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Weak oil prices weighed heavily on the folks attending last month’s annual meeting of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists. Time and again, the people we talked to at 2015 SEG New Orleans were on the prowl for cooperative cost-saving opportunities.
With crude oil prices down more 50 percent from their June 2014 peak, everyone is laser-focused on limiting expenses. Sending fewer people to trade shows must be one way they’re cutting back, because the show had noticeably low attendance.
Those who did get to attend (or who went to the prior Madrid EAGE show) got a look at how PMI is helping offshore industry clients hold the line on costs. Those who missed the show also missed a chance for a hands-on look at our new Hydro-Dynamic DYNA II Sheave Mount and its drag-reducing design.
Our meetings with key seismic exploration customers confirmed how new PMI technology is helping slice operating costs. Today’s 3D seismic operators tow 16-plus streamers along with attached cable management hardware behind oceangoing seismic survey ships. That adds up to a lot of drag, requiring lots of engine power (and fuel for those engines).
At PMI, we’ve learned from working alongside our clients that making our hardware hydrodynamically efficient can significantly reduce the power required to tow streamer & hardware systems — cutting hardware component drag by up to 40 percent. Just multiply the power and fuel savings by 8, 16 or possibly 32 components towed behind a ship and you can see the potential for a significant reduction in costs.
Making small changes like these to our cable hardware gives our clients substantial savings.
If you could not attend either show, download our Free Hydrodynamic Efficiency Report and start thinking about the benefits of our new technology.
Operators and suppliers in the offshore oil and gas industry face major challenges as the industry matures: increased production losses, technical issues with legacy equipment, evolving business models for maintenance and repair, supply chain constraints, rising delivery costs, and an inability to improve production.
Companies are even putting off recruiting apprentices because of the time and cost involved in what is perceived as a complex process. That why it’s good news to hear that Subsea UK has launched a new support service to help companies bring new talent into the subsea sector by making it easier to recruit apprentices. That’s one solution to the many the industry face.
And while Subsea UK is helping on the employment front, we’re focused on the other issues – constantly working on new to improve cost efficiencies. One way we are doing this is by innovating news systems on existing subsea cable devices and analyze cost saving opportunities.
Our in-depth hydrodynamic efficiency studies are helping companies by optimizing performance and overcoming hydrodynamic drag by over 40%.
Reduce some of your major challenges today:
Discover the benefits of Hydrodynamic Efficiency in this free whitepaper.
Learn about Subsea UK Recruitment Drive
Did you know that submarine cables are at most risk of damage during installation? Stresses placed upon the cable as it is installed can manifest and cause catastrophic failures to your system. The time it takes to repair such a cable can vary from weeks to many months and becomes a costly endeavor.
Using a test lab can assist you to identify potential problems prior to use by performing extensive laboratory testing.
Gaining insight to the interaction between the strength member and attached hardware or the complete cable assembly is especially valuable when you have so much at risk.
Want to read more about the importance of submarine cables? Check out this great article at Subsea Cables UK.
There’s no shortage of bad news these days, but looking at the trends in renewable energy, there’s plenty of hope. Last year, the world broke a record for new wind installations, installing nearly three wind turbines each hour. At that rate the need for proven subsea equipment will certainly increase as well. At PMI, we are focused on this market, the trends that will lead the energy revolution and helping these customers realize a significant return on investment.
Wind energy is surging back to stronger levels of investment is just one of the trends. Read about all them here.
Subsea equipment (umbilicals, risers, flowlines) and pipelines are generally one third of all expenditure of a total project. Equipment purchases add up quickly and in order to save costs, companies will be looking for hardware with proven results – hardware that increases efficiency and quickly realizes a significant return on investment.
Statoil CEO Eldar Sætre recently stated that over the last ten years, the cost of subsea developments has increased by 250 percent. According to analysts Douglas-Westwood, subsea spending will continue to rise, and there are projects and locations to watch out for. Read more…
In the United States, wave energy technology is less advanced than tidal. But as interest grows, companies like ours are prepared to equip these new tidal power companies with proven subsea cable hardware helping them become profitable sources of electricity.
Small tidal power companies are taking advantage of the rising interest in alternative energies. Large amounts of coastal waters are being reserved on both coasts of North America by small companies who plan to take advantage of ocean energy technologies, in the hopes that these sites will become profitable sources of electricity. Read more…
Cost-saving mode is not the best time for trial projects. Instead, it’s an opportunity to drive innovative ways to reduce cost. At PMI, we are focused the potential to save on operating costs by simply considering the hydrodynamic efficiency of your cable hardware.
Sinking profits could be a good trigger to reconsider the drilling and completion “basis of design” and look for alternative and innovative ways to reduce cost and increase production. Read more and discover other cost saving ideas to brainstorm.
