ADC Energy to evaluate rigs for LNG deployment

A specialist provider of dynamic integrated rig inspections, ADC Energy, has announced its latest win in the LNG sector, accelerating its strategic diversification plan, after securing a contract with a U.S.-based global infrastructure organisation.

Former Aberdeen Drilling Consultants rebranded to ADC Energy earlier this year to reflect its increasingly diverse operating portfolio. Its key growth area has become the offshore wind market. The firm has started conducting audits for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) company, which will assist in selecting and identifying drilling rigs it can repurpose for global LNG operations. This win comes at the heels of new business wins for ADC totalling £5 million ($6.8 million), strengthening the firm’s order book.

ADC’s specialist engineering teams from the U.S., the UK, and Asia Pacific will review a number of oil and gas drilling rigs to establish their energy efficiency. The main part of the work scope will be to evaluate their suitability for LNG deployment should they be repurposed.

Utilising its bespoke criteria, the company intends to evaluate the physical condition, operability of each rig and its functional design, before it provides insight into the repurposing of each asset. This will be carried out based on API and OEM functional design specifications along with other industry safety and operating standards.

ADC conducted the initial assessments of jack-up units – Maersk Gallant and Maersk Guardian – before the units were moved to South America from their North Sea locations. Maersk sold these jack-up rigs to New Fortress Energy (NFE) earlier this year. They will now be used for non-drilling purposes as part of the planned Fast LNG project.

In recent months, the firm has expanded efforts into advancing the oil and gas industry’s decarbonisation of existing assets. This was accomplished by highlighting how operators can gain greater efficiencies from their installations, providing inspections to evaluate environmental, social and governance (ESG) ratings, and reducing non-productive time.

Austin Hay, ADC Energy’s director explained: “While the oil and gas industry remains a key focus for ADC Energy, it’s exciting to see our diversification strategy come to fruition with our latest contract in the LNG sector. As stalled projects continue to reactivate this year, there is a real demand for efficient, fit-for-purpose assets across the oil and gas, LNG, offshore wind and geothermal industries. There is also a growing appetite for the repurposing of oil and gas assets for use in the renewable energy sectors and we are perfectly placed to conduct rig inspection and selection surveys to match operator requirements”.

ADC also recently employed two data scientists at its Aberdeen base to boost its data capture and storage capabilities and support its growth trajectory. These two are involved in enhancing ADC’s existing Technical Rig Audit Management System (TRAMS), a rapid reporting and intelligence sharing rig inspection tool, which allows real-time reporting of identified threats for unplanned downtime, according to the firm.

As explained by the company, this ensures any threats can be addressed immediately, thus, ultimately the rig remains operable during the inspection. While the audit team is still on board, this would allow major and critical non-conformances to be closed out.

“Our TRAMS system is just one example of how we are utilising smart data to enhance our inspections and understand trends so we can effectively predict issues before they occur”, added Hay.