Deepwater to play critical role in energy supply

Offshore Energy Today is sharing the following article with permission from Offshore Technology Conference Asia, or OTC Asia 2014.

By Abdelghani Henni, OTC Asia Staff Writer

During the topical luncheon jointly sponsored by SapuraKencana Petroleum and Shell on Wednesday [March 26, 2014], speakers [at OTC Asia in Malaysia] discussed ways to unlock the full potential of deep water, considering novel solutions, global scale and people, and enhanced capabilities through integration. 

Gerald Schotman, executive vice president of innovation, research, and development and chief technology officer at Royal Dutch Shell, talked about unlocking the full potential of deep water through novel solutions, global scale, and people. Schotman said that the human factor is key for the success of the industry, adding that the expectations from the industry are high.

“There is an urgent need to deliver the energy; not only delivering it, but it is extremely important to deliver it fast,” he said. “We need to deliver it reliably and also sustainably.”

Deep water is expected to play a critical role in delivering energy; many forecasts predict that more than 300 billion bbl of crude oil needs to come from deep water, approximately 10% of the overall crude to be found.

“We have a wealth of deepwater expertise that will allow us to find and produce these resources,” Schotman said. “At Shell, we started operations in deep water in 1978 in the Gulf of Mexico, and, in Asia, we are currently engaged in several deepwater projects,” he said.

Schotman said that companies need to safely unlock the full potential of offshore through minimizing geological uncertainty, pioneering new deepwater technologies, and maintaining their operating licenses.

“Overall, a lot is happening in terms of offshore and deepwater development, and we need to get smarter and better in unlocking these resources,” he said. “We should be open to innovation and collaboration, as innovation works best when there is a better relationship and collaboration between different parties. To achieve that, novel solutions, global scale, and capable people are key,” Schotman said.

Meanwhile, Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Shahril Shamsuddin, president and group chief executive office of SapuraKencana Petroleum, said in his presentation, entitled The Enhanced Capabilities Through Integration, that integration in all aspects is key to delivery, adding that distinct benefits are realized when attributes are in place. “Benefits accrue when single-point accountability delivers with integration,” he said.

Shahril added that, in integrated project planning, enhancing safety and cost control are important for projects. “Performance management, resource assurance, and schedule control are also critical aspects of the project,” he said. “People are key for the success of capabilities integration, where strategic assets, agility, and technology are very important,” he added.

Referring to the experience of his company, Shahril said that his company’s journey to success has sequentially added capabilities toward integration. “Our company was launched in early 1990s as pure contracting company, and then moved to a well-established regional player before becoming an integrated upstream global player with offices in Australian and Brazil, along with a complete value chain integration of drilling and exploration and production,”  Shahril said.

Shahril also referred to the Barantal development as an example of project management excellence through integration.  “Barantal development project was supposed to be developed in 5 years, but we executed it in 18 months, and it became fully operation in 24 months,” he said. “The project had elements of collaboration and elements of bringing everyone involved from the beginning of the project, which includes subsurface, contractors, and asset owners who came together to really understand the subsurface and when to engineer safely, on time, and almost on the budget,” Shahril said