DNV Launches New Deepwater Technology Centre in Singapore

DNV has launched a Deepwater Technology Centre in Singapore. The aim is to serve the oil and gas industry in the whole Asia Pacific region and to become a sizeable and complete competence centre for deepwater oil and gas developments.

“We will capitalize on DNV’s 40 years of experience in offshore and deepwater, and on the leading position of our well established deepwater centres in Houston, Oslo and Rio de Janeiro,” said DNV’s COO Remi Eriksen at the opening ceremony in Singapore.

DNV’s long track record in R&D, experience in the deepwater oil and gas industry, and its strong position in developing industry acclaimed technical standards, create a perfect strategic fit with Singapore’s strategy of becoming a hub for deepwater competence in Asia. “The establishment of the new Deepwater Technology Centre in Singapore has become a reality due to a very constructive cooperation with Singapore’s Economic Development Board (EDB),” said Remi Eriksen, who is in charge of DNV’s operations in Asia and the Middle East.

The Guest-of-Honour at the opening ceremony, Minister of State for Trade and Industry Mr. Teo Ser Luck, affirms this close relationship between Singapore and DNV: “DNV and Singapore have enjoyed a strong partnership over the years. With the Deepwater Technology Centre, Singapore would become DNV’s first and only deepwater hub in the Asia-Pacific. This will take our partnership to a higher level. Thank you for this strong vote of confidence in Singapore.”

“The Deepwater Technology Centre will focus on three core sectors,” said Alex Imperial, Managing Director of the Deepwater Technology Centre. “The first of these sectors includes subsea, umbilicals, risers, flow lines and pipelines. Secondly, we will focus on floating systems, including production and drilling. Finally, it will work within the fields of drilling and wells. Our ambition is to have 55 highly qualified professionals at the centre five years from now,” he added.

DNV in Singapore is building a sustainable competence centre to support the whole Asia-Pacific in its deepwater challenges, benefiting from the full breath of DNV’s competence and cross-disciplinary technical capabilities to provide high-end advisory services. For that the Deepwater Technology Centre will collaborate closely with the industry, universities and governmental R&D institutes.

The Asia-Pacific is a booming deepwater oil and gas market with various field developments, both in the planning and development phases. The deepwater market will experience massive investments and consistent growth. In the next five years, the deepwater capital expenditure (capex) is expected to increase by more than 200%, totalling US$21bn, and be the highest capex after the Golden Triangle consisting of Brazil, the Gulf of Mexico and West Africa. Given its sheer size and diversity, the Asia-Pacific is facing vast challenges as the countries in this region present different maturity levels in exploration and production activities.

Innovative technologies and methodologies related to drilling and well integrity, subsea processing and hardware, and floating systems will play a major role as enablers and enhancers. However, new technologies – or the lack of experience with proven ones – also bring uncertainties that need to be properly addressed in the conceptual phase. Availability of qualified human resources, increased local content vs. installed capacity, new entrants, stricter operational safety requirements and new regulatory frameworks, and societal pressure add complexity to the traditional technical challenges.

Singapore plays a major role in this context, paving the way to become a major offshore and deepwater cluster and complementing its current leading position as a hub for the conversion and newbuilding of offshore units. Singapore’s outstanding global competitiveness supports its ambition of becoming a regional deepwater cluster. Its strategic geographic position, which allows serving the Asia-Pacific from within the same time zones and is supported by the quality of its institutions and higher education, world-class infrastructure as well as the country’s sound and rapidly expanding R&D strategy, makes Singapore the obvious location for DNV’s new Deepwater Technology Centre.

[mappress]

World Maritime News Staff, January 9, 2012