Inside this issue

Stability of supply key to Australian Growth >

"Our Subsea & Pipelines Technology Group is the world’s largest solution-independent service provider for subsea systems, onshore and offshore pipelines, and related marine facilities."

Deeper and further than ever before

As oil & gas reserves become more challenging to extract, leading-edge subsea and pipeline expertise becomes even more important. Our Subsea & Pipelines Technology Group (SPTG) is working with its partners globally to assist with the secure flow of hydrocarbons, however harsh the environment.

Wood Group is noted for engineering large offshore pipeline projects

Wood Group is noted for engineering large offshore pipeline projects such as BP Trinidad and Tobago's 70-kilometer, 48-inch diameter Bombax pipeline project, offshore Trinidad.

Deeper water, higher temperatures, greater pressure and longer distances; these are just some of the challenges faced by producers worldwide. The expansion into new and ever more challenging environments means oil companies are looking to us to deliver more efficient energy production and apply the technologies needed to maintain safe and reliable operations. What do they get that's so special?

"We're the largest solution-independent service provider for subsea systems, onshore and offshore pipelines and related marine facilities," explains Steve Wayman, CEO of the SPTG. "With 14 offices worldwide and more than 1,500 specialist personnel, we have a strong trackrecord of creating value for customers, something that's more important than ever when the easy-to-reach oil & gas is diminishing."

The Subsea & Pipeline Technology Group recruits engineers fresh from college; approximately 50 start work each year in our offices around the world. These recent graduates bring a diverse range of backgrounds to their projects.

This strength is based on the SPTG's innovative design approach, an ability to efficiently manage niche projects, and provide experienced specialist support to key operating assets - all of which have an immediate economic benefit to customers. "As a totally independent company, we're able to make rational economic judgements and impartial recommendations to our clients about the optimum equipment for use on any application," explains Steve. "We are independent of any particular supplier, construction contractor or proprietary solution, giving us the leverage to save our clients millions of dollars in implementation costs."

The companies within the SPTG combining to provide this expertise are J P Kenny, MCS, IONIK and MSi (Multiphase Solutions). Each, according to Steve, has its own area of influence but complements the others; providing a one-stop-shop for subsea technologies.

J P Kenny Group Managing Director Gerwyn Williams says: "We've established a truly global footprint along with a strong brand reputation built on more than 30 years of world-class performance, technical excellence and project delivery. Through our highly developed Groupwide knowledge sharing system, we have a consistent corporate memory and are also able to draw upon Wood Group sister companies to provide complementary expertise in facilities engineering, both onshore and offshore."

One operator that has shown confidence in J P Kenny for its subsea services is long-standing business partner, BP. In 2007 they entered into a six-year global framework agreement with J P Kenny to provide engineering and project management support services for the multinational's subsea development projects. Work under the agreement has so far included Caspian projects in Azerbaijan, deepwater projects off West Africa, various greenfield and brownfield projects in the North Sea, and subsea satellite tiebacks in the Gulf of Mexico. The work also draws in the specialist skills of SPTG sister companies, provided via J P Kenny.

"We had been working with BP for 20 years by 2007, providing engineering teams for the UK & Norwegian sectors of the North Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, Vietnam and Indonesia," confirms Gerwyn. "The global agreement now provides streamlined processes by which we can quickly and effectively pass learning from one project to the next and, where appropriate, from one region to another."

The Angola Block 31 program is a worldclass capital project running at least through to 2013. In water depths beyond 2,000 meters (6,560 feet), the programme anticipates several stages of development, the first of which is in the execute phase. When complete, the program is expected to incorporate a series of FPSOs, plus more than 100 subsea wells and several hundred kilometres of flowlines, umbilicals and risers. The scale of this project allowed BP and J P Kenny to adopt what Steve terms as a 'cookie-cutter' design process. "The learnings from the first phase of the program will be captured within the ongoing design process,thereby introducing a high degree of standardization. This will help BP in their mission to deliver substantial savings on both expenditure and schedule through the future phases."

Other major projects underway include Gorgon for Chevron in Australia, and Shtokman for the Gazprom/Total/StatoilHydro consortium, the latter leading to an expansion of J P Kenny's presence in Russia and the opening of its engineering office in Moscow in 2008. The expansion supports the company's drive into harsh environments and cold region projects. "We are engineering the trunkline system to bring gas from the Shtokman natural gas field, which is above the Arctic Circle in the Barents Sea. The first phase comprises 550km (342 miles) of twin 36-inch subsea pipelines and a fibre optic cable between the Shtokman field and the proposed LNG plant in northern Russia.There are also subsequent phases planned," says Gerwyn.

Other areas of industry leadership are in the specialist field of dynamic risers and moorings. MCS leads this area of business as well as advanced subsea engineering and software. "MCS has analyzed, designed or verified riser systems on over 90 percent of the floating production developments in the UK North Sea, 80 percent of the Gulf of Mexico and 70 in West Africa," states MCS CEO John Conroy.

"We judge our success on the value we add to our customers' business. Across all our activities we have a powerful track record of reducing project costs, improving schedules and successfully managing risk and safety.

"We also provide the focus within SPTG for new technology development, including research & development and joint industry projects, of which several are currently under our supervision," concludes John.

Cold region developments are of increasing importance and offer special engineering challenges

With up to 25 percent of the world's untapped hydrocarbon reserves believed to be located in the Arctic, cold region developments are of increasing importance and offer special engineering challenges. Ice gouging is one of the major threats to arctic pipeline safety. Ice forms large ridges with deep keels that gouge the seabed as the ice moves into shallower water. Wood Group engineers are studying ice gouging, estimating stresses on pipelines and optimising burial depths.

Areas of Expertise

J P Kenny: Has engineered more than 500,000 km (310,685 miles) of trunklines and achieved hundreds of millions of dollars of savings through advances in pipeline design methods and technologies. Has deepwater experience up to 2,500 meters (8,200 feet).

IONIK Consulting: Independent solutions provider specialising in the design and management of lifecycle assurance programs that improve the long-term performance of critical assets. Specialist areas: materials engineering, whole-of-asset integrity management, metallurgy, corrosion and welding.

MCS: Provides engineering solutions, including riser design, proprietary design and on-board software and subsea integrity management across a wide variety of projects.

MSi: Independent service and product provider focusing on flow assurance and process optimisation. Includes technical consulting and real-time, on-line software.