UNMANNED DRONES: BECOMING A POPULAR TOOL AT WELL SITES

NEWS, DATA AND ANALYSIS FOR THE MIDDLE EAST’S ENERGY PROFESSIONALS January 2018 • Vol. 14 • Issue 01

Oman Country focus

Is there light at the end
of the tunnel for Oman’s
upstream sector? / p26

In NUMBERS
Iraq’s oil revenue
conundrum / p6

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INTERVIEW

FOSTERING
THE FUTURE
Dr Esra Al Hosani, instrumentation and control engineer at ADNOC
Group Company ADCO says upstream needs to employ the next
generation and encourage innovation
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 CONTENTS

20
COVER STORY

JANUARY 2018 / Volume 14 Issue 01

Highlights in this issue:
20 26
Exclusive Country
interview focus
Dr Esra Al Hosani, an There is a light at the end
engineer from ADCO of the tunnel for Oman’s
speaks to Oil & Gas about oil and gas industry,
why upstream should be analysts say that 2018 is
hiring fresh graduates, looking up. We speak to a
and encouraging more range of experts on what
innovation in research the industry will look like
and development. this year.
31
Special
report
Why is digitalisation
important? How do you
implement it? What does it
all mean? We answer these
question in this month’s
special report, which looks
at digitalisation and digital
asset management.
42
Unmanned
surveillance
Unmanned surveillance
tools are becoming more
and more popular in the
oil and gas industry, in
particular, unmanned
aerial vehicles, we look at
their uses and why they
have become a hot topic.

SANS Institute looks at current cyber security threats to industrial control

EXPERT ANALYSIS: systems in oil and gas, and what companies can do to stop them / P8

arabianoilandgas.com JANUARY 2018

 CONTENTS

Also inside: 06 08 16
05 / Editor’s letter
Why is oil and gas still
overlooking its biggest threats?

06 / In Numbers
We look at Iraq’s latest oil
production numbers.
18 22
08 / News analysis
ICS systems are still
under threat.

12 / News
Top news from the upstream
industry.

16/ Comment
The known unknowns of the
Saudi Aramco IPO. KEEP
UP-TO-DATE
4 For all the latest
18 / Comment news, check out

Cleaning up contaminated land

www.arabianoil
andgas.com
Online
across the Middle East.

20/ Cover story

Dr Esra Al Hosani, believes that
young people will bring fresh
ideas and innovation to the oil Editor’s choice:
and gas industry. www.arabianoilandgas.com
• O&GME Top 30 Oilfield
26 / Country focus Services Companies 2017
Is Oman on the up? • Oil & Gas Middle East Top 30
EPC Contractors list 2017
26 • Video: O&GME and AVEVA
49 / People hosts roundtable
A round-up of recent industry • Video: O&GME and R&PME
appointments and promotions. Awards 2017 achievers

54/ Project listings App

An exhaustive list of projects
DOWNLOAD IT TODAY ON YOUR
information by DMS Projects.
iOS, ANDROID OR KINDLE

58 / Five
Minutes With...
Kamal Mokrani, Global Vice
President, InfiNet Wireless.
42 50
JANUARY 2018 arabianoilandgas.com
 EDITOR’S LETTER

Grab might just mean a breakthrough in

EOR techniques, better data analy-
sis from a well component, or a life

modernisation
PO Box 500024, Dubai, UAE
Tel: 00 971 4 444 3000 saved through better HSE ideas.
Web: www.itp.com
Offices in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, London & Mumbai
Cyber security is an area that
everyone in the upstream vertical
ITP Media Group
CEO: Ali Akawi
Executive Director: Matthew Southwell
Group Editorial Director: Greg Wilson
Group Publishing Director: Ian Stokes
by the horns should have jumped on years ago.
Every year cyber security compa-
nies say the same thing. Did Sha-
Editorial
Upstream needs to evolve and moon and Stuxnet teach no one
Editorial Director: Robert Willock
Tel: +971 4444 3357 email: robert.willock@itp.com
move with the times, or it will lose anything? Who is going to be to
out on profit blame if a cyber-attack spills tank-
Advertising
Sales Manager: Kimberley Barnes
ers’ worth of crude into the sea? It
Tel: +971 4444 3351 email: kimberley.barnes@itp.com certainly isn’t the tanker’s fault. By

T
ITP Digital
he oil and gas industry is not implementing an effective cy-
Advertising Director: Riad Raad teetering on a cliff at the ber security policy, companies are
Tel: +971 4 444 3319, email: riad.raad@itp.com
moment, unsure whether playing with billions and billions
ITP Live
General Manager: Ahmad Bashour
the oil price is set to improve, in potential compensation.
Tel: +971 4 444 3549 email: ahmad.bashour@itp.com maintain current levels, or dip. What this boils down to is that
Studio
Market reports all point to a the upstream industry simply
THIS ISSUE:
Head of Design: Genaro Santos slow and steady improvement, needs to just modernise its ideas
This issue has
Photography a particularly but upstream companies can- and the way it does business. Per-
Director of Photography: Patrick Littlejohn
Senior Photographers: Rajesh Raghav, Efraim Evidor,
technological bent, not just sit on their laurels and haps finally it really is a case of
Richard Hall, Ethan Mann featuring the wait for better prices to come modernise or fail?
Staff Photographers: Lester Apuntar, Aasiya Jagadeesh,
Ausra Osipaviciute, Grace Guino, Fritz Asuro, Sharon
latest on unmanned to them. Now is the time to act, 5
surveillance and
Haridas, Ajith Narendra improve processes, innovate, Editor, Oil & Gas Middle East
digitalisation [pg 31].
Production & Distribution experiment and research. Now
Group Production & Distribution Director: Kyle Smith
Production Manager: Basel Al Kassem
is the time to trim the fat off operating costs,
Outsource Manager: Aamar Shawwa squeeze every drop of profit out of every function In 3-5 years how much does
Production Coordinator: Mahendra Pawar
Senior Image Editor: Emmalyn Robles
in the company. your company plan to spend on
To sing a mantra that has been pushed on the digital tech?
Circulation
Director of Conferences, Circulation & Data: Michael McGill industry for quite a few years now, digitise, digit-
Senior Circulation Manager: Manoj Chaudhary
Circulation Executive: Loreta Regencia
ise, digitise. Gone are the days where companies
could implement a single digital technology at a 12.2%
Marketing
Director of Awards & Marketing: Daniel Fewtrell
time, stand back and pat themselves on the back.
7.0%
Events Manager, Business Events: Sophie McHugh Now, everything should be digitised. End-to-end 18.3%
ITP Group processes should be automated, data collected
Chairman: Andrew Neil
and efficiently analysed, and answers - that will
CEO: Ali Akawi
CFO: Toby Jay Spencer-Davies trim your bottom line even more - sought. More 18.3%
Director: Walid Akawi
importantly there should be a strategy behind
The publishers regret that they cannot accept liability for error or omissions digitising the company, things shouldn’t be im-
contained in this publication, however caused. The opinions and views contained 44.1%
in this publication are not necessarily those of the publishers. Readers are advised plemented willy-nilly, because as we all know, if
to seek specialist advice before acting on information contained in this publication
which is provided for general use and may not be appropriate for the reader’s you do things by half, you get half the results.
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part of this publication or any part of the contents thereof may be reproduced, Another important thing to bear in mind is that
stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form without the permission
of the publishers in writing. An exemption is hereby granted for extracts used for
the next generation holds the keys to developing
Significantly more More
the purpose of fair review.
technical processes and inventions that haven’t
Same Less Don’t know
even been thought of yet. By relying on the grey-
haired experts of the industry that know what Source: Accenture, Microsoft: Oil and Gas
has been, upstream is losing out on the talent that Digital and Technology Trends report

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arabianoilandgas.com JANUARY 2018

 IN NUMBERS

Iraq’s oil Plateau Production Targets (PPT)

of key fields (m b/d)
revenue
conundrum
Despite crude production growth
remaining low, Iraq has been able to
develop its ailing oil infrastructure

D
espite significantly increasing exports
in recent years, low oil prices since late-
2014 until about Q3 2017 have impacted
Iraq’s hopes for higher revenues, accord-
ing to APICORP. With foreign reserves of
less than $50bn and dependence on crude exports
for 99% of the government budget, the slump in the
oil price has put significant strain on public spend- Federal Iraqi Refineries (k b/d)
ing and negatively impacted oil sector development.
The country will have to rely on additional exports
6 for higher revenues, thus requiring significant sup-
port from IOCs to increase production capacity.
Given that many of them were frustrated by the gov-
ernment’s past inability to make timely payments, it
is no surprise that there is an industry-wide trend to
reconsider future involvements in Iraq, aided by the
fact that neighbouring Iran – with the exception of
political risk – offers more favourable contracts for
fields with similar profiles. On the positive side, the
government is working on solutions to some of the
major obstacles to capacity growth and has made
progress in de-bottlenecking infrastructure and
expanding export capacities. A significant portion
of recent growth can be attributed to improvements
in crude quality. As part of its strategic decision to
produce more crude, the country began drilling a
heavier crude mix from the Mishrif reservoir to
blend with its Basra Light, triggering a discount
within the Basra Light formula. The split into Basra
Light and the new 23.5 API Basra Heavy made sense
given the upward trajectory in higher volumes of the
grade from new production, whilst at the same time
preserving the quality of the 29.7 API Basra Light.
However, more investments are needed to achieve
the required levels of output growth. Securing more
natural gas and progressing with water projects will
be instrumental in the recovery and production of
additional crude from southern Iraq.

JANUARY 2018 arabianoilandgas.com

 IN NUMBERS

Iraq crude oil production (m b/d)

Oil revenue & IOC payments ($bn)

arabianoilandgas.com JANUARY 2018

 COMMENT

ICS ANALYSIS

Critical
concerns
Doug Wylie, director of SANS Institute’s Industrials &
Infrastructure Practice Area, provides an overview of the
current cyber security threats to industrial control sys-
tems, the readiness of those in industries like oil and gas
to deal with those threats, and advice to practitioners
on how they can more effectively safeguard systems and
keep cyber criminals and digital threats at bay

C
yber security breaches
have rarely been out
of the news in recent
8 years and organisations
of all sizes, across all industries
and sectors, are falling victim.
The threat is nowhere more ap-
parent however, than in sectors
such as oil and gas, and critical
infrastructure that are reliant on
industrial control systems (ICS)
to maintain the smooth running
of their operations.
A recent SANS report found
that four out of 10 ICS practi-
tioners lack adequate visibility
into their networks to monitor
assets and operations and to
identify potential threats. This
leaves them at risk of being
unable to recognise and defend
against cyber-attacks, putting
critical infrastructure at risk.
Oil and gas: cyber security of
critical concern
Cyber security is a critical area
for concern within the oil and
gas industry, where the range
of potential threats is far wider
and carries far more severe
consequences than in other key
industries. Disruption, damage
and destruction from digital
attacks have all emerged as
real-world consequences the
industry must now combat.
While not necessarily seen
as a ‘cool high-tech’ industry,
oil and gas remain absolutely
pivotal to the functioning of the
world we live in. These indus-
tries enable and support the
infrastructure of society and
worldwide economy so we have
to ask the question, why are
they so difficult to protect and
therefore vulnerable to attack
from cyber criminals?
According to the Repository
of Industrial Security Incidents
(RISI), cyber attacks against
oil and gas organisations in the
Middle East make up more than
half of the recorded instances, in
comparison to under 30% in the
US and other Western countries.
The Ponemon Institute reports
that almost 68% of oil and gas
companies worldwide were af-
fected by at least one significant
cyber incident in 2016, with
68% many attacks assumed to be
undetected, miscategorised or
Of oil and gas com-
unpublished.
panies globally were
There is therefore no doubt
affected by a cyber
that the oil and gas sector is a
incident in 2016.
target. High-profile attacks in
the Middle East include the
massive cyber-attack in 2012
against Saudi Aramco, which
either partially wiped out or
totally destroyed data on 35,000
computers. This was followed
three years later by an attack
on Sadara, a chemical company
owned by Aramco and Dow
Chemical (DOW). As recently
as June 2017, companies across
the industry and around the

JANUARY 2018 arabianoilandgas.com

 COMMENT

The oil and gas

sector is a high-
value target for
cyber attackers.

Doug Wylie,
director of SANS
Institute’s
Industrials &
Infrastructure
Practice Area.

maintain spending in order to

“CYBER SECURITY IS A CRITICAL AREA
FOR CONCERN WITHIN THE OIL AND
GAS INDUSTRY, WHERE THE RANGE OF
POTENTIAL THREATS IS FAR WIDER AND
CARRIES FAR MORE SEVERE
CONSEQUENCES THAN IN OTHER
KEY INDUSTRIES.”
DOUG WYLIE, DIRECTOR OF SANS INSTITUTE’S INDUSTRIALS & INFRA-
STRUCTURE PRACTICE AREA
world including Russian oil and
gas giant Rosneft were combat-
ting a ransomware outbreak
that physically and financially
impacted operations- Rosneft’s
public statement said they
“avoided ‘serious consequences’
by switching to a backup sys-
tem, but others were not nearly
as fortunate.
While global spend in the oil
and gas industry is expected
to continue to decline, Middle
East producers are looking to
meet production targets. Saudi
Aramco for example, plans to
spend $334bn across the oil and
gas chain by 2025, while Kuwait
is expected to spend $115bn on
energy projects over the next
five years to help boost crude
production capacity to four
million barrels a day by 2020.
The various control systems
that will enable this efficiency 9
and productivity are digital,
networked, interconnected and
in most cases, remotely accessi-
ble for monitoring, maintenance
and even control. It is clear
that the sector must therefore
keep a close eye on the future
to effectively protect itself from
cyber-attacks.
The pros and cons of progress
Developments in technology
and connectivity in the oil and
gas arena have been instrumen-
tal in driving greater produc-
tivity, efficiency and revenues
within industries such as oil and
gas. Today, an industrial control
system (ICS) that uses special-
ised industrial-grade hardware
and software to monitor and
control devices and machinery,
sits at the heart of all operations
and may be a nearly immutable
single point of failure (SPOF)
in the complex upstream,
midstream, Continued on page 10>>

arabianoilandgas.com JANUARY 2018

 COMMENT
10
and downstream operations.
But such advances have also
increased the risk and intro-
duced a myriad of new scenarios
that can disrupt production and
processes, impact safety and
bring financial consequences.
The adoption of cloud-based IT
solutions, the widespread intro-
duction of insecure connected
devices into networks, and the
increasing reliance on digital
technology for operations and
expanded connectivity mean
that many systems are far more
vulnerable to attack than they
once were.
In an ordinary business
environment, a cyber breach of
business IT systems can com-
promise data and revenues may
be affected as a result. However,
the potential damage can be far
more severe when an attacker
targets an organisation reliant
on industrial control systems,
such as oil and gas where digital
JANUARY 2018
and physical processes must
Securing all
digital assets is necessarily converge.
essential for the
oil and SANS report explores cyber
gas sector. risks and threats
SANS Institute’s Securing
Industrial Control Systems 2017
report explored how hundreds
of ICS security practitioners
worldwide are combatting cyber
security risks and threats. These
are the people responsible for
identifying risks, protecting
control systems and networks
from malicious and accidental
activity and recovering systems
if and when things go wrong.
The report shed light on the
concerns of ICS practitioners, as
well as their views regarding the
most prevalent cyber security
threats today.
Challenging real-world
scenarios
The SANS report showed that
many of the professionals
responsible for today’s indus-
trial control systems do at least
recognise current cyber security
risks. However, they aren’t al-
ways in a position to overcome
them since governance is often
seen as a lower priority when it
comes into conflict with the ob-
jectives of the business around
efficiency and productivity.
Many ICS practitioners aren’t
interested in becoming cyber
security experts themselves, but
they do realise that their organi-
sation needs to plan to manage
the threats.
It is also important to recog-
nise that ICS environments pose
unique challenges that do not
exist in an ordinary business
enterprise system. Automation
and control systems frequently
run continuously, ceasing only in
the event of a loss of power, me-
chanical failure or an issue with
the raw materials. Decisions
to stop systems are not taken
lightly, and a patch upgrade for
example – a not-infrequent oc-
currence that every network ad-
ministrator must factor in – will
disrupt the operation of most
ICS designed to run around the
clock. A plant manager must
weigh up the cost of downtime
to patch a system as a preventa-
tive measure against the impact
on system safety, uptime, ef-
ficiency and productivity.
This process of upgrading
ICS products and systems, even
if just to apply a minor patch,
is in stark contrast with many
other IT environments. In the
SANS report, only 46% of ICS
respondents said they regularly
apply vendor-validated patches.
Given the challenges of running
ICS systems 24 hours a day, it
is no surprise that decisions are
taken not to update. However,
the expanding attack surface
arabianoilandgas.com
 COMMENT

that results from such decisions

only increases the long-term
security challenges of protect-
ing these critical systems against
known risks and threats.
Neither is it surprising that
more than two-thirds of re-
spondents in the SANS report
(69%) considered the threat
to ICS systems to be high or
severe/critical. Four out of 10
practitioners said they lack vis-
ibility into their networks (for
comprehensive asset identifica-
tion, communication anomaly
detection and discovery of indi-
cators of compromise), which
is one of the primary reasons
organisations struggle to secure
ICS systems.
To be able to fully protect
networks, practitioners require
full knowledge of connected
and interconnected assets,
configurations and the integrity 11
of communications. In addition,
44% of respondents considered
the addition of devices that
can’t protect themselves to the many will simply be employees The highest skills does direct and measurable
network, to be the top threat who have not received adequate number of damage to their business. There
to their ICS. This was followed training, and lack the knowledge security breaches is clearly a gap in the workforce
by accidental internal threats of how to operate and maintain are caused by of many ICS businesses for spe-
employee error.
(43%), external threats from IT systems securely, or even spot cialist cyber security skills and
hacktivists or nation-states that there is an issue. these particular year-over-year
(40%) and ransomware (35%). The SANS report highlighted shifts in spending are hopefully
that worldwide, despite the rise mere temporary aberrations,
Training plays a big role in cyber-attacks and awareness not indicators of larger macro
Trained cyber-security profes- of them, budgets for the training industry trends.
sionals are key to solving the and certification of staff re- The 2017 report also found
security problems of ICS, as is sponsible for implementing and that a large number of respond-
the continuous education of maintaining industrial control ents had to balance ICS security
all employees that come into systems have fallen considerably, duties with a large proportion
contact with the ICS, in best from 34% in 2016 to 26% in 2017. of secondary responsibilities, so
practice and security. The report also revealed that many must manage priorities
Weaknesses in IT systems businesses are cutting their and counterbalance key risk de-
can sometimes be the cause of a budgets for bringing in trained cisions against other job duties.
cyber breach. However, people security staff and consultants Organisations must therefore
pose a greater risk, with almost despite a recent study that found be more willing to train staff
90% of cyber-attacks caused by that 82% of respondents report- to become dedicated security
human error or behaviour. This ed a shortage of cybersecurity professionals, instead of dividing
can either be the result of mali- skills within their company, and their time between a security
cious action by staff, but equally 71% agreed that the shortage of role and another.

arabianoilandgas.com JANUARY 2018

 NEWS
Innovation spending by oil
and gas in the Gulf is rising
Study by Booz Allen Hamilton points to more investment in the sector
12
US$40 BN
O
il and gas firms both in
the GCC, and globally are
Saudi Aramco plans to
spend this much on spending billions of dollars
innovation over the next a year on innovation across their
10 years.
units, figures put forward by
Booz Allen Hamilton at a Dubai
roundtable show Saudi Aramco
has committed to spend US$40bn
over the next decade, allocating
that investment primarily in up-
stream and offshore innovations.
Schlumberger spends an aver-
age of US$280mn a year investing
in new techniques, Baker Hughes
invests US$92 million a year, Shell
spends about US$1.18bn per year,
QUOTE: “THE KEY TO SUSTAINABLE SUCCESS LIES IN INNOVATION, WHICH IS A FORCE CONSTANTLY PROMOTED YET ALL
TOO INFREQUENTLY EMBRACED.”
JANUARY 2018
Dr. Sleiman said that investment in innovation
will drive sustainability in the GCC.
Exxon is at US$1.02bn per year,
and BP spends US$646mn a year.
This investment in innovation
by the energy and utilities sector
across the GCC, and in the UAE
in particular, is essential if these
countries want to succeed in over-
coming sustainability challenges.
“I can tell you from our vantage
point, in terms of the demand that
we see from our clients for embed-
ding innovation in their organisa-
tion, it is on the rise across sectors.
The idea is to invest for the future,
invest in the future in a way that is
controlled,” said Dr. Adham Slei-
Coming up:
/13 Low adoption of cyber security
/14 ADNOC share price set
/15 News from around the Gulf
/16 The Saudi Aramco IPO
/18 Cleaning up contaminated land
man, Vice President, Booz Allen
Hamilton MENA.
Booz Allen Hamilton has said
in a report titled The Future is
Innovation, that the GCC states
hold almost a third of crude-oil
reserves, and a fifth of global
gas reserves. However, declin-
ing reserves and revenues along
with increased consumption, are
testing the region’s capacity to its
limits. Policy changes and shifting
national budgets across the GCC
indicate that the region’s govern-
ments are responding to these
challenges, and the regions key
energy and utilities players will
need to adapt to new realities.
In the UAE, a Masdar-led
consortium is developing the
800-megawatt Mohammed bin
Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in
partnership with Dubai Electricity
and Water Authority. It is set to be
the largest single-site solar park
in the world based, and falls in
line with the Dubai Clean Energy
Strategy 2050 to advance the
country’s sustainability goals.
“The key to sustainable success
lies in innovation, which is a force
constantly promoted yet all too
infrequently embraced. Energy
and utilities companies often
face concerns over the sharing of
intellectual property, stakeholder
reluctance to invest in new re-
search, and financing issues all of
which can impact innovation,” Dr.
Sleiman said.
arabianoilandgas.com

Iran’s March-August gas exports rise 64%
Top official at National Iranian Gas Company said that exports to Iraq have doubled in the last five months
SECURITY Iran’s export of natural
gas rose by 64% in the first five
months of the current Iranian
calendar year which began on
March 21, according to Iranian
news agency Shana.
The director of International
Affairs at the National Iranian
Gas Company (NIGC) Behzad
Babazadeh said Iran has brought
its gas exports to neighbouring
Iraq from 7 mcm/d to 14mcm/d
over the first 100 days of president
Rouhani’s second term in office.
“NIGC is required to send only
7mcm/d of gas to Iraq but it has
risen the gas export volumes to
the country in summer due to
their demand,” he told Shana.
“Based on a gas export deal
hͮ^h/Z/ͮ<ht/dͮKDEͮ^/E'WKZͮ/EKE^/ͮ/E/
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arabianoilandgas.com
64% between Tehran and Baghdad,
Iran can increase the volume of
Increase in natural gas exports to 35 mcm/d which will
exports from Iran to Iraq
during the first 100 days be possible once Iran Gas Trunk-
of the president’s second line VI (IGAT VI) as well as new
term in office.
phases of the supergiant South
Pars Gas Field come online,” he
further added.
The country’s gas exports
stood at 50 mcm/d during the five
NEWS
month period, which is 64% more
than the same period last year,
according to the Agency.
He noted that Iran would be
committed to providing as high as
40 mcm/d of natural gas to Iraq
upon the full implementation the
2013 agreement. That, he said,
would then make Iraq the biggest
client of Iranian natural gas.
Presently, Iran’s biggest gas
client is Turkey which is import-
ing 30 mcm/d from its eastern
neighbour. Since January 2017,
Iran has delivered gas to Turkey
free of charge to pay off its $1.9
billion debt, based on a verdict by
International Court of Arbitra-
tion. Turkey had sued Iran for
overcharging on gas prices.
13
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JANUARY 2018
 NEWS
REGION
AROUND THE GULF
Latest developments across the region
6
1 4
1. SAUDI ARABIA
14
Saudi Aramco Shell Refinery
(SASREF) has awarded CB&I the
EPC contract for the modernisation
and expansion of its refinery in
Al-Jubail city, Saudi Arabia, worth
an estimated US$95 million, ac-
cording to reports. CB&I has already
completed the conceptual, and
front-end engineering design phas-
est. CB&I is working with SASREF
to optimise investment on the new
refinery configuration.
4. UAE
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company
(ADNOC) has raised prices for all
three of its crude grades in Novem-
ber.The producer set the November
retroactive official selling price
(OSP) for its benchmark Murban
crude at US$63.65 per barrel, up
US$5.55,. That puts the November
Murban official selling price (OSP)
at US$2.83 per barrel above the
average of Dubai quotes for the
month, the highest since May 2016.
JANUARY 2018
5
3 cessful pricing for the initial public offering
2. IRAN
Iraqi Oil Minister Jabar al-Luaibi has
announced that a deal signed with
Tehran to swap up to 60,000bpd of
crude produced from the northern
Iraqi Kirkuk oilfield for Iranian oil is
for one year and subject to renewal.
The agreement signed on 8 Dec,
2017 by the two OPEC countries
provides for Iran to deliver to Iraq’s
southern ports, oil of the same
characteristics and in the same
quantities as those from Kirkuk.
5. KUWAIT
The Kuwait Oil Minister, Essam
al-Marzouk said that he expects the
oil market to rebalance in Q4 2018
after producers agreed to trim out-
put. Speaking at the Organisation
of the Arab Petroleum Countries Oil
Ministers meeting, Marzouk said
that oil prices would stay at current
levels. OPEC and non-OPEC mem-
bers agreed in late November that
the deal to cut output by 1.8 million
barrels would be extended.
2
3. BAHRAIN
Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bap-
co) awarded a US$2.4bn expansion
contract for its Sitra oil refinery
to a consortium of TechnipFMC,
Samsung Engineering and Tecnicas
Reunidas. The Bapco Moderniza-
tion Program will increase the
capacity of the Sitra refinery from
267,000 bpd to 360,000 bpd. The
project is also designed to improve
energy efficiency at the facility, and
enable environmental compliance.
6. IRAQ
In November 2017, Iraq invited
foreign companies to bid for con-
tracts to explore and develop oil
and natural gas reserves in nine
new blocks. The OPEC nation is
seeking to boost its output capacity.
Five blocks are located at border
areas with Iran, three with Kuwait
and one is offshore in Gulf waters,
a presentation by officials at a
Ministry of Oil press conference in
Baghdad.
ADNOC share price
set at AED 2.50 per
ordinary share
ADNOC Distribution, has announced the suc-
(the “Offering”) of its ordinary shares at AED
2.50 per ordinary share. Based on the Offer
Price, the Company’s market capitalisation
at listing will be approximately AED 31.3 bil-
lion (US$ 8.5 billion). The number of shares
included in the Offering is 1,250,000,000
which represents 10% of the share capital. Im-
mediately following the Offering, Abu Dhabi
National Oil Company (“ADNOC Group”),
the Company’s parent, will continue to own
90% of the share capital. The value of ordinary
shares sold in the Offering totals AED 3.1 bil-
lion (US$ 851 million). Final allocations were
approximately 90% for qualified investors
(60% local, 30% international) and 10% for
individual and other investors.
His Excellency Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber,
ADNOC Group CEO said “We are pleased to
announce today the offer price for shares in
the landmark IPO of ADNOC Distribution,
the largest IPO on the Abu Dhabi Securities
Exchange in over a decade. This important
and strategic offering represents a unique
opportunity for investors to own a stake in the
UAE’s number one fuel retail brand, and largest
network of retail convenience stores.”
DATA SNAPSHOT
BRENT CRUDE OIL PRICES
63
$65.62
62
61
60
Nov 10 Dec 10
Oil prices are still creeping up, increasing from
US$64.35 on 30 October 2017 to US$65.62
on 10 December 2017. Source: oil-price.net
arabianoilandgas.com

US Secretary of Energy
Rick Perry Meets with ADNOC
His Excellency Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and ADNOC Group CEO discussed ADNOC’s plans
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS His Excellency
Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE
Minister of State and ADNOC
Group CEO, met United States
Secretary of Energy Rick Perry,
to discuss strengthening the UAE
and ADNOC’s long-standing and
close relationship with the United
States in the energy sector.
“We see multiple opportunities
to further strengthen these ties
as ADNOC adapts to new market
dynamics and creates a progres-
sive, energised and commercially
focused business that will ensure
we continue to thrive in the evolv-
ing energy landscape. As we focus
on maximising value from all our
US$1.5 bn conglomerate Foresight
Group International now in Dubai
Company has targeted Dubai as its new headquarters for the region
GLOBAL OPERATIONS Foresight Group
International Ltd (FGIL), has
named Dubai as the site of its new
global operational headquarters
for its diversified operations. The
announcement was made during
this year’s ADIPEC.
“We are proud to highlight our
new division, Foresight Offshore
Drilling, which is part of our
current efforts to support the oil
and gas market of India and the
Middle East region,” said Dr. Ravi
Kumar Mehrotra CBE, founder
and executive chairman, Fore-
sight Group International. “The
creation of this new company
is made more exciting with the
arabianoilandgas.com
United States Secretary of Energy Rick Perry met with His Excellency Dr Sultan
Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and ADNOC Group CEO.
US$3.1 BN gas reservoirs, ADNOC is ready
was raised by ADNOC to partner with companies that
Distribution on the
bring technology, expertise and
first day of trading
capital, and who share our vision
its shares.
of a future in which our industry
continues to play a key role in
delivering sustainable economic
growth,” said H.E. Dr Al Jaber.
H.E. Dr Al Jaber briefed Secretary
US$600MN
The value of three
new rigs acquired
by Foresight Group
International.
Dr. Ravi Kumar Mehrotra CBE, Founder and Executive
Chairman, Foresight Group International
announcements of the three new
oil rigs that we have acquired and
the positioning of Dubai as the
site of our new global operational
headquarters. We remain steadfast
in our commitment to establishing
Foresight Offshore Drilling as a
leading offshore drilling company
NEWS
Perry on developments in Abu
Dhabi’s oil and gas industry, in-
cluding ADNOC’s ongoing trans-
formation and new investment
opportunities. He also updated
Secretary Perry on ADNOC’s
plans to explore the potential of
Abu Dhabi’s unconventional gas
reservoirs and the ongoing minor-
ity public listing of its fuel services
subsidiary, ADNOC Distribution.
“The strong bi-lateral relationship
between the United States and the
UAE has expanded rapidly over
the last decade, not just in the
energy sector but across the full
economic spectrum,” Secretary
Perry said. 15
in the UAE while also playing a
key part in the move to drive fur-
ther growth and development to
the UAE and the rest of the GCC.”
FOD was established as part
of the move to bring together
organisations that have over 27
years of experience in oil and gas
industry—offering the high level of
efficient performance that FGIL is
known for. The restructuring and
rebranding efforts have also been
accompanied with the acquisition
of three new oil rigs worth over
US$600 million. With Dubai as its
new base of operations, FOD will
be creating opportunity for 500
new employment by 2020.
JANUARY 2018
 COMMENT
Have your say:
Contact robert.willock@itp.com
The Saudi Aramco IPO
and ‘known unknowns’
The public listing of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s crown jewel, Saudi
Aramco, could be the biggest the world has ever seen, Bassel Khatoun
discusses ‘known unknowns’ that could influence its valuation
T
he valuation spectrum for oil
players varies immensely, and
Saudi Aramco is no exception.
Given its historical preference for
opacity, the reality is that there is
16 a lot of guesswork that goes into
sizing up a company which has
never divulged financial statements,
operating in a sector that naturally
attracts huge valuation variations in
any market, let alone Saudi Arabia.
Capital markets around the world
are certainly encouraged by the po-
tential mammoth public listing and
welcome the important milestone in
the Kingdom’s progress towards di-
versifying its economy and reducing
its heavy reliance on oil. However,
investors require a certain degree of
transparency to make informed de-
cisions about the value of a company.
Key to an accurate valuation,
for example, is the defining of the
ownership boundaries of what parts
of Saudi Aramco are to be listed;
while some may value the company
up to US$2tn, there is no clarity on
exactly which parts of Aramco will
be included in the IPO, and just as
importantly, which will be excluded.
Furthermore, questions still remain
over whether both the upstream
and downstream businesses and
JANUARY 2018
non-core areas of the company, such
as petrochemicals are within the
ownership boundaries.
In addition, until an independent
audit has been completed, inves-
tors are basing valuation on the
same oil reserves that have been
reported by Riyadh for nearly three
decades – 261bn barrels. That said,
Saudi Aramco has committed to an
independent audit while hinting that
any audit will find its reserves to be
similar to figures currently reported,
but questions remain about whether
the audit will unearth the quality of
the oil reserves, rather than just the
quantity. Either way, Saudi Arabia’s
Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed
About the authors:
Bassel Khatoun, chief invest-
ment officer of MENA Equities
at Franklin Templeton Invest-
ments (ME)
Global markets are welcoming the potentiallly
mammoth public listing of Saudi
Aramco.
bin Salman recently confirmed that
the Saudi government would retain
sole control over Aramco’s oil and
gas reserves and would also decide
on production levels.
Another key area to complete an
accurate valuation are costs; a cru-
cial part of financial modelling. Dis-
closing production costs of oil wells
and revealing operating and finan-
cial costs will enable investors to
make more accurate projections of
the value of the business. Ultimate-
ly, we are trying to understand how
much it costs Aramco to extract oil
from the ground. Aramco has said
its costs are among the lowest in
the world and, if the US$5 to US$20
arabianoilandgas.com

per barrel public estimate range is
accurate, then this is most certainly
the case. The difference between
extraction costs ranging from US$5
to US$20 per barrel makes a signifi-
cant difference when oil is US$50
per barrel. Also, production costs will
vary from field to field so providing
average operating costs will only go
so far to facilitate forecasting.
Another key cost to consider is
staff. To accurately estimate staff
costs, investors need to understand
Saudi Aramco’s long-term strategy
with regard to ‘Saudisation’ given
the cost implications of maintain-
ing a very high percentage of Saudi
Arabian nationals.
Clarity on the Kingdom’s tax policy
is another key to an accurate valua-
tion of Saudi Aramco. In March, the
government announced that it was
reducing Aramco’s tax rate on net
income to 50% from 85%, bringing
it more in line with global players,
although there still exists a huge
difference globally in tax rates. This
recent change begs the question:
what protection can investors expect
against the rolling back of the tax rate
to 85% at any point in the face of con-
tinued fiscal pressures? In addition,
investors are seeking clarity over
whether the 20% royalty on revenue
will remain in the event of an IPO.
Another area where insight is valu-
able to an accurate valuation is clarity
on strategy and governance. While
these may be difficult to quantify,
they do have a significant impact on
valuation metrics. Generally speak-
ing, investors demand a discount for
state-controlled companies, given the
requirement to balance the objectives
of the government with those of in-
vestors. In the case of Saudi Aramco,
investors will need to accept that
the government will be the majority
shareholders. Regardless, the kind
of governance structure, Board of
Directors and Independent Directors
Aramco puts in place, as well as how
arabianoilandgas.com
it executes its strategy, will still have
an important impact on the percep-
tion of the company. This is particu-
larly true for institutional inves-
tors. A solid corporate governance
framework will also placate anxiety
over how the sometimes conflict-
ing objectives of a state-controlled
company and a listed company can
be addressed.
Long-term investors also need to
understand Saudi Aramco’s busi-
ness strategy in more detail to gain
a better appreciation of what the
company will look like in 10 to 20
years. Aramco has announced it is
expanding its refining business with
an aim to almost double capacity to
10 million barrels a day.
We also know it is moving ag-
gressively in the downstream area
through its petrochemicals busi-
ness. However, how much of their
new funding will be dedicated to
this part of their business? Saudi
Arabia’s National Transformation
Plan identifies renewable energy as
a growth sector with an aim to have
10% of the country’s electricity from
renewable sources by 2023. Saudi
Aramco is now developing solar and
wind projects in the north west of
the Kingdom, begging the question
of how much of management’s time
and funding will be directed towards
the new energy sources.
Saudi Aramco could be worth US$1tn, however, without an accurate valuation,
this is just a guess.
COMMENT
Investors will also want to un-
derstand whether environmental
consciousness or future shareholder
value is driving its diversification
into renewables and whether these
new businesses are within the realm
of the IPO.
These ‘known unknowns’ are
serious considerations when valuing
Saudi Aramco, and while clarity
would be most helpful, we cannot
discount the impact of the price of
oil, given varying forecasts on future
prices that could result in a massive
range of valuations. Whether one
is of the opinion that the world is
headed for an oil supply shortage
and therefore higher prices, or alter-
natively if other forms of energy will
take over powering the world in the
next few decades, these factors will
have an enormous impact on valua-
tions of any oil company, including
Saudi Aramco.
With what we currently know 17
based on oil prices, the tax rate,
reserves, there is a scenario under
which Saudi Aramco could be worth
around US$1tn. However, as the
company delivers on its commit-
ment for further transparency and
‘unknowns’ shift to ‘knowns’, we are
likely to see a tightening of the valu-
ation discrepancy, which is currently
challenging an already complex and
colossal public listing.
JANUARY 2018
 COMMENT
Have your say:
Contact robert.willock@itp.com
Cleaning up contami-
nated Middle East land
To accelerate the speed at which contaminated land is cleaned up, a
smarter and more commercially focused approach is needed, according to
Ronnie Theodory, regional environmental business director, Arcadis
N
atural resources like oil and
gas have played a huge part
in the development of the
Middle East region. Exploration,
production, and the exportation of
18 these fuels have served as the eco-
nomic engine that has enabled GCC
countries to invest in incredible
nation-building programmes over
the last 30 years.
However, while these petro-
chemicals have significant economic
value, they also carry an inherent
risk if they are released into the
environment. Whether through
accidental spillages at gas stations,
leakages from ageing pipework, or
other natural factors, environmental
contamination is an issue in many
parts of the Middle East region.
Contamination of land and water
represents a significant liability as
it can persist for decades, poses a
threat to human health, and can be
very costly to remediate. Precise
solutions are required that can
effectively address these issues in
the quickest, safest, and most cost-
effective manner possible.
Traditional methods not realising
full value of remediation activities
In the Middle East, one of the big-
JANUARY 2018
gest remediation challenges to date
has been a reliance on outdated
investigation methods such as moni-
toring wells.
This approach is well understood
within the industry, however it’s
one that is fundamentally flawed
as it prioritises repeatability at the
expense of accuracy. As a result, it
often provides a skewed perspective
on the size of a contaminant source
and its behaviour. This makes it
difficult to develop a remedia-
tion strategy that will remove the
contaminant mass in a timely and
cost-effective manner.
Traditionally, there has also been
a focus on treating the entire plume
rather than a targeted portion. This
is unnecessary, as our research
shows that in an average large
plume, over 80% of the contaminant
mass resides in less than 20% of the
plume. Trying to treat the whole
plume results in higher costs, longer
clean-up timeframes and lower
performance, all of which can mean
that remediation efforts fall short of
the initial client expectations.
New approaches needed to help
accelerate remediation activities
To help build greater momentum
About the authors:
Ronnie Theodory is the re-
gional environment business
director at Arcadis
around remediation in the region
and accelerate the speed at which
contaminated land is cleaned up,
a smarter and more commercially
focused approach is needed. To
address some of the limitations
that we see with traditional forms
of remediation, Arcadis developed
a more innovative approach to
site evaluation which we’ve called
Smart Characterization.
This new solution helps to accel-
erate the speed at which site inves-
tigations are carried out by focusing
on the part of a groundwater plume
that is moving, as this is the area
that poses the greatest potential
risk and liability. By using real-time,
high-resolution sampling and 3D
visualisation tools, Smart Charac-
terization can create a flux-based
conceptual site model (CSM) that
distinguishes the contaminant mass
that moves from the static mass.
The ability to map and distinguish
mass transport zones from mass
storage zones is key to a successful
remedy as this facilitates a much
more focused and cost-effective
remediation solution.
Defining the magnitude of mass
movement at different zones within
an aquifer is also crucial. Transport
arabianoilandgas.com
 COMMENT

Fig 1 – Smart Characterization facilitates a much more targeted remediation than

traditional methods.

behaviour, and effective clean-up

options, differ along the length of a
plume due to the plume maturation
process. This leads to different styles
of contaminant mass movement, or
flux, in different soil types along the
length of a plume. Smart Charac-
terization helps clients to optimise
treatment at different segments of 19
the plume and establish reliable
project goals and timeframes before
large-scale remediation begins.
The visualisation tool also reduces
the need to follow the traditionally
repetitive processes of drawing up
Fig 2 – Indicative cost savings that can be secured through a smarter approach to
work plans, sampling and testing, site investigation and remediation.
and analysing and reporting data. By
removing some of this labour-inten-
sive activity, it’s possible to minimise treatment or a management strategy way in which clients investigate and
the time needed to understand the makes better business sense. In remediate contaminated sites.
risk and implement a remedy. some cases, it may be preferable to Today, the biggest impact on
avoid costly remediation at the out- remedy performance and total cost
A technical and economic decision- set and instead allocate more budget is no longer driven by remedial tech-
making framework towards managing contamination nology, but by narrowing the focus
The Smart Characterization ap- over a longer-term period. for remediation activities based on
proach also offers a technical and The Smart Characterization pro- Smart Characterization.
economic decision-making frame- gramme is also designed with “exit Traditional, inaccurate, costly,
work that enables clients to max- ramps” or decision points where and time-consuming methods of site
imise their Return on Investigation the cost benefit of the approach is investigation are a thing of the past.
(ROI) by reducing the total cost of evaluated against overall business Smart Characterization provides
remediation, better defining risks, objectives. This strategy means clients with the critical informa-
and setting pragmatic goals before clients are always moving toward tion they need to target the heart of
remediation starts. an optimal solution that provides a the problem, reducing the cost and
This makes it possible for clients to very clear ROI and a way in which duration of remediation work, and
assess, in advance of design and con- to control costs. Smart Characteriza- offering a far greater certainty of a
struction, whether aggressive source tion methods are transforming the successful outcome.

arabianoilandgas.com JANUARY 2018

 COVER INTERVIEW
FOSTERING
20
THE FUTURE
F
or young oil and gas graduates
looking to enter the industry, the
landscape can seem bleak, with com-
panies cutting back on expenditures
and eking out every penny where
they can find it, and few open to
hiring young professionals fresh out
of the starting gates. The oil price slump, which
began in 2014, caused project shutdowns, slashes
in capital expenditures of up to 40% between 2014
and 2016 and, according to Strategy&’s research
JANUARY 2018
Dr Esra Al Hosani,
believes that young
people will bring fresh
ideas and innovation to
the oil and gas industry,
and more upstream
companies should look
at bringing graduates
on board
paper 2017 Oil & Gas Trends, 400,000 workers
were left without jobs.
While much of the industry has survived
through the tough times, it has been difficult for
upstream oil and gas companies to make strategic
decisions and plan for the future. Only now is the
sector just beginning to emerge from the upheav-
al, and those plans can start to see the light of day.
Oil and gas companies looking to 2018 and
beyond are now faced with a dual challenge, re-
invigorate the talent lost in cut-backs, but main-
tain innovation and sustainability in a still uncer-
tain marketplace. According to Strategy&, many
companies do not have the talent, organisational
framework, systems, processes, or attitudes to be
arabianoilandgas.com
 COVER INTERVIEW

21

arabianoilandgas.com JANUARY 2018

 COVER INTERVIEW

sufficiently flexible and innovative in an evolving

Dr Al Hosani and uncertain marketplace. The company recom-
won the Young mends that upstream should increase its research
Oil & Gas
Professional of
into sustainability and clean energy and ask itself
the Year Award these questions: Do I have the right business
from Oil & Gas models in place? How can my company develop
Middle East new capabilities and in what areas? How should
in 2017. asset portfolios evolve? What type of technology
plays should I invest in?
Dr Esra Al Hosani, an instrumentation and
control engineer at ADNOC Group Company
ADCO, believes that with hard work and the
right opportunities, fresh graduates can excel and
bring innovation, invigorate business models, and
develop research to meet companies’ pressing
sustainability goals.
“This generation is smart, strong, creative, and
has a fresh look into everything. When we are
given the opportunity to lead in a company we
will lead it through an innovative, shorter path to
success,” said Dr Al Hosani.
However, one of the biggest obstacles young
people face in the industry in the region is not
being given the chance to prove their worth to the
22 companies that employ them.
“I would say one of the main obstacles [to
graduates in the industry] is not having an oppor-
tunity to learn or contribute. This mainly happens

DR AL HOSANI’S RESEARCH
Online measurement of black powder in gas and oil pipelines
Dr Al Hosani invented a
method and system for
determination of contami-
nants, such as black powder,
in a flowing fluid, such as
natural gas. The method
transmits light beams over
a spectrum of wavelengths
through the flowing fluid in
a main pipeline and receives
a plurality of measurements
relating to transmitted and
scattered light beams over the
spectrum of wavelengths.
The measurements relate
to at least one of absorption,
reflection or refraction. The
received measurements are
compared with stored pat-
terns and a result indicative
of the determination of the
contaminants is output.
Description
Black powder is a general
term used for solid contami-
nants, which can be found in
a gas or fluid pipeline. Black
powder occurs for various
and unknown reasons. Black
powder has numerous forms
and may be wet or/and or
have a tar-like appearance. It
comprises very fine particles
(often sub micrometre in
size) of iron sulfide, iron oxide,
and iron carbonate. As these
fine particles flow in the gas
pipeline, the particles of the
black power can accumulate
around the control valves,
compressors, and other
equipment, which may create
a severe pressure drop and in
some cases lead to an entire
shutdown of the pipeline and
thus of the production. The
problems may extend further
to the utilities companies
connected to the actual
network pipeline (e.g. electric-
ity companies) in which their
various pieces of equipment
are damaged and electricity
production declines.
These issues have led gas
production companies to
implement measures for
mitigating the propagation
of black powder in their gas
pipelines. Despite separation
techniques applied to the gas
pipelines to eliminate black
powder (eg, filtering, cyclones
and pigging), the problem
still exists. The difficulties
in resolving the issue can be
at least partly explained by
the fact that the size of black
powder particles are in the
order of sub micrometers
and are thus hard to extract
from the flowing gas in the
gas pipeline. Consequently,
new strategies are being now
investigated.

JANUARY 2018 arabianoilandgas.com

 COVER INTERVIEW

under his or her wings, we will grow exponentially

when superiors do not take the young seriously,
The oil and overloading them with meaningless or routine
gas industry
tasks, not giving them responsibilities, or shutting
is recovering
from some their innovative initiatives down. Unfortunately,
tough years young professionals are often being microman-
and needs to aged rather than only guided or supported. There
innovate to are still many undiscovered champions and many
survive.
buried talents, and I believe that if every manager,
from the lower to the upper level, took one talent
faster,” she said.
Dr Al Hosani herself is no stranger to hard
work. In 2006, Dr Al Hosani went to study in the
Petroleum Institute, where she studied electrical
engineering with a focus on the petroleum industry
needs. The Petroleum Institute is an engineering
programme that is part of Khalifa University in
Abu Dhabi and specifically trains young people
to be engineers to join the oil and gas industry.
Students enrolled in this programme, of which
there are around 1,000, are fully sponsored with a
monthly salary and high achievement rewards.
Dr Al Hosani obtained her B.Sc. and M.Sc. with
Honours in 2011 and 2012 respectively. She focused
her M.Sc thesis on black powder and deposit detec-
tion in gas pipelines.
She then joined ADNOC Onshore in 2013 as an
instrumentation and control engineer and man-
aged to finish her training programme in half the
time required.
Although Dr Al Hosani was offered a full schol-
arship to pursue her PhD, she turned down the
offer to be exempted from her work duties and de-
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arabianoilandgas.com JANUARY 2018

 COVER INTERVIEW

cided to pursue her PhD in parallel to her normal

Fresh graduates job, as she realised from an early age the impor-
can bring fresh
ideas to the oil and
tance of having a solid knowledge of the industry
gas industry. as well as hands-on experience to strengthen
theoretical knowledge. She focused her research
Research and on the existing problems of multiphase measure-
development ment/imaging and deposit detection in the oil
across the oil and
gas industry is
and gas industry, in order to arrive at solutions for
essential. such critical challenges.
Although Dr Al Hosani was sponsored by
ADNOC Onshore for four years, she managed to
obtain her PhD in three years while still working
for the company full time.
Dr Al Hosani has published in seven top jour- “THIS GENERATION IS SMART,
nal papers so far in her career, including a paper STRONG, CREATIVE, AND HAS
published in the elite Royal Society journal and A FRESH LOOK INTO EVERY-
others in top IEEE transactions, which were all
cited many times by other researchers. She has
THING. WHEN WE ARE GIVEN
also published four conference papers in addition THE OPPORTUNITY TO LEAD
to M.Sc. and Ph.D. theses. All her publications IN A COMPANY WE WILL LEAD
are related to challenges facing her field of work. IT THROUGH AN INNOVATIVE,
Furthermore, she was granted two US patents for
novel ways to detect deposits in gas pipelines and
SHORTER PATH TO SUCCESS.”
measure the flowrate of wet gas. tablished in 2000 by an Emiri decree under the di-
24 Dr Al Hosani has been involved in large pro- rection of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed
jects and attached to consultant companies and Al Nahyan, ruler of Abu Dhabi and president of the
vendors, as well as being attached to different United Arab Emirates. It is financed and governed
ADNOC Onshore fields where she was involved by a consortium of five major oil companies:
in daily operation duties. ADNOC, Royal Dutch Shell, BP, Total S.A., and
Luckily Dr Al Hosani has a strong support Japan Oil Development Company, a wholly owned
network from both ADNOC, a semi-governmental subsidiary of INPEX.
organisation which supports young graduates Dr Al Hosani also had a role model who she
through The Petroleum Institute, which was es- could rely on.
“I had the most supportive management, espe-
cially Abdul Munim Alkindi, our CEO of ADCO,
who believed in me and allowed me to be the
researcher that I am, even in a purely operating
company,” she noted.

Research and development

One of the most critical areas for the oil and gas
industry is research and development. Without
evolution, upstream will struggle to remain profit-
able. This research includes some of the more
technical aspects of oil and gas, such as Dr Al
Hosani’s research, which focused on the critical
need for accurate multiphase flow measurement/
imaging and deposit detection.
“I took a leading role in my department’s first
R&D project, Joint Development Multiphase
Flow Meter [MPFM], where a new MPFM is
being developed to be tested in the field. Before

JANUARY 2018 arabianoilandgas.com

 COVER INTERVIEW

that, I worked on detecting black powder in gas

pipelines using optical spectroscopy. For my PhD SUMMARY OF DR Al HOSANI’S INVENTION
research, I successfully adapted a conventional
The present disclosure teaches properties of unknown samples
Electrical Capacitance Tomography (ECT) system
a non-destructive optical- (quantitative analysis). Other
for multiphase imaging, aiming to distinguish
based device to monitor online, artificial intelligence tech-
boundaries between different components in a
and continuously, the amount niques such as neural network
process, where information about the flow (eg,
of black powder within a main and fuzzy logic techniques can
phase fraction, flow regime, vector velocity etc.)
pipeline passing though the also be applied.
can then be extracted from the image. The images
earliest stages of the pipeline The device comprises a ring
produced can be used to analyse the flow in order
network. This device will allow of optical sender and receiv-
to measure all of the separate phases including
isolating highly contaminated ing sensors evenly distributed
contaminants, actuate process control strate-
pipelines and thus reduce the across a given section of the
gies, or even develop live 2D or 3D models that
risks; which may be caused to pipeline. The system comprises
describe the process for validation or simulation,”
the pipelines by contamination at least one optical light trans-
according to Dr Al Hosani.
through the black powder. mitter (also called emitter),
Dr Al Hosani believes in the power of research
In one aspect, the device which transmits a beam of
and managed to integrate it with her work duties
operates using at least near light towards a target medium
in a petroleum operating company in the most
infra-red radiation (NIR) to within which the black powder
effective way. She is making her name in a male-
analyse at least one of the concentration is sought to be
dominated area of research. Her main focus is
reflected, transmitted, and determined. Depending on the
multiphase measurement and visualisation, and
refraction light beams, which positioning of the transmitters
she worked hard to develop innovative solutions
interact with the target relative to the receivers, the
that are being continuously enhanced. Dr Al
medium. Hence, besides being sensing area can be either a
Hosani stated that there is still no commercially
non-intrusive and non-invasive two-dimensional (2D) section
available live visualisation that can image and 25
techniques, the device also of the pipeline, or a 3D volume
measure all phases in a flow, in addition to the
employs the property that light of the target medium.
contaminants. Furthermore, there is no MPFM
in the IR range has a different Targeting the 3D volume
able to measure all of the different phases in a
absorption rate for different leads to a better accuracy of
flow without critical dependence on the fluid
constituents of black powder in measurement at the expense
properties, characteristics or flow condition.
the target medium. Hence, by of high computation time
“My research initiatives on process tomogra-
knowing the spectrum of each and/or hardware complexity.
phy are among the first in UAE. They provide a
of these different constitu- A plurality of optical sensors
base for more research to come. My projects, as
ents, a proper analysis of the operating within the senders’
well as others, are welcomed by ADNOC to be
spectrum would lead to a good wavelengths are positioned at
taken further to develop field ready equipment
estimation of the concentra- different locations in the pipe-
and devices that can help solve real time process
tion of the different constitu- line to measure the amount of
problems,” she said. “I would like to encourage
ents in the target medium. light absorbed and/or reflected
young professionals to be the creative and innova-
In one aspect, the device fur- by black powder particles. A
tive people that they are and go beyond their job
ther transmits light beams of dedicated pattern recognition
description. I also would like to emphasise that
at least one of middle infra-red algorithm using statistical
research should be an integrated part of any job if
(MIR) or Raman spectra. and/or artificial intelligence
people learned how to use it properly to improve
The device uses an algorithm approaches uses this data to
and progress.”
to process the data from the estimate the amount of black
Dr Al Hosani is an Emirati role model in the
different techniques. These powder passing through the
field of research and engineering having pub-
multivariate techniques are target area. The optical senders
lished so many works and patents in such a short
commonly used to group and receivers can be con-
of time. However, she states that the most chal-
samples with similar charac- nected to the control room via
lenging achievement in her career so far was ob-
teristics to classify unknown optical fibres, which allow the
taining her PhD from the University of Bath, UK,
samples (qualitative analy- apparatus to operate safely in
in only three years while still working at ADNOC
sis) or to determine specific hazardous areas.
Onshore full time.

arabianoilandgas.com JANUARY 2018

 OMAN COUNTRY FOCUS

OMAN IN RECOVERY?
The country has had a relatively hopeful year, with several projects being
awarded and a number of blocks being opened up for tender

Oman’s oil and

gas sector may be
seeing the light
at the end of the
26
tunnel.

O
il and gas is still a
critical part of the
Omani economy,
making up 72% of the
country’s revenues in
2016, although this is
forecast to drop slight-
ly to 70% by the end of 2017, according
to Dentons Oil and gas regulation in
Oman: overview report.
The year 2017 has not been plain
sailing at all for Oman’s hydrocarbons
sector, however there have been some
market recoveries.
According to Contax Partners, in
2017, Oman witnessed a reasonably
significant amount of project awards
in the oil and gas and petrochemical
space, including Duqm refinery pack-
ages 1, 2 and 3 worth $5.7bn, Salalah
LPG extraction plant and Salalah
Ammonia plant. Meanwhile, BP com-
menced production from its Phase 1
development of the Khazzan gas field,
and four exploration blocks were ten-
dered in north-central Oman.
“Looking forward to 2018, Contax
Partners believes that the main focus
in Oman will be the continued devel-
opment of Duqm, and depending on
market conditions and economical
factors, there may or may not be a rise in
exploration activity due to production at
Khazzan field and the recently tendered
blocks. In better market conditions,
this could lead to several downstream
projects such as Khazzan Central
Processing Facility 2 and others, but in
the current market conditions, these
developments are likely to be slower in
2018,” said Ann-Marie Carbery, director
of business advisory, Contax Partners.
In September 2017, registration and
bidding started on over 10 open blocks
to be tendered over the next few years,
providing some excellent exploration
opportunities. In the first bid round,
four blocks were tendered: Block 43B,
Block 47, Block 51 and Block 65. The
11,967-sq-km Dhahirah block (43B) has
potential for oil and gas but is the only
block of the four on offer to contain
no discoveries, according to a report.
Only two wells have been drilled on the
block, according to the Ministry.
In May 2017, the Oman oil ministry
granted Eni SPA and Oman Oil Co.
SAOC (OOC), the sultanate’s energy
investment arm, exploration rights for
Block 52, a 90,000-sq-km area in 10-
2,000 m of water offshore Oman.
The area is largely unexplored, and
was awarded following an international
bid round launched in October 2017.
Qais Al Khonji, founder and CEO
of Genesis International and Genesis
Projects and Investments, noted that
Oman the two new gas production sites
discovered during 2017 and now under
tender, Khazzan and Mabrouk, are
currently being explored. According to
Al Khonji, those discoveries are good
enough to take Oman to be the world’s
second largest gas producer when they
come online.

JANUARY 2018 arabianoilandgas.com


EYES ON PDO
PDO – Managing Director Raoul Restucci dis-
cusses the oil and gas sector in Oman, and the
role PDO has to play in 2018 and beyond
Notwithstanding recent oil price increases, Oman
The energy is projecting sustained fiscal and current account
sector in Oman
is constantly
deficits and PDO will need to perform as profi-
evolving. ciently as ever, further stepping up its efforts to
realise increased revenue generation.
Simply put, this means raising the bar and
becoming more effective and efficient at every-
thing we do. It also means, creatively pursuing
new value streams by deploying our competitive
advantage – our human capital.
We will continue our drive for the early mon-
etisation and production of low unit technical
cost prospects while maintaining our overarch-
ing focus on personal and process safety as we
strive for Goal Zero – no harm to our people, our
environment and our assets. We will continue to
add reserves to more than replace every produced
barrel and continue to increase system uptimes
and reliability across all of oil and gas assets.
We must continue to identify savings and cost
reductions across the full spectrum of our opera-
tions while leveraging strategic partnerships for
project procurement and delivery excellence.
I am optimistic that we have the right people,
the focus, and the one team approach in place
arabianoilandgas.com
OMAN COUNTRY FOCUS
to meet these goals. Our staff have performed
brilliantly in the low oil price environment and
have seized the opportunity to drive change from
exploration through to abandonment.
There are many areas where this is happening.
For example, our Well Engineering Directorate is
now making in excess of 20,000 interventions a
year, double the number from 2012, but with the
same level of resources, and we are now hooking
up discoveries so quickly and efficiently that our
Exploration Directorate fully pays its way within
the same year of expenditure.
Another area where truly big things are hap-
pening is with our lean business efficiency
programme, which we launched to eliminate
waste and streamline our processes. This has now
generated US$1.2 billion in terms of additional
value, cost reduction and avoidance, but - above all
- it is empowering our people to drive and pursue
continuous improvement as a way of life.
At the same time, we will deepen our collabora-
tion with our contractors through our very suc-
cessful Contract Optimisation Reviews to identify
those areas where we can work together more
safely and productively and all parties win. 27
PDO is constantly evolving and we must be
ready to cope with, if not embrace, the huge eco-
nomic, social, technological and energy challenges
and changes that are transforming our world. The
fourth Industrial Revolution, as so well described
by Klaus Schwab, Founder and Chairman of the
World Economic Forum, is upon us. The veloc-
ity of change is exponential and unrelenting.
Whilst we recognise the threats and challenges to
established operating paradigms and gaps in newly
required capabilities, we are very excited and are
embracing change by increasing our ability and
speed to adapt.
We are doing this by constantly re-assessing
our development needs, by supporting multi-
stakeholder collaboration, and by the proficient
deployment of new technologies, data and analyt-
ics, with increasingly pervasive and growing inter-
connections. Within production alone, we process
more than one billion data signals per day and our
systems are increasingly able to find improvement
opportunities, so that our engineers can focus on
realising them.
Beyond the challenges of current mega-trends
ranging from the Internet of Things, through to
blockchain and digital ecosystems, and as climate
change realities dawn on everyone, it is clear that
JANUARY 2018
 OMAN COUNTRY FOCUS
we need to also gradually move away from a de-
Solar power is a pendence on fossil fuels.
key focus for PDO
in 2018.
This means developing a roadmap where we
seamlessly transition to a fully-fledged energy
company – Energy Development Oman - with a
greater emphasis on renewables, especially solar,
where the potential in Oman is huge.
I’m delighted that, with our partners GlassPoint
Solar, we have made superb progress on our Mi-
raah facility, one of the largest solar plants in the
world, which has already shown the scale of ambi-
tion in the area of renewable energy.
Delivering up to 1,021MW when completed, this
will use concentrated sunlight to generate 6,000
tons of emissions-free solar steam each day for use
in thermal enhanced oil recovery. It will save 5.6tn
British Thermal Units of natural gas each year,
which can be diverted into other high-value sec-
tors of the economy. The installation in southern
Oman will also reduce CO2 emissions by more
than 300,000 tons each year, the equivalent to
taking 63,000 cars off the road. I’m very pleased to
say that steam has now been successfully delivered
into our Amal West oilfield for the first time from
28 Miraah, and we have also completed construc-
tion on the first block of the installation safely, on
schedule and on budget.
We are currently actively implementing a num-
ber of other solar ventures in both our hydrocar-
bon and non-hydrocarbon portfolios. For example,
we are almost two thirds of the way through a
project at our Muscat headquarters to install more
than 19,500 solar roof panels on car parking lots.
When finished early next year, this will generate
9.5mn kWh annually to power key office buildings,
with the electricity being diverted to the domestic
grid during off-peak periods.
We will soon be issuing an invitation to tender
(ITT) for up to five 20MW solar projects in our
concession, mainly scattered in the area between
“I’M DELIGHTED THAT, WITH OUR
PARTNERS GLASSPOINT SOLAR,
WE HAVE MADE SUPERB PROGRESS
ON OUR MIRAAH FACILITY, ONE OF
THE LARGEST SOLAR PLANTS IN
THE WORLD, WHICH HAS ALREADY
SHOWN THE SCALE OF AMBITION IN
THE AREA OF RENEWABLE ENERGY.”
PDO – MANAGING DIRECTOR RAOUL RESTUCCIS
JANUARY 2018
Bahja and Marmul. The aim of the project is to
save gas through the daytime generation of power
while learning how best to support and service
photovoltaic (PV) solar facilities in our operating
environment.
The overall venture is expected to introduce an
equivalent fuel saving of 70.5mn cubic metres of
gas per annum (US$17 million a year), reducing
our dependency on conventional gas turbines. It
will also reduce overall CO2 emissions by around
8,550 tons annually. Along with the gas saving and
the environmental benefits, the enterprise will be
a landmark in the country as it will be the biggest
solar PV initiative to date.
You will also see PDO aiming to leverage its ex-
pertise beyond Block 6 across both Oman and re-
gionally in services ranging from enhanced oil re-
covery, engineering and design and well, reservoir
and facilities management. That’s just the start.
We will also work for a more aligned research and
development partnership with academia, industry
and government through a new digital platform,
developed by, and with the great support and col-
laboration of the Technology Research Council
(TRC) to raise Omani technical capabilities and
develop Omani solutions to Omani challenges.
Last but not least, the roll-out of sustainable and
diversified In-Country Value programmes and
initiatives will continue to ensure Omani employ-
ment and skills levels are raised, both in the oil and
gas sector and beyond our natural boundaries in
other industries.
We will also ramp up our support for Omani
entrepreneurs to boost the Sultanate’s SME sec-
tor and help spur the greater diversification of
the national economy through the Government’s
excellent Tanfeedh initiative. Notwithstanding the
daunting challenges, PDO is looking forward to
2018 and to making our mark.
arabianoilandgas.com

OMAN: BEYOND OIL
Andrew Figgins, partner in the Energy and Pro-
jects practice and Yasser Taqi, associate in the
Energy, Transport and Infrastructure practice at
law firm Dentons look at the future of Oman
P
rompted by the sustained lower oil
Oman is price, Oman, a country where oil
concentrating on
revenues make up 45% of GDP, has
renewables as an
energy source. announced a major step towards
reducing its oil dependency. The
government is ramping up its eco-
nomic diversification plan in a bid
to preserve the notable success it has achieved over
the last five decades.
Like its neighbours making up the Gulf Coopera-
tion Council of the Arab States of the Gulf (Saudi
Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar and
Bahrain) the Sultanate of Oman has witnessed an
unprecedented social and economic transformation
in the last few decades. Oman’s transformation was
triggered by the accession of His Majesty Qaboos
bin Said al Said to the throne in 1970, when he be-
arabianoilandgas.com
COUNTRY FOCUS
29
gan an aggressive social modernisation programme.
It has won several UNDP Public Services awards,
including the “nation most improved during the
preceding 40 years,” and has been widely recog-
nised as a rare example of a strong, popular and
resilient absolute monarchy.
With a GDP per capita close to that of New Zea-
land and strong relationships with both the West
and its Middle Eastern neighbours, it would appear
that His Majesty Qaboos bin Said Al Said has struck
upon, and delivered, a winning formula for Oman.
Nonetheless, Oman’s economic progress has been
derived primarily from its oil revenues, which, like
its popular leader, are not eternal. Oman has long
recognised the need to diversify its economy and
has an ambitious aim to reduce the contribution of
hydrocarbons from 45% to 9% of GDP by 2020. This
is to be achieved by, among other things, a number
of transformational projects such as the Duqm Spe-
cial Economic Zone, which has seen the fishing vil-
lage of Duqm, 450km south of Muscat, transformed
into a vast port and international business park,
measuring 2,000 sq km. It is expected that this de-
velopment will create tens of thousands of new jobs
JANUARY 2018
 COUNTRY FOCUS
and will thrive as a result of its strategic position on
the Indian Ocean, as oil traders and shippers seek
to avoid the Straits of Hormuz. Although welcome
economic developments such as this are well under
way, and the government has ring-fenced capital to
support them, numerous economic hurdles require
to be overcome. These include burgeoning welfare
costs; demands to increase employment; sharing
economic benefits with the growing population; and
a mismatch of expectations and experience in the
Oman workforce.
To address this Oman has, on the back of the
ninth five-year development plan (2016-2020), em-
barked on a national programme – “Tanfeedh” (or
“Execution”) – to enhance the economy’s diversi-
fication and put a number of plans into action. The
programme is based on Malaysia’s tried and tested
model known as the Economic Transformational
Programme and the Omani government’s existing
diversification goals. The Tanfeedh programme has
the ambitious aim to increase Oman’s GDP in the
three focus sectors (logistics, manufacturing and
tourism) from OMR 4.9bn in 2015 to OMR 6.6bn in
2020; to ensure that 80% of these initiatives are fi-
30 nanced by the private sector, as opposed to depend-
ence on the government; and to generate around
30,000 jobs for Omanis throughout the implemen-
tation phase. Based on an eight-step Malaysian
methodology, the private and public sector partici-
Yasser Taqi, pants who took part in the six-week consultation
associate in the
Energy, Transport
process (or “labs”) were tasked to detail initiatives
and Infrastructure and to transform strategies from the 30,000-feet
practice, Dentons overview to a “3 feet” action plan, which in turn
paves the way for establishing measurable out-
comes and KPIs. A dedicated “Delivery Support and
Andrew Figgins,
partner, Energy
Follow-up Unit” has also been established by the
and Projects prac- Royal Decree 50 of 2016, with the specific remit to
tice, Dentons. exclusively focus on implementation.
JANUARY 2018
10%
OF ENERGY FOR OMAN TO COME FROM
RENEWABLE SOURCES BY 2025
Being one of the three sectors in focus in the
ninth five-year plan, the manufacturing “lab” called
for investment in renewable energy, with a target of
10% of energy generated to come from renewable
sources by 2025. This includes generating at least
2,500 MW of solar power and 500 MW of wind
power by this date. The proposed new energy policy
also advocates alternative non-renewable resources,
to include consumption of coal in the manufactur-
ing sector, regulated by international environmental
standards. The proposed energy policy would, help
to shift the focus of decision-makers in Oman to-
wards renewables. This sector is expected to attract
foreign investment and open up opportunities for
renewable energy players in an untapped market.
The Oman Power and Water Procurement Com-
pany SAOC (OPWP), has earmarked two locations
for developing solar power plants. OPWP is ap-
pointing technical and economic advisors to carry
out a feasibility study and economic benchmarking
for the proposed 200 MW solar powered independ-
ent power plant. A tender process for selecting an
IPP developer for the project is expected to start
by the mid-2017. It is envisaged that this project,
if successful, will become the blueprint for future
solar power projects in Oman. Solar industry play-
ers should be encouraged by the strong support
displayed by the government to make this project
successful, and to encourage the development of
renewables and the diversification programme.
With a view to preserving and continuing the
growth the country has witnessed since 1970, the
government of Oman has committed to planned,
focused diversification of the economy.
The Sultanate’s oil resources are dwindling; gas
remains a complex, expensive unconventional play;
and the future is trending towards renewables.
While the “Tanfeedh” programme has the potential
to open a number of new opportunities in various
sectors, opportunities in the renewable energy sec-
tor will largely depend on the success of the OPWP
solar IPP.
One thing is certain, though: Oman has put the
wheels in motion to diversify its economy and to
move away from oil dependency.
arabianoilandgas.com
A SPECIAL REPORT INTO A KEY SEGMENT OF THE REGIONAL UPSTREAM INDUSTRY

TECH FOCUS KNOWLEDGE

PARTNER
DIGITEX LOOKS AT WHY
We tap into AVEVA’s
OIL AND GAS SHOULD technology expertise to
JUMP ON THE DIGITAL understand the benefits
BANDWAGON of digitalisation / p36
/P38

MARKET
FOCUS
31
Going digital is a big
leap for many oil and
gas firms, we look
at how digital asset
management can help
improve the decision-
making process / p34

SPECIAL REPORT

DIGITAL
DISRUPTION
The oil and gas industry has been slow to digitise its systems and processes, but now,
the move is becoming essential to saving time, money and increasing safety. We look
how digitalisation can help the industry

COMMENT
EDITOR’S LETTER
Digitise or be damned
Upstream needs to adopt digitisation strategies or face falling behind
D
igitalisation has been a
buzzword for years across most
industry verticals, from the
factory that makes your shoes,
to heavy industry, and each
vertical has embraced the lowering of costs,
the increase in safety, and the ease that a
proper digitisation strategy has brought to
doing businesses. However, the oil and gas
industry still lags behind. Just as cybersecu-
rity in the upstream oil and gas sector was
overlooked, digitalisation has been too.
The upstream sector has been particularly
slow to adapt to digitalisation compared
with both midstream transportation and
storage operations, and downstream refin-
eries and marketing functions.
Now that oil prices have continued to
remain subdued, and the oil and gas sector
is looking for any way to trim costs and
improve processes, this is the time digitali-
sation should shine. During the oil and gas
boom years, it didn’t seem to matter if the
arabianoilandgas.com
upstream sector was inefficient, as profits
were so large, small losses of productivity
could be ignored. The time, manpower, costs
and expertise needed to implement digitisa-
tion strategies was – to many oil and gas
powerhouses – unnecessary.
Rather like that nice sticky chocolate cake
on your birthday, for many upstream compa-
nies digitisation was a ‘nice to have’, but not
a prerequisite, meaning that technology was
often implemented bit by bit. This resulted in a
piecemeal digital footprint with no real cohe-
sion or strategy in place, limiting its full value.
Then the oil price sagged. Upstream began
to realise that it needed to jump on the
digitalisation bandwagon pretty quickly to
snip even the smallest waste of money off
their books.
Many oil and gas companies are now
giving digitisation another look and the
future of the industry really now rests on
how quickly they can turn their outdated and
siloed digital assets into a fully functional
WELCOME
end-to-end digitisation strategy. The dig-
itisation of these companies operations will
not only increase operational efficiency and
shrink costs, but will open up new worlds of 33
possibility, and powerful new capabilities.
These can include insights into each working
part of a wellhead to assess its functional-
ity, a better utilised labour force, smarter
exploration capabilities, the ability to predict
and move with changing market forces, and
far safer operations.
Why wouldn’t upstream join the band-
wagon?
JANUARY 2018
 MARKET FOCUS

REDUCING COSTS,
IMPROVING SAFETY
Digital asset management is not just able to cut overheads, but it will - in the
long-term - improve safety by reducing wellsite head-count

34

Many oil and gas companies still rely on employees to complete jobs that could easily be automated.

D
espite an average US$2 per
barrel drop in crude oil prices
between 2016 and 2017,
the oil and gas industry’s
investment into digital
technologies shows no sign of slowing
down. The benefits of digital investment
outweigh the costs, with technologies
such as digital asset management (DAM)
reducing costs, increasing safety and
operational efficiency, and allowing oil
and gas companies in-depth insights
into their entire pipeline from well to
tanker. The oil and gas industry is under
immense pressure to dramatically improve
operational efficiencies and squeeze down
operating costs, particularly considering
that capital expenditures for exploration
have dropped by about 25% since 2014 -
implementing DAM technologies is one way
to do this.
According to a report by Oristep
Consulting entitled Global Digital Asset
Management Market - By Solution,
Deployment Model, Application, Industry,
Regions - Market Size, Demand Forecasts,
Industry Trends and Updates (2016-2022),
the global DAM market is forecast to grow
at a CAGR of 22.13%. The global digital
asset management market was US$1.7bn in
2016 and is forecast to reach US$5.64bn by
2022, according to the report.
What can a DAM system do?
A DAM system is an enterprise solution
designed to assist companies to store,
retrieve, organise, share and back up
digital assets, and manage rights and
permissions. DAM enables usage tracking,
workflow automation, archival, backups,
asset automation, and more. For example,
the decreasing cost and increasing power of

JANUARY 2018 arabianoilandgas.com


DAM technologies is allowing the oil and gas
industry to do more at the well site, giving
rise to new operating models. According
to a white paper by the World Economic
Forum(WEF), Digital Transformation
Initiative Oil and Gas Industry, one such
DAM concept - applicable in high volume
locations - is the introduction of platform-
based models to the oilfield. In this model
the well can be considered as the customer,
with users and multi-skilled workers
equipped with digital wearables such
as mobility apps and smart glasses, as
platform suppliers.
An unmanned control centre, powered
by artificial intelligence (the platform
itself), coordinates operations in real
time, bringing together supply and
demand. Operating models of this kind
can significantly extend the lifecycle
of oil and gas assets, while also driving
increases in operational efficiency and HSE
performance, according to the report.
Implementation of DAM will also enable
the oil and gas sector to improve its data-
driven decision-making processes, such as
deciding where, and how to drill, planning
portfolios, improving well completions or
deciding what form of artificial lift works,
and can maximise a project’s net present
value, according to the WEF white paper.
Reducing costs
Another very important technology, the
Internet of Things (IoT), when utilised
alongside DAM, allows assets to be
connected from end-to-end, and can
ensure that all systems, equipment,
sensors and data are communicating and
learning from actions across the industry,
and throughout a well’s lifecycle.
At a basic level, IoT is internet
connectivity between everyday objects,
allowing them to ‘talk’ to each other - as
well as learn - by creating, sending and
receiving data. A simplistic example of the
use of IoT in the upstream sector is wellsite
automation, where sensors measure tank
levels across multiple well sites which can
trigger automated relief valves, and request
liquid-hauling truck drivers automatically,
based on the optimal driving route.
arabianoilandgas.com
Technological innovations such as this
need to drive a change in mind-set in the
oil and gas sector, from looking at an asset
as a stand-alone entity, to a part of the
entire project lifecycle from inception to
decommissioning and how that asset can
be better leveraged as part of the whole.
Such connectivity can dramatically
reduce manpower costs, and in some cases,
replace oilfield workers altogether. A future
is envisioned where robots will be able to
run multiple operations autonomously.
According to the WEF, the future of well
sites will be drones and autonomous
robots working together to shrink costs in
upstream operations. This automation is
expected to support a 20% reduction in
drilling and completion costs (only in shelf
and deep-water areas), a 25% reduction
in inspection and maintenance costs, and
20% lower employee costs across all areas.
Autonomous operations could also help to
cut downtime by 20%.
In total, these cost savings could
translate to a US$140bn saved per year.
Increasing automation will also decrease
accidents, and reduce risk - especially in
difficult environments - by replacing the
number of people on-site required to do
dangerous jobs.
Moreover, a cross-skilled workforce
would develop faster because of
automation, which is likely to also minimise
the time needed to perform previously
manual or mechanised tasks, according to
the WEF report.
Overcoming complications
Despite the benefits that DAM technologies
can bring, there are still adoption concerns
in the oil and gas community, mostly
centred on physical and cyber security. The
oil and gas industry’s level of cyber security
is surprisingly low, according to a report by
Deloitte, and with every connected asset,
additional technology, and data-based
link, cyber security risks escalate. Apart
from the upstream industry’s critical
infrastructure status, a highly complex
ecosystem of computation, networking,
and physical operational processes spread
around the world makes the industry highly
MARKET FOCUS
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
INITIATIVE: OIL & GAS INDUSTRY
66,000 barrels
Estimated reduction in spills in
upstream operations
US$220bn
Potential value addition for
the industry
US$10bn
Potential value for society
6%
Estimated reduction in accidents
and injuries
43,000 barrels
Estimated reduction in pipeline spills
38,000 jobs
Estimated number of jobs displaced
20 million tonnes 35
Estimated reduction in
CO2 emissions
SOURCE:
Digital Transformation Initiative Oil
and Gas Industry: World Economic
Forum
vulnerable to cyber-attacks; the industry
has many attack vectors. Development
drilling and production have the highest
cyber-risk profiles in the industry, with
seismic imaging falling at the lower end of
the scale, but with increasing connectivity,
this may not be the case for much longer.
The low threshold of cyber security
measures is why cyber breaches remain
undetected for days, and why attacks such
as Shamoon in 2012—continue to reappear
in one form or another. Understanding
the risks, and implementing appropriate
cyber-security measures is the key to bring
the oil and gas industry online and into the
automation era.
For more on cyber security in oil and gas,
see page 48.
JANUARY 2018
 KNOWLEDGE PARTNER

DIGITISING THE OIL

AND GAS INDUSTRY
Trond Straume, the newly-appointed chief technology officer of AVEVA Solutions spoke to
AVEVA’s regional executive for Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, Evgeny Fedotov, to dis-
cover more about digitisation and the opportunities that new software offers businesses across
the Middle East

Evgeny Fedotov: What is so exciting

about the trend of digitisation in the
oil and gas industry?
Trond Straume: When the downturn in the
energy market hit, the plant industry realised
it would have to adapt to remain profitable
on a price of sub-US$50 per barrel of oil.
However, this adaptation has not resulted in
a fundamental change in project execution or
operations. Many companies are embracing
36 the opportunities technology offers them to
digitise their operations for advantage.
For many companies, digitisation today
means embracing the possibilities of a
digital twin. This is a realisation of the actual
physical asset, whether that be a cargo vessel
or a refinery, in digital terms as data and
information. This vision encompasses live
information feeds from the functioning asset,
together with real time performance metrics
from sensors that measure key variables and
transmit them to control rooms for monitor-
ing. In addition, a true digital twin includes
the detailed archive of design, and engineer-
ing data as well as decisions that support the
live plant.
With a single data source, you can run your business more efficiently and gain more profit,
according to Trond Staume, CTO, Aveva.
EF: Can you explain a little more about
what the digital twin means for how accessible to everyone in the team. With a industry 4.0, a by-product of digitisation is
our customers do business? single, trusted source of data, known as the that companies now must collect, store, and
TS: At AVEVA we believe that digitisation Digital Twin, you can produce more efficiently, assess, ever-more vast amounts of informa-
is a way to protect the future and win new plan more accurately, and realise more profit tion generated by new tools, platforms
business. There are three steps to unlock the than ever before. and sensors. With an ever-expanding ‘data
potential: digitise, visualise, realise. Trusted reservoir’ beneath them, businesses need
engineering information is key to delivering a EF: Is it easy to implement? How can ways to extrapolate and act rationally upon
project successfully. However, projects create businesses ensure they choose the information, without being confused by its
massive amounts of digital content of their right software provider? sheer volume. In this context, intelligent
own, which must be marshalled and kept TS: Innovation brings its own challenges. In data – systems or tools that automatically

JANUARY 2018 arabianoilandgas.com

 KNOWLEDGE PARTNER

sift information flows to identify relevant

themes or link related pieces of information,
are becoming central to success. Combin-
ing intelligent systems with a data-centric
platform that enables a company to manage
its data more effectively. This is because the
technology retains and makes accessible
information from throughout the lifecycle of a
complex capital project. Being able to access
20 year-old design prototypes alongside
real-time performance data can transform a
manager’s ability to understand and manage
his asset accurately and quickly. A digital twin
makes this kind of data-centric management
approach possible.
Gartner authored a paper on digital trends
in 2017 and digital twin technology. It is a Trond Straume said that technology and innovation go hand-in-hand in the Gulf.
timely review of the current state of the
industry. It also looks at the trends that are DIAGRAM 1
gaining momentum as progressive operators
begin to explore the full potential of data- This diagram gives a sense of the assets, to show the depth and breadth
centric technology. It shows that to establish services and foundations that need to of the information streams required.
an effective digital twin strategy, each asset be present in a digital twin in diverse Source: AVEVA
requires a different set of data services. These
must be blended together with engineering 37
master data, effective visualisation tools, and
collaboration and workflow procedures.
Diagram 1 gives a sense of the services
and foundations that need to be present
in a digital twin in diverse assets, to show
the depth and breadth of the information
streams required.
An effective digital twin synthesises and
applies data streams in a deep and broad
way. Technology is embedded seamlessly into
core business processes. This ensures that
data is readily consumable and integrated
with low cost, high performance computer-
based analysis. tory criterion in all future tender selections. example, Takreer refined products will grow by
The company plans to use these technology 60%, and Kuwait Oil Company will increase
EF: What does this mean for compa- solutions to increase efficiency and optimise production to 3.65mn barrels of oil per day
nies operating here in the Middle East? production from its growing portfolio of (bpd). The scope for technological invest-
TS: For the Gulf, technology and innovation hydrocarbon assets. ment is huge.
go hand in hand. Just this year ADNOC an- There will be very significant growth slated For these companies, technology will be a
nounced that technology will be a manda- across the region in the next five years. For crucial tool to manage the increase in scale
and complexity. It’s perhaps not surprising
“BEING ABLE TO ACCESS DESIGN PROTOTYPES that the UAE recently appointed the world’s
ALONGSIDE REAL-TIME PERFORMANCE DATA first Minister for Artificial Intelligence. It’s
CAN TRANSFORM A MANAGER’S ABILITY TO proof of how seriously Middle Eastern govern-

UNDERSTAND AND MANAGE HIS ASSET ACCU- ments are thinking about the transformation
that technology can bring for their cities and
RATELY AND QUICKLY.” TROND STRAUME, CTO, AVEVA businesses, throughout the lifecycle.

arabianoilandgas.com JANUARY 2018

 TECHNOLOGY FOCUS

IS DIGITAL ASSET
MANAGEMENT NEEDED?
Digital asset management will revolutionise the way companies work, taking data from a
digital swamp, to a well organised structure according to Derek Middlemas, CEO, DIGATEX

38

Derek Middlemas, CEO, DIGATEX says that digital asset management allows companies to get rid of duplicate and unwanted information.

D
igital asset management – what is it and why
do I need it?
EEveryone wants to jump on the digital bandwagon;
every post, blog and article seems to reference
digital transformation, digital asset, digital twin,
Industry 4.0, and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). Much of
this commentary is high level and doesn’t get down to a practical
approach. Let’s demystify the digital asset, what it is, how it
improves performance and its role in the digital revolution.
Today most information, be it data, documents, drawings, asset
registers, 2D and 3D CAD models, photographs, is held in a digital
format in some form of electronic document management or
filing system as datasets. So, what’s the big deal – isn’t this a
digital asset?
No, this is a digital swamp full of data anarchy made worse
by digitisation. These datasets are held in individual digital
containers in different formats, organised in folders and indexed
based on a document and drawing register.
Often data is duplicated between the containers and is out of
date or inconsistent. So, it’s difficult to quickly access and trust

JANUARY 2018 arabianoilandgas.com


the relevant data, as you wade through folder after folder lifting
them from the murky swamp looking for what you need – does
this sound familiar?
What if you could search for information based on task? For
example, the need to maintain a pump, plan piping inspection,
or complete a modification. Where would you like to start? I
want a single point of access working seamlessly on my PC or
tablet. I want to quickly find the object or objects (e.g. pump or
piping system), I am interested in and then be presented with all
the datasets that are appropriate to those objects and my task.
Ideally, I would like to navigate between those datasets in a visual
way having the objects of interest highlighted in the relevant
datasets in a 2D/3D visual map of the area of interest. I want this
all to be in-built and intuitive, just like the consumer apps on my
iPhone. I want to be able to interact with the datasets to help
plan my work without importing the dataset into another system
and then to see the results displayed visually.
What is a digital asset?
A digital asset is not a 3D model, nor a piece of software, nor a
data model, nor a data warehouse. A digital asset replaces the
document centric view of the world with an object centric view
where data is organised, indexed and accessed via connected
objects such as tags (i.e., pipelines, equipment, cables, steelwork,
buildings, etc). A digital asset can start small with a hierarchy of
objects organised by asset breakdown structure, cross indexed to
the tag or physical equipment classes, to which all datasets are
linked and accessed through a single user interface.
The central concept is the class library, a standard way of
classifying the asset hierarchy and describing the datasets,
replacing the outdated folder and file model with structured
datasets shareable between systems.
Once you have this basic structure in place the waters will
clear, and you can start to expose all the incomplete, inconsistent,
duplicate data and gradually drain the swamp leaving you with
trusted information. Guided by business priority you then grow
your digital replica of the physical asset, enabling sharing,
collaboration and re-use of the data with intelligent logical (2D)
and spatial (3D) visualisation capabilities.
Once established, a digital asset will significantly reduce
the time taken to find and validate information by up to 80%.
Multiply this saving alone by the number of colleagues in your
organization and begin to imagine the overall productivity
increase, speeding up decision processes, improving risk
40,000
THE TYPICAL NUMBER OF DATA TAGS AN OFF-
SHORE PRODUCTION PLATFORM CAN HAVE, NOT
ALL CONNECTED OR USED.
arabianoilandgas.com
TECHNOLOGY FOCUS
“A DIGITAL ASSET WILL HELP YOU
REDUCE THE TIME YOU TAKE TO
FIND AND VALIDATE INFORMA-
TION BY UP TO 80%.”
DEREK MIDDLEMAS, CEO, DIGATEX
management and operations excellence. The digital asset
becomes your online provider of trusted data feeding operations
systems, work processes (asset integrity, maintenance,
modifications, equipment spares, etc.) and replacing separate
siloed data thereby facilitating cross-functional integration
and working. Combined with 2D and 3D visualisation it can
revolutionise all your work activities enabling you to see the wood
for the trees, but still zoom into the smallest leaf.
However, this is just the start what’s possible, new
technologies such as IIoT, analytics and blockchain are
revolutionising the way we work but as a consequence causing a
massive increase in dynamic data from sensor feeds. Therefore
organising data by asset hierarchy, structured datasets (class
library) and a visual 3D digital replica of the asset (the digital
twin) will be essential to display, interpret and act on this
dynamic data. Whereas a digital asset represents the static
facility, the smart companies will understand the best way
forward is to render dynamic attributes onto the existing digital 39
asset, thereby extending it, not reinventing it!
Work smarter
Successful transformations overcome the status quo and
current thinking. Big new engineering projects have already
embraced object driven data management and started to relegate
documents to a support role. It’s in the data migration to the
operating world where we drop the ball and need a leap of faith to
transition business processes, address organisational culture and
resistance to change.
A focus on establishing an asset class library, embracing
visualisation and accepting it’s a journey versus the perceptions
that it’s too difficult and costly to change.
Don’t rush to buy technology because it’s not a technology
problem – that was solved many years ago. It’s about how you
organise your data, how you prioritise business needs. It’s about
an organisational shift from document controllers to information
engineers who define, build and manage the digital asset.
Adopting a digital asset strategy can significantly improve
operational performance in the short term and asset integrity
in the longer term, providing a key foundation stone for Industry
4.0. In a world where achieving lower cost more productive ways
of working are critical, with fewer resources and ever-increasing
data and information demands, it’s no longer a question of can
we afford it, rather, can we do without it and how to do it cost
effectively. The digital train is approaching the station and for
some it’s already starting to leave.
JANUARY 2018
 SPECIAL REPORT – LAST WORD
SAVING TIME
How technology is helping Ballard Petroleum save 300 hours on field activities every month, by
Grant Eggleton, vice president, Global Production Solutions, P2 Energy Solutions
F
rom production efficiency
to cost reduction, today’s
upstream sector challenges
are still driven by low oil prices.
Sector leaders recognise the
chance to improve operational efficiency
and increase production as a basis for future
prosperity and they know that, in this tough
energy economy, IT must drive business val-
ue through innovative technology solutions.
Take the case of Ballard Petroleum, a
private exploration and production company
headquartered in Billings, Montana, manag-
ing 112 wells and with a daily oil production
of 4,000 barrels.
A production solution had been in place
at Ballard since 2009, but when news broke
40 that the product was going to be de-sup-
ported, management decided to review all of
the company’s production systems and all
of their processes.
The business needed to eliminate
organisational data siloes, simplify the field
data capture and validation process, enable
production engineers to identify key trends
and put accurate and timely data at top
management’s fingertips. Management
started searching for an integrated, end-to-
end production solution that would create
efficiencies, saving monthly field hours and
ultimately reducing costs.
Too much reliance on
manual processes
Under its legacy systems, Ballard’s data
lived in separate repositories and was being
entered and re-entered several times.
Pumpers had to capture production data in
a very old-fashioned way - using pen and
paper. Once daily routes were completed,
they would then drive to a Ballard field office
and use a desktop computer to re-enter the
information. Needless to say, this approach
was challenging and inefficient and could
result in situations needing immediate at-
JANUARY 2018
tention going unnoticed. Additionally, data
input into the production solution didn’t
flow well into Ballard’s back-office systems,
so information had to be keyed in multiple
times by multiple people.
Every time somebody touches data, the
chances of introducing error to it are in-
creased. Some employees weren’t therefore
100% confident with the data being used
and management often didn’t receive infor-
mation needed to make important business
decisions in a timely fashion. Opportunities
Grant Eggleton, VP, Global Production
for creating efficiencies were being missed.
Solutions, P2 Energy Solutions
It was time for change.
into Ballard’s accounting system for revenue
An integrated solution to put an purposes. All the siloes are brought together
end to siloes into a single place. The key feature of the
In 2013 Ballard opted for P2 Production new system is that it connects the field to
which is designed to allow data to flow top management who can now see daily
seamlessly from team to team for field data and consolidated volumes and be confident
capture and validation, production data their decisions are based on accurate data
management, hydrocarbon allocation and and therefore more likely to be right.
production optimisation needs.
The field data capture tool quickly and Measurable, transparent results
efficiently collects and validates data at the The new solution brought Ballard many
well sites. This was a game changer for the benefits. Pumpers now spend more time on
pumpers as they could now input the data resolving rather than hunting for problems.
while in the field and be done at the end of In fact, 300 hours are saved every month on
the day. field activities leaving more time to focus on
The technology also integrates Ballard’s meeting production targets.
manually captured data with the data from Downtime reduction is another important
its SCADA systems, giving everyone a com- benefit. Pumpers can now analyse current
plete picture of the company’s operations. and historical production numbers side by
When you have a ton of data, having the side and, if something is amiss, they’re able
tools to make sense of all of it and track to resolve the issue quickly and return the
what’s happening, is crucial. asset to peak performance.
From the field, the data flows seamlessly Last but not least, the data is now overall
into the production data management sys- more accurate, and of higher quality thanks
tem within the solution to be allocated and to the pumpers being able to catch most of
stored. The data is then channeled directly their own errors.
“EVERY TIME SOMEBODY TOUCHES DATA, THE
CHANCES OF INTRODUCING ERROR TO IT
ARE INCREASED.”
GRANT EGGLETON, VICE PRESIDENT, GLOBAL PRODUCTION SOLUTIONS, P2 ENERGY SOLUTIONS
arabianoilandgas.com
 UNMANNED SURVEILLANCE

42

REDUCING RISK,
RAISING PROFIT
The popularity of unmanned surveillance vehicles is growing rapidly in the oil and gas
sector because of their ability to shrink costs, and improve efficiency. These vehicles
may not replace humans just yet, but they are making the industry safer to work in

JANUARY 2018 arabianoilandgas.com


U
nmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)
and other unmanned surveillance
vehicles are rapidly becoming
popular in the oil and gas industry,
providing a high-tech addition tot
he workforce that does not entirely
replace, but rather significantly
enhances the abilities of the man on the ground,
and physical inspections. Due to declining profits,
the oil and gas industry is strongly focussed on
efficiency and productivity to improve stakeholder
returns, and achieve or improve profitability, and
UAVs, or drones, are a weapon in that arsenal.
“Drones offer a cost-effective way to enhance
surveillance and inspection of oil and gas assets,
[production facilities, pipelines and refining and
petrochemical plants etc.] with more complete
and comprehensive plant status data gathering
and quicker response times compared to manual
inspection – particularly in remote and hazardous
environments – all allowing better asset care and
integrity, ultimately improving efficiency. They also
reduce costs and improve safety by removing the
need for people to be onsite,” said Simon Cushing,
research director at Gartner.
Unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) perform
similar tasks for subsea equipment, which is a dif-
ficult and hazardous environment for humans to
work in, and remotely operated UUVs have been
in use in the industry for decades. With these the
trend is towards centralised remote control and
autonomy. UAVs however, are the most commonly
used unmanned system.
“Drones can provide an aerial perspective that
is only otherwise achievable with a helicopter, and
drones cost a tiny fraction of what a helicopter
costs to fly and maintain,” stated Bill Wimberly,
senior managing partner, Visioneering Associates,
and management consultant at CAPE Productions,
a specialist in drone solutions.
Drones can provide
an ‘eye in the sky’ Uses for drones
to ensure better
The uses for drone technology in oil in gas are
safety on site.
fairly diverse. However, drones are pre-eminently
used as a quick detection tool on site to ensure
operational efficiency, as well as human safety.
Drones can be used for activities such as flare
stack inspections, topside inspections, as well as
under deck and splash zone inspections. They can
be used on any part of the platform instead of, or
in addition to inspections typically requiring rope
access or scaffolding.
arabianoilandgas.com
UNMANNED SURVEILLANCE
“Conducting real-time safety inspections of
equipment with drones greatly reduces the need
for equipment shut-down. With appropriate sen-
sors, drones can detect hazardous materials such as
escaping methane, sulphur, etc. before they become
life or project threatening issues,” stated Wimberly.
Drones can also be used for project progress
reporting and documentation. It is said that ‘a pic-
ture paints a thousand words’, and using periodic
photos and/or video can provide invaluable infor-
mation to potential oil and gas project investors,
and will provide a perspective that enhances the
reports, charts and graphs that generally flow out
of an oil and gas project.
Close-up equipment inspection and documenta-
tion is also on the list of drone use priorities in oil
and gas. Utilising high definition zoom equipped
cameras, drones can inspect and detect imminent
equipment failures both upstream and downstream
– before they fail – in places that are very difficult
for a human to examine. These are hi-spec drones
that can fly in wind conditions of up to 29 knots.
They can be fitted with sensors such as HD video,
HD still, thermal cameras, airborne gas sensing and
laser measurement tools. 43
In a world full of security threats, the part drones
can play in on-site security is not to be underes-
timated. In areas of the world where security is
an ongoing challenge, drones are being used very
effectively to monitor assets and provide quick
response to security events. Smaller drones, flying
at altitude, can be nearly silent in their surveillance
of perimeters and movement detection.
“When events are detected by terrestrial sensors,
drones can often be dispatched quicker than hu-
mans and provide a valuable video feed to security
command centres. Modern commercial drones
can carry high-powered zoom cameras, infrared,
thermal-imaging, etc.,” according to Wimberly.
An interesting and perhaps less obvious use for
drone technology, is investor acquisition. Wimberly
has successfully used aerial photos and video taken
by drones to enhance the presentation of an oil and
gas project for prospective investors.
US$3,000
THE BASIC COST OF A COMMERCIAL DRONE
JANUARY 2018
 UNMANNED SURVEILLANCE
“In addition to encouraging geology, geophysics
and financial return prospects, remotely located
investors want to see the physical well site, where
it is in relation to other sites, what the surround-
ing terrain looks like, etc. Aerial photos and video
can provide a valuable perspective for investors,”
he noted.
An effective drone deployment strategy can also
provide an excellent tool for early detection of
environmental problems. Companies in the USA,
such as Sensefly, use drones for early detection
and documentation of environmental impacts.
Drones can carry a variety of sensors and cameras
for this purpose.
Drones are also used for site inspections when
planning operations, and for scanning to build 3D
models of sites. The trend is for expanded pay-
loads and greater drone autonomy.
“Companies are developing robotic seismic
receiver [and source] drones, underwater and
land-based inspection and maintenance robots. In
future drones could also act as delivery vehi-
cles, for spare parts for example or for incident
response [first aid or firefighting equipment], and
44 land-based or marine robots will undertake opera-
tions on the plants themselves,” noted Cushing.
Working together
Drones can be a highly effective new tool in the
toolbox of oil and gas field professionals. It may
be some time however, before drone technol-
ogy completely replaces boots on the ground.
Wimberly states that drone technology works best
when used in tandem with physical staff, where
each compliments the capabilities of the other.
“Drones may someday have such sophisticated
enough artificial intelligence that they can con-
duct some tasks independent of human interven-
tion, but there is currently no replacement for the
expertise of experienced oil and gas professionals.
I see drones extending and enhancing the work
of field personnel. I also see drones providing a
safety factor that will reduce accidents. This is
always a good thing,” he noted.
It is impossible to exactly quantify the cost
savings to oil and gas companies of implementing
drone technologies, however, some estimates put
savings across the inspection arena at around 80%
to 85%. However, according to Wimberly return
on investment (ROI) and cost savings will depend
on the specific application of the drone(s) for an
oil and gas company.
JANUARY 2018
SMP’S AUTONOMOUS UNMANNED
GROUND VEHICLES
These vehicles can operate in all types of weather
conditions, with temperatures ranging from -4˚F
to 100˚F. The S5 robot is designed to measure gas
content in the air at industrial facilities.
The control of air conditioning and gas content at
oil and gas plants is essential for protecting human
health, and the environment, and preventing ac-
cidents. Gas content in the air is usually measured
in close proximity to the equipment and its junction
pipelines, as well as along the facility perimeter.
In most cases, gas inspection is performed by
specialists with hand-held multi-gas monitors. This
measurement procedure can be automated by fit-
ting a mobile robot with gas analysers and sending it
on patrol in the area. The S5 G Gas Detector Robot is
capable of automatically patrolling the perimeter of
a facility completely unmanned.
The robot’s guidance system adjusts its route when
encountering obstacles, and also returns the robot
for battery charging. While patrolling an industrial
facility, the mobile robot stops to measure gases.
The gas detector sends the results to the dispatch
centre of the facility. Depending on the wind’s direc-
tion, the robot may change its monitoring route. The
S5 Gas Detector Robot is capable of continuously
staying in an environment with dangerous concen-
tration of toxic gases.
Currently, security solutions require a security guard
to be physically present. Most companies either
employ a security guard or outsource their security
needs. Both of the solutions are costly due to high
labour costs and additional hiring expenses such as
recruitment costs.
SMP Robotics offers a solution that allows compa-
nies to substantially cut their labour costs related
to employing security guards. First of all, security
robots are leased at a very affordable monthly price.
Moreover, there are no additional costs related
to employee benefits, absenteeism and workers
compensation.
By integrating security robots into their security
systems, organisations achieve 24/7 security
surveillance, as opposed to human security guards,
who work eight hours a day, take breaks, request
time off, have weekends and celebrate holidays. The
lifecycle of a robot is about three years, but they
need to be upgraded annually.
Source: Leo Ryzhenko, CEO, SMP Robotics
arabianoilandgas.com

“I can say from experience and with confidence
that return on investment and cost savings are
relatively easy to quantify for many oil and gas
applications. One reason for my confidence is the
relatively low cost of drone applications compared
to alternatives,” he stated.
The benefits of using unmanned surveillance
vehicles are obvious to those in the industry, the
flexibility that unmanned vehicles offer to the oil
and gas industry – the ability to move around the
plant very quickly, and be reconfigured with differ-
ent sensor payloads; the accessibility – to see areas
of the plant that are inaccessible, or too hazardous,
for people; the mobility – to cover greater areas
more quickly; and the cost – using drones may be
cheaper than using inspection teams.
However, according to Cushing, drones still have
to be operated and have range and payload weight
limitations, so do not entirely replace the need for
people on or near site today.
Working a drone
Modern commercial UAVs, from most leading man-
ufacturers, are very resilient and can operate for
thousands of hours with proper maintenance and
Drones can be fitted
with all sorts of repair, like any other piece of industrial equipment.
job-specific Commercial drones are highly cost-effective, cost-
equipment. ing as little as US$3,000 with standard equipment.
arabianoilandgas.com
UNMANNED SURVEILLANCE
“WITH APPROPRIATE SEN-
SORS, DRONES CAN DETECT
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS SUCH
AS ESCAPING METHANE,
SULPHUR, ETC. BEFORE THEY
BECOME LIFE OR PROJECT
THREATENING ISSUES.”
BILL WIMBERLY, SENIOR MANAGING PARTNER, VISIONEER-
ING ASSOCIATES AND MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT AT CAPE
AERIAL (DRONE) SOLUTIONS
Adding sensors and specialised cameras increases
these costs, but depending on the application, the
alternative is often many multiples of the cost of
drone operations.
“Keep in mind that drone deployment requires
human operators and pilots. This is a cost that
has to be considered in the economics of a drone
deployment strategy,” Wimberly said.
The Middle East’s harsh environment, and the
constant battle against heat, dust, sand, wind and
the occasional rainfall are definitely not ideal for
drone flight, however, various manufacturers have
built drones that are as resilient as possible under 45
these conditions. As demand for drones under
these conditions increases, so will the technology
to protect them.
The recently announced Viper DJI Matrice 200
UAV is designed for industrial applications and
the drone can fly in bad weather, protected by its
closed shell from dust, cold, water and particles. It
features two camera mounts as well as resistance to
magnetic forces. High-performance motors paired
with 44cm propellers also ensure stable flight in
strong winds.
Drone aircraft technology has advanced beyond
the technology required to actually fly the drone,
for example the drone’s controller unit. Many com-
mercial drones today utilise an iPad, or comparable
Android device, to control drone flight.
“At CAPE we discovered that these ‘pads’ are
more susceptible to harsh conditions, particularly
heat, than the drones themselves. There are cur-
rently a few companies addressing this issue with
a cooling device that straps on to the back of the
pad to greatly reduce the effects of heat. Again, as
demand increases, solutions to challenges like heat
will emerge in greater and greater numbers,” ac-
cording to Wimberly.
Drones can be, and should be, excellent tools for
O&G professionals.
JANUARY 2018
 PRODUCTS & SERVICES

INDUSTRY INNOVATIONS
IoT-based well
surveillance
TECHNOLOGY Siemens has announced a scal-
able, end-to-end IoT solution, designed
to help oil and gas companies optimise
production and reduce costs through
connected systems, automation, and ana-
lytics at the edge. Developed in collabora-
tion with Intel’s Industrial IoT Group,
Siemens IoT-based Well Surveillance
offers companies across the oil and gas
industry a cost-efficient solution designed
to link distributed assets into an integrat-
ed network with minimal effort, while
providing a high level of automation.

46
N E W L A U N C H ES
A round-up of some of the best releases this month

ASSET OPTIMISATION SOFTWARE DISTANCE MEASUREMENT TOOL COST OPTIMISATION TOOL

AspenTech’s latest Engineering, Manufacturing &
Supply Chain and Asset Performance Management
software, aspenONE Version 10.1, is designed to help leading
global companies achieve higher levels of safety and reliability
by optimising asset performance. New to the aspenONE
Engineering suite, Aspen Operator Training enables the seam-
less deployment of training for operators and engineers with
a dynamic simulation lifecycle solution that brings operator
training simulation (OTS) online sooner and sustains safety
throughout the lifetime of the asset. Aspen Operator Training
integrates technology acquired from Inprocess Technology
and Consulting Group with Aspen HYSYS Dynamics.
Professionals from key industrial sectors, especially
construction, can now measure force, load and
distance with Straightpoint (SP) products. The manufacturer
has launched the Wireless Linear Displacement Transducer
(WLDT), which is now complemented by a new tool, available
in stroke lengths from 25mm (1 in.) to 200mm (8 in.) that can
accurately measure displacement or movement in a variety of
applications. The WLDT is a robust, absolutely linear position
/ displacement transducer and is inherently frictionless,
presenting a mean time between failures (MTBF) in excess of
100mn cycles when properly used. It is also supplied with SP’s
SA700C wireless transmitter.
A Texas-based company has achieved back-to-back
30% reductions in operating costs by utilising Cat
Connect technology and services to gather and analyse the
data generated by its equipment. According to Matt Begler,
global Cat Connect sales manager for Caterpillar Oil & Gas, the
Texas-based company approached Caterpillar about a decade
ago with an interest in digitising its fleet and implement-
ing a telematics solution to improve efficiency. The rental
company implemented Cat Connect Asset Health Monitoring
across its fleet. This remote-monitoring system collects and
analyses pressure, temperature and fluid level data—as well
as downtime events—from every compressor.

JANUARY 2018 arabianoilandgas.com

 PRODUCTS & SERVICES

THREE REASONS
TO BUY
Trelleborg receives API 17L1 design certification for Type
3 clamps

1 TRIED AND TESTED 2018

Trelleborg’s offshore operation in Skelmersdale, UK, has

been certified for the design of its Type 3 Clamp under
the American Petroleum Institute’s specification for flexible
pipe ancillary equipment (API 17L1 Ed. 1 2013). This is an
important milestone, as the suite of qualification requirements
relating to the design methodology of Trelleborg’s clamps and
Distributed Buoyancy Modules (DBM) is now complete.
FEBRUARY 2018:
THE SPECIAL REPORT ON
WELLHEADS & EQUIPMENT
Key to controlling the performance and pressure
of crude production, maximising the efficiency of
wellheads and equipment while reducing risks as

2 HIGH-EFFICIENCY
well as costs, has been at the forefront of the oil
and gas sector, particularly in the region. O&GME
will look to analyse the innovations happening in
the regional upstream sector to enhance the quality
of wellheads and associated equipment, compare
foreign produce with local products, and above all
The Type 3 Clamp is comprised of a syntactic foam explore the opportunities the sector presents to
clamp body split in to a number of segments, an wellheads and equipment manufacturers.
upgraded titanium tensioning system and high tenacity straps. 47
Typically used in high load capacity and lower pipeline compli- WHY ADVERTISE?
ancy applications, this clamp provides an axial restraint on the
Oil & Gas Middle East is the ONLY BPA audited
client pipeline/flexible riser to locate a Distributed Buoyancy publication in the Middle East for the sector.
Module. The clamp can also be used for other applications, for 94% of our readers have made a purchasing
example in support of Ballast Modules or Ballasted Uraduct. decision based on the editorial and commercial
content within the publication.
58% of our qualified circulation are

3 SPECIALISED FOR OFFSHORE top level management, decision makers

and purchase influencers.

Trelleborg DBMs are typically used between a subsea

structure and a surface vessel or platform to reduce top
tension loads and to maintain project specific riser configura-
tions. The Type 3 Clamp, as well as the API 17L1 approved Type
4 Clamp, which includes internal rubber segments allowing for
larger pipeline tolerances and contractions, were developed
with a semi-automatic hydraulic installation tool to allow for
quick installation of the clamp on board vessels and platforms. MARCH APRIL
POWER SOUR GAS
GENERATION AND SULPHUR
KIMBERLEY BARNES ADAM GEAL

CALL
Sales Manager,
Oil & Gas Middle East
T: +971 444 3351
TODAY D: +971 55 542 1256
E: kimberley.barnes@itp.com
Sales Executive,
Oil & Gas Middle East
T: +971 444 3383
D: +971 58 865 3479
E: adam.geal@itp.com

arabianoilandgas.com JANUARY 2018 2017

 PRODUCTS & SERVICES
Haitai endeavours to make a mark
in Middle East oil and gas industry
Chinese steel manufacturer maintains presence in several regional countries, and intends to get a grip on
the energy market here, Haitai Group president, Jinsong Ding tells O&GME
Tell us a bit about your company.
Haitai Group is located in one of the
most important financial, inter-
national commercial, logistic and
trading centres, Shanghai. We are
a complex group of companies in-
volved in steel, real estate, education,
culture and entertainment. Our steel
business started in 1994, after more
than 20 years of development, Haitai
has become the most professional
supply chain management expert in
the steel industry. Currently we have
already established a whole sales net
48 including 15 branches and offices,
eight warehouses, with over 100,000
sqm of indoor storage,. There is also
prepared and ready 65,000 tons of
steel pipe stock, as well as plates,
bars, rods and rebars. The company’s
estimated annual sales of 2017 will be
520,000 tonnes. In order to respond
to the Chinese government One Belt
One Road strategy, Haitai presented
itself in Middle East as Haitai FZCO
in Jebel Ali Free Zone. We hope
our professional services can bring
and share the bonus of the Chinese
economy boost.
Kindly elaborate on your company’s
line and scope of business within
the oil and gas industry.
Steel, as one of the highest cost
performance materials for strength
in the world, is widely used in oil and
gas industries. Drilling, production,
transmission, shipping, storage and
refinery, in every technological pro-
cess of oil and gas you will find steel
involved. Pipes for drilling, transmis-
sion pipeline, plates for crude or LNG
JANUARY 2018
ship building, plates for maritime
platforms, and storage tanks, struc-
tures used for drilling tower, platform
and infrastructure, piping system
products like pipes, fittings and
flanges used for refinery. Haitai is the
biggest stockist in China with 65,000
tons of steel pipes in stock and long
term experience service international
project supply, especially in oil and
gas used steel products.
Which country/ies in the Middle
East are you most active in and how
do you wish to expand your reach in
the region?
With many years of experience of
steel exporting, we have a large pres-
ence in the projects in Middle East
area, like UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Iraq,
Egypt and Algeria. Now our Middle
East branch company located in Jebel
Ali, the biggest port and freezone in
Middle East, radiates to the whole
Middle East area, and we are plan-
ning to establish a supply chain and
service net exactly like we have done
in China.
What are the main products/ser-
vices that you specialise in?
Steel related products are in mas-
sive demand globally, for example,
pipes in carbon, alloy and stainless
steel, both seamless, and welded are
needed. Plates and coils used as raw
material for the manufacturing of
pipes and piling, maritime plates for
vessel and platform construction,
tank plates, beams and channels for
steel structure, bars and rebars for
the construction industry.
Jinsong Ding, president, Haitai Group.
What is your opinion about the cur-
rent oil and gas market conditions?
Even though oil price is in a low
position right now, the demand of
crude and natural gas is firmly grow-
ing in the world. Demands finally
tell the truth. Even multiple types of
new energy are rising, taking over
some portions of crude oil in the
energy market, but the increasing
demand of hydrocarbon composi-
tion will be a strong support. In one
word, can you imagine a modern life
without plastic? The demand is very
firm there.
Considering the fact that we are
now in 2018, how has business
for your company been last year?
What are your plans and goals this
year for?
Estimated sales are about 520,000
tonnes of steel products for 2017, but
we are feeling better than previous
years. Having survived the coldest
winter of oil and gas and the steel
industry, will the spring still be far
away? The world is reviving from the
slumping economy.
arabianoilandgas.com
 PEOPLE

ON THE MOVE Tony Branch and Appointment

Ronnie Garrick Month
CEO; president
of the

TWMA

Ali Vezvaei
Executive president for
Middle East, Bilfinger
Engineering and industrial
services provider, Bilfinger
appointed Ali Vezvaei as
executive president for its
Middle East operations.
He oversees the group’s
engineering and operating
companies in the region,
focusing on the oil and gas
and petrochemical sectors,
energy utilities and water,
as well as biopharma
industries. From March
2017 until his appointment
as EP, Vezvaei was the
global VP of Bilfinger’s
Engineering & Technologies
division, based in Germany.
“I am honoured and
excited to be a part of its
management team; and
more so looking at the
opportunities ahead in
the dynamic and evolving
Middle East region,”
according to Vezvaei.
Keith Johnson
Chief operating officer
Speedcast International
Speedcast International
Limited has announced
that Keith Johnson,
currently EVP of
Speedcast’s Energy
Division, will take over
from David Kagan as chief
operating officer, while also
keeping his existing Energy
Division responsibilities.
Kagan will be leaving
Speedcast in early
December due to personal
commitments, but will
remain as an advisor to
the CEO for a limited time.
“Keith brings decades of
operational experience
to the COO role, which
will enable him to build
upon the solid operational
foundations that David
has developed during
the integration of Harris
CapRock,” said Pierre-Jean
Beylier, Speedcast CEO.
Roeland Punt
Commercial manager -
Middle East, Atradius
In a newly created role,
Atradius has appointed
Roeland Punt as
commercial manager,
Middle East based in
Dubai. Punt’s hire aims to
support Atradius’ regional
growth ambitions and
also signals Atradius’
continued commitment
to the region. “I am
excited to be supporting
continued profitable
growth for Atradius in its
most culturally diverse
and dynamic region”
said Roeland Punt. Punt
started in his new remit in
September and reports to
Schuyler D’Souza, country
manager, Orient Insurance
PJSC and, managing
director, Atradius Middle
East. Punt started his
career at ABN Amro Bank in
the Netherlands.
T
WMA, a provider of drilling waste
management services, is expecting
its annual target turnover to rise to
$265mn and the workforce to expand to
1,500, following the company’s acquisition
by London-based Buckthorn Partners in
May this year. As part of an organisational
restructuring, Tony Branch will expand his
current role as director within TWMA, taking
over from Ronnie Garrick as CEO. Garrick,
according to a media statement, will assume
the role of company president, focussing and
leading three areas for growth: merger and
acquisitions, new geographic expansion, and
new product and technology development. Oil
and gas sector-inclined private equity investors
Buckthorn acquired TWMA, which has a
current a turnover of $66mn, and employs
about 540 personnel across offices and service 49
bases in Europe, the Middle East, North
Africa, West Africa and the Americas. Most
recently president of Regional Operations at
Weatherford, Branch brings over 25 years of
experience in the global drilling sector.

JOBS ATKINS MIDDLE EAST,
KHOBAR, KSA
NOTICE Lead control &
instrumentation specialist
BOARD The candidate will provide leadership,
supervision, and coordination to
The latest jobs available the Control & Instrumentation
in the oil and gas industry engineering staff and design work.
BHGE, DHAHRAN, SAUDI ARABIA
Directional driller
Baker Hughes, is looking for a
directional driller to provides direct
instruction and supervision to other
field engineers on day-to-day well site
work and activities. Applicants with
three to five years experience preferred.
MOTT MACDONALD,
ABU DHABI, UAE
Commercial manager - Energy
The applicant shall provide
management and oversight to all
active projects within the designated
country and support the Unit Contract
and commercial manager.

arabianoilandgas.com JANUARY 2018

 PEOPLE
OPINION
Transforming innovation
Rafi Hattar of Hexagon PPM says digital disruption should be seen as a positive force
that interferes with the existing way of doing business not to distract, but to improve
50
D
About the igitalisation is changing all areas of our life. It influ-
author:
ences the way we communicate, the way we stay
Rafi Hattar is the
vice president for informed, travel, look for and buy things, and take
the Middle East & care of our memories. Does anyone believe that
Africa business of digitalisation is not going to influence the way we work
Hexagon PPM. and do business as well? Even the most committed techno-
sceptics understand that digitalisation has the potential
to deeply reshape the way enterprises interact and serve
their customers.
Impact of digitalisation is very specific to each company
depending on the type of business, industry and work pro-
cesses, and may differ in timing, magnitude, and depth.
However, regardless of the industry and business, digitali-
sation drives a common consequence: disruption.
At first, disruption as a word may sound negative, which
may influence the way we consider consequences of in-
novation and new technologies. However, digital disrup-
tion should be seen as a positive force that interferes with
the existing way of doing business not to distract, but to
improve processes. Digital disruption transforms innova-
tion and radically changes consolidated business models.
JANUARY 2018
Nevertheless, companies often fail to
move to a digital business model becuase
of three common mistakes.
Firstly company management may
wrongly consider digitalisation only as a
tool for back-office and operational effi-
ciency and not for management and con-
trol of mission critical work processes.
Secondly the company may be missing
a comprehensive company digital strategy,
which implies failure to consider the in-
terconnections among different company
business silos.
Thirdly, the company may forget the hu-
man factor, the company culture, and over-
look management support during change,
which is important for companies operat-
ing with aging systems and staff members.
Nonetheless, a deeper analysis of the
challenges related to adopting a digital
business model seems to indicate that
arabianoilandgas.com

Rafi |Hattar noted that digital disruption should be
seen as a chance for growth.
problems originate more from manage-
ment errors than technological failures.
Therefore, the question is not whether
disruption is either bad or good – as it can
be both, depending on how it is managed.
The question is not why innovation and
new technologies fail but rather whether
the embracing a digitalisation project
brings value, and provides a company with
expected efficiency enhancements, or not.
That brings attention to some key issues
to consider:
1. Not all digital technologies and innova-
tions bring real value to a company.
2. Digital disruption provides value as soon
as: it enables real breakthrough in the
way people work; it facilitates coop-
eration and faster collaboration among
stakeholders; it breaks communication
silos; it allows digital synergies among
companies as well as internally.
3. It enhances management enabling faster,
wider and deeper control on business
critical work processes, so that more in-
formed – and therefore better – decisions
can be taken.
Project execution business
Capital project industry – and execution
- are good examples when discussing digi-
talisation and disruption. On one hand, this
industry relies on quite mature activities
and work processes while benefiting from
arabianoilandgas.com
PEOPLE
widely available business literature, which helps to describe and model the
work processes – either in part or as a whole. In addition, a lot of interac-
tion among stakeholders exists on global basis to analyse common issues
and suggest best practices. However, many companies still rely on manual
an error-prone work processes.
On the other hand, only a few technological forces are currently bringing
innovation to the industry. This is potentially transforming the way capital
projects are defined, managed, executed and delivered, while the industry
is still striving to achieve more efficiency, more effective costs control, and
therefore maximising return on both expenditures and investments.
A lot of room still exists for improvements, as many stakeholders admit.
Innovation is key here, but innovation means nothing without the tech-
nology and tools that enable it to take place. With technology, the following
questions must be considered: What technology is needed? Which domains
are potentially impacted? How can digital disruption enable significant break-
throughs in the way people work?
Digitalisation requires collaboration between all departments to capture
joint benefits for the whole business. Moreover, because digitalisation has a
major impact on how people work, it is essential to anticipate concerns and
build a business case for the employees. In fact, no organisation achieves a
successful digital transformation without a thoughtful approach to change
management: the people who apply technology in their daily jobs are those
who will create additional value.
When thinking about digital priorities, management should identify the
technologies and applications that would have the greatest potential positive 51
impact on the company. As far as companies focussing on project execution
are concerned, it is easy to suggest that investing in a project control and a
cost control platform should be one of the top of priorities. .
Digitalisation transforms innovation process and radically changes con-
solidated business models. The pace of innovation and the ability to benefit
from disruption that digitalisation is generating are becoming key success
factors in global competition. This increases the pressure on enterprises, and
opens up new business opportunities at the same time.
Digital disruption will change the way oil and gas
companies operate.
JANUARY 2018
 PROJECT FOCUS

KOC - North
Kuwait Budget:
$1.65bn
Gathering
Center (GC)
32
K
uwait’s oil fields are currently connected to 26
gathering centres, which serve as a collection
location for crude produced at several wells
connected by flow lines, providing initial treat- PROJECT SCHEDULE
ment through the separation of associated gas and
Feasibility Study Q1 2014
removing salt. The Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) is
on track to create Gathering Center 32. The project FEED Q4 2014
will be built near Kuwait’s giant Burgan oil field and EPC ITB Q1 2016
will process crude oil and associated gas produced
Engineering & Procurement Q1 2017
from the Arifjan, Marat, Minagish, Oolite and Burgan
52 Wara fields. Completed Q3 2021

CONTRACTORS
Contract Type Pre-Qualified Bidders Awarded

• Daelim Engineering & Construc-

tion
• GS Engineering & Construction
• JGC Corporation
• Petrofac
• Saipem
• SK Engineering & Construction
• CCC - Consolidated Contracting
Company
• Daewoo Engineering & Con-
struction
EPC • Petrofac • Petrofac
• Hyundai Heavy Industries
• KBR - Kellogg Brown & Root
• L&T - Larsen & Toubro
• Lurgi
• SNC Lavalin
• Samsung Engineering Company
• Tecnicas Reunidas
• Aker Kvaerner
• Chiyoda Corporation
• China Petroleum Engineering &
Construction Corporatio

JANUARY 2018 arabianoilandgas.com

 PROJECT FOCUS

PROJECT SCOPE PROJECT STATUS

The project scope includes:
• Total crude oil production - 120,000 b/d. Date Status
• Crude oil desalting - 120,000 b/d.
According to the main contractor, the procurement process for
• Total condensate production - 12,500 b/d of condensate. Sep 2017
the project will be finalised in September 2018.
• Total effluent water - 280,000 b/d of water.
• Total gas production - 83 million cubic feet a day of gas. Petrofac has started the procurement process. The EPC
• High pressure and low pressure separators. Jul 2017
contractor received bids for the main packages.
• Water treatment via hydrocyclones and induced
gas flotation. KOC officially awards Petrofac a $1.33bn EPC contract for the
• Oil/water gravity separation and storage, including Mar 2017 project. The gathering centre is expected to start operations in
recovered oil system. September 2021.
• Oil desalting.
• Gas compression (TV/LP/HP). Petrofac submits the lowest bid of $1.33bn for the main
• Gas dehydration and conditioning (HC dewpointing). contract. SK Engineering submits second-lowest bid of $1.4bn
• Condensate dehydration and decolouring. Jan 2017
and Samsung Engineering submits third-lowest bid of $1.6bn.
• Effluent water treatment, collection and export. The Gathering Center 32 is set for completion by March 2020.
• Remote manifolds.
• Inlet manifolds.
• Crude product storage tanks. Nov 2016 The EPC contract is expected to be awarded in March/April 2017.
• Crude oil export.
• Gas export. Nov 2016 The client extends bid deadline to 20 December, 2016.
• Condensate export.
• Export oil pig launcher/receivers. KOC is extending the EPC bidding deadline to November 29,
Oct 2016
• Export gas/condensate (export and return) pig launcher/ 2016. 53
receivers (at GC-32 and BS-171a ISC). KOC Official states that project is now slated for completion in
• Off-spec condensate storage. Aug 2016
September 2021.
• Plant air.
• Instrument air. Jul 2016 KOC is setting the EPC bidding deadline for November 1, 2016.
• Fresh water.
The optional consortium companies are: Aker Kvaerner, Chiyoda.
PROJECT FINANCE
China Petroleum E&C, Consolidated Contractors Company,
The Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) is the client of the project. Jul 2016
Daewoo E&C, Hyundai Heavy Industries, KBR, Larsen & Toubro,
Air Liquide, Saipem, SNC Lavalin.
FAST FACTS
Name of Client KOC is inviting the following to companies to bid for an EPC
KOC - Kuwait Oil Company Jul 2016 contract: Daelim, GS E&C, JGC Corporation, Petrofac, Samsung
Estimated Budget ($ US)
Engineering, SK E&C, Tecnicas Reunidas.
1,650,000,000
KOC is issuing invitations to bid for the EPC contract to
Apr 2016
Facility Type Last Updated prequalified bidders. List of bidders has not been disclosed yet.
Gas Gathering Centre 19-09-2017
Sector FEED KOC is planning to issue Invitations to Bid for the EPC contract
Nov 2015
Gas Amec Foster Wheeler in March, 2016.
Status PMC Completion for the project is expected in the third quarter of
Engineering & Procurement Main Contractor Jul 2015
2018.
Location Petrofac
Northern Kuwait Contract Value Due to delays for reasons undisclosed, the EPC contract is
Jul 2015
Project Start ($ US) expected to be tendered by third quarter of 2016.
Q1 2014 1,300,000,000
The EPC contract is expected to be awarded in late 2015 while
End Date Award Date Dec 2014
the project is slated for completion in October 2017.
Q3 2021 Q1 2017

arabianoilandgas.com JANUARY 2018

 PROJECTS

Ongoing and upcoming projects

Information is supplied by DMS Projects
GCC GAS – DECEMBER 2017
Completion
Project Country City/ Region Facility Budget Status
Date
ADCO- Bab Gas Compression Phase 3 U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Gas Compression 27,000,000 EPC ITB 2022-Q4

ADCO- Bab TH-F Peripheral Development U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Nitrogen 400,000,000 On Hold 2017-Q4

ADGAS- Integrated Facilities Project (IGD-S) Expansion (Phase 4) U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Gas Field Development 650,000,000 EPC ITB 2019-Q3

ADGAS- Integrated Gas Development (IGD) - Expansion (Overview) U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Gas Field Development 1,570,000,000 Construction 2019-Q3

ADGAS- Integrated Gas Development (IGD) - Expansion (Phase 1) U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Gas Field Development 500,000,000 Commissioning 2017-Q4

ADGAS- Integrated Gas Development (IGD) - Expansion (Phase 2) U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Gas Field Development 420,000,000 On Hold 2019-Q1

ADMA OPCO- Nitrogen Plant Upgrade U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Nitrogen 55,000,000 On Hold 2017-Q1

ADMA-OPCO - Nasr Full Field Development - (Overview) U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Oil Field Development 1,700,000,000 Construction 2018-Q4

ADMA-OPCO - SARB Offshore Oil Field Development - Package 2 U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Oil & Gas Field 500,000,000 Construction 2018-Q2

ADMA-OPCO - SARB Offshore Oil Field Development - Package 4 U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Gas Processing 455,000,000 Construction 2018-Q2

ADNOC - LNG Import Terminal U.A.E. Abu Dhabi LNG Storage Tanks 1,000,000,000 Feasibility Study 2020-Q3

ADNOC Sour Gas- Shah Field- Expansion U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Gas Network 9,500,000,000 FEED 2022-Q4

Bahrain LNG - Liquefied Natural Gas Receiving and Regasification Terminal Bahrain Hidd Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) 660,000,000 Construction 2018-Q4

Banagas - Central Gas Plant Expansion Bahrain Sitra Gas Treatment Plant 600,000,000 Construction 2019-Q1
54 Bapco - Offshore Blocks Bahrain Various Exploration 80,000,000 Feasibility Study 2022-Q1

BNGEC - Fuel Pipelines And Storage Facilities Expansion Bahrain Sitra Gas Storage Tanks 80,000,000 Construction 2018-Q4

BP - Block 61 - Ghazeer Field Development Oman Al Dahirah Gas Field Development 5,000,000,000 Construction 2020-Q4

BP - Block 61 - Khazzan and Makarem Gas Fields Development Oman Al Dahirah Gas Field Development 24,000,000,000 Construction 2022-Q1

BP - Block 61 - Khazzan Gas Fields Development - Phase 1 - Central Processing Facility Oman Al Dahirah Gas Processing 1,200,000,000 Construction 2017-Q4

BP - Block 61 - Khazzan Gas Fields Development - Phase 1 - Overview Oman Al Dahirah Gas Field Development 15,000,000,000 Construction 2017-Q4

BP - Block 61 - Khazzan Gas Fields Development - Phase 1 - Package 1 Oman Al Dahirah Gas Field Development 1,500,000,000 Construction 2018-Q4

BP - Block 61 - Khazzan Gas Fields Development - Phase 1 - Package 2 Oman Al Dahirah Gas Field Development 130,000,000 Construction 2017-Q3

DNO - Block 8 Oil & Gas Field Development Oman West Bukha Gas Field 45,000,000 Construction 2022-Q4

Dolphin Energy - Northern Emirate Pipeline (NEP) U.A.E. Sharjah Gas Pipeline 150,000,000 FEED 2022-Q3

Emirates LNG - Fujairah LNG U.A.E. Fujairah Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) 3,000,000,000 Feasibility Study 2018-Q4

GASCO - Bab Sour Gas Field Development U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Gas Processing 10,000,000,000 On Hold 2018-Q4

GASCO - Black Powder Management U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Gas Pipeline 41,000,000 Construction 2017-Q4

GASCO - Integrated Gas Development (IGD) - Expansion (Onshore Pipeline) U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Gas Production 7,100,000,000 Construction 2017-Q4

GASCO - Taweelah - Gas Compressor Station U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Gas Processing 70,000,000 Engineering & Procurement 2019-Q1

GASCO - Thammama F Early Nitrogen Rejection Unit U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Gas Processing 500,000,000 On Hold 2017-Q4

GASCO - Yas - Mina Zayed Gas Pipeline U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Gas Processing 45,000,000 Construction 2019-Q3

GASCO- Asab 1- Control System Upgrade U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Distributed Control System
(DCS) 55,000,000 Engineering & Procurement 2018-Q4

GASCO- Habshan 5 - New Compression Facility U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Gas Processing 800,000,000 On Hold 2019-Q1

GASCO- HP Connection- New NGV Filling Stations (Phase 2A) U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Gas Pipeline 10,000,000,000 On Hold 2018-Q1

GASCO- Ruwais - Train 1 & 2 Process Cooling Fire Water Pumps Replacement U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Gas Processing 80,000,000 FEED 2022-Q2

Khafji Joint Operations (KJO) - Dorra Gas Field Development (Overview) Saudi Arabia Eastern Region Gas Field Development 5,000,000,000 On Hold 2017-Q2

JANUARY 2018 arabianoilandgas.com

 PROJECTS

Completion
Project Country City/ Region Facility Budget Status
Date
KIPIC - Al Zour LNG Import And Regasification Terminal Kuwait Al Zour Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) 3,330,000,000 Engineering & Procurement 2020-Q3

KNPC - Mina Al Ahmadi Refinery Fifth Gas Train Kuwait Mina Al Ahmadi Gas Processing 2,300,000,000 Construction 2018-Q1

KOC - North Kuwait Gathering Center (GC) 24 Upgrade Kuwait Northern Kuwait Gas Gathering Centre 150,000,000 On Hold 2018-Q1

KOC - North Kuwait Gathering Center (GC) 32 Kuwait Northern Kuwait Gas Gathering Centre 1,650,000,000 Engineering & Procurement 2021-Q3

KOC - North Kuwait Manifold Gathering System for Gathering Centers (GC) 29, 30, 31 Kuwait Northern Kuwait Gas Gathering Centre 2,500,000,000 Construction 2018-Q1

KOC - West Kuwait BS-171 Gas Sweetening Facility Kuwait West Kuwait Gas Treatment Plant 400,000,000 EPC ITB 2019-Q4

MOG - Block 43b Onshore Exploration and Production Oman Northern Oman Gas Exploration 40,000,000 EPC ITB 2022-Q2

MOG - Block 65 Onshore Exploration and Production Oman Northern Oman Gas Exploration 40,000,000 EPC ITB 2022-Q2

NOC - Al Shaheen Offshore Field Development Plan Qatar Qatar Oil & Gas Field 500,000,000 Construction 2022-Q3

NOGA - Gazprom - Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Distribution Centre Bahrain Various Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) 600,000,000 Feasibility Study 2020-Q1

OLNG - Qalhat LNG Expansion Oman Qalhat Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) 100,000,000 FEED 2021-Q2

Oman Gas Company - Murayrat PLS Upgrade Oman Adam Ad Dakhliya Gas Processing 100,000,000 Construction 2017-Q4

Oman Gas Company - Muscat Gas Network Oman Muscat Gas Network 100,000,000 Feasibility Study 2022-Q4

Oman Gas Company - Salalah LPG Extraction Oman Salalah Liquefied Petroleum Gas 650,000,000 Engineering & Procurement 2020-Q1
(LPG)

Orpic - Liwa Plastics Industries Complex - NGL Extraction Units Oman Sohar Natural Gas Liquefaction
(NGL) 700,000,000 Engineering & Procurement 2019-Q1

Orpic - Nitrogen Gas Plant Oman Sohar Nitrogen 50,000,000 Construction 2019-Q1

Oryx GTL - Expansion of Gas To Liquids Plant Qatar Ras Laffan Gas to Liquids (GTL) 1,500,000,000 Feasibility Study 2020-Q4

PDO - Kauther Depletion Compression Phase 2 (KDC2) Oman Al Dakhiliya Gas Compression 190,000,000 Construction 2018-Q3

PDO - Khulud Tight Gas Development Project (KLD) Oman Al Wusta Gas Field Development 300,000,000 Engineering & Procurement 2020-Q2 55
PDO - Mabrouk Deep Phase-3 (Gathering & Surface Facilities) Oman Saih Rawl Gas Gathering 200,000,000 Construction 2017-Q4

PDO - Rabab-Harweel Integrated Plant (RHIP) - Overview Oman Harweel Gas Processing 3,000,000,000 Construction 2019-Q1

PDO - Saih Nahaydah Depletion Compression Phase-2 (SNDC2) Oman Saih Nihayda Gas Compression 180,000,000 Construction 2018-Q3

PDO - Saih Nihayda Condensate Stabilization Plant Oman Saih Nihayda Gas Treatment Plant 115,000,000 Construction 2018-Q1

PDO - SRCPP & SNGP Condensate Recovery Maximisation Oman Saih Nihayda Gas Processing 300,000,000 Commissioning 2017-Q4

Port of Duqm Company - Floating Storage Regasification Unit (FSRU) Oman Duqm LNG Regassification 500,000,000 Feasibility Study 2021-Q3

Qatar Petroleum (QP) - Air Compressor Replacement at Mesaieed Refinery Qatar Mesaieed Gas Processing 50,000,000 Construction 2017-Q4

Qatar Petroleum (QP) - Vapour Recovery System at Multi Product Berth Qatar Mesaieed Gas Processing 50,000,000 On Hold 2019-Q2

Qatargas - Zekreet Gasoline Production Facility - Phase 2 Qatar Ras Laffan Gas Production 2,000,000,000 FEED 2022-Q4

RasGas - Helium 3 Production Plant Qatar Ras Laffan Helium 600,000,000 Construction 2018-Q2

RasGas - Qatar Barzan Gas Field Development Project - Offshore - Phase 2 Qatar North Field Gas Field Development 700,000,000 Engineering & Procurement 2019-Q4

RasGas - Qatar Barzan Gas Field Development Project - Offshore - Phase 3 Qatar North Field Gas Field Development 300,000,000 Engineering & Procurement 2023-Q4

RasGas - Qatar Barzan Gas Field Development Project - Onshore - Phase 2 Qatar North Field Gas Field Development 2,000,000,000 Feasibility Study 2019-Q4

RasGas - Qatar Barzan Gas Field Development Project - Overview Qatar North Field Gas Field Development 10,300,000,000 Construction 2021-Q4

Saudi Aramco - Arabiyah and Hasbah Gas Field Development Saudi Arabia Arabiyah Gas Field 3,000,000,000 Construction 2019-Q1

Saudi Aramco - Fadhili Gas Plant (Overview) Saudi Arabia Eastern Region Gas Treatment Plant 6,600,000,000 Construction 2019-Q3

Saudi Aramco - Fadhili Gas Plant - Downstream Packages Saudi Arabia Eastern Region Gas Processing 650,000,000 Construction 2019-Q3

Saudi Aramco - Fadhili Gas Plant - Industrial Support Facilities (FISF) Saudi Arabia Eastern Region Gas Treatment Plant 100,000,000 Construction 2019-Q3

Saudi Aramco - Fadhili Gas Plant - Main Processing Facilities (Package 1) Saudi Arabia Eastern Region Gas Treatment Plant 2,500,000,000 Construction 2019-Q3

Saudi Aramco - Fadhili Gas Plant - Offsites & Utilities (Package 3) Saudi Arabia Eastern Region Gas Field 2,000,000,000 Construction 2019-Q3

Saudi Aramco - Fadhili Gas Plant - Sulphur Recovery Unit SRU (Package 2) Saudi Arabia Eastern Region Gas Treatment Plant 2,500,000,000 Construction 2019-Q3

arabianoilandgas.com JANUARY 2018

 PROJECTS

Completion
Project Country City/ Region Facility Budget Status
Date

Saudi Aramco - Haradh Gas Increment Program - Freeflow Pipelines Saudi Arabia Haradh Flowlines 470,000,000 Engineering & Procurement 2019-Q1

Saudi Aramco - Haradh Gas Increment Program - North Haradh Field Gas Compression
Saudi Arabia Haradh Gas Compression 1,200,000,000 Engineering & Procurement 2020-Q1
Facilities

Saudi Aramco - Haradh Gas Increment Program - South Haradh Field Gas Compression
Facilities Saudi Arabia Haradh Gas Compression 1,200,000,000 Engineering & Procurement 2020-Q1

Saudi Aramco - Haradh Gas Increment Program - Satellite Gas Compression Facilities Saudi Arabia Haradh Gas Compression 1,200,000,000 Engineering & Procurement 2020-Q1

Saudi Aramco - Hasbah Field Increment II Saudi Arabia Hasbah Gas Field 1,600,000,000 Construction 2019-Q2

Saudi Aramco - Hawiyah Gas Plant Expansion Saudi Arabia Hawiyah Gas Processing 1,200,000,000 Engineering & Procurement 2021-Q2

Saudi Aramco - Juaymah - Enhanced LPG Piping Network Saudi Arabia Juaymah Gas Pipeline 100,000,000 EPC ITB 2020-Q1

Saudi Aramco - Liquefied Gas Station For Shedgum & Uthmaniya Gas Plants Saudi Arabia Various Natural Gas Liquefaction
(NGL) 74,000,000 Construction 2018-Q3

GCC OIL – DECEMBER 2017

Completion
Project Country City/ Region Facility Budget Status
Date
ADCO - Buhasa Onshore Oil Field Expansion Project U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Oil Production 3,000,000,000 Feasibility Study 2021-Q1

ADCO - Mender Field Development U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Oil Field Development 350,000,000 Construction 2018-Q3

ADCO - North East Bab (NEB) - (Al Dabbiya) ASR U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Oil Production 2,500,000,000 On Hold 2020-Q4

ADCO - North East Bab (NEB) - Phase 3 (Al Dabbiya) U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Oil Production 2,300,000,000 Construction 2017-Q4

ADCO - North East Bab (NEB) - Phase 3 (Rumaitha-Shanayel) U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Oil Production 1,440,000,000 Construction 2017-Q4

ADCO- Bab Integrated Facilities Project- Expansion U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Oil Field Development 2,000,000,000 EPC ITB 2020-Q1

56 ADCO- Bab TH-F Peripheral Development U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Nitrogen 400,000,000 On Hold 2017-Q4

ADCO- Buhasa- Wellhead Automation U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Oil Field Development 100,000,000 FEED 2019-Q3

ADCO- Fujairah MOT - Hydraulic Pressure Recovery System Turbine U.A.E. Fujairah Oil Field Development 800,000,000 On Hold 2017-Q1

ADCO- Qusahwira Field Development - Phase 2 U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Oil Field Development 550,000,000 EPC ITB 2020-Q3

ADCO- South East Asset- Tie-in Project (A,B, C & D) U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Oil Field Development 650,000,000 Construction 2019-Q4

ADMA OPCO - Nasr Full Field Development - Phase 2 (Package 2 - Platforms) U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Oil Field Development 195,000,000 Construction 2018-Q4

ADMA OPCO - Nasr Full Field Development - Phase 2 (Package 3) U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Oil Field Development 200,000,000 Construction 2018-Q2

ADMA OPCO- Nasr Full Field Development - Phase 2 (Package 1 - Wellheads and Pipeline) U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Oil Field Development 900,000,000 Construction 2018-Q4

ADMA-OPCO - Nasr Full Field Development - (Overview) U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Oil Field Development 1,700,000,000 Construction 2018-Q4

ADMA-OPCO - SARB Offshore Oil Field Development - Package 2 U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Oil & Gas Field 500,000,000 Construction 2018-Q2

ADMA-OPCO - SARB Offshore Oil Field Development - Package 4 U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Gas Processing 455,000,000 Construction 2018-Q2

ADMA-OPCO - Umm Al Lulu Field Development - (Overview) U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Oil Field Development 2,500,000,000 Construction 2018-Q1

ADMA-OPCO - Umm Al Lulu Field Development - Package 1 U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Oil Field Development 800,000,000 Construction 2018-Q1

ADMA-OPCO - Umm Al Lulu Field Development - Package 2 U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Oil Field Development 170,000,000 Construction 2018-Q1

ADMA-OPCO - Umm Shaif Infield Pipelines Replacement U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Oil Field Development 500,000,000 EPC ITB 2019-Q4

ADMA-OPCO- Bu Haseer Field U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Pipeline 155,000,000 Construction 2018-Q2

ADMA-OPCO- Lower Zakum - Oil Lines Replacement (Phase 1) U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Pipeline 850,000,000 Construction 2018-Q2

ADNOC & EMARAT - Fujairah Terminal Expansion Phase 3 U.A.E. Fujairah Oil Storage Tanks 40,000,000 Feasibility Study 2018-Q4

ADNOC Distribution - Bateen Executive Airport- Jet Fuel Depot U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Oil Storage Tanks 80,000,000 Engineering & Procurement 2019-Q4

ADNOC Sour Gas - Dalma Field U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Oil Field Development 800,000,000 Feasibility Study 2020-Q4

ADNOC- Fujairah- Mandous Field U.A.E. Fujairah Oil Storage Tanks 500,000,000 EPC ITB 2023-Q4

ADNOC- Ghasha Field U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Oil & Gas Field 1,000,000,000 Feasibility Study 2025-Q1

ADOC - Hail Offshore Oilfield U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Oil Field 500,000,000 Construction 2019-Q3

JANUARY 2018 arabianoilandgas.com

 PROJECTS

Completion
Project Country City / Region Facility Budget Status
Date
ADOC - Mubaraz Field Expansion U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Oil Field Development 500,000,000 FEED 2022-Q4

Al Dhafra Petroleum - Haliba Oil Field U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Oil Field Development 500,000,000 EPC ITB 2023-Q2

Aramco - Aindar and Fazran Oil Fields - Sulphate Removal Facilities Saudi Arabia Eastern Region Waste Management PMC 2020-Q3

Aramco - Berri - Gas-Oil Separation Plant Expansion Saudi Arabia Berri GOSP 1,700,000,000 FEED 2020-Q1

Aramco - Manifa Oilfield Upgrade Saudi Arabia Manifa Oil Field Development 500,000,000 EPC ITB 2019-Q1

BAC - NOGA - Bahrain International Airport Modernization Program - New Aviation Fuel Bahrain Muharraq Airport 200,000,000 Engineering & Procurement 2019-Q2
Farm & Fuel Hydrant

Bahri - Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) Construction Saudi Arabia Various Very Large Crude Carriers 1,000,000,000 Construction 2017-Q4
(VLCCs)

Bapco - Offshore Blocks Bahrain Various Exploration 80,000,000 Feasibility Study 2022-Q1

Bapco - Saudi Aramco - AB Pipeline Bahrain Abqaiq - Sitra Pipeline 350,000,000 Construction 2017-Q4

DRPIC - Duqm Refinery & Petrochemical Complex - Duqm Refinery - Main Process Units Oman Duqm Refinery 4,000,000,000 Engineering & Procurement 2019-Q4

DRPIC - Duqm Refinery & Petrochemical Complex - Duqm Refinery - Offsites and Utilities Oman Duqm Refinery 2,000,000,000 Engineering & Procurement 2019-Q4

DRPIC - Duqm Refinery & Petrochemical Complex - Duqm Refinery - Overview Oman Duqm Refinery 7,700,000,000 Engineering & Procurement 2019-Q4

DRPIC - Duqm Refinery & Petrochemical Complex - Duqm Refinery - Package 3 Oman Duqm Oil Storage Terminal 250,000,000 Engineering & Procurement 2019-Q4

Duqm Petroleum Terminal Company - Duqm Liquid Jetty Oman Duqm Oil Storage Terminal 600,000,000 Engineering & Procurement 2019-Q4

Florexx International Investments - Biofuels Refinery Oman Sohar Biofuels 800,000,000 Engineering & Procurement 2020-Q4

Fujairah Oil Terminal (FOT) - Fujairah Oil Terminal Modifications U.A.E. Fujairah Oil Storage Tanks 200,000,000 EPC ITB 2020-Q1

GASCO - Integrated Gas Development (IGD) - Expansion (Onshore Pipeline) U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Gas Production 7,100,000,000 Construction 2017-Q4

GASCO - Yas - Mina Zayed Gas Pipeline U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Gas Processing 45,000,000 Construction 2019-Q3

GASCO- Integrated Gas Development - Expansion (42 Inch Pipeline) U.A.E. Abu Dhabi Oil Field Development 450,000,000 Construction 2018-Q4 57
Gulf Petrochem - Oil Storage Terminal Facility at Fujairah - Phase 2 U.A.E. Fujairah Oil Storage Tanks 300,000,000 On Hold 2019-Q1

Hydrocarbon Finder - Block 7 Onshore Exploration and Production Oman Al Wusta Exploration 50,000,000 Engineering & Procurement 2019-Q1

IL&FS Prime Terminals FZC- Fujairah Oil Terminals- Phase 2 U.A.E. Fujairah Oil Storage Terminal 80,000,000 EPC ITB 2019-Q2

Kismat International - Petroleum Terminal (Phase 1) U.A.E. Sharjah Oil Storage Tanks 50,000,000 On Hold 2019-Q4

KNPC - Ahmadi Depot Expansion Kuwait Ahmadi Oil Storage Tanks 250,000,000 Construction 2018-Q2

KNPC - Discharge Of Treated Effluent In MAA & MAB Refineries Kuwait Various Pipeline 100,000,000 On Hold 2018-Q4

KNPC - New Local Marketing Depot At Matlaa Area Kuwait Northern Kuwait Oil Storage Tanks 500,000,000 FEED 2019-Q4

KOC - Exxon Mobil Corporation - Ratqa Lower Fars Heavy Oil Handling Facilities - Drilling Kuwait Jahra Oil Field Development 500,000,000 Construction 2018-Q2
Package

KOC - Jurassic Non-Associated Gas Reserves Kuwait Northern Kuwait Oil & Gas Field 1,300,000,000 Engineering & Procurement 2018-Q2

KOC - Jurassic Production Facilities Off-Plot Works Kuwait Northern Kuwait Oil Field Development 300,000,000 Engineering & Procurement 2019-Q2

KOC - Kuwait Bay and Divided Zone Offshore Exploration Kuwait Various Exploration 1,000,000,000 Construction 2018-Q1

KOC - Minagish Marrat Water Injection Project Kuwait Minagish Water Injection 164,000,000 EPC ITB 2021-Q1

KOC - New 48'' Crude Transit Line From North Kuwait To CMM Kuwait Northern Kuwait Pipeline 270,000,000 Engineering & Procurement 2019-Q3

KOC - North Kuwait Jurassic Early Production Facility (EPF) - Phase 2 Kuwait Northern Kuwait Oil Production 100,000,000 FEED 2023-Q3

KOC - Ratqa Lower Fars Heavy Oil Development - Phase 1 Kuwait Northern Kuwait Steam Injection 4,300,000,000 Construction 2018-Q4

KOC - Wara Pressure Maintenance Project - Train 3 Kuwait Southeast Kuwait Oil Field Development 500,000,000 Engineering & Procurement 2020-Q4

Masirah Oil Ltd - Block 50 (Masirah Bay Offshore) - Exploration Oman Masirah Basin Exploration 250,000,000 Construction 2020-Q1

Medco Arabia - Block 56 Onshore Exploration and Production Oman Adam Ad Dakhliya Exploration 20,000,000 Engineering & Procurement 2020-Q4

MOG - Block 18 Offshore Exploration and Production Oman Batinah Exploration 30,000,000 On Hold 2021-Q1

Note : The above information is the sole property of DMS Projects. Budget figures are shown as US $ values. Source: dmsprojects.net

arabianoilandgas.com JANUARY 2018

 FIVE MINUTES WITH

Kamal Mokrani, FIVE

Global VP, InfiNet MINUTES
Wireless WITH...
Oil & Gas Middle East delves into Wireless technology and what it means for oil and gas

What does InfiNet do in the oil and gas industry?

ABOUT THE INTERVIEWEE:

With over 35 years’ international experience,
0:01
primarily in the IT and telecoms industries,
across Europe, MENA, Asia and the Americas,
Kamal joined InfiNet Wireless in Feb 2008 as
Global Vice President.
Our range of wireless solutions and technologies have been deployed by many
energy operators to help them improve connectivity in remote, and often
hazardous environments, providing reliable solutions, which are designed to
increase productivity and improve safety. InfiNet’s solutions aim to deliver
flexible wireless broadband connectivity, while remaining cost-effective, and
rugged enough to operate in the harsh terrains and climates often associated
with oil and gas fields, from the plains of Siberia to the deserts of Saudi Arabia.

0:31
What does the company do that is dif- “DESPITE ACCEPTANCE
ferent to competitors? BY MANY OIL AND
Our equipment can withstand extreme
temperatures, humidity, precipitation, sand
GAS OPERATORS
storms, dust, sea water, air pollution, etc. - many of which are typical of the OF WIRELESS
58 conditions in the Middle East. Using InfiNet’s IP-rated technology, its broad- TECHNOLOGIES, THERE
band speeds and uniform coverage over large camps or fields, an energy ARE STILL BARRIERS.”
operator is able to deploy far fewer access points in each desired location,
reducing capital expenditure and labour costs normally associated with

4:22
installations and maintenance activities in harsh environmental conditions.

1.
How have the subdued
oil and gas prices af-
fected your business in
2017?
market prices dropped dramatically
and companies shifted their focus to
conserving cash. Consequently, gone
are the days when far flung outposts What opportunities and innovations

3
The significant drop in were connected by expensive satellite have you created this year?
capital expenditure in the and fibre-based networking equip- We have seen a big demand for reliable
energy sector was mainly ment, a major paradigm shift which wireless platforms from oil and gas com-

7
driven by the reduction
of drilling activity by
operators for projects
deferred or cancelled as
What will be your greatest challenge in 2018?
has actually opened up a big business
opportunity for wireless vendors such
as InfiNet, despite falling revenues for
the operators.
2:16
panies wishing to replace legacy satellite or
WiMAX deployments with more advanced
platforms. Wireless broadband has become
a mission critical element of any local or
wide area network deployed by oil and gas
companies and is essential to productiv-

ity, safety, and security of their assets. We

Despite acceptance by many oil and gas operators of wireless tech- are adding value to this market sector by
nologies, there are still barriers. For example, airwaves are a scarce developing new solutions, able to deliver
resource and they need to be managed properly in order to protect even more data within the same spectrum,
frequency licence owners and ensure zero disruption to their busi- whilst maintaining sub-millisecond laten-
nesses. Without the presence of a strong regulator, the wireless cies, as well as provide high definition video
space will quickly become a “radio jungle” with very high levels of streams to allow all analytics - and fulfilling
interference and operational nightmares for the energy operators. all these requirements cost-effectively.

JANUARY 2018 arabianoilandgas.com

Stay one step
ahead of your competitors
XJUI
UIF
DMS Projects Matrix

REGIONS COVERED
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SECTORS COVERED

Oil Gas Petrochemicals Water Power Infrastructure Industrial

Refining Construction Pipeline Offshore Renewables Mining Fe rtilizer

SUBSCRIBE TODAY A Division of

or contact us for further information

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+973 1740 5590 (Bahrain Headquarters)

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Designed to
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The ME 2000
Our ME 2000 rig meets the need for power, reliability,
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