• Extending life of Schiehallion and Loyal fields

• Contracts for Hook up & commissioning and follow-on engineering

Amec Foster Wheeler announces today that it has been awarded three contracts by BP to provide services to the Glen Lyon Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel as part of the Quad 204 Project, located 175 km west of the Shetland Isles, UK. The three reimbursable contracts are worth £31.5 million and will create 100 onshore and 50 offshore jobs.

The hook up and commissioning contract, worth £27 million, will run through to June 2017. Amec Foster Wheeler will hook up the new Glen Lyon FPSO to the Schiehallion and Loyal fields as part of the BP’s Quad 204 redevelopment, extending the life of the two fields, enabling them to continue production beyond 2035.

Amec Foster Wheeler will also provide follow-on engineering as part of a contract for any residual works that emerge during the transition from the yard in Korea to BP operations. This contract continues to June 2017.

Amec Foster Wheeler’s completions and commissioning specialist, qedi, is providing electrical and instrument technicians as part of the commissioning support to the Glen Lyon hook up. This £2 million contract will run through to June 2017.

Alan Johnstone, Amec Foster Wheeler’s Managing Director for Upstream Asset Solutions, said:

“We are delighted to work with BP on their Quad 204 redevelopment, which extends field life and contributes to the future sustainability of the Schiehallion and Loyal fields. The three contracts allow Amec Foster Wheeler to demonstrate its leading hook up and commissioning capabilities, whilst ensuring a focus on safe and efficient operations.”

Amec Foster Wheeler has been providing hook up and commissioning services to BP’s two new Clair Ridge platforms since 2013.

BP announced last week that the Glen Lyon has started sea trials as it begins its journey towards the west of Shetland. The Glen Lyon left the Hyundai Heavy Industry quayside in Ulsan, South Korea, on Saturday 5th December. It will now complete approximately two weeks of sea trials, after which it will return to the quayside for final class and flag approvals to certify it as a ship, a prerequisite before the long tow to west of Shetland can commence.

(Left to Right : Jack Roszelle, John Danos, Marc Distefano)

Danos announces the hiring of Marc Distefano, John Danos and Jack Roszelle to leadership positions with the company.

“We are pleased to welcome Marc, John and Jack to the Danos team,” said CEO and President Hank Danos. “Their expertise and experience will help us ensure we are delivering outstanding results for our customers.”

John Danos (no relation) serves as construction division general manager, working to develop a best practices foundation for the way Danos executes projects in conjunction with the company’s project management group. Prior to joining Danos, he held leadership positions at J. Ray McDermott, International Offshore Services, International Construction Group and Harvey Gulf International Marine.

As fabrication operations manager of the Amelia facility, Marc Distefano is responsible for overall leadership of the facility and maintaining a culture of continuous improvement. Prior to joining Danos, Distefano held leadership positions at Alison Marine Contractors, Conrad Industries, Alliance Consulting Group, U.S. Army, Shell and Enron Corporation.

Jack Roszelle joins Danos as corporate quality director, overseeing quality control and quality assurance for the company. Prior to joining Danos, he served as vice president of quality for Dynamic Energy Services International, LLC, and area quality manager for the Americas region with McDermott Inc.

Ingen Ideas, an Amec Foster Wheeler company, announces today the award of a contract worth approximately £8million by Marathon Oil. The five-year multi-discipline engineering contract covers Marathon Oil’s Brae Complex in the North Sea.

The contract started in October 2015 and will run for five years, with the potential for two further five-year extensions. It covers subsea and topsides, including onshore operations support, projects and modifications engineering, as well as technical consultancy.

Ingen will call upon engineering services from across the Amec Foster Wheeler group. This will provide the ability to rapidly mobilize and demobilize engineering resource with the flexibility to suit the workload needs as well as access to alternative similar high quality resources when availability, timing and duration demands.

Ingen General Manager, Wayne Strachan said: “This is the first contract award of this scale for Ingen. It signifies how in the current economic climate, Ingen’s approach to consultancy engineering, with the global support of Amec Foster Wheeler, can add value by being agile, responsive and proportionate to the exact requirements of the project.”

Some 20% of the remaining UK oil reserves are expected to be West of Shetland, a challenging environment on the surface and subsea.

In February 2013, Bibby Offshore was awarded a contract by Premier Oil to provide subsea support during the installation phase of its Solan field development project, in Block 205/26a of the UK Continental Shelf, in 135m water depth.

The facility at the Solan field has been designed to produce a flow rate of 28,000 b/d, peaking at up to 35,000 b/d across a 20-year lifeline.

The production facility has been developed as a not permanently manned installation (NPMI), and will be operated remotely from an onshore control room in Aberdeen. The topsides facility supports produced fluid separation, gas treatment, all necessary utilities and power generation.

The field infrastructure also includes a 10,000-tonne subsea oil storage tank (SOST) capable of storing 300,000 bo. Produced oil is sent to the SOST before being exported, via a single anchor loading system (SAL), to shuttle tankers.

Bibby Offshore was brought in to perform installation of the subsea infrastructure and, recognizing the challenging environment, came up with a plan to minimize downtime caused by short weather windows.

Preparation is Key

To mitigate the impact of this, Bibby Offshore completed detailed weather analysis prior to mobilisation to allow a realistic expectation on the potential downtime that could be experienced. The project team also gathered regular forecasts from various sources to help build an accurate picture in the short term on how the weather would impact over a two to five day window.

Bibby Offshore was also able to take a flexible multi vessel approach to the project, making use of several of the vessels in its fleet. The Dive Support Vessel (DSV) Bibby Polaris was used extensively to complete much of the dive works. The DSV Bibby Sapphire and DSV Bibby Topaz and the Construction Support Vessel (CSV) Olympic Ares also made a significant contribution to the project. Further to this the company used short term chartered Remotely Operated Vehicle Support Vessel (ROVSV) and a third party DSV.

This multi vessel approach helped Bibby Offshore tailor the various vessel capabilities to the technical challenges presented by the development and the flexible timeline required to complete the task in line with the clients programme. Crucially, it also helped to prevent any schedule slippages in order to maintain progress towards achieving first oil.

A Phased Approach

The subsea aspect of the project was planned in two phases. Phase one saw the Olympic Ares carry out installation activities for the single anchor loading system (SAL), metrology, lay through spool removal, flexible and umbilical installation and wet storing of fabricated spools, . Phase two consisted of the diving support operations to complete installation, tie in, stability/protection and recommissioning of the flexible, umbilicals, spools and storage tank.

Each phase of the project had its own challenges. Due to adjustments in the schedule, Bibby Offshore successfully change managed the scheduled fleet workloads to accommodate its client’s requirements, resulting in the project becoming multi phased with, as mentioned previously, additional vessel support.

During the campaign, a 72” structure pile was installed which required a large ninety ton ‘Fast Frame’ to be deployed to the seabed. The loading hose itself presented a range of engineering considerations to the project team due to the inflexibility of the product and the fact it could not be pre-installed on a deployment reel onshore prior to installation on this occasion.

After completing the acoustic metrology, the Bibby Polaris was deployed to connect the pipeline to the SAL spool and the SAL to the offloading hose.

During the offshore operations, the project team configured an optimised deck layout on the Olympic Ares, thus creating the required working space. This was necessary due to a multi reel drive system taking up a significant amount of deck space and also the additional equipment required to install flexible and umbilical products before completing metrology between the newly installed platform and subsea oil storage tank. In subsequent campaigns, two DSVs and one ROVSV were mobilised to carry out spool installations, flexible and umbilical tie-ins, mattressing and general storage tank works.

Bibby Offshore’s track record meant it was ideally positioned to execute the work. However, this particular project posed a number of environmental and installation challenges that allowed the

Key facts

Halliburton and Baker Hughes Extend the Time Period for Closing the Transaction to No Later than April 30, 2016, as Permitted under the Merger Agreement

Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL) and Baker Hughes Incorporated (NYSE: BHI) today announced that they expect that their timing agreement with the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) will expire without reaching a settlement or the DOJ initiating litigation at this time to block their pending transaction. The DOJ has informed the companies that it does not believe that the remedies offered to date are sufficient to address the DOJ’s concerns, but acknowledged that they would assess further proposals and look forward to continued cooperation from the parties in their continuing investigation.

Halliburton and Baker Hughes believe that the proposed merger is good for the industry and customers. The merger is expected to create a strong company and achieve substantial efficiencies enabling it to compete aggressively to provide efficient, innovative and low-cost services. Completion of the transaction would allow customers to operate more cost-effectively, which is increasingly important due to the current state of the energy industry and oil and gas prices.

Over the last year, Halliburton and Baker Hughes have engaged in extensive and productive discussions with the DOJ regarding Halliburton’s acquisition of Baker Hughes. The parties have responded to numerous DOJ requests for information, producing millions of pages of documents, providing numerous written submissions in response to specific questions, and participating in multiple meetings with the DOJ.

As previously announced, early in the process, Halliburton proposed to the DOJ a substantial divestiture package that would facilitate the entry of new competition in markets in which products and services are being divested. Both companies strongly believe that the divestiture package, which recently was significantly enhanced to address the DOJ's specific competitive concerns, is more than sufficient to address concerns raised by competition authorities, including the DOJ.

The companies intend to continue their discussions with the DOJ, and remain focused on completing the transaction as early as possible in 2016, but there is no guarantee that an agreement with the DOJ or other competition authorities will be reached. In that regard, Halliburton and Baker Hughes have also agreed to extend the time period for closing the transaction to no later than April 30, 2016, as permitted under the merger agreement, though the parties would proceed with closing prior to such date if all relevant competition approvals have been obtained. As previously announced, the boards of directors of both Halliburton and Baker Hughes unanimously approved the Merger Agreement and the stockholders of each company overwhelmingly approved the transaction.

Halliburton and Baker Hughes are also continuing to work constructively to resolve any remaining issues with the European Commission and all other competition enforcement authorities that have expressed an interest in the proposed transaction. The pending acquisition has received regulatory clearances in Canada, Colombia, Ecuador, Kazakhstan, South Africa, and Turkey.

Trelleborg’s offshore operation has been awarded a Pioneering Technologies Award at this year’s Ocean Star Gala event in Houston, Texas. Trelleborg was awarded for its significant contribution to drilling technology for marine riser buoyancy and the company now joins a select group of companies in the prestigious Offshore Energy Center Hall of Fame.

After pioneering the introduction of commercial syntactic foams in 1957, Trelleborg’s manufacturing facility in Houston supplied the first syntactic riser buoyancy modules for use in oil drilling in the Santa Barbara Channel in 1969. For the next decade every new deepwater drilling record was achieved using the company’s buoyancy, as depths reached up to 9,000 feet.

Upon receiving the award on behalf of the company, Mark Angus, Executive Vice President for Trelleborg’s offshore operation, said: "To be recognized for our pioneering work in the use of syntactic foam buoyancy in offshore drilling applications is a huge honor for Trelleborg. We were responsible for innovating the use of syntactic foams for marine buoyancy applications and these are still widely used in today’s most demanding offshore drilling applications. We are very proud to be the only syntactic foam buoyancy manufacturer to be invited into the Offshore Energy Center Hall of Fame."

Established in 1989, the Offshore Energy Center is dedicated to increasing awareness of the energy resources available beneath the world’s oceans and to record the unique heritage and technological accomplishments of the industry that discovers, produces, and delivers these resources.

The Pioneering Technologies Award recognizes important technologies and the development of those technologies by individuals, companies, organizations and institutions in the fields of offshore technology. The center’s Hall of Fame recognizes people and technological innovations that stand out in the development of the offshore industry and its resources.

Trelleborg’s marine riser buoyancy technology, specifically termed drill riser buoyancy modules (DRBM), helps to reduce a drilling riser’s net weight in water to ensure that the structure and drilling vessel are properly supported.

The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Aberdeen Section Board has elected Ian Phillips, chief executive of the Oil and Gas Innovation Centre (OGIC), as its new chairman.

Mr Phillips assumes the position from Shankar Bhukya, who has stepped down ahead of a move to Singapore.

Mr Phillips, an MBA qualified Chartered Petroleum Engineer with more than thirty years’ experience in the oil and gas industry, has played an instrumental part in the growth of the SPE Aberdeen Section over the last 30 years. With the SPE Aberdeen Section he has held positions including chairman, treasurer and Continuing Education committee chair. In addition, he has served as the North Sea Regional Director on the SPE International Board. Most recently, he has been the director on the SPE Aberdeen board and held responsibility for the Section’s prestigious Offshore Achievement Awards.

New SPE Aberdeen Chairman Ian Phillips

Prior to his current full-time role of chief executive of the Oil and Gas Innovation Centre (OGIC), Mr Phillips has held a number of positions in the UK oil and gas industry, including vice president of project development at Ramco Energy and project director at BP. Latterly, his career has focused on innovation in carbon capture and storage with roles including founding director of CO2DeepStore and business development director at Pale Blue Dot Energy.

Mr Phillips is also an external lecturer in Oil and Gas Management at Robert Gordon University giving students an insight into the industry.

Commenting on his appointment, Mr Phillips said: “I have been a member of SPE for nearly thirty years and I am honoured to have been selected as chairman of the Aberdeen Section.

“The oil and gas industry has experienced huge change in recent months. The survival of the North Sea industry depends on effective collaboration, technology innovation and knowledge sharing. To support this, SPE provides opportunities for professionals to network, learn and realise their technical and professional potential.

“The focus of my work at OGIC is bridging the gap between industry needs in the UKCS and the knowledge pool of Scottish universities. I believe this background will be extremely beneficial to the Section’s activities moving forward.

“I’m looking forward to working with the SPE Aberdeen board and committees to ensure our Section continues to be known as one of the most effective in the world.”

New SPE Aberdeen Chairman Ian Phillips

HARKAND and its local consortium partner TOS Angola Lda has secured a three-year contract to deliver inspection, repair and maintenance (IRM) services in Angola for a major international oil company operating in the West Africa region.

The recently upgraded multi-purpose dive support vessel (DSV) Swordfish has been mobilized to support the project and provide air, surface gas and saturation diving services for the work in Cabinda, Angola.

Following the recent $10.5million upgrade to the diving systems, the DSV Swordfish is fully compliant to the highest standards of the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) including a 15-man diving system, 3-man bell, self-propelled hyperbaric lifeboat (SPHL) and a dedicated hyperbaric rescue facility (HRF).

Harkand’s managing director for North America and Africa, AJ Jain said: “This is a new consortium for Harkand in another West Africa region; we are extremely proud to have been selected by our client to support their IRM activities offshore Cabinda.

“The block we will be working in is of extreme importance to Angola’s petroleum industry therefore we understand the importance of maintaining production to our client and expect to fully support all their subsea inspection, repair and maintenance needs in the safest and most cost efficient manner utilizing the DSV Swordfish.”

Harkand’s recently appointed general manager for Africa, Doug Fieldgate has extensive experience in this region and has a clear understanding of the challenges involved in delivering a world class safe service to the block as well as the region.

Doug said: “Harkand is working closely with our consortium partner and client to ensure we develop local capacities by maximizing the use of nationals and implementing skills transfer programs. Our efforts to achieve this goal has been demonstrated in the execution of projects in Ghana and Nigeria and will remain a top priority as we move into Angola.

“Group TOS Lda is a local Angolan company which specializes in marine and offshore sectors. TOS will provide all local logistical efforts, including all local personnel required to complete this work program safely.”

Harkand has a global fleet of IMCA compliant multi-purpose subsea construction vessels which are equipped with active heave compensated (AHC) cranes, heavy duty workclass remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and full survey spreads – each of Harkand’s vessels is exceptionally proficient in providing IRM and light construction work in the harshest environments including the North Sea, Gulf of Mexico and Africa.

Bibby Offshore, a leading subsea services provider to the oil and gas industry, has been awarded a multimillion pound contract by BP to replace subsea infrastructure in the Central North Sea.

Bibby Offshore personnel on vessel deck

The work is part of the $1billion Eastern Trough Area Project (ETAP) Life Extension Project announced by BP in the summer. ETAP is one of the largest and most complex developments in the North Sea, comprising nine oil and gas reservoirs, six of which are operated by BP. The ETAP Life Extension Project (ELXP) will help secure the future of the fields until 2030 and beyond.

The Bibby Offshore ELXP contract involves installing new subsea control system infrastructure to safeguard power and communication links to ETAP’s Machar, Madoes and Mirren fields, some 150 miles East of Aberdeen.

Howard Woodcook, Chief Executive Bibby Offshore

From April 2016, Bibby Offshore will provide dive support and construction support vessels from its international fleet to deliver services including; umbilical installation, trenching, structure installation and commissioning through to final survey of the completed workscopes.

Howard Woodcook, Chief Executive Bibby Offshore said: “This is a significant contract win for Bibby Offshore, and we are delighted to be working with BP again, having previously undertaken subsea intervention work for BP in 2014.

“The contract award as part of this high-profile life extension project highlights our wide range of subsea services and affirms our capability to consistently and successfully deliver complex and challenging projects for our clients.”

Leading provider of multi-discipline engineering, project management and project services to the international energy industry, Project Development International (PDi) has secured a £1.5million contract with Nigerian oil service company Marine Platforms Limited (MPL), to provide technical support to the Chevron Agbami Phase 3 transport, installation and pre-commissioning project.

Due for completion in early Q2 2016, MPL has appointed PDi to support with onshore and offshore installation engineering activities in the Agbami Field, Nigeria’s largest deepwater development, located in central Niger Delta, west coast of Nigeria.

The agreement involves PDi working alongside the MPL engineering team in their Lagos office to provide both project and structural engineering services, as well as installation analysis and offshore support. PDi will also provide specialist support in pre-commissioning, survey, geotechnical and procurement when required.

Commenting on the project, Mark Gillespie, managing director at PDi said: “We’re delighted to be strengthening our long standing relationship with MPL on this challenging project. Continuing our successful support of MPL in Nigeria and delivery of expert engineering services on international projects of this significance is clear testament to the team’s global capabilities.

“On this project PDi will provide a dedicated project engineering team in MPL’s office in Lagos who will work on a rotational basis with the indigenous MPL engineering team and be supported by project management and discipline engineering teams in the UK. The Lagos team will include individuals with Structural Engineering and Installation Analysis capability.”

PDi has worked with MPL for more than five years on numerous international engineering workscopes, supporting and delivering on projects including Agbami Jumper Installation, Bonga Jumper Installation and BOOR Recovery.

Taofik Adegbite, CEO AT MPL said: “We have established a strong working relationship with PDi and value the dedicated teams, engineering support and track record here in Nigeria. At MPL we adhere to the highest standards of professionalism and strive to exceed the expectations of our clients through integrity, maintaining a very strict safety culture and quality service delivery, standards we know are shared with the team at PDi.”

MPL has chartered the Polar Onyx and hired other project equipment to execute the offshore installation activities, with PDi providing the onshore and offshore installation engineering support.

“We are still operating in a very challenging global market, but by combining expertise and understanding where there are opportunities to collaborate on projects of this nature, we are succeeding in progressing our biggest asset – our highly skilled and knowledgeable team of engineers” concluded Mr Gillespie.

BMT Designers & Planners, a subsidiary of BMT Group, the leading international maritime design, engineering and risk management consultancy, has named Rick Cox as its newest Vice President of Business Development.

Rick fills a key role in the firm’s growing business development organization, responsible for leading client relations, capture, and market strategy for the firm’s diverse range of environmental services, which include testing & remediation, environmental health, site assessment, permitting & regulatory compliance, IT management, and related services.

With decades working for large government contractors, Rick brings senior-level experience, knowledge, and contacts. He has managed multi-million-dollar programs for military, civilian, and commercial customers, and has advised US Government representatives operating in locations throughout the world.

Kai Skvarla, President, BMT Designers & Planners commented: “I’m excited to have Rick as a part of our business development team. His quality-minded, results-oriented demeanor will drive higher performance and help us achieve the ambitious goals we’ve set for our environmental markets.”

Fugro has been awarded a contract by Ophir Equatorial Guinea (Block R) Limited for the provision of survey services for the development of large scale assets and infrastructure offshore Equatorial Guinea.

Under the contract Fugro will deploy three of its specialist vessels - Fugro Searcher, Fugro Scout and Fugro Frontier – to perform autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) surveys as well as geotechnical, environmental and metocean surveys.

The 65-meter high spec. survey vessel, Fugro Searcher, is one of three specialist vessels deployed by Fugro on the contract at the Fortuna Project

The significant survey programme will take place at the Fortuna Project to the west of Bioko Island, where Ophir is planning a large FLNG installation and associated subsea structures. With the surveys beginning in November, the offshore operations are scheduled for completion in January 2016.

Offshore Installation Services Ltd (OIS), an Acteon company, has named Colin Shellard as its new managing director. Based in Aberdeen, Shellard is responsible for setting the strategy at OIS, as the company continues to focus on new opportunities in the offshore decommissioning sector. He will also play a key role in developing opportunities for OIS to work together with other Acteon companies.

Shellard has more than 16 years of experience in offshore construction and subsea engineering. He joined OIS as vice president, operations, in December 2014, and was instrumental in leading OIS’ recent successful well decommissioning campaign with Centrica Energy and Antrim Energy. Prior to joining OIS, Shellard was project director at Technip Offshore Wind Ltd, where he oversaw all projects and tenders in the company’s cables and marine renewables sector.

Shellard has extensive knowledge of pipe and umbilical lay, diving operations, structures installation, remote (driverless) construction and decommissioning methods and trenching, gained during his time at Stolt Offshore and Saipem. He has also worked in leadership roles within consulting engineering and project management firms JP Kenny and Prospect, developing a deep understanding of the management of small teams and complex problems that face Operators in the offshore industry.

Mark Towell, vice president, Acteon, said, “OIS recently completed its largest vessel-based, multi-operator well decommissioning campaign and is well-positioned to provide North Sea Operators with the most cost-effective way to decommission non-revenue generating assets beyond 2015. The Acteon management team welcomes Colin as a director of OIS, and we are confident he will build on his achievements to date.”

Shellard said, “Well decommissioning activities are ideally suited to multi-operator campaigns and the multi-well approach, and OIS demonstrates that significant economies of scale are available to Operators willing to participate in this way. I am looking forward to leading the continual growth of OIS and developing new opportunities for the company in the global decommissioning sector.”

Xodus Group has landed a project to a deliver a suite of more than 40 offshore operating manuals for the Ichthys LNG project operated by INPEX and located off the coast of Western Australia.

The Ichthys field was the largest discovery of hydrocarbon liquids in Australia for 40 years. The Ichthys LNG project is currently under construction and includes some of the largest offshore facilities in the industry, a state-of-the-art onshore processing facility, with an 889 km pipeline uniting them.

Specialists from Xodus Group’s Perth operation are drafting these key training and reference materials to be used by the offshore operations crew. The project is on track for completion by the end of the year.

Neil Coutts, Process & Facilities Manager of Xodus Group

Neil Coutts, Process & Facilities Manager, of Xodus Group said: “Our dedicated team of engineers brings extensive hands-on experience from UK North Sea and Australian oil and gas facilities and is focused on ensuring that the Ichthys manuals are of the highest quality and will help to assist the offshore crew to carry out their work safely. We are proud to be supporting Ichthys as it transitions to the operational phase. Xodus has a track record of producing clear, concise and robust operations documentation and has been involved in a number of similar projects covering subsea systems, offshore facilities and LNG plants in Western Australia.”

Xodus provides independent, integrated thinking to solve complex challenges. From field development planning to supporting asset integrity, operations and maintenance, the team works as trusted advisors at every stage of the asset lifecycle. The Perth based team is focused on helping clients to achieve operational excellence on new and existing assets.

First production from Ichthys is scheduled for 2017 and the project is expected to produce 8.9 million tonnes of LNG and 1.6 million tonnes of LPG per annum, along with approximately 100,000 barrels of condensate per day at peak. Gas and condensate from the Ichthys field will undergo initial processing on the offshore facilities, prior to being transported to the onshore LNG plant near Darwin. Most of the condensate will be directly shipped to global markets from an FPSO facility permanently moored near the Ichthys field in the Browse Basin.

Danos has added to its leadership team by promoting James Callahan, Mark Danos, Stacey Gisclair and Reed Peré to executive roles within the company.

“These four outstanding individuals bring a wealth of talent and more than 70 years of industry experience to our executive leadership team,” said CEO and President Hank Danos. “I am confident that James, Mark, Stacey and Reed will enhance the strategic direction of Danos.”

As vice president of finance, James Callahan is responsible for overseeing the company’s domestic and international administration, finance and accounting activities. Prior to joining Danos in 2013, Callahan served as chief executive officer for Superior Shipyard and Fabrication, as well as chief operating officer for SJI LLC, a privately held telecommunications company.

Mark Danos serves as vice president of project services, supervising the company’s project management, construction and fabrication divisions. He is responsible for all domestic and international deepwater, subsea, shelf and onshore projects. Prior to joining the company, he worked in project management for ExxonMobil, supporting large capital projects around the world. Mark Danos is a third-­‐‑generation owner of the company and member of its board of directors.

Stacy Gisclair brings over two decades of human resources experience to her position as vice president of human resources. Through her oversight and management of the company’s human resources and recruiting activities, Gisclair ensures that Danos continues its commitment to a high‑performance culture. In 2015, she received the company’s “Quality Person of the Year.” Gisclair worked for Edison Chouest Offshore prior to joining Danos in 1999.

Vice President of Production Services Reed Peré is responsible for the quality of work and adherence to safety policies of the company’s global production workforce. He has been with Danos since 2006, and in 2012 received the “Quality Person of the Year” award. His background in secondary education and 10 years in the energy industry make Peré well suited to managing Danos employees in locations around the world.

Leading UK engineering solutions provider Costain has been instrumental in helping Ithaca Energy save several millions of pounds, thanks to its sound management of subsea contracts in the operator’s Greater Stella Area (GSA) Development in the central North Sea.

Costain has been working on the project, which is driven by the recovery of approximately 60 million barrels of oil equivalent of proven and probable reserves for the GSA co-venturers, since 2010 and will be supporting the project to first oil, which is anticipated in mid-2016.

Costain’s involvement started at the concept selection phase, continuing through the definition phase, developing project budgets and assisting in placement of the major contracts.

The Company then project-managed the subsea facilities, including the design, procurement, fabrication and installation of all of the subsea equipment, as well as the installation of the Floating Production Facilty-1 (FPF) moorings and assisting with the forthcoming tow-out and hook-up.

Peter Kirkbride, project sponsor at Costain

Peter Kirkbride, project sponsor at Costain, said: “Being involved in this project through the select, define and execute phases is a great achievement for the team. Together with Ithaca Energy and our contracted partners, we are proving the value of North Sea development activity and, by setting and working to realistic budgets, have saved our client millions of pounds in the process.

“Soundly delivered cost saving solutions are more pertinent now than ever, and we look forward to continuing to help achieve these savings for those operating within a new oil price environment in the North Sea.”

Mike Travis, Greater Stella Area Asset Manager of Ithaca, said: “Ithaca asks for safe and efficient execution of the work, and with Costain Upsteam, that’s exactly what we get – as well as technical excellence, creativity and professionalism. The continuity benefits of a long term relationship have also been very apparent and Costain will continue to work with us on the developments plans for the satellite developments around the Stella hub.”

Costain’s capabilities extend across design and consultancy, project management, delivery and operations and maintenance in the energy sector. The Company's philosophy is to provide innovative and commercially attractive solutions to many of the challenges faced across a range of sectors.