Overview of Subsea Projects in Australia
24 March 2010 Joint SUT and the Australian Society of Exploration Geophysicists (ASEG) Technical Seminar, Perth, Australia
Overview
Western Australia’s oil and gas industry is developing rapidly at a time when production in many other oil and gas centres around the world is declining. The Department of Mines and Petroleum has estimated there will be over $148 billion in project expenditure on WA gas related developments in the coming decade. It is clear that projects such as Pluto, Gorgon, Ichthys, Prelude and Browse will reshape the WA economy, and provide diverse opportunities for many smaller O&G service companies. However, to maximise the engagement of the local industry, it is important that we have an overview of the future needs of the oil and gas industry. To this end, Subsea Energy Australia (SEA) and Subsea UK coordinated a seminar on 24 March 2010 at which Chevron, Woodside, Shell, Clough, and PROFA have agreed to outline their view of the future of the Australian O&G industry. This seminar was of interest to all those with a vested interest in the future of Australia's oil and gas industry.
Report
With 164 participants in the Overview of the Subsea Projects in Australasia Region session of the Subsea Australasia Conference, it is certain there is currently a strong thirst for commercial knowledge as Australian companies prepare themselves for what is certain to be busy times ahead.
The first speakers of the afternoon, Graham Bonner, currently the Chevron Upstream Commissioning Manager for the Gorgon Project, and Drew Peoples, Chevron’s Wheatstone Expansion Gas Manager, provided interesting overviews on the Gorgon and Wheatstone projects. It was a great opportunity to hear first hand the technical details of the projects as well as the planned project time frames.
The second presentation was from Bill Tinapple on Subsea Projects in Western Australia. Bill is the Executive Director of Petroleum for the Western Australia Department of Mines and Petroleum. This was an excellent overview from someone with first hand knowledge of the planned developments coming up in Australia over the coming years. Of keen interest to the commercial participants was the data presented on the number of trees, manifolds and kilometres of pipeline to be installed over the coming 8 years. With a peak of 27 subsea wells being installed in Australia in 2014 and a 1250km of pipeline in 2013, the market in Australia over 2013/2014 will certainly be busy.
Malcolm Rutter, Project Director of Clough Limited, provided a presentation on Effectively Servicing the Australasian Subsea Market – a Contractor’s Perspective. Referring to the lack of ‘critical mass’ found in Australia (compared to the North Sea or Gulf of Mexico), Malcolm covered the topics People, Assets and Places and how Clough is dealing with the issues associated with these areas. With an impending skills shortage in Australian oil and gas companies, the approach Clough is taking to overcome this problem was of particular interest. Their ‘Talent Management Assessment’ - to more easily seek local skills - and their internationalisation approach - to allow them to tap into talent from Houston and the UK - are helping them to keep the pending skill shortage problem at bay. Malcolm also discussed the need for a suitably located offshore support base (equivalent to Aberdeen/Peterhead in the UK) to help reduce the issues of mobilising and supporting the development of the very remote sites off the coast of Western Australia.
Finally, Ian Wilson, Chairman of PROFA, presented An Introduction to PROFA - Pipeline Repair Operator Forum of Australasia.