Following Wood Group’s attendance at the ONS conference in Stavanger, Norway (29 August – 1 September), Otto Søberg, senior vice president, Europe, and Lars Myklebost, business manager in Norway, explain the long-term prospects we see in the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) and how our solutions-based capabilities are meeting the challenges of our clients there.
How long has Wood Group had a presence in Norway?
Lars: “Wood Group established a strong foothold in the Norwegian market more than 20 years ago. Significant contract wins with some of the major players resulted in the opening of new offices to support our pipeline and subsea engineering capabilities in 2004. In the last decade we have grown steadily and organically within our subsea-focused activity, in line with the market and the needs of our clients.”
Otto: “The acquisition of Agility Projects AS in 2014 further deepened our presence in country and our service offering, signalling the integration of several decades of experience of engineering, procurement, construction management, installation and commissioning on the NCS, into Wood Group’s global capabilities.
“We have built on our strong foundations supporting floating facilities; floating 0roduction, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels; and drilling activity, leveraging our global knowledge to support clients in larger modifications projects and more recently in the delivery of maintenance and modification work. This is exemplified in the framework agreement we secured with Statoil to deliver maintenance and modification services to four of this key client’s installations on the NCS.
“Whilst our most significant work has predominantly focused on offshore projects, we are also extremely active in our support of onshore industrial facilities, especially in the south east of Norway where we see strong future opportunities supporting the revamp, extension and development of new onshore plants.
“Our offices in Sandefjord, Stavanger, Bergen, Oslo and Moss position us well, strategically enabling strong links with our clients. Our office in Shanghai also supports our work on Norwegian projects.”
Lars: “We also have a deepening and diversified presence in Norway through our work in the clean energy sector where we are supporting both national and international clients, delivering challenging projects, onshore and offshore. Our in-depth experience in renewables and knowledge of tackling the challenges of working in cold climate environments combines powerfully with our broader expertise with floating structures and subsea experience, making an extremely strong fit for this market.
How do our capabilities complement the challenges of the Norwegian continental shelf?
Otto: “Our key strengths are our global experience, rich heritage and relentless focus on excellence. These are the elements that underpin our approach to projects and enable us to meet the challenges faced by our clients, in the NCS and beyond.
“In parallel with other basins across the globe, the NCS is firmly focused on maximising economic recovery. We use every opportunity to share best practice from across our global network to ensure we are delivering the smartest, most efficient and effective services to our clients.
“We harvest the lessons learned from our strong roots in the North Sea and pull these into our support of Norwegian-based clients. Equally, we are leveraging our experience of topsides delivery in the Gulf of Mexico, where Wood Group was responsible for the engineering & design of over half of the topsides, to provide innovative technical solutions for our Norwegian clients who are seeking this capability.”
Lars: “Applying our extensive global knowledge and experience at a local level, to meet challenges that are specific to the NCS is certainly our firm focus and commitment. The combination of our heritage and understanding of the global sector and our inherent, deep knowledge of the Norwegian environment and legislation is a powerful one. We believe our clients see this as one of the key benefits of working with Wood Group.”
Why does the Norwegian oil and gas sector remain a key market for us?
Otto: “The significant development opportunities we see in the NCS make it a clear, long-term growth target for us. New projects, platforms and fields are being developed at pace, and we are well equipped to deliver the broad range of services required to support our clients throughout their assets’ lifecycle and across their diverse scale and complexity.
One differentiator between the NCS and the UK continental shelf is the size of projects. For example, an average platform topside in the UK is 7,000 tonnes, in Norway it is 14,000 tonnes. This lends to a greater capacity to modify and build on platforms. Our diverse experience and robust knowledge positions us well to support clients in providing technical solutions to the challenges these types of modifications can present.”
Lars: “Although the Norwegian subsea market is quite mature, hugely significant opportunities and developments remain. The NCS is an extremely interesting basin to work in. Operators are challenging themselves and the wider industry to push the boundaries in terms of the technology that is being deployed to meet challenges and achieve new cost efficiencies. Wood Group is both excited and proud to be part of that drive to be forward thinking. It complements our service provision and strong belief in collaboration with our clients to ensure we achieve success through partnership.”
Join Wood Group at ONS in Stavanger from 29 August – 1 September, stand number 836.
For more on what you can expect from Wood Group at the conference visit our ONS 2016 page.