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
PMI has grown up with the oil industry. In 1969, we emerged in the underwater market by introducing the helical wire concept for use on underwater cables. And today, we offer full-service engineering from concept to production, cable hardware and kits, custom cable systems and simulated at-sea testing services.
The recent trend in oil prices casts a shadow of uncertainty on many industries like ours across the globe. But news of a Norwegian oil field has us all perking up a bit.
The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has given the go ahead on the development and operation plan of the oil group Statoil for Johan Sverdrup field. It’s the fifth largest oil field to ever be found off the Norwegian cost. And it looks as if it is expected to generate $200 billion in revenues within the next 50 years and create 51,000 direct and indirect jobs, which is especially important for Norway – not to mention the entire oil industry — these days.
Read more about our thoughts on Oil and Gas Exploration.
Read more about Norway’s Development of Largest Oil Field.
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.
Oil energy and renewable energy are two totally different marketplaces, generating two different products used in different ways. As different as they may be, they still require the same equipment – rugged subsea grips, hangers, and terminations – with the same goal: extending service life and maintaining integrity in extreme underwater environments.
They operate in different markets. Oil is predominantly used for transport—cars, trucks, planes. Very little of it is used for power; oil accounts for less than 1 percent of power generation in the United States and Canada, for example, and not much more in Europe. Globally, the figure is around 5 percent. Renewables, in contrast, are used mostly to create electricity. The more important factor for renewables, then, is not the price of oil, but the price of electricity, and the latter is not entirely a function of the cost of fuel. The electrical grid itself is expensive, which is why US power costs, which are relatively low in global terms (an average of 12 cents per kilowatt-hour), have been rising. In Europe and Japan, electricity costs are significantly higher, and the relative position of renewables is correspondingly better. Read more…
Prior to the show, Gordon Drummond was quoted, saying: “In the current low oil price environment, innovation and technology will be more important than ever in driving efficiencies and developing effective solutions to the challenges the industry presently faces, particularly in the North Sea.”
Driving technology in subsea cable applications is what we do. Our cable hardware solutions deliver efficiencies and provide exceptional return on investment.
New technologies, and how their implementation can boost oil and gas exploration, was brought to the forefront at this year’s Subsea Expo.
For the first time, Subsea UK’s annual conference and exhibition, which took place from February 11-13, provided a platform for organizations to introduce, discuss and demonstrate their latest innovations. Read more…
The launch of the Ramform Titan class marine seismic data acquisition ships by Petroleum Geo-Services (PGS) mark a new era of subsea oil and gas exploration. The second of these vessels, the Ramform Atlas was launched in January, 2014. The Ramform Titan and Ramform Atlas are designed and built by PGS to be the most powerful and productive of their kind using the latest marine and electronic seismic technologies.
Every detail of these vessels was evaluated based on optimum productivity and safety including the cable management systems used to deploy and attach up to a 24-streamer array system. The towed streamers consist of several thousand recording sensors over an area greater than 3,000 acres (12 km2), or 3.5 times the size of New York’s Central Park.
The engineers at PGS have chosen the latest proven technologies available throughout the Ramform Titan-class ships, including the new PMI Dyna-Hanger II and Dyna-BSR cable management systems. These systems provide significantly higher load capacities to accommodate the demands of extreme towing loads caused by wider streamer arrays. As a bonus, the major components of both systems can be installed, or removed, in just minutes without special tools or extensive personnel training to increase on deck productivity and reduce downtime.
The Dyna-Hanger II cable management system uses exclusive patent pending designed symmetrical suspension arms with tool-less features and helical rods. It is designed with a hinged collar that snaps around the housing and is secured with just a quick-release pin. A specially designed housing prevents the attachment point from shifting on the lead-in cable while the collar design enables the cable to rotate freely under tension. It is capable of accommodating loads up to 100% of the cable’s rated breaking strength.
The Dyna-BSR bending strain relief system provides cable bending and abrasion protection, while enabling rotation of various cable attachments. It replaces traditional slip-on bending strain relief systems that use a one-piece body design. Instead, the Dyna-BSR patent pending two-piece system can be installed or removed at any time during deployment or retrieval procedures. It is designed with a reinforced polyurethane, two-part shell to provide added strength and flexibility. A unique fastener system quickly secures the shells together. In total, the system offers graduated stiffness to protect cables from off-axis loads through a wide range of angle combinations by maintaining a safe minimum bend radius.
“Everything on the Ramform Titan class was chosen for its contribution to our primary goals of providing optimal seismic productivity and crew safety,” according to Sverre Olsen, Technical Manager at PGS. “Every sub-system we have, builds on the total system to achieve our goals. PMI systems were chosen because they continue to meet PGS productivity and higher load requirements.”
“The successful PGS installation is a result of our conversations with customers about their challenges then developing cable hardware and support services to meet their needs,” said Bob Schauer, president, PMI industries. “We are focused on unmatched support for our customers. Whether it is easy-to-use hardware, engineering support or comprehensive cable testing services, we listen and then perform.
