It's new engineering consultancy io's first year at Subsea Expo. We spoke to the firm's COO Mark Dixon about the show and the wider industry.
What brings you to Subsea Expo?
In our first year of business as io, the oil price has continued to fall dramatically and so our offering is more important than ever. Businesses of all sizes are looking to become more efficient so I am here to present io’s holistic, full field, integrated asset approach. This aims to transform the way upstream oil & gas projects are brought to market and make projects commercially viable in this low price environment.
What do you think is the future of subsea operations, particularly in the current price environment?
Oil price forecasting reports are surfacing nearly daily, and even the most optimistic only approach around $80/barrel in the coming decade – far from the triple-digit prices enjoyed until the end of 2014. So, whilst cost-cutting and cost efficiencies, in the short term, is an important part of an effective plan, on its own it is not enough - the industry needs to take a longer-term view and use this current oil price low to fundamentally change the way it operates and secure offshore's place in the energy mix for decades to come.
At io, we believe that those who embrace a new approach will survive and thrive. This means improving project planning to deliver with certainty; removing inefficiencies and instilling architectural integrity through systems engineering. It also means integrating real time information on cost and schedule to deliver solutions that offer the best economic value for the client.
You presented on io’s Integrated Asset Approach – what is that and how can it ease the constraints of the subsea sector?
A subsea project is only as strong as its weakest link and developments today contain significant complexity owing to competing technical, commercial and risk requirements. This means that altering one small variable can have a ripple effect on an entire operation. Failure to create robust and balanced synergies across a project can result in unintended consequences and uncertainty.
Understanding these components and developing a process for option evaluation and selection is integral to creating maximum return on investment. At io, we have developed our integrated asset approach specifically to tackle complex projects and help operators not only complete on-time and on-budget, but also realize a better way of working. It is holistic and full field in nature and encompasses the plan, build and operate phases. The approach uses rapid comparison of concept options to form a deep understanding of different project variables and their interdependencies. This allows a laser-like focus on areas that have a genuinely significant impact on project commerciality. It also allows io to improve financial viability, remove risk, create value for operators and deliver certainty in an uncertain world.
How can io make a difference? Which geographical areas do you think you can have the most impact in?
io helps clients focus on overall value delivery rather than just the quick and limited ‘fix’ of reducing costs. Each client has different ‘value’ drivers in a project, for example shorter project delivery times or minimizing CAPEX spend. io’s integrated asset approach therefore accommodates these different options in any geography to drive positive change for operators. As such, io works across greenfield and brownfield projects across the globe and its team is currently discussing projects in the North Sea, Australia, Gulf of Mexico and West Africa.
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