Page 17 - AsianOil Week 28

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NEWS IN BRIEF
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Kawasaki verifies close-
range subsea pipeline
inspection by AUV
Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. announced today the successful completion of veri cation tests for the close-range inspections of a subsea pipeline by an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) o the coast of Awaji Island, Hyogo Prefecture.
With a focus on the growing demand for
pipeline maintenance in offshore oil and gas fields, Kawasaki has been developing an AUV called SPICE*1 (Subsea Precise Inspector with Close Eyes) equipped with a robot arm for performing subsea pipeline inspections—the world’s first—based on
a fusion of submarine technologies and industrial robot technologies fostered in-house over many
years. During verification testing, SPICE executed
a close-range inspection process which involved deployment at sea to locate and perform tracking operations on a subsea pipeline, after which it returned to its docking station*2for recovery. These tests were part of a series of tests required to verify autonomous operation capabilities, and were conducted from June 1st to 12th with the support of the Joint Technological Development Support Program for Offshore Oil
and Natural Gas Fields,*3 which is supported by DeepStar*4and The Nippon Foundation. SPICE’s verification tests entailed inspections of a mock pipeline used to simulate a real subsea pipeline, located off the shore of Awaji Island in Hyogo Prefecture.
e tests succeeded in verifying the performance of SPICE’s autonomous robot
arm control and sensor-equipped close-range inspection unit to track the pipeline while the
AUV maintained stable travel, and represent a major step forward along the company’s path
to commercialization. Moreover, attendees at demonstrations carried out during the testing period expressed high praise and great expectations in response to the success of the tests.
KAWASAKI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, July 15, 2020
OCEANIA
Green tape reform a top
priority for oil and gas
industry
Regulatory reform is the most important step governments can take to support investment and con dence in rebuilding the Australian economy, according to a new survey of APPEA members.
e survey of more than 100 APPEA members showed that nearly 70% of them
see reducing red and green tape as the critical steps to improve the investment environment, streamline approval processes and restore business con dence amid COVID-19 and near record low oil prices.
“Regulatory reform – particularly green tape – is top of the industry’s agenda as we work with the Australian Government to implement steps to help the oil and gas industry support the nation’s economic recovery,” said APPEA Chief Executive Andrew McConville.
“ e Productivity Commission and more recently the Australian National Audit O ce have found signi cant overruns in approvals, ine ciency and duplication in current legislation and processes – none of which help to deliver good outcomes for the environment or for business.”
e latest ANAO statistics showed the average overrun of statutory timeframes
for approval decisions in 2018–19 was 116 days and almost 80% of approvals assessed contained conditions that were non-compliant with procedural guidance or contained clerical or administrative errors. e statistics also highlighted approval timelines for resources projects have blown out to more than 1,000 days.
APPEA, July 14, 2020
Santos looks to hydrogen future through CCS
Santos has commenced a concept study on a hydrogen future for the Cooper Basin. e concept study has been awarded to GHD, one of the world’s leading professional services rms in resources, energy and environment.
Santos Managing Director and Chief Executive O cer Kevin Gallagher said that natural gas can be de-carbonised at its source to make “zero- emissions”or“blue”hydrogen. ecarbon dioxide produced as a result can then be safely and permanently captured and stored in the same reservoirs that the gas came from.
“ e Cooper Basin hydrogen concept study builds on our progress towards the 1.7 million tonne Cooper Basin Carbon Capture and Storage Project for which Santos is targeting a nal investment decision later this year, subject to a CCS methodology being approved for the Emissions Reduction Fund,” Mr Gallagher said.
“Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is the fastest and most e cient route to a hydrogen economy, using less water, de-carbonising natural gas at its source and eliminating Scope 3 emissions.”
“CCS enables the capture of carbon dioxide from the production of blue hydrogen, making it a ‘zero-emissions’ fuel.
“With over 65 years of experience in the safe production of natural gas, Santos has
the operational knowledge, capability and infrastructure to be a leader in the creation of a hydrogen industry right here in Australia.” SANTOS, July 14, 2020
Contact announces leadership team changes
Contact Energy made two changes to its leadership team with the appointment of James Kilty as Deputy Chief Executive O cer and Jacqui Nelson as Chief Generation O cer.
James Kilty’s new role as Deputy Chief Executive O cer includes speci c responsibility for development and demand growth at Contact Energy. James has a unique set of skills, capabilities, and over 20 years of experience in energy markets, operations and development and will provide strong leadership.
Jacqui Nelson has been appointed as Chief Generation O cer with responsibility for operations and energy market trading. Jacqui
has been with Contact for more than 15 years
in a wide range of roles across nance, resource management, trading and most recently as General Manager of Operations.
CONTACT ENERGY, July 15, 2020
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