Xodus Group has promoted Andrew Sewell to the role of Global Subsurface Lead to drive forward its global subsurface capabilities. Mr Sewell has more than 24 years’ experience working in the oil and gas industry, initially as a Geophysicist, and joined Xodus in 2012 as Subsurface Manager. He previously worked with Senergy (now LR Senergy) as Region Manager for Europe and Africa. He started his career with Schlumberger after graduating from Cambridge University with a MA in Physics in 1991.

Mr Sewell has worked across Africa, the Middle East and Europe delivering projects including geophysical reviews, field development plans and due diligence investigations. Recent and ongoing projects he is managing include exploration projects in Kenya and field development projects in Kurdistan and Nigeria.

“In the current market conditions operators are looking to reduce costs and maximise production from mature or marginal fields,” said Mr Sewell. “In addition, the M&A market is becoming increasingly active as oil and gas companies look to buy production and financial companies are now looking to invest in oil and gas companies/assets.

“Xodus Subsurface is well placed to support all types of companies in this dynamic marketplace. We boast a global team of multi-disciplined talent covering exploration and production, with a strong pedigree and track record in supporting M&A deals. By combining this broad wealth of knowledge with the latest software technologies, we can propel our capabilities to deliver high standard products with innovative solutions, efficiently and cost-effectively.”

Xodus’ subsurface offering manages all technical aspects of exploration and reservoir development and includes the core disciplines of geology, geophysics, petrophysics and reservoir engineering, as well as more niche skill sets required for activities such as fracture characterisation. The company provides technical services to E&P companies, investors, start-ups, governments and regulatory bodies, and also expert services to a wide range of private equity businesses and other financial institutions.

Steve Swindell, COO of Xodus said: “We predict a huge growth in subsurface services and are optimistic about the potential out there. Our seamless integration of services from exploration through production and development can greatly enhance the quality of what we deliver as well as saving valuable project time. Andrew’s experience and passion for his field of expertise inspires and motivates the team and I’m confident his ambitions in this new role will be realised.”

By: Rizwan Sheikh, Senior data analyst at BMT Scientific Marine Services

The need for mooring integrity monitoring has of late come back under the spotlight, not least because the use of floating production systems in the offshore Oil and Gas industry has been predicted to grow at a significant rate between now and 2017 with a peak in the number of new builds expected to occur in 2016/2017. Recently, an updated industry guideline on mooring integrity has been issued by Oil & Gas UK with the support of operators, contractors and vendors. The guideline reinforces how mooring integrity management through effective monitoring and data management can provide information to help detect mooring line failure and assist with validation of mooring design strength and fatigue analyses.

Station keeping through the life of a field is of critical importance for floating production facilities in all parts of the world. The mooring system performs this function, and although it has not always been the case, current design practice is to engineer mooring systems that can withstand extreme environments with single or even multiple line failure scenarios. Even so, the offshore industry has experienced numerous unexpected mooring line failures in recent years that, in a small number of cases, have resulted in mooring system failure. On average between 2001 and 2011, there were more than two mooring system failures per year. During this period, nine were multiple line failures1 and other mooring incidents resulted in riser failures and hence extended field shut down2. Based solely on these statistics, there is a clear business case for effective mooring integrity monitoring.

One of the challenges that has emerged from these failings is the need to monitor mooring system integrity reliably for the life of the facility without the need for costly inspection or maintenance of subsea sensors. In general, most mooring line monitoring systems that have been deployed to monitor mooring line tension have themselves experienced sensors failures, and the industry is now assessing ways of monitoring mooring line break detection as opposed to measuring mooring tension in a hope that the sensors will be more robust. However, many of the challenges of installing and maintaining these types of monitoring systems still need to be addressed.

Typical requirements for mooring integrity monitoring of permanently moored floating systems encompass the need to measure mooring line tension and/or behavior, and to transmit this data to the facilities topside for display and archiving. Monitoring systems therefore need to be conceived to withstand high structural loads as well as harsh sea-states for the design life of the facility. This is achieved through robust design, proper installation and periodic maintenance and servicing once in service. Key questions to ask when selecting a system include: is the system for a new-build or a retrofit? Is position or inclination sufficient, or is a measurement of in-line tension required? Can the system be diver or ROV deployable or serviceable? Will data be transmitted wirelessly or through a hardwired connection? Last but not least, where is the most practical location to place the sensors without compromising safety or the quality of the measurement?

To meet the growing demand for a cost effective and reliable means of monitoring mooring system integrity, BMT has developed a novel system to assimilate data from a range of topside-based sensors (which monitor factors like the environment, position, vessel motions, draft and available mooring line information) into a topside Response Learning System (RLS). This system uses machine learning and cognitive science to learn the response of a system as well as the inter-dependencies of the numerous data sources. As a result, it is possible to estimate the behavior of a system (floating production facility) given a set of impulses (environmental loads from combined action of wind, wave and current) provided the RLS has sufficient measured marine data for learning.

There are numerous applications for machine learning algorithms. In fact, BMT is using them in the field to improve predictions of tension beneath the buoyancy can on a free-standing hybrid riser tower. In the context of mooring monitoring, work conducted on a turret moored FPSO, where a mooring line monitoring system was installed by BMT, showed that an RLS can estimate mooring line tension to within 30kN using only position and draft as inputs.

Excursion monitoring can also be used as an indirect way to monitor the integrity of the mooring system. Simple watch circle monitoring systems do not integrate metocean and vessel motions data to verify that the vessel offset from its moored origin is as should be expected, given the environmental loading and mooring stiffness. Furthermore, should the offset from design origin shift slightly in benign conditions, a watch circle processor would not be able to indicate a change in the mooring system. By using an RLS, the expected position, heading and response can be compared back to the measured position for the given environment. If the difference exceeds a pre-determined threshold, an advisory can be issued on the mooring system integrity.

In conclusion, with mooring integrity now under a renewed emphasis within the Oil & Gas industry, there is a heightened need for a robust and cost effective mooring integrity monitoring solution for both new-build and existing installations. The application of an RLS to monitor mooring system integrity builds upon BMT’s many years of experience in providing custom designed and custom built Integrated Marine and Mooring Line Monitoring Systems to the deepwater offshore oil and gas industry. With the rapid advances in computing power and data telemetry, the development of a topside based mooring integrity monitoring system like that described above is a natural progression and further unlocks the inherent value of data acquired by real-time monitoring systems.

http://www.bmt.be/en

Sources:

1 K. Ma, A. Duggal, P. Smedley, D. L’Hostis, H. Shu. “A Historical Review on Integrity Issues of Permanent Mooring Systems.” OTC 2013-24025, 2013.

2 S. Majhi, R. D’Souza. “Application of Lessons Learned from Field Experience to Design, Installation and Maintenance of FPS Moorings.” OTC 2013-24181, 2013.

International oilfield services company, Expro, has been awarded new contracts from Tullow Oil plc, Africa’s leading independent oil company.

Worth in excess of $100 million over three years, the contracts will see Expro work across Tullow Oil’s assets in Ghana, including the Jubilee Field and the Tweneboa-Enyenra-Ntomme (TEN) field project.

Following on from Expro’s phase one contract for Jubilee, involving more than 10 completions, the company has been awarded continued services for phase 1a. This covers completions on new wells for Jubilee, as well as interventions and remedial work.

A number of Expro’s product lines and services will be utilised, including large bore subsea completion landing strings, subsea exploration and appraisal landing strings, high flow rate surface well testing and sampling services. The TEN project will also see Expro provide subsea completion work in all planned wells.

The company has invested over $32m in Ghana since entering the market in 2008 to support key clients such as Tullow.

Riccardo Muttoni, Expro’s Sub-Saharan Africa Region Director, comments: “We are delighted to work with Tullow in delivering a range of world class projects, strengthening our existing partnership and delivering value to their Ghanaian business.

“These contracts build on investments Expro has made over the past 5 years including the establishment of our world class operating facility in Takoradi. We are proud that 70% of our workforce in-country, including 20 graduate engineers, is Ghanaian, which we are looking to increase to 85% by 2017.”

Charles Darku, Tullow Ghana’s General Manager, said: “We look forward to utilising Expro’s expertise in the offshore environment to deliver our key projects in Ghana. Major investments have been undertakento date by both Tullow and Expro, with emphasis on local content development plans to further create opportunities for local businesses and people.”

Expro’s Sub-Saharan Africa operational headquarters are in the Ghanaian capital, Accra.

FMC Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: FTI) announced on Monday, that it has received an order from BP Exploration (Shah Deniz) Ltd. to supply subsea production systems for Well Clusters 3-5 of the Shah Deniz Stage 2 project in the Caspian Sea. The order has an estimated value of $297 million in revenue and is in addition to the initial order for Well Clusters 1-2 received in 2014 from BP, the operator of the Shah Deniz Stage 2 project. The Shah Deniz field is located offshore in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea, approximately 100km south of Baku.

"This award continues our multi-year support for BP on this project," said Tore Halvorsen, FMC Technologies' Senior Vice President, Subsea Technologies. "Our close cooperation on this project has accelerated the transition to the manufacturing stage and enabled us to reduce the lead time delivering the project."

Coretrax, leading engineered servicing company for wellbore clean and abandonment, has strengthened its position in the Middle East by opening an office in Abu Dhabi, its fourth base in the region, totalling a $2million investment.

A team of four personnel work from the base, and this is expected to grow to 14 within the next 12 months as Coretrax expands to another office and warehouse based in Mussafah, southwest of the city, in late 2015.

Coretrax, who offer a wide range of downhole tools and services with applications across the well life cycle, currently has bases in Saudi Arabia and Dubai, which have been operational for 24 and 12 months, respectively. The company also has a base in Ebril, Iraq and a team of 14 is currently employed across all Middle East bases.

This latest expansion signifies the next step in Coretrax’s ambitious plans to penetrate the Middle East and comes as the company announces the appointment of UAE based agent, SAMCO to represent Coretrax in Abu Dhabi.

Coretrax global business development director, John Fraser, said: “Having a permanent local presence in Abu Dhabi allows us to continue to surpass client expectations by offering a superior service and enables us to build on our customer base. Having now opened four offices in the Middle East further underpins and confirms our commitment to expand our offering in the region.

“Through our work in the Middle East, we have experienced real growth for Coretrax internationally, and we hope to maximise further opportunities by our appointment of SAMCO, who will act as a conduit for us in Abu Dhabi. We see SAMCO as a dynamic and forward thinking company, which aligns well with our team. We are confident that our agreement will be beneficial, and we anticipate a successful relationship.”

Rolv Flaaten, CEO of SAMCO, said: “We are continually searching for the most innovative companies to represent and we are happy to be working with such a highly efficient company. We look forward to working with Coretrax and further building the company’s profile within the UAE by offering its pioneering wellbore clean products to our expanding client base.”

Coretrax was established in 2008 to provide a bespoke and tailored service, offering a wide range of downhole tools and services which provide up-to-date solutions to improve time efficiency, maximise cost reduction, reliability, damage prevention and technological advancement to the global oil and gas industry.

The company currently employs 36 people across its bases and this number is projected to increase within the next nine – 12 months due to increased business activity globally.

Offshore Installation Services (OIS), an Acteon company, has been awarded a contract by Antrim Energy to decommission four subsea wells in the central North Sea. The offshore scope of the campaign, which also includes six wells from Centrica Energy, will include complete offshore and onshore project management, vessel charter, equipment and personnel.

Rhodri Davies, OIS president, said, “Since 1996, OIS has successfully completed more than 118 well decommissioning projects without a single lost-time incident. With Antrim Energy and Centrica Energy now involved in our 2015 subsea well abandonment campaign, OIS is currently decommissioning 10 subsea wells within the UK continental shelf. As an enabler of multi-operator campaigns, OIS values collaborations such as this in the decommissioning field and is well suited to working alongside progressive organisations such as Antrim and Centrica.”

The wells, in categories 2.1 and 1, will be abandoned using Acteon sister company, Claxton’s, Suspended Well Abandonment Tool (SWAT). SWAT is a diverless, vessel-based approach and will be completed as part of a multi-operator campaign in summer 2015.

The offshore campaign will be conducted from an anchor-handling tug supply vessel (AHTS), the Island Valiant. During phase one, SWAT will be deployed through the vessel’s moon pool to set cement plugs in the bore and across all the casing annuli. The second phase will use an abrasive severance system for the cutting of the wells and sequential removal from the seabed. This will conclude the offshore operations.

OIS is experienced in orchestrating multi-party collaborations, having planned and executed 17 campaigns involving more than one operator in the North Sea since 1996. The OIS business model enables operators to share project costs and provides a cost-efficient way to decommission suspended wells and comply with UK oil and gas legislation.

Global inspection, repair and maintenance (IRM) company Harkand, has commenced decommissioning work in the United Kingdom Continental Shelf supporting Maersk Oil UK’s work in the Leadon field.

Earlier this year, the IRM firm secured a multi-million pound 12-month frame agreement with Maersk Oil in the region for the provision of its two dive support vessels (DSVs), the Harkand Da Vinci and Harkand Atlantis as well as supporting onshore and offshore personnel.

This new award will see Harkand deliver project management and engineering services to the Danish owned oil and gas company around their drill rig program for subsea well plug and abandonment.

The scope of work which is being undertaken by the Harkand Atlantis includes barrier testing at 13 trees, removal of production and gas lift spools at trees and towhead ends along with power and control jumpers and mattress recovery. The works also involves flooding and disconnection of a 4” gas import flowline.

David Kerr, managing director of Harkand Europe said: “We are delighted to have secured this decommissioning work in the North Sea for such a high profile operator.

“Removal of subsea infrastructure can be challenging and this contract reflects our well-established and successful track record for decommissioning activities such as inspection and survey, valve operations, mattress removal, pipeline cutting and recovery.

“There’s an estimated 500 – 690 facilities reaching the end of their operational life over the next three decades, so North Sea asset decommissioning projects will play a large part in Harkand’s future. We look forward to successfully completing this work for Maersk Oil UK.”

Harkand provides offshore vessels, ROVs, diving, survey services, project management and engineering to the oil and gas and renewables industries. Headquartered in London with operations bases in Aberdeen, Houston, Mexico and Ghana, Harkand aims to be the leading subsea IRM and light construction contractor globally.

Unique Group, a leading integrated subsea and offshore solution provider, has set in place measures to double its size and global infrastructure by 2019 through capital investment, acquisitions and expansion into key markets.

With a current turnover in excess of $100m, the company has restructured its worldwide organization into five new business units, to capitalize on Unique Group’s current and future market sectors.

The first expansion into new sectors is the launch of Unique Group’s range of technically advanced products for Dive Support Vessels (DSVs), the result of three years of research and development and significant investment by the group. As offshore operations move increasingly into deeper and more challenging environments, the DSV market will become significant in Unique Group’s growth.

The business has made three senior appointments to oversee the expansion in key growth areas. Within Unique Group, Mike Jessop has been promoted to global head of diving. The group has also recruited leading figures from within the industry: Andy Doggett, former manager of Teledyne CDL has been brought in to head up the new survey equipment division; and Steve McMillan, former head of diving at McDermott, has been appointed as global HSE & projects director.

Harry Gandhi, Founder and CEO said: “In the field of oil and gas survey, exploration and oil recovery, the forecast of future demand outweighs current supply levels. It is crucial that the industry does not stand still and that we all prepare for projected upturns.

“Current market conditions have led some companies, especially smaller ones, to be overcautious and almost come to a standstill, instead of finding new ways to remain competitive and sustainable.

“We have over 200 engineering specialists across six global regions and a streamlined, multidisciplinary offering. We work with the best vendors and ultimately we offer our customers in the offshore and subsea sectors the most cost-effective solutions for their businesses, whether bespoke or off the shelf.

“We are excited to be entering this latest chapter in our history and I am more than confident that we’ll reach our 2019 growth target.

Unique Group is known for its offshore, onshore and subsea engineering expertise, as well as its brands, Hydra and Seaflex, which are world-leading in diving equipment and buoyancy and ballast respectively.

The full range of specialist services has been streamlined into five complementary multi-site divisions and rebranded under the Unique Group name. The company is still led by its founder Harry Gandhi alongside a long-standing management team that includes his son, Sahil Gandhi, as group executive director. Unique Group will announce a further series of senior global appointments in the coming weeks and the acquisitions will be made public once complete.

Leading provider of well completion technologies to the global oil and gas industry, TCO has appointed a managing director for its UK division.

With over 35 years’ experience within the energy sector, Paul Betteridge (photo) has been appointed in response to company growth, providing strategic vision and focus on the expansion of the TCO’s global presence.

Prior to joining TCO, Mr. Betteridge worked for AGR, initially appointed as a business development manager in 2008. During this time, he identified key opportunities for the business, including in Israel and was therefore promoted to asset and general manager of newly established AGR Energy Israel. In order to launch the business, he worked with the Israeli government and local authorities to obtain the required approvals for offshore activity and helped AGR to achieve seven offshore licenses and drill one deep-water exploration well.

Latterly, he was promoted to vice president of AGR seabed intervention. Reviewing the business, Mr. Betteridge implemented changes which stabilised the division and resulted in the division being acquired by Marin Subsea in late 2013.

Mr. Betteridge has held numerous roles for Dril‐Quip, Aker Kvaerner Subsea and Vetco Gray. For each of these roles, he has spent time overseas in the Middle East, Norway and South East Asia.

Commenting on his appointment, Mr. Betteridge says: “I am delighted to have been appointed to lead the TCO UK office as we focus on developing our global presence. In recognition of our sound products and excellent services, the company has achieved rapid growth in recent years and I believe my experience means I am well placed to spearhead our fantastic team to the next stage of our expansion.”

TCO serves the upstream oil and natural gas industry throughout the reservoir life cycle and specialises in the design, manufacture and installation of completion barrier plugs (laminated glass barrier plugs), chemical injection systems, topside chemical injection systems, multi-cycle valves and Annulus Pressure Relief Systems, as well as the provision of tubing-conveyed perforating (TCP) equipment and services.

The company currently employs 130 people across its bases in Aberdeen, Norway, North and South America, Australia, Russia, Africa and the Middle East. This number is expected to grow in the coming months as the company achieves its plans for global growth.

McDermott International, Inc. (NYSE: MDR) has been awarded a sizeable lump sum contract by LLOG Exploration Offshore, LLC (LLOG) in support of LLOG’s Otis development located in the Gulf of Mexico. The lump sum contract will be included in McDermott’s second quarter 2015 backlog.

McDermott deepwater rigid reel Lay Vessel 105 (LV 105) is slated to complete offshore installation in early 2016. (Photo: Business Wire)

The Otis field, located in Block Mississippi Canyon 79, will be developed as a subsea tieback to the Delta House floating production system (FPS) and lies in approximately 3,800 feet of water. The contract scope includes:

• Project management;

• Engineering, fabrication and installation of a 75,000-foot insulated rigid flowline and insulated steel catenary riser (SCR) with associated pipeline end termination (PLET) and jumper; and,

• Pre-commissioning.

McDermott’s Houston office will perform the overall project management and engineering. The flowline and SCR are scheduled to be assembled and fabricated at McDermott’s new spoolbase facility in Gulfport, Mississippi.

Offshore installation is scheduled to be completed in early 2016 by McDermott deepwater rigid reel Lay Vessel 105 (LV 105).

“This award represents an important step in McDermott’s growth plans for the Gulf of Mexico,” said Scott Munro, Vice President, Americas, Europe and Africa. “This is our first contract award for rigid reel lay in the area since the delivery of the LV 105 deepwater vessel and development of our new Gulfport marine facility and spoolbase. We look forward to working with LLOG over the coming months and delivering this project safely.”

• New solution increases connectivity and morale for crew

Harris CapRock Communications has introduced a service that enables remote maritime and oil rig crew members to stay connected with family and friends anywhere in the world via their cellphones or smartphones.

The service provides crew members — even in the most remote locations — with reliable mobile roaming as well as pay-as-you-go voice, text, email and some smartphone data services. Global on-site assistance is also available.

“Our expanded offshore GSM service increases connectivity and boosts morale for our energy and maritime customers’ crew members,” said Tracey Haslam, president, Harris CapRock Communications. “This allows reliable communication with management as well as loved ones at home.”

Crew members can use either a local prepaid SIM card or home network roaming option. With home network roaming, they can keep their existing handsets and phone numbers without changing their SIM cards. Billing is sent directly to the individual’s home network account.

Harris CapRock Communications is a premier global provider of managed satellite and terrestrial communications solutions specifically for remote and harsh environments including the energy, government and maritime 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 275 global field service personnel supporting customer locations across North America, Central and South America, Europe, West Africa and Asia Pacific. Harris CapRock blogs about company news and satellite communications trends in the energy, government and maritime markets at http://www.harriscaprock.com/blog/. 


Hermes Datacomms, a SpeedCast Group Company, announced that it has partnered with O3b Networks, a global satellite operator offering next generation satellite networks, to deliver communications to a global oil company, with major operations in the world’s most important oil and gas regions. Under the contract, Hermes will deliver critical communications for the company’s operations in West Africa and a connection back to their regional headquarters in Europe.

The use of O3b satellites, which are in a unique orbit closer to the earth than conventional geostationary satellites, reduces latency, increases data rates and improves voice and video quality for the end user. The high throughput O3b satellites also offer much greater capacity, with the ability to support up to 1.6 Gigabits in a single beam.

“We are delighted to be the first to provide O3b capacity for the oil and gas sector in West Africa. This will provide our customer with the benefits of satellite connections with the latency of fibre connections,” said Barry Bouwmeester, Business Development Manager, Africa, Hermes Datacomms. “Access to the O3b network gives us the ability to open up new services where it would be difficult to obtain access to fibre.”

Hermes Datacomms and SpeedCast have been working closely with O3b Networks over the last 2 years. The Group now has a number of fully trained O3b installation engineers, who have completed the O3b Networks Installation Training at their factory in Virginia, USA. This announcement follows two other recent announcements by the Group working closely with O3b to deliver service in the Pacific and South East Asia regions.

“Delivering innovative solutions to meet the needs of our energy customers is the cornerstone of our success. With O3b’s network, we are able to deliver high performance capacity and low latency for a superior end-user experience,” said Keith Johnson, SVP of Energy, SpeedCast. “As a company, we pride ourselves on being technology agnostic, always looking for the best solution to provide exceptional customer service in the key countries where our customers operate. This announcement represents our strategic partnership with O3b in the energy business.”

Hermes Datacomms is the newest addition to the SpeedCast Group (“SpeedCast”). The Group’s combined capabilities enable it to provide global coverage, an expanded service portfolio and fully managed, end-to-end communication and IT solutions. This is backed by proactive 24/7 support, local engineering presence and spare management in some of the most demanding markets in the world. Leveraging its global size and scale, SpeedCast is able to effectively deliver and support customers wherever they are.

Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) Director Brian Salerno today announced that BSEE Alaska Region Director Mark Fesmire this week oversaw testing of Shell’s proposed Arctic-ready capping stack system in Puget Sound to ensure compliance with stringent Federal safety standards for oil and gas exploration on the Arctic Outer Continental Shelf. A key piece of Arctic oil exploration containment equipment, the capping stack is used to contain the flow of oil in the unlikely event all primary and backup blowout prevention equipment fails during drilling. It is required to be in position for all of Shell’s potential drilling activities in the Arctic.

During tests last week, BSEE personnel witnessed the deployment and maneuvering of the capping stack off the rear deck of the M/V Fennica to 150 feet of water, which is deeper than Shell’s current well sites in the Chukchi Sea. BSEE confirmed that the capping stack functioned properly under pressures exceeding the maximum expected pressures Shell may encounter in the Arctic. Deployment of the capping stack and stack pressure testing were completed in two separate exercises spanning two days.

BSEE is currently reviewing Shell’s request to drill two exploratory wells in the Chukchi Sea this summer. If BSEE approves the drilling permits, Shell would be required to maintain the capping stack in a ready-to-deploy state on the M/V Fennica, which would be available to respond to a loss of well control within 24 hours.

In addition to containment and engineering observations such as the ones conducted this week, BSEE is overseeing additional on-water oil spill response exercises and drills and on-site inspections of oil spill response equipment throughout the proposed drilling operation. BSEE will use its authority to conduct a variety of equipment inspections and deployment exercises, some of which may be unannounced, to validate the tactics, logistics, resource availability, and personnel proficiency specified and relied upon in the approved plans and permits.

DNV GL, the leading technical adviser to the oil and gas industry has launched a research paper exploring the viability of moving offshore oil and gas processing subsea, including the techno-economics of an ‘all subsea’ solution. The report addresses current limitations, but also highlights opportunities for subsea technology.

To lend clarity to the topic, the paper compares a benchmark FPSO set-up with a hypothetical all-subsea field development solution. However, instead of making a direct comparison between the two alternatives, the paper adopts a stepwise approach, moving the various main parts of the processing from the topside to the seabed in nine steps until nothing remains on the surface.

Cutting through complexity

Principal researcher and lead author of the paper, Tore Kuhnle, said: “Debates about the viability of ‘all subsea’ solutions can quickly become overwhelmed with complexity due to the interrelations and dependencies between the processing, power, control and safety subsystems, as well as the effects on the reservoir performance and commercial aspects. With our stepwise approach, one can evaluate the business case of subsea solutions progressively and with clarity.”

For each step, the report includes a business case assessment of whether:

• The step is enabling (i.e. opens up new opportunities for the industry that other technological solutions cannot achieve); and / or is enhancing ( i.e. that that aspect of subsea processing offers superior efficiency relative to any other technical solution).

• A bright future for subsea, also in the current market

“The industry has moved from ‘breaking boundaries’ to ‘cost cutting’ in recent years. In that respect, it is reassuring to see that subsea processing is both enabling and enhancing technology for brownfield applications,” added Kuhnle. “Even though brownfields will continue to drive subsea processing development, we have also identified possibilities for greenfield applications. We see that the technology has matured considerably for limited-depth and limited-range applications. With our short-term focus, we see the completely submerged alternative more as a mature-area, midsize oilfield solution, rather than an extreme deepwater, long-range problem-solver. I’d say these are good findings for the industry to consider as we need efficient production replacement projects in the current market, and both these alternatives fit very nicely.”

Elisabeth Tørstad, CEO, DNV GL - Oil & Gas, says,"For DNV GL, it is important to provide foresight and seek alternative solutions which lie far in the future while looking for short-term improvements. This specific research shows that subsea processing is essential to enable prolonged production from mature fields. There are also indications that complete subsea solutions may be a new option for medium sized fields in mature areas."

The Extel Survey gathers the views and rankings of international research analysts for the world's largest publicly traded companies

Repsol was ranked as the top oil & gas company in the 2015 edition of the prestigious international Extel Survey in four categories: Best CEO, Best CFO, Best Investor Relations Team, and Best Director of Investor Relations.

Imaz heads the Oil & Gas European CEO rankings in his first appearance in this survey. Research analysts recognize Repsol's efforts in communication and transparency and in particular those of its CEO, Josu Jon Imaz, in the company's approach to the markets following the purchase of the Canadian company Talisman Energy.

The Extel Survey is currently the most comprehensive of its kind, and is one of the most highly regarded among research analysts and stock market professionals. It is the most prestigious report at the European level, and is considered a benchmark of excellence by investors as well as consultants.

Repsol has this year consolidated the outstanding performance of its investor relations as the CFO, Miguel Martínez, and the Investor Relations Team were already awarded the highest ratings in the European sector in the previous edition.

NYC-based PIRA Energy Group believes that the peak in the crude oil surplus has passed. In the U.S., commercial stocks reach new record level, as surplus falls again. In Japan, crude runs rebounded, imports were low and stocks drew. Specifically, PIRA’s analysis of the oil market fundamentals has revealed the following:

Asia-Pacific Oil Market Forecast

The peak in the crude oil surplus has passed. Products stocks, on the other hand, which had been near multi-year norms in the three major OECD markets, will grow in coming months, despite rising demand. The transition from crude surplus to more of a product surplus will begin to pressure refinery margins lower. Gasoline cracks should remain healthy for the next several months due to declining inventories and increasing coverage requirements in the Atlantic Basin. Middle distillate cracks will ease, with new refinery startups in the Middle East, Turkey, and Latin America ramping up and supplies increasing ahead of demand growth.

U.S. Commercial Stocks Reach New Record Level, As Surplus Falls Again

Total commercial stocks built last week to a new record high level. However, last week’s stock build was less than half of last year’s build, as the total commercial stock surplus versus last year narrowed to the lowest excess since January. June of last year is when commercial stocks began to approach the top of the five-year range.

Japan Crude Runs Rebounded, Imports Were Low and Stocks Drew

Crude runs recovered almost one third of the drop from the previous week despite the ongoing outage at Kashima. Crude imports were very low and crude stocks drew 4.1 MMBbls. Finished product stocks drew 1.4 MMBbls. There were draws on all the major products other than kerosene. Demand performance was mixed across products, but aggregate demand was higher. The indicative refining margin remains very good. Gasoline and naphtha cracks firmed, while middle distillate and fuel oil cracks eased.

Tight Oil Operator Review

Operators focused on the direct and indirect effects of the lower price environment on their production profiles for 2015. Drastically lower rig counts have started to make a dent in production growth, but the bulk of the effect will not be felt until 2Q15. Most operators predict that their 2015 exit rate will be lower than 1Q15 production, indicating a relatively weak 2H15, unless prices improve. The outlook for 2016 remains uncertain, but most operators appear upbeat for 2016, expecting prices to rise and claiming to be ready to ramp up activity.

U.S. Octane Values Spike Higher

Octane values have recently spiked. This follows a pattern that has prevailed since 2012 of rising octane values during spring turnaround season and the transition period between summer and winter grade gasoline. There is a confluence of factors that led to this increase, notably increased premium gasoline demand and changes in refinery and petrochemical operations.

El Niño's Impact on Distillate Demand in the U.S. and Europe

PIRA analyzed the 5 strongest El Niño's measured over the October through March period for the last 20 years. For the U.S. only the strongest El Niño impacted distillate demand. For Europe, 3 out 5 El Niño's had an impact on distillate demand.

Waterborne LPG Freight Leaps Higher

Spot VLGC freight rates are soaring at the highest levels of the year. The cost of freight on the benchmark Ras Tanura to Chiba route jumped 5% to just below $120/MT. Meanwhile the cost of freight from the USGC to Japan continues to be quoted above $250/MT and around $90 for shipments from the U.S. Gulf to NW Europe.

Ethanol Prices plunge

U.S. ethanol prices plummeted the week ending June 12 due to near record production and rising inventories. Manufacturing margins fell for the fourth consecutive week as co-product DDG prices decreased to the lowest level of the year.

Ethanol Output Falls

U.S. ethanol production fell for the first time in six weeks during the week ending June 12, dropping to 980 MB/D from 992 MB/D in the preceding week. Despite the decline, output was still at the second highest rate of the year.

Biofuels Programs Continue in Over 60 Countries

Although about 80% of the biofuels are produced or consumed in the U.S., Europe and Brazil, more than 60 countries have biofuels programs.

The information above is part of PIRA Energy Group's weekly Energy Market Recap - which alerts readers to PIRA’s current analysis of energy markets around the world as well as the key economic and political factors driving those markets.