OTC 2018: Opening minds and closing the gap – collaboration delivers technology excellence

As we return to Houston for another Offshore Technology Conference, I’m looking forward to hearing about the new technology advancements our industry has made in the past 12 months - something I’m particularly passionate about in my career.

As an active SPE member, I recently presented at the Aberdeen chapter and was reminded how important these are in sharing our expertise and knowledge, in order to meet the technical needs of a changing industry.     

This year at OTC we’ve grasped that challenge and launched a new technology zone.  It allows us to showcase our capability across several new and emerging technologies, including partnerships we’ve forged with other leading technology players. 

This partnership approach is something we’ve seen more of in our industry, and embraced in Expro and with our clients.  In particular, we are seeing more operators move to a solutions based approach, such as integrated tenders, that allow them to focus on what they know best – their E&P business – empowering service companies to plan and deliver their operations (in close partnership with their wells team).

From a service company perspective, this allows us to gain a much stronger understanding of their business, including their technical challenges, in order to apply our expertise to greatest effect.  It also allows us to be more efficient and therefore cost effective in our approach, something demanded by our customers in today’s environment.

One example of this was when I worked on a contract for a Houston based IOC, which had previously tendered for discrete services.  We bid on that basis, including subsea, well test, wireline, fluid sampling and analysis and reservoir surveillance, however we quickly realised that a bundled approach delivered much greater cost efficiency and results for both organisations.  We could not only deliver on their immediate requirements, we could build a long term partnership that maximises greater potential from their assets, particularly our reservoir surveillance capability that acquires high-value data to inform longer-term decisions on the reservoir.

This year at OTC we’ll be focusing on that approach and I’m delighted to be presenting our award-winning Next Generation Landing String, which is revolutionising the subsea landing string market.  The increased functionality allows operators to significantly lower their well commissioning and intervention costs, in total compliance to the forthcoming API 17G standards. In addition, the data gathered through the in riser monitoring system allows us to expand the operating envelope and provides assurance to the structural integrity of the landing string components.

Advancements like these remind me just what our industry is capable of, particularly when we work in closer partnership to shape and deliver them.

Footnote: Expro’s Next Generation Landing String project was awarded the prestigious ‘Spotlight on New Technology Award’ at OTC Houston 2018.  To find out more, join Donald on booth #3126 to hear his presentations being held throughout the week.  Full dates and times can be downloaded at www.expro.com