Top Interviews of 2015

During the year, Subsea World News has conducted interviews with the representatives of some of the biggest players in the industry, revealing their current projects and future plans.

In 2015 we’ve seen the establishment of several new companies in the industry, and we spoke with the representatives of Technip and FMC Technologies about their newly created 50/50 joint venture, Forsys Subsea.

Forsys Subsea represents one of the biggest alliances in the subsea industry, uniting the skills and capabilities of two subsea giants.

In a separate interview our team spoke with Technip’s President Subsea, Hallvard Hasselknippe, to find out about Technip’s soild performance during the first quarter 2015, despite industry headwinds.

We also spoke with the Chairman and COO of Optime Subsea Services, a joint venture between ex-FMC employees and the subsea installation player DeepOcean.

In another interview Subsea World News team introduced newly established company, Underwater Integrity Solutions (UIS).

UIS was presented to the public during Offshore Technology Conference, and comprises of Chief Executive Officer Bill Boyle, Chief Financial Officer Mark Webster and Chief Operating Officer Guido Bressani, and in Aberdeen, Chief Commercial Officer Neill Kelly, and Chief Technology Officer, Geoff Fisher.

The top 10 interviews for the 2015 were:

Forsys Subsea New Approach to Subsea Fields

Forsys Subsea, a 50/50 joint venture between FMC Technologies and Technip, was announced in March this year as a joint venture that will unite the skills and capabilities of two subsea giants.

“Forsys Subsea combines the skills and capabilities of two subsea industry leaders and is uniquely positioned to redefine the way subsea fields are designed, delivered and maintained. By combining the industry-leading technologies of the parent companies, Forsys Subsea will reduce the interfaces of the subsea umbilical, riser and flowline systems (SURF) and subsea production and processing systems (SPS). It will also simplify the seabed layout, thereby reducing complexity, accelerating time to first oil, and enabling higher sustainable field production,” the company representatives said.

Technip Stays Strong with Integrated Approach

French engineering and construction contractor for the energy industry, Technip, is one of the few companies who managed to tackle a very challenging industry environment caused by the recent oil price decline and intensified pressure on operator budgets.

To find out about Technip’s soild performance during the first quarter 2015, despite industry headwinds, Subsea World News asked Technip’s President Subsea Hallvard Hasselknippe, who joined the company’s Executive Committee in January 2014.

“In the first quarter, the performance of the Group has been solid despite industry headwinds. More specifically, our Subsea segment outperformed, with adjusted revenue growth at a high level of 28% and significant improvement in profit compared to last year at the same period,” Hasselknippe said.

New Subsea Company to Challenge the Traditional

A new subsea company was launched in May, comprising of a group of ex-FMC employees in alliance with subsea installation player DeepOcean, aiming to cut subsea tree installation costs by 80%.

“We are a true subsea well completion and intervention services company. We deliver more cost efficient solution for the operator. There are not a lot of companies that can clearly articulate their strategic position and thus having challenges in operating lean and efficient. That means that now as we have developed our organization and technical strategy, we are able to ensure our organization is lean and quick to respond,” Chairman and COO at Optime Subsea Services Thor Arne Løvland said to Subsea World News.

UIS for New Approach to Subsea Integrity

This year’s Offshore Technology Conference has seen the launch of a new subsea company, Underwater Integrity Solutions (UIS).

The Houston-based UIS, is an independent company, focused on underwater integrity, production assurance and life extension for subsea fields.

“UIS aims to offer a new approach, free from the constraints of owning vessels or ROVs, independent and dedicated solely to delivering the best solution for underwater asset integrity. Essentially, we are proposing a joined-up approach to a fragmented market, offering customers broader and better access to specific and bundled services, where the customer wants this,” UIS CEO, Bill Boyle, stated.

Innovation is the Key, Subsea UK CEO Says

After organizing a very successful Subsea Expo exhibition and conference in Aberdeen, in an interview with Subsea World News, Neil Gordon, Chief Executive of Subsea UK, shared Subsea Expo’s success story and his views about the current situation on the market.

He said: “Innovation will be key to driving real change whether it is in exploration, production, maintenance or decommissioning. While big ticket, game-changing science and technology will not be discovered and launched every month, what we are seeing almost daily are incremental improvements to existing technology, innovative ways of applying existing technology and techniques.”

Aleron Subsea Invests in Growth

Subsea robotic firm, Aleron Subsea, established in 2010 by Mike Bisset, is a specialist ROV refurbishment, upgrade, sales and rental company with currently 8 work class ROV systems.

Aleron started in Singapore when, according to Gary McConnell, Global Business Development Manager, its directors saw a gap in the market for a company that was to challenge conventional thinking by refurbishing and upgrading existing systems rather than buying systems new each time there was a project requirement.

“Our business model is to extend their field lifespan and often upgrade their power ratings to keep up with industry change and expectations,” McConnell said.

Impact Subsea, New Player on the Market

Newly established subsea company, Impact Subsea, developer of products for Oil and Gas, Renewables and the Underwater Scientific industry introduced themselves to the market in the first half of 2015.

Subsea World News spoke to Benedict Grant, Managing Director of Impact Subsea about the company’s establishment and future plans in the business.

Grant said: “The company’s focus is on sensors and instrumentation for underwater use. Our main target market is the oil and gas sector, but we also address various applications in the renewables sector and the underwater scientific markets.”

Spectrum Sees Huge Potential Offshore Adriatic

Croatian Ministry of Economy contracted the Norwegian seismic player Spectrum to acquire 2D Multi-Client seismic offshore Croatia ahead of licensing round held in January 2015.

During the Adriatic Oil & Gas Summit (AOG), Jevon Hilder, Spectrum’s Business Development Manager for Mediterranean and Middle East took some time to tell us more about the contract.

“The Croatian government chose Spectrum because of our regional expertise, both in the wider Mediterranean and locally with the work we had already done on the Italian side of the Adriatic. The cooperation was excellent; the Ministry of Economy and the Hydrocarbon Agency were very helpful and efficient,” stated Jevon Hilder.

New Class of Ocean Observing System

A relative newcomer on the market, a company based in San Diego called Ocean Aero has designed and built an unmanned vessel that can operate both on the surface as well as underwater, thus expanding its applications.

In an interview with Subsea World News, the company’s founder, CFO and Executive VP Ken Childress shared more information about this project and Ocean Aero’s future plans.

“The Submaran has been developed over 3 years. Of course, we had 8 years of experience building unmanned marine systems prior to starting with the Submaran. Over the 3 years of development we have built 5 Submaran prototypes making improvements along the way. We have used a rapid prototype development model with extensive use of technology such as 3D printing of parts and “on the fly” software development.”

Sandvik to Focus on West African and Middle Eastern Markets

Sandvik is a global engineering Group that employs 50,000 people commitment to enhancing customer productivity, profitability and safety.

Subsea World News spoke to Phil Cherrie, Regional Sales and Marketing Manager Oil & Gas, for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), about company’s current and future projects in the industry.

He said: “We see interesting activity in geographical locations such as West Africa, the Middle East, as well as Asia Pacific. We continue to offer our broad portfolio, from drilling through to completion products such as control line and chemical injection line. Due to our advanced material know how and materials for critical and demanding environments, areas such as the Middle East and North Africa, with high H2S environments are particularly in focus.”