1. business and industrial
2. energy
3. oil

DECEMBER 2014
06
14
CAMBODIA SEEKS TO
REKINDLE PETROLEUM
INVESTORS’ INTERESTS
ISRAELI OIL, GAS EVENT
OFFERS PLENTY OF FOOD
FOR THOUGHT
GOT WHAT
IT TAKES
TO WORK
OFFSHORE?
10
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CONTENTS
06
DECEMBER 2014 ISSUE
08
04
14
ANALYST
Trevor Crone
12
16
EDITORS
Cheang Chee Yew
Gene Lockard
EDITOR EMEA
Jon Mainwaring
10
SENIOR EDITORS
Karen Boman
Matthew Veazey
04
06
OVERCOMING CHALLENGES
CONFRONTING THE OIL,
GAS SECTOR
CAMBODIA SEEKS TO
REKINDLE PETROLEUM
INVESTORS’ INTERESTS
UPSTREAM OIL, GAS
08 WHAT
CAN LEARN ABOUT BIG
12
14
“OVER”-A WORD HEARD
OFTEN AT OSEA
ISRAELI OIL, GAS EVENT
OFFERS PLENTY OF FOOD
FOR THOUGHT
MANAGING EDITOR
Saaniya Bangee
WEB/GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Abigail Peraria
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Eric Duenas
VP CONTENT
PLAY NOT JUST FOR
16 FREE
KIDS ANYMORE
DATA FROM SOCIAL MEDIA
Bertie Taylor
FOLLOW
WHAT IT TAKES TO
10 GOT
WORK OFFSHORE?
WWW.RIGZONE.COM
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03
|
RZNEWS DECEMBER 2014
OUTLOOK
OVERCOMING CHALLENGES
CONFRONTING THE OIL,
GAS SECTOR
By Gene Lockard
@GeneLockardRZ
I
n recent years, the U.S. oil and
gas industry has – somewhat like
a teenager – gone through some
growing pains. The combination
of 3D seismic with horizontal
drilling and hydraulic fracturing in
shale formations has been a boon
to oil and gas production, but the
process itself and the rate of growth
in production has at times seemed
a bit wild and wooly, particularly to
those outside the industry. However,
amid increasing public scrutiny and
voter referendums, and calls for
greater safety, the industry faces
what could be a period of reflection
as it charts a path for sustainable
growth in the coming years.
The industry faces a number of
challenges that can and must be
overcome to keep the momentum
going. Water issues, including
both the amount of water used in
drought-prone areas, as well as
the disposal of flow-back from
fracking and the amount of truck
traffic taking water to the drilling
04
site; setbacks from residential
areas; increasing public concern
regarding air and water issues;
a move toward a younger, more
diverse workforce as older workers
retire from the industry; the changing
geopolitics regarding trading
partners that is a direct result of the
country’s increasing energy security
amid record and near-record
production levels; growing the
energy infrastructure and refinery
capabilities to keep up with this
increased production – these are
just a few of the myriad challenges
to be met as the industry moves
further into the 21st century.
The energy industry is already
at work on each of these issues,
but more remains to be done.
An unprecedented amount of
collaboration between academia
and industry is underway in an effort
to develop a pipeline of students
well-versed in science, technology,
engineering and math – the STEM
disciplines – and therefore ready to
| www.rigzone.com
step into industry positions in the
coming years. Meanwhile, more
senior and experienced workers
are being prompted to stay on
as mentors to this new group of
workers. But the industry must
become more open to diversity to
fill the number of positions created
by growth in the industry, and by
retiring workers.
While communication efforts to
those outside the industry have
improved, the industry could do
a better job of communicating
with the public regarding
setbacks and other issues of
importance to citizens in developed
municipalities. There continues to
be misinformation from both sides,
resulting – in some instances – in
outright bans on fracking that might
or might not be permanent.
To be sure, a reliable, affordable
and sustainable source of energy is
necessary to maintain the lifestyle
that much of the civilized world
currently enjoys. Projections by
most thought leaders suggest
that fossil fuel will continue to be
the main source of this energy
for many years. As Dr. Vladimir
Alvarado, associate professor
of Chemical and Petroleum
Engineering at the University of
Wyoming recently told Rigzone, we
do not want to go back to a time
when we did not depend on fossil
fuels in our everyday life. However,
as Alvarado also said, more than
the least necessary must be done
to maintain sustainability and
to leave as small a footprint as
possible. Today’s students, who
will be tomorrow’s energy industry
workers, must think in terms of their
community and the environment
in order to maintain the current
growth in the industry.
Leaders within the oil and
gas industry can and must be
proactive, anticipating resistance
ahead of projects, and then
make efforts to get the word out
about not only the necessity of
the industry’s end-use fuels and
products, but also the beneficial
aspects of a robust energy
industry working with enlightened
community leaders outside the
industry in ways that serve both the
people of the community, and the
industry itself.
The energy industry is
already at work on each
of these issues, but more
remains to be done.
05
|
RZNEWS DECEMBER 2014
E&P
CAMBODIA SEEKS TO
REKINDLE PETROLEUM
INVESTORS’ INTERESTS
By Cheang Chee Yew
ambodia, despite not possessing
any petroleum producing asset due
to a protracted delay in developing
the offshore Block A, is trying to
rekindle fading investors’ interest in
its upstream oil and gas sector.
A lack of investment interests from
petroleum firms has prompted Cambodia
to announce its intention to invite bids
for 19 onshore oil and gas exploration
blocks, Reuters said Nov. 5, quoting Diep
Sareiviseth, deputy director general in
charge of international petroleum affairs at
the Ministry of Mines and Energy. So far, no
timeline has been set by the government
for the onshore exploration block bidding
exercise, which will be “available for any
interested companies.”
The Kingdom is also planning to drum
up interest in its offshore blocks located
in the Gulf of Thailand. The first round of
a pilot public bidding process – with firms
submitting applications to the authorities
with an outline of their proposed project and
financial commitment – could commence as
early as 2015, Meng Saktheara, secretary of
state at Cambodia’s Ministry of Mines and
Energy, told The Phnom Penh Post Nov. 5.
Cambodia was previously viewed as
a potentially new oil and gas frontier
in Southeast Asia and foreign energy
companies got excited after Chevron made
C
06
@RZcheeyew.cheang
the country’s first petroleum discovery
in Block A in 2004. The U.S. oil major
submitted a production permit application
(PPA) in 2010 for the Apsara oil discovery,
but failed to get approval from the
authorities.
Disagreement between the Cambodian
government and Chevron, which by
then, had already spent over a decade in
exploration and development work on Block
A, eventually led the company to dispose
of its 30 percent share in the permit to
a fellow joint venture, Singapore-based
KrisEnergy Ltd., for $65 million in August.
Following Cambodia’s formal approval of
the Chevron’s Block A sale, new operator
KrisEnergy and joint venture partners hope
to take a final investment decision (FID)
for the Apsara development after agreeing
on terms and conditions, including fiscal
terms, of the PPA with the government. First
oil from the project, expected to produce
10,000 barrels per day in the first phase,
could flow as early as 34 months after FID.
“We hope … we will be able to steer the
Apsara development plans forward to first
production as quickly and cost effectively
as possible,” Richard Lorentz, KrisEnergy’s
director Business Development, said in an
Aug. 11 press release.
Of the other onshore and offshore
exploration blocks awarded by the
| www.rigzone.com
government earlier, Mirach Energy Ltd. – a
Singapore-based firm – said its subsidiary
CPHL (Cambodia) Co. Ltd. had just received
approval from Cambodia’s Ministry of
Environment for an Initial Environmental
Social Impact Assessment Report for
offshore Block D, which is located near
Block A. The firm is now working on an
environmental impact assessment report
before getting permission to conduct drilling
in Block D.
“Our length and timeliness of our review
process depends greatly on the quality
of the company’s study,” Sao Sopheap,
spokesman for Ministry of Environment
said, as quoted in Phnom Penh Post.
Perhaps the snail pace in developing
petroleum projects in the country lies
with an unattractive investment regime
in Cambodia, rather than its oil and gas
potential. Such a view appeared to have
resonated with the government, finally.
“The perceptions of investors at the
moment suggest that we still have a
lot to do in regards to developing legal
frameworks for the petroleum law, and
make amendments to the tax law. So they
are waiting,” Saktheara said.
The public bidding process “will hopefully
prove to us how competitive the market
is out there for our remaining blocks. We
would like to try this as a pilot only – it is
“
Our length and timeliness of
our review process depends
greatly on the quality of the
company’s study
”
where real transparency will come,” he added.
More clarity about the Cambodian
petroleum industry is being planned by the
state. This may include a full oil and gas
extraction law as well as regulations that
deal with worker safety, social responsibility
and biodiversity, possibly drafted by the
end of 2015, Saktheara said, adding that the
government is also considering higher tax
rates for oil and gas mining operations.
Cambodia is being nudged into action as it
has little option if the kingdom wants to draw
investment dollars into its upstream petroleum
sector. After all, there is finite capital available
due to competition from potential oil and
gas projects in the region, such as new
hotspots like Myanmar as well as neighboring
producers such as Indonesia, Vietnam and
Thailand.
How far the Kingdom succeeds in
rekindling investor interests in the upstream
petroleum sector will hinge on the
government’s desire to remove obstacles in
the development of Cambodia’s oil and gas
assets.
07
|
RZNEWS DECEMBER 2014
TECHNOLOGY
WHAT UPSTREAM
OIL, GAS CAN LEARN
ABOUT BIG DATA FROM
SOCIAL MEDIA
By Karen Boman
@KarenBoman
Upstream oil and gas companies
can get more from data by learning
a lesson from other industries:
companies that regard data as a
valuable asset are leading the Big
Data revolution, according to a paper
presented at the Society of Petroleum
Engineers’ Annual Technology
Conference and Exhibition in
Amsterdam in late October.
Historically, the oil and gas industry
has generated a lot of data in its
operations, and is considered by some
to be the original Big Data industry.
Increases in processing power,
declining computation and storage
costs, and the rising number of sensor
technologies embedded in devices
have already impacted the exploration
and production (E&P) sector. Modern
seismic data centers can easily
contain as much as 20 petabytes of
information, enough information that, if
put on a single bookshelf, could circle
the Earth’s equator about six times.
Breakthroughs in mathematics
– most notably geometry – have
08
significantly helped Big Data
practitioners see through Big Data
digital information, which frequently
is noisy, messy, raw, unstructured
and dynamic. The development of
software platforms such as Google’s
MapReduce or its open-source rival
Hadoop also have made Big Data
possible.
“And while seismic data sets are
notoriously large and cumbersome,
many other aspects of the E&P industry
are also generating significantly more
data than they used to,” said paper
authors Robert K. Perrons, Queensland
University of Technology, and Jesse W.
Jensen with Intel Corporation. “What
is more, there’s every reason to believe
that this trend towards more digital
information is just getting warmed up.
Current estimates suggest that the
total amount of digital data in the world
– including things like books, images,
emails, music and video – is doubling
every two to three years.”
The Big Data approach to analyzing
this data is a relatively new concept
| www.rigzone.com
that could significantly reshape the
industry. However, the Big Data
revolution is unfolding differently in
the oil and gas industry compared
with other industries. In industries
such as healthcare, financial, retail and
media, companies are gaining new
and valuable insights by using new
techniques to analyze massive data sets
in ways that were never possible with
smaller ones.
These insights tend not be
discovered by testing hypotheses
between variables whose relationships
are well understood; rather, they are
found by applying advanced analytical
techniques to massive numbers of
variables that, at first blush, might
seem to be unrelated. Companies on
the cutting edge of Big Data are not
just creatively value by monitoring
relationships about which they already
know, but finding patterns and
making predictions based on complex
relationships that were previously
unknown. While scientists have
traditionally sought to understand the
causality and mechanisms underlying
these relationships, Big Data leaders
frequently care about the “what” far
more than the “why”.
“Therein lies a fundamental difference
of opinion between the E&P sector and
other industries that are considered
leaders in Big Data,” said the paper
authors. “While there’s no denying that
the upstream oil and gas industry is
swimming in digital information – and
indeed, several Big Data technologies
have been used for much longer in
this industry than in many others – the
way we manage data doesn’t actually
bear much resemblance to how it gets
“
The E&P sector’s digital
revolution is unfinished
used in companies like Facebook and
Amazon.”
“The E&P sector tends to regard data
as information that describes the state
of an asset; leaders in Big Data, by stark
contrast, realize data is a valuable asset
in and of itself.”
While many E&P companies today
“clearly” do not consider most of their
digital information to be mission-critical
to their profitability, this outlook will likely
change in the years ahead.
The paper authors raised a number
of questions, including how E&P
companies should reshape their
contracting and collaborating strategies
to allow for the integration and high-level
analysis of data within an organization.
The authors also asked how Big
Data could change the E&P industry’s
business model, and whether E&P
companies should cultivate teams of
data scientists to address the rising
importance of increasingly multidisciplinary nature of IT and data
management.
“The E&P sector’s digital revolution
is unfinished,” the paper authors
noted. “The industry has succeeded
handsomely in learning how to generate
a staggering amount of data, but we’re
still collectively wrestling with the
question of what to do with it.”
“The industry’s digital revolution will
be completed when we come to terms
with how to monetize the data that we’re
now capable of collecting and use it to
create all the value that it can.”
”
09
|
RZNEWS DECEMBER 2014
THE RIG FLOOR
GOT WHAT
IT TAKES TO
WORK OFFSHORE?
By Trevor Crone
@RZOffshoreGuy
Figuring out what you want to be when
you grow up or considering a major
career change can be a daunting task.
For most professions, you have a pretty
good idea of what will be expected of
you. If you think you want to pursue a
career in the offshore drilling industry
you’re almost taking a leap of faith
because without having been there it’s
impossible to know what it’s going to
be like. Hopefully I can shed some light
on the offshore experience and to help
you have a smooth transition into this
rewarding industry.
When I broke into the offshore
drilling industry in 2001 I wasn’t entirely
sure what I was getting myself into.
My total knowledge of the industry
was that the money was pretty good,
the time off was great but the work
could be hazardous at times. A few
friends of mine had worked offshore
as roustabouts and roughnecks during
the summer while they were on break
from school. They were excited when
I shared my plan with them and were
eager to pass along useful pieces
of advice like “don’t get killed” and
“don’t fall overboard.” Now those
are extremely good suggestions that
10
everyone should definitely follow but
they weren’t exactly helpful in getting
me ready for what awaited.
Just getting hired proved to be a
lot more difficult than I had expected.
Most drilling contractors are only
interested in you if you have at least
6-months of experience. I didn’t have
6-minutes of experience so most of
my job applications got no response.
The adage “it’s not what you know but
who you know” is alive and well in the
oilfield. Network every chance you get!
After several discouraging months I
caught a lucky break; I was contacted
by a friend of a friend of a friend who
was a barge engineer. We spoke for a
while over the phone and he agreed
to deliver my application to his HR
department. A week later I was called in
for an interview which was followed up
by a thorough physical and a week after
that I was on my way to a dock to catch
a crew boat. The hiring process can
move quickly for offshore positions and
when they call, you’re usually needed
within a few days so be prepared.
Most companies will have some sort
of initial training program they’ll put you
through to prepare you for life on a
| www.rigzone.com
rig as well as to give you the basic
knowledge you’ll need to function
safely out there. During this 1 or
2-week long training period you’ll
likely get a few certifications out of
the way such as basic firefighting,
CPR and rigger’s training. At the
training site, the company is also
likely to provide you with whatever
items of clothing they’ll require you
to wear while you’re working. From
there, it’s either off to your rig or
home for a few days until they figure
out which operation needs personnel
the most.
Roustabout is an entry level
position and the duties are somewhat
different depending on whether
you’re assigned to a semisub,
drillship or jackup. Regardless of
the rig, you’ll be working for one of
the crane operators and there will be
a lot of cleaning and painting in your
future. Being a roustabout definitely
isn’t rocket science but it puts you
in a position to observe and assist
with almost every position onboard
your rig. Pay attention, work hard and
identify other positions onboard that
interest you.
You’ll be expected to work a 12hour shift which is called a “tour”.
Time should pass by quickly while
you’re on tour because there is never
a shortage of tasks to accomplish.
When you’re off tour your goals
should be to clean up, eat and get
some sleep. Most rigs will have
some sort of a TV/movie room and
workout facilities. Wifi is also pretty
common as well as TVs in a lot of
rooms. Bear in mind that a lot of this
depends on the type and age of rig
you’re assigned to. You should also
be prepared to eat due to the galley
serving 4 meals per day and a neverending rotation of deserts. I gained
almost 10 pounds after my first few
months.
Possibly the most important
ingredient of a successful transition
offshore is the rig crew. You’ll be
working with a group of people that
hail from several different areas with
varying degrees of education. As
you get to know them, you’ll find out
that you share hobbies and beliefs
with many of them and that there
is some underlying aspect of your
personalities that caused each of you
to gravitate to the offshore industry.
In short, you’ll make some of the
strongest bonds of your life.
People tend to argue that you miss
out on too much while you’re away.
You just need to decide if missing a
few holidays and birthdays is a fair
trade for a handsome salary and the
freedom of having 2 to 4 weeks off at
a time.
If you decide that this type of work
is for you, visit Rigzone’s Career
Center to start your search. Posting
your resume is free and you can
apply for as many jobs as you like.
Also, take a look at the Rigzone
Salary Tracker to get an idea of what
wages are being paid for various
positions in the industry.
HAVE QUESTIONS?
NEED ANALYSIS?
TWEET
@RZOFFSHOREGUY
11
|
RZNEWS DECEMBER 2014
EVENTS
“OVER”A WORD HEARD
OFTEN AT OSEA
By Cheang Chee Yew
@RZcheeyew.cheang
“OVER”
seemed to
be word
frequently
used by
conference speakers to describe the state
of the offshore oil and gas industry at the
Offshore South East Asia 2014 (OSEA2014)
in Singapore in early December.
An oversupply of rigs, over production of
oil and over-priced petroleum projects were
just some of the topics discussed at the
20th OSEA conference and exhibition – a
biennial tradeshow in Singapore that has
served the offshore petroleum sector and
its supporting industries in the region since
1976.
While miniscule in terms of attendance
compared to the annual Offshore
Technology Conference in Houston,
OSEA2014 managed to attract more than
28,600 attendees from 65 countries and
regions, conference organizer Singapore
Exhibition Services (SES) highlighted in a
Dec. 5 media release.
“Representatives from major industry
players and SMEs had a productive time,
be it from sourcing for the right equipment
or services, networking with regular and
new business leads, or picking up fresh and
12
varied perspectives from industry’s movers
and shakers,” Chua Buck Cheng, project
director for Engineering Events at SES said.
Douglas-Westwood’s chairman John
Westwood was one speaker who provided
his perspective of the offshore industry at
the conference in Singapore – home to two
of the world’s largest rig builders – Keppel
Corp. Ltd. and Sembcorp Marine Ltd.
The offshore oil and gas industry
currently faces an oversupply of rigs, which
is evident in some mobile offshore drilling
unit (MODU) sectors, Westwood said. This
has led to a deflation syndrome, with field
operators waiting for rig rates to fall.
Such a scenario, where “high drilling
costs are the killer” prompted field
operators to look at exploration drilling as
it is the easiest target for the “re-focusing”,
the Douglas-Westwood consultant noted,
adding that “the latest generation rig assets
will win work, but at what price?”
There is an unprecedented investment
in drillships, with an anticipated oversupply
creating a difficult market for the next
five years. The current book to fleet ratio
of 61 percent for drillships, suggesting
oversupply, is exacerbated by the fact that
44 percent of the fleet has yet to secure
| www.rigzone.com
contracts, the British-based consultancy
company said.
In contrast to drillships, strong growth
was expected in global demand for
semisubs as the segment is relatively
under-invested with new supply likely to be
absorbed faster than drillships.
Chinese yards, with their lower costs
and attractive financing terms, are fueling
the oversupply of rigs worldwide. China
now has 32 percent of the global MODU
orderbook, compared to Singapore with 21
percent, South Korea 19 percent, Brazil 13
percent and others 15 percent.
Chinese yards account for 43 percent
of the jackup orders and 37 percent of
semisubs, with these companies “already
proactively marketing drillship capability,”
Westwood added.
With OSEA2014 taking place just after
the Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC) decided at their Vienna
meeting to maintain production, the
question of over production of crude was a
topic for discussion.
“The cartel [OPEC] has refused to do
anything terribly meaningful about the
global energy glut, which it has created,
almost as much by its own production
surge, as it has by American shale. If OPEC
reduced its production, it would clearly
have a stabilizing effect on prices,” Dan
Eberhard, CEO of Canary, LLC. told the
conference.
Cost overruns were another “over” raised
at the conference, this time in reference
to the liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector in
Australia.
While the country is now constructing
several LNG projects, which will propel
Australia to overtake Qatar as the largest
LNG exporter in 2018, the issue of
costs has dampened its attraction as
an investment destination for energy
“
The latest generation
rig assets will win work,
but at what price?
”
companies.
Around 67 percent of LNG projects in
Australia were over budget compared to the
time when the final investment decisions
were made, far higher than the global
average of 38 percent, according to Cyrille
Scart, Asia Pacific LNG and natural gas
consultant at Poten & Partners.
For projects that experienced cost
overruns, those under development in
Australia were around 31 percent over
budget, compared to the global average
of 23 percent, he commented, noting
that only three of Australia’s current LNG
projects – Ichthys, Wheatstone and Prelude
– are on budget, while project costs for
Gorgon, Queensland Curtis LNG, Australia
Pacific LNG and Gladstone LNG have seen
increases.
Labor costs were a big contributory
factor for the cost overruns in Australia’s
LNG industry; the available workforce was
too small to simultaneously handle several
LNG construction projects.
“In our view, you reached this type of
situation due to labor … You are losing
people and you want to keep them so you
increase the wages. This was because you
had a fundamental need for experienced
labor at exactly the same time,” Scart said.
Still, the conversation between industry
players will not end with the conference
as solutions are needed to deal with the
challenges facing the offshore oil and gas
sector in the years ahead.
13
|
RZNEWS DECEMBER 2014
EVENTS
ISRAELI OIL, GAS
EVENT OFFERS
PLENTY OF FOOD
FOR THOUGHT
By Jon Mainwaring
@oiljon
Recently I was in Israel for the
inaugural Universal Oil & Gas
conference that aimed to highlight
the potential of the country’s
nascent oil and gas industry.
The conference, which took
place between November 18 and
20 next to the Dead Sea, was a
great opportunity to learn all about
the potential of Israel as a frontier
hydrocarbon region as well as the
pitfalls of doing business in the
country.
Israel, not only has several
trillion cubic feet of offshore gas
that is being developed offshore by
Noble Energy and its partners, it
also has a huge onshore oil shale
opportunity thanks to the work of
Dr. Harold Vinegar – a former Chief
Scientist at Royal Dutch Shell plc.
Dr. Vinegar, who I was fortunate
enough to have dinner with while
at the conference, has a grand
vision of using an in-situ heating
method he has devised to extract
oil shale contained
within Senonian
Bituminous source
Israel, not only has several trillion
rock that is prevalent
cubic feet of offshore gas that is being
throughout a large part
developed offshore by Noble Energy
of Israel. Indeed, Dr.
and its partners, it also has a huge
Vinegar conservatively
estimates that the
onshore oil shale opportunity...
country could hold as
much as 250 billion
14
| www.rigzone.com
... hopefully –
progress will
have been made
not only with
Israel’s oil and
gas regulations
but also with
helping the
Palestinians to
provide for their
energy needs.
barrels of such oil shale onshore.
However, UOG 2014 also raised
important questions about whether
Israel has the right regulatory setup in place to properly exploit
its newfound oil and gas wealth.
Not only did speakers – such
as Dr. Ruth Dagan, who heads
law firm Herzog Fox & Neeman’s
environment and climate change
practice – complain of “erratic and
unclear” oil and gas regulations,
but chats with delegates revealed
to me a strong sense that the Israeli
government needs to sort out the
rules under which oil and gas firms
will operate.
And then there are the inevitable
political questions regarding
Israel and its relations with the
Palestinians and other countries
in the Middle East. To say that
relations between Israel and the
Palestinian National Authority
haven’t been good recently would
likely qualify for the understatement
of the year.
However, Israel’s emerging oil
and gas industry – as well as the
existence of some one trillion cubic
feet of gas in Palestinian waters
offshore Gaza – offers some hope
for a more peaceful coexistence.
One session at the conference
showed how private businesses
could cooperate to exploit gas
resources and improve energy
infrastructure in the Palestinian
territories, where demand for
electricity far outstrips supply.
Meanwhile, Israeli companies now
have gas export deals in place with
companies operating in Jordan and
Egypt.
The UOG conference was
reasonably well attended given that
it represented a first foray by the
organizers into Israel, with some
160-plus people from Israel and
abroad making their way to the
Dead Sea for the event. There is a
second UOG conference scheduled
for next year, when – hopefully
– progress will have been made
not only with Israel’s oil and gas
regulations but also with helping
the Palestinians to provide for their
energy needs.
15
|
RZNEWS DECEMBER 2014
TECHNOLOGY
FREE PLAY NOT JUST
FOR KIDS ANYMORE
By Karen Boman
ree play is not just for playgrounds
anymore; it being used inside
corporate America to spur innovation
in technology.
This free play can range from set periods of
time during the day when employees are free to
experiment with technology to plain play, such
as ping pong. Cambridge Consultants is one
such company that is allowing its employees
to “play” at work in order to find new ways of
applying technology to solve problems. To
achieve this end, the company established
the Cambridge Consultants Corporate
Development Program. This program has been
in existence since the company’s inception over
50 years ago.
During this time, the program has produced a
number of breakthroughs – from new ideas that
become core technology that Cambridge then
license to different industries, to companies that
spun-out, including Cambridge Silicon Radio
(CSR) now a billion dollar company, Frances
Metcalfe, associate director in oil and gas at
Cambridge Consultants, told Rigzone.
“The CDP program at Cambridge
Consultants is quite unique and a huge part of
what we do,” Metcalfe commented.
“Not only does it support employees and
enable us to foster creativity in new ways, but
it also enables our business as a whole to
develop our own, non-competing IP to create a
dialogue with industries.”
“CDP ideas always correlate to what we want
to achieve as a business or some adjunct to
that. And because we build our skill base to
interest staff, it leads to greater retention – when
working on things we are passionate about –
F
16
@KarenBoman
particularly the motivated, intellectual employees
we hire – we’ll want to stay longer,” Metcalfe
commented.
With an array of skills under one roof, the
engineers from one industry can quite often
find a connection between how to transfer an
innovative solution from one industry to tackle
a technical challenge in another. This crossfertilization enables industries, oil and gas in
particular, to manage risk when introducing new
concepts.
To solve the problem of offshore oil leak
detection, Metcalfe’s team is capitalizing
on the firm’s world-class fluorescence
detection techniques, typically leveraged
by the medical technology team in clinical
diagnostics equipment like fertility monitoring
and pregnancy tests, and broadening its use
to become an oil spill detection technology
platform.
“The CDP program is enabling us to pool
our resources, if you will – utilizing our skills in
sensor design, data fusion and probabilistic
signal processing in order to identify and deliver
a new solution that can detect the natural
fluoresces of even tiny amounts of oil in or on
water,” said Metcalfe.
Aveillant is another example of how
Cambridge has taken CDP idea and
transformed them into large, successful
businesses through cross-fertilization.
“We saw the potential to use a radar
technology – used for collision prevention
and pedestrian protection for the automotive
industry – for use in clean-technology initiatives.
Wind turbine clutter is one of the largest
obstacles for wind developing in the
| www.rigzone.com
“
Not only does it support employees and
enable us to foster creativity in new ways, but
it also enables our business as a whole to
develop our own, non-competing IP to create
a dialogue with industries.
the UK, caused by aviation radar issues
– wind turbines can mimic aircraft on an
air traffic controller’s radar screen,” said
Metcalfe.
Aveillant’s holographic radar technology
will become the mainstream solution to wind
turbine clutter, potentially unlocking many
wind far developments while allowing for
safe and reliable operation of airport primary
surveillance radar.
Newpark Drilling Fluids also allows
its employees time to fiddle around with
technology and new ideas and see if
they can make the idea affordable and
profitable for the company, said Lindsay
Fraser, director of technology for Newpark,
at a media event in Houston in October.
The company is always on the lookout for
technologies from other industries that
could be applied to oil and gas, and doesn’t
discount pie in the sky ideas. While maybe
one in three or four of these ideas work,
these ideas are the gamechangers in the oil
and gas industry. These gamechangers will
be needed as the industry faces challenging
environments such as high pressure,
high temperature wells in deepwater, as
well as addressing these issues in an
environmentally friendly manner.
Unplugged adult play offers two primary
advantages, both of which can boost worker
durability, said Washington D.C.-based
professor, health journalist and author Jenifer
Joy Madden. Madden is the author of The
Durable Human Manifesto and editor of the
website, The Durable Human.
”
One advantage is that, many jobs today
involve almost non-stop input of information
and data.
“What can sometimes suffer is the time
to reflect and consider all the incoming
input,” Madden told Rigzone. “Getting away
from the screen in ‘play’ like activities such
as ping pong allows the mind to digest
information. Just as an idea often pops into
our minds when we’re in the shower when
we are “doing nothing”, new ideas and
insights can strike when we take a break
from the job.”
To spur new insights and ideas, Google
has bought for thousands of its employees
the online tool Headspace, which provides
10 minutes a day of mindful meditation.
“But a mental break doesn’t have to cost
anything. By simply stepping outdoors,
we get a few moments of downtime while
nature’s breezes and scents calm down
frazzled nerves.”
Having some unplugged play time also
gives workers a chance to use their highly
evolved muscles, which tend to atrophy
when not used.
“Scientists are just learning that, in
addition to pumping up the body, exercise
beefs up the brain,” said Madden.
In a study of older adults, those who
walked a few times a week lost less brain
volume than their peers who got no physical
activity.
“Being active also improves employees’
health and stamina and thereby lowers
healthcare expenditures.”
17
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