Asian Oil and Gas-January - February 2009

Port Klangs
subsea superstore
JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2009
A Bengal tiger
earns it stripes
Call to arms for
LNG advance
Technology key
to seismic success
AOG
A SI A N O I L & G A S
Port Klangs
subsea superstore
aog_M_4_Cover 19/1/09 2:21 pm Page 1
AOG_M_4_Hughe_Chris_FP.indd 1 19/1/09 10:09:19
Asian Oil & Gas
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Editor-in-Chief: David Morgan
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Rick Wilkinson (Australasia)
R Sasankan (India)
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7-12 NEWS UPDATE
AUSTRALIA
CASPIAN SEA
CHINA
GLOBAL
INDIA
INDONESIA
KAZAKHSTAN
MALAYSIA
MYANMAR
NEWZEALAND
PAPUA NEWGUINEA
PHILIPPINES
SINGAPORE
THAILAND
Asia Pacific oil and gas news and views at
a glance, including:
$1 billion Golden Lion roars . . . as Song
Doc goes online; Van Gogh and Pyrenees
backed . . . as Cossack limbers up for new
dance; BMG is interrupted . . . and Nexus
is nixed; Browse gas find; Gippsland
gamble
Kashagan oil bound for Baku
Sulige under scrutiny; Junggar startup
E&P pockets still deep for deepwater
100 blocks on the NELP VIII launchpad;
Cairn connects with Raageshwari oil
Duri expands
Piping gas to China
Block A-18 gas ramped up
Shwe gas for China
Maari first oil expected soon; North
Island acreage on offer
Rift gas finds upgraded . . .. . . as Merlin
pre-empts AGL
SC54 scores in the shallows
Peng Bo sets sail for Bohai
Bongkot North begins new development;
PTTEP acquires Coogee . . . teams with
Murphy; Green light for Songkhla
ASIAN OIL & GASjanuary/ february 2009 3
contents
january/ february 2009
www.oilonline.com/ aog
AOG
COVER: A subsea tree comes off the production line at the $100 million, state-of-the-art
subsea manufacturing hub established by Aker Solutions in Malaysias Port Klang
Free Zone (see page 18).
aog_M_4_p003_contents 19/1/09 3:18 pm Page 3
Reliance Industries deepwater MA-D6 oil
field was brought onstream in
record-setting time through a fast-track,
turnkey deal with Aker Solutions and
Aker Floating Production. Darius
Snieckus hears from the Norwegian
contracting group about a development
believed to herald a new world-class
hydrocarbon hub in the Bay of Bengal.
Reliances MA-D6 oilfield development
presented Akers new Malaysian subsea
manufacturing hub with another
deepwater opportunity to demonstrate its
one-stop-shop capabilities. David
Morgan looks at a modern-day Viking
invasion that has seen the Norwegian
company commit $120 million to new or
expanded Asia Pacific facilities.
Technology may play a more crucial role
in winning marine seismic business in
2009. Thats Andrew McBarnets
prediction for whats expected to be a year
when the going gets tougher.
Momentum is building in the offshore
LNG sector, FMC Technologies being
chosen to supply offshore loading arm
systems for the worlds first floating LNG
production vessels. Darius Snieckus
reports.
Advancements in LNG production will be
key to unlocking the potential of stranded
gas reserves throughout Asia and around
the world. TUV NELs Dr Asaad Kenbar
discusses flow meterings crucial role in
LNGs expansion and the need for further
development work.
Major offshore disasters have prompted
serious re-evaluations of the industrys
approach to safety management. Reflex
Marines Duncan Cuthill calls for a
holistic approach to Asia Pacific offshore
evacuation planning, and in particular
the inclusion of crane-based transfer
options often overlooked in the
regions safety system mix.
Asian offshore vessel training entered
new technological territory recently
with the inauguration in Singapore of
the Bourbon Training Centre Asia with
its state-of-the-art AHTS simulator.
David Morgan gets an early look.
Shipyards roundup (38-41), Product review
(42-44), Contracts/deliveries (46/47),
Company news (48/49), Appointments
(50/51), Events (51), Display advertisers
index (51), AOGBookshop (53-55).
contents
14-17 BENGALTIGER
18-23 NORSENICHE
24-27 FIGHTING TOUGH
28-30 CALLTO ARMS
32/ 33 FOCUSON FLOW
34/ 35 EVAC EVALUATION
37 BOURBON CREAM
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GLOBAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING FOR ENERGY R
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How We Can Hold Our Nerve and Avoid the Mistakes of 1990s?
The low price environment of the 1990s saw an exodus of capable human capital from the industry, which was
never adequately replaced This critical shortage of human capital was felt many years afterwards, and should
remind us of the need for long-term planning. In this regard, the industry should play a more active role in
collaborating with academic institutions to shape the curriculum and produce qualifed graduates who can meet
the needs of the industry... The industry should expand its involvement in education sponsorship, to encourage the
brightest and the best fock to the industry and, later, help the industry in the future.
Prime Minister of Malaysia , Yab Dato Seri Abdullah Bin Haji Ahmad Badawi (4 December 2008 - IPTC)
With the present economic downturn we have a real need for oil and gas companies to invest in human
capital to cope with the growing global energy demand.
Qatar Petroleum International CEO, Mr. Nasser K. I. Al-Jaidah (4 December 2008 - IPTC)
To learn more about exhibiting in the Learning Arena, sponsorship opportunities and the
programme, visit:
At Getenergy: E&P 2008. We are not going for volume, we are going for quality, and you see that with the contacts you make and the relationships that you develop. Amec Training & Development.
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THAILAND
Bongkot North
begins new
development
The Bongkot North field in the
Gulf of Thailand is entering
another development phase
with three exploration wells
discovering commercial gas
and condensates quantities.
Two of these finds, Ton Sak 7
and Ton Sak 8, have been
sanctioned for development.
The Greater Bongkot North
field currently produces around
600mmcf/d of gas and 20,000b/d
of condensates from 20
wellhead platforms and a
central complex. Two further
wellhead platforms are being
constructed and should go into
production this year.
The newly sanctioned phase
will add a further three
wellhead platforms, bringing
the total number to 25, planned
to enter production in 2010.
The third discovery, Ton Son
2, will be included in a
subsequent development phase.
In production since 1993,
Bongkot is operated by PTT
Exploration & Production,
which holds 44.45%. Field
partners are Total (33.33%) and
BG Asia Pacific (22.22%).
CASPIAN SEA
Kashagan oil
bound for Baku
Azerbaijans state oil company
Socar has reached agreement
in principle with neighbouring
Kazakhstan counterpart
KazMunaiGas on a project to
bring 500,000b/d, rising to
750,000b/d of Kazakh oil across
the Caspian Sea from 2013.
Involving new terminals and
tankers, the $3 billion Trans-
Caspian project would bring
crude primarily from the
Kashagan field currently
expected to start production in
2013 by tanker to Baku, then
route it through either the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline to
the Turkish Mediterranean
coast or across to the Black Sea.
ASIAN OIL & GAS january/ february 2009
news update
7
GLOBAL
The sharp fall in crude prices over recent
months is doing little to dampen capital
spending plans for deepwater E&P,
according to energy analysts Douglas-
Westwood, with expectations that the oil
and gas industry will invest an average of
over $27 billion/yr between 2009 and 2013.
Although we expect some small decline
in 2009, thereafter the deepwater oil and
gas industry is set for renewed growth,
with annual capital expenditure reaching
nearly $31 billion in 2011, said Douglas-
Westwood chairman John Westwood at the
Deep Offshore Technology conference in
Perth, Western Australia, in December.
The forecast growth represents a 45%
rise for the 2009-2013 period compared with
the previous five years, Westwood
underlined, noting that while deepwater
currently accounts for over 15% of total
offshore oil production, over the next few
years its relative share will grow to over
20%.
Africa is foreseen to be the leading
deepwater development area by far,
accounting for nearly 40% of the global
spend; Latin America, led by the bull
Brazilian market, is expected to account
for nearly 20% of world deepwater
development spend between 2009 and 2013,
reaching new heights beyond this period as
recently discovered giant pre-salt fields
are developed; and North America is
expected to attract a similar share to Latin
America, with the regions extensive
offshore infrastructure and the relative
proximity of supply and service centres
having a significant positive influence on
E&P activity.
The Golden Triangle of Africa, Gulf of
Mexico and Brazil will account for three-
quarters of global deepwater expenditure
over the forecast period, stated Westwood.
However, the emergence of Asia as a
significant deepwater region should not be
overlooked. Indonesia, Malaysia and India
all have development prospects on screen
for the 2009-2013 period and the region
should account for nearly 10% of
deepwater capex.
E&P pockets still deep
for deepwater
CHINA
BOUND FOR BOHAI: The giant Hai Yang
Shi You 117 FPSO beginning the 4700km
tow from Singapore to China s Bohai
Bay on 15 December. Also known as
Peng Bo, the vessel believed to have
the industry s largest FPSO topsides with
an operating weight of 40,000t will be
the centrepiece of the ConocoPhillips-
operated Peng Lai development.
Once on station, the FPSO will be
secured to a mooring tower by a soft
yoke mooring system, the largest of its
kind yet built (AOG November/
December 2008).
Meanwhile, project engineering
services provider Fluor confirmed the
successful startup of production from
Peng Lai fixed platform B. Another two
platforms, D and E, are due online in
2009 to boost the field s oil
development.
aog_M_4_p007_news 19/1/09 2:25 pm Page 7
CHINA
Sulige under
scrutiny
The Sulige field, in Inner
Mongolia, northwestern China
and the nations largest proven
gas reserve estimated at more
than 18tcf, is reported to be
under consideration for major
development, including a
pipeline, by Total and
PetroChina.
According to a programme
for the Changqing oilfield, of
which the Sulige field is a part,
in the year 2015 Sulige will
reach a production rate of
around 1.2tcf of natural gas per
year, accounting for 70% of the
total gas output of Changqing.
To date, 1145 wells have been
drilled at Sulige. Its 175bcf gas
processing plant, the largest in
China, has produced some
700bcf of gas and has an
annual productive capacity of
130bcf of gas in place.
PHILIPPINES
SC54 scores in
the shallows
After preliminary evaluation of
Philippines service contract 54
following the Yakal-1 and
Tindalo-1 discoveries and
interpretation of 3D seismic
data, Kairiki Energy and Nido
Petroleum are now estimating
potential oil in place of
87 million barrels for 11 of the
leading 12 prospects. It is also
believed that both Yakal and
Tindalo are full-to-spill with
better than expected reservoir
properties due to their vuggy
oil-filled porosity.
Resource evaluation is under
way in tandem with planning
for first oil through an extended
well test as early as 2010.
SC 54 covers an area of
5418km
2
in the North West
Palawan Basin off Palawan
Island in 30-1100m water depths
and is held by Kairiki, with
40%, and operator Nido 60%. A
partner is being sought to assist
in developing the shallow water
project.
CHINA
Junggar startup
The Kelameili gas field
operated by PetroChina
Xinjiang Oilfield Company in
the Junggar Basin in the
Xinjiang region, northwestern
China, has commenced gas
production at an initial rate of
50mmcf/d from a proven
reserve of 350bcf.
january/ february 2009 ASIAN OIL & GAS
news update
8
VIETNAM
Production started recently at the Cuu
Long Joint Operating Companys Su Tu
Vang (Golden Lion) oilfield, Vietnams
fourth largest, located in block 15-1
southeast of Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province
and 6km south of the Su Tu Den (Black
Lion) South West development.
The $1billion project entailed
installation of a central processing
platform (CPP) along with a floating,
storage and offloading (FSO) vessel 2.4km
away, several in-field pipelines and
modifications to the existing Su Tu Den
South West wellhead platform.
The new CPP is designed to process
100,000b/d, about 65,000b/d of which will
come from Su Tu Vang with the remaining
capacity allocated to production from the
Su Tu Den North East oilfield, scheduled to
start up next year.
J Ray McDermott Asia Pacific was
awarded the engineering, procurement,
construction and installation (EPCI)
contract for the Su Tu Vang CPP, jacket and
in-field pipelines, fabricating the 15,500t
deck in just over 22 months and
undertaking its floatover installation
(pictured) using its Intermac 650 barge.
Operator CLJOC controls four oilfields,
of which Black Lion and White Lion are
operational, with White Lion and Brown
Lion oil fields scheduled to begin
production between 2011 and 2016.
Under the block 15-1 petroleum contract,
CLJOC consists of PetroVietnam
Exploration & Production Corporation
50%, ConocoPhillips (UK) Cuu Long
23.25%, Korea National Oil Corporation
14.25%, SK Energy 9% and Geopetrol
Vietnam 3.5%.
A $1 billion Golden Lion roars . . .
. . . as Song
Doc goes
online
First oil from the Song Doc
field was produced by the
Truong Son JOC in block
46/02, located about 170km
off the south coast of
Vietnam.
Production from the
initial five wells drilled was
expected to rise from
18,000b/d to around
28,000b/d, with three more
development wells under
way. Song Doc facilities
comprise an FPSO and
wellhead platform. Modec
owned and operated, the
FPSO Song Doc Pride MV19
is a converted Panamax
tanker capable of
processing 30,000b/d of
liquids and storing 360,000
barrels of oil. The vessel is
installed in 55m of water.
Block 46/02 JV partners
are PetroVietnam E&P
with 40% and Petronas
Carigali Overseas and
Talisman (Vietnam 46/02),
both with 30%.
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AUSTRALIA
BMG contract
terminated . . .
Participants in the Basker-
Manta-Gummy (BMG) project
offshore Victoria, southeast
Australia, have given notice to
contractor BW Offshore of
termination of the letter of
intent (LOI) signed last July for
the supply of an FPSO for the
proposed BMG phase two project.
The move was attributed to
failure of the parties to reach
agreement in relation to the
FPSO contract. BW Offshore
has indicated it will endeavour
to recover costs relating to
terminating third party vendor
contracts, capped at
$78.5 million under the LOI.
These costs are disputed by the
BMG project participants, who
are in consequence reviewing
other development proposals
including alternative FPSOs.
BMG operations are
continuing using the Crystal
Ocean FPSO, currently
producing around 11,000b/d of
oil from the field. The project
partners are Anzon Australia,
operator with 40%, Beach
Petroleum 30%, CIECO
Exploration & Production
(Australia) 20% and Sojitz
Energy Australia 10%.
. . . and Nexus
FPSO is nixed
Also terminated in Australia
recently was the memorandum
of agreement Nexus Energy
WA had with Vanguard Oil &
Gas International and Viking
Shipping for provision of an
FPSO for the Crux liquids
project, located in permit
AC/P23, in the Browse Basin,
offshore Western Australia.
The Crux joint venture said it
was unable to proceed to a final
investment decision with
Viking. It is negotiating an
alternative FPSO offer with the
intention of maintaining a
delivery schedule of first
liquids by mid-2011.
AC/P23 participants are
Nexus Energy 85% and Osaka
Gas Crux 15%.
MALAYSIA/ THAILAND
Block A-18 gas
ramped up
Natural gas sales have
commenced from the phase two
development of block A-18 in
the Malaysia-Thailand Joint
Development Area (MTJDA), in
which Hess Corporation and
Petronas Carigali each have a
50% working interest.
The JDA facilities in the Gulf
of Thailand have produced gas
at an average gross rate of
780mmcf/d since phase two
sales commenced, up from an
average of 457mmcf/d in 2008.
Phase two has also raised gross
capacity of the JDA complex to
approximately 900mmcf/d of
gas, which is exported through
the newly commissioned 42in
pipeline running north to the
Bangkok market.
AUSTRALIA
Browse gas find
Shell Development (Australia),
as joint venture operator, has
made a potentially significant
news update
10
AUSTRALIA
Financing has been arranged for the Van Gogh
and Pyrenees oil developments offshore Western
Australia, each to be produced from subsea
manifolds to a floating, production, storage and
offloading (FPSO) vessel.
The Van Gogh project, located about 40km
north of Cape Range Peninsula, mostly in permit
WA-155-P, is expected to commence production in
2Q 2009. With an estimated field life of 12-15
years, Van Gogh is operated by 52.5%
stakeholder Apache in joint venture with Inpex
Alpha.
US independent Apache reports that is has
arranged $350 million in financing for Van Gogh
and the BHP Billiton-operated Pyrennees
project, and expects its share of oil production
from each of these developments to be around
20,000b/d.
The Pyrenees fields Crosby, Ravensworth and
Stickle were discovered in WA-12-R in water
depths of 170-250m about 25km north of Cape
Range Peninsula. They have estimated
recoverable reserves of between 80-120mmbo,
producible over a projected 25 years.
The $1.7 billion Pyrennees development is due
to start up in early 2010. BHP Billiton has a
71.43% stake in WA-12-R with Apache holding the
balance.
Van Gogh and Pyrenees
backed . . .
. . . as Cossack
limbers up for
new dance
Partners in the Woodside-led
Cossack Wanaea Lambert
Hermes (CWLH) joint venture
off Western Australia have
committed to a A$1.8 billion
redevelopment project that
targets extending the oil
complexs producing life
beyond 2020. The project scope
will encompass conversion of
the Okha floating storage and
offloading facility (pictured)
into an FPSO to replace the
Cossack Pioneer in 2010, as well
as changing out the associated
subsea infrastructure on the
fields.
The CWLH project is one of
Australias most enduring and
reliable oil developments and
this redevelopment decision
will ensure continued safe and
reliable production from these
fields for many years to come,
said Woodside executive vice
president for the North West
Shelf Eve Howell.
Located 135km northwest of
Karratha in 75-135m of water,
the CWLH fields have produced
395 million barrels of oil since
production began in 1995. It is
expected the CWLH
redevelopment project will be
completed and fully
operational by early-2011.
Project partners are:
Woodside (33.33%), BHP
(16.67%); BP (16.67%), Chevron
(16.67%), and Japan Australia
LNG (16.67%).
gas discovery in exploration
permit AC/P41 in the Browse
Basin, off Western Australia.
Libra-1, drilled to 3918m total
vertical depth subsea by the
semi-submersible Ocean Epoch,
is reported to have encountered
gas in a series of thick sand
layers over a vertical section in
excess of 180m gross, based on
logging-while-drilling data and
gas shows. Additional wireline
logging and pressure data are
needed to determine reservoir
quality, column height and
hydrocarbon composition.
NEW ZEALAND
Maari first oil
imminent
Following weather delays, the
Maari oil field in offshore south
Taranaki Basin was in its final
development phase as AOG
went to press. Jackup Ensco 107
is set to drill five oil producers
and three water injection wells
from Maaris 10,000t wellhead
platform, an innovative self-
elevating DrillACE structure
developed by Clough and Arup
and installed by Clough last
year in 105m of water in the
Tasman Sea.
The Maari field, located in
PMP 38160 about 40km south of
the Maui gas field, is expected
to start production mid-1Q 2009,
when the first development well
is slated for completion.
The $600 million OMV-
operated project is expected to
produce 50 million barrels of
crude oil at up to 35,000b/d.
Partners in the project are:
OMV 69%, Todd Energy 16%,
Horizon 10% and Cue Energy
Resources 5%.
MAYANMAR
Shwe gas for
China
China National United Oil
Corporation (CNUOC),
Myanmar Oil & Gas Enterprise
(MOGE), and a consortium led
by Daewoo International Group
Corporation, have concluded an
export sales agreement for
natural gas produced from the
Shwe field off Myanmars
Rakhine coast for a period of 30
years, effective 2013.
The Shwe gas will be piped
over Myanmar territory, where
it can be partially tapped for
regional economic
development. Located in block
A-1 offshore the northwest
coast of Myanmar in the Bay of
Bengal, the field has estimated
reserves of 4-6tcf. It has been
developed by the Daewoo
consortium that includes South
Korea Gas Corporation, ONGC
Videsh and Gas Authority of
India.
THAILAND/ AUSTRALIA
PTTEP acquires
Coogee . . .
PTT Exploration & Production
(PTTEP), through its wholly
owned Australian subsidiary,
has signed a conditional share
sales agreement to acquire
100% equity in Western
Australia-based Coogee
Resources for approximately
$170 million.
CRL operates the producing
Jabiru and Challis offshore oil
fields, holding a 70.94%
interest, and has 100% of the
Montara project, currently
under development, which
comprises the Montara, Skua,
and Swift/Swallow oil fields.
These assets collectively
provide PTTEP with estimated
net 1P reserves of 32mmbo and
net 2P reserves of 45mmbo.
Additionally, CRL has
significant contingent
resources comprising working
interests in production and
exploration licences including
AC/L7, AC/RL7, AC/P34,
AC/P32, and AC/P40 within the
surrounding, prospective
waters of the Bonaparte Basin,
off the northwest coast of
Australia.
. . . teams with
Murphy
Murphy Australia Oil and
PTTEP in a 70:30 joint venture
have secured petroleum
exploration rights for block
WA-423-P offshore Western
Australia.
Covering almost 4000km
2
, the
permit is situated in the
Browse Basin offshore the
northwestern coast, close to
block AC/P36, where PTTEP
had earlier invested.
During the first three years
the consortium, with Murphy
as operator, will conduct a 3D
seismic survey and drill at least
one exploration well.
news update
11
INDIA
India will inaugurate its largest auction of oil
and gas exploration areas in February, offering
over 100 blocks for international bidding and
hoping to leverage lower rig rates and oilfield
services in light of falling oil prices and global
recession.
The blocks offered in the eighth New
Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP VIII) will
have a combined area of approximately
400,000km
2
, dwarfing previous record holder
NELPVIIs 150,000km
2
from which 44 blocks were
awarded. To-date, 206 blocks have been awarded
under seven rounds of NELP bidding.
Coinciding with NELP VIII is Indias fourth
coal bed methane auction round, under which 26
CBM blocks are being offered for exploitation.
GeoGlobal Resources has been awarded 100%
participating interest in two new onshore
exploration blocks in India under NELP-VII.
Adjacent blocks VN-ONN-2005/1 and VN-ONN-
2005/2 cover 3775km
2
and 4900km
2
respectively in
the eastern Vindhyan Basin in the northeast of
Madhya Pradesh state in central India.
100 blocks on the NELP VIII
licensing launchpad . . .
Cairn Energy has discovered
oil in the first exploration well
of its 2008/2009 Rajasthan
drilling programme in advance
of planned Mangala
development drilling. The
Raageshwari East 1/1Z find is
in the southern part of the
Mangala, Aishwariya
Raageshwari and Saraswati
development area.
The 1/1Z well flowed 500b/d
on test on the eastern flank of
the Raageshwari structure,
adjacent to the Raageshwari
field which has an approved
development plan.
In a related development,
Aberdeen-based Production
Services Network (PSN) has
secured an 18-month pre-
operational support contract
from Cairn India to develop a
maintenance management
system and procedures for the
operators Rajasthan oilfield
development. PSN will focus on
Cairn Indias facilities at the
Mangala processing terminal,
including all downstream
activity from wellhead to
delivery point. The three main
fields in Rajasthan Mangala,
Bhagyam and Aishwariya
are thought to have the
potential to produce more than
20% of Indias domestic crude
when they peak at an
estimated 175,000b/d in 2010.
. . . as Cairn connects with Raageshwari oil
THAILAND
Green light for
Songkhla
Coastal Energy has received
approval from the Thai
government to proceed with
development of the Songkhla
field in the shallow waters
less than 25m deep of its 100%
owned and operated, 8500km
2
block G5/43 of the Gulf of
Thailand.
The current development
plan is to drill and complete
three production wells and a
water disposal well using the
jackup Deep Driller 7, after
which a mobile offshore
production unit will be
installed to start oil production
at an anticipated rate of
9000b/d from three wells.
AUSTRALIA
Gippsland
gamble
Bass Strait Oil Company, as
operator and 60% stakeholder,
has been awarded new
exploration permit Vic/P66,
offshore Victoria, southeast
Australia, committing to two
years evaluation in
preparation for 2D seismic
acquisition in the third year.
The permit covers 2160km
2
from about 50km offshore in the
eastern Gippsland Basin in
water depths ranging from
200m to over 2000m.
Vic/P66 co-participants
Strategic Energy Resources
(23%) and Oil Basins (17%) also
have interests in Vic/P41,
where similar geological
concepts are being pursued.
KAZAKHSTAN
Kazakhs pipe
gas to China
CNPC and KazMunaiGas have
signed an agreement to expand
natural gas and gas pipeline co-
operation.
KazMunaiGas is to ensure
the Aktobe field natural gas
produced by CNPC will be
transported via phase two of
the Kazakhstan-China Gas
Pipeline, in addition to
supplying 175bcf of natural gas
to the pipeline as promised.
Additionally, the Urikhtau gas
condensate field is to be
developed and 175-350bcf of
produced gas exported to
China.
INDONESIA
Duri expands
PT Chevron Pacific Indonesia
has started producing crude oil
from the North Duri field
area 12 onshore Sumatra, with
this years application of
steamflooding expected to raise
output to 34,000b/d by 2012.
Area 12 is the latest expansion
of Duri field, which currently
produces nearly 200,000b/d and
is Chevrons largest producing
field in Indonesia.
Meanwhile, GeoPetro
Resources has received
approval for a one-year
extension under the Bengara-II
PSC to appraise and assess
development of an apparent oil
discovery made on the
Seberaba prospect during
exploratory drilling in the
Bengara-II block, onshore
Kalimantan.
NEWZEALAND
North Island
acreage offer
The government of New
Zealand has opened bidding for
eight new petroleum
exploration permits totalling
over 66,000km
2
, spread over two
large offshore North Island
areas, two in the Raukumara
(East Cape) Basin, situated at
the northern end of the East
Coast Basin, and six within the
Northland Basin, off the
northwest coast.
The Raukumara Basin has
yet to be explored for
commercial hydrocarbons.
The Northland Basin is
contiguous with the
hydrocarbon producing
Taranaki Basin, and over the
last three decades the region
has had extensive seismic
survey coverage.
news update
12
PAPUA NEWGUINEA
Rift Oil reports that seismic data of high
quality over onshore southwest Papua New
Guinea licence PPL 235 has resulted in an
upgrade in the size of three gas discoveries
Puk Puk-1, Douglas-1 and Langia-1 to
769bcf, in the P50 case, from 688bcf.
The new mapping also confirms that five
adjacent prospects in the permit all show
excellent gas effect and total an additional
unrisked prospective resource potential of
772bcf (P50). Additional prospectivity in
the region of the border between Rifts
PPL 235 and PPL 261 licences is reported to
have further potential for 676bcf (P50) of
gas. In sum, Rift believes that the PPL 235
licence has demonstrated the potential to
hold contingent resources of more than
2tcf of gas. The tripling of potential P50
resources from earlier estimates, together
with the unknown potential of the
adjoining PPL261, has caused a
re-evaluation of the commercial
alternatives available. Consequently, Rift
has decided to concentrate on
opportunities provided by LNG through a
floating liquefaction plant as envisaged in
the heads of agreement with FlexLNG
where potential annual offtakes of 100bcf
of gas or greater are envisaged.
Rift said the results of a pipeline study
and further pre-feasibility studies
commissioned jointly with FlexLNG are
expected in February 2009.
In a separate development, PNG
government and Abu Dhabis state-owned
International Petroleum Investment
Company (IPIC) entered into an agreement
whereby IPIC will acquire $1.19 billion
worth of exchangeable bonds over the PNG
governments 17.6% shareholding in Oil
Search.
This money will be used to fund the PNG
governments equity share of capital costs
for the PNG LNG Project, estimated at
about 19.4%.
The projects development cost is
estimated at around $1 billion.
Three Rift gas finds upgraded . . .
. . . as Merlin
pre-empts AGL
Merlin Petroleum Company, an
affiliate of Nippon Oil
Exploration, has exercised pre-
emptive rights and acquired
AGLs interests in PNG
production licences PDL 2 and
4, the former located in
Southern Highlands Province
550km northwest of Port
Moresby and the latter in the
Gulf and Southern Highlands
provinces 85km southeast of
the Kutubu oil project.
Additionally, both Merlin
Petroleum and Petroleum
Resources (Kutubu) have
elected to exercise their
pre-emptive rights in respect of
PL 2, the Kutubu pipeline
licence, and acquire
respectively 6% and 5.9% of
the 11.9% AGL interest in this
licence. Commenting on this
deal, Oil Search MD, Peter
Botten said: We believe this is
a good outcome for the PNG
LNG Project and it has been
welcomed by the project joint
venture partners.
SPE is what you need.
Society of Petroleum Engineers
For more information about these events or other SPE
conferences, workshops, and forums visit www.spe.org/events.
Asia Pacic Events
Meet with other professionals to learn about and discuss the latest E&P technical
advancements at these upcoming SPE events:
811 March Maximising the Value of Horizontal
and Multilateral Wells: New Challenges,
Technologies, and Approaches
Penang, Malaysia
2225 March Formation Damage: Causes, Prevention,
and Cures
Kota Kinabalu, Sabah,
Malaysia
2225 March Continuous Reservoir Monitoring Kota Kinabalu, Sabah,
Malaysia
30 March2 April Production Management Best Practices
for CBM Fields Workshop
Queensland, Australia
1924 April Forum Series in Asia Pacic: Overcoming
Barriers to Deliver 15 km Extended-Reach
Wells and Beyond
Malaysia
2427 May Reservoir Testing for Maximising
Understanding and Recovery
Malaysia
AOG_M_4_SPE_FP.indd 1 19/1/09 17:50:28
january/ february 2009 ASIAN OIL & GAS 14
Bengal tiger
earns its stripes
Bengal tiger
earns its stripes
Discovered in 2006
during appraisal drilling
on the giant gas-
dominated KG-D6 block
in the Krishna Godavari
Basin off eastern India,
Reliance Industries deepwater
MA-D6 oil field was brought
onstream last autumn in record-
setting time through a fast-track,
Aker Floating Production.
Darius Snieckus hears from the Norwegian
thought likely to herald a new world-class
Discovered in 2006
during appraisal drilling
on the giant gas-
dominated KG-D6 block
in the Krishna Godavari
Basin off eastern India,
Reliance Industries deepwater
MA-D6 oil field was brought
onstream last autumn in record-
setting time through a fast-track,
Aker Floating Production.
Darius Snieckus hears from the Norwegian
thought likely to herald a new world-class
aog_M_4_p014_Indian FPSO 19/1/09 2:35 pm Page 14
I
n the southern Norwegian port town of
Brevik, once a centre for exporting ice
and timber from the region, a small
group of men and women sat in front of a
bank of computer screens in Aker Floating
Production-affiliate Aker Borgestads
operations room last autumn thinking not
about the chill in the air outside, but rather
conditions in the Bay of Bengal. The
company had been assigned the job of
remotely supervising operations on the
1.3 million barrel FPSO Dhirubhai 1, the
vessel at the heart of Indias maiden
deepwater development, Reliance
Industries MA-D6 field, and the project
team in Brevik were monitoring the new
floating production vessel down to the
opening or closing of the tiniest valve, as
the commissioning team offshore, more
than 6000km away, announced first oil on
17 September 2008.
Start-up of integrated operations of an
FPSO moored in 1200m of water half-a-
world away might indeed be viewed as a
fitting finale to an inventive $2 billion fast-
track development project that saw Aker
pull together companies from across its
global group to manufacture, supply and
manage installation of a six-well subsea
production system for the field, located
50km off the eastern India state of Andra
Pradesh, while converting, installing and
bringing online a typhoon-ready newbreed
FPSO capable of handling 60,000b/d of oil
and 9 million m
3
/d of gas.
The development challenges presented
by phase one of the MA-D6 project were
many and manifold to say nothing of the
fact that the field was brought onstream in
a record-setting 16 months after contract
signing with Reliance in mid-2007.
Difficult ocean conditions, lack of
adequate subsea data, low seabed
temperatures, severe supply chain
constraints and shortage of technical
manpower topped the priority list
itemised by the Indian operator.
Aker had its work cut out and the answer
it came back with has necessarily relied in
equal parts on innovative design and
technology, project timing and general
tenacity.
At the centre of the MA-D6 field,
discovered during a 2006 appraisal drilling
campaign on the vast gas-rich KG-D6 block,
is the Dhirubhai 1. Named after the
founder of Reliance and father of current
company chairman Mukesh Ambani, the
vessel is the flagship of Akers Smart
series of FPSOs, floaters designed by the
contractor for conversion in under
22 months using a modular approach to
construction to target offshore field
developments in the Gulf of Mexico, West
Africa, Southeast Asia, South America, the
Persian Gulf and India which can benefit
from using a flexible, cost effective
production facility to reach first oil as early
as possible.
When we first launched the Smart FPSO
concept in 2006 we did so with cost and
flexibility in mind and so we spent a lot of
time finding the most flexible and
competitive design around typical FPSO
common denominators. We designed an
FPSO that could be scaled up from a more
generic design to meet the demands of
different operators and
different fields,
explains Aker Floating
Production chief
executive Arne
Trnkvist (pictured).
In this spirit, the
Smart FPSOs oil
production capacity could be doubled from
60,000b/d to 120,000b/d, gas compression
range up to 9 million m
3
/d and higher and
water injection from 50,000b/d to
200,000b/d, while processing equipment
could be tailored to wellfluids of almost
any API and riser balconies outfitted for
anything between 12-30 risers and
umbilicals.
Reliance came back to us and said All
the functionality you have prepared for, we
ASIAN OIL & GAS january/ february 2009 15
india
A
L
L
P
H
O
T
O
G
R
A
P
H
S
:
R
O
L
F
E
S
T
E
N
S
E
N
want, he continues. And this made our
first project bigger and more demanding
than we first imagined it would be. The
luxury in this was that it meant we could
design absolutely everything in our very
first [Smart FPSO] project, from which we
now get significant synergies going
forward.
Originally a 282m-long Suezmax tanker
built for Conoco in 1979 at the National
Steel & Shipbuilding Company in San
Diego, California, and christened the Polar
Alaska, the 188,696dwt mini VLCC was
transformed into the Dhirubhai 1 at
Sembcorp Marines Jurong Shipyard in
Singapore in a 16-month conversion project
that included installation of a
disconnectable internal turret, three 5MW
steam turbine generators, three 5MV gas
turbine generators, HV/LV electrical
distribution modules and oil process
facilities, along with gas compression
modules, and a new living quarters module
which together with the refurbished
existing LQ, provides beds for 104.
Process equipment and a tandem
mooring and offloading system for the
FPSO were delivered by Aker Process
Systems and Aker Pusnes, respectively. As
well as the 10,000t topsides, the vessel was
fitted with an APL-supplied submerged
turret production buoy and high-pressure
Framo swivel, and a 90m high flare tower.
The vessel, interestingly, has been
classified by DNV as having a 20-year
fatigue life that is, more than simply a
design life, this is an infield service life,
underlines Aker Floating Productions
MA-D6 project manager Hvard Garseth
(pictured). That is, the Dhirubhai 1 is
designed and constructed to stay on
location for 20 years without drydocking.
Able to operate unhindered in wave
heights of up to 8-10m
and typhoon-proofed
for monsoon
conditions, the FPSO
can nonetheless
disconnect and sail off
if necessary in the
heaviest weather.
At a Smart pace
After more than 5 million manhours and
without a single lost-time incident the
FPSO Dhirubhai 1 had its naming
ceremony on 29 June 2008 in the Jurong
yard, in preparation for sail-out the
following month. BW Offshore acquisition
APL was subcontracted to handle
installation of a nine-point fibre mooring
system outfitted with suction anchors for
the arriving FPSO, as well as the offloading
buoy. Sailing via Kakinda on Indias east
coast, the Dhirubhai 1 was on station at
MA-D6 on 14 August with commissioning
starting three days later.
For every FPSO project there is a big
pressure to leave the yard on time, being
that it is such a visible milestone, says
Trnkvist. But you need to have real ice in
your belly to not leave the yard too early,
because once you are at the field
everything that is left to do takes that much
longer and is that much more complicated
than it is to do it at the yard.
Being the first of the Smart FPSOs
numbers two and three are scheduled to
follow Dhirubhai 1 into service in 2010 and
2011, respectively a great effort was made
to stay loyal to the concept in order to
reap the benefits of planned-for synergies
on the flagship project and fine-tuning the
construction process on the projects to
come. Using the structured approach we
have, we do aim to use much of the
engineering on the next FPSOs, states
Garseth. Nor did our experience building
Dhirubhai 1 pollute our design or original
ideals for the Smart FPSOs.
Since coming onstream under a 10-year
charter and operation contract, the FPSO
has been reinjecting produced gas to limit
flaring as the processing facilities ramp up
toward expected plateau production of
greater than 40,000b/d in April when phase
two at MA-D6 kicks off. Uptime has been
exemplary: above 99.2% uptime from the
first bucket of oil, according Trnkvist.
This figure is something we are very
proud of because these facilities are
complex, and a lot can happen before all
the gas compression facilities are fully
tuned. he underlines.
When the FPSO is fully operational, the
offshore crew may also fit cameras on their
hardhats to relay images of different
aspects of operations offshore dealing
with observation, maintenance,
modifications to Brevik, explains
Garseth. The integrated operation is a
good set-up. It is like having eyes over your
shoulder. And in these days it doesnt cost
much extra to monitor ten thousand
parameters if you want to.
Trnkvist adds: For first oil we were all
gathered in Brevik and had full-screen
pictures of all the positioning of the
valves, the flow, the temperature and so on:
we could see whatever they did offshore.
We watched the gas plume coming up from
the well and into the flexible risers,
eventually arriving at the FPSO. We saw
the pressure rising in all the separation
stages and saw with our own eyes that our
people offshore did a great job. It is a
wonderful tool.
Oil is today flowing through a pair of
horizontal producers, with a total of six
india
Towout of Dhirubhai 1 from Singapores
Jurong Shipyard.
The first MA-D6 subsea tree goes in.
india
wells expected online by April. Production
of the sweet 42API crude is being exported
by shuttle tanker in typically 1 million
barrel parcels, the first of which was
offloaded on 17 November.
There should be tribute paid to Reliance
for how on their side they kept entirely
focused on getting this project out there as
soon as possible, underscores Trnkvist.
They were and are very hands on and
that means keeping an eye on and
commenting on the almost 10,000
documents and drawings related to the
FPSO side of the project for starters. For a
first offshore development, they have done
an extremely good job, technically and
managerially.
Family affair
On the seabed below the floater lies MA-D6
proper, spread over a 15km
2
area in water
depths ranging down from 1000m to 1400m.
To tap a reservoir made up of a 24m oil
layer with a water aquifer below it and a
160m gas cap above, Aker Solutions, under
a $300 million contract with Reliance,
delivered and oversaw installation of a
complete subsea production system that
encompassed an eight-slot oil production
manifold, a gas export manifold, six
production trees, a subsea gas injection
tree, subsea control system, along with a
dynamic steel tube umbilical and eight
infield steel tube umbilicals.
Though project managed and engineered
in Aker Solutions Oslo headquarters, to
meet with fast-track project timelines, the
contractor manufactured the MA-D6 trees
at its facilities in Port Klang, Malaysia (see
page 18), and Tranby, Norway, control
systems at its Aberdeen, Scotland plant,
and umbilicals in Moss, Norway.
This project combined a certain level of
technical and technological complexity and
needed to be done at a certain speed, if you
like, being a fast-track project, but the key
was the system definition phase,
underlines Aker Solutions subsea systems
senior vice president Egil Boyum
(pictured). We brought the core team
together from wherever they were based
and we sat down for three months and
nailed down all the engineering interfaces
so that when we switched the focus to the
manufacturing side there are not a large
number of interfaces
unsolved.
Challenging as the
logistics of supplying
a full scope of subsea
equipment for MA-D6
from facilities around
the world proved,
however, it turned out the installation of
the SPS and associated infrastructure
presented the sternest test to Aker and its
subcontractors, Technip and APL.
Between January and May last year,
Technip installed the riser anchors,
dynamic umbilical and two 8in production
risers, using its Constructor construction
vessel, and APL brought in the Far Scout
and Pegasus to install the subsea manifold
foundation and 350t manifold structure,
along with the anchor system and STL
buoy. Technip then carried out hook-up of
the dynamic risers to the turret buoy, in
advance of the FPSOs arrival at the field.
Currents were a key issue, states
Boyum. We did plenty of work during our
preparation for this assignment but I think
it is fair to say there was quite a bit of
learning on the job for this one.
Of course this is a fairly new region and
there wasnt much data to start with, adds
MA-D6 SPS project manager Oddvar
Bryne, so there were a few surprises. We
did the geophysical surveys, the
geotechnical surveys, and this was good as
far as the subsea layout was concerned.
But there were some very strong currents
we had to deal with in the Bay of Bengal.
It was quite a challenge, continues
Boyum. And then there was the monsoon
and associated high sea states which
restricted our operations. All considered,
in the end it all went extremely well.
Post production start-up last year, the
Aker Borgestad operations team onboard
the vessel and indeed their opposite
numbers linked-in by a real-time process
monitoring and decision support systems
in Brevik faced their first significant
downtime after a rupture in a short pipe
spool connected to the floater's flare header
forced a shut-in to operations on
9 December.
The shutdown was expected to last
around three weeks, a period which,
Trnkvist says, Aker Floating Production
would use to optimally prepare for phase
two installation.
Operational teething pains aside, the
next phase at MA-D6, where gas production
will be piped to an onshore receiving
terminal rather than reinjected, is slated to
start in 2Q. In this stage of the
development, the gas export manifold will
be installed along with the supporting
flowlines, umbilicals and risers, as well as
a second pair of 8in oil production risers,
fed by four more wells, being brought
online as MA-D6 takes up its place in the
wider, gas-rich KG-D6 block development.
Reliance is moving ever-closer to
opening the spigots on the giant D1 and D3
gas fields, the first two of 18 discoveries on
an 8100km
2
licence estimated to hold
reserves of more than 400bcm. The Indian
operator is reportedly planning to produce
80 million m
3
/d from the fields by 2010,
topped up by a further 9 million m
3
/d
flowing in from MA-D6 in a move that is
said to have the potential to nearly double
gas production rates in the country.
To ratchet the MA-D6 development up
toward full production, Aker Solutions in
December signed a change order to an
existing contract with Reliance for
transportation, installation and
commissioning of phase two, including gas
export system and production wells. The
contractor then announced it would bring
Technip in again, this time to handle the
transport and installation of 18km of
flexible production and gas export risers
and flowlines, along with five umbilicals
and a gas export manifold supplied by
Aker, and construction, transport and
installation of a 24in rigid spool.
Offshore installation is scheduled for the
first half of this year, again using the
Constructor.
Eight-slot manifold being installed.
T
he undoubted jewel in the crown of
Aker Solutions regional expansion
programme is the vast, high-tech
subsea manufacturing centre which now
dominates the Port Klang Free Zone
(PKFZ) skyline in the Malaysian state of
Selangor. Occupying 17.6ha and
established at a cost of around
$100 million, the centre undertakes the
machining, assembly and testing of the
companys entire subsea equipment
inventory: trees, control valves and
couplings, production control systems,
manifolds, modules, marine drilling
risers and buoyancy packages.
Aside from its sheer size and
modernity, prominent among the new
facilitys attractions are: state-of-the-art
machining centres (eight of them)
capable of honing subsea components to
the tightest of tolerances (0.001mm) for
high pressure service; stringent clean
room conditions for the manufacture and
assembly of control systems; highly
sophisticated inventory control and
monitoring systems; a blasting chamber
big enough to accommodate sizeable
modules, and an impressive array of
facilities for equipment checks and site
integration testing. Uniquely among the
regions main oilfield equipment
suppliers, Port Klang enables Aker to
fabricate subsea manifolds in-house
rather than subcontracting them out, a
capability Reliance Industries for one has
been taking full advantage of while
equipping its pioneering developments in
the Bay of Bengals KG-D6 block (see
separate feature, page 14). Fourteen
subsea manifolds have emerged from the
Port Klang facility to-date.
Aker Solutions or Aker Kvaerner as it
was then became the first investor in
the PKFZ commercial and industrial
zone when it signed a 20-year lease in
2006.
Keen to catch the widely anticipated
wave of new subsea business in coming
years, Aker fast-tracked construction and
had the facility ready for gradual startup
of operations in January 2007 and full-
blown official launch in June that year
just 14 months after building work
started.
Egil Martinussen, Aker Solutions
senior vice president, Asia Pacific, and
the companys country manager for
Malaysia, says the potential of Port Klang
was plain to see when reviewing the
various regional site options. Events
since have amply justified this choice, he
says, even though the facilitys
surrounding PKFZ infrastructure has not
taken shape as quickly as first envisaged.
That has been a bit slow coming
together, he admits. We were hoping to
see a lot of small mechanical and other
industries join us here by now, so we
could have our vendors close by and the
facility could serve as a hub for local
industry. That was the dream and it can
still come true.
Subsea surge
Despite the current global financial
gloom, Martinussen believes the market
fundamentals the golden trend as he
puts it that persuaded Aker to bolster its
investment in the subsea sector and in the
Asia Pacific region in particular remain
sound. Pre-credit crunch forecasts from
contracting
Subsea leads Asia Pacific
investment push
Reliance s MA-D6 oilfield development in India presented Aker Solutions new
Malaysian subsea manufacturing hub with another high-profile, deepwater opportunity
to demonstrate its one-stop-shop capabilities, having earlier cuts its teeth on Murphy s
Kikeh field in Malaysian waters. David Morgan looks at a modern-day Viking invasion
that has seen the Norwegian company commit $120 million to new or expanded Asia
Pacific facilities to meet growing demand for its subsea and surface products.
Aker Solutions $100 million subsea manufacturing hub.
aog_M_4_p018_Aker 19/1/09 1:50 pm Page 18
Quest Offshore indicated that subsea
market capex was heading toward $10
billion by 2010 and that Asia Pacifics
share of the worlds installed subsea wells
would rise from 10% to 17% over the
period 2008-2012. This is possibly a true
picture, give or take a year, says
Martinussen. Its very hard to say how
the current financial situation will affect
subsea growth scenarios for this region.
The message from most oil companies is
that they are now reconsidering their
portfolios, so we may see some delay in
key developments. But I think the long-
term trend remains more or less as
predicted. Its a good market coming.
We see Asia Pacific increasing in
importance, with Malaysia, Australia and
Indonesia leading the regions subsea
markets, followed by Vietnam and China,
and with India definitely one of the most
promising areas, adds Martinussen.
Shallow water is mature in the Asia
Pacific region; it has to go to deep water.
Thats why its important to be here and
why we have invested. Also, from here in
Malaysia we can not only serve the local
markets but also Africa, the Gulf of
Mexico and Brazil. The deeper the water,
the stronger we are in terms of
technology.
The Port Klang facilitys first deliveries
four production wells, 12 water injection
wells and a gas injector for the Kikeh field
off Sabah in 2007 established a new
regional deepwater development
benchmark of 1350m, the previous record
(750m) having been held by Shells
Malampaya development off the
Philippines. Offshore eastern India, the
eight-slot production manifold delivered
in just eight months and six subsea
trees Port Klang provided for the MA-D6
contracting
The base builder
His Viking forebears may have done their
share of marauding and pillaging in their
time, but the Egil Martinussen approach to
foreign conquest is a rather more
gentlemanly one.
An offshore industry veteran, he has
seen quite a bit of the world since starting
out in the North Sea with Elf Aquitaine (now
Total) in the early days of the Frigg field. His
move to Malaysia came three years ago
when the decision was made to invest
there but the Port Klang facility, albeit on a
grander scale, is not the first offshore
service base Martinussen has
built from scratch.
Having joined Aker ten years
ago following offshore installation
stints with Stolt (now Acergy) and
Technip, he was tasked with
growing the companys business
in Africa. As well as establishing
the Aker base in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, he
worked on a number of frontier projects
including Total Dalia offshore Angola.
Martinussen (pictured) credits staged
technology transfer with getting the Port
Klang subsea manufacturing hub up and
running quickly and efficiently.
The company already had a small
fabrication shop in the region, so
relocating its staff to Port Klang helped
ease the training requirement on that side.
But for the new facilitys myriad other job
functions Aker needed to recruit and train
an initial batch of around 150 local people
and ensure they hit the ground running at
start-up.
Six, nine or 12 months ahead of time,
depending on the skills requirement, the
company took all of the new-hires to
Europe to gain experience in its various
facilities there. In turn, seasoned Aker staff
from these facilities arrived in Malaysia,
providing vital specialist input to help
optimise the new workshops design,
acting as supervisors for the returning
trainees and grooming the more able ones
for supervisory roles.
There was a lot of scepticism from oil
companies initially over the effectiveness
of this process, but it is fading away and
what we are seeing now is that our people
in Malaysia are able to do the same good
job as we are doing back home, enthuses
Martinussen. This has been very interesting
and I am very proud every time I
am able to promote one of our
people it means we have
succeeded in our project. And
with zero lost time incidents at
Port Klang in the 1.1 million hours
since the workshops came into
use the project seems to be
paying off in HSEas well as QA/ QC terms.
Some expats remain in key positions but
when the technology transfer process is
complete Martinussen expects the cost-
efficiency of the Port Klang operation to
compare very favourably with that of its
European counterparts.
He sees certain parallels between what
is happening in Southeast Asia today and
his experiences growing up in Norway
many years ago. I can remember in those
days hearing the news that a local shoe
factory had closed because they were
moving production to China, he explains.
What we and the offshore industry are
doing here is what a lot of other industries
have done over the years we are just the
latest industry to discover this part of the
world.
development are installed in water depths
ranging from 1100-1400m.
So far, Aker has delivered 20 wells for
the Krishna-Godavari Basins KG-D6 gas
field development, due onstream later this
year, and this Indian basins gas
prospectivity is such as to inspire in
Martinussen hopes of further field
expansion to as many as 80 wells. Thats
the kind of business hes looking for to
underpin future production levels at Port
Klang. There are big plans for the area
and the huge Indian market is not far
away, so I think this will be a very
exciting area for the oil & gas industry,
he declares.
Export jobs, mainly to the US and West
Africa, account for more than 50% of the
facilitys output to-date and that trend is
likely to continue for the foreseeable
future. Martinussens dream scenario is
to have one maybe two large subsea
projects in the 15-30 tree class on the go,
serving as a nice base for all the one-to-
four-well developments that typify the
Asia Pacific hydrocarbon sector.
There are some interesting big projects
coming up in Australia, possibly in 2010
or 2011, but until then I think we may
have to look to Africa and India to
hopefully secure the bigger jobs, he adds.
When the big one does come along,
there will be no shortage of space for it in
Port Klangs workshops and assembly
halls, Aker having built in plenty of extra
capacity. The facilitys design assumed
just 50% space utilisation initially,
building up over time as markets develop.
Inside there may be plenty of growing
room but outside, at least on the evidence
of AOGs tour of the Port Klang facility
last December, the yards were full to
overflowing with marine drilling riser
and associated buoyancy units awaiting
transport to some deepwater destination
or other. Drilling in 3000m of water
requires an awful lot of riser, was
Martinussens wry observation. This not
altogether unhappy scene is likely to be a
recurring one, however. With Akers time-
saving make and break riser connection
technique gaining in popularity among
deepwater drillers, Atwood Oceanics
contracting
Port Klangs XMT workshop.
Asia Pacific SVP Egil Martinussen
demonstrates some of the Malaysian
facilitys recent handiwork.
John Christadasan Doraisamy, Aker
Solutions Malaysias general manager,
fabrication, in the piping workshop.
AOG_M_4_OGA_FP.indd 1 19/1/09 10:39:02
recently confirmed a $50 million order for
a semisubmersibles 10,000ft drilling riser
system, to be delivered by Port Klang in
2012.
Well aware that the competition are
also sharpening their presence in the
area and building more capacity,
Martinussen nonetheless remains
convinced that his company now has the
best facilities to deal with future subsea
market growth.
He includes in that assessment the
companys established presence in the
umbilicals market and the subsea
aftermarket and other support services
provided by Aker Solutions Perth
operation in Western Australia, another
recent beneficiary of
substantial
investment funding.
As well as
undertaking some
manufacture of its
own for Australian
projects, the Perth
team, headed by former Kvaerner Process
Systems hand Greg Ross (pictured),
supports clients across the region with a
range of equipment installation,
overhaul, rebuild and maintenance
services.
The new Perth service base officially
opened in June last year boasts, among
other things, a 6m x 6m x 6m test pit for
checking the gas-tightness of trees and
other subsea components following
assembly or repair.
Port Klang has multiple test pit
facilities with dimensions ranging up to
9m x 9m x 9m and an adjacent site
already earmarked for excavating an even
larger pit some day capable of handling
an entire subsea pumping or boosting
system but the Perth test pit is currently
the only one of its kind in Australia, Ross
points out.
Testing, and an awful lot it, is key to
subsea, says Martinussen. Fabrication is
only half of the equation. We put our
subsea equipment through extremely
rigorous site integration tests checking,
double checking, triple checking, and
only then sending it offshore, because as
soon as its down on the seabed it costs a
fortune to recover.
Martinussen adds: One of the keys to
working in this region is to do it at the
lowest cost possible. Price is very
important here. Establishing a strong
Malaysian presence has not only helped
keep costs real but is also now making
an important contribution to the
companys global design and engineering
work, he says. Rather than invest in high-
cost Europe, we chose to bring work to a
low-cost area. Its not just the workforce
but also the vendor industry. We are not
trying to convert our US or European
vendor base into a Malaysian or
Southeast Asian vendor base. Qualifying
and developing vendors in this part of the
world normally bring a 20% price
reduction and thats a very important
part of the total picture, plus its hard to
recruit in Norway, Houston or Aberdeen
right now there just isnt enough talent
around.
Scratching the surface
Its not all about subsea in Aker
Solutions current round of Asia Pacific
oil & gas sector investment. With the
business outlook for surface products also
buoyant, the company is now putting the
finishing touches to a major $17 million
facelift and plant expansion programme
at the Batam Island, Indonesia, facility
that makes all its surface wellheads and
trees for land and platform drilling
applications.
Aker lays claim to regional market
leadership in the surface equipment
sector, with a 25% Asia Pacific market
share bolstered by major inroads into the
huge Chinese market and long-standing
links with operators like Chevron in
Thailand and BG in India. But Crawford
Tennant (pictured), vice president of the
Singapore-headquartered Aker Solutions
Surface business
stream, sees plenty of
potential growth
going forward, citing
Thailand, Vietnam,
Indonesia and
Australia among his
key target areas.
Over the last couple of years, Tennant
says he has been greatly encouraged by
his teams success in gaining new
regional customers for its trees and
wellheads while keeping old ones. A
highlight of 2007, he says, was landing an
ongoing potentially huge offshore
contract for Vietnams Cuu Long
development. Then last year came news
that in quick succession the company had
secured further orders from BG
Exploration & Production India for its
Panna-Mukta and Mid and South Tapti
fields off Indias west coast and a
breakthrough contract from Chevron
Indonesia for onshore field developments
contracting
Subsea control module assembly (left) and work under way in the riser workshop.
in Sumatra. Tennant says the three-year
Indonesian contract, split with two other
firms and requiring the simplest of
wellheads and trees but hundreds and
hundreds of them gave him particular
pleasure since it represents a brand new
market for the company.
But Chevron Thailand, with its
brownfields redevelopment campaign
now including the former Unocal assets,
remains our biggest customer by far, he
adds. That is a huge programme, the kind
that tends to generate more and more
work as development moves forward.
In support of these and other contracts,
some of which spread beyond the region
to the Middle East and West Africa,
Akers surface business has steadily
expanded its regional infrastructure. The
business has four main regional offices,
in Bangkok, Jakarta, Dubai and Nigeria,
and late last year added a new base in
Vung Tau, Vietnam, to its existing service
bases in Songhkla and Port Harcourt.
But its the root-and-branch
redevelopment of the Batam
manufacturing plant that is occupying
much of Tennants thoughts and time
right now. A native of Aberdeen and
former manager within Weatherford, he
was the Batam facilitys general manager
before stepping up to his current post in
Singapore a year ago. The new-look plant,
doubled in size to 19,500m
2
and with
11 brand new CNC machines added to the
20 already in use, is expected to bring
substantial improvements in efficiency,
productivity and information flow.
According to Tennant, raising the
number of machines to 31 and making
Batam the biggest machine shop in Aker
Solutions is a demonstration of the faith
the company has in its Indonesian
workforce, which is due to expand from
200 to over 300 operating a three-shift
system by 2010. I cannot praise the
workforce highly enough for the way they
have coped during this transitional
phase, he says. Effectively working
across three Batam sites, they continued
to meet the huge production targets we
had last year and maintained product
quality to the highest standards
including API and the recently obtained
PSL4 while we were also introducing
SAP systems.
Tennant is hoping to have the majority
of the new machines installed in time to
arrange an official opening around the
end of Q1 or the beginning of Q2 2009.
Splitting the cost
The Batam product portfolio includes a
variety of wellhead types and solid block
or horizontal trees along with a range of
gate valves, connectors and actuators, but
Tennant rates the companys splitter and
unitized wellhead systems as the big-
ticket items for the Asia Pacific region.
He sees the splitter technology, with dual
and triple conductor sharing wellheads
and trees, as a particularly strong
offering for the region. As with a great
many oil patch innovations, though,
initial take-up was slow.
But weve driven the splitter
technology through the marketplace; its
there now and its being utilised more and
more, says Tennant.
The key is getting people in the region
to understand that they can do this, he
says, admitting frankly that he too had
taken a little time to fully appreciate
splitter technology when he joined the
company. I was used to one hole, one
wellhead, one tree! Obviously with triples
the tubing string is smaller and you are
reducing the size of the tubing hanger
and so on, but the same principle applies,
he explains. You can get two or three
smaller trees operating in one hole. The
hole gets bigger, but you are able keep
your rig in place and continue drilling.
As well as helping to reduce platform
size, which means reduction of material
used and less utilisation of resources,
Aker calculates that adopting splitter
technology has the potential to trim
drilling costs by as much as $1 million per
well. But we ideally need to be involved
in the FEED stage to help operators get
the most out of this technology and
explore the various options available to
them, says Tennant.
We can help them push their
engineering boundaries.
contracting
Wall-to-wall deepwater drilling riser at Port Klang last December.
Splitter technology is a key Batam offering.
G
eophysical service companies
always insist that when market
conditions get tough, those with
the superior technology will have a
competitive edge. This conviction is due
to be put to the test in the very near
future.
Theres not much doubting that as we
enter 2009 demand for marine seismic
surveys is beginning to look vulnerable.
In general terms this was confirmed by
Schlumberger boss Andrew Gould in a
recent advisory statement on the
companys fiscal profit expectations for
2008, lower than analysts consensus
estimates. He said: We have been
consistent in our view that our results
would be affected in the event of a severe
global economic downturn, which we are
now facing. Happily, Gould qualified the
gloom saying: We still maintain that in
the longer term, the fundamentals of our
industry are sound.
Petroleum Geo-Services (PGS) is
probably as reliable an index of the
current mood as any. In December it
listed a raft of precautionary measures it
was taking in response to the uncertain
market outlook. It said a general cost
reduction had been implemented. In
addition, capex levels beyond newbuild
commitments have been reduced. Those
obligations include finishing off a second
Super Ramform, the mammoth seismic
harvesting machine able to tow up to
22 recording cables spaced 50m apart, a
capability that dwarfs anything offered by
the competition. The company also has to
complete the building projects it assumed
with the purchase of Arrow Seismic, the
Norwegian GC Rieber Shipping
subsidiary. The programme included two
new vessels for the PGS fleet, and two
ordered by WesternGeco.
Lastly the company is slowing down the
roll out of its marine electromagnetic
(EM) services offering. There is a little bit
more going on here than meets the eye.
The company raised some eyebrows by
paying over $250 million for the
Edinburgh-based company MTEM during
the frenzy among marine seismic
contractors to ensure that they had a
piece of the EM action. PGS let it be
known that it was hoping to leverage the
MTEM technology significantly
different from the controlled source EM
(CSEM) method offered by the market
leaders Norwegian company
Electromagnetic Geoservices (EMGS) and
the UK-based Offshore Hydrocarbons
Mapping (OHM) to develop a towed
cable package of seismic and EM. Such a
service would be very attractive because
CSEM requires measurements made by
recording devices on the seabed, a more
cumbersome and expensive process.
Competitor scepticism about the
feasibility of this technology combination
seems to have at least a grain of truth
because no product has appeared to date,
suggesting that PGS still has some
challenging issues to overcome. Another
inescapable factor is that the marine EM
contractors appear to have hit the wall in
terms of achieving wider adoption of
their technology despite its early promise.
EMGS, for example, has cut back sharply
on its winter fleet capacity in the absence
of demand.
By scaling down its efforts, therefore,
PGS is in some senses simply bowing to
the unfavourable wind gusting against
EM in the E&P industry, which is
currently watching its pennies and
reluctant to fork out on what is still
perceived as risky innovation.
Operationally PGS is cutting back on
multi-client investment which by its very
nature is speculative. It is reducing its
number of chartered 2D/source vessels
from five to one by the end of the first
quarter this year; and is dumping some of
its low-end capacity vessels, by definition
less competitive in a tightening market.
It is safe to assume that other
companies are in the same boat as PGS
and are taking equally stringent
measures to pare their vessel capacity to
seismics
Technology is the key to
surviving tough times
Technology may play a more crucial role in winning marine seismic
business in 2009. That s Andrew McBarnet s prediction for what s expected
to be a year when the going gets tougher.
PGS vessel Atlantic Explorer will
carry out the first 3D seismic
survey with new dual sensor
proprietary streamer.
aog_M_4_p024_seismic 19/1/09 3:33 pm Page 24
better match prevailing conditions, and if
they are not, they probably should be. The
feeling in the industry is that there will
be casualties. One ominous early sign of
trouble on the horizon has been the
difficulty experienced by the small but
ambitious Norwegian marine seismic
company Scan Geophysical in finding a
deal to finance three newbuild seismic
vessels ordered and nearly completed in
an Indian shipyard.
Challenge to adjust
It is certainly going to be challenging for
the marine seismic community to adjust
to the emerging economic conditions
after a period of sustained demand which
will carry through into at least part of
2009 if the record backlogs reported by
the bigger companies hold up. But theres
no escaping that the price of oil has
dropped like a stone. That alone is signal
enough for many oil companies to turn off
the exploration expenditure tap, such is
their notoriously short-term thinking
framed by how the next quarters results
will look to the shareholders. There is no
denying that the general squeeze on
credit and scarce investment capital is a
pretty lethal combination. Any oil
company which is leveraged and there
are plenty to choose from in the E&P
business will have a tough time
persuading fund managers that an
exploration project of uncertain outcome
is a good idea right now.
You have to wonder, for example, at the
viability of the exploration plans
proposed in better times by all those
London Alternative Investment Market
(AIM) listed companies which have
sprung up in recent years. Smaller
independents have been the most
proactive licence holders in recent UK
offshore licensing rounds, but when the
results of the very big 25th round was
announced at the end of last year, there
were immediate fears expressed about the
ability of some companies to find the
money to fund their commitments. The
latest Faroes licensing round found very
few takers, suggesting reluctant oil
company investors, and you can bet that
the newly announced Irish Porcupine
Basin offerings will be hard pushed to
win many applicants.
Problems beyond their control are
mounting for the seismic companies on
the oil company demand side. These are
likely to be compounded on the supply
side. After all, this was hardly the
moment for a slate of new seismic vessels
ordered when the market was at its zenith
to be entering the global fleet. In this
context the unexpected, successful bid by
CGGVeritas for Wavefield Inseis could be
a fascinating bellwether of where things
are heading. The all-share offer valuing
Wavefield at $310 million was rated at the
low end by independent assessors. The
Wavefield board still recommended the
bid to shareholders. In doing so it chose to
ignore the objections of the companys
employees expressed by their board
representative. It has to be remembered
that a number of the employees,
particularly at management level, left
Multiwave Geophysical when it was taken
over by CGGVeritas three years ago, so
felt strongly about the proposed merger.
There also seems to be some sense of
being sold down the river so soon after
the companys rejection of last years
takeover bid from TGS-Nopec. As much
as anything that action was about
Wavefields pride in its rapid growth on a
go-it-alone strategy. This time Wavefield
staff tried to persuade the board and
shareholders that the company was being
sold cheap and that greater long term
value could be realised if it continued to
be independent, but to no avail.
There are some special circumstances
surrounding the CGGVeritas purchase of
Wavefield. Chairman and CEO Robert
Brunck and his management team are
clearly in unchartered waters facing
something of a PR exercise to win over
the staff. Even so, the economic rationale
seems counter-intuitive. On news of
enough offer acceptances to win control
of Wavefield, Brunck spoke of the
combined enterprises as an even more
robust company . . . better positioned to
provide a clear benefit to all
shareholders, employees and customers.
The reality is that CGGVeritas picks up
eight seismic vessels, not entirely
compatible with its own fleet in terms of
equipment and not top of the line new. It
also takes control of Octoplan, the
company which is one of the leaders in
the niche field of developing fibre optic
solutions for permanent seabed seismic
monitoring of producing reservoirs.
Arguably this could be a hidden jewel
which will accelerate the R&D efforts of
Sercel, the CGGVeritas seismic
acquisition equipment manufacturer.
The question is whether adding vessel
capacity at this critical moment in the
seismic cycle was the right move. We
wont know the answer for a while but the
Wavefield initiative may provide a read
on how CGGVeritas views the seismic
market over the next several years. The
offer does seem inspired by the type of
consolidation which Brunck has
advocated in the past to reduce overall
capacity to cope with the lean times. That
limits the rationale to commercial
opportunism, ie taking advantage of the
historical low in Wavefields share price,
or interestingly, to a more robust view of
demand than other companies believing
that there will be work for its bigger fleet,
once again indisputably the largest in the
business.
Quality will prevail
The contrast with PGS and by implication
Schlumberger marine seismic company
WesternGeco is striking. By the measures
it has taken PGS has clearly seen some
kind of writing on the wall. However,
both companies do subscribe to the
mantra that, when market conditions
deteriorate, quality products and services
will prevail. It is also pertinent that we
have entered the era of hard oil, in other
words reserves are technically more
challenging to find and over time this will
benefit the better equipped companies.
PGS will not be alone in ditching its lower
end vessels. It is the first line of defence
to be more competitive. The company will
rely more on its core fleet of Ramform
design vessels which in terms of
productivity for larger scale seismic
surveys have not been seriously
challenged over the last decade or so.
But PGS also implicitly acknowledges
that if the company can offer something a
little bit extra to differentiate it from the
competition at the right price, then it will
be able to preserve its market share. This
is why you find that PGS has excluded
from its budget review any reduction in
spending on the roll-out of the dual
sensor GeoStreamer, which promised a lot
when it was launched a year or so ago but
still has to deliver. The technology is
promoted as being about as close to ocean
bottom survey seismic as is possible from
a towed streamer. It allows the recording
of both pressure and velocity fields
seismics
Deploying GeoStreamer.
during marine seismic acquisition and
operates in the quieter and operationally
more efficient environment of a deeper
tow than conventional towed seismic
15m compared with 4-5m. PGS says its
processing of these wavefields then
allows the separation of upgoing and
downgoing signals and removal of the
receiver ghost. The result is broadband
seismic data capable of imaging deeper
and more complex structures, and
significantly reducing the uncertainty in
exploration and development decisions.
Early results from 2D seismic surveys
in several regions are said to have
produced significantly improved
resolution. In November the company
launched its first 3D seismic survey using
the Atlantic Explorer, newly outfitted
with six GeoStreamers. This multi-client
survey in the DeSoto Canyon area in the
Gulf of Mexico covering 250 deepwater
OCS blocks with a 2010 lease sale in mind
will be watched with interest by the
industry. BP America is one of the
underwriters for the survey and is slated
to collaborate technically on the project.
WesternGeco already has a solution for
deghosting in the market. Its over/under
technique involves towing streamers in
pairs at two different depths with a
separation of 5-10m. The company says
that the depths of the pairs can be deeper
than conventional towing depths, and that
the results can be processed to provide
the prized ghost-free data. Although part
of the repertoire, over/under does not
seem to be the technology that
WesternGeco will be primarily focused
upon if and when the market gets
tougher. The company is firmly convinced
that its Q-Marine technology will enable
the company to maintain or grow its
share of the marine seismic market
because of the improved resolution
possible with single sensor recording and
steerable streamers.
To date WesternGeco has managed a full
order book for Q-Marine and is in the
process of converting more of its fleet. It
has also been able to command a premium
rate for the Q service. The benefit of
steerable streamer technology has
definitely caught the attention of the
competition because of the ability to tow
streamers with closer separation which
provides better sampling and thus higher
resolution images. The steerable
streamers are also operationally more
efficient and reduce the amount of infill
coverage required during a survey, plus
there are advantages in 4D work where
accurate positioning of surveys is critical.
Technology agreements
This provides a clue to why companies
such as PGS, Fugro and the new seismic
company Polarcus, which is bringing six
new vessels to market, have all recently
consolidated their relationships with ION
Geophysical in long term technology
agreements.
ION is enjoying a bit of a resurgence in
the conventional tow streamer-related
market after losing its way a few years
ago and ceding serious market share to
the likes of rival Sercel. It has brought
out DigiSTREAMER, a solid cable
recording system which is what the
market now prefers. Fugro has been an
early taker but most of the major
contractors are already committed to
other systems and new streamer demand
is likely to be sparse. However, its been a
step in the right direction. A more
competitive product in the mainstream,
however, is coming from IONs DigiFIN
system for steering streamers. The first
commercial version was deployed by PGS
in 2007, and ION believes this is a winner.
ION wants DigiSTREAMER and
DigiFIN to be considered part of an
integrated offering which it is calling the
Intelligent Acquisition (IA) system, a
great marketing brand if nothing else.
The brain of IA comes from Orca which
seismics
IONs DigiFIN
(above) and
graphic (right) of
streamer
performance
sailing closer to an
obstruction (right)
than is possible
with a conventional
array (far right).
GeoStreamer in the water.
Perfect formation: DigiFIN is
designed to take care of
ocean variables.
seismics
provides sophisticated command and
control for navigation, positioning and
other operational issues during a towed-
streamer operation. Orca is the successor
to the highly regarded Spectra, Reflex and
Sprint products produced by Concept
Systems, IONs subsidiary since 2004,
which have dominated in marine seismic
vessel operations for nearly two decades.
PGS, Fugro and Polarcus are among those
already buying into Orca and others will
doubtless follow, so continued leadership
in this segment seems assured. Down the
road, ION can visualise its ocean bottom
seismic acquisition system VectorSeis
Ocean and even its data processing
division GX Technology being
incorporated into a pick and choose or
integrated IA package.
For those contractors that can afford
them, adopting technology advances
seems a smart choice. Any marketing
edge could be critical in winning business
as the recessionary clouds gather.
SEISMIC UPDATE
NZ surveys
The CGG Veritas seismic survey ship
Pacific Titan has begun acquisition of 2D
seismic for several clients offshore both
North and South Islands, New Zealand.
In the deepwater Taranaki Basin,
3000km of 2D seismic survey has been
contracted by Colorado-based operator
Global Resource Holdings over PEP 38451,
gathered in two parts. In the southern
third of the permit 1000km will be
acquired using 6km streamers and in the
northern portion 2000km will be obtained
employing high resolution, long offset
10km seismic streamers to infill existing
data. Australian Worldwide Exploration
(AWE), by partly funding the PEP 38451
survey, will earn a 10% stake.
AWE is also acquiring seismic in four
offshore Taranaki permits which it
operates: PEP 38483, a large area where the
Hector-1 well was drilled; PEP 381202,
containing the Paua prospect 70km north
of Tui; PEP 3848, containing the Tikati
prospect; and PEP 38524, off D'Urville
Island, where 406km of 2D infill seismic
has been acquired to advance the Malvern
prospect to drill ready status. PEP 38524 is
interpreted to form an extension of the
South Taranaki Basin which includes the
Kupe South and Maari oil and gas fields.
Nearer to shore in the Taranaki Basin,
Greymouth Petroleum will acquire 210km
of 2D seismic in PEP 38775, east of the
Pohokura gas condensate field.
Later, Greymouth will gather 400km of
2D seismic data from PEP 50122 in the
Great South Basin off the southeast coast
of South Island.
Origin Energy will acquire 1000km of 2D
in PEP 38264 in the Canterbury Basin, a
23,800km
2
permit that extends into
deepwater east of the Otago Peninsula.
Lishui plans
Primeline Energy, in joint venture with
CNOOC, has completed re-processing
3673km of regional 2D seismic data within
the 7006km
2
block 25/34 in the East China
Sea about 110km offshore from the
mainland of China and 800km north of
Taipei in water depths of 75-95m, and
started a new round of regional
evaluation.
Primeline, while preparing an overall
development plan for the Lishui 36-1
discovery that will involve piping gas to the
mainland, is planning a step out
exploration well in a nearby prospect in the
Lishui gas play, and further regional
evaluation of the remainder of block 25/34.
ION on a roll
ION Geophysical has clinched a series of
oil and gas industry accords.
Fugro-Geoteam has entered into a multi-
year, multi-vessel agreement covering
marine acquisition technology in order to
continue developing and improving
steerable streamer technology using IONs
next generation Orca command and
control system and DigiFIN lateral
streamer control. The accord also outlines
the terms under which Fugro will further
develop these technologies on its high end,
3D streamer-vessel fleet.
Petroleum Geo-Services has signed a
five-year agreement with IONs Concept
Systems software group that specifies
phased upgrade of all PGS 2D and 3D
towed streamer vessels to Orca command
and control, including outfitting all
newbuild PGS vessels upon
commissioning.
Hess Corporation has concluded a multi-
year technology collaboration agreement
for the provision of imaging services and
seismic data libraries from IONs GX
Technology subsidiary. The pact also
includes reverse time migration, an
approach that propagates acoustic wave
fields through complex velocity regimes,
including sub-salt.
Onshore Brunei prelim
Tap Oil subsidiary Tap Energy (Borneo)
has completed an airborne geophysical
survey over onshore block M, Brunei
Darussalam, acquired by Canadian
contractor Sander Geophysics.
Block M covers an area of approximately
3000km
2
in the Baram Delta Basin. The
largest onshore permit in the country, it
includes the Belait oil and gas field and is
under-explored with no concerted
exploration effort made over the past 20
years.
The survey, inclusive of 3617 flight kms
in a 1km by 4km grid across the entire
permit involving both gravity and
magnetic data, is the first phase of an
exploration programme which will see 2D
and 3D seismic acquisition commence in
early 2009 with at least two appraisal wells
drilled on the Belait structure in 2009.
EMGS ranks Malaysia
Electromagnetic Geoservices (EMGS) has
been awarded a $7.5 million contract to
employ its Clearplay Test service to rank
several, unidentified, hydrocarbon
prospects offshore Malaysia.
The 3D wide azimuth electromagnetic
surveys will target the prospects by towing
an EM source over receivers placed 1-2km
apart in a grid, then processed to create
resistivity maps and volumes.
EMGS has also launched the world's first
purpose-built EM survey vessel for global
deployment, the BOA Thalassa, built by
Bergen Group Fosen and leased from the
owner to BOA Offshore on long-term
charter.
The vessel, which carries 100 receivers
and can accommodate double that, has a
fully integrated spare equipment set and
on-board processing system.
Tajik targeted
Tethys Petroleum, through its 100% owned
subsidiary Kulob Petroleum, holder of the
Bokhtar PSC, the first production sharing
contract in Tajikistan, has signed a
contract with Kazakh Geophysical
(KazGeo) to acquire up to 1000km of 2D
seismic within the southwestern Tajik
prospect. KazGeo is to begin seismic
activities in 1Q 2009, focused on existing
discoveries and exploration targets.
LNG technology
Offshore LNG loading
armed and ready
Momentum is building in the offshore LNG sector, spurred on most recently
by news that FMC Technologies had been chosen to supply offshore
loading arm systems for the world s first floating LNG production vessels.
Darius Snieckus reports from the contractor s R&D facility in Sens, France.
aog_M_4_p028_LNG 19/1/09 3:13 pm Page 28
M
ore than 50 years after the first all-
metal Chiksan marine loading
arms were commissioned at a
loading terminal in Long Beach,
California, FMC Technologies last year
marked the latest in a long line of
development milestones for its MLA
technology with an order from Samsung
Heavy industries for four liquid natural
gas offloading systems to be installed on
the worlds first floating LNG production
vessels, currently under construction at
the shipbuilders Geoje yard in South
Korea for Flex LNG.
Each of the four ship-classed units,
which will have nameplate liquefaction
capacity of 1.7million t/yr, will be outfitted
with three of FMCs 70ft double
counterweighted marine arm (DCMA-S)
systems, integrating 16in offshore LNG
offloading arms, a proprietary targeting
system, and a control module. Expectations
are that the flagship FLNG unit, the Flex
LNG Producer, will be ready for first gas
offshore in 2011.
The Samsung contract follows on from a
clutch of other recent orders that involve
using the same technology for floating
regasification vessels and loading
terminals in exposed locations, among
them ExxonMobils Adriatic LNG terminal
and the Offshore Livorno Toscana-operated
FSRU Golar Frost conversion project, both
sited off Italy, and CB&Is Camisea Peru
LNG development, where four DCMAs
were recently installed on a breakwater-
less jetty 170km south of Lima.
There are large limitations in using
conventional loading arms offshore, states
FMC Loading Systems vice president of
sales and marketing Laurent Poidevin. In
the dynamic tests we ran using
conventional arms with even 0.5m vertical
movement it was next to impossible
because of the hydraulic control system
reaction time as well as the operator
reaction time when it comes to
anticipating vessel and manifold motion.
With our newest DCMA-Ss, the
offloading system is now no longer a
limiting factor in offshore LNG transfer
operations, he underscores.
Historically, the key component of
FMCs LNG loading arms has been the
Chiksan swivel joint, which allows the
fully-articulated pipe system to be more
manoeuvrable and rotate freely without
potential for leakage. The ante has been
upped, however, by the demands of
offshore operations. FMCs answer to the
relative wave-induced motions between
offshore LNG terminals and docked shuttle
carriers is a constant motion version of
this technology, which was designed and
tested to 5 million cycles in 2003 handling
temperatures down to 190C for cryogenic
products such as LNG, coupled with an
enhanced connection cable-and-cone
targeting system.
The loading arm, a DCMA-S model that
uses separate counterweights to balance
the inboard and outboard sections of the
arm, is designed with the product line and
support structure connected together at
the end of the outboard arm through a
horizontal rotation and at the base riser
through two coaxial rotations, meaning
that during loading operations other
horizontal articulations remain parallel
but can displace independently in the
vertical plane.
By maintaining constant tension in the
targeting cable, at the heart of a system
under development since 1999, the
connection places maximum mechanical
loads of 5t vertical, 2t lateral and 5t axial
on the shuttle carriers manifold. To
prevent damage of the flange seal during
the approach of the arm and its
connection, FMC has incorporated a
pre-energised protective mechanical ring
into the couplers design.
You need to power up to make the initial
cable connection, but then there is no need
for active control after the connection has
been made, the arm is just freewheeling,
explains FMC Loading Systems R&D
manager Renaud Le Dvhat. This is the
major difference between this system and
conventional loading arms.
The arm is also outfitted with an
emergency release system that uses two
isolating valves positioned on either side of
a customised powered emergency release
coupler, he notes. A multi-stage alarm set-
up linked to the logic control system
ensures that the product pumps are
stopped and that the two valves are shut
prior to the opening of the coupler and the
arm automatically manoeuvred away from
the tanker manifold flange.
During an emergency disconnect the
quantity of product trapped between the
two valves being a very small amount
vaporises, so there is no chance of a spill,
offers Le Dvhat.
Italian job
Last month the 188m long gravity base
structure for the Adriatic LNG
development made its way in tow to its
sited location 15km off Porto Levante, Italy.
The shoebox-style terminal, designed to
store up to 250,000m
3
of LNG and vaporise
some 8bcm/yr, has been outfitted with four
of FMCs 16in DCMA-Ss featuring
automatic emergency release system,
hydraulic coupler, constant-motion swivel
joints, positioning monitoring system and
targeting systems.
Because the Adriatic LNG GBS will be
permanently positioned in 28m of water on
the seabed, the range of motions foreseen
LNG technology
Adriatic LNGs GBS
structure, outfitted
with four DCMA-S
systems, en route to
Italy (above), and an
artists impression of
the LNG Producer
(left).
aog_M_4_p029_LNG 19/1/09 3:14 pm Page 29
between terminal and LNG shuttle tanker
will be less than between two offshore
vessels, notes Poidevin. However, as the
carriers will still be exposed to the force of
wind, waves and current during loading
operations, the 90t arms have been
designed by FMC to handle differentials of
2m surge, 4m sway and 2.4m heave between
vessel and GBS.
Start-up of the ExxonMobil-operated
terminal is scheduled for 2009.
Four 16in DCMA-Ss are also to be
installed, via a contract with Saipem, as
part of Offshore Livorno Toscanas FSRU
Golar Frost conversion project. For
ship-to-ship LNG transfer operations, the
loading arms are designed to handle rates
of 10,000m-18,000m
3
/h. Once converted, the
137,000m
3
FSRU will be stationed 35km
offshore western Italy, where it is
scheduled to be brought online in the latter
half of 2010.
There has also been an order for four
16in DCMA-Ss for the Camisea Peru LNG
facility. Though not strictly an offshore
development, the CB&I project has its
tanker berths at the end of an exposed
5km-long jetty that links back to a plant at
Pampa Melchorita, which will have a
nominal capacity of 4.45 million t/yr and
pipe some 18 million m
3
/d into the
Peruvian onshore gas transport network.
FLNG, as represented for the time being
by the Flex LNG orders, is the next fast
approaching horizon for FMCs latest
loading arms. The technology is adaptable
to both the Moss-design [spherical] shuttle
tankers and flat-top floating LNG vessel
[such as the Flex LNG Producer], remarks
Poidevin. The loading arm is essentially
customised we can adapt the length and
counterweight beam and the other
components to a very specific case. One of
the strengths of the design is its
compactness, he notes, with a bank of
three 16in arms having a deck footprint of
10m x 5m and a counterweight swing space
of 19m x 7m x 9m, and a standard control
system measuring 3m x 2m x 2m.
Being able to play with the dimensions
of the loading arm, adds Le Dvhat, is
another key advantage of the design. It
means we can ensure there is no
interference with any of the LNG shuttle
carriers tank-types, he says. And when
you compare the limited footprint of the
arms when folded to their reach-range
more than 30m you can see part of the
attraction of this technology.
The offshore LNG landscape continues to
evolve, with the 2.5m significant wave
height that has stood as a design yardstick
for side-by-side transfer for many years
now being replaced by one that uses 3-3.5m
as a key. A few years ago everyone was
looking at these sorts of numbers for ship-
to-ship operations. But we are moving the
boundaries further out all the time, says
Le Dvhat.
First to measure up will be Flex LNGs
maiden projects, the FLNG development
with Rift Oil off Papua New Guinea now
under way (see News Update, page 12),
and Peak Petroleums Bilabri and Orobiri
LNG development, off Nigeria. First
production is expected from these projects
in 2011.
An offshore LNG loading arm is now a
reality it is not on the drawing board, it is
not just a prototype, concludes Poidevin.
We have concrete projects, the first of
which will be online in 2008/09.
LNG technology
Emergency disconnection of the DCMA-S arm.
aog_M_4_p030_LNG 19/1/09 3:15 pm Page 30
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AOG_M_4_OTC_FP.indd 1 19/1/09 10:35:36
L
NG consumption in the Asia Pacific
region alone has been predicted to
reach 150 million tonnes, a growth of
nearly 100% in ten years. Part of this
growth will be met by the introduction of
small-scale LNG plants incorporated into
floating, production, storage and
offloading vessels.
This new approach to LNG production
will make it more akin to crude oil
production than ever before, with LNG
production being directly associated to
specific fields.
LNG has traditionally been bought and
sold on the basis of long-term contracts,
with the amount of energy transferred
derived from measurements of tank
volumes.
However, as the contribution of LNG to
global gas sales increases and the sources
of supply increase, it is likely that it will
be more often traded on the basis of
short-term (spot) prices in a similar way
to crude oil. In such circumstances the
use of flowmeters, the accepted method of
measuring oil, becomes attractive for
custody transfer measurement including
the offloading of the new generation of
LNG FPSOs.
The nature of LNG, however, presents
some very real challenges for flowmeter
technology, the biggest of which is the
cryogenic temperature at which LNG
exists (approximately 160C).
Flowmeters are usually calibrated
using water at ambient temperatures and
due to the international scarcity of
cryogenic test facilities, combined with
the complexities of testing under such
low temperature conditions, little
research has been done to establish if
flowmeters remain accurate under the
extremely cold conditions that LNG exists
at. TUV NEL, an internationally
recognised authority on flowmeter
technology and calibration, is currently
addressing this challenge, undertaking
research to establish a framework of LNG
measurement standards and flowmeter
capabilities.
The company aims to establish a
standardised calibration concept for
flowmeters operated under cryogenic
conditions.
Two flow-metering technology groups
already proven in the oil and gas arena
are currently being researched for LNG
application by TUV NEL: coriolis mass
flow metering and ultrasonic metering.
Accuracy of coriolis
flowmeters under
cryogenic conditions
Coriolis flowmeters are one of the most
established and widely used flowmetering
technologies, with applications in the oil
and gas industry and in many other
sectors.
Previous research had indicated that
operating coriolis meters at low
temperatures causes a non-linear
temperature dependent calibration shift.
To prove the suitability of coriolis
meters for LNG application, TUV NEL
sought to confirm that factory
calibrations of the flowmeters at ambient
temperature could be transferred to
cryogenic operating conditions by
applying an adjusting factor Youngs
Modulus for the elasticity of stainless
steel, which makes an allowance for the
physical contraction of the metal used in
the meter tubes at low temperatures.
By combining TUV NELs own large-
scale water calibration facilities and
flowmeter testing experience with third-
party liquid nitrogen based cryogenic
testing, the research team was able to
devise a testing programme for LNG
coriolis flowmetering.
The testing programme used a 2in
Coriolis meter, provided by a well-
established flowmeter manufacturer. To
test the flowmeter, TUV NEL first
confirmed the meters accuracy at
LNG technology
Flow metering: an essential
area of development
Advancements in LNG production will be key to unlocking the potential of stranded gas
reserves throughout Asia and around the world, as well as helping meet the growing
demands of developing nations. TUV NEL s Dr Asaad Kenbar discusses flow metering s
crucial role in LNG s expansion and the need for further development work.
Asaad Kenbar is a senior
consultant at TUV NEL currently
leading projects on LNG
metering technologies and
other projects in thermal
engineering. He has an MSc and PhD in
mechanical engineering from Glasgow
University.
akenbar@tuvnel.com
About the author
SBM/Linde concept for a
LNG FPSO, currently being
reviewed by ABS.
aog_M_4_p032_LNG 19/1/09 4:57 pm Page 32
ambient temperature. It then calibrated
the meter operating with liquid nitrogen,
typically at around 193C.
Water testing demonstrated that the
coriolis flowmeter performed well within
its specified accuracy of 0.2% for both
mass flowrate and density.
Liquid nitrogen tests showed that the
flowmeter gave a consistent error of
about 2% throughout the test range, thus
indicating a calibration shift. When the
Youngs Modulus dependence on
temperature was taken into
consideration, the test results indicated
that the flowmeter produced a
measurement very close to its claimed
accuracy. However, the density was
measured within 0.5% accuracy.
The testing programme allowed TUV
NEL to conclude that water calibration of
coriolis flowmeters can be successfully
transferred to cryogenic conditions, and
thus LNG, if Youngs Modulus of
elasticity of stainless steel is taken in
consideration. This conclusion applies to
the 2in test flowmeter; however, this may
apply to a larger flowmeter which has
same material construction, the same
shape and is calibrated with water in the
same way, but this can only be confirmed
by further tests.
Ultrasonic flowmeters
and LNG
Ultrasonic meters (USMs) are now widely
utilised for custody transfer and
allocation measurements in the oil and
gas industry, with meters regularly
delivering measurement uncertainties of
better than 0.25% over a significant
fraction of their flow range.
The technology is regarded as reliable
and accurate; however, one flow property
that is known to strongly influence the
performance of ultrasonic meters is the
variation in velocity profile, which can
occur with changes in fluid viscosity.
TUV NEL has previously established
that variations of velocity profile due to
changes in viscosity can have a
significant impact on the accuracy and
suitability of ultrasonic meters in
emerging applications such as the
metering of high-viscosity/heavy oil
flows. If ultrasonic meters are going to be
suitable for use in LNG flow metering, it
is important to establish if low
temperatures also have a significant
impact on velocity profile.
To prove the potential of ultrasonic
flowmeters with LNG, TUV NEL tested a
new prototype meter from an established
manufacturer. The meter is a fivebeam,
4in transit-time ultrasonic meter, which
is being developed specifically with the
LNG market in mind.
For Newtonian fluids, the
manufacturer of the flowmeter that was
tested asserted that the accuracy of the
meter depends only on the pipe Reynolds
number. It therefore follows that a water
calibration for an ultrasonic meter
should cover the same range of Reynolds
number as encountered in the LNG
application. However, due to the low
viscosity of LNG, this is often difficult to
achieve, especially for large flowmeters.
One approach is to apply a linear
extrapolation of the curve of measured
error against the Reynolds number.
However, the uncertainty arising from
this extrapolation adds to the
uncertainties from operating at cryogenic
conditions and reinforces the
requirement to verify the applicability of
water calibrations.
To test the meters suitability for LNG
application, TUV NEL first had to verify
its accuracy with water at ambient
temperature. After this had been
successfully done, the meter was then
taken to a cryogenic test facility for
testing with liquid nitrogen to simulate
LNG application.
In view of the importance of the
velocity profile in ultrasonic flowmeter
measurement, a computational fluid
dynamics (CFD) study was also used to
explore the flow conditions (swirl and
velocity profile) in the liquid nitrogen
test rig and assist in understanding the
test results.
The results of the testing programme
indicated that a calibration taken at room
temperatures with water can, with some
loss of accuracy, be transferred to liquid
nitrogen at cryogenic conditions. The loss
of accuracy under cryogenic conditions
is attributed to significant deviations
from the ideal fully developed velocity
profile. These are likely caused by
ambient heat leakage though the
insulation jacket into the flowmeter body.
Since the viscosities of liquid nitrogen
and LNG, and hence the Reynolds number
for a given flowrate, are very similar, the
upstream flow profiles are likely to also
be very similar.
The stable performance of the meter
and the repeatability of the
measurements are evidence of the
general suitability of ultrasonic flow
measurement technology for cryogenic
applications. However, the cryogenic tests
and CFD study highlighted some issues
which require further research. Careful
account should be taken of the sub-
cooling and insulation required to avoid
bubble nucleation in the meter due to
heat leakage.
The indications are promising that
ultrasonic meters will ultimately be
suitable for the metering of LNG flows.
However, further research is required
specifically to investigate the trend of the
measurement error over higher flowrates
and further CFD analysis of the effects of
ambient heat leak to assess its effect on
the velocity profile.
The importance of
flowmeters
The current research programme
provides a strong indication that
established flowmeter technologies in the
oil and gas industry, such as coriolis and
ultrasonic metering, will find wide
applications in the LNG industry as it
develops over the next few years.
With simple and reliable metering, the
smaller scale LNG projects that are
envisaged to release stranded gas
reserves will become increasingly
practical. With trusted off-the-shelf meter
solutions, trading of LNG will be easier,
making the fuel more accessible and
attractive.
However, there are still some issues to
be researched, particularly with regard to
ultrasonic meters. Progress on TUV NELs
LNG flow metering research will be a
topic specifically addressed at the eighth
South East Asia Hydrocarbon Flow
Measurement Workshop which takes
place in Kuala Lumpur this March.
LNG technology
Flowmeter under cryogenic conditions. TUV NEL test facilities.
aog_M_4_p033_LNG 19/1/09 3:17 pm Page 33
safety
E
mergency situations are
unpredictable and unique in nature
and preventing a minor incident
from escalating into a major disaster is
highly dependent on the planning,
implementation, and effectiveness of the
emergency response.
Emergency response arrangements are
required and industry watchdogs such as
Indonesias BP Migas and Australias
NOPSA ensure they are in place.
Sufficient resources must be in place to
ensure the safe evacuation of personnel
to a place of safety and, in case
evacuation arrangements fail, a means of
escape for personnel and their subsequent
recovery and rescue.
Evacuation, escape and recovery
analysis (EERA) having been recognised
as an important part of the safety case,
the question is which mix of the various
methods should be used to provide
optimum safety for each of the numerous
types of offshore installations. The
methods available include, but are not
limited to, helicopters, lifeboats and
liferafts.
It is important to evaluate the
characteristics of each evacuation
method, in order to develop an
understanding of their efficacy and
limitations. Key considerations will
include:
speed of implementation ie can
evacuation commence with immediate
effect?;
capacity of evacuation, ie persons
evacuated per hour;
availability limitation imposed by
weather, visibility and other factors
level of risk associated with the means
of evacuation;
reversibility in case the emergency is
brought under control, is a false alarm or
in the event of a precautionary
evacuation; and
fit with other methods many
evacuations have historically relied on
several (complementary) means.
Helicopters can travel at high speeds
but, generally, they are not immediately
available and their personnel capacity is
low. Multiple aircraft or multiple flights
would normally be required for
evacuation of a drilling rig or a large
production facility. They are also
vulnerable to installation hazards (for
example, fire or listing due to loss of
stability) and they have weather
limitations such as high winds and fog.
Although the evacuation is reversible,
helicopters may not be capable of
transferring a high number of people
within a short period of time as this is
dependent upon aircraft availability and
the installation location.
Reversibility is an important
consideration as a precautionary
evacuation may be considered prudent
under certain scenarios such as well
control problems, installation stability
problems or instances of potential ship
collision. An installation manager may
commence down-manning in response to
a threat, but is less likely to do this if the
method of evacuation is considered to be
very risky and not easily reversible.
Liferafts and lifeboats are immediately
available and have capacity for all
personnel. However, launching in
anything other than fair sea conditions
can be hazardous there is a history of
injuries and fatalities during both lifeboat
and liferaft evacuations. Also, due to
limited manoeuvrability and other
difficulties, evacuation by lifeboat or
liferaft is not considered to be reversible.
One option which is often overlooked is
crane-based evacuations. These have
many advantages and when performed
properly they are very safe. It is a flexible
and immediately available means of
Evacuation by crane:
the forgotten option?
Major disasters such as Piper Alpha (1988, North Sea), P36 Campos Basin (2001, Brazil)
and Mumbai High (2005, India) have resulted in a considerably enhanced safety
regime offshore. Reflex Marine s Duncan Cuthill calls for a holistic approach to Asia
Pacific evacuation planning, in particular the inclusion of crane-based transfer options.
Duncan Cuthill is operations
director of Reflex Marine and
has recently been responsible
for project delivery of new
increased-capacity personnel
transfer products. He is a master mariner
with operational experience of all
aspects of marine operations related to
the offshore energy sector, having
previously held senior management
positions in marine consulting, logistics
and project management companies.
About the author
Serious offshore incidents have prompted major re-evaluations of the Asia Pacific oil &
gas sectors approach to safety management.
aog_M_4_p034_Safety 19/1/09 3:28 pm Page 34
safety
evacuation with the potential to transfer
50 to 100 personnel prior to the arrival of
the first helicopter and the method is
completely under the control of the
installation. In the Asia Pacific region,
where historically a high percentage of
crew transfers are carried out by boat, a
crew, supply, support or other suitable
vessel is usually in close proximity to
provide a suitable operating platform and
safe refuge from any threatened
installation. The operation is fully
reversible, making the decision to initiate
precautionary down-manning much
easier.
It is surprising, then, that crane
transfers by personnel carrier are
frequently not considered within
emergency evacuation plans. One
possible reason is the unfounded
perception of a high level of risk which
has led some operators to set aside this
mainstream evacuation option. This has
been a loss to the industry as many lives
have been saved worldwide by crane-
based transfer during emergency
operations. Recent industry focus on
emergency evacuation provisions
suggests it may be time to take a fresh
look at the evacuation options.
The safety of personnel carriers has
advanced greatly in recent years, with
new designs considerably reducing risks
such as falls, hard landings, lateral
impacts and immersion. These
improvements also mean that evacuations
can now be performed in weather
conditions that would previously have
been viewed as unsafe. Personnel
capacities have also increased and
carriers are available for passenger
capacities of six or nine persons for rigid
capsule devices, and up to 12 persons for
the more traditional basket derivatives,
allowing for faster transfer of personnel
in emergency situations. Asia in
particular has embraced this new
technology, a number of its major
operators having adopted a policy to use
only the rigid capsules for marine
transfers in this region.
Improved designs of personnel carrier
devices are, however, just one element of
what should be viewed as a crane transfer
system. The key elements of such a
system are the operational controls and
procedures, the transfer equipment
(including both crane and transfer
device), the transfer vessel specification
and personnel experience and training.
The increased focus on selection and
maintenance of all of these elements has
considerably reduced the risk in crane
transfer operations in the region and
when properly planned the safety of
crane transfer evacuations compares very
favourably with other means.
Like all other methods of evacuation,
crane transfer should not be considered
as a stand-alone solution. It could not be
used in isolation for a complete
evacuation in the event of an
abandonment, as clearly the safe
evacuation of the crane operator must be
taken into consideration. However, early
down-manning of an installation can
greatly reduce the risks to all personnel.
For example, an evacuation could be
largely completed by crane, allowing the
few remaining personnel to be evacuated
by a single helicopter flight or lifeboat
launch, before the threat escalates to a
dangerous level.
Evacuation planning requires a holistic
approach. All evacuation methods have
limitations and carry risks and so should
be viewed as complementary to each
other rather than competing with each
other. There is no best method of
evacuation, as this depends very much on
the specific emergency scenario.
Crane transfer of personnel offers a
highly valuable and flexible tool for the
management of a wide range of offshore
emergencies. It fits very well into an
overall offshore evacuation strategy and
in numerous scenarios could be used to
great advantage with the potential to save
many lives.
Developments in the industry mean
that the time is now ripe for operators to
seriously review their evacuation options.
The good news is that improved
capabilities should significantly enhance
the industrys emergency response
capability and reduce the risks for
offshore personnel.
The safety of personnel carriers has advanced greatly in recent years, with new designs
considerably reducing risks such as falls, hard landings, lateral impacts and immersion.
aog_M_4_p035_Safety 19/1/09 3:29 pm Page 35
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AOG_M_4_AD_Page36 19/1/09 1:04 pm Page 1
P
aris-headquartered Bourbon, which
in October 2007 also opened a
training centre in Manila, the
Philippines, dedicated to dynamic
positioning (DP), believes the new
DNV-certified
training facility
within its Ubi Road,
Singapore, premises
will help raise
operational, safety
and quality standards
for the Asian marine
and offshore industries as a whole.
Training is key to our success there
are no shortcuts, says Farid Khan
(pictured), managing director of Bourbon
Offshore Asia. Getting someone to the
level where they can captain one of our
vessels can take five years, and people
coming from conventional vessels to our
electric-driven newbuilds find theres
quite a difference. Thats why in our new
anchor handling tug supply vessel
(AHTS) simulator we will be paying a lot
of attention to how trainees react to
offshore situations, especially under
pressure.
Practical training in anchor handling
operations under real conditions is a key
feature of the centre, which has a fully
equipped bridge, the deck portion of a
vessel and classrooms for theoretical
courses and debriefing. The simulator is
designed to ensure acquisition of the
skills required of new employees, those
already working on vessels, as well as
employees promoted to AHTS vessels in
Asia. The following command stations
are reproduced down to the last detail:
controls of the officer in charge of
manoeuvring the vessel (rear bridge
section); controls of the officer operating
the anchor lifting winch; two simulation
stations for deck crews; simulation of the
offshore rig or platform with
manoeuvring of the anchor line winch
and crane transfers from facility to
vessel.
This programme is then validated by a
training period at sea, following which
anyone who still does not measure up to
Bourbons operating standards and safety
rules returns for further, concentrated
training.
Once the Singapore facilitys
certification formalities are complete
they were made more complex by the fact
it will also be open to the public Khan
expects the first batch of in-house AHTS
crew trainees to arrive around February/
March time.
In line with the objectives defined in its
ambitious Horizon 2012 strategic plan,
training is a clear priority for Bourbon to
handle the current substantial growth in
its fleet numbers (AOG September/
October 2008). Globally, the company is
looking to recruit some 5000 employees by
2012. In the Asian region, with new
vessels being built in series and added to
the regional fleet at a rate of eight or nine
a year, Khan is tasked with more than
doubling his workforce to over 1000 in
the next three years. Thats my biggest
challenge now, finding quality people,
says Khan, who clearly will be relying
heavily on the new facility to meet his
steeper training targets both for new
recruits and existing crews.
A major component of the companys
growing Asian fleet will be the new diesel-
electric DP2 Bourbon Liberty 200 Series
anchor handling towing supply vessels,
the first of which arrived recently and
promptly went into service offshore
Malaysia. Khan expects these vessels
adaptable to deep and shallow water
assignments, very economical to run,
highly manoeuvrable and offering bigger
cargo capacities to give the regional
competition, notably Tidewater and
Swire, something to think about in the
months and years ahead.
The new AHTS simulator is the
companys second after the one opened in
Marseilles, France, in November 2007.
Both were developed
by Norways Offshore
Simulator Center
(OSC), but the
Singapore simulator
is a new version
including parameters
based on Liberty 200
vessel characteristics.
Bourbon chief executive Jacques de
Chateauvieux (pictured) says the new
facilities in Manila, Marseille and now
Singapore are part of a strategy to
industrialise maintenance operations
and training in order to bring costs down
as far as possible. These facilities, he
adds, will give both our oldest and newest
employees quality training, in complete
safety, under real conditions, so that they
are imbued every day with the companys
high operational, quality and safety
standards and the values which
determine and will determine the success
of Bourbon.
training
Bourbon eyes
the cream
Asian offshore vessel training entered new technological
territory recently with the inauguration in Singapore of the
Bourbon Training Centre Asia and its state-of-the-art AHTS
simulator. David Morgan gets an early look.
aog_M_4_p037_Bourbon 19/1/09 3:37 pm Page 37
E
ven though shipyard order
books continue to fill, and
innovative projects such
as SeaMetrics TML heavy lift
transport vessels concept
move ahead, clients are
increasingly showing a
reluctance to commit to
additional newbuilds and, in at
least one case, cancelling, as
Scorpion Deepwater has done
for a semisubmersible drilling
rig.
Jackups
China Offshore Oil
Engineering Company will
construct three offshore jackup
drilling rigs for China Oilfield
Services for a total of
$277 million. The Friede &
Goldman L780 MII design rigs,
to be named COSL 922, 923 and
924, are designed for water
depths of 200ft and capable of
drilling to 20,000ft.
Maritime Industrial Services
(MIS) has completed the jackup
drilling rig SeaWolf
Oritsetimeyin at their yard in
Sharjah, UAE for SeaWolf
Oilfield Services, a Nigerian
drilling company. Costing
$254 million, the newbuild is
the first Friede & Goldman
Super Mod 2 to be built, capable
of drilling to 30,000ft in water
depths up to 300ft.
SeaWolf Onome, a second
jackup rig of the same design,
is scheduled for delivery to
SeaWolf in February 2009.
Virtue Drilling, an associate
company of Indias Jindal
Drilling & Industries, has taken
delivery of the jackup drilling
rig Virtue I from Keppel Fels in
Singapore, a KFels B Class
design, contracted by Oil &
Natural Gas Corporation for
Indian Ocean operations for
five years.
PetroJack ASA, a Larsen Oil
& Gas Group subsidiary, has
taken delivery of the jackup
drilling rig Petrojack IV
(pictured above) from Jurong
Shipyard, in Singapore, a Baker
Marine Pacific Class 375 design.
The rig is scheduled to start a
five-year charter in late
January with PTTEP for
operations in the Gulf of
Thailand.
Ensco Oceanics International
has awarded Lamprell a
$15 million contract to upgrade
and refurbish the Ensco 53
jackup at their Sharjah, UAE,
facility. Workscope over a five
month period is to include hull
steel and piping renewals,
living quarter refurbishment
and leg repair.
Semisubmersibles
Seadrill has taken delivery of
West Taurus (pictured below
left), the second of a series of
four identical sixth generation
dynamic positioning ultra-
deepwater semisubmersible
drilling rigs, built on a turnkey
basis by Jurong Shipyard (JSL)
in Singapore.
The Friede & Goldman
Millennium Class Ex-D design
semi is capable of drilling to
37,500ft in waters depths of up
to 10,000ft.
West Taurus, the first semi to
be built using the JSLs
proprietary transverse
skidding method in
combination with the load-out
and mating-in-dock technique,
has been chartered for six years
to Petrobras.
Moreover, Seadrill has made
an agreement with Ship
Finance International for a
combined sale and leaseback
whereby Seadrill sells the ultra-
deepwater semisubmersible
rigs West Hercules and West
Taurus for a total consideration
of $1.7 billion and then leases
the units for a 15-year period.
COSL has assembled the deck
module to the ship hull of its
Global Maritime designed
deepwater 4000 ton
semisubmersible rig
COSL Pioneer in Yantai Raffles
Shipyard, considered a
milestone in shipbuilding, the
deck module simultaneously
being constructed alongside the
floating platform, a more
efficient and safety enhancing
process.
Scorpion Deepwater, a
subsidiary of Scorpion
Offshore, which had entered
into an accord with KFels for
the construction of a DSS-38
class semisubmersible drilling
rig and delivery in December
2011, has terminated the
$405 million contract on
mutually acceptable terms after
paying $74 million preparatory
to start of fabrication in 2Q
2009 as financing proved
difficult in the current
economic climate.
Scorpion Offshore is working
closely with KFels as
exploratory discussions are
held with interested third
parties to take over building of
the semisubmersible, the
outcome of which KFels
cautions are highly uncertain.
Drillships
Samsung Heavy Industries
(SHI) of South Korea has
reported that it has been
awarded a contract to build two
drillships at a combined value
of $1.4 billion from a customer
only identified by SHI as a ship
owner in Europe. The client is
speculated to be Delba.
Seadrill has taken delivery
from SHI of the ultra-
deepwater drillship West
Capella, to be deployed off
Nigeria for Total, the sixth such
unit out of eight newbuilds
Seadrill had ordered. The two
remaining newbuilds West
Aquarius and West Eminence
are expected to be delivered in
1Q 2010.
Floating production
SBM Offshore is to have Keppel
Shipyard convert and upgrade
a floating, storage and
offloading (FSO) vessel into an
FPSO. When coverted, Okha
will be deployed in 4Q 2010 to
the Cossack/Wanaea/Lambert/
Hermes oil fields, offshore
Western Australia (see News
Update, page 10).
Modec has engaged Jurong
Shipyard to convert the VLCC
tanker MV PSVMinto an
external turret moored FPSO
vessel able to process
150,000bopd and store 1.6mmbo
at a cost of $130 million for
delivery in 1Q 2011 to BP for
operations in Angola.
M3nergy JDA will have a
Panamax tanker converted into
an external turret FSO vessel
shipyards
38
Is the party
ending?
Demand is still strong for exploration and
production rigs and a variety of support
vessels, but market caution is on the rise.
John Mueller looks at recent activity.
aog_M_4_p038_fabrication 19/1/09 2:49 pm Page 38
able to produce 20,000 barrels of
condensate and store 546,000
barrels of oil by Keppel
Shipyard, to be delivered in 3Q
2009 for deployment to the
Joint Development Area off the
east coast of peninsular
Malaysia for Carigali-PTTEPIs
block B-17 field development
project.
SBM Offshore has taken
delivery of the FPSO Espirito
Santo (pictured above) from
Keppel Shipyard. To be
deployed offshore Brazil, the
vessel is capable of processing
100,000bopd and storing
2mmbo, and is operated by a
joint venture of SBM Offshore
and MISC.
Nexus Floating Production
and SHI have deferred
completion of the Nexus #2
FPSO project for up to 18
months due to the adverse
developments in financial
markets, with the option to
terminate the contract which
has accrued an exposure of
$67 million.
Heavy lift/ transport
Nordic Heavy Lift has had the
keel laid for its heavy lift DP3
construction vessel Borealis, a
monohull 5000t lift capacity
vessel with deepwater
installation capabilities, being
built by Sembawang at Nantong
Yahua shipyard in Nantong,
China.
Clough is having its derrick
pipelay barge Java Constructor
upgraded by ST Marine with
completion set for 1H 2009.
Workscope involves adding a
15m mid-section module that
incorporates a new engine
room power management
system, upgrading the heavy
lift crane, pipelay and mooring
systems, and hull
strengthening.
Dockwise Transport has
taken delivery of MV Triumph,
a heavy transport vessel
converted from a tanker by
COSCO Shipyard at
Guangzhou, China, able to
transport cargo in excess of
35,000 tons, such as jackup
drilling rigs.
SeaMetric is having to put up
with a three to six month
holdup in construction of its
two TML heavy lift transport
vessels, being built in parallel
at China Petroleum Liaohe
Equipments shipyard in
Panjin, China, due to delays in
the yards development. The
original completion date was in
3Q 2009.
The SeaMetric Twin Marine
Lifter system (pictured right)
consists of two TML vessels
with eight lifting arms, four on
each vessel, able install and
remove platform topsides and
jackets weighing up to 20,000t.
Contractors have bid for
construction of the TML lifting
arm systems, which will not
start until financing is in place.
Also, SeaMetric has secured
production slots for engines,
generators and thrusters for
four additional vessels; two
further 140m long heavy
transport vessels for a second
TML system as well as two
180m long transport vessels.
Support vessels
Seaways International is to
have Keppel Singmarine build
two RAampage 5500 Z-M DP2
multi tasking anchor handling
tugs (AHT) (pictured right) by
1H 2011.
Keppel Cebu Shipyard in the
Philippines has three tugboat
orders, two from Keppel Smit
Towage and one from the Port
of Salalah, Oman.
Mermaid Marine Australia
has taken delivery of its latest
newbuild, a multi-purpose
support vessel (MPSV),
Mermaid Searcher, built at
Guangzhou Panyu Lingshan
shipyard in southern China
with assistance from Cheoy
Lee, a Hong Kong-based
shipbuilder, to a modified
Conan Wu design, for
operations off the North West
Shelf of Australia.
Deep Sea Supply has taken
delivery of the newbuild Sea
Witch, a UT 755L platform
supply vessel (PSV) built by
Cochin Shipyard in India, the
eighth and final PSV for the
company from the Cochin
yard.
Swire Pacific Offshore
Operations has placed a
$20 million order with
Singapore Technologies Marine
to provide detailed design,
construction and outfitting of a
68m seismic survey vessel, to be
delivered 2H 2010.
Lewek Shipping, a subsidiary
if Ezra Holdings, after
reviewing its orderbook of five
multifunctional support vessels
(MFSV) with Keppel
Singmarine, is working
towards an amicable mutual
termination of their contract,
expected to be finalised early in
the 1Q.
Shipyards
Although KFels has had a
major semisubmersible
booking cancelled and Keppel
Singmarine is about to lose an
important newbuild support
vessel contract, Keppel O&M
reports that Seadrill, formerly
reconsidering construction of
two jackups, has decided to go
ahead, albeit on revised terms,
with the combined $420 million
dual rig award. There is further
cause for optimism as new
business arrangements and
yard improvements continue.
International Gas
Transportation has designated
SembCorp Marine an
evergreen favoured customer
for the provision of repairs,
upgrades and other marine
services for its fleet of LNG
ships which are operated by
North West Shelf Shipping
Service on behalf of the North
West Shelf Venture
participants in Australia.
Strategic Marine, a western
Australian shipbuilder, has
delivered the 4400t base
pontoon of a technologically
advanced floating dry dock,
constructed at their
Vietnamese facility at Dong
Xuyen Industrial Zone, to the
Australian Marine Complex
(AMC), south of Perth.
Dockwise submersible vessel
MV Teal transported the
$44 million, 99m long and 53m
wide steel structure to AMCs
common user facility at
Henderson, where Strategic
Marine will fit 840t of
superstructure to the docks
base, as well as computer
equipment and cranes.
shipyards
39
C
ompetition for offshore
work among Middle East
shipyards further
intensified late last year with
the announcement that ASRY
the Arab Ship Building and
Repair Yard in Bahrain was
establishing an operating
company focused purely on
offshore business.
An early vindication of this
decision came with the
announcement of a contract
from Hercules Offshore for the
upgrading of its Hercules 170
jackup drilling rig the first
major contract landed by
ASRY Offshore Services
(AOS) in its own right and one
that typifies the new
companys chosen target
market.
The OAPEC-owned Bahrain
yard had been making steady
inroads into the regional rig
repair market in recent years,
for example landing work on
Saudi Aramcos ARB1 and the
National Drilling Company of
Abu Dhabis Al Bzoom(ex Al
Mariyah) jackup. It was also
picking up more and more
conversion and upgrading
work for FSOs and FSUs as
well as repair work on derrick
barges, anchor handlers,
diving support vessels and
offshore supply boats. With
last summers completion of
two new 510m-long slipways
hailed as the Middle Easts
largest at a cost of
$25 million, the stage was set
for a new and dedicated
business unit to push further
into this market.
There is no doubt that
ASRY has the necessary
experience to succeed in this
market, says group chairman
Shaikh Daij Bin Salman Bin
Daij Al-Khalifa. We have in
ASRY a facility second to none
in the Arabian Gulf, and are
confident that we can become
a major service provider for
repairs and maintenance of
rigs to the oil & gas
industries. Speaking at the
recent official opening of the
new slipways, Shaikh Daij said
his board had already rubber-
stamped plans for a further
$188 million investment in new
facilities, much of it targeting
the offshore market. The new
investment would be financed,
he added, totally by the
shipyard itself .
At the helm of AOS are two
Englishmen. CEO Chris Potter
has spent his entire working
life in ship repair, having
worked for yards in the UK,
Singapore,
Bahrain and
Gibraltar before
joining ASRY in
1992. Sales &
marketing
director Peter Thornton
(pictured) brings oil & gas
industry nous to the mix,
having spent some 25 years
working in the offshore
industry with the likes of
Comex, Amerada Hess, Agip,
Lasmo and Texaco before
joining London-based ASRY
Mar in 2000.
Among specialist offshore
staff housed in AOS new
purpose-built offices at the
yard are Palitha Jagathpriya,
the companys Sri Lankan-
born project engineering
manager, and Rob Bryant, who
heads up the operations of the
Kvasir Group, AOS recently
appointed agents in Qatar.
Headquartered in Doha,
Kvasir is run by former Total
Aberdeen hand John Barber.
The work package for
shipyards
40
Mid-East eyes on
the offshore prize
With slots increasingly hard to find among the more
traditional rig building and repair facilities further east,
Middle East shipyards are today casting their nets
wider for offshore business. David Morgan reports.
The contract to upgrade the
jackup Hercules 170 was the
first secured by AOS in its own
right.
Following the recent opening
of two slipways, the Bahrain
facility is planning to add a
1.2km repair quay and
200,000m
2
offshore
fabrication area.
Hercules 170, built in
Singapore in 1981 and
currently operated in the
Arabian Gulf region by
Hercules Offshores Doha
company, includes a number of
upgrades to increase the rigs
performance and drilling
capabilities. The work
includes installing a new and
larger portside crane,
additional generators and
modifications to the lifeboats
as well as upgrading the
drilling systems, with work on
the mud pumps, and blasting
and painting of the hull and
legs.
With AOS focusing its
attention initially on rig
market opportunities, Peter
Thornton is confident that
more rig life extension
programmes as well as the
overhaul and maintenance of
specialist systems and
equipment will feature in the
companys work pipeline
shortly. Most of the US
drillers who have visited our
yard have been extremely
surprised by the quality of the
facility in their midst, he says.
With its proximity to major
offshore projects taking shape
in the region, for example
Maersks Al Shaheen
development, Thornton also
sees a big opportunity for
AOS in the area of manpower
services.
He also expects the new
slipways each with a dry
berth length of 255m and
equipped with some 360t of
pulling capacity to be a
magnet for offshore support
vessel repair, maintenance and
conversion work. Now fully
operational, they are capable
of accommodating vessel sizes
up to a maximum 140m x 20m.
Among the first visitors to the
new slipway facility was
Rising Flag Worldwides 2008-
built OSV Tag Blue Hawk.
Other vessels to have docked
there since include the Atco
Sharifa, Atco Taibah, Huta 35,
CCC Pioneer, Farouk and
Martec 250.
AOS says it is in discussion
with a major, multinational
operator of pipelay, trenching
and ROV vessels with a view to
establishing a base in ASRYs
Bahrain facility. The
possibility of establishing a
pipe spooling facility there has
also been mentioned in early
despatches. Longer term, AOS
sees itself becoming a hub for
specialist service companies
wishing to operate in the
Arabian Gulf and a centre of
excellence for oil and gas
companies operating in the
region.
Also very much on the AOS
agenda is the provision of
fabrication support services
for offshore contractors,
although Thornton concedes
the companys work horizons
will for the time being be
confined to secondary
construction tasks in the form
of flare towers, conductor
guides, J-tube bundles and
suchlike. We have the
necessary workshops, skills
and manpower resources to
undertake such contracts, but
we are not ready yet to take on
the big boys like McDermott
before we can run, we must be
able to walk properly, he says.
But we know what we are
good at and, unlike some of
our competitors, want to
remain purely an Arabian
Gulf company, adds
Thornton.
Ultimately, I see us
becoming a major fabricator
in the Gulf. As well as being
able to call on the expertise
and experience of a seasoned,
5000-strong ASRY workforce,
we also have plenty of space
and thats at a premium
among yards worldwide these
days.
At present, AOS has some
10,000m
2
of fabrication area
available at the yard as well as
strengthened quays for
platform load-out operations.
The next investment phase
just announced will see the
addition of a 1.2km repair
quay with an alongside water
depth of 12m, a 200,000m
2
offshore fabrication area with
loadout quay, and four new
22m, 45t bollard pull tugs
which ASRY will build itself.
The new facilities are expected
to be in service within two and
a half years.
Rising Flags new offshore support vessel Tag Blue Hawk was
among the first visitors to the new slipway facility.
Eastern expansion
While AOSsees plenty of offshore opportunity in the Arabian Gulf
area, another of the region s shipyards, Dubai-based Drydocks
World, has been aggressively expanding its easterly geographical
spread.
With dredging under way at its 430-acre Batam Island site in
Indonesia, Drydocks World expects to start operations at
PTMaritime Centre its fifth yard in Southeast Asia early in 2010.
The yard, which will operate as an 80:20 joint venture between
Drydocks, the shipbuilding and repair arm of Dubai World, and
Fabtech, an offshore engineering company and land rig builder,
is specifically targeting the fabrication of offshore modules,
mooring components and systems for FPSOs.
Drydocks World-SE Asia, formed last year to manage the
smaller, niche shipyards acquired by the group in Asia primarily
in Singapore and Batam now operates four yards following the
purchase of Pan-United Marine and Labroy Marine.
Pan-United now comes under Drydocks World Singapore,
focusing on shipbuilding and repair work including FPSO
conversions.
The 120-acre Batam Island shipyard that was previously
Labroy s is now known as Drydocks World-Graha, specialising in
rig building work, under managing director Mark Biggs. The plan
here is to upgrade the facility to accommodate up to eight
jackups in the short
term and
potentially 12 in the
longer term. In July
the yard launched
its first mobile
offshore drilling unit,
Naga 2 (pictured),
a new-generation
MSC CJ46 X110D rig
owned jointly by
Norway s Standard
Drilling and
Malaysia s UMW
Naga Two.
Capable of drilling
in 350ft of water
and to a depth of 30,000ft, it is the first of four identical jackups
ordered from the yard by Standard Drilling. Also currently under
construction there are two MSC-designed Sea Jacks for Master
Marine.
Drydocks World has two other yards in Batam
Drydocks-Nanindah and Drydocks-Pertama undertaking
offshore construction and support vessel work and is looking to
acquire more yard space in China, India and South America.
Pile driving
winner
Menck, an Acteon company,
has won the first Ben C
Gerwick award for innovation
in design and construction of
marine works for its MUP
(Menck underwater power
pack) deepwater pile driving
system, which has set records
for depth in foundation pile
driving, used to date to drive
piles as deep as 1929m.
Utilising a Menck MHU
hydraulic piledriving hammer,
the MUP system includes a
power pack attached directly
to the hammer and a custom-
made umbilical system.
Delivering electric power at
the hammer reduces the size
and weight of the umbilical
cable connecting the hammer
to the surface.
Sensing spread
SensorTran recently
announced that its fibre optics-
based distributed temperature
sensing (DTS) technology is
now deployed in six regions
spanning five continents.
The latest projects include
the deployment of a high speed,
high intensity DTS system for
flow analysis and water
breakthrough monitoring in a
long reach horizontal well in
the North Sea.
The firm also has an LNG
tank monitoring system in
place near a large offshore
natural gas field in northwest
Australia, and provided a DTS
system for production
monitoring, including
downhole cables and surface
equipment, for a Malaysian
offshore platform.
Well testing
expedited
Schlumberger has introduced
its new CleanPhase well test
separator, a three-phase
system that enables optimum
retention of fluids, allowing
for cleaner phases and better
measurements. The company
says this rejuvenated approach
to phase isolation during the
separation process limits the
uncertainty inherent during
reservoir characterisation and
significantly aids efficient
disposal of individual phases.
The separator has
SmartWeir technology that
uses radar to monitor liquid
levels and adjust the weir to
accommodate challenging well
effluents, and also allows
online separation for the
entire job, from cleanup start
until well test end.
First reservoir fluids are
identified sooner than with
traditional methods, and faster
cleanups are facilitated by
flowing the well to a higher-
pressure vessel than is
possible with conventional
setups.
The separator handles high
water cut and fluctuating flow
rates without slowing down
the process, leading to
efficient isolation and
measurement of purer single-
phase fluids, operable as a
stand-alone unit or in
combination with the
PhaseTester multiphase
flowmeter.
An operator in North Africa
tested 22 wells using the
separator, which accurately
measured flow rates from
wells producing gas,
condensate and water.
SIMPL subsea
approach
The Sonsub division of
Saipem UK has developed
Sonsub Integrated
Management of Project
Lifecycle (SIMPL), the
implementation of a wide
range of complementary next-
generation 3D visualisation
and advanced dynamic
analysis tools to achieve a
streamlined approach to
managing the lifecycle of
subsea projects.
Sonsub says the SIMPL
process emphasises continuity
in all project phases, from
marketing and tenders,
through detailed design and
offshore operations with 3D
HAZID familiarisation and
risk assessments, to review
and analysis, using the same
tools to evolve the project from
the virtual world to reality.
Through the use of rapid
computer visualisation and
analysis tools, the goal of
SIMPL is to arrive as directly
as possible at a workable
solution to any subsea
installation and construction
problem.
Remote wireless
viewing
RigNet has added SOIL
RemoteView EX, a hand-held,
ruggedised, explosion-proof
wireless camera, to its lineup
of SOIL (Secure Oil
Information Link) Meeting
product review
42
Real time downhole fluid analysis
Release of the InSitu Family of reservoir fluid
measurement services was announced by Schlumberger in
Kuala Lumpur in December.
These measurements are acquired with the companys
next-generation real-time downhole fluid analysis (DFA)
system, the InSitu Fluid Analyzer. A portfolio of seven
services is currently offered, each bearing the InSitu
prefix and covering hydrocarbon fluid composition
measurement and reservoir fluid GOR, CO2 , density, color,
fluorescence and pH measurement.
According to Schlumberger, quantitative fluid
measurements that were previously unachievable from
wireline technology are now possible downhole and in
real-time. Operators no longer have to wait for samples to
be returned to the surface for analysis, said Zied Ben
Hamad, marketing and technology manager, Schlumberger
Wireline. This real-time information helps operators
confirm assumptions on reservoir compartmentalization
and make informed decisions on completion and surface
facility design.
Fluid profiling analysis with InSitu Family
measurements gives further insight to reservoir fluid
distribution and variation. Schlumberger said this is made
possible with its Quicksilver Probe focused fluid extraction
tool that acquires reservoir fluid with ultra-low or no
contamination for DFA. Characterization of the reservoir
fluid system is extended from a single well to multiple-well
(field-based) applications, such as quantifying
compositional gradients and identifying zonal
connectivity.
In development for five years, the InSitu Family portfolio
has been field tested worldwide.
aog_M_4_p042_PR 19/1/09 3:25 pm Page 42
video solutions.
SOIL RemoteView EX is
designed for industries that
operate in potentially
explosive atmospheres, such
as drilling rigs, petrochemical
plants and refineries, enabling
troubleshooting from a
distance, real-time
collaboration and the sharing
of expert knowledge across
multiple work sites.
RigNets SOIL network is a
private extranet that allows
secure collaboration among
subscribers.
SOIL Meeting is a video
conferencing solution that
uses the SOIL network as the
means for connecting
participants.
Seamless 3D
Foster Findlay Associates has
released SEA 3D Pro 2008,
bringing the power of Foster
Findlays Windows
application, SVI Pro, to the
Linux workstation, which
works seamlessly with
GeoProbe, Halliburtons 3D
interpretation software.
SEA 3D Pro 2008, says Foster
Findlay, has addressed three
key considerations in the
companys software
development strategy:
provision of cross platform
support, improving workflow
efficiency and integration.
SEA 3D Pro 2008 contains an
extensive range of volume
processing technology and
interactive tools for objectively
highlighting and delineating
geological features in 3D. The
interactive link with
GeoProbe, Halliburtons 3D
interpretation software,
facilitates seamless volume
interpretation workflows
using Foster Findlays 3D
seismic analysis technology.
Accessible
geoscience
SMT (Seismic Micro
Technology) has released
Kingdom 8.3, a Windows-based
geoscientific interpretation
software within the capability
of the generalist interpreter.
New key software
capabilities encompass AVO
conditioning, forward
modeling and neural network-
based log replacement,
designed according to SMT to
help upstream E&P companies
locate unconventional sources
more quickly, explore more
cost effectively and maximise
production.
The new AVO conditioning
capability optimises
extraction from
unconventional sources by
helping geoscientists reduce
noise from their pre-stack
data, without requiring third
party tools.
Forward geologic modeling
lowers risk when exploring
new fields by helping
interpreters conduct what if
analysis by incorporating
lithologic and fluid
composition assumptions into
existing data.
The patent-pending neural
network-based log
replacement technology helps
maximise declining well
production by better
identifying areas of pay, even
where records have been lost
over time, through the
automated generation of
missing log curves.
High speed
logging
telemetry
Baker Hughes Inteq has
unveiled the aXcelerate High-
Speed Telemetry service,
offering high-speed mud-pulse
and wired-pipe data
transmission for logging-
while-drilling (LWD) and
measurement-while-drilling
(MWD) applications.
The aXcelerate service
facilitates real-time
transmission of high-speed,
high-resolution data from all
of Inteqs downhole services,
at data rates of twenty bits per
product review
43
Temperatures detected
Watlow, a designer and
manufacturer of electric
heaters, controllers and
temperature sensors, offers
a full line of resistance
temperature detector (RTD)
sensors for a wide variety
of process and industrial
applications, including the
petrochemical sector.
Watlow says its RTDs
provide accuracy and a
wide temperature operating
range of 200C to 650C
(328F to 1200F). The
linear change in resistance
per degree change in
temperature makes it easy
to interpret the signal,
allows for less complex instrumentation and requires no
cold junction compensation like that found in a
thermocouple.
Remote undersea
power
Diversified Technologies is
introducing a new high voltage down
converter that allows efficient, long
distance high voltage transmission
and down conversion at point-of-load
undersea.
The PowerMod high voltage down
converter allows 5-10kV transmission
and provides down conversion of
10-20kW, with conversion to 100-600V
at the point-of-load undersea.
Featuring direct solid-state switching,
Diversified Technologies says the
converter maintains 90% efficiency,
with constant transmission over the
length of cable up to 100km and up to
hundreds of kilometers using
multiple nodes.
Connected in parallel to maintain
constant voltage through the entire
length of cable, PowerMod high
voltage down converters, priced at
$100,000 per node, incorporate switch-
modules which provide over one
million hours predicted reliability
per MIL-HDBK-217F.
Applications include the remote
undersea powering of motors, data
repeaters, instruments for oil
exploration, environmental studies,
and submersibles.
aog_M_4_p043_PR 19/1/09 3:26 pm Page 43
second, more than 500% faster
than the three bits per second
industry standard, says Inteq.
The aXcelerate service also
enables wired-pipe telemetry
connectivity in conjunction
with The IntelliServ Network.
Inteq has provided downhole
services in the majority of all
wired-pipe work that has been
done to date and has worked
closely with The IntelliServ
Network to pioneer real-time
applications that take
advantage of the large
bandwidths available.
Start stop data
logger
Dickson has a new multi-
feature digital display
temperature and humidity
data logger with both push-to-
start and push-to-stop
functions. Data recording is
said to be precise and easy-to-
read, facilitating the mapping
and analysis of temperature
and/or humidity in conditions
when it is preferable to know
when data recording starts
and stops, such as for
environmental monitoring,
avoiding unnecessary readings
mixed in with real data.
A temperature only version
is also available.
Subsurface
modelling
solution
Paradigm has previewed its
SKUA Prospect Architecture, a
new module available with
Paradigm SKUA 2009, designed
to help geophysicists and
geologists generate higher
quality prospect maps.
SKUA Prospect
Architecture, says Paradigm,
helps enforce structural and
stratigraphic integrity using
SKUA UVT Transform and
enables 3D seismic chrono-
stratigraphic interpretation.
The earth model and
interpretation are quality-
controlled and edited
simultaneously while
synchronously creating a
water-tight structural model
ready for velocity modelling
and time/depth conversion
and a geological model ready
for reservoir modelling.
The SKUA 2009 Suite
connects to the interpretation
solution, Paradigm SeisEarth,
via the new Epos framework
currently in development.
Independently, SKUA 2009 and
SeisEarth offer capabilities in
structural modelling and
seismic interpretation,
respectively.
Market and
finance
integrator
WellPoint Systems has
launched WellPoint Integrated
Suite (WIS) 4.1, an oil and gas
software application powered
by Microsoft Dynamics AX
that introduces new
functionality by integrating
the WellPoint Energy Broker
(ENB) and the WellPoint
Energy Financial
Management (EFM) solutions
in a single package.
ENB is an oil and gas
marketing software solution
with a flexible contract and
price builder and a logistics
marketing and settlement
solution, a configurable and
scalable multi-commodity,
currency and language
marketing system.
EFM offers a single standard
global solution for worldwide
financial management and
reporting requirements.
Low power
control
Yokogawa Electric has made
available several new low
power consumption modules
for use with field control node
(FCN) autonomous
controllers, a core element of
the Stardom network-based
control system. The new
modules include a CPU
module with embedded I/O
and communication ports, a
power supply module, and a
base module that is half the
size of its predecessor.
With their durability, low
power consumption and ability
to run on solar batteries,
Yokogawa says these modules
enable the use of FCN
controllers in gas and oil fields
and locations subject to harsh
environmental conditions
and/or lacking infrastructure.
Rental oil-free
compressors
assist FPSO
commissioning
The Singapore operation of
Atlas Copco Specialty Rental
supplied two PTS 916 oil-free air
compressors and a desiccant
dryer for the commissioning of
giant FPSO Hai Yang Shi You
117 by Sembawang Shipyard
(AOGNovember/December
2008). The vessel will be moored
in the shallow water Bohai Bay
as part of Chinas Peng Lai 19-3
phase two oil development,
operated by ConocoPhillips.
The two PTS 916 100% oil
free air compressors provided
the air supply for all air
related pipes installed in the
vessels superstructure at
Sembawang.
According to Atlas Copco,
the use of rental units is
preferred since the permanent
onboard compressor is run off
the ships engine which is
both expensive and
impractical to run whilst in
the shipyard.
The compressors feature an
actual free air delivery (fad) of
37.4m
3
/min at 10.3bar;
including a desiccant dryer in
the rental package ensured
totally dry air to a dew point of
40C.
product review
44
Quick riser connection
Subsea Riser Products (SRP) has developed Quick-Flange, a
quick make-up, lightweight marine drilling riser
connection, able to be deployed in severe conditions in
deep waters. All ancillary components perform as part of
an integrated system resulting in optimised performance
as well as easier inspection and reduced maintenance
costs, says SRP.
Quick-Flange advantages include rapid make-up, 2.5
million pound load capacity, load sharing option and the
choice to use lightweight or high strength metals, plus
faster running and retrieval times than a standard marine
drilling riser flange.
Rapid make-up is achieved by using four quarter-turn
breach connectors positioned around the flange face.
aog_M_4_p044_PR 19/1/09 3:26 pm Page 44
August 4-6, 2009
Moody Gardens Hotel & Convention Center, Galveston, Texas
Discover your options. . .
at the Deepwater Intervention Forum
The 5th annual Deepwater Intervention Forum will be held at the
Moody Gardens Hotel and Convention Center in Galveston, Texas,
August 4-6, 2009. Key operators and service industry personnel
will discuss and share experiences/challenges within the deepwater
intervention market. With the continuing growth in subsea tieback
developments, finding ways to avoid or reduce workover and
thru-tubing well intervention costs is becoming critical for operators
with mature assets. Forum attendees will be able to discover the
latest systems and technologies available. Learn from recent
intervention case studies, and network with industry
experts working on deepwater interventions worldwide.
The 2009 Technical Advisory Board is chaired by Brian Skeels of
FMC Technologies and co-chaired by Mike Bednarz of BP.
The Advisory Board is made up almost exclusively of operators
and is currently preparing a two-day program of case studies
and expert presentations on this well-timed topic. Attendees to
this forum will participate in discussions centering on new tools,
techniques, and best practices associated with well interventions.
There will also be a golf tournament on Tuesday, August 4, 2009.
Come network, learn, and relax before the forum kicks off that evening.
Topics to be discussed include:
Operator View
of the Intervention Market
Update on
Popular Intervention Systems
New Challenges in
Rig Based Interventions
Pipeline and
Umbilical Interventions
Storm Related Interventions
and the Lessons Learned
Panel Discussions based on
What the Audience Wants to Know
09 Advisory Board
Chairman Brian Skeels
Emerging Technologies Director
FMC Technologies
Co-chairman Mike Bednarz
Sr Intervention Engineer BP
Bob Curtis, RIT Superintendent /
Program Manager i-Tech,
a Subsea 7 company
Dana Witt, Senior Drilling Advisor
Chevron
Joseph Levine, Senior Engineer, Office of
Offshore Regulatory Programs MMS
John Cromb, Completion Engineer
Anadarko
Perry Courville, CT and HWO Product
Manager Halliburton
Colin Johnston, Senior Well Operations
Engineer WellOps
Joel Rignol, Completion & Well Works
Team Leader Total E&P USA
Ray Stawaisz, Deepwater Intervention
Manager, GOM Chevron
Lynard Carter, Petroleum Engineer MMS
John Bousa, DMT ROV & Diving Sales DMT
Brent Boyce, Subsea Installation
Manager InterMoor, Inc.
Mark DeRouen, Deepwater Production
Engineer Mariner Energy, Inc.
Robert Corkren, Sales & Marketing
Manager i-Tech, a Subsea 7 company
Larry Klentz, Project Manager Riser and
Tooling Division Saipem America
Nick Alvarado, Subsea Engineer Fugro
Andy Henderson, Manager Subsea
Tiebacks Oceaneering
Colin Morris, Subsea Intervention Theme
Leader Shell
Terry Lease, General Manager
VMAX Technologies, Inc.
Bjorn Ronning, Senior Operations
Engineer Well Ops, Helix ESG
This interactive event is designed to maximize the exchange of ideas among delegates and presenters.
This is achieved by eliminating formal, peer-reviewed papers in favor of brief technical presentations followed
by an extended Q&A period. No proceedings will be published, and the press will not be invited to attend.
For information on attending this event, sponsorship and exhibit opportunities or general
information, please contact Ray Vanegas at rvanegas@oilonline.com or call 713-874-2207.
www.deepwaterintervention.com
AOG_M_4_DIF_FP.indd 1 19/1/09 11:19:55
SBM nets NWS
contract
SBM Offshore has landed the
$145 million full scope turnkey
contract to provide operator
Woodside Energy with a
disconnectable FPSO for
Western Australias CWLH
project (see page 10). SBM will
convert its Okha FSO at
Singapores Keppel Shipyard to
replace the existing FPSO
Cossack Pioneer.
Bechtel to
FEED GLNG
Santos and Petronas have
selected Bechtel as the front
end engineering design (FEED)
contractor for the downstream
components of the Gladstone
LNG (GLNG) project, which
involves the construction of an
initial nominal 3.5 million
tonne per annum LNG
liquefaction plant utilising the
ConocoPhillips Optimised
Cascade Process on Curtis
Island in Gladstone Harbour,
Australia. Gas will be supplied
from the Santos/ Petronas coal
seam gas (CSG) fields in south
east Queensland.
The FEED contract, valued at
approximately $40 million,
covers the liquefaction plant
and associated infrastructure,
set to commence in 1Q 2009.
The Bechtel award includes a
re-estimate of total GLNG
project costs, the worlds first
CSG to LNG development,
estimated in 2007 at $5.5 billion.
A final investment decision is
expected in 1H 2010 with first
gas shipments scheduled in
2014.
Reindeer
reined in
AusGroup subsidiary AGC has
had its fabrication contract for
the Reindeer platform
terminated by Apache Energy
following the project joint
ventures decision to shelve
development plans for this
Western Australia offshore gas
development and its associated
onshore processing facilities at
Devil Creek.
Apache and partner Santos
had originally envisaged the
development coming onstream
in 2010. They now plan to
continue working on regulatory
approvals to ensure a timely
restart of the project once gas
sales agreements that support
the development have been
agreed.
AusGroup said 14% of the
approximate $30 million
contract value has been
invoiced and paid and
anticipates that all costs and
commitments will be
reimbursed by the client.
Clough B17
pipeline award
Clough has been awarded a
contract by Real Offshore
Installation of Malaysia for
installation of a 24in pipeline
and associated tie-ins and stalk-
on risers within the block B17
field development, located in
the offshore Joint Development
Area (JDA) between Malaysia
and Thailand and operated by
CPOC (Carigali-PTTEP
Operating Company).
Clough will deploy its derrick
pipelay barge Java Constructor
after completion of upgrade,
now underway by ST Marine in
Singapore.
The projected one-month B17
installation is scheduled to
start 2Q 2009.
Hallin dives
for Shell
Hallin Marine has been
awarded a $4.2 million contract
for the provision of saturation
diving services by J Ray
McDermott for a Shell Sarawak
pipeline installation campaign,
offshore East Malaysia.
Hallin Marine will mobilise a
nine man saturation diving
team to support McDermotts
DB26 construction barge for its
scope of work in water depths
to 100m from February to
December.
Bayu Undan
maintained
Clough Amec has been awarded
a new three-year contract
valued at $60 million to provide
operations and maintenance
services to the offshore Bayu
Undan gas and liquid
hydrocarbons production
facilities, located in the Timor
Sea joint production
development area (JPDA)
between Australia and Timor
Leste. Bayu Undan, operated by
ConocoPhillips (03-12), the
principal stakeholder at just
over 57%, consists primarily of
an FSO and three platforms,
wellhead, compression with
quarters, and drilling &
production and processing.
Technip lands
MA-D6 deal
Technip has received an
offshore installation award
from Aker Installation Floating
Production worth over
$180 million for phase two
development of the MA-D6
oilfield, operated by Reliance
Industries off the east coast of
India (see feature, page 14).
The contract includes
engineering and project
management, transportation
and installation of 18km of
flexible production and gas
export risers and flowlines,
fabricated by Technip under a
separate contract,
transportation and installation
of five umbilicals and a gas
export manifold, and
construction, transport and
installation of a 24in rigid
spool, all supported by the
Groups center in Chennai,
India.
Offshore installation is
scheduled for 1H 2009, to be
carried out by the Constructor.
Mahakam
reservoir boost
Halliburton has secured a
three-year contract with Total
E&P Indonesie to provide
specialised cased-hole services
in the shallow waters of the
Mahakam Delta, East
Kalimantan, Indonesia.
Total will be provided with a
full suite of technologies and
services to meet the challenges
of laminated reservoirs,
servicing more than 1200
producing wells utilising
Halliburtons Julia Segara
Lestari barge and Elnusas
Samudra-1, a low draft, self-
propelled vessel.
Technologies employed
include Halliburtons MaxForce
deep penetrating charges and
pressure-independent gun
brake system, used with the
SurgePro perforating design
software program to optimise
underbalanced perforating
operations, and the StimGun
assembly to fracture the deltas
tight formations.
Rong Doi
extension
Production Services Network
(PSN) has secured a four-year,
multi-million dollar contract
extension to provide operation
and maintenance services on
Korea National Oil
Corporations (KNOC) Rong
Doi and Rong Doi Tay gas field
contracts/ deliveries
46
China sold 20 years of LNG
Royal Dutch Shell has agreed to sell two million tonnes per
annum (mtpa) of LNG to China for 20 years in a deal signed
with PetroChina International, a wholly-owned subsidiary of
PetroChina Company.
Part of the LNG will be from the Gorgon gas project off
Western Australia, held by Shell 25%, ExxonMobil 25%, and
Chevron Corporation 50%.
aog_M_4_p046_BOB 19/1/09 1:56 pm Page 46
development project, located
offshore the southeast coast of
Vietnam.
Rong Doi, KNOCs first
offshore production facility
outside of Korea, is supported
by a predominantly local PSN
team.
Qatargas
support
Qatargas has entered into a
five-year support and service
agreement with Emerson
Process Management for its
expanding LNG operations at
Ras Laffan, Qatar.
Emerson is to provide asset
management services,
advanced skills training, and a
comprehensive parts
management programme,
having established a dedicated
team of engineers resident in
Qatar.
Emerson already has a long
term alliance in place with
Qatargas for supply of digital
automation solutions,
including PlantWeb digital
plant architecture and smart
instrumentation.
When completed and
operating, Qatargas four new
LNG liquefaction and mega
trains at Ras Laffan are
expected to create the worlds
largest capacity for LNG, each
delivering at a rate of 7.8mtpa,
part of a plan by Qatar to
export more than 42 mtpa of
LNG by end 2010.
Aramco flow
served
Flowserve Corporation has
signed a 10-year supplier
agreement involving their
entire range of flow control
products and value-added
services to Saudi Aramco for
use in extant and planned
facilities.
Flowserve will streamline
procurement for all new
equipment, to include pumps,
valves, actuators and
mechanical seals, deliver cost
reducing aftermarket services
through a LifeCycle Advantage
regime that optimises spare
parts inventories, increases
equipment life, and maximises
reliability, engage in a joint
product and technology
development programme and
establish local training centres.
Fast track pipe
Barmada McDermott, a J Ray
McDermott subsidiary, has won
a fast track transportation and
installation contract from
ExxonMobil Exploration &
Production Malaysia for the
1
1
/2 mile, 12in full well stream
replacement pipeline between
Guntong-C and Guntong-A,
offshore the east coast of
peninsular Malaysia.
Expro tests
Karachaganak
Expro International has been
awarded a three-year contract
extension from Karachaganak
Petroleum to continue well
testing services on the
Karachaganak oil, gas and
condensate field, onshore north
western Kazakhstan into 4Q
2011.
The contract involves
provision of well testing
services, including use of the
Megaflow separator for well
clean-up, slickline, memory
cased hole production log
testing, calipers and gauges,
along with sampling and radial
cutting torch services.
Apexindo in
Kalimantan
operations
PT Apexindo Pratama Duta has
secured an estimated
$44 million one-year contract
for its offshore swamp barge
drilling rig Raisis from Total
E&P Indonesie, for operations
in the Handil area of East
Kalimantan, Indonesia.
Apexindo has also received
an appointment letter from
Vico Indonesia valued at
approximately $27 million to
deploy Rig-5 for a one-year
onshore drilling project in
Nilam, East Kalimantan.
ABB powers
Asian rigs
ABB has won contracts worth a
total of more than $150 million
to supply main electrical
systems for six drilling rigs and
drillships built in Asia.
The new orders comprise
three deepwater rigs under
construction at Jurong
Shipyard in Singapore and
three Korean built drillships
two at Samsung Heavy
Industries shipyard and one at
Hyundai Heavy Industries.
ABB will supply complete
electrical systems, including
generators, medium and low
voltage power distribution,
thruster drive and drilling
drive systems.
BSP grips
wellheads
Plexus Holdings has entered
into a new four-year contract
with Brunei Shell Petroleum
for the supply of its proprietary
Pos-Grip wellheads and TRT-S
mudline suspension
equipment, together with
service and support. Work,
commencing with the supply of
wellheads for two wells, one of
which is HPHT, will be
supported by Plexus sales and
operational presence in
Malaysia.
Seamless
communication
CapRock Communications won
a five-year contract to deploy
satcoms for Transoceans global
fleet of drilling rigs.
CapRock will consolidate
Transoceans different VSAT
systems and services across its
geographically dispersed fleet
and shore base facilities into
one network.
CapRocks VSAT
connectivity will support Voice
over Internet Protocol (VoIP),
secure access to the corporate
network and internet access.
Hefty newbuild
tender award
Kencana Mermaid Drilling has
received a letter of award from
Petronas Carigali for its
newbuild tender assisted
drilling rig MKR-1.
The initial five-year contract,
extendable by up to five years
and estimated to be worth
$235 million, is expected to start
by 4Q 2009 when the rig, now
under construction by Kencana
HL, is completed.
contracts/ deliveries
47
CONTRACTEXTENSION: Seadrill and Brunei Shell Petroleum (BSP)
have agreed to extend the contract for the self-erecting
semisubmersible tender rig West Pelaut for three years for an
estimated $153 million, starting 2Q 2009 in direct continuation of
existing BSP work .
aog_M_4_p047_BOB 19/1/09 2:01 pm Page 47
Triton expands
on all fronts
The Aberdeen, Scotland-based
Triton Group is investing in a
stronger presence in Singapore
by widening its capabilities to
encompass all group businesses
including Perry Slingsby
Systems, Sub-Atlantic,
Dynamic Positioning Services,
UK Project Support (UKPS),
Subco and Visualsoft.
Cynergetix, the groups
Singapore subsidiary, already
an established ROV support
provider servicing Triton
customers operating across
Asia, will be complemented
with further expansion to
support the remaining
businesses Geoscience Earth &
Marine Services and VMAX
Technologies, expected to take
place throughout 2009.
Triton will increase its
combined rental and spare
parts inventory to over
$5 million in 2009, and offer a
range of specialised deepwater
tooling systems and equipment.
Bibby base in
Singapore
Bibby Ship Management has
opened an office in Singapore,
to expand global coverage and
allow greater access to the
Southeast Asian market.
Singapore complements
Bibby regional offices in
Manila and Mumbai.
Hempel
spreading in
China
Marine, protective and
decorative coatings specialist
Hempel is acquiring 100%
ownership of Hempel-Hai Hong
in China.
Hempel-Hai Hong,
headquartered in Hong Kong
and responsible for 25% of
global turnover for Hempel, has
three factories, with a fourth on
the way, 10 major offices and 13
stock points in China.
Malaysian
umbilicals
Technip is to expand its
Asiaflex Products
manufacturing facility at
Tanjung Langsat, Johor,
peninsular Malaysia to include
the production of subsea
umbilical systems as of 2010,
augmenting the manufacture of
the companys complete range
of flexible pipes at the plant,
currently under construction.
Technip hopes to leverage
this and other worldwide
development and
manufacturing centres to serve
the deepwater oil and gas
markets in India and the Asia
Pacific and Middle East
regions.
Bridon focus
on Hangzhou
Wire and rope manufacturer
Bridon has agreed to sell its
majority interest in Bridon
Tianjin, manufacturer of
elevator rope, to Golik
Holdings, a Hong Kong-based
company.
The sale allows Bridon to
concentrate on developing
other opportunities in China,
with a focus on the recently
acquired operation in
Hangzhou, where Bridon
Hangzhou has a manufacturing
base to serve growing demand
across Asia in their core
markets in the oil and gas,
mining, and construction
sectors.
Personnel
supply
KS Energy Services has
incorporated two wholly-owned
subsidiaries in Singapore that
are involved in the provision of
personnel and services to
upstream and downstream oil
and gas companies, KS
Technical Resources and
Specialist Resources
International.
Flowserve
speeds up
Flowserve has opened its
newest Quick Response Center
(QRC) in Bangalore, India, part
of a growing global network.
Located at Flowserves
existing Bangalore facility, the
new facility will manufacture
and service Flowserve
Limitorque actuators for the
petrochemical and power
industry in India.
CSG takeover
BG International (AUS)
Investments, a BG Group
subsidiary, has acquired 96.62%
interest in Queensland Gas in
Australia and intends to
commence the compulsory
acquisition of the remaining
shares.
Queensland Gas Company is
an integrated energy business
and coal seam gas producer.
Fluids
assurance
Rheochem has signed a two-
year master services agreement
with ARC Energy, a subsidiary
of Australian Worldwide
Exploration, for provision of
company news
48
Rigging link
US-based rigging products
supplier Halo of Port
Fourchon, Louisiana, has
formed a partnership with
Gaylin International of
Singapore, a provider of
lifting sling assemblies.
Halo will work with
Gaylin to service Gaylins
customers while those
customers are operating in
the Gulf of Mexico and
Atlantic Basin and Gaylin
will do the same for Halo in
the Pacific Rim region. The
agreement also connects a
network of global suppliers.
BRUNEI LAND MARK: At a
recent presentation in Rijswijk,
The Netherlands, Shell named
drilling contractor KCA
Deutag s T201 rig, working
onshore Brunei, as Best Land
Rig in Shell s worldwide fleet for
2008.
Congratulating all hands on
the rig, Francisco Chacin, T201
rig superintendent for Brunei
Shell Petroleum, said the award
was the result of a group of
motivated people striving to
safely deliver wells at lower
costs . He added: We have
shown that an inherently risky
operation can be conducted
in a safe manner, while still
pushing ourselves for consistent
top quartile performance - the
best of both worlds.
KCA Deutag performance
improvement team leader
Jaap Van Der Sijp (right) is
pictured accepting the award
on behalf of the T201 team
from Peter Sharpe, Shell global
wells manager.
aog_M_4_p048_BOB 19/1/09 2:02 pm Page 48
drilling fluids and associated
services and to support drilling
and production operations
onshore Western Australia.
New service
Tracerco has established a new
service centre in Abu Dhabi,
UAE, as a regional hub that will
enable the companys full range
of technical services,
previously available only from
their UK HQ.
The initial priority will be
rapid response to process
diagnostic needs and provision
of technical services for
specialist instrumentation
systems, radiological
protection advice and reservoir
analysis.
Tracerco is involved in oil &
gas production maximisation,
including EOR, and the
refining and petrochemical
sector.
Settling in
Singapore
Aquatic, an Acteon company,
has established an office in
Singapore with an operations
base to follow shortly.
Catriona Kang, as VP Asia
Pacific, will head Aquatic's
business in Singapore. Kang
was formerly with Global
Marine and Canyon Offshore
and Subsea Offshore, the latter
now Subsea 7.
Thule sells two
jackups
Thule Drilling has sold its
interest in QGM BVI and its
two Friede & Goldman Super
M2 design jackup drilling rigs,
Thule Energy and Thule Force,
for a total of $275 million to
Royal Oyster Group in Dubai,
UAE.
In a related takeover in 2008,
Royal Oyster acquired Dragon
Offshore, an engineering
company with offices inside the
QGM yard responsible for
services related to the
rebuilding of Thule Power and
the design and construction of
Thule Energy and Thule Force.
Thule has also sold the
semisubmersible Thule
Phoenix for only $5 million in
cash to Royal Oyster. The rig is
to be delivered 1Q 2009 on an as
is where is basis.
Coiled tubing
venture
Al Qahtani Marine & Oilfield
Services of Saudi Arabia and
Canadas Production
Enhancement Group have
established the joint venture
Abdul Hadi Al Qahtani WISE to
exploit patented and Production
Enhancement Group exclusive-
global-rights held WISE
multifunction coiled tubing
(CT) technologies, first in Saudi
Arabia and subsequently in the
Middle East.
Oil and gas
solutions
WellPoint Systems, a Canada-
based provider of software and
related solutions to the energy
industry with an office in
Jakarta, Indonesia, has
partnered with Dubai-based
Quorum MENA to resell its
Microsoft Dynamics AX
solution set within the Middle
East, North Africa and India.
QMENA, as part of the
agreement, will purchase
$2 million worth of WellPoint
Systems back office oil and gas
solutions for resale and also
have exclusive rights to sell
WellPoints products within
these three regions.
Loon by
another name
Loon Energy has approved a
reoganisation resulting in
formation of Loon Energy
Corporation with assets in
South America, and changed
the name of the company to
Kulczyk Oil Ventures.
The assets of Kulczyk Oil
will include Loons current
interests in oil and gas
exploration properties in
Brunei and an investment in
Jura Energy, a Pakistan-focused
oil and gas exploration and
development company.
Loon Brunei, a wholly-owned
subsidiary of Kulczyk Oil,
owns a 40% interest in a
production sharing agreement
with the right to explore and
produce oil and gas from block L,
a 550,000 acre area covering
much of eastern onshore
Brunei and an offshore
component, where a 350km
2
3D
seismic programme is under
way and drilling is expected
later this year.
Apexindo to
add an FPSO
Indonesian drilling contractor
PT Apexindo Pratama Duta has
received approval from
shareholders for wholly-owned
subsidiary Apexindo Raniworo
to purchase an FPSO vessel
complete with oil and gas
processing equipment, part of a
strategy to provide integrated
services.
Exmar FLSO
advances
Exmar has formed an alliance
to advance its efforts in the
development of a floating
liquefaction, storage and
offloading (FLSO) solution,
formalising a relationship with
long-time LNG partner
Excelerate, and with Black &
Veatch, a provider of natural
gas processing and liquefaction
technology.
The FLSO concept combines
the liquefaction process,
storage tanks, loading systems,
and other LNG-related
infrastructure into a single
floating unit.
Subsea
alliance
FMC Technologies, by mutual
agreement, is to acquire a 45%
interest in Schilling Robotics
for $116 million, integrating
subsea and remotely operated
vehicle (ROV) expertise.
FMC Technologies
manufactures and supplies
subsea production systems.
Schilling Robotics produces
ROVs and their manipulator
and control systems and related
equipment and services for oil
and gas subsea exploration and
production.
company news
49
Nanjing measurement
Emerson Process Management has opened its Asia Flow
Technology Center in Jiangning Science Park, Nanjing,
China, expanding production capacity and services for flow
metering and measurement technologies serving industries
that include the oil and gas, refining and petrochemicals
industries.
The 12,500m
2
facility will manufacture measurement
devices, including Micro Motion Coriolis flow and density
meters, Rosemount vortex and magnetic flowmeters, and
Daniel ultrasonic and differential pressure flowmeters.
aog_M_4_p049_BOB 19/1/09 2:02 pm Page 49
Lim Chee Onn has relinquished
his role as CEO of Keppel
Corporation. He is succeeded
by Choo Chiau Beng
(pictured), who in
turn has given up his
position as CEO
Keppel Offshore &
Marine (KOM). Lim will
continue to serve as non-
executive chairman of Keppel
Corporation board and Choo
will remain as non-executive
chairman of KOM. Tong Chong
Heong, formerly MD and COO
of Keppel Offshore & Marine,
has been appointed CEO.
William Yau (pictured)
has been appointed
CEO of Borouge,
based in Singapore,
succeeding Harald
Hammer. Yau is responsible for
marketing and sales of the
companys plastics solutions to
customers in the Middle East
and Asia.
Lim Ah Doo has been appointed
an independent director of
Sembcorp Marine in Singapore,
enhancing corporate
governance with experience
that includes 18 years at
Morgan Grenfell Group in Asia.
Will Fortenberry
(pictured), Aberdeen
Scotland-based Cetco
Oilfield Services
director of business
development, has relocated to
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to
support the companys oilfield
waste treatment systems
growth in Asia, which
accounted for about $5 million
in revenue in 2008, a 250%
increase over 2007.
Mark Williamson
(pictured) is the new
services business
unit general manager
of Ausclad Group of
Companies, overseeing services
to the minerals, oil and gas and
utilities markets that include
asset maintenance, insulation,
refractory, protective coatings
and shutdown support. Terry
Hemsworth, formerly acting
general manager at the unit,
has resumed his position as
group commercial
manager. Ausclad has
also appointed David
Gilbert (pictured)
general manager,
eastern Australia, responsible
for growth opportunities that
include South East
Asia, and Mike
Gibson (pictured) as
executive general
manager, operations.
Stein Diesen has been employed
by Singapore-based Frigstad
Offshore as COO, effective
1 March, moving from Seadrill,
where he executed ultra
deepwater rig construction
projects comprising semi-
submersibles and drillships
built in Korea and Singapore.
Lawrence Brown
(pictured) has been
moved from executive
director to MD of
Kairiki Energy, a
Perth Australia-based oil
company with an interest in
offshore Philippines permit
SC54. Brown replaces Craig
Gumley, the former MD, who
resigned.
Grant King has had his service
as MD with ASX listed Origin
Energy extended a further five
years. Paul Zealand, recently
appointed Origin Energy
executive GM, upstream oil &
gas, reports to King.
William Hastings is the new
president and CEO of Magellan
Petroleum, which is engaged in
oil and gas exploration and
production in Australia and
New Zealand through 100%
owned subsidiary Magellan
Petroleum Australia. Hastings
replaces Daniel Samela, who
will continue to serve as CFO
and treasurer.
Mark Gemmell
(pictured) has joined
Pumptools, an
Aberdeen, Scotland-
based artificial lift
completion specialist and
electrical submersible pump
supplier, as business
development manager for
Australasia. Gemmell will work
out of Perth, Australia.
Kevin Robertson has been
appointed by BJ Services as
India country manager for
tubular services, based in
Mumbai, reporting to Gary
Young, regional manager-
Middle East and CIS for tubular
services, based in Dubai, UAE.
Ross Gorrell, who served as
president of Petromin
Resources since 1990, has been
appointed CEO and acting CFO
of the company, replacing
Kenny Chan, while also
continuing as non-executive co-
chairman and as a director.
Raffaela Heinbockel
(pictured) has been
named to direct
Fugro Gravity &
Magnetic Services
business development team in
the Middle East. Heinbockel
also heads geophysical services
in the Middle East for the
company.
Peter Sadler has been appointed
Serica COO. Sadler, previously
CEO of Indago Petroleum and
of Rak Petroleum, oversees
exploration, appraisal and
development operations in
Western Europe and Southeast
Asia from London.
Marc Robinson has been
appointed regional sales
manager for the Middle East
and Asia Pacific, based in Abu
Dhabi, by SMX International,
the recently re-launched
Canadian pipe connector and
flow control products company,
formerly Securamax.
Kerry Doyle has been appointed
CEO and president of Caspian
Services, replacing Laird
Garrard. Doyle previously
served as CEO of Veritas
Caspian, the companys joint
venture with CGGVeritas,
where he was responsible for
developing and implementing
seismic data acquisition over
open acreage of the Kazakh
sector of the Caspian Sea.
Sudheer Chand
(pictured) has been
named ABS director
of offshore
technology, joining a
team of offshore engineers and
researchers within the ABS
corporate technology
department in Houston, Texas.
Chand, most recently involved
with the design and
construction of FPSOs and
drilling rigs, will also be
responsible for oversight of the
Singapore Offshore Technology
Center, an ABS collaborative
effort with Singapore
universities and industry.
Daniel McNease has retired as
CEO of Rowan Companies. A
replacement for McNease, who
joined Rowan in 1974 and
became CEO in 2003, is being
sought.
Raymond Milchovich, Foster
Wheeler chairman and CEO,
has signed a new three-year
agreement to continue to lead
the company, deferring
previously announced
retirement plans.
Sandy Lowe has been elected
executive VP, international
production and engineering for
Oxy Oil & Gas by Occidental
Petroleum Corporation. He will
coordinate all international oil
and gas producing assets and
engineering and major project
development functions.
Kevin Murray-Taylor
(pictured) has been
named as Veripos
EAME business
development
manager with responsibility
for continued expansion of its
positioning services on behalf
of 3D seismic, survey, DP,
construction and pipelay vessel
operators.
Marcus Smedley has been
named VP of engineering by
Wood Group Pressure Control.
appointments
50
aog_M_4_p050_BOB 19/1/09 2:02 pm Page 50
Per Wullf as has been appointed
executive VP and COO at
Seadrill Management.
Steven Manz has been
appointed VP and CFO of Pride
Internationals mat-supported
jackup rig business.
Wayne Mueller has been
promoted by Alliance
Engineering, a Wood Group
subsidiary, to VP of its
deepwater business unit.
Erik Sverre Jenssen has been
appointed president of
sub-surface geological and
geophysical consultancy Aker
Geo, a subsidiary of Aker
Solutions.
JD Baker has joined Fluid
Systems, a Houston, Texas-
based worldwide provider of
solids control, screening and
drilling mud process
technology, as VP of sales and
business development.
Jim Hollis (pictured)
has been promoted
from executive VP
and COO of ION
Solutions to president
and COO of ION Geophysical.
Hollis is in charge of all
operations including business
units, sales and manufacturing.
Timothy Goodell has been
appointed senior VP and
general counsel for Hess
Corporation. Goodell was
previously a partner in the law
firm White & Case.
Dr Stuart Fysh, executive VP
and MD, Africa, Middle East
and Asia region for BG Group,
has left the company. He is
succeeded on an interim basis
by Jrn Berget, executive VP
and MD, BG Advance.
KJ Srinivasan
(pictured) has joined
sensor technology
specialist Halma as
MD of its new India
hub in Mumbai. The company
also recently opened hubs in
Beijing and Shanghai.
16-19 February
6th Annual HSERisk
Management Asia
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Contact: IQPC
tel: +65 6722 9388
enquiry@iqpc.com.sg
17-19 February
Australasian Oil & Gas
Exhibition & Conference
Perth, Australia
Contact: Diversified
Exhibitions Australia
tel: +61 3 9261 4500
aog@divexhibitions.com.au
22-25 February
ASEG 2009 (20th International
Geophysical Conference)
Adelaide, Australia
Contact: Sapro
tel: +61 8 8352 7099
aseg2009@sapro.com.au
9-12 March
7th Doha Natural Gas
Conference & Exhibition
Doha, Qatar
Contact: Qatar Petroleum/SPE
tel: + 974 440 2000
gascon@qp.com.qa
15-18 March
MEOS2009 (16th Middle East Oil
& Gas Show & Conference)
Manama, Bahrain
Contact: Allworld Exhibitions
tel: +44 (0)20 7840 2100
info@oesallworld.com
25-28 May
Gastech 2009
Abu Dhabi, UAE
Contact: Dmg World Media
tel: +44 (0) 1737 855000
info@gastech.co.uk
31 May-3 June
APPEA 2009 Conference &
Exhibition
Darwin, Australia
Contact: Julie Hood
tel: +61 7 3802 2208
jhood@appeaconference.com.au
10-12 June
OGA 2009 (12th Asian Oil, Gas
& Petrochemical Engineering)
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Contact: MES
tel: +603 4041 0311
enquiry@mesallworld.com
appointments events advertisers index
51
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Bookshop 53/55
Deepwater Intervention Forum 45
Drilling & Completing Trouble Zones 52
Cosmo 36
Fugro Geoteam As 6
Get Energy 2009 5
Hughes Christensen 2
IIR 36
KTL Offshore Pte Ltd 5
OGA 21
OTC 31
Schlumberger
Oilfield Services 4
Oilfield Services 56
Oilfield Services insert @ 11
Society of Petroleum Engineers 13
TAM International 9
aog_M_4_p51v2 19/1/09 3:20 pm Page 51
Organizer: Official Magazine: Official Website:
October 20-22, 2009
San Luis Resort &
Galveston Convention Center
Galveston, Texas
Drilling through tar, salt overhangs, lost circulation zones
and high temperatures and high pressures are just
some examples of the challenges faced in todays
drilling environment. Add to that, the tough economic
challenges operators and service companies are up
against today and tomorrow, and its even more
important than ever to understand how to handle these
situations. With rig rates at an all time high and personnel
at a premium, its imperative in todays world to stay on
schedule and within project economics.
This event will highlight the latest developments in a
variety of technologies aimed at Drilling and Completing
Trouble Zones. Additionally, case studies on key fields
will highlight new techniques and best practices
associated with drilling and completing. The 2009
Technical Advisory Board is preparing a two-day program
of case studies and expert presentations on these timely
issues. Make plans to attend this interactive event,
participate in the question and answer periods and learn
more about these topics to include:
Low-Cost Low-Tech Completion
Real Time Imaging of Trouble Zones
Reducing Subsea Well Non Productive Time
Lost Circulation, Prevention & Treatment
Casing Design for Deep Wells
Through Tubing Drilling and Completion
Completion Design Consideration
Managing Integrity of Old Wells

This interactive event is designed to maximize the exchange of ideas
among delegates and presenters. This is achieved by eliminating formal
peer-reviewed papers in favor of brief technical presentations followed
by extended Q & A periods. No proceeding will be published, and the
press is not permitted to attend.
2009
Drilling and Completing Trouble Zones Advisory Board:
Eric Van Oort - Planning and Business Improvement Manager
Shell Exploration and Production Co.
Ken Dupal - Vice President, Engineering
ExPert E&P Consultants, LLC
Tim Marvel - Manager Product Development Hughes Christensen
Ron Sweatman - Chief Technical Professional & Tech Lead
Global Business & Technical Solutions Halliburton
Warren Schneider - Business Line VP, TESCO
Pat York - Director of Commercialization & Marketing
Solid Expandable Systems Weatherford International Inc.
Todd Eberhardt - Regional Technical Services Manager,
Texas Land and Offshore GOM Superior Energy
Blaine Dow- Drilling Optimization - Product Champion Schlumberger
Flvio Dias De Moraes, Ph.D. - Technical Support,
Well Engineering Manager Petrobras
For information on attending this event, sponsorship and
exhibit opportunities or general information, please contact
Ray Vanegas at rvanegas@oilonline.com or call 713-874-2207.
www.drillingtroublezones.com
AOG_M_4_DCTZ_FP.indd 1 19/1/09 11:23:37
Order online - www.oilonline.com/store / fax 1-713-831-1778
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Marpol Consolidated
2006
Includes annex i, annex ii, annex iii,
annex v, & annex vi.
ISBN: OIL IMO 520E | PRICE: $115.00
3HWUROHXP5HQLQJ
7HFKQRORJ\
Economics 5
TH
Edition
An essential textbook for students
& a vital resource for engineers.
Provides updated data & addresses
changes in refnery feedstock, prod-
uct distribution, & processing re-
quirements resulting from state &
federal legislation.
ISBN: OIL 370388 | PRICE: $ 99.95
'ULOOLQJ'DWDHB 8/Ed
An up-to-date revision of data
needed in the feld, rig foor, or the
offce...Handy 5 1/2 x 7 in x 1 in, in-
dexed sections such as: conversion
factors; drill string stds; casing, tub-
ing & line pipe stds; drilling bits &
downhole motors; pumping & pres-
sure losses..
ISBN: OIL 808714 | PRICE: $115.00
Gulf Coast Oil Directory 2008
UPDATED...With extensive information on companies...
Offcers, emails, locations, wats lines...More. Organized
by applications, felds of interest, listing of companies by
name...Very very detailed and informational book.
ISBN: OIL GULF 2008 | PRICE: $ 99.00
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Total
Price
Subtotal
Credit Card Information
Card Type: Mastercard Visa American Express Discover
Credit Card Number: Expiration date:
Name on card: Signature:
Sh|pp|ngJ8||||ng In|ormot|on Note: We cannot ship to a P.O. Box
Name: Company:
Address:
City/State/Zip/Country
Phone: Fax:
E-Mail:
Oilonline, 1635 West Alabama, Houston, TX 77006 USA
Dictionary For The Oil
& Gas Industry
Defnitions in this dictionary come
from many sources- writers & edi-
tors, industry personnel, petex in-
structors & coordinators, & various
published works.
ISBN: OIL 982138 | PRICE: $107.00
Solas 2004
- Eng||sh Ed
Safety standards for ships engaged in
international trade, providing safer
shipping and cleaner oceans.
O|| & Gos:
The Production Story
a basic description about oil & gas
production, from its origin to the sur-
face. This story is twofold: to enlight-
en those whose jobs require a general
knowledge of production operations;
and to serve as an intro to the petex
oil & gas production series.
ISBN: OIL 98002X | PRICE: $60.00
MODU Code 2001
(Mobile Offshore)
Code for the construction and equip-
ment of mobile offshore drilling
units (MODU code), 2001. (No 2004
edition is expected.
AOG
AS I AN OI L & GAS
ASIAN OIL & GAS ORDER FORM
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DOWNHOLE FLUID ANALYSIS
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BD_M_4_Schlumberger.indd 1 19/1/09 11:36:41

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Through Tubing Drilling and Completion

Completion Design Consideration

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