Wilhelmsen Ships Service is pleased to announce that Frank Liang (photo) has been named Regional Offshore Manager Asia, tasked with building the company’s business with rig contractors.

According to Sean Neilan, Sales & Marketing Director in Asia Pacific, Liang will play an important role in WSS's strategic initiative towards the offshore market. “Frank has a strong business development background and a proven track record in maintaining long term relationships with clients,” he says. “This will be needed as Frank demonstrates the value he and WSS can deliver to our new target market and builds up our profile and reputation in this important segment.”

In his almost three-decade career working as an ITC specialist within the marine, offshore & energy industries, Liang brings a wealth of experience and a vast network to WSS operations in Asia. “My primary focus is to leverage our global network and comprehensive product assortment to meet the specific demands of rig contractors,” he says. “While the company has been active in this segment for decades, we are confident that by refocusing our approach to this market, we can generate strong growth.”

While Liang acknowledges that low oil prices have slowed offshore production in the region, he notes that rig contractors are under increasing pressure to improve services and reduce costs. “The scale and scope of our offering and global network puts WSS in a strong position to attract new customers,” he says. “We have also identified areas where we can easily create bespoke solutions to meet the specific demands of individual rig customers.

Liang will also work closely with WSS’ global offshore team, which works with the top 18 rig contractors in the world, and coordinate with other Regional Directors to help standardise WSS product and service offerings. “The leading contractors serve about 60 per cent of the world’s rigs, so represent a critical part of our business going forward,” he explains. “We will also target smaller contractors serving rigs here in Asia.”

Liang has moved quickly to get to know his sales staff and share his ideas. In late July, he hosted a two-day offshore conference in Singapore, bringing together about 30 Account Managers, Sales Managers and Product Managers in the Asia Pacific region for training. “Our goal was to introduce the specific risk factors and business strategies use to target the offshore market,” he says. “We are confident that by working more closely with our colleagues in other regions and departments to align our services, we will be in a stronger position when the rig market improves.”

Statoil and its partners last week put the first subsea gas compression facility on line at Åsgard in the Norwegian Sea. Subsea compression will add some 306 million barrels of oil equivalent to total output over the field’s life.

This subsea technology milestone opens new opportunities in deeper waters, and in areas far from shore.

“This is one of the most demanding technology projects aimed at improving oil recovery. We are very proud today that we together with our partners and suppliers have realized this project that we started ten years ago,” says Margareth Øvrum, Statoil’s executive vice president for Technology, Drilling and Projects.

Recovery from the Midgard reservoir on Åsgard will increase from 67 percent to 87 percent, and from 59 percent to 84 percent from the Mikkel reservoir. Overall, 306 million barrels of oil equivalent will be added.

“Thanks to the new compressor solution we will achieve increased recovery rates both at Midgard and Mikkel, extending the reservoirs’ productive lives until 2032,” says Siri Espedal Kindem, senior vice president for Åsgard operations.

Demanding technology development

As a field gets older, the natural pressure in the reservoir drops. In order to recover more oil and gas, and get this to the platform, compression is required. The closer to the well compression takes place, the more oil and gas can be recovered.

Traditionally compression plants are installed on platforms or onshore, but this plant is located in 300 meters of water.

Due to the challenging location, quality in all parts of the project has been essential, and will help ensure high regularity, maximum recovery and robust production.

The project started in 2005, and the plan for development and operation (PDO) was approved in 2012.

An estimated eleven million man-hours have been spent from the start until completion. More than 40 new technologies have been developed and employed after prior testing and verification. Some of this work has taken place at Statoil’s Kårstø laboratory in Western Norway.

Overall, project cost were just above NOK 19 billion. Many small and big suppliers have helped to develop the sophisticated underwater compressor system.

Establishing the necessary support functions onshore has been an important and substantial part of the project. A spare compression train will be stored in custom designed halls at the onshore supply base Vestbase in Kristiansund.

“High-quality, regular maintenance of the subsea modules will also be performed here, helping ensure operational excellence for Åsgard,” says Espedal Kindem.

Technology for the future, and new potentials

The Midgard and Mikkel gas reservoirs have been developed using subsea installations. The two gas compressors now installed on the seabed are located close to the wellheads.

Moving the gas compression from the platform to the wellhead substantially increases the recovery rate and life of the fields. Prior to gas compression, gas and liquids are separated out, and after pressure boosting recombined and sent through a pipeline some 40 kilometers to Åsgard B.

In addition to improving recovery subsea gas compression will be more energy efficient than the traditional topside solution. The technology reduces significantly energy consumption and CO2 emissions over the field’s life.

Today almost 50 percent of Statoil’s production is recovered through some 500 subsea wells. Statoil’s subsea expertise is essential to successful production efficiency improvement and increased oil recovery efforts.

“Subsea gas compression is the technology for the future, taking us a big step closer to our ambition of realizing a subsea processing plant, referred to as the subsea factory”, says Øvrum.

Such a plant will facilitate remotely controlled hydrocarbon transportation. Current topside operations will thus be moved to the seabed, allowing oil and gas to be recovered that would not otherwise be profitable. This is an important element of increased recovery on the Norwegian continental shelf.

DNV GL will support the operator in assuring the project equipment transportation and installations are conducted to recognized guidelines, standards and internal requirements.

Shah Deniz stage 2, or Full Field Development (FFD) one of the largest gas developments in the world, will help increase European energy security by bringing Caspian gas resources to markets in Europe for the very first time. The project will add a further 16 billion cubic meters per year (bcma) of gas production to the approximately 9 bcma produced by Shah Deniz stage 1.

James Dingwall, DNV GL Project Manager, said: “The project requires a strong emphasis on the delivery of quality project management that is focused to support the operator in the safe delivery of this tight schedule project. We have developed comprehensive processes, systems and procedures that provide the foundation for us to deliver on project commitments, ultimately demonstrating capability, competence and continuity whilst developing client trust.”

Charles Henderson, DNV GL’s Marine Warranty Services (MWS) Team Leader added: “We were delighted to be advised of our success in the award of this project. The drive to ensure the project is conducted safely and efficiently is paramount, and DNV GL will be proactively supporting BP’s safety culture and ensuring the risks associated with “temporary works” and marine operations are adequately mitigated. Our MWS are supported by the in-depth knowledge of our practitioners and the delivery of this project will draw upon the support of personnel within the group’s marine, engineering, dynamic positioning, metocean and geotechnical teams.”

A key area of focus for DNV GL has been the development and training of local personnel to maintain skills and support long-term cost reduction and sustainability for the local industry and community.

DNV GL has been providing integrity management on Shah Deniz 1 for the past ten years.

Statoil has, on behalf of the Johan Sverdrup partnership, awarded a contract to ABB AB in Sweden for fabrication and installation of two high-voltage cables supplying power from shore to the Johan Sverdrup field.

The contract is an EPCI contract covering engineering, procurement, fabrication, installation and testing of two high-voltage power cables and a fiber-optic communication cable to the Johan Sverdrup field centre from shore.

The high-voltage cables are 200 kilometers long and designed for a supply capacity of 100 MW/80 kV. This will cover the power need for the first phase of the Johan Sverdrup field development, which is scheduled for start-up late in 2019.

The contract also covers options for delivering high-voltage cables from shore to the Johan Sverdrup field to meet the power requirement of a full development of the Johan Sverdrup field as well as the Edvard Grieg, Ivar Aasen and Gina Krog fields on the Utsira High.

The total contract value is NOK 700 million, plus options.

Fabricated at ABB AB’s plant in Karlskrona, the high-voltage cables will be laid from Haugsneset in Tysvær municipality north of Stavanger to the Johan Sverdrup field centre on the Utsira High. The power cables will be pulled up to the riser platform at the Johan Sverdrup field centre. The cables will be buried into the seabed or covered by rocks, as required.

This contract is one of the three major contracts covering the land-based power supply project. The first contract has already been awarded to ABB in Norway for delivery of high-voltage direct current transformer equipment to the riser platform at Johan Sverdrup and at Haugsneset. The last contract covers all construction work related to the alternating current cable to be laid from Kårstø to Haugsneset and the entire onshore converter station. The contract for the onshore construction work is being evaluated and is expected to be awarded this autumn.

The Johan Sverdrup oil field will be operated by land-based power from production start in late 2019. The first phase of the Johan Sverdrup field development will also include all the preparations needed for land-based power supply for a full Johan Sverdrup development as well as other fields on the Utsira High by 2022.

The Johan Sverdrup field partners: Statoil 40.0267% (operator), Lundin Norway 22.6%, Petoro 17.36%, Det norske oljeselskap 11.5733% and Maersk Oil 8.44%.

Some 50% of crews working on offshore support vessels are willing to compromise safety rather than say ‘no’ to clients or senior management, while nearly 80% believe commercial pressures could influence the safety of their working practices.

Image credit: Helm Operations

The findings come from a newly published report on workboat and OSV safety commissioned by operations and maintenance management software specialist Helm Operations.

The independent report summarize six months of research by Fathom Maritime Intelligence and primary data collection and analysis by Southampton Solent University. It draws on original analysis of Port State Control detention records, feedback from 50 individuals from various off-shore companies, incident case studies, and input from leaders in best practice.

The full version of the OSV Safety report is available to download here.

Fabrication of this frame confirms Seanic’s engineering capabilities.

Seanic Ocean Systems Inc. (Seanic) is pleased to announce the successful testing and delivery of two steel-tube flying lead (SFL) flushing/parking frames to an oil & gas operator in the Gulf of Mexico. The SFL Frames were designed by Seanic’s Engineered Solutions group and will be used exclusively in the pre-commissioning phase of an SFL, which includes the filling, testing and eventual flushing of the SFL and related components.

Each frame is designed for deep-water use and is rated to 15,000 PSI. Standing at 10 feet high, 15 feet wide, and 10 feet long, the frame incorporates a mudmat designed per all relevant American Petroleum Institute (API) specifications allowing the work to be performed on the seabed. The SFL flushing/parking frames are engineered for the short-term connection to flush the SFL’s and are designed so they can be easily reconfigured for a range of future applications.

Seanic was approached by the oil & gas operator for the engineering and fabrication project earlier this year and was able to complete delivery within four months. “The SFL frames provide the necessary interface required by a work class remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to perform these vital tasks subsea,” said Dane Ewing, Project Engineer at Seanic. “We took great care in building these components around the client’s specific needs and upon the same principles used when designing our world renowned subsea tooling - Simple, Rugged and Reliable.”

Tom Ayars, Seanic’s President says, “Our new facility which is currently under construction in Katy, Texas, will allow for large engineering projects like these to be fabricated from start to finish onsite. With continuous client collaboration similar to what took place with the SFL flushing/parking frames, we can almost always save our customers time and produce a cost effective product.”

In response to the decline in crude oil prices since mid-2014, the number of active offshore rigs has declined worldwide, dropping close to 20%—304 offshore rigs were operating in August 2015, down from 377 in August 2014. During this period, the number of active offshore rigs in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GOM) dropped more rapidly, falling by 46%. Over the past 15 years, the U.S. GOM's share of active offshore rigs worldwide has declined significantly—from almost half of all active offshore rigs worldwide in 2000 to less than 20% since 2008.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, based on Baker Hughes Inc.

In the U.S. GOM, technology advancements accelerated the development of the deepwater (areas where the water depth is greater than 1,000 feet). The move to deeper waters prompted the departure of rigs operating in the shallow waters of the U.S. GOM. Natural gas prospects in the U.S. GOM have also become less profitable, as the largely shale-driven increase in onshore natural gas supply contributed to decreases in U.S. natural gas prices. The number of active offshore rigs in the U.S. GOM declined from 122 in January 2000 to 41 in January 2010, before falling to 19 in June 2010 following the Deepwater Horizon offshore explosion and blowout. The U.S. GOM active offshore rig count recovered to 57 by December 2014, and currently the number is 33.

From 2000 to 2006, the share of active rigs operating offshore in Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Latin America grew significantly. That share remained steady over the past decade. The expansion of offshore drilling in India and China largely accounted for the growth in offshore rigs in the Asia Pacific region. During the early 2000s, Qatar and Iran accounted for much of the growth in active offshore rigs in the Middle East, with Saudi Arabia accounting for a large portion of the regional growth since 2006. Mexico accounted for the growth in active offshore rigs in Latin America in the early 2000s, as national oil company Pemex increased its offshore activity to arrest declining production from aging fields.

Since 2006, Brazil has been responsible for much of Latin America's growth. Most of the more recent growth in active offshore rigs outside the United States has occurred in Africa. Angola and Nigeria account for much of the growth in the region after 2010. Angola has more than 10 offshore oil projects expected to come online within the next five years. Nigeria's offshore activities have been focusing on the deepwater and ultra-deepwater; at least three deepwater projects are in development and are projected to come online within the next five years.

Assystem, a leading innovation and engineering consultancy secures multi-million Euro contract with Fusion for Energy (F4E) - the EU organization responsible for Europe’s contribution to ITER. The five-year contract sees Assystem working on the world’s biggest international energy project, currently under construction in the South of France.

Assystem, which delivers specialist engineering services to the Oil and Gas, Energy, Aerospace, Automotive, Defence and Nuclear industries has started work on the ITER fusion energy project – an unprecedented international effort by China, the EU, India, Japan, Korea, Russia and the United States to pool financial and scientific resources to build the biggest fusion reactor in history.

Construction is underway in Cadarache and sees Assystem using advanced and innovative techniques suitable for subsea operations and space exploration, focusing on the ITER Divertor Remote Handling system and confirms the company’s position as a key engineering partner within the ITER project.

The Divertor is a key component of the ITER machine. Located at the bottom of the vacuum vessel, its function is to extract impurities from the plasma, in effect acting like a giant exhaust system. The Divertor Remote Handling systems include the equipment required to safely and reliably position as well as extract each of the 54 removable cassettes within the Divertor.

Remote handling is widely used in space exploration missions, subsea or ground operations. The system brings together high tech robotics, advanced technological tools, powerful computers and virtual reality platforms. A high level of intuition and intelligence are inbuilt within the system which is handled by a human operator with extreme dexterity because of the degree of millimetric precision that is required.

Speaking from the company’s North Sea Oil and Gas engineering base, Andrew Mills, Head of Business Unit said: “We are very pleased to have been selected for this prestigious project. The extensive engineering experience our highly-skilled team has developed across the Energy sector means Assystem can add value across the oil and gas life cycle. Remote handling technology and systems have clear benefits for the harsh North Sea environment from exploration and production, increasingly, to decommissioning.

“Oil and gas producers require more efficient and innovative services than ever before from suppliers and Assystem’s ability to use the expertise developed in the course of this work will be of benefit in demanding North Sea oil and gas operations. “

Since 2009, Assystem has been heavily involved in the concept design phase of the various types of remote handling equipment that will be required to install, maintain, and recover the diverse components of the ITER Tokamak during its operational life.

For Assystem, the contract confirms the Group’s dedication and commitment to the international fusion energy project. It also demonstrates the company’s leading edge competencies and its capacity to bring together the best-in class skills and partners for a specific project.

Assystem and its partners have successfully collaborated to offer a wealth of expert fusion energy knowledge that will drive innovation and meet the uniquely challenging requirements of the ITER project.

The Assystem-led team brings a distinctive combination of skills and experience which provides F4E access to the extensive nuclear remote handling capability available from within Assystem. These skills and knowledge are now available to the UK oil and gas market.

Assystem is an international Engineering and Innovation Consultancy. Assystem supports its customers in developing their products and managing their capital expenditure throughout the product life cycle. Assystem employs more than 12,000 people worldwide and reported $960 million in revenue in 2014.

Jee Ltd, a leading multi-discipline subsea engineering and training firm, has unveiled its 2016 course schedule and training and development brochure offering new cost-effective, flexible training programs for the global oil and gas and offshore wind industry.

Covering the whole life-of-field, Jee has designed its portfolio of 27 courses to help subsea engineers build on their existing competencies and meet the standards demanded of them at every stage of their career.

With a reputation for excellence, Jee has been training the global oil and gas industry for more than 20 years, working with over 7000 delegates in 37 countries. With a clear understanding of the necessity for a flexible approach to learning, the company’s methodologies are at the forefront for both the new generation of engineers and experienced professionals.

Jee’s Head of Courses, Jenny Mathew said: “At Jee we understand that in the current climate budgets are being cut, particularly in areas such as training. Cost reduction and efficiencies are key to ensure investment in subsea training continues to be a feasible option for our customers.”

The 2016 schedule offers a variety of online or face-to-face deliveries, at a Jee course hub (Aberdeen and Houston) or in-house at client offices. New options are also available to enhance courses, allowing delegates to create their own unique learning experience.

“Our new training outlook provides cost-effective, flexible training solutions that can be tailored to any organization’s requirements and budget. Delegates have the option to choose a standard ‘off the shelf’ course, customize part of a course, or develop a completely bespoke program to meet specific requirements.

“Using the latest learning theory and offering a range of options, often referred to as blended learning, helps to ensure knowledge is effectively retained and produces real business value when applied to the work of an individual and organisation.” concluded Ms Matthew.

The training team at Jee develop courses in collaboration with tutors, all practising engineers with a wealth of expertise in their field, and incorporate lessons learned from their engineering division to ensure up-to-date content in line with the latest industry codes, standards and best practice.

On an evening in September 2012, a rare sequence of events left one of Bibby Offshore’s saturation divers stranded in complete darkness, 90 meters below the surface of the North Sea, without any gas to breathe.

The diver was rescued and recovered fully, but Bibby Offshore wanted to share its experience and the lessons learnt in the most effective way, so in collaboration with floating Harbour Productions, created a documentary style film, Lifeline, using real time footage and reconstruction of the event to recount the remarkable events that took place that evening.

The Lifeline Story

Lifeline demonstrates an example of human reaction to changing and challenging circumstances, and how leadership training, and the right behaviours, procedures and emergency response actions can tip the balance in a life and death scenario.

Due to the combined effects of unique faults in the dynamic positioning system, Diving Support Vessel (DSV) Bibby Topaz was left 190 meters off position. At the time, diver Chris Lemons and his colleague were deployed subsea working in a drilling template. Although both divers got out of the template safely, Chris’s umbilical, which provided him with breathing gas, hot water for his suit and communications, became trapped and subsequently parted, leaving him alone and in complete darkness on the seabed.

After 40 minutes in incredibly harsh and life-threatening conditions, the professional and astute actions of the Bibby Topaz team resulted in Chris being rescued and returned to the bell, unconscious, but alive. He made a full recovery, and the incident provided the unique opportunity to improve and enhance diver safety across the entire industry which Bibby Offshore was absolutely determined to grasp.

Lead QHSE Advisor at Bibby Offshore Chris Cleghorn, who was on-board the vessel on the night of the incident, said: “Whilst technical safety films are hugely valuable tools, Lifeline does not set out to address safety issues from this point of view, rather it focuses on the human response and personal impact.

“In addition to the many lessons to be learned from the incident, its aim is to make us consider the consequences of things going wrong, and Lifeline is a vivid reminder of the preciousness of a human life.”

Lessons Learnt

Bibby Offshore has used Lifeline extensively to engage with the industry, through regular communication with operators, subsea contractors and industry bodies. The lessons learnt from the incident and the initiatives identified, are also continually addressed through the company’s Diving Safety Workgroup (DSW).

Directly after the incident, Sir Michael Bibby and Bibby Offshore’s Chief Executive Howard Woodcock took the decision to form the DSW to take every step possible to identify how the safety of diving operations can be further enhanced and the risk reduced to as low as possible.

The DSW is an output from the incident, and the means by which Bibby Offshore has continued to engage with the industry since the incident. Its scope covers safety in diving operations, technological development in diving equipment, gaining feedback from offshore teams and assisting with the implementation of identified enhancements while monitoring the effectiveness of them.

The workgroup, which includes representation from the Diving and QHSE departments, was set up to identify opportunities for improvement in diving operational practices, equipment, and procedures for use not only by Bibby Offshore, but across the wider oil and gas subsea sector.

The DSW has been instrumental in identifying improvement and enhancement opportunities to ultimately make diving operations safer, and Lifeline has been an invaluable tool in educating and driving engagement as part of the process.

The whole Bibby Offshore team knows the 2012 incident could have ended in tragedy. However now the goal is to learn from the event, enhance technology and systems, and encourage the entire global diving industry to do the same, ultimately positioning Bibby Offshore as leaders in diving safety.

On behalf of the Peregrino license partners, Statoil is awarding a contract to Wood Group to provide four-year operations and maintenance for our two wellhead platforms (Alpha and Bravo) and modification services for both units and the FPSO Peregrino.

A well head platform on the Peregrino field (Photo:Statoil)

The contract’s scope includes offshore services and covers all production processes and equipment except drilling services and introduces a new operating model for the field, as for the first time the company is bundling all these services in one single contract in order to boost integration and simplify the contract management.

“We have decided to group these contracts in line with our corporate strategy of simplification, cost optimization and production efficiency. We have been working closely with Wood Group in Peregrino field and we look forward to strengthening our partnership for the next four years”, says Pål Eitrheim, senior vice president for Development Production International South America and Brazil Country Manager.

Wood Group has been operating the two wellhead platforms since 2009 and has supported the Peregrino project throughout its development.

“The bundling of the contracts will bring significant cost savings to Statoil Brazil, in addition to simplification to our operations. It’s essential to take the best of what the market can offer to us and further strengthen the relationship with our key suppliers”, says Jon Arnt Jacobsen, chief procurement officer of Statoil.

The Peregrino field is Statoil´s first and largest operatorship outside the Norwegian Continental Shelf. It started production on April 2011 and produces today around 90 000 bpd.

The field is located 85 kilometers offshore Brazil in the Campos basin at about 100 meters water depth in licenses BMC-7 and BMC-47. Statoil holds 60% ownership and the operatorship of the field and Sinochem the remaining 40%.

On Friday 11 September, the Wei-Li crane ship slipped her lines at Damen Shiprepair Dunkerque to make the short trip up to Rotterdam after 10 days of maintenance and repairs. The 141-meter, 18,330 DWT crane ship required special dock bed arrangements, not least because of the 3,000 ton crane mounted on her stern and her unconventional hull form.

A total of 225 blocks were required, along with an additional 56 steel pillars of up to 7 meters in length to support the stern. Wooden wedges also had to be added to the lateral blocks to take account of the unusual hull shape and to ensure complete stability in the drydock.

The scope of work over the 10 day period included, along with the standard work for class survey, blasting and painting the hull and the overhauling of the internal and overboard valves. The scope of the electrical works was extensive given the tight time frame, with a large number of motors removed and transported back to workshop for overhaul before being returned and refitted. The last ones were fitted and tested on the same day of the vessel’s departure.

The starboard propeller blades were also rebuilt. This required re-welding tips onto each of the blades followed by a full polish for both propellers. Six generator coolers were also removed for overhauling, as were their bearings, and some major repairs were made to the accommodation.

Cooperation with the project team from owner Shanghai Salvage was excellent; thanks in part to the assistance of a local Chinese national attending a nearby university who helped smooth the language differences.

“Ensuring that the Wei-Li was properly supported in the drydock was a complex project in itself,” commented Khalil Benjelloul, head of marketing and sales at Damen Shiprepair Dunkerque. “With all the blocks and pillars, plus the positions of the vessel’s thrusters, it was not easy to position her in the centre line of the dock. Once accomplished, however, the work proceeded smoothly and after 10 days of hard work around the clock she was on her way again. It was a pleasure to work with Shanghai Salvage and its representatives.”

The Wei-Li was built by Zhenhua Heavy Industries in 2010 and this summer was involved in the installation of the 11,000 ton jacket for the Ivar Aasen project in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea.

Impact Subsea has announced the opening of its new headquarters in Ellon, Aberdeenshire, UK.

Following the launch of the ground breaking ISA500 the company has moved into premises in the Castle Road Industrial Estate, Ellon, UK.

The new premises will enable the company to continue to support and expand on its innovative underwater engineering and product solutions to the Oil and Gas, Renewables and Scientific markets.

Benedict Grant, Managing Director, commented: 'To support the growth of Impact Subsea, we are delighted to announce the move to larger premises. Our new premises not only enable continued support for the ISA500, but provide a strong base to develop and launch further innovative underwater products later this year.'

Alastair Mclennan-Murray, Technical Director, also commented: 'The new premises will greatly assist in the ability to develop, prototype and produce products in line with our product development roadmap. The year ahead is going to be an exciting one, as we release new products to challenge the status quo of existing solutions in the market.'

Impact Subsea was founded in February 2015 by two experienced ROV & AUV equipment developers. The company launched its first product – the ISA500, the state of the art Altimeter, Heading, Pitch and Roll Sensor at the end of August 2015. Further product launches are planned for Q4 2015.

Further detail, click here.

Claxton, an Acteon company, has successfully installed a high-pressure drilling riser system as part of a multimillion-pound contract for the Catcher area field development in the Central North Sea.

Owen Lewis, project engineer, Claxton, said, “Claxton was the only company to offer Premier Oil a fully-forged riser design option in the early tender stages of the project, and they recognized the value of it. Each joint was forged from a single billet of material with no joining welds, which makes the riser stronger than traditional systems. The riser’s fatigue life far exceeds the duration of the drilling phase of this project. We also provided optimum deployment times for the riser package, through the use of hydraulic handling tools and bolt tensioning equipment.”

The system was installed for Premier Oil’s Catcher area field development, which includes the development of the Catcher, Varadero and Burgman fields in Block 28/09a in the UK’s central North Sea.

Claxton’s scope of work includes providing the subsea connector to latch the riser with the subsea wellhead; riser tensioning interface from the riser to the rig’s tension system; all riser handling tools and a suite of custom-designed bolt tensioners, which will facilitate flange make-up. Acteon sister company, 2H Offshore, provided the riser analysis for the Catcher development.

Claxton secured the contract last year and began mobilization in late July 2015. The contract is for three-and-a-half years, with a possible extension.

“This project has been an exciting challenge throughout, with the design undertaken in-house to integrate a fully-forged system with a new flange design,” said Lewis. “One challenge was incorporating the tubing hanger alignment mechanism within our stress joint assembly. Claxton succeeded in delivering a unique guide frame design attached to the stress joint, which provided consistent and repeatable positioning of the tubing hanger in the wellhead. The riser has been installed successfully, with the first well nearing completion.”

Aquatic Engineering and Construction Ltd, an Acteon company, has been awarded a contract to lay power cables for the main provider of electricity in British Columbia, Canada. Aquatic will deliver a multi-reel solution making the operation faster and supporting its partners to manage costs and resources.

The shallow water project will commence later this week in the tidal estuary of the Strait of Georgia. Aquatic will be laying approximately 15 km of 87 mm diameter electrical power cable, and will be operating in a busy shipping lane between Vancouver Island and mainland British Columbia, close to the US border.

Aquatic’s multi-reel solution enables the project vessel to perform fewer of the 230 km trips between the quayside and the project site, and effectively reduces the barge transit distance by 2000 km. The solution will provide considerable time and craneage cost savings by having all four reels loaded on the vessel at the start of the project, rather than mobilised individually.

The equipment was mobilized from Aquatic’s US base at Morgan City, Louisiana. Having a full suite of equipment in North America enabled Aquatic to swiftly respond once the project date had been agreed.

Richard Charles, sales and business development manager, Aquatic, said, “Our recent successes, such as the umbilical installation project with Mermaid Subsea Services in the Middle East earlier this year1, have demonstrated our multi-reel capability and expertise in delivering an integrated managed service. Our people and equipment, once mobilised, will partner with the subcontractor’s teams effectively, within the agreed timescales (weather permitting) and to budget.”

Ovivo Inc. ("Ovivo") has been awarded a major contract to design and supply modular fresh water makers for an offshore oil production platform located in the North Sea. Ovivo's scope of work includes the supply of a filtration plant and a custom engineered fresh potable water maker package, through its heritage brand Caird & Rayner Clark, which is based upon reverse osmosis technology to treat seawater. The contract value is approximately $8 million Canadian and the equipment is scheduled for delivery in December 2016.

"This large contract is the latest of a series of orders booked in the energy market since January, which bodes well for the remaining of the current fiscal year in this key segment," said Marc Barbeau, President and Chief Executive Officer. "Our global platform continues to be a key advantage for us in order to reach our customers across the world and supply our high specification water treatment technologies," added Mr. Barbeau.