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Commercial diving

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Commercial diving

For the offshore industries, diving operations are becoming more and more important in connection with petroleum exploration, pipeline inspection, salvage and underwater construction. HiQ diving gases play important roles in the offshore diving industries.

The breathing gas mixtures Nitrox, Heliox and Trimix support human life under various diving conditions. Nitrox, a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen, is predominantly used for diving at depths of up to 50 metres. Nitrox is often called “enriched oxygen air” with a higher oxygen percentage than that found in the ordinary air. Our diving grade mixtures offer a desired oxygen concentration and therefore a lower percentage of nitrogen in Nitrox to decrease the risk of two nitrogen-related problems: decompression sickness (DCS) and nitrogen narcosis. A common Nitrox composition is 40% oxygen in balance gas nitrogen, also known as EAN40.

Heliox, a mixture of helium and oxygen, for example, 50% oxygen with balance gas helium, allows professional divers to work at greater depths, up to 150 metres, for vital inspection, repair and construction work associated with the offshore oil industry. Heliox can avoid nitrogen narcosis at these depths.

Trimix is a mixture of oxygen, helium and nitrogen. Nitrogen, usually in a small percentage (e.g. 15%), is added to Heliox to create Trimix, in order to lessen the risk of the high pressure nervous syndrome seen with helium breathing. Trimix is used for the deepest dives, usually greater than 150 metres. Heliox and Trimix are strictly for non-recreational use: military, scientific, commercial, and advanced technical diving.

Argon can be used as a deep dive dry suit inflation gas. It can give professional divers good thermal protection against the very low temperature deep in the sea, due to its insulation effect.

To construct or repair offshore pipelines, underwater welding is often required. There are currently two widely used methods: wet welding and dry hyperbaric welding. Dry hyperbaric welding, which produces high quality welds and increases the safety of the welder in deep ocean, can be done using gas – based welding processes, most commonly GTA (TIG) and also GMA (MIG) welding. It is carried out in a chamber sealed around the structure to be welded, and the chamber is filled with breathable gas mixtures of helium and oxygen at the prevailing pressure. For GTA welding, the shielding gas is usually an inert gas such as argon or helium or argon – helium mixtures for the balance of weld quality & welding speed. For GMA welding pure inert gases such as argon, helium, carbon dioxide and gas mixtures of argon and carbon dioxide are used as the shield gas to protect the weld area from surrounding contamination.

These diving gas mixtures from Linde are offered in a range of packaging size from individual cylinders to cylinder quads or packs which are appropriately treated for on-board deck storage or decanting operations for the convenience of the offshore industries.

We aim to promote diving health and safety. To maintain customer safety, diving grade gases will only be supplied to trade addresses, for example: commercial diving operations, offshore contractors, dive clubs, dive shops.

 

 

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Saipem, Dangote in E&C Joint Venture (Africa)

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Saipem, Dangote in E&C Joint Venture (Africa)

Saipem has entered into a Joint Venture with Africa’s Dangote Group to create a new company named Saipem Dangote E&C.

Saipem Dangote E&C is a new player in the Nigerian and Central/West African market. It aims to secure complex Engineering & Construction projects and ensure a realization capacity focused on efficiency, in terms of costs and timing, and flexibility, in order to respond to different needs related to specific projects, to local content and to the Country’s context.

The new JV will benefit from Dangote’s financial strength, expertise and standing in the sub–Saharan African market, where it has launched a significant oil and gas investment programme, complemented by Saipem’s unique capabilities in E&C, to develop new business. This new partnership confirms the shared commitment of the two groups to both the Nigerian market and sub-Saharan Africa more widely.

Saipem has been conducting operations in Nigeria for over 50 years. Saipem Contracting Nigeria Ltd operates principally as an Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contractor for the execution of turn-key projects including oil, gas and water pipelines, oil, gas and industrial plants, infrastructures, fabrication of offshore structures and maintenance services. .

Become a Diver

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Become a Diver

Diver Down: Things are looking up for those looking for a career underwater

Bill Chalfant has always loved diving and he has taken a hobby he learned and loved as a youth and turned it into a full-time career.

Here is how: Chalfant started diving back in 1969 as a young teenager.

He later joined the military and started diving recreationally around the world, when he traveled due to his military obligations.

In the 1980’s, Chalfant became a dive instructor for the YMCA and the professional Diving Instructors Corporation (PDIC), an international SCUBA training and Certification agency. From there he moved into the business side of the dive industry, working as a wholesale representative for several different lines of dive gear. He also opened up a dive shop with a charter boat.

In 1992 he became an adjunct dive professor at Florida Keys Community College (FKCC) in Key West, Florida. Today he is the Director of the James E. Lockwood Jr. School of Diving and Underwater Technology at FKCC. He has 34 years of experience in the diving industry and is a PADI Master Instructor.

According to padi.com, being recognized as a PADI Master Instructor means you are classified as an elite dive educator. These educators, like Chalfant, have trained over 150 PADI divers and are considered industry leaders who help shape and develop the future of diving education.

To learn more about opportunities in the diving industry, see JobMonkey’s Diving Jobs section. To learn more about what it takes to get into a career in diving, the types of opportunities available, education needed, and more tips, read the interview with Chalfant below:

Diving can be broken down into five career areas, says Chalfant:

  • Recreational Diving: This is the type of diving offered by a local dive shop in every city in the U.Ss and warm water destination resorts. Job titles in this area include instructor, divemaster, dive shop manager, dive boat captain, repair technician, retail sales and dive travel sales. Related area is journalist for diving publications. This aspect of the industry is self regulated.
  • Commercial Diving: This is the type of diving that is often referred to as “deep sea” or “hard hat” diving. This is misleading because much of the work is performed in shallow waters and may utilize a variety of equipment to include scuba. The main concern is that all commercial divers must comply with OSHA regulation 29 CFR Part 1910 Subpart T. This part of the dive industry is strictly regulated. Types of jobs in this field are: Underwater salvage, underwater construction, underwater inspection, underwater welding and cutting, maintenance and ship husbandry. Job duties are diver, tender and supervisor.
  • Public Safety Diving: This type of diving is not OSHA regulated. This type of diving is performed by law enforcement agencies and fire/rescue teams. Job Titles in this area are: Dive team member, team leader, explosive ordinance diver, underwater port security specialist and underwater investigator.
  • Research Diver: This type of diving is not regulated by OSHA but is governed by the American Academy of Underwater Scientists. This type of diving is often performed by educational institutions and private firms involved with submerged resources management. Fields in this area are: Underwater archaeology, biological research, oceanographic research, environmental protection and conservation. Jobs include: remote vehicle operation, underwater data collection, Underwater photography, specimen/artifact collection and Underwater surveys.
  • Hyperbaric Medicine: This area has evolved from the dive industry and does not involve wet diving. Dive in this field are done in a recompression chamber. These chambers were originally used to treat diving injuries such as decompression sickness and arterial gas embolisms. Now chambers are used to deliver high concentrations of oxygen to individuals with hard to treat wounds and brain injuries. Jobs in this field are: chamber operator and dive medical technician.

Where is the best place to obtain training for a career in diving?

Recreational training for a career in diving may be obtained from a school sanctioned from the many dive certifying agencies. The Professional Association of Dive Instructors (PADI) is the largest.

Commercial Diving schools are generally members of the Association of Diving Contractors International (ADC). Public safety diving is offered by many organizations a resource for team training.

Research diving is carried out by universities and colleges and does most of the training in these areas. One is the American Academy of Underwater Scientists. Hyperbaric Medicine is offered through various locations and is governed by the Undersea & Hyperbaric Medical Society. Dive training is mandatory and more background can be found at Dive Training Magazine.
There are several colleges that offer certificate and two year degree programs, including the program at Florida Keys Community College. The certificate program can be finished in less than a year and the degree program takes 2 years and the school offers training in all aspects of diving.

What are some necessary skills a person pursuing a career in diving needs?

Individuals pursuing a recreational track should like working with people. Commercial divers should have construction or engineering skills. Public safety divers are generally members of a public safety organization with police or firefighting skills. Research divers should pursue academic courses in their areas of interest. Hyperbaric Medical Technicians need to be at least an EMT before applying for DMT. All areas require a diving physical.

Where are people finding jobs in this career? Is there a “hot spot” in the U.S.?

Recreational diving is worldwide and everywhere in the U.S. Florida is the leading state in scuba certifications. Commercial divers in the oil industry dive off of California and Louisiana. Most of the other commercial diving is construction and maintenance in all near shore and inland waterways. Public safety divers are located where ever there is water, and the same goes with research diving. Hyperbaric medicine is practiced near major hospitals offering wound care.

What other advice can you provide about careers in diving?

“People will always mention sharks or some other perceived hazard whenever diving is mentioned as a career,” says Chalfant. “Recreational diving, for instance, is no more hazardous than most sports people participate in every day. Learning diving is going to require an investment in money as well as time. But it is worth it.”

Chalfant says demand varies according to the particular economy, just like everything else. Some areas such as offshore commercial diving has tremendous competition for high paying oil rig diver positions. Many trained divers may work a year or more as a tender before being able to dive. Other areas have openings seasonally.

If you are interested in this career, Chalfant has one more piece of advice:

“What are you waiting for? Get started now, the opportunities are there!”

 

 

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Tight Oil Seen Driving Gazprom Neft Hydrocarbon Output Higher In 2015

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Tight Oil Seen Driving Gazprom Neft Hydrocarbon Output Higher In 2015

Russia’s Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of the world’s top gas producer Gazprom, expects to ramp up hydrocarbon production this year, a deputy head of the company said on Thursday, thanks to new projects and unconventional oil.

Gazprom Neft has been among the most active companies tapping tight oil in Russia.

In 2014, Gazprom Neft’s hydrocarbon output rose by 6.4 percent to 66.3 million tonnes of oil equivalent thanks to the launch of output at Prirazlomnoye, Russia’s first offshore Arctic production outlet, and new projects such as Arcticgaz.

Last year, it produced 3.2 million tonnes of hard-to-recover crude and plans to ramp up output this year despite Western sanctions that prohibit exports of technology for shale oil in Russia.

Shell had to scrap plans to form a joint venture to tap tight oil with Gazprom Neft in Russia last year.

Vadim Yakovlev, a deputy head at Gazprom Neft, also confirmed that the company is delaying development at the Kuyumba deposit in East Siberia due to sanctions against Moscow over its role in the Ukraine conflict.

“Obviously, it (the sanctions) are having an impact on the project’s development,” he told reporters, adding that the company would postpone the start of oil production there by one year to the end of 2018.

BADRA

Yakovlev said the company expects to ship the first tanker of 500,000 barrels of oil from the Iraqi Badra field later this month.

Gazprom Neft has been extracting oil at the field at a pace of 15,000-17,000 barrels per day, he said.

The oilfield is located in Wasit Province, eastern Iraq, with an estimated 3 billion barrels of oil in reserve. The company submitted a tender in December 2009 and signed a contract with the government in January 2010 to develop the field.

Production is expected to reach 170,000 barrels per day in 2017.

He declined to comment on moves by the Iraqi government to review its oil-production agreements with international firms following a drop in crude prices.

 

 

 

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Prysmian Lands EUR 230 Mln 50Hertz Cable Deal

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Prysmian Lands EUR 230 Mln 50Hertz Cable Deal

Prysmian has secured a new award by 50Hertz Offshore GmbH, a subsidiary of 50Hertz Transmission GmbH, transmission grid operator in Germany, worth approximately €230 million to design, produce and install a power cable system for the offshore wind park cluster West of Adlergrund in the German Baltic Sea.

The award comes as a result of 50Hertz exercising an option for a further grid connection already provided for in the existing contract for the West of Adlergrund project, that was originally worth € 480 million effective immediately with options for further grid connections to be activated separately, when secured by Prysmian in May 2014.

The project scope comprises the design, supply and installation of multiple high voltage submarine cable systems, now including this additional connection, between planned Offshore Wind Parks, approximately 40 km north-east of the island of Ruegen, to the Lubmin substation in North East Germany (and consequently with the mainland electricity grid) along a route of approximately 90 km (submarine) and 3 km (land).

The 220 kV HVAC (High Voltage Alternate Current) 3-core extruded cables (including fibre optic cable system) will be produced in Pikkala (Finland) and Arco Felice (Naples, Italy), which have recently been upgraded to be fully equipped to manufacture and test large cross-section 3-core cables up to 400 kV AC. The production of the West of Adlergrund cable systems has already started and installation operations are scheduled to begin in 2015.

Marine cable laying will be performed using the Group’s DP2 ship Cable Enterprise. The vessel has been newly upgraded and converted from dumb barge to self-propelled DP2 vessel able to operate in very shallow waters.

“This award reconfirms Prysmian’s undisputed leadership in the submarine cable systems industry as a truly reliable and dedicated partner in the execution of turn-key complex projects,” stated Massimo Battaini, Prysmian Group’s Senior Vice President Energy Projects. “The activation of this option is a tangible sign of the Group’s strong and acknowledged reputation and of the trust of the market”, he added.

In Germany, in particular, the country with one of the largest renewable energy development programme, the Group has recently announced the successful commissioning and hand over of two HVDC offshore grid connections (BorWin2 and HelWin1). A further two DC offshore grid connection projects, SylWin1 and HelWin2, are near completion and are scheduled to take up commercial operation within the first half of 2015. Prysmian is currently implementing also the HVDC cable systems for the DolWin3 and BorWin3 projects.

GE, Statoil: Final Call for Open Innovation Challenge

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GE Oil & Gas and Statoil have issued their final call for entries for their Open Innovation Challenge which launched in January 2015, Subsea UK reported.

  • GE & Statoil issue final call for five $25,000 cash prizes;
  • The partnership is crowdsourcing solutions to reduce trucking of sand in fracking process;
  • Entries can include proposals for new materials or more efficient use of sand;
  • The goal is to create a portfolio of five technologies to be commercialised within five years and reduce the environmental impact of hydraulic fracturing.

With less than a month until the final deadline, GE is inviting entries to scoop one of the five $25,000 cash prizes. Each winning respondent also will have an opportunity to receive additional funding for a 6 month period, from a total prize pool of up to $375,000 USD.

The Open Innovation Challenge was launched in January to invite engineers, technical innovators and start-ups to submit ideas to address the use of sand in unconventional operations like hydraulic fracturing. The goal of this Challenge is to find technologies to reduce the amount of or replace sand required to drill and maintain productive wells.

Sand is a proppant used to keep fractures open during fracturing and can dramatically reduce the environmental impact of fracturing and greatly increase its productivity and efficiency.

Trucks carrying sand account for a large percentage of the truck traffic to drilling fields. Weight limits on community roadways prevent sand delivery trucks from hauling maximum capacity loads.

To improve the health and safety of these communities, GE and Statoil are seeking innovative technologies to replace or reduce the amount of sand required for hydraulic fracturing of oil and gas wells. Transporting sand to well sites, however, is costly, logistically tricky and can compound the community and environmental impacts of drilling. Trucking is a key political and public concern around the development of fracturing sites all over the world.

It is for that reason that GE and Statoil launched the Innovation Challenge to crowdsource solutions to reduce the amount of or replace sand required.

 

 

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Bank Of Montreal CEO Sees M&A Upside From Oil Price Slump

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Bank Of Montreal CEO Sees M&A Upside From Oil Price Slump

Battered oil prices are expected to spur mergers and acquisitions in the energy sector and drive advisory fees for the Bank of Montreal, Chief Executive William Downe said on Tuesday. Canada’s No. 4 lender, which is not looking at making major acquisitions at the moment, also expects consumers to step up spending as the sluggish oil price leaves them with more cash, he said.

“It’s inevitable that there will be some restructurings of loans that come, but on the other side of that the net will be a positive,” he said in an interview. “The fact that the cost of heating oil and gasoline to drive your car is effectively putting $20 a week in the pocket of every working person in North America, that’s net stimulative to the economy,” he said. A prolonged slump in the price of oil has hit the energy sector hard, and it prompted the Bank of Canada to cut interest rates earlier this year.

BMO is looking to take advantage of potential deal activity in the energy patch as weaker oil prices begin to take a toll on industry players, Downe told shareholders at BMO’s annual meeting. “There’s going to be a reconfiguration,” he said. “We expect to play a part in advising companies in the sector and we also expect to be involved in the financing of ventures that result from this.” The bank itself would be focused on organic growth as it looks to double its U.S. customer base, he said.

BMO has a significant presence in the U.S. Midwest through its BMO Harris Bank unit. “We don’t have any acquisition plans at present,” Downe said in the interview. BMO’s acquisitions in recent years include UK-based F&C Asset Management plc in 2014 and Milwaukee-based Marshall & Ilsley Corp in 2011. Last month, the lender posted a first-quarter profit that missed expectations, hurt by the impact of declining long-term interest rates on its insurance unit and lower investment and corporate banking revenues. 

 

 

 

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Deep Down Stays in Red, 2015 Outlook Uncertain

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Deep Down Stays in Red, 2015 Outlook Uncertain

Deep Down, an oilfield services company specializing in deepwater and ultra-deepwater oil production distribution system support services, reported a net loss of $5.8 million, or $0.38 loss per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $0.6 million, or $0.05 loss per diluted share for 2013.

This loss included the full impairment of the company’s goodwill, previously recorded on Deep Down’s balance sheet at $4.9 million. This impairment was due to the reduction in oil prices, and the impact it had on the energy market.

Revenues for 2014 were $28.6 million, and were relatively flat when compared to revenues of $29.6 million for 2013. The $1.0 million decrease is primarily the result of customer delays in certain projects caused by the recent drop in oil prices.

Gross profit as a percentage of revenues for 2014 was a slightly improved 30 percent, compared to 2013’s 29 percent.

Modified EBITDA in 2014 was equal to 2013 except for a one-time adjustment in 2013 for the purchase of a carousel fabricated for a customer that had been accounted for on a percentage-of-completion basis. The carousel was in the final stages of completion, and Deep Down was required to book the purchase at our cost, effecting a $1.4 million adjustment to net income.

Ronald E. Smith, Chief Executive Officer, stated: “The significant drop in oil prices resulted in delays of several of our customers’ projects, many of which are now beginning to pick up again as the industry readjusts to the new environment. While we are disappointed in the financial results for 2014, we are optimistic about the new opportunities being presented by lower oil prices. Our after-market business is receiving increased attention from operators, several of whom have already engaged us to assist them weather this turbulent period.

“The outlook for 2015 remains uncertain; however, production projects for deepwater and ultra-deepwater continue to be very active despite the lower oil prices. Our current backlog is approximately $31 million and continues to grow. However, in light of the uncertainties in our market, we have commenced a cost containment and cost reduction program, which will enable us to better align ourselves with the changing market without limiting our ability to continue serving our customers. We remain cautiously optimistic for the future, especially in light of our diverse service offerings.”

Ministry: Foreign Energy Firms Owed $3.3B by Egypt

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Ministry: Foreign Energy Firms Owed $3.3B by Egypt

Egypt owes foreign energy firms $3.285 billion having paid them $9.369 billion in arrears in the nine months to March 31, an oil ministry spokesman told Reuters on Thursday. The ministry told Reuters last month that it aimed to fully repay its debt to energy firms by mid-2016, a year later than previously indicated.

Hammered by instability since a popular uprising which ousted leader Hosni Mubarak in 2011, Egypt has delayed payments to oil and gas firms.

Arrears began to accumulate before the revolt, but worsening state finances saw the debts mount to billions of dollars while the government diverted gas earmarked for export to meet domestic demand.

Gas production has declined in Egypt while consumption has risen, but firms have been reluctant to increase investment in exploration and production, particularly in costly offshore areas, until the government pays them. 

 

 

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CTI to Launch New SonarWiz at Ocean Business

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CTI to Launch New SonarWiz at Ocean Business

Chesapeake Technology, Inc., (CTI) is launching new SonarWiz at the Ocean Business show in April.

As the company explains, the new SonarWiz has a modern look, visible enhancements to all modules (sidescan, sub-bottom, bathymetry, and magnetometry), more integrated plan-view and 3D visualizations, and for the first time introduces bathymetry amplitude processing.

Backscatter post-processing is now available for bathymetric data including beam averaged and time-series (snippets) amplitude records.

Also, SonarWiz has expanded its grid creation and editing tooling. The system has strong support for interferometers, AUVs and other swath systems that are used in challenging environments.

John Gann, VP Software Development commented, “I’m extremely excited about this release. I’m sure I say this about all of our software releases, but this one is a biggie! The backscatter processing for bathymetric data is an excellent new development and took real teamwork to get out the door. Teamwork, that is from inside and outside Chesapeake, so thank you to all of our beta testing customers and sonar manufacturer partners.”

“Chesapeake continues to be one of the top choices for processing sidescan imagery, generating mosaics, as well as detecting and reporting features of interest. The new SonarWiz is a leap ahead with its enhanced support for interferometric bathymetry and AUV-based data management, processing, and rendering,” said Straud Armstrong of L-3 Communications Klein Associates, Inc.

Ocean Business attendees can see the new SonarWiz at booth S5 and experience SonarWiz in action on Klein and EdgeTech water demos, at the L-3 Klein booth “L3”, or the EdgeTech booth “B9”.

Chesapeake Tech is also offering a one-day training workshop April 17th on-location after the show.

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