all differing discharge limits set by various legislations, around the world. Our technology ensures we can treat all types of gas-produced water, whereas other competitors may be restricted to certain situations. This has further bolstered our reputation, with clients recognising MPP to be a guaranteed and safe solution,” Erik points out.

Operating with a relatively small core of key personnel, contracting labour when required, the business is well structured to face the future market demands. “There is quite a bit of activity ongoing in the region between Australia and Indonesia, as well as much more planned for the near future. Operators such as INPEX, Total, Shell and Woodside are still very active, and whilst such organisations are being more careful with their investments, these projects will eventually come. The gas is there, and it has a value. China and Japan have a substantial

VWS MPP Systems

demand for energy, and we expect prices will rise again in the future and projects will start up, but this may take one or two years,” explains Erik.

Alongside its commitment to ongoing projects, the business is lining itself up for additional UK based industrial projects, utilising its ability to diversify across sectors. Working under preliminary contracts addressing waste water problems for chemical producers and gasification plants, Erik says: “It is a very interesting way to keep our portfolio filled during this period when oil and gas projects are postponed.” Whilst the MPP technology continues to enjoy its finest days, the business progresses with investigation into broadening its markets and the technological portfolio. “There are number of developments like the treatment of gas streams utilising existing technology, but the removal of other components from water, including heavy metals such as mercury with extremely toxic and volatile properties is an area of interest. We expect to be able to present interesting solutions in the coming years,” he concludes.

European oil & gas

AxFlow BV The AxFlow Group is the European leader in providing high quality special pumps, mixers, dosing equipment and complete systems for the oil and gas industry. For over six years Dutch branch AxFlow BV partnered up with VWS MPP Systems supplying Bran+Luebbe diaphragm metering pumps as part of their process.

Knowledge regarding the performance of a metering pump in a wide variety of processes, international partnership and client specific specifications provided the required added value to select AxFlow BV as their preferred supplier in their projects for Statoil, Shell and INPEX.

VWS MPP Systems vwsmppsystems.com

Services Provider of Macro Porous Polymer Extraction (MPPE) technology

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supply World leading

Chesterfield Special Cylinders

Below Lee Lawrence, CSC’s sales director

(CSC) is the world’s leading supplier of high pressure gas cylinders and services to oil and gas sector. The award-winning company has been a leading supplier of high pressure gas cylinders to the global oil and gas sector for over 100 years.

Designing, manufacturing, inspecting and testing these safety-critical vessels, CSC works closely with the leading operators to deliver bespoke systems that meet the exacting needs of rigs and service vessels working in the harshest conditions.

Providing high performance turnkey solutions to the main international accreditation standards, CSC’s experience in the most challenging environments globally sets it apart, resulting in the company exporting 80 per cent of its products.

CSC’s sales director, Lee Lawrence, explains: “Manufacturing cylinders of up to 2600 litres and up to 1000 bar, CSC is now a truly global supplier, providing rigs and ships with safetycritical gas cylinders in every territory.”

The company is a subsidiary of Pressure Technologies plc, an AIM stock exchange listed company, and has established its reputation across the oil and gas sector since it began manufacturing in the late 1800s.

CSC designs and manufactures entire pressure vessel assemblies for motion-compensating systems deployed on deepwater offshore cranes, deepwater semi-submersible rigs and drill ships, as well as offshore support vessels and other service ships. These applications include ultra-large air pressure vessel systems for deepwater offshore platforms and ultra-large air pressure vessel systems for heave motion compensated offshore cranes. Furthermore, the systems provided by CSC include full ancillary products, meaning the company can design and manufacture complete ‘plug and go’ systems.

Innovation and vision Working in the world’s most demanding sectors, Chesterfield Special Cylinders applies an innovative approach to customers’ needs, with technical know-how, engineering capability and commercial performance enhancing every product.

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Capability Chesterfield Special Cylinders meets even the most demanding specifications with a full ‘plug and go’ service. The company’s in-house design centres, in the UK and Germany, respond quickly and creatively to customers’ specifications, delivering solutions that save the customer time and money.

Partnership Chesterfield Special Cylinders’ effective, quickresponse service is due to its in-depth knowledge of the sectors it serves, resulting in long-term partnerships across the globe.

By delivering systems direct to end users globally, Chesterfield Special Cylinders takes responsibility for the entire delivery, installation and testing process, removing another burden from the customer’s schedule.

CSC key facts: 66 Product Capacity 0.6 - 2,600 litres 66 Working pressures up to 1,000 bar 66 Delivery to end users worldwide 66 Complete ‘plug and go’ systems 66 Seamless vessels and full ancillary products 66 In-house industry-focused design teams 66 Global integrity management service 66 Manufacturing to global accreditations and standards, including ISO 11120 & 9809, DOT 3AA & 3T, AD2000, ASME, MIL Specifications

New Integrity Management service: The oil and gas sector also benefits from CSC’s Integrity Management Team, which is working globally with owners, operators and classification bodies to take responsibility for the continued safe performance of high pressure gas vessels by inspecting, testing and managing them while they remain installed.

Its ‘cradle-to-grave’ philosophy includes the design, manufacture, installation and ongoing inspection, testing and service for optimum performance. The service is being used by: 66 Owners and operators 66 Underwriters 66 Classification bodies 66 Industry bodies Services include: 66 Periodic inspection and testing 66 Visual examination 66 Acoustic emission (AE) testing 66 Rectification 66 Ultrasonic examination

PROFILE

66 Remote inspection 66 Failure investigation 66 Standards 66 Pre-design/retrospective optimisation 66 Write scheme assessments 66 Condition monitoring 66 Certification 66 Replacement cylinders 66 Training 66 Life extension 66 Prototype testing 66 Rectification This new service benefits the offshore support sector through: i) Budget-saving - because the only alternative to testing to the recommended standard while the cylinders remain in place is removing them through a hole in the hull or deck. This would be expensive and the downtime required would be hugely prohibitive;

ii) Highest industry-wide safety standards

- operators can be confident they have taken

Chesterfield Special Cylinders

every measure possible to ensure the high pressure gas cylinders on their vessels pass the most rigorous test regime; iii) Optimal operating standards - after In Situ testing and re-certification, the safetycritical gas cylinders will be working to the optimum standards.

Manufacturing cylinders of up to 2600 litres and up to 1000 bar, CSC is now a truly global supplier, providing rigs and ships with safety-critical gas cylinders in every territory

CSC continuing to thrive worldwide CSC as a business is continuing to thrive.

Between 2011 and 2013 the business increased its size by a factor of 50 per cent and 2014 was another highly successful year.

Its unique delivery of turnkey system design solutions, cylinder manufacturing, testing and refurbishment and its growing portfolio have allowed CSC to win contracts with the oil and gas sector’s leading operators.

European oil & gas

Chesterfield Special Cylinders chesterfieldcylinders.com

Services High-pressure gas cylinder solutions

europeanoilandgas.co.uk 105

four Fantastic

Founded in 2008 when ship manager Reederei Broehan and shipbroker HHR Shipping GmbH & Co. KG joined forces, Concord Shipping benefits from the merged experience and knowledge of its two parent companies and thus delivers a high level of competence. Currently managing four 8000 dwt multipurpose vessels, the company is proud to deliver the whole ship management process, from technical and commercial management services, to construction supervision and ship design. On top of this, the company can provide accounting and crew management services while remaining focused on maintenance, environmental protection and cost effectiveness.

“Since our foundation six years ago we have operated four multipurpose vessels that are quite unique,” says Hans-Herbert Rancke, director of Concord Shipping. “These vessels have a large 87 metre cargo hold, with a breadth of 12.80 metres; they also have two cranes, each with a limit of 80 tonnes, which gives us a combined carrying level

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of 160 tonnes. Our business involves carrying goods, general cargo, break bulk and heavy lift goods across various parts of the world. Our ships are slim and use less fuel than the competition, up to four to five tonnes a day in fact, which makes us an attractive option for customers. Our vessels also have a high ice class.”

Presently chartering three of its vessels to a major US-based multipurpose chartering company, Concord Shipping is providing a high level of service to oil majors and private clients operating between the US, South

PROFILE

America and the Caribbean. The forth vessel is successfully employed in co-operation with a Danish operator in the spot market. However, the vessels have also been used to carry cargo from and to areas such as Europe, Asia and Australia, as Hans highlights: “Our vessels are more fuel efficient and they also have a four stroke engine and a tank capacity that allows us to sail in SECA areas with no problems burning gas oil, which is a major advantage for companies bringing break bulk to Europe, Asia and Australia.

“Our large cargo hold also means we have been involved in some major projects; the largest cargo we have transported was a crane, which had large parts up to 83 metres. It was loaded in Ireland and, because of our deep 11.4 metre cargo hold, we were able to carry the major quantity of the crane in the cargo hold. This is a great strength as it means companies don’t have to worry about their goods being damaged by sea water.”

Although Concord Shipping offers a range of competitive advantages to customers, as a German based firm it has been affected by the falling oil prices and competition in the market, as Hans discusses: “Furthermore, here in Germany we are in competition in the windmill market with bulk owners; our vessels

Concord Shipping

are suitable for this line of work, but other companies may offer to do the job cheaper.

Another issue for us is the low activity in North Africa and places such as Libya, Iraq and Palestine where there is currently a great deal of turmoil.”

Despite these challenges, the company benefits from the support of its parent companies, HHR Shipping and Reederei Broehan. Established in 1922 by Hans’ grandfather, Hinrich Rancke, HHR Shipping has long-term expertise in building ships up to 1400 dwt. However, HH Rancke`s know how grew by being employed as a managing director in a classification society and building supervision of cruise liners, roro, fishing, container, bulk and multipurpose vessels.

Furthermore, since 2004, Mr Rancke has been acting as a broker for new building, ship repairs and S&P. The company’s relationship with ship owner Heino Broehan, the managing partner at Concord Shipping, also allows HHR Shipping to provide ship management services for other ship owners as well as its own fleet. Meanwhile, Reederei Broehan boasts long-term expertise as it has been operating as a ship management firm since 1965.

Moving forward, Hans believes an increase in the oil price would enable further investment in the oil and gas industry and also provide banks with the confidence to begin financing new building projects. “We need to have improved freight rates that can enable us to save money for new building because no bank in Germany is willing to finance these sorts of projects; presently this is not the case, however, the benefit of this is that there is very little tonnage built in our size of 8000 dwt, which gives us a strong edge in the market,” he concludes.

European oil & gas

Our ships are slim and use less fuel than the competition, up to four to five tonnes a day in fact, which makes us an attractive option for customers

Concord Shipping concord-shipping.de

Services Ship management

europeanoilandgas.co.uk 107

Piping

synergy Dylan Group Dylan Group, professionals for infinite steel solutions, congratulates Leemberg Pijpleidingen en Apparatenbouw on their new accommodation and wishes them a lot of success.

As a loyal, all-round supplier of pipes, fittings and flanges for many years, Dylan Group will remain a strategic partner for Leemberg’s future business. Dylan Group provides worldwide piping services for all industries in any grade and size.

“We know how …”

Leemberg Pijpleidingen en Apparatenbouw BV(Leemberg Piping and Machine Manufacturing LLC) was established in 1969 and has since grown into a medium sized production company in the field of piping and machine manufacturing targeting the offshore and marine industries.

Today the business is known both nationally and internationally as a turnkey service provider, that delivers a full service offering ranging from engineering, process and manufacturing to installation, operation and maintenance. “The company’s client-focused methods, enthusiastic experts and over 40 years of experience in the market has granted Leemberg the renown of a reliable company and partner,” explains sales manager, Francisco Bertrand. “With excellent products and services as well as a professional outlook Leemberg meets the requirements of its customers with attention to quality and safety, as such the business maintains full ISO 9001-2008 and SCC** occupational safety certification.”

Leemberg has recently relocated its main company activities to premises in Zwijndrecht, the Netherlands, which cover over 9500m2 with separate manufacturing spaces for steel that covers 2500m2 and stainless steel, covering

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800m2. The facility is located centrally to one of the busiest inland waterways in Europe, making it an excellent hub for the delivery and export of services. “By moving to Zwijndrect Leemberg gained more space for the fabrication of piping systems,” Francisco says. “The company uses the latest techniques in fabrication order to produce the highest efficiency and is aware of the importance of space and welding equipment.

It is important to have enough space to handle materials like titanium, super duplex stainless steel and 254 SMO, while keeping them separate from steel.”

Further to its main office, as well as an 800m2 facility in Antwerp, Belgium which was opened in March 2014 and is conveniently located only walking distance from the city’s dock. “Leemberg has an international portfolio of clients from the offshore and dredging industry for which it performs global activities and specialist maintenance to piping systems.

A few of Leemberg’s customers frequently visit the harbour at Antwerp or have offices there,” Francisco reveals. “To better serve these clients it was decided to open a facility in a better location with a small office and workshop.”

In terms of the solutions that it provides, Leemberg is able to deliver a comprehensive package of value-added services and expert personnel that ensure safe and efficient project execution. “Leemberg is able to rapidly mobilise installation teams to undertake projects beginning with engineering, measuring, technical drawing and leading to manufacturing and assembly and installation of complete pipe systems around the world. The company’s personnel have all of the necessary offshore paperwork, including VCA-full, OLF Norwegian, OPITO, HUET+, Nogepa and the MFC certificates. Leemberg Piping and Machine Manufacturing LLC is familiar with the regulations according to Norsok, DNV, LRS and IMO. As such it ensures that it only handles the materials titanium, (super) duplex, 254 SMO and 1.4404 following Norsok: only uses materials classified by the classification organisations; is certified for all welding processes; do this following the EN15614-1, ASME-IX, EN-287-1,ASME IX, AWS D1.1; have the complete traceability for used materials and made welds; install where the IMO-regulations allow the combination of system and location; process materials which are sufficiently or even double certified; have materials available with a 3.2 certification; and use ISO 14726-1 en

PROFILE

Leemberg Pijpleidingen en Apparatenbouw

14726-2 coding for the medium in the pipes.”

Leemberg is present throughout a number of markets including industrial, offshore, marine and engineering clients and one of the core strengths of the business is that it is able to easily transfer its competences to applications across the segments in which it is active. “Leemberg a small and flexible company,” says Francisco. “Its rapid response team can effectively solve many piping problems within industry, maritime and offshore markets in a short time.”

The synergies between its various market sectors are perhaps best demonstrated by the intersecting projects that merge the oil and gas, offshore and marine industries that involve LNG tankers. These include floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels, gas tankers and chemical tankers, such as the recently in order for redeployment upgrade of the Teekay Petrojarl and the upgrade of the Technip Global 1200, which were both undertaken at Damen Shipyard in Rotterdam.

For construction projects for both seafaring

and inland ships, Leemberg can provide a full turnkey solution for the engineering and installation of complete piping systems for engine rooms, accommodations, fire extinguishing, grey and black water, hydraulics, thermogenic oil, ballast, fuel and cooling water or air.

Although the both the marine and oil and gas markets have endured challenging conditions in recent months, Leemberg remains highly positive and is ready to pursue several opportunities with its core competence of turnkey piping and machine solutions, as Francisco concludes: “Leemberg only thinks in terms of opportunities such as LNG as power engine supply, refurbishing of FPSO’s and pipe laying vessels. The business is increasingly focused on the customer, striving for a higher service level with more efficiency.

As such, it is with the customer from the initial design through to prefabricate, installation, maintenance and refurbishment, supporting the customer’s needs for the full life cycle.”

European oil & gas

Leemberg Pijpleidingen en Apparatenbouw BV leemberg.nl

Services Piping and machine manufacturing

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Deeper With over 30 years of industry experience within the marine, onshore and offshore markets, Osiris Marine Services Ltd. has built a formidable reputation as a leading marine services company. The company was founded in 1996 by managing director, Aiden West and later became part of the James Fisher and Sons plc group during March 2013. Today Aiden continues to manage the business, which provides total engineering solutions to environments that are traditionally difficult to access. Whether work is required at underwater locations, at height or within a confined space, Osiris has the experienced personnel and specialist equipment required to provide cost-effective and a safely executed solutions for both onshore and offshore applications. Furthermore, its position as part of James Fisher enables Osiris to harness wider expertise and resources from around the group, ensuring that it is able to continuously deliver innovative engineering solutions and a constant level of excellent service.

Osiris supplies an array of engineering services to clients within the nuclear, inshore civil engineering, renewables and oil and gas sectors. With its technical expertise and ability to respond quickly, safely and successfully to

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a wide range of operational requirements the company is trusted industry-wide to deliver.

The high level of trust invested in Osiris by its clients was further highlighted when it was announced by the company in January 2015 that it had been awarded contract member status of the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) diving division. The core purpose of the IMCA is to improve performance within the marine contracting industry. Through a rigorously audited approach to membership requirements throughout a range of operational divisions, the IMCA aims to champion better regulation and enhance the operational integrity of marine contracting.

“The IMCA is an essential trade association within the diving and ROV industry as it promotes good practice and contracting members must demonstrate their capability to operate at an industry wide benchmark,” Aiden explains. “The achievement of securing IMCA diving division membership, which follows within a year of securing our remote systems and ROV division membership, underscores our commitment to working to the highest standards in this safety-critical environment.”

Osiris has a reputation of championing the application of the latest, most efficient and

PROFILE

safest diving methods and technologies in its operations for customers. It has worked hard towards IMCA member status and its success in the most important areas of its business gives its customers confidence that Osiris embraces excellent working practices as well as innovative solutions for safe subsea operations. “IMCA membership is increasingly seen by customers in the oil and gas and offshore marine renewables sectors as representing the vital benchmark of acceptable operations for subcontractors,” Aiden says. “The company’s IMCA diving division membership builds upon the success already achieved in the remote systems and ROV division and represents a significant commitment to delivering the same high-quality, tailored service that Osiris customers expect.”

Through the provision of diving and ROV operations, bespoke design services incorporating fabrication, manufacturing and installation as well as operational support ranging from inspection, surveying and repairs through to demolition services, Osiris provides a turnkey suite of effective solutions in challenging environments. Notably, the company’s ROV fleet has world-class capabilities for all subsurface activities including inspections, surveys, cable tracking and other applications.

This was further highlighted during January 2015 when Osiris announced that it successfully passed a demanding BP global diving safety management systems audit that awarded the company approved supplier status, enabling it to carry out surface supplied air and nitrox diving and ROV services within UK and European waters in upstream and downstream projects.

Commenting on the success of the audit Aiden comments: “Safety is paramount in the diving industry, but to be able to dive in the North Sea with a company such as BP demonstrates the levels of competency we are operating to.

To have passed this audit is something that we are both excited about and proud of as the commitment demonstrated by the team here at Osiris has been exceptional.”

Osiris was able to demonstrate its multicapacity service during December 2014 when it provided an integrated solution for maintenance and inspection at EDF’s Sizewell B nuclear power plant. The work was carried out during a scheduled maintenance outage, which takes place every 18 months and required diving and ROV capabilities to complete the operation within a narrow time scale. The scope of work required during the project varied from routine

Osiris Marine Services

inshore air diving inspection work relating to the cooling water intake heads to the maintenance and cleaning of the drum screen and chambers, which filter sea water used on the main turbine condensers and reactor ancillaries. The work took place with a potentially dangerous environment, but through the use of appropriate mitigation measures, Osiris was able to deliver a safe and compliant solution. Indeed as an example of the expertise that Osiris is able to deliver, the operation is an excellent case study in the integrated service the company provides, as Aiden concludes: “Diving within itself can be dangerous when incorrect preparation takes place, but when the dive site is inherently more dangerous than normal circumstances, co-operation by all parties involved is paramount to make sure a routine piece of inspection work is carried out as safely and successfully as possible. With the team we have and the effort from the staff at EDF Sizewell B, we were able to achieve that.”

European oil & gas

Osiris has a reputation of championing the application of the latest, most efficient and safest diving methods and technologies in its operations for customers

Osiris Marine Services Ltd osirismarineservices.com

Services Diving and subsea engineering

europeanoilandgas.co.uk 111

Bold

expansions

With the pioneering vision

Above Ashok Goel, the group’s Chairman Below Sudhir Goyel , co-founder and managing director

of two brothers Mr Ashok & Sudhir Goyel who came from India in the early 90’s to unlock the potential of exporting petroleum products all over the world, Gulf Petrochem (GP) made a modest beginning in 1998 with the commissioning of a refinery in Sharjah’s Hamriyah Free zone. Within a few years, it firmly established itself into six strategic business units (SBUs); Petroleum Products trading, Refining, Lubes & Grease, Modified Bituminous products manufacturing, Oil Storage Terminals, Bunkering, Shipping & Logistics. All these units support each other and make Gulf Petrochem a wellintegrated conglomerate & now approx. USD 2.5 Billion Company.

After establishing the six SBU’s, GP started its journey of organic growth by expanding its footprint from Asia Pacific to Africa by setting up regional offices in Singapore, India, Dares salaam in Africa & Corporate Office being at Sharjah, UAE. While not only expanding into new geographical areas of opportunity, Gulf Petrochem Group has also expanded into the various verticals of oil; these include fuel oil, base oil, bitumen, naptha, lubes and greases. GP commissioned its 1st state-of-the-art port storage terminal facility in Fujairah with a storage capacity of 412,000 cbm.

It also modified and expanded its lubricant and grease manufacturing plants established in the Hamriyah Free zone, UAE. Very recently the group announced the commissioning of the first phase of its liquid cargo storage terminal at Pipavav Port which has an annual capacity of 250,000 Kilo litres; this development will ease the supply and availability of petroleum as well as non-petroleum and petrochemical cargo in the North of India. The first phase boasts a capacity of 110,000 KL, while the second phase will have 140,000 KL

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and will be commissioned by mid-March.

The group’s highly advanced state of the art oil storage terminals in Hamriyah-Sharjah is expected to commission in May 2015. It is connected to the distillation refinery and has separate pipelines to the harbour berth for all classes of petroleum products as well as nonclassified products. A dedicated line is built for bitumen as the bitumen division also operates from the same site. Bitumen is one of the high traded products, alongside base oils and other clean petroleum products like gas oil that Gulf Petrochem transports via its in-house fleet of tankers. Owning its vessels & a dedicated shipping and logistics team gives the company much better control over its entire supply chain.

In 2014, Gulf Petrochem focused on growing inorganically: it acquired a Royal Dutch Shell bitumen plant in Gujarat where it manufactures 30,000 metric tonnes per annum of bitumen speciality products.

GP also acquired Sah Petroleum Ltd, a public listed lubricant & grease manufacturing company which is listed on the two biggest stock exchanges (BSE as well as NSE) of India.

It has IPOL as its flagship brand in the industrial segment.

Gulf Petrochem has recently acquired an oil marketing company called Essar Petroleum East Africa in Kenya. All of these acquisitions provide a vital contribution to the group’s mission and also help drive international growth.

Today the group is professionally managed with highly qualified and experienced professionals from the industry as well as qualified & talented second generation of the family leading Gulf Petrochem towards new horizon. The board consists of the following members.

A young and dynamic go-getter, Manan Goel, Gulf Petrochem’s Group Director, Manan has

PROFILE

been instrumental in setting-up the Bitumen Processing, Storage Terminals and Mixed Hydrocarbon Plant.

Mr Prerit Goel is the Group Director and leads many new business initiatives in the company.

He was instrumental in setting up the Singapore Trading company of Gulf Petrochem and was actively involved in the storage terminal project in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates.

Mr. S. Thangapandian, Gulf Petrochem Group’s Executive Director is an oil and gas professional with over 30 years of experience in sales, marketing and trading of petroleum products in India and Nigeria with PSU, MNCs and private sector companies in India.

Another important appointment is of Mr B.M.Bansal as the Strategic Advisor of the Group. He comes with 36 years of extensive work experience in the Oil & Gas sector in areas spanning business development, R&D, refining and technical services.

Gulf Petrochem Group’s growth had showed no let down and neither has the group’s

Gulf Petrochem group

reputation, which has resulted in a number of award wins for the firm. For example, Gulf Petrochem received the Masreq Oil & Gas Project of the Year award during the MEED Quality Awards for Projects and co-founder and managing director Sudhir Goyel was awarded the Business Personality of the Year Award by the Horwath Mak Group of Auditors & Business Advisors in 2013 in recognition of his leadership skills that have enabled Gulf Petrochem to be a successful industry pioneer.

In addition, he was named as one of the top 100 Indian business leaders by Forbes Middle East in May 2014. As well as this, the group’s Chairman, Ashok Goel was featured amongst the 50 most influential people in downstream sector in a special issue of Power 50, Refining & Petrochemicals Middle East.

Having set the foundations for ongoing growth and success, the future looks positive for Gulf Petrochem Group as it consolidates on recent acquisitions and continues with its plans for global expansion.

European oil & gas

Gulf Petrochem Group's growth had showed no let down and neither has the group’s reputation, which has resulted in a number of award wins for the firm

Gulf Petrochem Group gulfpetrochem.com

Business Petroleum products trading, bunkering, refining, manufacturing (modified bituminous products, lubricants & greases), storage terminals and shipping & logistics.

europeanoilandgas.co.uk 113

connection The global

The Ferguson Group began as

Below Gary Wilson, MD UK Business Unit

a family company supplying containers and accommodation modules to the oil and gas industry, originally in the North Sea. It has grown to become a global company that today has bases in industry hubs all over the world.

In September 2014 the business, valued at £320 million, was acquired by the Australian logistics specialist Brambles Ltd, and as the group begins a new phase of growth, it remains with its headquarters in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, employing more than 210 people worldwide.

Established in 1976, for over 35 years, the Group has serviced the global oil and gas and renewables industry, operating out of the UK, Norway, Australia, Singapore and UAE and from partner bases around the world.

“After a period of rapid geographical expansion and investment in our rental fleet, we are now seeing the benefits. We are increasingly offering a solution-based approach to our customers. As an example, in previous situations we may have supplied just tanks or cargo baskets to our customers, but today we are additionally able to project manage chemical filling, transporting, storage, emptying and

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cleaning of the tanks. In addition to design and fabrication of accommodation and workspaces, using in-house expertise we are able to design and manufacture supporting structures including walkways and stairways,” says MD UK Business Unit, Gary Wilson.

The Group has a wide spectrum of clients, ranging from the service supply companies to small engineering consultancies. As commodity suppliers, Ferguson Group products can be founds in all parts of the industry, from Exploration and Production, to Cementing, Completions, Well Stimulation, Abandonment and Decommissioning.

“We believe it is important to build a good working relationship with our customers, as a better understanding of their business means we can provide better customer service.”

The group continues its investment into engineering innovation to ensure that its product range meets the needs of its customers. The Ferguson Group’s engineering team regularly examines every offshore asset in its fleet, liaising directly with customers about the products they use. By working with its clients, the in-house design team is able to develop specific products

PROFILE

where necessary, or to adapt existing ones.

In essence, the business is value engineering the product range to further ensure that each piece of equipment can meet its function, and more importantly investigate where and how safety features can be enhanced. The Ferguson Group has just completed a large order for an accommodation complex designed with walkways, stairwells, sewage and water systems.

Its skilled engineering and manufacturing teams had the solution designed and installed in a matter of weeks.

Through its policy of continually improving operations and standards in every aspect of the business, Ferguson Group undertakes the manufacturing process to the highest industry standards. Not only does this provide the reassurance to its customers that they are using modules that comply with the latest HSE regulations, but furthermore it is able to highlight its commitment to health and safety, quality and the environment through the numerous ISO and OHSAS certifications it holds.

Well versed in global expansion, the business

Ferguson Group

recently made the decision to open a new larger facility in Singapore, in the Layong Offshore base, a key industry hub. The new site is ideal for the rental fleet being so close to clients’ bases.

Building up its global portfolio is extremely important, particularly at a time when the market has been affected by the drop in oil price. “Given our geographic spread, we are able to continue to expand to support the ongoing needs of our customers,” Gary adds.

Beyond its own divisional offices, Ferguson Group has long established strategic partnerships, such as the one in West Africa with Dominion Oil and Gas and a Nigerian partner, as well as directly supporting other clients throughout the African continent.

“Our ability to respond in a timely manner to our customers’ requests, with the high quality products that we offer certainly contributes to the strong reputation which we have built.

We move forward with investment as a top priority and continually invest in new product development and product enhancements,” concludes Gary.

European oil & gas

Ferguson Group ferguson-group.com

Services Rental equipment specialist for offshore energy

europeanoilandgas.co.uk 115

On the

up-and-up

notably by providing abseiling and zip wire services at Rotterdam’s Euromast and later by supporting various Dutch television productions.

During its early years Height Specialists also turned its hand to work at height, using rope access and industrial climbing. Rope access is a method for working at heights utilising ropes, climbing harnesses and other materials to enable access to working locations in difficult and inaccessible situations. It is a method of access that has been tried and tested for over 20 years.

As an alternative or complementary use against conventional systems like scaffolding, suspension bridge constructions and lifting platforms, the techniques and materials have been specifically developed for use in a number of industrial applications. Today these applications include high-rise construction, bridges, shafts, masts and towers, atriums, monuments, construction halls and wind turbines.

Prior to 2014 Height Specialists was mainly focused on operations within the Netherlands, however as it continues to grow the company is increasingly targeting global projects within the marine, offshore, process and petrochemical sectors. Within the oil and gas market these include projects in Scandinavia and offshore in Dutch and UK waters. “During 2014 Height Specialists kept on growing causing it to be one of the largest rope access companies in Europe,” Henri explains. “During the beginning of 2014 we also started to operate in Nigeria and the Middle-East and the company’s focus in 2015

Established in 1995

, Height Specialists is a specialist company that provides rope access inspection, maintenance and modifications for on and offshore inspection and maintenance services to clients operating in various industrial sectors as well as to elaborate promotions and public events. The business was started as a one-man venture but today operates as fully qualified IRATA, ISO 9001 and VCA-P company with over 75 employees working worldwide. “Height Specialists is an innovative and dynamic organisation that offers a quick and professional response to its clients’ questions,” comments general manager, Henri Hoogenes. “Safety is always our first priority and as such, each project will endure a risk analysis and methodic planning before execution.

Height Specialists only works with fully certified technicians, tools and materials.”

Indeed throughout its history Height Specialists has managed to profile itself quickly,

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is to continue this growth and extend its range within the wind energy market.”

Since it was last featured in European Oil and Gas Magazine during March 2014, Height Specialists has continued to grow and diversify its presence in new regions around the world.

The company today operates three offices

PROFILE

located in the Netherlands, Germany and a new operation opened in Dubai. Furthermore, as the company continues to attract new clients it has become increasingly active in Africa. “Since the company last appeared in European Oil and Gas Magazine we have opened an office in Dubai,” Henri elaborates. “We have a lot of contracts for performing window cleaning of skyscrapers in the region, but are also looking to expand our services towards oil & gas and marine & offshore. We have also signed an agreement establishing Height Specialists Africa Limited (HSAL) in partnership with Deltalift Resources Nigeria Limited (DRNL) to provide international standard Rope Access services and training to clients in the West African region (through partnering with DRNL). At this moment we are in the running for some large projects.”

The employees of Height Specialists regularly undergo training at its official Industrial Rope Access Trade Association (IRATA) training centre and attend Master-class courses in the use of specific tools, project management and social skills. The training courses are set up and delivered in accordance with international standards and each project is assigned its own supervisor to guarantee the security and quality of the operations. This market-leading level of expertise coupled with the company’s ability to rapidly respond to the requests of its clients makes Height Specialists an attractive option in rope access solutions, despite a challenging market. “At the moment, as in every business at this point, it is hard work but thanks to the long-term relationships with our clients and

Height Specialists

our high level of standards we still manage to grow and maintain our strong position in the market,” Henri says. “We have noticed that in this business it is important to rely on strong partners and to build on a long-term relationship with our clients. We have noticed that every time we work for a new client, who has never used rope access before, they are pleasantly surprised - surprised about the company’s professional way of working and the flexibility that rope access provides. The focus for the next 12 months will be growing in the energy and offshore market and the vision of Height Specialists for the next three to five years is to be a leading partner in rope access worldwide.”

Throughout its history Height Specialists has provided a unique and highly specialist range of rope access solutions. These have enabled it to find new customers in a diverse field of sectors and develop long lasting relationships with these clients that will continue to keep the business on the up-and-up.

European oil & gas

We have noticed that every time we work for a new client, who has never used rope access before, they are pleasantly surprised - surprised about the company’s professional way of working and the flexibility that rope access provides Height Specialists heightspecialists.com

Services Rope access inspection, maintenance and modifications for on and offshore inspection and maintenance services

europeanoilandgas.co.uk 117

ready Coiled and

With roots dating back

to 1961, Thermal Transfer Technology Ltd (3T) has developed a leading reputation in the provision of finned tube heat exchangers throughout a range of market sectors. 3T is today based in Seaham in the North East of England, where it has operated from since 1990 and has grown into one of Europe’s major manufacturers of finned tube heat exchangers. “3T’s main products are finned tube heat exchangers and everything the company does is based around those,” explains managing director, Anders Thomsen. “We provide different configurations and different tube sizes that suit different industries and within the oil and gas market for example, they are mainly titanium and stainless steel tubes with a variation of the fin material, depending on whether it is an offshore or land-based application.”

Presently 3T delivers heat transfer solutions to clients operating within the oil and gas sector as well as to air-conditioning, air handling unit manufacture, supermarket and industrial refrigeration, process cooling, air-compressor cooling, printing, oil refinery, electrical distribution, ultra-pure water cooling, pharmaceutical and furnace cooling applications.

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Although the bulk of the company’s income does not currently come from the oil and gas sector, 3T is preparing to increase its presence in the market. Indeed while the current low oil price is creating uncertainty for many businesses in the oil and gas sector, 3T perceives a climate of opportunity inspired by its unique service offering. “We are a relatively new entry into the oil and gas market,” Anders says. “We have previously only generated around ten per cent of our turnover in this sector but we are now looking to put more focus into it. There is an opportunity in this kind of environment because of the fact that there is presently higher pressure regarding cost in the oil industry and we are cheaper by definition because our technology is more advanced. We provide a higher level of performance heat exchanger that performs better using less material, which means that we can produce exchangers around 20-30 per cent cheaper than our closest competitors.”

Core to the company’s expansion within the oil and gas sector is 3T’s line of titanium heat exchangers. Titanium provides a highly costeffective solution in the corrosive environment found on offshore platforms and allows for seawater to be used as a coolant within the heat exchanger itself. Furthermore the use of titanium incorporates several benefits, which offer clients far reaching advantages and highly efficient

PROFILE

operation. The strong resistance of titanium to corrosion results in a much longer working life when compared to other tubing materials, such as cupronickel or stainless steel. Titanium heat exchangers have an operational life of between 15 and 50 years, depending on specification and the robust nature of the material coupled with serviceable design allows for decreased maintenance time and simple internal cleaning of heat exchanger units. Furthermore titanium is typically 20-30 per cent lighter in construction compared to other materials, which is a vital advantage in the offshore environment where weight distribution is a core concern.

With a proven track record in the supply of bespoke heat exchangers ranging from coils, dry air liquid coolers and air cooled condensers to air coolers and the accompanying control solutions in a range of materials, 3T is in a strong position to expand its presence within the oil and gas market and develop longlasting relationships with clients old and new.

The company’s highly regarded reputation is demonstrated by the fact that within the supermarket sector, one of the UK’s leading supermarket chains entrusts 3T with almost 100 per cent of its heat exchange requirements.

Presently 3T is already enjoying success within the oil and gas market having recently completed work on its largest project to date in this sector. The contract, which was undertaken through Novenco, was to provide heat exchange equipment for Statoil’s Mariner project in the North Sea and represented as much as 15 per cent of the company’s turnover for a single year.

However, although the North Sea has delivered the bulk of 3T’s larger orders in the oil and gas sector, the company has also delivered solutions to clients abroad including the Middle East and China, cementing its position as a truly global business.

Thermal Transfer Technology

As the company continues to grow it will seek to showcase the benefits it can provide clients within the oil and gas sector while continuing to endeavour to deliver first-class service to customers in other areas, as Anders concludes: “3T provides a technology that is somewhat thermodynamically more efficient than its competitors and therefore we have a competitive advantage in the oil and gas sector.

Within the other areas of the company, which currently accounts for around 80 per cent of our business the market is much more commodity driven, so the focus is much more about providing the best possible service. The strategy moving forward is to gain growth in the oil and gas sector, but to also match this with growth in the other areas of the company and not to be a business of peaks, but to be a business with a strong foundation. This way when the peaks come they are a positive occurrence but when they fade away we will have a strong foundation as a profitable company.”

European oil & gas

Top left Factory/office with supermarket units in front Middle left Stainless steel dry air liquid coolers with ATEX fan motors Bottom left Titanium tube and fin heating coil Left Titanium tube and fin cooling coil with AlMg3 eliminator section

Thermal Transfer Technology Ltd three-t.co.uk

Services Finned tube heat exchangers

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support A strong

Lankhorst Ropes

maintains a strong tie to the past that dates back over 250 years to 1751, when the company was established as a ropery and sailmakers loft in Sneek, the Netherlands. The company first became known as Lankhorst after Nikolaas Jurgen Lankhorst took over the company from his in-laws during 1803. Today Lankhorst is a worldwide supplier of rope and vessel mooring lines, which form the core of its business as the largest company within the Lankhorst group.

A major milestone for the company came in 2012, when the Royal Lankhorst Euronete Group was acquired by WireCO WorldGroup Inc. “Since 2012 Lankhorst Ropes has been a member of the WireCo WorldGroup, with its head office in Kansas City, USA,” elaborates Lankhorst Ropes commercial director, Sérgio Leite. “WireCo WorldGroup is the global leader in manufacturing, engineering, and distributing wire rope, wire rope assemblies, synthetic rope and electromechanical cable. With a truly global reach, WireCo WorldGroup and Lankhorst can deliver the right products for clients’ equipment and application no matter where their worksites might be.”

Lankhorst Ropes presently divides its business into three divisions that are comprised of its maritime division, with sales offices in the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Spain, United Arab Emirates, Brazil and Australia, as well as strategic stock locations globally; an offshore division, which trades synthetic ropes in the name of Lankhorst Euronete Portugal, S.A. and operates from Maia and Viana do Castelo (Portugal) and more recently from Rio Janeiro

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(Brazil) and steel wire ropes for offshore applications produced by WireCo WorldGroup manufacturing units in the name of Lankhorst Ropes; and its Heaving Lifting Division which brings its expertise in rope construction to meet the demand for high performance offshore lifting slings. It also trades synthetic ropes in the name of Lankhorst Euronete Portugal, S.A. and operates from Maia and Viana do Castelo (Portugal).

“Offshore heavy lift is a growing market for Lankhorst Ropes,” explains Sérgio. “With sales and technical teams in The Netherlands and Portugal, the company has a clear objective – to raise the bar for technical performance of synthetic rope slings in heavy lift applications. An ambitious research and test programme will leave Lankhorst well placed to build on early successes.”

Synthetic ropes offer many advantages over steel wire ropes in heavy lift applications.

Synthetic ropes are as strong as conventional steel wire rope but seven times lighter therefore allowing contractors of optimise crane lift capacity. In response to the growing demand for synthetic ropes, Lankhorst has significantly strengthened its heavy lift and technical teams.

This has been bolstered by WireCo Worldgroup’s acquisition of Endenburg BV’s assets, which took place in 2014 adding to the company’s experience of handling monopiles for offshore wind projects as well as the abandonment and recovery of deepwater pipelines. As such, Lanhorst has already won a number of heavy lift projects and is positioning itself at the forefront of market innovation in the sector to ensure that it remains a leading name in heavy

PROFILE

lift operations. “Lankhorst Ropes is committed to the on-gong development of synthetic fibre ropes. The state-of-the-art research and development facility at its Global Synthetics Lankhorst Euronete location in Maia, Portugal provides fundamental research and product development to support its Global Synthetics Lankhorst Euronete division that markets the brands Lankhorst, Euronete, Phillystran and Oliveira,” Sérgio says. “In addition to the research and development facility, WireCo has recently invested in pilot-scale equipment designed to strengthen Lankhorst Ropes’ research capabilities into yarn extrusion, and ultimately synthetic fibre rope performance in heavy lift applications.”

Through its dedicated research and development teams and co-operation with DSM Dyneema, Lankhorst has pioneered a new system capable of handling heavy loads at depths of well over three kilometres. “Lankhorst Ropes has recently develop Lankodeep AHC rope, which incorporates fully optimised cyclic bending over sheave (CBOS) fatigue and load bearing characteristics for use in the deepwater deployment systems. It is based on special Dyneema grade cyclic bending optimised fibre and a proprietary rope coating technology and represents a new rope design with 12 stranded braids where each strand is a three-strand rope,” Sérgio elaborates. “The rope can be inspected and is also repairable, it is an innovative solution for deepwater deployment and is capable of handling heavy loads at depths of well over three kilometres, where steel wire is not efficient anymore. The Lankodeep AHC rope has already

Lankhorst Ropes

found its first commercial success, with two ropes of 3100 metre length, placed by Jaya - the leading offshore energy services group that is now part of the Mermaid Marine Group of companies. Jaya will fit the rope into 110-ton cranes designed by J.J. Offshore for two new 88-metre ships.”

As Lankhorst continues to take advantage of its impressive momentum and growing strength it will seek to solidify its present base and expand to offer its clients new innovations well into the future, as Sérgio concludes, “Over the short term Lankhorst will be focused on increasing its position in the markets where the company is present while at the same time entering into and growing its position in smaller but specialised market niches. Over the next three years the company’s intention is to develop new synthetic rope solutions that can replace traditional solutions and allow the technology to exceed the present state-of-the-art, giving our customers new opportunities and horizons.”

European oil & gas

Lanhorst has already won a number of heavy lift projects and is positioning itself at the forefront of market innovation in the sector to ensure that it remains a leading name in heavy lift operations.

Lankhorst Ropes lankhorstropes.com

Services Next generation mooring systems

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partner A vital

Although a relatively

new venture, A.Hak Drillcon (part of A. Hak which celebrated its 50 years’ anniversary in 2013) has developed a leading reputation in the field of trenchless technology, specialising in the design and execution of underground tunnelling and drilling of pipelines, casings, culverts, cables and more for the oil and water, petrochemical, telecommunications and energy industries. “On the 18th of December 2014 we celebrated the fifth anniversary of A.Hak Drillcon,” observes managing director Ronald Van Krieken. “In 2009, we started small-scale and since then we have become a global player in trenchless technology with over 100 highly motivated and hard working staff. We are all very proud of reaching this milestone and we have undertaken some technically challenging and large-scale projects, as well as many smaller drillings.”

To date A.Hak Drillcon has executed a number of highly specialised projects for both internal and many external clients, within Europe, Canada, South America, the Middle East and Asia. Throughout 2014 A.Hak Drillcon has continued to win new contracts within a number of industry sectors as Ronald elaborates: “In September 2014 A.Hak Drillcon was awarded a contract by Energie und Wasser Potsdam (EWP) for the execution of five HDD crossings under the Brauhausberg ('Brewery hill') in Potsdam, near Berlin. These crossings are part of a new 110 kV and 10 kV cable network, which is being constructed in the city of Potsdam. The works comprise of the supply, welding, drilling and pull-in of HDPE ducts in bundles of 4x200mm and 110+160mm. After completion, EWP will pull its electricity cables into these ducts. The total length to be drilled is 1700m. The crossings

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commence at the Geotechnical Research Institute at the Brauhausberg and terminate at various junctions at street level.”

Further to the contracts that it has won with EWP, A.Hak Drillcon has also worked closely with Gasunie Deutschland and Open Grid Europe throughout 2014, as Ronald further explains: “Gasunie Deutschland and Open Grid Europe have recently awarded the drilling works associated with the Elbedüker project to A.Hak Drillcon as main contractor. The project comprises of the tunnelling of a concrete casing under the river Elbe, to accommodate the new gas pipeline that will secure the safe supply of natural gas to Northern Germany and Scandinavia.

“The permits were successfully obtained and on 14th August 2014 drilling commenced in a 24-hours double-shift system and on December 4th 2014 we concluded the drilling. The length of the route is 1525m. The AVMD 2400/AB 3000 machine is deployed for the insertion of the concrete casing. Subsequently, two highpressure gas pipelines of 30’ will be inserted into the tunnel in addition to a few bundles of HDPE ducts for future cable use. The remaining void will then be grouted entirely.”

A.Hak is able to supply its clients with fully turnkey solutions in trenchless drilling technology, encompassing everything from engineering to applying for a license. Once the company has been given the location and the preconditions of crossings it has all of the information it needs to produce a complete design and secure the necessary approval. Once the application is granted, A.Hak will move swiftly into execution of the project. As such, the company ensures that it is able to offer its

PROFILE

clients a full spectrum of trenchless technologies including horizontal direction drilling (HDD), up to 500 ton capacity, micro tunnelling up to OD 3.000mm; direct-pipe drilling; pilot guided auger-boring and impact ramming. Besides its existing technologies, within A. Hak Drillcon a dedicated team works on innovations on a daily basis in order to provide it’s clients the best solutions, now and in the future.

Between May 2013 and April 2014, A.Hak was involved in a project that made use of a number of its specialist trenchless technologies for its client, Gasunie. ‘Gas Hub’ represented a significant investment for Gasunie that would transform into an integrated gas infrastructure utilised for the production, transport, storage and transit of gas for the European market. One of the major operations within this project was the construction of a new gas transport pipeline between the Dutch towns of Beverwijk and Wijngaarden. A.Hak Leidingbouw and A.Hak Drillcon was granted two of the three lots of

A.Hak Drillcon

operations were complicated by the presence of ground water so the rigs were often deployed on mounds and special return pipelines for drilling fluid were constructed both above and below the surface. Throughout the project micro tunnelling was carried out using medium-capacity steel gas pipelines, while in areas containing railroad crossings concrete case tubes were used.

Adjacent to Highway A4 near Hoofddorp, close to Schiphol International Airport, the local N201 road and its neighbouring business park were crossed using the direct pipe method. This method was selected as the available space was limited and this drilling method allows for work with short pipeline sections.

Although A.Hak Drillcon is a relatively new business, it has rapidly developed a leading reputation as a vital partner in trenchless technology through the delivery of several specialised technique and swift, turnkey service.

As such, the journey of A.Hak Drillcon is set to continue for many years.

A.Hak is able to supply its clients with fully turnkey solutions in trenchless drilling technology, encompassing everything from engineering to applying for a license

A.Hak Drillcon B.V. a-hakdrillcon.nl

Services Trenchless drilling technology

this trajectory and thus became responsible for the construction of 60 kilometers of this 48" gas transport pipeline. This was a challenging project, in part because of the surrounding soil conditions and water management requirements and also due to the abundance of railroads and waterways in a varying landscape. This left it up to A.Hak to ensure that it delivered the most suitable drilling solution at every location.

Horizontal directional drilling, for example was employed for long crossings. HDD operations were carried out using a 250, 330 ton mega rig and later a 500 ton mega rig. These European oil & gas

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PEEK

performance Founded in 2009, Magma Global was established by its current CEO Martin Jones to provide the world’s most reliable risers, jumpers and intervention lines for subsea exploration and production. During 2010 the business received additional backing to accelerate its growth from Calgary-based KERN Energy Partners and Copenhagen-based NES Partners.

BGF Plc and SICP LLP have since joined its investor group, providing Magma Global with additional capital to support the growth of the business and significant manufacturing capacity expansion. The company is based in Portsmouth, UK with further offices in the US, Angola and Saudi Arabia.

Magma Global manufactures the pioneering product m-pipe®, a unique high quality, high strength and low weight carbon and PEEK polymer pipe with a monolithic structure from bore to surface. “PEEK is produced by a company called Victrex, which is based in the North West of England and currently fabricates 80 per cent of the world’s PEEK,” explains Magma technical director Stephen Hatton.

“Magma Global has a very close working relationship with Victrex in order to provide the company with enough PEEK to meet its future requirements. The beauty of m-pipe using carbon fibre and PEEK is that they are both very high performing materials, which results in a very high performing pipe. That is the fundamental principle behind Magma Global; to have a pipe that really out-performs other products on the market and which does so in a number of ways, whether it be through weight, strength, fatigue or chemical resistance.”

Although production using composites has existed for several decades it has not yet been widely adopted within the oil and gas market, which is something that Magma Global is confident is about to change. “I think it is fair to say that composites have been around for

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the last 20 years, however I wouldn’t say that they have been as commercially successful as they might have been to date. Composites have been proposed for all sorts of structures, pipes and general protective structures in the oil and gas industry, but it has never really made a significant impact, as the industry has been traditionally focused on steel pipes and steel products,” Stephen elaborates.

“This has changed over the past five years or so with the introduction of new composite manufacturing methods. The problem in the past was that it was difficult to produce large volume composites at high quality. This presented a real challenge within the oil and gas industry, as well as the composite industry in general, but the process used by Magma Global solves that problem. Magma has a continuous computer controlled 3D printing process to make its m-pipe product, where we use a laser to melt very small qualities of material at a very high rate,” he adds. “This means that the process is very controllable, allowing Magma Global to have a strictly controlled and high level of quality.”

Presently Magma Global is focused on increasing its manufacturing capability to enable it to meet m-pipe demand globally for subsea risers, jumpers and intervention lines. “I would say intervention is probably the company’s most important immediate product line right now because in the current oil market we are seeing rapidly growing demand to improve production efficiency,” says Stephen. “The subsea market is currently struggling to carry out subsea intervention using coil tubing, which has problems with fatigue, corrosion and weight.

More importantly, alternative intervention pipe products are usually permanently damaged by chemical attack from hydrogen fluoride and other similar aggressive intervention fluids. m-pipe is a high performance product that enables deep water and high temperature

PROFILE

Magma Global

Victrex

intervention and also other more challenging subsea applications, such as risers, where existing solutions are failing to deliver to the levels of cost and investment return required. This presents a strong opportunity in the market for Magma Global, as the oil price is low and operators like the idea of going into existing wells and assets and increasing productivity rather putting their CAPEX into new field developments.”

Although m-pipe offers several advantages in terms of higher performance and subsequently reduced operating costs, Magma Global is aware of the challenges of bringing a new product to market. Indeed it accepts that there is inevitably some level of risk for clients when investing in a new technology. As such, Magma Global is currently undertaking qualification testing and maintaining close relationships with all the operators and the major subsea contractors that are active within the market.

Furthermore, to ensure that it is able to provide an effective product as well as the means to assist in deployment and operation, it has entered into an agreement with Maritime

Developments Ltd to deliver an integrated product package as Stephen explains: “Magma is a pipe manufacturer, but we recognise that to get m-pipe used by the oil and gas industry, there are some quite important and sensitive relationships to establish. This includes major installation contractors and engineering contractors as well as end users, so we thought it was very important to ease the introduction of m-pipe by having a method of deploying it very safely and reliably. This enables us to develop both the pipe and the handling equipment so we can deploy it as an integrated package, because it is not sufficient for Magma Global just to have a pipe, we need to be able to advise and assist on how to deploy it correctly.”

With its high performance m-pipe product and close relationships with operators, oil majors and suppliers, Magma Global is on the cusp of introducing pipe solutions that will benefit clients throughout the subsea oil and gas industry. Indeed after several years of hard work, the future of composites and of Magma Global looks very bright indeed.

European oil & gas

Victrex, an innovative world leader in high performance polymer solutions, has a proven track record in the oil and gas sector that spans more than 35 years. Cutting-edge, VICTREX® PEEK-based solutions are designed to survive and thrive in the most extreme environments. Magma Global Limited, a leading innovator in subsea fluid transport, has selected Victrex as its partner and material supplier in the development of its m-pipe® technology—sharing the vision of delivering the world’s most reliable risers, jumpers and intervention lines for subsea exploration and production. By working together, Victrex and Magma are shaping future performance.

Magma Global magmaglobal.com

Services High performance subsea pipe

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Operational

excellence Founded on the principles of a family business when the Klepsvik and Okland families joined forces in 1984, Austevoll headquartered North Sea Shipping (NSS) has maintained its values and strengthened its services over the last 30 years to provide advanced offshore vessels and superior management services to the oil and gas industry. As a highly experienced organisation, the company has developed a reputation for delivering competence, adaptability, consistency, loyalty and openness between employees and customers; skills that have resulted in excellent safety records, reliable operations and long-term clients.

Discussing the history of the quality conscious firm, operations manager of NSS, Sveinung Okland begins: “North Sea Shipping has extensive experience in advanced offshore vessels and it all started with the ROV/survey vessel North Sea Surveyor, which we procured in 1985; this was one of the first ROV/survey vessels in the market and was on contract with

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Stolt Comex. The company expanded with North Sea Commander in 1987, a vessel that was one of the first to be fitted with a diesel electric machinery system and DP2, before taking on a new North Sea Surveyor in 1991.

After these developments we progressed to the IMR class and were involved in a joint venture with Stolt Comex for the Seaway Kingfisher in 1997, this was the first purpose built IMR vessel to have a heave compensated tower.”

Following a number of other vessel acquisitions throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, NSS was involved in the building phase and management of the North Ocean series that was built in Vigo for Ocean Team. “We have been involved in eight of the newbuilds,” confirms Sveinung. “In 2011 we took delivery of North Sea Giant, which was followed by North Sea Atlantic in 2014. Today we have three vessels under our ownership that we operate; throughout our history our fleet has been between two and five in size, but the size and complexity of vessels over recent years has increased rapidly. However, we are proud to have always been at the forefront of innovative thinking and we live to develop through this approach to business. The vessels we own are high-end, with the latest technology and equipment, which is thanks to our commitment to pushing boundaries and develop new products that thus delivers a more efficient and safer operation.”

Since NSS was previously featured in European

PROFILE

Oil and Gas Magazine in August 2014, the company has taken delivery of North Sea Atlantic, which has gone straight into a seven year, long-term charter with Technip UK. Designed to deliver pipelay, subsea construction and survey projects, the 141 x 27 metre multipurpose construction vessel provides a stable operational platform for the most challenging and demanding of offshore projects. Boasting an unrivalled lifting capacity, thanks to her 550 Te active heave compensated boom box crane, the North Sea Atlantic is also able to work to water depths of up to 3000. Furthermore, a whipline capacity of 40 Te at all radii combined with long reach enables the crane to perform critical tasks in the pipelay sector. The vessel is specially designed to operate under extreme weather conditions, the Ice-Class North Sea Atlantic can reach a maximum speed of 15 knots at six metre draft and boasts high manoeuvrability thanks to its diesel electric propulsion plant and two azimuth propellers, with an output of 4.5 megawatts each. Speaking to European Oil and Gas Magazine in August 2014, Sveinung noted: “The vessel is very high tech standard where all solutions are of the newest and best technology that is on the market today.”

Although the market is challenging for many organisations as oil firms look to save costs against falling oil prices, Sveinung believes NSS is in a coveted position as all three of its vessels are in long-term contracts: “Our main client in offshore is currently Technip, while in the seismic segment it is ElectroMagnetic GeoServices (EMGS). North Sea Giant is currently on charter with Technip until 2018 and is a very advanced DP3 vessel with excellent DP capabilities, crane capabilities and very good stability. She has been working on the Statoil Asgard subsea gas compression project since last year and will continue to do so into the future.

She has been rebuilt to fit a Special Handling Tower system to install the modules for this project and she will be able to work in sea states up to 4.5 metre hs. This project is a very high focus project for Statoil and is very important to us as a business. Meanwhile, Atlantic Guardian is on contract with EMGS until 2017 and is involved in a special seismic known as Electronic Magnetic; EMGS works globally, so our vessel operates worldwide, but for the moment she is in operation in the Barents Sea.” Despite being in a comfortable position, NSS is keen to continue its ongoing tradition for innovation to ensure it can turn any issues in

North Sea Shipping

the market into opportunities. One way it will remain competitive is through investment of its fleet, with the Atlantic Guardian upgraded with enhanced fuel efficiency and station keeping abilities in the final quarter of 2014. By maintaining its core values, NSS is certain to deliver innovative and unrivalled services long into the future.

European oil & gas

North Sea Shipping northsea.no

Services Vessel owner and operator

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exchange The great

Today, with over four decades of experience, Timmerman EHS is a leading manufacturer of industrial heat exchangers as well as installing and assembling piping solutions in industrial environments for all kinds of pressure applications. The company was founded in 1972 by two brothers, Michel and Pol Timmerman, who at that time, pushed the business forward with the sole interests focusing on small piping projects for ArcelorMittal in Ghent, employing just four welders.

As the business steadily grew, in the early 1980’s it started the production of heat exchangers, utilising a copy and paste method for replicating existing models. Following the appointment of a new engineer into the business it began working in collaboration with the University of Ghent, developing a primitive yet clever software programme called Heatex, with the purpose of designing and modelling new heat exchangers.

Having established itself at a new location in Eeklo, where the business remains today, it rapidly expanded to a total of 85 employees. In 2010 Michel and Pol retired and the steering wheel was handed over to three new owners.

“The new owners brought along new ambitions and the eagerness to respond to the rapidly evolving industrial needs,” begins Rudy De Wispelaere, project manager. “Since then we have found numerous new young people to

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work for us, whom in their turn brought along fresh ideas to fulfill our ambitions. This has enabled us to find a lot of new customers and we continue to expand our know-how as well as our geographical span,” he continues.

The two-fold core aspect of the business remains untouched, designing and manufacturing shell and tube heat exchangers, as well as air finned exchangers. Its extensive team of welders and pipe fitters on site are able to provide mechanical works, with both business units supported by a small team of intervention experts for re-tubing, on site repairs and critical projects. “This allows us to remain flexible, ultimately excelling in difficult, out-of-thestandard projects,” points out Rudy.

Through a client base that includes the likes of Eastman, Total, Bayer, Oleon and Borealis, the business has established noticeably loyal relationships, with many extending back to the 1980’s. Capable of undertaking the design, manufacturing and installation, in 2014 Timmerman designed its first skid for the gas industry, involving both business units within the project. “The gas-distributing industry is very important for us, for which we design custommade exchangers with top-level inspection as required by our clients, and in accordance with the design code. As of today, 90 per cent of our clients are based in Belgium and the

PROFILE

Netherlands, but Timmerman exchangers can be found globally as part of bigger installations,” he adds. In Belgium, the (petro)-chemical industry provides in the region of 80 per cent of its turnover, and working within that environment, safety and environmental regulations are naturally important.

Having experienced a significantly strong year in 2014, 2015 is already showing itself to be a positive one. Rudy elaborates on the company’s success and its performance: “In 2010 we introduced what we call ‘improvement teams’.

In essence, these meetings across all people in our company are meant to detect and resolve little inefficiencies within the business. Although these minor adjustments may look irrelevant at first sight, they proved to be priceless and had a major impact when looking back. Subjects of the meetings vary from client communication to new welding equipment or software implementations.

“We still have work to do on automation, despite the already large investments this year.

Timmerman EHS

which ultimately extends to the promotion of the quality of our welding,” he adds.

A series of important investments have been made over the past year, particularly with the financial input that led to the acquisition of a new 3D CNC cutting machine. “We expect that machine to raise our competitiveness and our flexibility quite significantly, so we will concentrate this year on adapting our way of working to the possibilities of that new machine,” says Rudy.

“Strategically, our vision as we look ahead is to become the reference in know-how on how to build and maintain industrial heat exchangers.

In order to realise this, we focus on giving our people plenty of opportunities to learn new things and new ways of working. We want to have the best skilled people in the trade, because we want to be the first port of call for industries that have the most demanding projects, on both a technical level as well as on an organisational level,” concludes Rudy.

We want to have the best skilled people in the trade, because we want to be the first port of call for industries that have the most demanding projects

Timmerman EHS timmerman-ehs.be

Services Manufacturer and installer of heat exchangers and piping

We also feel the need for more challenging materials like duplex, super-duplex and highalloyed materials. We have the people required to be skilled in these materials and already proved this in some projects. Building up knowledge in that area will be our next challenge.”

It is a combination of the skilled craftsmen, welders and engineers that give Timmerman the strength behind its success, as Rudy emphasises that it is people that really make the difference and ensure returning customers. “Ingrained within the team is the desire to demonstrate to our clients the quality within our workshop, European oil & gas

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control Total

Founded in 1998, HCS Control

Versatile Controls Ltd Versatile Controls Ltd is proud to have been a supplier of air valves to HCS Controls Ltd for many years. We are the UK distributor of 316 stainless steel valves that are widely used in many applications for the offshore oil and gas industries. The company represents VERSA, DELTROL, RUELCO, & Dr.BREIT valves with ITT NEO-DYN & CONOFLOW switches and regulators.

Our range consists of solenoid valves with hazardous area operators, pilot and manual operated valves, with accessory valves and filter/regulators.

Below Colin Milne, sales director at HCS Control Systems

Systems Ltd has nurtured an ambitious spirit and continually pushed to reach its goal of reaching the ‘next level’ within the subsea market. One of the biggest milestones in its journey so far came in 2013, when the company underwent a management buyout (MBO) backed by private equity investments from Simmons Parallel Energy Fund & Maven Capital Partners, led by its CEO Brett Lestrange. As such, HCS exists today as a privately owned Scottish company, specialising in the design, in-house manufacture, assembly and test of equipment for the subsea industry worldwide.

The business was last profiled in European Oil & Gas Magazine during July 2014, when sales director, Colin Milne discussed the company’s strong position in the market and desire to continue to strengthen its position. Since 2014 the business has indeed progressed positively with significant investment and the award of several new projects, as Colin elaborates: “Since July 2014 we have seen some solid progress within the company, this includes the upgrade of our headquarters in Glenrothes; the opening of our sales, services and storage facility in Aberdeen; and increasing head count by around 40 per cent since the MBO. Additionally we have been awarded some significant projects from our existing client base along with securing business from new customers. We have recently reported significant growth over the previous year - so things at HCS are progressing in the right direction.”

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During August 2014 the company was given a further boost when the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) agreed a £4.5 million financing package with HCS, which will aid it in targeting further growth from international clients. “This re-financing package will play an important part in driving forward our growth ambitions,” says CEO Brett Lestrange. “As one of a small number of companies in the global subsea sector with the required knowledge and engineering skills to meet these increasing levels of customer demands, we are ideally placed to further develop our business and are delighted to be working with RBS to help make this happen.”

Although the drop in the price of oil during the latter half of 2014 and beginning of 2015 has created a level of uncertainty within the oil and gas industry, there remains a strong demand in fuel consumption globally and the subsea sector is still the most buoyant sector on the market. As such, HCS is confident that it will be able to continue to deliver world-class services, while increasing its global footprint with clients old and new.

HCS specialises in the design, in-house manufacture, assembly and testing of equipment for clients throughout the subsea industry. Its comprehensive portfolio of products includes; umbilical reelers, available with pneumatic or hydraulic drive as well as the company’s new high capacity electric drive reelers, which are suitable

for the arctic conditions of Norway; and hydraulic power units and subsea modules, with systems that include direct hydraulic production systems, installation and work-over (IWOCS) systems and the complete range of topside equipment for the deployment and handling of umbilical systems.

Furthermore, HCS provides specialist field and offshore services including a skilled workforce in general aftermaket services, hydraulic system maintenance, hydraulic system testing, special orbital welding as well as hydraulic installation, pipework bending and refurbishment from the

PROFILE

company’s new Rental Fleet Zone 1 testing and flushing services workshops.

The new testing and flushing workshops represent the latest line in the increasing service offering provided by HCS that will further expand the operational services on offer to clients, as Colin explains. “The test and flushing workshops have been designed to enable pressure testing, flushing, and fluid cleanliness services to be carried out safely in hazardous area environments. Furthermore the design these units draws upon its many years of operational experience with installing, testing and certifying hydraulic control systems. The workshops incorporate a blast wall partition segregating the pressure testing operations from the ‘safe’ operator cabin, in compliance with HSE GS4 and GRR 168/98 pressure directives.

The design provides the optimum configuration to ensure the best quality fluids operations to be undertaken in any environment, and HCS presently has a fleet of these units available for rental and immediate deployment to anywhere

HCS Control Systems

in the world, along with a team of specialist hydraulic technicians as required.”

Currently HCS is engaged in a prestigious contract with Aker Solutions to provide specialised instrument tubing welding for BP’s Quad 204 project located west of Shetland in the UK. “HCS has provide a dedicated instrumentation and welding project team to Aker and covers manufacturing activities within our Glenrothes facility and on-site services for the subsea modules being fabricated at Rosyth,” Colin details. “The project is progressing well with our teams of specialists onsite at Rosyth supporting our client.”

With strong financial backing, an increasing service offering and a proven track-record coupled with ongoing and upcoming projects, HCS Control Systems has the needs of its clients within the subsea oil and gas market in hand. As such the company is set to position itself within the highest levels of the offshore sector as a proven and reliable partner both today and well into the future.

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HCS Control Systems hcs-control-systems.com

Services Turnkey subsea equipment solutions

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PROFILE

haul A large

Since it was founded in 1983

by Ernst Børge Johansen, who saw a gap in the market following an increasing number of lifting accidents in the North Sea, Ernst-B Johansen AS and its marketing brand Cranemaster has grown rapidly over the last three decades. Today the niche firm holds the crown as the world’s leader in shock absorbers and passive heave compensation system for lifting operations, as product manager at Cranemaster, Kristian Holland begins: “Although we were founded in 1983, Cranemaster struggled to gain acceptance in the industry until the 1990s; following steady growth in the 1990s, business began to boom in the early 2000s as companies became increasingly stringent towards issues such as safety and weather operability during heavy lift operations.

“Our operations are very focused on one key area – we supply Cranemaster units, which are mainly rented out to offshore operators to reduce

Cranemaster

the effect of wave induced movements. On top of this, we provide engineering related services to the same operators we supply to and also work on spinoff projects that build on the same technology,” he adds.

With its main office in Stathelle, Norway, warehouses in Norway, Singapore and Australia and agents in Singapore, Perth, Rio de Janeiro and Esbjerg, Cranemaster is strategically located to meet the needs of its impressive customer base. Currently it is also establishing an agent to improve the support of the GoM (Gulf of Mexico) region. “We work with all major installation companies and offshore lifting organisations,” confirms Kristian. “These companies are present across the globe, so we send our products and deliver our services wherever they are needed.”

Clients include Technip, Subsea 7, EMAS, Jumbo, Allseas, Transocean, BP, Maersk and a number of other companies.

Committed to preventing unwanted movements that are experienced due to motion of the boom tip/movement of the load when it comes into contact with water during lifting operations, Cranemaster uses its units as a combination of a spring and a damper to reduce movements and lower dynamic forces. Because of this, the use of a Cranemaster unit allows for the increase of the operational weather/ wave window during operations, which results in minimised waiting times for ships and personnel, as well as significantly improved safety throughout projects.

Cranemaster is a niche company with strong dedication to its two core activities. The primary activity is the rental of Cranemaster units, these are a spread of units covering a load range from a few tonnes up to 1400 tonnes, as Kristian notes: “We work with major installation and offshore lifting companies and our Cranemaster units are present all over the world, with units located in Singapore and Perth. A storage location is currently also being established in the GoM region. These products are sent out for operations and are then brought back by clients for demobilisation and maintenance at Cranemaster’s locations once they are used as needed. We are committed to maintaining quality and work to deal with any issues as they arise; with this experience that we have gained from our collaboration with offshore oil and gas installation activities, we are increasingly expanding our footprint also into the offshore wind industry, where clients have similar challenges with regards to lifting operations.”

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PROFILE

Cranemaster

Cranemaster is a company with fast reaction to customer needs: In August 2014, a client called for support when a pile hammer got trapped by suction forces in the sea floor during pile hammering. Within hours, the unit was shipped from Stathelle, to be picked up at the west coast of Norway. The next day the unit was operational in the North Sea, connected between the hook and pile hammer and put the system under tension to de-couple the movements of the boom tip from the stuck pile hammer. The pile hammer was successfully recovered without damage to any equipment.

Cranemaster is also an excellent partner for large installation projects. The ISO 9001:2008 certified, Achilles JQS qualified and AAA rated company is preparing units for specific operations and with specified functionality as needed for specific operations. A recent example of this custom service is the company’s project with Subsea 7 on the Gorgon & Jansz field offshore Australia. This involved the construction of two SWL 700 tonne units that were connected in parallel to enable installation of structures with weights of up to 1000 tonnes.

The Cranemaster units were configured for transfer of the 1000 tonne structures through the splash zone. Then, once at a predefined depth, the Cranemaster units readjusted themselves to deliver maximum reductions in landing speed before the module was safely installed on the seafloor at a depth of nearly 1400 metres.

“This was one of our biggest projects to date, and it represents a world record load for offshore heave compensated subsea installation. Because it was such a heavy lift of 1000 tonnes, we had to use the two units with SWL 700 tonne in parallel to reach an overall lifting capacity (SWL) of 1400 tonne. To ensure work was carried out accurately, we worked closely with our customer Subsea 7 throughout the project,” highlights Kristian. In addition to constructing and supplying the units, the company also took responsibility for the lift calculation. The project was a great success, and the units worked as expected throughout all phases of operations.

The second core activity, beside design and rental of the Cranemaster units, is Cranemaster’s significant expertise in lift analysis and lift planning like for the project on Gorgon & Jansz. This activity is driven by the need for understanding and estimating the lifting operations and the influences of all dynamic effects. The operator will need to know what kind of forces that will be active during the

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operations, and how the operation needs to be conducted to enable safe and robust implementation with an optimal operating window. Analysis is conducted with the dynamic simulation tool Orcaflex and with internally developed software that is suitable for doing characterisations of all lifting phases. This is backed up by the significant experience that has been built up over the years of operation.

Well-established within the niche area it operates in, Cranemaster’s future looks positive as opportunities continue to develop in both the oil and gas and the wind farm industries. “We have a number of projects coming up, but it is too early to give details on these. Over the next few years it is our goal to continue developing our technology, its flexibility, usability and load range; on top of this, we will continue to operate in the offshore sector, but will also look into ways to use our competence in other markets,” Kristian concludes.

Cranemaster cranemaster.no

Services Supplier of shock absorbers and passive heave compensation systems for offshore lifting operations

european

from exploration to end user

Schofield Publishing Ltd 10 Cringleford Business Centre Intwood Road Cringleford Norwich NR4 6AU T: +44 (0) 1603 274130 F: +44 (0) 1603 274131 Editor Matt High mhigh@schofieldpublishing.co.uk Sales Manager Joe Woolsgrove jwoolsgrove@schofieldpublishing.co.uk

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