Incorporating Digital Solutions to Foster Greater Remote Engagement with Personnel

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee Wilson ◽  
Ferdinand Velez ◽  
Jason Lim ◽  
Leah Boyd
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Work Environments ◽  
Mental Wellbeing ◽  
Offshore Platforms ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Virtual Meeting ◽  
Remote Workers ◽  
Town Halls ◽  
Business Sectors

Abstract Like most business sectors, the oil and gas industry had to adapt to virtual meetings and working from home in the new reality of the global COVID-19 pandemic. This has introduced new complications to completing activities that traditionally require personnel to be on site and collaborate in teams. This paper reviews digital initiatives that allow workers to collaborate virtually on EHS (Environmental, Health, & Safety)-driven practices such as safety audits and engage remotely for improved morale. Specifically, the paper reviews the recent implementation of digital connectivity solutions for remote workers to join virtual ‘Safety Walk and Talks’ in processing facilities and offshore platforms. It also reviews programs to promote connectivity between workers, including virtual town halls and online coffee-hours conversations. While these digitally enabled remote engagement initiatives are still relatively new, they have quickly provided benefits to the safe operation of offshore assets and the morale and mental wellbeing of the workforce. The first virtual ‘Safety Walk and Talk,’ which was conducted in Indonesia, brought together a cross-functional team that was split between a few in-person attendees and a majority of people joining virtually from remote locations. While the digital connection was not seamless, this first-of-its-kind virtual meeting proved the concept. The process improves EHS metrics by minimizing travel of teams to and from the site. It also keeps more people out of potentially hazardous work environments and minimizes exposure to coronavirus or other health hazards. Other digital connectivity measures such as virtual town halls and worker-submitted videos have increased engagement between management, workers, and teams located around the globe. A virtual ‘Coffee Roulette’ program, in which workers spin a virtual wheel that connects them with other employees for informal chats, has allowed people to make new connections and feel less isolated.

Value Co-Creation Practices in the Decommissioning of Offshore Platforms: A Case Study Approach

2021 ◽  
pp. 239496432110320
Author(s):  
Francesca Loia ◽  
Vincenzo Basile ◽  
Nancy Capobianco ◽  
Roberto Vona
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Offshore Platforms ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Collaborative Interactions ◽  
Exploratory Approach ◽  
Italian Context

Over the years, value co-creation practices have become increasingly more important by supporting collaborative interactions and the achievement of sustainable and mutual competitive advantage between the ecosystem’ actors. In this direction, the oil and gas industry is proposing a sustainable re-use of offshore platforms based on value co-creation and resources exchange between the actors involved. According to this consideration, this work aims at re-reading the decommissioning of offshore platforms in the light of value co-creation practices, trying to capture the factors that governments and companies can leverage to pursue a sustainable development of local communities. To reach this goal, this work follows an exploratory approach by using, in particular, the case study. Specifically, one of the most notably projects in the Italian context have been chosen, the Paguro platform, in order to provide empirical insights into the nature of these value co-creation processes. Five value co-creation practices have been identified which highlight the importance of synergistic efforts of institutions, companies and technology-based platforms for improving the ability to co-create and capture value in the process of decommissioning. This exploratory work establishes a foundation for future research, and offers theoretical and managerial guidance in this increasingly important area.

Joining Composite Pipes Using Hybrid Heat-Activated Coupling and Adhesive Bonding

2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guoqiang Li ◽  
Su-Seng Pang ◽  
Randy J. Jones ◽  
Jack E. Helms ◽  
Eyassu Woldesenbet
Keyword(s):  
Internal Pressure ◽  
Adhesive Bonding ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Offshore Platforms ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Critical Technology ◽  
Offshore Oil And Gas ◽  
Composite Pipes ◽  
Offshore Oil

Abstract Deepwater activities are the future of the Offshore Oil and Gas Industry. Huge reserves have been located in the Gulf of Mexico as well as off the Coast of West Africa and Brazil. The development of floating production platforms and vessels offers challenges to the facilities engineer who must consider new materials to meet stringent topsides weight limitations. A critical technology for facilities piping in offshore platforms is joining technique. This paper discusses the development of a hybrid joining approach by using heat-activated coupling and adhesive bonding. The technique procedure is presented via specimen fabrication. A total of eleven coupled specimens are prepared and evaluated using standardized internal pressure tests. The feasibility of this new joining technique in offshore piping is discussed based on the internal pressure test results.

Guest Editorial: Data Are the Sustainable Secret to a More Profitable Future

2021 ◽  
Vol 73 (03) ◽  
pp. 10-11
Author(s):  
Francois Laborie
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Offshore Platforms ◽  
Sustainable Operations ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Use Of Data ◽  
The World ◽  
Oil And Gas Operations ◽  
Bounce Back

I was recently asked if I thought that the oil and gas industry would bounce back once the world is rid of the coronavirus. It was a question prompted by the sharp decline in activity in several oil-and-gas-dependent sectors such as transportation. The coronavirus and its subsequent impact on the price of oil have injected a sense of uncertainty into the industry, prompting many to speculate as to what will happen once the pandemic abates. Rather than asking if we’ll bounce back, I’d prefer we focus on how fast we can learn from the challenges and move forward. The oil and gas industry has come to a point at which there is no turning back. The pressure to transform was mounting long before COVID-19 entered our vocabulary. Recent events only highlight the urgency of it. It is an urgency that stems from new regulation, increasing financial pressure, and growing societal expectations. From the Paris Agreement to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, the world has come to terms with the fact that our planet is not immune to human impact and that we need to take measures to mitigate our damage to it. For oil and gas, that means transformation, in both the short and long term, all the while remaining profitable and competitive. In the shorter term, the world is not able to fill the void that going completely fossil-free would create. Oil and gas are still key components of the global energy system, driving both social and economic development in much of the world. That means that while our dependency remains, the extraction of this natural resource and its subsequent processing need to be done as safely, efficiently, and as carbon-friendly as possible. That’s where technology stands to play a pivotal role. For oil and gas operations, achieving near-term, sustainable success will require three things. Optimizing the use of data for increased transparency. There are savings to be had across oil and gas operations. In 2017, global management consultant McKinsey & Company reported that the industry’s performance gap was around $200 billion and that most offshore platforms are only running at 77% of their maximum potential. This means that there is significant ground to be gained. Today, we have the tools available to capture this value, to extract the data, and identify where there is waste and where there is opportunity. This kind of accountability is possible only if you are transparent with your data, which requires the right tools to uncover it, understand it, and share it. Several oil and gas players today have already cracked the code to learn how to use data to ensure more sustainable operations. By gaining an understanding of the inherent power of data flowing through their operations and by embracing transparency around that data, they can harness it to their advantage. Norway-based oil and gas operator Aker BP is one such example. Working with Cognite, it recently implemented machine learning to improve water- contamination detection, saving $6 million per year and reducing the company’s environmental impact. The massive savings for both the companies and the environment was achieved with the smarter and more open use of data.

Efficient Offshore Wind Turbine Foundations

2005 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 463-469 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anders Moller
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Offshore Wind Turbine ◽  
Offshore Platforms ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Future Design

In the oil and gas industry, the foundations of offshore platforms have, for decades, used the grouted technique. This technology has now been transferred into the offshore wind turbine industry. This paper gives details of the use of the technology in some of the first offshore windfarms in Europe and considers future design possibilities.

Fatigue Reassessment to Modern Standards for Life Extension of Offshore Pressure Vessels

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Hutchison ◽  
John Wintle ◽  
Alison O’Connor ◽  
Emilie Buennagel ◽  
Clement Buhr
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Pressure Vessels ◽  
Life Extension ◽  
Offshore Platforms ◽  
Design Standards ◽  
Element Analysis ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Lack Of Information

Life extension of ageing assets is becoming increasingly important for the offshore oil and gas industry. Many pressure vessels in service have reached or are about to reach the end of their design lives, but their continued operation is required until the economic field life is exhausted. Many vessels in-service were designed over 30 years ago, when fatigue assessment was not required by the design standards. Therefore, fatigue reassessment is a critical part of the life extension process. This paper presents reassessment of a benchmark vessel as a case study for life extension of other similar vessels. Life extension assessments are costly and time consuming, often hindered by a lack of information and a lack of access to the vessels. By determining the commonality between a vessel and the benchmark vessel, it may be possible with suitable on-going in-service inspection to justify life extension of the vessel without the need for a full fatigue life extension reassessment in every case. The case study considered in this paper is a condensate flash separator vessel constructed in the early 70s which was in operation for 25 years; and is similar to many pressure vessels still in service on offshore platforms. The fatigue lives of key features of the vessel have been calculated and compared using different modern pressure vessel design codes, supported by finite element analysis.

Tandem Riser VIV Suppression Fairing Model Test

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Jinq Tyng Ng ◽  
Yih Jeng Teng ◽  
Allan Magee ◽  
Shankar Bhat Aramanadka ◽  
NorBahrain Ahmad Zukni ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Model Test ◽  
Vortex Shedding ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Test Model ◽  
Offshore Platforms ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Test Models ◽  
Offshore Industry ◽  
Viv Suppression

In deepwater development areas of Southeast Asia, the current is strong and relatively more persistent compared to other deepwater regions. Top tensioned risers (TTR) are critical submerged components of offshore platforms, constantly exposed to currents. These currents cause unsteady flow patterns around the risers i.e. vortex shedding. When the vortex shedding frequency is near the riser’s natural frequency, undesirable resonant vibration of the riser also known as Vortex Induced Vibration (VIV) occurs. Several types of VIV suppression devices are used in the offshore industry. Among them, the U-shaped fairing claims to have the capabilities of reducing VIV effectively as well as lowering drag loads. This study investigates the effectiveness of a U-shaped fairing in suppressing riser VIV. The model test was successfully performed in a towing tank facility located at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Johor Bahru, Malaysia. This study is a significant collaboration between a local academic institution and the offshore oil and gas industry, aligned with the industry’s initiative of increasing local capabilities for research and development. In this study, the VIV of two risers in tandem is simulated using scaled test models. The current flow is simulated by towing the vertically submerged test models with a moving carriage. The riser with fairing models are attached to a pair of custom-designed test rigs which are able to measure the forces and also allow movement of the test model during towing tests. The two test rigs are attached to a steel structure under the carriage which accommodates different tandem riser configurations and spacings. Two different sizes of risers and fairings are tested to check for Reynolds number effects. For each tandem riser configuration, three different riser conditions are tested, i.e. (a) bare risers without fairings; (b) risers with weathervaning fairings, and (c) upstream riser with fairing stuck at different orientations and downstream riser with weathervaning fairing. The test results show significant reduction in drag and VIV for the risers with weathervaning fairings in different tandem configurations. Interesting motion characteristics are shown in some of the stuck fairing cases highlighting the adverse effects should the fairings fail to perform normally in the field. Effective mitigation of VIV in risers using fairing suppression devices could lead to improved riser fatigue life and overall a more economical platform design. These benefits are highly applicable to local deepwater developments for the oil and gas industry.

Lifetime prediction of aramid yarns applied to offshore mooring due to purely hydrolytic degradation

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (8) ◽  
pp. 518-524
Author(s):  
Juliano Picanço Duarte ◽  
Carlos Eduardo Marcos Guilherme ◽  
Antonio Henrique Monteiro Fonseca T da Silva ◽  
Adriano Câmara Mendonça ◽  
Felipe Tempel Stumpf
Keyword(s):  
Tensile Strength ◽  
High Temperature ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Steel Wire ◽  
Hydrolytic Degradation ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Oil Fields ◽  
Offshore Platforms ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Service Conditions

The discovery of oil fields in deepwater over the last decades led the oil and gas industry to the necessity of replacing the steel wire cables of the mooring systems of offshore platforms by polymeric ropes. These systems must be designed to work for at least 20 years without showing substantial loss in tensile strength or in their mechanical behavior along this period. However, some polymers present degradation by seawater through the process of hydrolysis, and the question whether it affects significantly the materials’ ultimate tensile strength arises. Accelerated hydrolysis tests were conducted in yarn samples of aramid at high temperature in order to use the Arrhenius correlation to predict their lifetime under service conditions. In order to decouple the total degradation into a thermal and a purely hydrolytic part, separate aging experiments were performed into a dry chamber and the conclusion was that thermal degradation does not play a significant role in the total degradation of aramid due to the water submersion at the temperatures tested.

Emotional Intelligence: A Modern Approach to Health and Safety in the Oil and Gas Industry, Effects of Covid-19 Pandemic in Work Environments, and Solutions to Enhance Work Deliverability - A Case Study of Nigeria

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justice Osuala ◽  
Matilda Obuh
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Intelligence ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Work Environments ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Modern Approach ◽  
Analytical Result ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Assurance of reliable public health and safety of/in work environments patently depends on the Emotional Intelligence (EI) of workers. EI, which is the ability to understand and regulate emotions of one-self and others, is one of the uncommonly utilized strategies to optimizing deliverability in workplaces. Work pressure can never be overemphasized, as when not managed effectively, can retard compliance to industry set rules, integrity, and values, as well as distort deliverability of workers. The oil and gas sector were not left out in the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic which did not only affect the economy of the global oil market, but also, jeopardized the health and safety of its workers and the environment at large. This paper highlights Emotional Intelligence (EI) as a method to curb the negative effects which the pandemic has caused. It further positions Affability as a must-have skill for oil and gas workers for the purpose of assuring health and safety in work environments. Conceptual and critical thinking processes were utilized to introduce and prioritize Affability as an aspect of EI to proffering solutions to threats regarding safe and workable environment in the industry. Using SPSS, a comprehensive analytical result was generated for 102 oil and gas workers in Nigeria, who took an Emotional Intelligence test compiled by Global Leadership Foundation. A mean of 45.35% was calculated with 57% of 102 scoring below %50. A critical observation indicates that, EI among oil and gas workers was unreliable. This is due to unawareness to effectiveness of developing affable skills to combat safety and health threats in work environments. In an informative way, this paper introduces Affability as a core aspect of Emotional Intelligence and its effectual contribution to promoting a healthy and safe oil and gas work environment.

scholarly journals Toward a Sustainable Decommissioning of Offshore Platforms in the Oil and Gas Industry: A PESTLE Analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6266
Author(s):  
Nunzia Capobianco ◽  
Vincenzo Basile ◽  
Francesca Loia ◽  
Roberto Vona
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Offshore Platforms ◽  
Sustainable Business ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Sustainable Solutions ◽  
Sustainable Business Models

The growing complexity of environmental challenges has progressively led to the emergence of Sustainable Business Models (SBMs) able to embed economic, environmental, and social flows in a unified value network. All sectors are demanding innovative and sustainable solutions, including the oil and gas industry, which aims to address the issues about the decommissioning of offshore platforms. However, although the relevant literature highlighted the potentialities related to a multi-reuse of these structures, the effect of Sustainable Decommissioning (SD) on macro-environmental factors is still an open question. Based on these considerations, this study follows a Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, and Environmental (PESTLE) analysis according to semi-structured interviews conducted with oil and gas key informants and stakeholders in the Italian context. The results of the analysis can provide a novel thinking for addressing the challenges related to a sustainable decommissioning of offshore platforms and shed light on the importance of synergistic efforts by local entrepreneurship and institutional arrangements to combine economic and environmental sustainability with social needs. This paper can contribute to the emerging field of sustainable business models related to the decommissioning of offshore platforms and suggests avenues for future research.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document