SERVICES | SUPPLIERS

Dec. 1, 2014

KBC Advanced Technologies

KBC Advanced Technologies plc, a leading consultancy and software provider to the upstream and downstream hydrocarbon industries, announced the appointment of Andrew Howell as Chief Executive Officer with effect from 1 January 2015. Ian Godden, currently Executive Chairman, will return to his role as Non-Executive Chairman of the Board.

Andrew Howell has 20 years' in depth knowledge of operating software in the hydrocarbons industry. He joined KBC from Schlumberger's Information Solutions software division in 2011 after gaining wide experience in the international oil and gas industry with BP and Hyprotech in Europe and North America. Andrew obtained a Master's Degree in Chemical Engineering from Cambridge University. He is currently the Managing Director of KBC's expanding software business and has pioneered KBC's drive into the upstream oil and gas sector. Andrew joined the main board of KBC in April 2014.

Drilling Services of America

Drilling Services of America , the complete thru-tubing specialist, has added Dwayne Doucet as health, safety and environmental (HSE) director and Todd Whitley as senior technical advisor.

Doucet will be responsible for the continuous development and implementation of HSE policies and procedures. He will oversee the company's safety program and maintain a high level of awareness, knowledge and preparedness while creating a culture that priorities safety.

Doucet has 11 years of experience as a corporate HSE manager within the oil and gas industry. He graduated from Louisiana Technical College and currently serves as the president elect of the South Louisiana S.T.E.P.S. Network in Lafayette and is a member of the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE).

As senior technical advisor, Whitley's responsibilities will include proposal preparations, drafting procedures, technical input during spud meetings along with pre-job planning and additional technical support. He will also be involved in DSA's in-house training program.

Whitley has more than 20 years of industry experience within slickline and thru-tubing fishing and milling. He is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE).

Tejas Tubular Products

The Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce honored Maximo A. Tejeda, President and CEO of Tejas Tubular Products, Inc. with the Male Hispanic Entrepreneur of the Year award at its annual gala, November, 2014. Tejeda received this prestigious award for his outstanding contributions to the Houston business community. The gala was attended by an estimated 1,200 guests and took place at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. The Chamber took this opportunity to present the 2014 Graduating Class of the Emerging Leaders Institute (ELI). Shawn Portales, External Affairs Manager at Tejas Tubular and graduate of the 2014 ELI, was recognized by the HHCC as an emerging Leader at this year's gala.

Vallourec

Vallourec, world leader in premium tubular solutions, announced it has been awarded a contract to supply premium tubes and connections for the ultra-deep offshore Kaombo project in Angola, operated by TOTAL E&P Angola. As part of this contract, Vallourec will supply 27,000 tons of OCTG (Oil Country Tubular Goods) for wells drilled within 1,400 to 2,000 meters water depth and reaching up to 5000 meters drilling depth. The Kaombo oil field, located 150 km off the Angolan coast, is one of the largest oil developments operated by TOTAL in this area, with complex drilling conditions.

The Kaombo project is composed of 59 wells to be drilled in a variety of complex geologies, requiring different types of well design with their contingency. A third of the wells target subsalt reservoirs, which require drilling through salt layers to reach target depth. Vallourec will supply its most advanced premium tubular solutions, including VAM® 21 connections combined with integral premium connections (VAM® SLIJII and VAM® BOLT).

Casing and tubing products will be manufactured and finished in France, Indonesia and Brazil. Manufacturing of the first batches will be completed in December 2014. Drilling operations will start in the third quarter 2015 and are expected to last until 2021.

Sensors in Motion

Sensors in Motion announced the first ever MEMS Navigation Grade Inertial Navigation System (INS) with the potential to revolutionize the navigation and positioning market, enabling increased food production, energy development, autonomous cars and saving warfighters lives. Specific to Oil and Gas directional drilling, the device could extend the coverage of a single well from one square mile to over 70 square miles with better drill direction accuracy.

This development promises to transform the $8 Billion/year inertial market with new products offering price/performance specifications radically superior to anything currently available. The first INS devices have been delivered to the Army CERDEC Night Vision Electronic Sensors Directorate (NVESD).

SIM, a spinout from NASA's famed Jet Propulsion Laboratories (JPL) and California Institute of Technology, is developing a family of inertial-grade, high-accuracy MEMS gyroscopes, accelerometers and Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) solutions. It has perfected unique MEMS structures using volume silicon wafer processing techniques, producing gyroscopes having ARW (Angle Random Walk) less than 0.0035 degree/root-hour and Bias instability less than 0.01 degree/hour which show extraordinary vibration and temperature immunity. This performance is far better than any other MEMS gyro produced and is comparable to Ring Laser (RLG) and Fiber Optic (FOG) gyros that are 20 times larger and 10-100 times more expensive.

Mirage Machines

Energy sector portable machine tool specialist Mirage Machines, an Acteon Company, has achieved a step-change in the operational efficiency and reliability of cutting technologies for pipeline and plant fabrication manufacturers and contractors in the international energy sector.

Rising fabrication and maintenance project activity, including works on wellhead, riser and caisson assemblies, has significantly increased demand from construction yards, operators and dutyholders for new pipecutting technologies across the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific.

UK-based manufacturer and supplier Mirage Machines has evolved split-frame machine technology with the development of its MSF (Mirage Split-Frame) machine, which significantly improves the efficiency of pipecutting operations on infrastructure composed of heat-resistant, stainless and super-duplex metals.

Mirage has developed innovative new self-squaring capability for the fully-portable MSF, reducing the risk of installation error during operations and significantly shortening the setup process, maximising the operational run-time of its equipment.

Richard Silk, managing director of Mirage Machines, says the MSF technology has applications in every energy-producing region, and is already being shipped worldwide to meet rising demand generated by capex and opex projects in new and existing oil and gas infrastructure.

Mirage Machines designs and manufactures technologies for applications including drilling and tapping, flange facing, hot tapping and line stopping, line boring, milling and gantry milling, orbital milling; and pipe and casing cutting.

Mirage, headquartered in Derby, UK, was acquired by Acteon in 2006, the business is certified to ISO 9001:2008 standard.

GeoSpectrum Technologies Inc.

GeoSpectrum Technologies Inc., a leading provider of hydroacoustic hardware, announced they have acquired Akoostix Inc. Akoostix is a leading provider of underwater acoustic and sonar processing software. Their acoustic processing capability compliments GTI's transducer expertise and is expected to position GTI as a strong contender for system sales in the Asia-Pacific region, the unmanned vehicle sector, and other burgeoning markets.

Akoostix will continue to operate in the short term under their current organizational structure.

Silicon Designs, Inc.

Silicon Designs, Inc., a global industry leader in the design and manufacture of industrial-grade MEMS variable capacitive accelerometer chips and modules, announced the global market introduction of its Model 1510 Series.

The SDI Model 1510 Series is a lower cost family of analog surface mount (LCC) MEMS variable capacitive accelerometers. They offer reliable general purpose vibration measurements at OEM volumes, with excellent long-term stability, across a variety of aerospace, automotive, energy, industrial, oil & gas, and test & measurement applications.

Design of the SDI Model 1510 Series incorporates a micromachined variable capacitive sensing element and custom integrated circuit. The accelerometer produces two analog voltages which vary proportionately according to measured acceleration levels. Series units respond to either AC or DC acceleration, with choice of either +4V differential or 0.5 to 4.5V single ended output. Both outputs read nominally at +2.5 volts (at zero acceleration).

The SDI Model 1510 Series is both nitrogen damped and hermetically sealed. Two reference voltages, +5.0 and +2.5 volts (nominal), are required. The output scale factor is ratiometric to the +5 VDC 6 mA (typical) reference voltage. Sensitive axis is perpendicular to the bottom of the LCC package. Units are RoHS compliant and can reliably operate over a standard temperature range of -40° to +85° C. As a MEMS-based device, the Model 1510 Series is also insensitive to temperature changes and gradients, with a signal output that is further unaffected by electromagnetic interference, and requiring no warm-up period.

Series units are available in standard measurement ranges from ±5 g to ±100 g, with corresponding nominal frequency response from 0 to 600 Hz (±5 g) to 0 to 2500 Hz (±100 g). Low-to-medium sized quantities of the SDI Model 1510 Series are immediately available for customer shipment. OEM volumes are available in as short as three weeks from receipt of an SDI acknowledged purchase order.

Petersen Stainless Rigging Ltd

Petersen Stainless Rigging Ltd. announced that Kevin Bell has been appointed as the new CEO. The appointment follows the stepping down of Norman Bell from the role of MD.

Kevin Bell had previously been responsible for business development and during his tenure oversaw a doubling in turnover within a five year period. The role of business development manager has been filled by Aries Dijkhuizen.

Petersen Stainless Rigging is one of the world's leading manufacturers of quality-assured stainless steel rigging and lifting equipment for the petrochemical, lifting, architectural, yachting and aerospace industries.

Survivex

Leading oil and gas training provider Survivex has made a further appointment at board level as the company transitions to a period of international growth and development.

Chris Hardie, who joined the company as Financial Controller, was promoted to Finance Director in September. Mr Hardie will be responsible for providing specialist support and guidance to the Board in all aspects of Company finance and accounting, as well as managing the day to day activities of the finance team.

With a degree in accountancy and finance at RGU, Mr Hardie gained experience at a national accountancy firm in Aberdeen where he spent time working in both the audit and corporate finance teams whilst studying for his Chartered Accountancy qualification (ICAS), which he obtained in 2012. In July 2013, Chris moved to Survivex.

Mr Hardie is the latest person to join the Survivex board which has seen a number of changes recently. Following the appointment to non-executive director status of original founders, George and Margaret Green, remaining Board members, Andrew Green and Carole McLennan, were joined by Lisa Flint as HR Director last month.