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LONDON (Alliance News) - John Wood Group PLC Tuesday said it will lead five new joint industry projects which will use the company's extensive subsea experience to solve "industry-wide challenges".
The FTSE 250-listed engineering services company said all five of the projects will run between 2015 and 2018 and be conducted through its Wood Group Kenny division.
"Wood Group Kenny (will) work with several oil and gas operators, contractors and regulators to improve quality, safety and competence across the sector and achieve significant savings in design and unplanned intervention costs," said the company.
"Using our expertise in the subsea arena to inform and improve operations, these joint industry projects will help to steer and support the future direction of the ever-evolving subsea sector. Spearheading these critical projects is fundamental to providing solutions to our customers and we look forward to working with the participants to deliver successful joint industry projects," said Chief Executive Bob MacDonald.
The first and largest joint industry project is the SURFIM Network II project, which will see Wood Group Kenny work with 14 other companies to organise, convene and facilitate face-to-face and virtual forums for knowledge sharing and delivering services to subsea integrity and reliability challenges, focusing especially on subsea hardware. John Wood had already participated in the first phase of the SURFIUM Network project.
The second project is the Slug Loading and Response in Pipelines and Risers, or SLARP project, which focuses on developing best practice for analysis of slug loading and response in pipelines, spools and risers. Wood Group Kenny will work with five participants under the project.
The SureFlex2015 project will provide an update to failure statistics and industry guidance on flexible pipe integrity, as well as the tools and technologies used for inspection and monitoring of these critical components. Wood Group Kenny will work with UK trade organisation Oil and Gas UK and the project is backed by 10 participants.
The Subsea Engineering Competency joint industry project will develop a consistent framework for assessing the competency of subsea engineering personnel and provide standardisation across companies and regions. Wood Group Kenny will work with three operators and has the support of the Society for Underwater Technology and the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology.
Lastly, the Subsea Equipment Australian Reliability project will reduce subsea equipment failures through collaboration and knowledge sharing in order to improve subsea equipment design for Australia's unique offshore environment and avoid costly interventions. Wood Group Kenny will work with six operators working offshore Australia.
John Wood shares were down 1.3% to 579.50 pence per share on Tuesday morning.
By Joshua Warner; joshuawarner@alliancenews.com; @JoshAlliance
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