The PMI team had a busy August having attended the ONS 2018 Conference in Stavanger, Norway. The conference not only provided a chance to connect with industry professionals, government officials, and catch up with clients, but also to learn more about what’s shaking up the market.
Innovation is the name of the game
Cost reduction through innovation was a common theme throughout the conference. More technological breakthroughs and policies are changing, providing the momentum oil and gas (O&G) industries need to continue to grow, evolve, and stay relevant. A number of ONS attendees were exhibiting alternative forms of energy including wind and wave.
One of the hottest topics of conversation was Equinor’s proposed plans to build the Hywind Tampen floating wind park. This park plans to reduce carbon emissions on Equinor’s oil and gas platforms. This kind of project displays some of the innovative ways the oil and gas industry is working to incorporate wind — especially floating wind projects — as a form of energy for offshore platforms. Offshore wind farms in the North Sea may be seeing more floating wind projects in their future.
Market conditions
A lot of discussions were also centered on O&G market conditions as the renewable fuel industries are now some of the fastest growing sectors. From our perspective, the majority of attendees felt there was a slight uptick in the market, but others had a more reserved outlook.
In addition, several seismic companies indicated an increase in activity, while other companies mentioned rounds of layoffs. It may be too soon to tell the ultimate trajectory of these markets, but we’re enlivened to see companies with new forms of energy coming to the table with creative solutions to today’s energy challenges.
PMI has been a key supplier for many companies within the oil and gas market, for nearly half a century. We offer full-service engineering from concept to production and provide cable protection and management systems for oil and gas and renewable energy projects.
While some other suppliers have closed doors, PMI has weathered the swings in market conditions by providing quality cable protection and terminations for our clients’ most demanding applications. This quality is what continues to set us apart from other suppliers.
PMI also stands alone in our low-hassle, no-tools-required cable protection assembly systems. Whereas other products, such as terminations, may require up to 12 hours to cure, PMI’s terminations can be completely assembled and ready to go in just 30 minutes.
Our experience working with projects across all sectors — oil and gas, wind, and wave energy — allows PMI to be an invaluable resource to our clients in all stages of their project development. In a world of tight timelines and budgets, PMI strives to create the cable protection systems that can remove the headaches and wasted time and energy so engineers can focus on their biggest project goals — not get caught up in cable complications. After all, about 80% of all project disruptions come from cable failures.
We’re always excited to attend ONS and it was a great opportunity to connect with some of our current clients and leaders from around the world. (PMI’s team even had the opportunity to meet with the U.S. Ambassador to Norway and mayors of Stavanger Bergen!). We look forward to seeing even more of our clients and connecting with leading industry professionals at several more of this year’s upcoming conferences.
The PMI team had a good week attending the recent International Partnering Forum for Offshore Wind in Princeton, NJ. The exhibit hall, networking opportunities, and especially the B2B meetings with supply chain partners were great opportunities to meet with other developers, cable manufacturers, contractors, and installers.
While this conference doesn’t have as much of an international draw as some other tradeshows, it still provides a worthwhile meeting for domestic innovators and leaders in the Offshore Wind industry.
Many of PMI’s products are versatile and are valuable for use in offshore wind, along with other sectors including marine engineering/operations, telecommunications, and the renewable energy market. Meeting with engineering, construction, manufacturing, and consultant companies gives us a great opportunity to show how PMI’s “No Tools/Prep Required” cable products can eliminate many of the stressors associated with subsea and offshore cable operations.
Much of the conference buzz revolved around the excitement at the increasing opportunities for renewable offshore wind projects in the United States. (Several upcoming projects seem to be located around the East Coast: New Jersey and Massachusetts.) Offshore wind farm possibilities are also becoming more of the norm. In the midst of all these advances, however, is the need to develop solutions for “lighter” and less costly cable solutions.
While meeting with some of the leading, innovative companies, we were able to learn about the industry’s most pressing issues and challenges related to offshore and subsea cable operations and explore how PMI could assist with their efforts, such as working to minimize the damage to inter array and export cable installation and post damage cable repair.
PMI is proud to be a part of such an innovative industry, and has a proven track record for delivering market solutions such as these for over 50 years.
The Oceanology International conference covers such a wide range of industries, all with the common mission of measuring, developing, protecting, or operating in the world’s oceans, providing lots of room for potential collaborations and idea sharing among market leaders.
Being a conference with numerous offshore/subsea market leaders in attendance, it provides an opportunity for attendees to become inspired by new advancements within the industry and develop new customer relationships. Of particular interest to our team were new equipment and companies that acquire, transfer, and store data and analytics technologies.
We also noticed many oil spill company leaders were in attendance, which was interesting to see the continuing developing partnerships and collaborations between the marine technology companies and the oil and gas sector.
Through the bustling exhibit halls and between sessions, we had the opportunity to talk with multiple attendees about the economic status of some of these new markets. One thing most sector leaders agree on is that the market will eventually bounce back—but the one unanswered question is still a matter of when.
Much of the conference buzz also surrounded themes around autonomous unmanned vehicles (AUVs,) oil spill equipment, remote operated vehicles (ROVs), and various new software opportunities pertaining to data management.
The ever-growing capabilities of unmanned vehicles, along with industry applications, communications, and data are driving further advances in the ways that we collect information and work within the oceans.
With nearly 500 exhibitors from dozens of countries around the world, Oceanology International gives PMI a unique opportunity to meet with companies and discover their innovative solutions to today’s marine technology challenges. It also provides a great opportunity to share about our innovative subsea cable technologies and to create new partnerships and collaborations.
PMI is positioned well within this field given the application of various cable solutions such as our no tool or prep required cable strain relief systems (BSRs), synthetic cable terminations, and 3rd party cable testing capabilities which provide much needed services to the a wide range of markets who are associated with ocean work. Our custom cable subsea systems and deep subsea cable expertise explain why companies around the world count on PMI. When you’ve got a lot of ocean in front of you, you need PMI behind you.
See you back in London for Oceanology International 2020!
PMI certainly enjoyed the always educational environment at Subsea Expo 2018 in Aberdeen! It was a pleasure to meet with so many energetic and skilled specialists working within the industry.
The innovative solutions our industry develops continue to amaze and inspire us within the promising direction of the offshore energy market.
From the Awards Dinner, State of Sector/Industry Overview Keynote Session presented by Subsea UK Chief Executive Neil Gordon, to the breakout sessions, panel talks, and networking events, Subsea 2018 was surely an event not to be soon forgotten.
Breeding Ground for Innovation
The conference offers a unique environment attended by Subsea operators, supply chain engineers, CEOs, sales marketers, developers, IRM companies, cable suppliers, and more. The expo is a breeding ground for innovative solutions and partnerships to further evolve today’s subsea industry.
Through our many conversations with game-changers in the industry, a few common themes emerged that we wanted to share with you as our conference takeaways.
New Cable-free ROV Solutions
Much of the current market buzz seems to revolve around the possibilities surrounding AUV & ROVs. The implementation of remote subsea junction charging boxes for AUVs would eliminate the costly need for traditional subsea cables. Instead, the vehicle would plug into a charging station on the sea floor. This opens up a multitude of new opportunities surrounding sea floor connections, potential cost benefits, and the need for specialized remote subsea junction box cables.
Mentoring Future Leaders
In addition, reiterated throughout the event was a strong emphasis of the need to educate and train the next generation of subsea market leaders for an exciting, yet challenging industry.
This was also evident throughout the exhibit hall with opportunities for pupils to experience various facets of the subsea industry, from operating machinery with virtual reality, to Subsea UK and OPITO’s “Energise Your Future” campaign.
It was not uncommon to run into multiple local high school pupils attending the expo and looking to absorb all the knowledge and information they could.
While these young, future leaders may currently not hold the answers for commonly shared frustrations around market conditions, lead times, costs, and CAPEX restrictions, it was a friendly reminder that within years, a fresh pair of eyes may be able to revolutionize the markets we’ve all taken part in growing to the high level which it is at today.
The rebound in crude oil prices brought a measure of optimism to Subsea Expo 17 in Aberdeen, Scotland.
With WTI crude trading in the low $50s per barrel — up from the low $30s a year ago — folks at the trade show and conference seemed hopeful that the worst is over in the oil markets, where crude prices plunged more than 70 percent from the summer of 2014 through February of last year.
Subsea Expo 17, which ran February 1-3, brought together companies building some of the most innovative subsea technologies. This year it attracted more than 4,500 people and more than a hundred exhibitors. While companies showed off their latest product lines at the trade show, conference sessions gave people a deep dive into the subsea industry — which includes oil exploration, underwater pipelines, subsea data and power transmission, offshore wind projects, and experimental ocean-energy technologies.
Skipping Subsea Expo is not an option for us at PMI. After all, nearly all these technologies require subsea cables and accessories, so a lot of our customers were strolling the aisles, checking out the booths, and sitting in on panel discussions.
The conference also is a great place to apprise the mood of the subsea industry. Since much of the subsea industry involves searching for oil and extracting it, the current price of crude is rarely far from attendees’ minds.
We heard time and again the hope that oil prices were finding their footing again, especially since Saudi Arabia has agreed to rein in production and help create a floor in the global market for oil.
We did hear some jitters about Great Britain’s looming exit from the Eurozone. And, it was impossible to avoid the subject of President Trump and the potential impact on global trade.
But overall, attendees had business on their minds: becoming more cost-efficient, getting better technologies to market, and attracting more customers.
Some Presentation topics like “Effects of Elastic Shakedown and Bulk Corrosion Thinning at a Lateral Buckle” and “Deepwater Pipeline NDT Inspection and Repair via Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) Intervention” would not make the evening news, of course, but they are kinds of things engineers need to know about to carry the industry into the future.
PMI is a strong proponent of the potential of marine energy to supply clean-energy needs in the years ahead. We’ll be looking for more presentations and companies bringing innovations to the ocean-energy sector in future Subsea Expo gatherings.
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It’s one thing to dream about the immense power residing in our planet’s oceans. It’s quite another to put human ingenuity to work tapping into the ocean’s powers.
That was the backdrop of the International Marine Energies Technologies Course, held in mid-March in The Netherlands. Some of the best minds in marine energy technologies gave presentations covering intriguing innovations in the sector. PMI was the only U.S. company attending the course.
At PMI, we’re fascinated with the potential of marine energy. We supply cable hardware to companies that do business in the deep sea, including seismic exploration firms that tow massive cable arrays to hunt for petroleum deposits below the ocean floor. Since we’re experts in hardware that can survive treacherous undersea environments, we’re eager to contribute to initiatives that tap the energy of our oceans.
Europe has a huge head start on marine renewable energy technologies. Offshore wind farms are now mainstream technologies along the coasts of many European nations. With that technology well understood, European companies are starting to look at other ways to draw energy from the ocean.
The course covered four technologies:
- Ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC). This technology taps the massive amount of solar energy trapped at the surface of the ocean in the tropics. OTEC uses warm sea water to convert a liquid into steam that drives a turbine, producing electricity. After the steam passes through the turbine, it gets cooled by water pumped up from the ocean depths, condensing it back into fluid form to continue the cycle.
- Salinity gradient power. When fresh water bodies are near salt water bodies, there is a substantial energy potential that can be harvested. Through pressure retarded osmosis or reverse electrodialysis, electricity can be generated. Salinity gradient technologies are being developed in Norway and the Netherlands.
- Tidal power. The ebb and flow of ocean tides can generate substantial kinetic energy that can be converted into electricity by several kinds of technologies. Tidal energy depends on the velocities water moves. (See Massive Tides Invite Wave of Tidal Energy Research for more).
- Wave power. Where tidal relies on the velocity of water, wave power relies on the change in height of waves to harvest energy. (See Scotland’s Sunken Wave Turbines for more).
Each marine energies technology has pros and cons. While all can produce energy without the use of fossil fuels, they also face substantial challenges because of the chaotic and corrosive nature of oceans. Furthermore, they require substantial financial investments and must offer some hope of providing a return to investors.
Moreover, any devices placed in the ocean are entering an active ecosystem that must be protected. The sessions of the International Marine Energies Technologies Course addressed these challenges. The people attending included engineers, researchers and representatives of companies venturing into the emerging ocean-energy field.
So what was PMI doing in Holland for three days? Well, we supply cable hardware to companies that do business in the deep sea, including seismic exploration firms that tow massive cable arrays to hunt for petroleum deposits below the ocean floor. It’s a great business to be in, but we also recognize the necessity to tap into renewable energy sources in the years to come.
Since we’re experts in hardware that can survive treacherous undersea environments, we’re eager to contribute to initiatives that tap the energy of our oceans. Ocean energy technologies are barely off the drawing boards in the United States, but our European colleagues are getting devices in the water and starting to generate energy.
And that’s getting us energized about the power of our oceans.
Related: “Tidal and Wave Energy Industry Struggles With Harsh Ocean Environments”
Want more information about our experience at International Marine Energies Technology Course? Schedule to speak to a representative.