Post-Macondo

22 May 2013 Newcastle Evening Meeting

Chairman Dr. Malcolm Storey, Director, Worldwide Business Portfolios Ltd

 

Report

 

Flyer

 

Overview

The Macondo Blowout caught the media attention because ‘Public opinion matters’. What this illustrates is that ‘High-Technology businesses are about much more than just the nuts and bolts’; that they are not immune from a worldview.

Yet, it is proper to ask searching quetions about the industry’s strategic awareness, and to cement the answers into practice, because the outcomes reflect the Global Oil Industry and, especially, the Subsea Sector.

This event used Post-Macondo to consider the levels of technology and the perceptions pertaining to the contemporary Oil and Gas industry.

Presentations

Design of the Marine Well Containment System

Dr. Alan Dobson, Research and Development Manager, Technip Umbilical Systems

In response to the significant risks highlighted by the Macondo incident several rapid deployment containment systems are being developed by various consortia. This presentation covered the system developed for installation in water depths up to 3000m and it will provide an overview of the system, its operation and the technology.

 

Perceptions on the British Oil and Gas Industry

Trisha O’Reilly, Communications Director, Oil and Gas UK

Oil and Gas UK’s ‘Industry Awareness’ campaign seeks to shift public perceptions that the British Oil and Gas Sector is a sunset business. It concerns efforts to improve public opinion about the contribution this Industry makes to the domestic economy because, if allowed to persist, the effects will be damaging. The initiative seeks to transform those perceptions for the better.

 

Managing Existing Fields and Assets

8 May 2013 Aberdeen Evening Meeting

Chairman Donald Thomson, Schlumberger

 

Report

 

Flyer

 

Overview

The North Sea is often termed a ‘mature’ offshore province. Despite this, activity levels are at an all time high. A significant amount of the present activity is related to managing existing assets to maximise return, extend field life or carry out repairs to aging infrastructure. These talks look at different aspects of managing mature offshore assets.

Presentations

SUT+ Pre-talk – Developments in Riser Integrity Monitoring

Donald Thomson, Sales Manager, Schlumberger Asset Integrity Management/Framo Engineering

SUT+ Pre–talks are targeted at developing professionals and newcomers to industry, with the aim of providing attendees with additional background subject knowledge to enhance the main SUT presentations which follow.

 

The Banff Reinstatement Project

Konstantin Nazaruk, Project Engineer, CNR International

During a storm in December 2011, the Petrojarl Banff FPSO, on contract to CNR from TeeKay, lost some of its anchors. The initial operation to stabilise the vessel, and subsequent Banff reinstatement project, to repair the damage caused to the vessel, marine systems and risers has been a fast-track project for CNR and contractors. This talk describes the incident, CNR’s response and the subsequent engineering work to reinstate the Banff FPSO and the field to production.

 

Beryl Field Redevelopment – A Methodical Approach

Paul Williams, Subsea Projects and Operations Manager, Apache North Sea

Apache have significantly expanded their presence in the North Sea both with new field developments and the purchase of older brown field assets from other operators. This talk explains the approach Apache take in evaluating how to maximise brown field assets using their recent acquisition of the Beryl field as an example.

 

BP Quad 204 Redevelopment

Andrew Train, Project Director – Offshore Activities, BP

Using the Schiehallion FPSO, BP have been operating the Schiehallion and Loyal fields west of Shetland in blocks 204 and 205 since the late 90’s. In 2008 they announced the redevelopment of the fields to allow access to additional reserves. The project is one of the biggest in the UK sector at present. The talk gave an overview of the project, the new FPSO and the planned changes to the subsea facilities.

 

Materials in the Underwater Environment

19 September 2013 London Evening Meeting

Chairman Iain Knight, JP Kenny

Report

Flyer

Presentations

 

Corrosion Related to Subsea Applications
George Winning, Regional Manager, Wood Group Integrity Management

This presentation looked at the basics of corrosion and how these relate to subsea developments. This includes the drive toward higher temperatures and pressures in these environments. This also includes external corrosion threats associated with deepwater applications.

Materials in the Subsea Oil and Gas
David Lee, Materials Engineer, Wood Group Integrity Management

Following on from the corrosion presentation, this looked at materials used in the deepwater applications and the mechanical effects of stress and strain in these harsh environments.

Subsea Insulation
David Mobbs, Business Development Manager, Wood Group Integrity Management

With the deeper water applications, the need for insulation is key to a successful development of these field to avoid flow assurance issues such as wax or hydrate formation. This presentation looked at the need for insulation factors that affect choice and use including the requirement for correct inspection of the insulation at the application stage.

 

Gadgets and Widgets

18 September 2013 Aberdeen

Flyer

Chairman Jim Mann, Fugro

Presentations

Olympic Spoolbase
Mike Wilson, Managing Director, Ecosse Subsea Systems

So you think you want to enter the reeled rigid pipe market, you’ve invested >£200million a lay vessel so you’re good to go? WRONG, but we have the solution.

Micron INS Technology Platform
Chris MacFarlane, Sales Engineer, Tritech International Ltd

Providing stabilization for small underwater vehicle USBL Tracking and Positioning Systems, and extended ROV control feedback

Innovations in the Condition Monitoring of Subsea Electrical Circuits
Jeremy Edwards , Operations Manager, Viper Subsea LLP

The majority of subsea production control systems will suffer electrical integrity failures at some stage during their operational life;Viper Subsea will present some of their technology developments which address the problem of locating faults in complex subsea distribution circuits.

The Big Mother Ass Arm and Other Splash Zone Tools
Tim Eley, Business Developer, Linjebygg Offshore AS (LBO)

ROV tools and techniques in the splash zone – where ROV’s & Divers fear to go!

Subsea Leak Defection Systems
Brian Hector, Technical Director, Bowtech Products Ltd

Subsea Video based Detection System/s for identifying leaks in hydrocarbon pipelines and subsea wellhead equipment.

An Innovative Subsea Lifting Development System Using a Unique Pumpable Deepwater Buoyancy Liquid Gel
Serena Arif, Subsea Business Director, Aubin Ltd

The requirement of low density materials with high compressive strength to provide subsea lifting down to 3000m has traditionally resulted in the use of syntactic foam; currently being disrupted by the introduction of a precise means of placing, recovering & moving structures on the seabed by pumping a low density incompressible liquid gel from one holding receptacle to a controlling receptacle, enabling fine control/trim/ballast.

The Ultrasonic Scanning of Flexible Risers
Stewart Duthie, Manager, Flexible Pipe Technology & Engineering, Flexlife

A review of Flexlife’s innovative methods and equipment forof-critical subsea assets.

Online Bop Motion Monitoring For Early Warning of Conductor Fatigue
Brian Taylor, Business Development Manager EMEA Region, Pulse Structural Monitoring

An overview of problems affecting wellhead and conductor fatigue, followed by a case study depicting how real time structural monitoring has been used to mitigate these issues.

C-Kore Subsea Monitoring System
Tim Overfield, Managing Director, C-Kore Systems Ltd

The C-Kore System allows continual monitoring of the electrical integrity of subsea jumpers, umbilicals and modules prior to connector makeup thus identifying problems and reducing faultfinding costs.

 

Narec Site Tour and Renewable Energy Lecture

18 September 2013 North of England Evening Meeting

Report

Flyer

 

The North of England Branch of the Society for Underwater Technology visited The National Renewable Energy Centre at Blyth in Northumberland.

Narec operates world‐leading open access and independent translational research, development and testing facilities for offshore wind, wave, tidal and electrical network technologies, and work with industry to increase device reliability, reduce product costs and accelerate the development and deployment of offshore renewable energy technologies in the UK.

The evening was chaired by Ignacio Marti, Chief Technology Officer of Narec. Ignacio also described Narec’s testing facilities and the R&D projects that Narec are delivering across the supply chain and how Narec are helping to reduce the cost, and accelerate the commercialisation, of offshore renewable energy technologies.

Cable Risk Assessment – A Quantitative Approach
Peter Allan, Managing Director, Geomarine

All offshore generating equipment relies on seabed cables to transfer power to shore. All revenue is therefore reliant on the integrity of these cables making them an essential part of the system.

Previously, the concept of a burial protetion index has been used to indicate the security of a cable.
However the approach was qualitative, and did not provide a reliable model for assessing the probability of damage occurring. New developments such as AIS systems for monitoring shipping traffic now allow a quantitative model to be developed. This can then be used to develop a reliable financial model for the cable, with a realistic basis for whole life maintenance costs.

The presentation described the methodology Geomarine have developed for cable risk assessment and provide example case studies of its application.

Floating Vertical Axis Wind Turbines – Current and Future Developments
Chris Golightly, Independent Geotechnical and Engineering Geology Consultant

The July 2013 Deep Water Wind report from EWEA states that offshore floating wind will be competitive in water depths of over 40 m against current fixed structures such as monopiles, jackets, tripods, gravity base structures, multi and single suction caissons. However, innovative new designs will be required in order to take advantage of the huge resources available in the Atlantic, Mediterranean and deeper parts of the North Sea. Early work in France (NENUPHAR) and Japan (SKWID) as well as considerable research in the USA indicates that taut tension anchored floating Vertical Axis Wind Turbines [VAWT] will play a major role in the future. This presentation discussed these alternatives.

 

Aberdeen Golf Day

6 September 2013 Aberdeeen Golf Day

Report

Flyer

Day Format

0830 Registration, Tea/Coffee & Bacon Roll
0900-1100 Driving Range Professional Clinic (includes bucket of 50 balls)
Coach: Alastair Webster ‐ qualified for Seniors tour
1000‐1200 Stableford 18 hole tee‐offs
1400‐1600 2 Course Carvery Lunch (served as players come in)
1630 Prize Giving