Across the offshore industry, two approaches to financing and project spend are apparent: life cycle value versus short term costs. This is according to Trelleborg’s offshore operation’s roundtable members, who analyzed findings from the company’s Next Level Report at Offshore Europe in September.

Panelists agreed that although it is tempting for organizations to look for larger upfront savings - especially whilst budgets are under scrutiny due to lower oil prices - in fact, sustainable marginal gains can reap greater rewards long term and should be favored. One panelist’s example was a multibillion dollar project in which an operator may be averse to introducing innovative solutions as they only appear to save $10m. While this may seem a small saving in the overall project spend, cumulative savings of this amount could hugely benefit the project’s overall costs.

That said, the reduced oil price appears to be creating an incentive for businesses to communicate more openly through supply chains to establish smarter ways of doing business. As such, panelists stated that now is the time for supply chains to collaborate, invest and embrace innovation. Otherwise, decisions makers could make short term cost savings on long term issues, which could reoccur if not properly addressed.

Overwhelmingly, the key message from the roundtable was one of change. Members stressed that against a backdrop of challenges, the industry should remain optimistic and proactive. An openness to innovation and clear communication between stakeholders is paramount to ensuring a leaner, quicker and more exciting market in the future.

Trelleborg surveyed decision makers to identify ways in which the industry can respond to pressure against a backdrop of slowed market growth. Responses were analyzed for its Next Level Report, and formed the basis of the roundtable discussion.

You can watch Trelleborg’s roundtable here.

Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) says that media and environmental activists’ allegations about the company’s climate research are inaccurate and deliberately misleading.

“For nearly 40 years we have supported development of climate science in partnership with governments and academic institutions, and did and continue to do that work in an open and transparent way,” said Ken Cohen, vice president of public and government affairs.

“Activists deliberately cherry-picked statements attributed to various company employees to wrongly suggest definitive conclusions were reached decades ago by company researchers. These activists took those statements out of context and ignored other readily available statements demonstrating that our researchers recognized the developing nature of climate science at the time which, in fact, mirrored global understanding.”

The allegations were contained in reports distributed by InsideClimate News, an anti-oil and gas activist organization, and the Los Angeles Times, and have prompted political attacks by Senators Bernie Sanders and Sheldon Whitehouse and Representatives Ted Lieu and Mark DeSaulnier.

Both InsideClimate News and the Los Angeles Times ignored evidence provided by the company of continuous and publicly available climate research that refutes their claims. “The facts are that we identified the potential risks of climate change and have taken the issue very seriously,” said Cohen. “We embarked on decades of research in collaboration with many parties, including the Department of Energy, leading academic institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University and others to advance climate science.”

ExxonMobil scientists continue to research and publish findings to improve understanding of climate system science as a basis for society’s response to climate change and have produced more than 50 peer-reviewed publications on topics including the global carbon cycle, detection and attribution of climate change, low carbon technologies and analysis of future scenarios for energy and climate.

ExxonMobil scientists have been selected by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the United Nations’ most authoritative body on the subject, as authors of their past four major assessment reports, and have contributed to National Research Council boards and committees on climate change.

“We recognize that our past participation in broad coalitions that opposed ineffective climate policies subjects us to criticism by climate activist groups,” said Cohen. “We will continue to advocate for policies that reduce emissions while enabling economic growth.”

Since 2009, the company has supported a revenue-neutral carbon tax as the preferred policy approach for emission reduction because it ensures a uniform and predictable cost of carbon, allows market prices to drive solutions, maximizes transparency to stakeholders, reduces administrative complexity, promotes global participation, and is easily adjusted to future developments in climate science and policy impacts.

ExxonMobil joined other companies to provide initial and ongoing funding to create and support the MIT Joint Program on Climate Science and Policy and Stanford’s Global Climate and Energy Project, which has engaged scores of researchers, faculty and students and has resulted in hundreds of scientific publications on climate change and low carbon technologies.

The company has an active research program into lower-carbon emission technologies, such as algae and cellulosic-based biofuels, carbon capture and storage and advanced engines to name a few.

More information on ExxonMobil’s climate research can be found on ExxonMobil’s corporate blog, Perspectives here.

Neptune is pleased to announce it has been awarded a geophysical and light geotechnical survey services contract by Shell Australia Pty Ltd (Shell).

The work will commence in November 2015 and includes a site survey of the Crux gas field and a 160km route survey between the Crux and Prelude gas fields, in water depths ranging from 90m to 280m.

Neptune will collect high resolution Multi Beam Echo Sounder (MBES), Side Scan Sonar (SSS) and Sub Bottom Profiler (SBP) data on-board the Mermaid Investigator Offshore Supply Vessel (OSV).

Neptune Chief Executive Officer, Robin King, said “this project is the first to be awarded to Neptune by Shell in Australia and we are delighted to be involved. Furthermore, our survey business in Australia has been awarded a number of contracts in recent months and it is pleasing to see a steady flow of work for our Geomatics team”.

Subsea 7 S.A. announces the award of a sizeable(1) contract to Subsea 7 by Pharaonic Petroleum Company S.A.E. for the development of the East Nile Delta Phase 3 Project (END-3). This award was the result of a competitive tender process.

The project scope includes installation engineering, procurement and fabrication of rigid spools, and installation of pipeline, umbilical and subsea structures to develop the resources from two wells including 8 kilometers of umbilicals and pipeline. The field development will be at depths of approximately 80 to 90 meters.

Fabrication of spools will be carried out at Petrojet's yard in Egypt. Offshore installation is scheduled to commence in the fourth quarter of 2015 using the Subsea 7 vessels Rockwater 2 (photo)and Seven Borealis.

Gilles Lafaye, Vice President Africa, said: "Subsea 7 is pleased to once again provide services for the Taurt and Ha'py field developments. This important award recognizes our technical expertise and strong track record of good execution for Pharaonic Petroleum Company and reinforces our presence in Egypt."

(1) Subsea 7 defines a sizeable contract as being between USD 50 million and USD 150 million.

Harris CapRock Communications has received a contract extension for satellite and remote communications services. The contract includes the transition to Harris CapRock’s Advanced VSAT network for three oil production platform sites in the Gulf of Mexico.

Since launching its Advanced VSAT solution, Harris CapRock Communications has transitioned more than 30 energy customers and is adjusting bandwidth on demand to over 100 sites in the oil and gas industry’s most productive regions around the world. Harris CapRock was recently named the most impactful service provider in the oil and gas sector by Via Satellite’s 2014 Excellence Awards Program.

Harris CapRock Communications is a premier global provider of managed satellite, terrestrial and wireless communications solutions for the maritime, energy and government markets. Harris CapRock owns and operates a robust global infrastructure that includes teleports on six continents, five 24/7 customer support centers, a local presence in 23 countries and more than 240 global field service personnel supporting customer locations across North America, Central and South America, Europe, West Africa and Asia Pacific.

CSA staff to unveil new service during the upcoming Esri Ocean GIS Forum

CSA Ocean Sciences Inc. (CSA) iannounces their release of FMVsea a unique service provided by CSA’s Environmental Data and Geospatial Services (EDGS) division. FMVsea is a Full Motion Video service that supports creation of integrated digital video and GIS products (FMV) that will revolutionize the collection, interpretation, and visualization of information collected during field surveys. Features include on-the-fly FMV creation, interactive target identification and a projected field of view bounding box for setting context. FMVsea and the associated services allow actual creation of the Full Motion Video, batching processing, customized target dictionary development, video resizing for better performance in ArcGIS Desktop and video conversion to different formats, all fully compatible with Esri products.

To share more about the FMVsea service capabilities, Ms. Sarah Franklin (GISP), the Geospatial Services Coordinator at CSA, will give a co-authored Lightning Talk, “Application of Full Motion Video in Marine Surveys,” describing how analysts at CSA fuse raw video and spatial data, then use ArcGIS Desktop and the Esri Full Motion Video Add-In to expedite data analysis. We will illustrate how analysts extract spatial marine features from videos, reducing analysis time and placing observations of corals, sponges, fishes, etc. directly into a GIS framework. CSA has also provided scientists the added value of a continuously updated bounding box representing the camera’s field-of-view that is calculated and displayed in ArcGIS Desktop. This provides scale for objects in the video, enables users to evaluate spatial parameters, and, when combined with other data layers such as bathymetry or habitat maps, provides immediate context for what they are seeing in the video.

For those attending the meeting, please visit our booth (#109) to meet Sarah for more information on these and other CSA services and products.

CGG announces that it has now received all necessary permits to start acquiring the industry’s first regional broadband seismic survey of the Barreirinhas Basin in the Equatorial Margin of northern Brazil in early November. The MegaBar 3D multi-client survey has received strong industry support and will benefit from the full bandwidth offered by BroadSeis™ to illuminate the untapped potential of this frontier basin.

The 14,500 km2 survey is being acquired by the Oceanic Vega deploying Sercel Sentinel® solid streamers. The high-end BroadSeis dataset will be processed in CGG's Rio de Janeiro Subsurface Imaging center using the latest processing technology. The processing will also benefit from extensive in-house experience of the Brazilian Equatorial margin and its specific challenges. Fast-track processing deliverables will be available in several phases, starting in May 2016.

Jean-Georges Malcor, CEO, CGG, said: “CGG has responded to significant client interest in the potential of the Barreirinhas Basin with an ambitious program for a new benchmark broadband regional survey. BroadSeis has provided significant insight to explorers in the Atlantic and Equatorial margins of Brazil, and is the natural choice for our MegaBar survey. With over 50 years of operating history in Brazil, CGG is as dedicated as ever to supporting Brazil’s exploration, development and production challenges and believes that this new regional seismic data set will offer an excellent opportunity to understand the geological potential of this new frontier.”

Aberdeen-based, Reftrade UK has seen record growth this year within the rental market for its fleet of refrigerated containers and temperature controlled units. The market leading specialist has seen rental sales increasing 33% from July 2014 to July 2015.

Based in Westhill Aberdeen, Reftrade UK is the only locally owned and operated supplier of refrigerated and temperature controlled containers which supply both the onshore and offshore energy sector with quality, bespoke Zoned and Safe Area units. The company’s Aberdeen location allows for rapid and efficient dispatch of its refrigeration containers to clients operating in the North Sea.

Greg Spence, Managing Director of ReftradeUK

Greg Spence, managing director of Reftrade UK said: “We are particularly pleased with the success and growth we have had in the rental market this year given the difficulties facing the oil and gas industry. I feel our team’s belief in hard work, high operational standards, striving to exceed expectations and going the extra mile is working.

“With a focus on quality and reliability, our product range has been developed to withstand the harshest environments which has been proven time and time again through servicing North Sea and Arctic insulations for over 15 years.”

To sustain future growth the company has effectively diversified into the pharmaceutical market and the transportation of temperature controlled medicines and equipment.

Mr. Spence continued; “The success we have had this year has presented new opportunities for diversification into new markets such as the pharmaceutical industry. Reftrade is already well positioned within these markets throughout Europe and we hope to do the same here in the UK. Our existing capabilities and position are a perfect fit for these markets, and it is the next step for phased growth for the company.”

iSURVEY, a leading provider of survey and positioning services to the global oil and gas, offshore renewables and telecommunications markets, has secured a framework contract with Total E&P UK Limited for the provision of rig move navigation and positioning services.

Andrew McMurtrie, managing director at iSURVEY Offshore Limited

With an Effective Date of 12 October 2015, the three year framework contract will give the iSURVEY team the opportunity to provide platform, rig and vessel-based positioning services to Total’s offshore operations in the UKCS.

Total currently has multiple drilling rigs on hire, all of which have the potential to require positioning during moving operations.

Andrew McMurtrie, managing director of iSURVEY, said: “This framework contract award is testament to the quality of work and results iSURVEY regularly provides for our clients. It is extremely promising to see that the services offered by iSURVEY are being recognised within the industry.

“Having launched our Aberdeenshire base in 2014, the past year has seen iSURVEY’s UK side of operations grow in a very short space of time, and we look forward to continuing the expansion of our services and working closely with Total over the coming years.”

Brazil remains a development area for the oil and gas industry, so to effectively service its customers in the region, Trelleborg’s offshore operation has invested in two new regional appointments.

Project Manager, Rafael Campos handles local contracts to provide clients with quicker and more efficient support on the ground. Sales Manager, Bruno Matos aims to grow relationships with local customers and associations, as well as support the business by building a knowledge of local market trends.

Richard Beesley, Commercial Director of Trelleborg’s offshore operation in Brazil, comments: “We understand that our presence in Brazil is vital to providing high quality communication, understanding and support for our local customers. Since our customers are hugely important to us, we are investing in training and developing our Brazil-based teams to support the growing needs of the region.”

Trelleborg has secured a contract to supply Drill Riser Buoyancy Modules (DRBM) for drill ships that will operate in Brazil in Q2 2016 and is scheduled for delivery from late 2015 into early 2016 to one of the major leading drilling companies in the world.

Beesley continues: This contract firmly establishes Trelleborg as a leading supplier of Drill Riser Buoyancy Modules for the Brazilian new build market. Through our ongoing focus and investment in ground breaking innovation, technology and skilled personnel, we strive to perform at every level to meet our customer’s needs globally.

This is a continuation of our long-standing commitment to developing innovative products and sophisticated materials designed specifically to exceed market requirements and meet the demands of increasing service depths for the global offshore drilling segment.

” In order to reduce a drilling riser’s net weight in water, and ensure that the structure and drilling vessel are supported, Trelleborg offers tailor made DRBMs which are fitted around the length of the riser pipe, improving the riser’s buoyancy and protecting it from service damage.

AAL, one of the world’s leading multipurpose shipping operators, has announced the opening of a new office in Dubai, its third new office launch in the past two months following South Korea and Canada. ‘AAL Middle East’ will place the operator at the centre of an emerging and strategically important region for the project shipping sector, as government and private equity investment across the region brings exciting new infrastructure and energy developments into the fore.

AAL Middle East will offer Arabic and English language capabilities and provide local customers with tramp and project shipping solutions, featuring the highest level of technical expertise and competitiveness for all industry sectors and cargo types. The office will also draw upon AAL’s fleet of seven classes of multi-purpose heavy-lift vessels, ranging from 12,000dwt to 31,000dwt. As well as offering tailor-made solutions, AAL will harness the scalability of its operations and infrastructure, to potentially develop regular semi-liner services based on customer demand.

Commenting on the development, Namir Khanbabi, Managing Director of AAL’s global Tramp & Projects division, said: “The Middle East and Gulf market continues to experience significant capital expenditure and development in its infrastructure. It has also seen investment in construction and now growth in nuclear energy - as well as being a major hub for oil and gas projects. In conjunction with the changing geopolitical landscape, there is a real opportunity to work on-the-ground, to deliver competitive transportation solutions for complex and high value cargo in this important region.”

Consilium opens office in the Norwegian city of Stavanger as part of its focus on fire alarms for the offshore industry. Stavanger is a base for the Norwegian oil industry and proximity to customers therefore make the city a natural choice for Consilium to establish themselves in. The establishment will initially be supported by Consilium's offices in Oslo and Gothenburg. As operations in Stavanger develop, the idea is that it will include sales as well as project management, service and support.

- The offshore industry is an interesting market for Consilium to develop. Despite the temporary downturn in the offshore industry we see that Consiliums solutions, that are flexible and possible to escalate, can create value for the operators. Norway has some of the most stringent requirements in the world within the offshore sector. By establishing ourselves here, we demonstrate that we meet high quality and safety requirements, says Trygve Andersen, Managing Director of Consilium Norway A/S.

Fire alarm according to SIL2 standard

Consilium is one of the world's leading suppliers of fire alarm systems for marine environments. The company has spent several years developing a new fire alarm, CFD 5000, designed specifically for offshore applications, such as oil platforms, refineries and floating support units. The fire alarm is designed to meet high demands for reliability and quality. It is in the final phase of its SIL2 certification and hardware as well as software is developed in close cooperation with the certification body TÜV NORD.

In addition to high reliability and quality the fire alarm is designed to be cost effective in both the deployment and operational phases. This allows Consilium to support the oil industry's efforts to reduce its costs.

When installing our fire alarm, it is possible to use the existing cable installation in the object where the installation will take place, which could mean significant cost reductions. The high quality of our fire alarm system also makes it possible to extend the interval for the mandatory testing of the system that needs to be carried out regularly, which also means cost savings, says Trygve Anderse.

International oilfield support services company, ASCO has announced its decision to divest the majority of the Company’s non oil and gas-related waste services following a strategic review of its portfolio. The bulk of these services operate from Enviroco’s Sheffield facility.

On 27th October 2015, Biffa Waste Services Ltd agreed to purchase ASCO’s waste management site in Sheffield. Employees affected by this sale (around 20 personnel) will transfer to Biffa’s employment under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) regulations.

This move reinforces ASCO’s ongoing commitment to its oil and gas business.

CEO Alan Brown said:

‘We have been very open about the fact ASCO’s core focus exists within the Oil and Gas industry. In line with this strategy, it makes sense for us to streamline our business to reflect our intentions. We are proud of the successful growth our waste business achieved in the non-oil and gas market, however the time has come for us to move our emphasis elsewhere.’

Ashtead Technology, a leading independent provider of subsea equipment rental, sales and services to the offshore industry, has invested over $300,000 in the latest generation of visual inspection tools for deep sea exploration.

The investment will see Ashtead offering a range of SubC Imaging products to meet increasing industry demand for enhanced, cost effective inspection solutions. A world-leader in video technology used to monitor the integrity of subsea assets and infrastructure, SubC Imaging provides state-of-the art cameras with HD video capabilities that can capture and transmit high quality data from extreme water depths.

Chris Echols, Vice President of Ashtead Technology (photo) in Houston said: “Following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, stricter subsea inspection regulations were introduced which has led to a need for more reliable, high resolution visual inspection technology. “The SubC range of cameras, in which we have invested, capture a true visual representation of the underwater world from which we can accurately estimate the remaining life of a subsea infrastructure and assess the integrity of the equipment.

“As the subsea industry enters deeper waters, the need for companies to collect more meaningful data increases. By investing in this equipment, we are able to help our customers ensure they can capture a true picture of what is going on and take preventative measures to ensure the integrity of high-cost, high-risk subsea equipment and infrastructure, thereby saving costs and reducing risk.”

The new 1Cam MK5 range is capable of outputting live HD video over coax or fiber and can record HD 1080P video and capture up to 24mp still images to its internal storage. The units are rated up to 6500m and come as standard with integrated reference lasers. For even greater capability, they can be coupled with an external LED light/strobe or line laser.

Engineered to deliver vivid color video footage in real-time while travelling almost any direction, the MK5 range provides high quality footage of the underwater world.

Ashtead has further enhanced its product offering with the SubC DVR/Overlay system which can record multiple 3D, HD and SD video channels simultaneously, add overlays, stream video and audio over a network, and also includes a new event logging feature.

Ron Collier Vice President of Business Development at SubC Imaging said: “With the new MK5 range, SubC continues to raise the bar when it comes to the quality and capability of underwater cameras available to the subsea industry. Ashtead has been integral to the global market success of our products and the continued investment in our products reflects the company’s commitment to providing its customers with the best available subsea technology.”

Through the delivery of enhanced technical support services, Ashtead Technology is committed to delivering a range of value-added services which now include the supply of offshore personnel, equipment sales, complete asset management, calibration, repair and maintenance, custom engineering, cable moulding and training.

One of the largest seagrass mitigation projects undertaken in the U.S. created over 17 acres of seagrass habitat in Biscayne Bay

CSA Ocean Sciences Inc. (CSA) has successfully completed the transplantation of over 115,000 seagrass plants into a newly filled dredge hole north of the Julia Tuttle Causeway in Miami, Florida as part of the overall environmental mitigation requirements for the deepening and widening of Miami Harbor. CSA was part of the Great Lakes Dredge and Dock LLC (GLDD) team that was awarded the prime contract by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The “deep dredge” project took two years to complete and is the first federal navigation project in the southeast built to accommodate post-Panamax vessels.

During August and September 2015, CSA staff systematically planted 14.3 acres of the 17-acre mitigation site using donor manatee grass (Syringodium filiforme) harvested from a nearby healthy seagrass community in Biscayne Bay. CSA utilized proven methods developed and published by Dr. Mark Fonseca, a world-renowned marine ecologist and Vice President of Science at CSA. Regular coordination with the GLDD team and federal and state agencies was necessary during the planning and implementation phases due to the location of the mitigation site (situated in a state Aquatic Preserve), the high-profile nature of the project, and low success rates associated with prior large-scale seagrass restoration projects.

Sensitive to desiccation and temperature extremes, seagrass plants were carefully extracted from the sediments of an approved seagrass bed, sorted, and assembled into 29,000 individual bare root “planting units” while ensuring they remained bathed in ambient seawater using a custom-made on-board circulating system. Scientific divers meticulously planted each planting unit by hand to ensure the growing tips of the plant were buried to the appropriate depth below the sediment surface. To provide passive fertilization to the plants through the introduction of coastal bird feces, over 1,150 bird roosting stakes were installed within the planted areas of the mitigation site.

In early October, CSA conducted the first monitoring survey to assess the success of planting and verify that the planting units remained firmly anchored in the sediment. A comprehensive evaluation of the entire planted area and all planting units was conducted and, despite frequent feeding by manatees on the planted seagrass, the percent survival was documented at 97.6%—much higher than the mandated 70% survival. Dr. Fonseca noted that “barring any unforeseen disturbances, this is on course to be one of the largest and most successful actively planted, commercial (seagrass mitigation) projects to date.”

CSA Ocean Sciences Inc. specializes in consulting services for federal, state, and private industry clients in multidisciplinary projects, integrating science and technology to evaluate environmental activities throughout the world. CSA offers a wide variety of services related to environmental management, geospatial data utilization and community planning to support clients working in marine, estuarine, wetland, freshwater, and terrestrial habitats throughout the United States and overseas.

The acquisition of Imtech Marine by Pon Holdings and Parcom Capital has been finalized. The European Commission has approved the takeover of the leading maritime service provider. Imtech Marine will continue to operate independently and will, in the coming period, further focus on its growth ambitions.

René ten Brinke, CEO of Imtech Marine: ‘’Now that the acquisition is completed, a new era arises for Imtech Marine. The coming years, our aim will be to further strengthen our leading position in the maritime sector, with dedicated focus on our customers, employees and suppliers. With this new start comes a new company name, which we will announce on November 5th at the maritime Europort exhibition in Rotterdam.’’

Imtech Marine is a leading company in the global maritime market, operating as a full-service provider and system integrator of tailor-made, innovative and sustainable technology solutions covering the whole ship. The company employs almost 2,500 staff, of which over 900 employees are based in The Netherlands. More than 85 offices are positioned in 30 countries along strategic shipping routes and close to shipbuilding centers.

About Pon Holdings

Pon, one of the largest Dutch family businesses, is an international trading and servicing company, with a great variety of activities. With approximately 13,000 employees spread over 450 branches, Pon is active in 32 countries. The company realized a turnover of close to 6 billion euro in 2014. For more information www.pon.com.

About Parcom Capital

Parcom Capital is a leading mid-market private equity firm and was founded in 1982 as one of the first buy-out and expansion capital providers in the Dutch market. It manages over 1 billion euro’s in investments divided over multiple sectors, including the offshore and maritime sector. For more information www.parcomcapital.com.