Raising the marine operations standard
  from: Asian Oil & Gas
  by: David Morgan
  Thursday, August 24, 2006

The marine department is another Woodside service function whose remit is developing and evolving in line with the company's burgeoning domestic and international activities.

Managed by Wynne Jones and boasting no fewer than 19 master mariners, the department wears two distinct hats. As well as being responsible for the provision of offtake support to all Woodside terminals it also has a mandate for marine assurance across the business.

In addition to prequalifying contractors, auditing vessel standards, co-ordinating FPSO and other vessel movements, and providing support to the company's various projects through technical services agreements, Jones' team plays a key role in raising quality management awareness among Woodside's growing client base. 'A lot of it is embryonic as we move into new regions, for example offshore Kenya, and trying to bring European or Australian quality management cultures to bear on new organisations established in these regions is quite a challenge,' explains Jones. 'Obviously we can't go in to places like this and dictate but we do what we can to nudge marine operations standards a little closer to our own.' Much of the marine department's simulation and training work is carried out in conjunction with the Warsash facility at Southampton University.

The department also serves as Woodside's chartering arm and in 2005 handled just about A$200 million-worth of chartering in small vessels, anchor handlers and the like in Australian waters and worldwide. 'On average the company has about 17 offshore supply vessels on charter at any one time,' says Jones.

A breakout involvement in recent times has been Woodside Natural Gas's proposed OceanWay Secure Energy project, which, if it successfully negotiates the US permit application process, would pipe 'affordable Australian natural gas' from an Energy Bridgetype vessel 32km offshore California via a submerged turret loading buoy to an industrial area near Los Angeles international airport. Unlike the existing Gulf Gateway offshore regasification facility, OceanWay would deliver LNG direct to the local grid rather than via an offshore platform.

'We are developing skills in that area and have been doing simulation work to see what can and cannot be done with offshore LNG receiving terminals,' says Jones. 'These sort of concepts should obviously be looked at because they're efficient and the support required operationally is minimal. The only downside is you have to use specialised ships.

'The issue of regasification terminals is definitely something we are looking at - the ability to put vaporised gas into the grids rather than liquefied gas - because of the nervousness and perhaps misconceptions people have about LNG,' says Jones. 'And of course we see LNG as a very benign product. It's safe and Woodside has a marvellous record in both oil and gas in terms of our operations.' AOG

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