Fugro, a leading geo-data specialist and surveying services company, has completed the Middle East’s first remotely operated subsea inspection using a low-carbon emission unscrewed surface vessel (USV).
The company deployed the Fugro Pegasus USV (which is part of the Blue Essence fleet, built by SEA-KIT International) to perform site survey and inspection services on an offshore gas platform offshore UAE for operator Atlantis, ahead of its forthcoming decommissioning programme.
Fugro conducted the operation from its onshore remote operations centre (ROC) in Dubai, using a specialist team of mariners and surveyors to perform the subsea work on the UAQ3 platform within the Umm Al Quwain gas field. The Fugro Pegasus USV was equipped with a Blue Volta electric remotely operated vehicle which was used to inspect the integrity of the platform’s structure. It also generated a detailed map of the surrounding seabed.
All of this was streamlined to the ROC where it was reviewed in real-time during the operation. This data enabled the team to identify and investigate areas of further interest in the delivery of a comprehensive risk assessment for the client.
The economical design and optimised fuel systems of the company’s USVs eliminate 95% of carbon emissions against conventional vessels. This also allows them to remain at sea for up to two weeks without refuelling.
Patrick Boyce, Drilling Manager at Atlantis (UAQ), commented, “Fugro’s remote survey technology aligned seamlessly with our projects HSEQ, technical goals and was the most attractive commercial choice. The Fugro Pegasus was able to mobilise on time and despite difficult sea conditions, it completed the full scope of work in 40% of the allotted time frame. The USV operation was managed by the technical team at the very impressive Fugro ROC. Communications with the USV were strong throughout and provided excellent imaging results. Of particular note was the evident expertise and professionalism of the Fugro team, who have obviously dedicated many months to honing their execution procedures.”
Hannes Swiegers, Fugro’s Director of IRM Services & Remote Operations for the Middle East and India, surmised, “This is a significant milestone for our Middle East business and demonstrates how novel technologies can play a key part in delivering our clients’ long-term safety, sustainability and in-country value ambitions. Together with our clients, we are setting a new standard in geo-data acquisition and analysis through continuous innovation, reducing time, risk and carbon emissions. This new era of remote and autonomous technology will define the future of offshore operations in the energy sector and contribute towards a safer and more sustainable world.”
SLB, a global technology company, has released its Q2 2023 results revealing the part intervention and stimulation activities are playing in the business growth.
The company reported a revenue of US$8.1bn, representing a 20% increase year-on-year. SLB CEO Olivier Le Peuch commented, “I am very pleased with our second-quarter results, which reflect significant growth in the international markets, particularly in the Middle East & Asia, and offshore. North America revenue also grew sequentially benefiting from our agility across the most resilient basins and market segments, although the rig count in the area declined. As the upcycle continues to unfold, we are excited about the opportunities for our business, with international- and offshore-led growth fueling strong pretax segment operating margin expansion and cash flows as highlighted in this quarter’s results.
“Compared to the same period a year ago, international revenue grew 21%, outpacing North America which increased 14%. Year on year, revenue grew 20% and pretax segment operating margin expanded 240 basis points (bps), representing the tenth straight quarter that we have increased our pretax segment operating margin year on year. This was driven by the international markets, where we posted our highest year-on-year incremental margin in the last three years, demonstrating the earnings power of our operations in these markets.”
Breaking this down, the company noted that reservoir performance revenue grew 9% sequentially due, primarily, to increased intervention, stimulation and evaluation activity internationally. Profitability improved mainly due to higher activity and improved operating leverage across intervention and stimulation with new technology deployment contributing to margin expansion, particularly in Saudia Arabia, Qatar, Europe & Africa and Mexico.
The Middle East & Asia was a particularly strong-performing region for the company with a 10% increase sequentially driven by double-digit revenue growth in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE, Kuwait, China and India. SLB attributed to higher drilling, intervention, stimulation and evaluation activity here, both on land and offshore. Saudi Arabia was a particular hotspot for higher stimulation and intervention activity. Reservoir Performance grew 23% year-on-year, primarily down to higher intervention and stimulation activity led by the Middle East & Asia.
The company also highlighted how it had experienced increased intervention and stimulation activity in Argentina which helped offset the lower revenue recorded in Mexico.
Aquaterra Energy, a leader in global offshore engineering solutions, has announced a multi-million-pound contract with a major Abu Dhabi based operator, working in partnership with TPMC, to provide offshore riser equipment and services for a decommissioning campaign offshore Abu Dhabi.
Aquaterra Energy will provide a completion and workover riser system complete with AQC-CW connectors, as well as an additional subsea riser system, tieback engineering and rig modifications. It will do this to decommission eight wells, in 80 m water depths by 2029. Throughout the contract Aquaterra will deliver a complete end-to-end managed service, providing engineering services, expertise and personnel.
The completion and workover riser system, complete with AQC-CW connectors, is certified to BS EN ISO 13628-7 2006 and can operate in water depths of up to 1,500 m. The system has been designed to withstand repeat make and breaks, whilst offering a gas tight metal-to-metal seal.
Aquaterra Energy will work closely alongside in-country partners to manufacture and transport the project equipment. Local in-country inspectors will be deployed to ensure the high quality of work throughout the project.
James Larnder, Managing Director, Aquaterra Energy, remarked, “We are delighted to have secured this work in the Middle East and to expand on our decommissioning and riser expertise. This is an important region for us as a business and we’ve seen significant growth here over the last few years. We plan to continue this momentum and are on course to increase both our presence and revenue in the region by the end of the year. This project represents a step forward in this journey as we spearhead our global expansion.”
Andrew McDowell, Operations Director at Aquaterra Energy, added, “Winning this tender further demonstrates our team’s global riser system expertise, understanding of operational requirements in the Middle East, and the significant advantages of our independent connector OEM status. We’re looking forward to utilising our experience and working closely alongside engineers in the UAE, sharing our knowledge, and building on existing local capabilities to deliver a top-class end-to-end service.”
After identifying the Middle East as a key geography to support its global growth plan, the contract marks another significant step forward in the region for Aquaterra Energy. It has now delivered intelligent engineering solutions to more than 35 projects in the Middle East to date.
TGT Diagnostics, a through-barrier diagnostics company for energy production and storage, has launched its latest acoustic platform, ChorusX, a new diagnostic resource specifically designed to locate and characterise flow in oil and gas wells.
This all-new acoustic array platform enables energy companies to find and map fluid flow throughout the well-reservoir system with greater ease and precision, helping them to keep wells safe, clean, and productive.
Ken Feather, TGT’s Chief Marketing Officer, commented, “Understanding flow dynamics in the well system is the key to unlocking better well and reservoir performance, and acoustic techniques have become an indispensable means of achieving that goal. ChorusX is the result of two decades of intensive research, innovation, and extensive field experience in applying the power of sound to flow diagnostics in thousands of wells. Eight high-definition array sensors, extreme dynamic range recording and a unique phase analysis engine work in concert to deliver uncompromising levels of clarity, precision, and certainty to analysts and well operators.”
At the heart of ChorusX is a compact array of eight nano-synchronised sensors that record high-resolution flow sounds across an extreme dynamic range of intensities and frequencies. A unique phase analysis workflow combines specialised acoustic field modelling with a sophisticated waveform-matching algorithm. This combination delivers an important new dimension to acoustics and flow diagnosis – radial distance. In combination, these advances underpin four new complementary answer products that enable TGT analysts to easily and accurately locate and map flow throughout the well system.
Ken added, “ChorusX has been redesigned from the ground up to excel in three important areas: extending spatial and audible reach to record the lightest, quietest, and furthest flows; recognising different types of flows; and pinpointing flow sources with unmatched accuracy in depth, and radially. Flow events are displayed more clearly in high definition, enabling operators to plan actions with greater confidence and implement them efficiently with precision.”
ChorusX is available to all TGT Diagnostics customers through a range of True Flow and True Integrity/Seal Integrity products.
Saipem has been awarded two new offshore contracts, one for an Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Installation (EPCI) project in the Black Sea and one for decommissioning activities in the North Sea, with the total value amounting to approximately US$850mn.
The first contract was assigned by Turkish Petroleum OTC for the second phase of the Sakarya FEED and EPCI Project, and entails the engineering, procurement, construction and installation of a 16” pipeline, 175 km long at 2,200 m water depth in the Turkish Black Sea Waters. The offshore operation will begin in summer 2024 and will be conducted by Saipem’s flagship vessel, Castorone.
The other contract has been assigned by EnQuest Heather Ltd. for the decommissioning of the existing Thistle A Platform located in the UK sector of the North Sea. Saipem’s activities will include the engineering, preparation, removal and disposal of the jacket and topsides, with possible extension to further subsea facilities. The services will be carried out by the Saipem 7000, one of the largest semi-submersible heavy-lifting vessels currently in the world.
Fabrizio Botta, Saipem Chief Commercial Officer, said, “These important awards demonstrate Saipem’s excellent competitive positioning in the Offshore Engineering & Construction market a sector that is experiencing a full expansion momentum of which Saipem is ready to seize the opportunities.
“The contract awarded in the Black Sea is a confirmation of Siapem’s prominent positioning and of its long-standing relationship with the clients. The North Sea contract, finally, is a further example of Saipem’s capabilities in a segment where the combination of innovative engineering, unique assets and safe operations is crucial.”
ADNOC Drilling Company has signed a five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Masdar, one of the world’s leading clean energy companies, for the collaboration around development, investment, operations and projects to responsibly advance the energy transition.
Under the MoU, the company will engage as a drilling technical expert and advisor to support Masdar’s deployment of geothermal energy around the world. The companies will jointly evaluate the potential for ADNOC Drilling to provide geothermal drilling services.
Chief Executive Office for ADNOC Drilling, Abdulrahman Abdulla Al Seari, said, “Geothermal energy has enormous global potential and energy developers are challenged to ensure smart and innovative ways to deliver cost-effective wells. Our leading integrated drilling services offering can bring advanced, efficient start-to-finish drilling and completion technologies to enable Masdar the potential to generate clean geothermal energy to cool thousands of homes and office buildings.”
Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, Chief Executive Officer at Masdar, commented, “This MoU with ADNOC Drilling further reinforces Masdar’s commitment to unlocking clean energy opportunities across a wide range of technologies. With Masdar recently adding geothermal energy to our growing clean energy portfolio, we are excited about the important role that geothermal can play in helping to drive forward the global energy transition, and we look forward to working with ADNOC Drilling to realise that potential.”
Masdar entered the geothermal energy sector last month, with a strategic investment in Indonesia’s Pertamina Geothermal Energy (PGE), one of the world’s largest geothermal players.
This year’s OWI Middle East and North Africa (OWI MENA 2023) conference promises to be grand affair as sights are set to broaden the format and shine the spotlight towards operators in the Gulf and North Africa equally.
With the tagline of this year’s conference being ‘future-proof your intervention projects to exceed environmental targets and optimise well programmes by utilising transformative digital and downhole technologies’, OWI MENA is the only place to offer key learnings to the well intervention community in order to the build the best roadmap for future growth.
Constantly evolving and growing, OWI MENA 2023 boasts the largest roster of speakers to date, with 20 operator speakers set to lead discussions on key topics such as market status, sustainable well programmes, well integrity, innovative technologies and end of life. Speakers include representatives from ADNOC, Shell, bp, Aramco, and many more.
After taking on board client feedback, there is a huge appetite within the community to hear from North African operators, and this year there is a dedicated spotlight session for the region. OWI MENA 2023 will also exhibit two networking sessions, three breakout workshops and more than 12 demos in the Innovative Technology Showcase Hall in order to further promote collaboration between delegates. 40% of attendance will be from major, independent or national operators, as well as 35 % from expert technology providers, meaning there is ample opportunity to expand individual networks.
For more information and session details, the full brochure can be downloaded here. Any questions regarding the conference please reach out to Rachael Brand at
Saipem, an advanced technological and engineering platform for the design, construction and operation of infrastructures and plants, has worked with MCS, an underwater technical and digital solutions company, to launch a new asset integrity management system.
As per the announcement on social media, ‘The PALM Suite’ (which stands for Platform for Asset Lean Management) is designed to support offshore energy operators with asset data management, risk assessment and inspections planning of offshore infrastructure across oil and gas, renewables, power and data networks.
According to Saipem, The PALM Suite unlock a new layer of service-oriented capabilities and leverages advanced features such as 3D reconstruction for subsea dimensional control and IoT data gathering. The collaboration brings together Saipem’s extended asset integrity expertise and subsea robotics portfolio with MCS’ data science and software competencies.
Despite geopolitical developments such as the fresh Covid-19 wave in China and the outbreak of war in eastern Europe, there are positive indications that an assured oil and gas demand coupled with a stable oil price are setting the stage for a prosperous future for the Middle East’s well intervention industry.
From the explosion of Covid-19 in early 2020 to the Autumn of 2022, global uncertainty unsettled the stability of the oil and gas industry and led to wide fluctuations for the oil price. Within this period, the price ranged from as low as US$21.44 (WTI) to as high as US$122.11 per barrel (WTI) before settling at around the US$80 mark at the end of 2022. As the industry heads deeper into the new year, many commentators are bullish that, partly due to cuts to production by OPEC+, the oil price will stabilise and could even surpass the US$100 mark once again – Morgan Stanley, for instance, has forecasted the Brent oil price to hit as high as US$110. More conservatively, the EIA has suggested the Brent crude oil spot price will average at US$92, which is still a healthy number for those working within the industry.
The EIA has also indicated that while oil demand will remain lacklustre in Q1 2023, it will begin to regain meaningful momentum in Q2 2023 and is likely to go beyond 2019 levels in the process. From a longer-term perspective, OPEC’s 2022 World Outlook 2045 has identified fossil fuel’s continued prominent role within the energy industry for the next two decades and forecasts oil retaining a 29% share in the global energy mix by 2045 with gas holding 24%.
These trends spell happy reading for the oil and gas companies operating within the Middle East and North African region who will have to continue working to increase oil production over the years to meet blossoming demand. However, the environmental concerns have not passed them by and most operators within the region are also incorporating stringent climate objectives to help mitigate their emission output.
So how will these organisations balance the tightrope of greater production and less climate impact? Well, while a number of initiatives are being pursued to help reduce emissions to justify further drilling, one answer lies in well intervention which offers production rate enhancement without the need for further wells to come online. Indeed, with the oil price looking so healthy, there is expectations that the region’s intervention market will rapidly grow over the short- to medium-term as operators have the cash to explore the option. There are more than 10,000 offshore wells throughout the region (on top of the onshore well count that is much higher), according to Rystad, and these have an average well life of 16-21 years, above the global average of 10-15 years. Well intervention, which offers the opportunity to revamp the production rates of ageing, flagging wells, is therefore emerging as an attractive solution to tick all boxes.
Read the full, free-to-read report, including an exploration of the factors shaping business objectives from those operating within the well intervention market.
Clariant Oil Services, a leading supplier of specialty oilfield production chemicals and services to the oil and gas industry with product offerings in enhances oil recovery, offshore and deep water, well services additives and more, has expanded its presence in EMEA with the launch of a state-of-the-art facility for advanced oil and gas solutions.
Clariant made the announcement alongside the return of ADIPEC in Abu Dhabi which is taking place from 31 October – 3 November. The EMEA Technical Centre is located in the Dubai Science Park (DSP) in Dubai, UAE, and will leverage the latest technologies and more sustainable oilfield chemicals.
The hub will give customers in major oil producing countries access to Clariant’s global innovation team and address three competencies: corrosion, fluid separation, and flow assurance.
“The EMEA Technical Centre brings autonomous application testing facilities to the oil and gas industry, doubling throughput and allowing customers to swiftly realise performance and cost-driven solutions,” said Zied Ghazouani, Head of EMEA, Clariant Oil Services. “Clariant will deploy novel solutions to protect the integrity of customer assets, ensure continuity of production, and enhance asset productivity, while not losing sight of sustainable development goals.”
Clariant is committed to using its world-leading expertise to help customers achieve their sustainability transformations across every phase of the oil and gas lifecycle. Earlier this year, Clariant Oil Services launched the D3 PROGRAM to introduce more sustainable solutions to the oil and gas industry. The initiative helps operators reduce carbon emissions and enhance safe operations, while avoiding disruptions to ongoing operations.
Thunder Cranes, a leading provider of portable, modular, offshore rental cranes with a dynamic lift capacity ranging from 2 to 60 tons, has re-opened its operations in the Middle East with a base in the United Arab Emirates.
The company’s temporary installation cranes are designed to be versatile and adaptable, with a number of tie-down scenarios, on-deck placement configurations, and boom-length options to choose from.
The cranes allow clients to efficiently and cost-effectively support P&A, well intervention, facility engineering and decommissioning jobs, without compromising safety, time, and performance.
Previously Thunder Cranes had operated in the region with a base in Dubai from 2009 to 2019. The newly re-opened office and yard facility will enable Thunder Cranes to more effectively serve the UAE and Middle East moving forwards.
Dinesh Arumugam, CEO of Thunder Cranes, said, “As a market-leading provider of portable-modular offshore rental cranes, Thunder Cranes is committed to helping customers in the UAE and across the region with cost-effective and efficient lifting solutions to support offshore projects.”
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has announced a US$1.17bn contract for the hire of thirteen self-propelled jack up barges to drive offshore operational efficiencies and support the expansion of its crude oil production capacity to five million barrels per day (mmbpd) by 2030.
The five year contract was awarded by ADNOC Offshore to ADNOC Logistics and Services (ADNOC L&S). Over 80% of the award value will flow back into the UAE’s economy under ADNOC’s In-Country Value (ICV) programme, supporting local economic growth and diversification.
The 13 self-propelled jack up barges are multi-purpose assets that enable rig-less operations and maintenance with single point responsibility proved by ADNOC L&S, enabling efficiencies. The barges, which will be deployed across ADNOC’s offshore fields, are equipped to support a wide scope of operations, including project work, maintenance and accommodation.
Ahmad Saqer Al Suwaidi, ADNOC Offshore CEO, said, “This significant award to ADNOC L&S will help deliver our production capacity expansion in the offshore and directly support ADNOC’s strategic growth objective of 5 million barrels of oil production capacity by 2030. ADNOC L&S have a proven track record in the industry and their best in class expertise, together with the ready availability of the self-propelled jack up barges, will help us drive efficiencies and flexibility while cementing ADNOC’s position as a leading low cost and low carbon energy producer. Critically, the award enables very high ICV, which can stimulate new business opportunities to support the growth and diversification of UAE’s economy.”
Speaking on the contract, Captain Abdulkareem Al Masabi, ADNOC L&S CEO, said, “We are extremely proud to continue the decade’s long relationship between ADNOC Offshore and ADNOC L&S. We are committed to continuing to seize growth opportunities and deliver more value to ADNOC and this announcement is another milestone in that journey.”
The self-propelled jack up barges will be hired along with manpower and equipment. The barges will be utilised for rig-less well intervention and pre- and post-drilling operations, as well as for topside maintenance and integrity restoration activities at our offshore assets.
All requirements of the services have been unified in line with ADNOC’s approach of centralising procurement and operational logistics management. This provides ADNOC Offshore and its strategic partners with operational flexibility while enabling cost efficiencies and single point responsibility by ADNOC L&S.
The award underpins the continued investment and development at ADNOC Offshore and ensures the responsible acceleration of growth and greater value for the UAE, ADNOC and its strategic partners.
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