May 2016

Firstly, we have to send our condolences to those who have been affected by the chopper crash on assignment for Statoil on April 29th. Tragedies like this are hard to stomach and affect the entire industry. We hope that all parties involved get the help that is needed and the process is as smooth as possible.

In the May edition of Energy Focus, we look at a hugely important project in the UK North Sea from Maersk Oil. The Culzean gas project, located off the coast of Aberdeen, is a HPHT development that requires immense skill and expertise. The technology and engineering used comes from all over the world with the goal of extracting 250-300 million barrels of oil equivalent and production set to start in 2019. Reports suggest that the project could supply around 5% of the UK’s total gas consumption by 2020/21. The first steel was cut for the billion dollar topsides in April and the project is now pushing forward.

We also look at three other exciting but different projects. The Westermeerwind project in the Netherlands, the Hywind floating offshore wind project in Scotland and the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline Project which will bring gas from the Shah Deniz fields in Azerbaijan to European consumers.

These are all projects that incorporate certain ‘world firsts’ and when complete we will look back on them as an example to follow.