Press release – August 2010
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| Graeme Birkhead, Manager – Risk Management. |
Xodus launches new Risk Management Service to energy market
Aberdeen-headquartered Xodus Group is launching a new Value, Decision and Risk Management Service to the oil, gas and renewable energy sectors. The expanding energy consultancy, which employs over 270 people, believes this expertise will integrate across the six divisions offering clients significant cost savings, particularly in concept and pre front-end engineering and design (FEED) work. Graeme Birkhead joins the consultancy from Aker Solutions to head up the service and is set to recruit a team of risk management experts with at least five appointments expected in the next year. The new service area will expand the capability of the Technical Safety & Risk division at Xodus and is expected to bring in around £500,000 of new business in the next 18 months.
Colin McWhirr, Director of Technical Safety & Risk said: “We can offer a dedicated value, decision and risk management service, which is crucial at the early stages of an engineering project. It is far more costly and time consuming to try and fix a problem at construction, so we advise that detailed upfront analysis into cause, effect and consequence as well as reliability can potentially save clients millions of pounds.”
Graeme Birkhead will also be responsible for developing new bespoke decision making tools. The father of three spent 12 years working in the defence industry and believes a similar scientific approach to risk needs to be applied in the energy sector.
He said: “I’m a firm believer in proactive risk management and companies are becoming more aware of the benefits of planning this into the start of a project. We create bespoke risk registers, highlighting the top threats as well as opportunities and will personally make sure that a company and its employees make the necessary changes to mitigate those danger areas.”
Graeme has previously worked on risk projects for a number of operators. Xodus Group aims to use his talents across its client base which includes Fairfield, TOTAL, Shell, Maersk, Dana and BP.
Colin Manson, CEO of Xodus Group welcomed Graeme to the team saying: “Risk management is a huge benefit we can offer to clients across all of our divisions. We believe our integrated approach will be successful because ultimately we can give oil, gas and renewable companies more confidence and remove much of the stress at the planning stage.”
Press Release – August 2010
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| Richard Heard, Managing Director – Europe. |
Energy consultancy Xodus Group has won an open tender for the Detailed Design of the Huntington Development, the largest oil and gas discovery in the UK Central North Sea for five years. The contract worth approximately £1 million is one of the largest subsea projects the Aberdeen-based consultancy has secured. It is expected to provide six months work for the Aberdeen and London branches of the 270-strong group. E:ON Ruhrgas, which has a 25 per cent holding in the field, has signed a letter of intent for the use of the FPSO Sevan Voyageur, known as a ‘can-shaped’ floater.
Richard Heard, Director of Xodus Group said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for Xodus. We originally did work at the concept stages so we are thrilled to have been retained for the Detailed Design of the structures and pipelines and FEED for the risers. It will involve an integrated approach with both London and Aberdeen offices involved in the project execution.”
A highly skilled team of engineers, which will be led by Heard, is currently being mobilised to execute this project, which involves flexible risers and umbilical, flexible and rigid pipelines, two subsea structures (SSIV and CATS Tee) and comprehensive flow assurance engineering.
Heard explained: “The Sevan Voyageur will have the production capacity of 30,000 barrels of oil per day and allows for early production. Produced oil will be stored in the FPSO’s integrated tanks before it is shipped via shuttle tankers, while natural gas will be transported via pipeline. First oil is expected in the fourth quarter of 2011.”
The Huntington Field is situated in the Central North Sea, with drilling at around 90 metres. The first phase of the project covers the Forties reservoir which was discovered and delineated in 2007. In addition to the Forties, there has also been a significant discovery in the deeper Fulmar field, which requires to be fully appraised before development can be undertaken. Last year Xodus performed a Development Screening Study which identified and ranked potential development concepts for the Huntington field.
Press Release – August 2010
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| From left: Frank Smith, Andrew Wylie, Matt Kirk and Graeme Rogerson. |
Aberdeen-headquartered energy consultancy Xodus Group has won a large contract with operator GDF SUEZ E&P UK Ltd to deliver a front end engineering and design (FEED) study for the Juliet field in the Southern North Sea.
Xodus will provide an integrated FEED study including flow assurance and operational, safety and environmental risk assessments for the field tieback to the Amethyst platform, with the contract expected to last around four months. GDF SUEZ E&P UK and its licence partner, First Oil Expro Ltd, made the new gas discovery in December 2008 around 40 km due east of the Humber Estuary. First gas is expected in early 2012. Xodus Group has a dedicated subsea division with world-class engineers experienced in delivering an integrated package of specialist subsea support.
Graeme Rogerson, Subsea Director at Xodus Group said: “Xodus has an extremely strong track record of subsea FEED studies and in the last two years we have delivered a number of projects in the Southern North Sea. We are delighted that GDF SUEZ E&P UK has recognised this expertise by awarding this significant contract for the Juliet field. Our experience will ensure a robust design is achieved, which takes account of the tidal currents and shallow water when carrying out construction and pipelay.”
As part of the contract award, Xodus Group will also perform a geotechnical assessment and produce the subsea systems operations and maintenance and pre-commissioning guidance notes.
Frank Smith, Subsea Manager at Xodus added: “Our subsea services align well with the Juliet project requirements, so we are in a position to provide further support following the initial front end design, including materials assessments and procurement support. Our broad service portfolio, which is integrated across the group, delivers a best value approach for our clients, ensuring they have access to the best expertise they need during the lifetime of a project.”
Press Release – July 2010
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| Dr. Afshin Motarjemi, Senior Materials/Integrity Consultant. |
Energy Consultancy Xodus Group is keeping one step ahead in the energy industry by setting up a Subsea Advanced Analysis Team headed by acclaimed expert Dr Afshin Motarjemi. Dr Afshin Motarjemi, 42, brings an immense technical and specialist pipeline integrity background to Xodus – offering subsea clients a highly complex capability. Dr Motarjemi specialises in subsea pipeline integrity which employs sophisticated Fitness For Service (FFS) and Engineering Critical Assessment (ECA) engineering to assess significance of flaws on performance of pipelines during the installation and operation. This also involves extending life of the pipelines beyond their design life which ultimately provides reduced cost and time benefits for clients.
Dr Motarjemi explained: “Successful installation and operation of subsea assets depends on the integrity of the individual components involved. Our primary role is to perform a go-no go decision making analysis, using FFS/ECA concept, to confirm whether any detected flaw could remain sub-critical or need to be removed/repaired. This will provide the best solutions to our clients via a safe and secure continued operation and hence a safer environment.”
The appointment seals Xodus reputation for technical excellence and as a leading provider of highly specific subsea capabilities and solutions. Dr Motarjemi joined Xodus after working with London-based Det Norske Veritas (DNV) for Four years as Pipeline and Integrity Team Leader. Before this he worked at The Welding Institute (TWI) in Cambridge and the GKSS Research Centre in Germany in senior Welding, materials and ECA positions. His role as a technical expert within the oil and gas industry over the last ten years has resulted in Dr Motarjemi issuing more that 100 project related reports for major oil and gas companies as well as 40 papers in relevant journals and national and international seminars/conferences. He is member of the British Standard Institution (BSI) in Fracture and Materials properties subcommittees working on revising BS7910 standard. He also was the recipient of the International Institute of Welding (IIW) Granjon Prize on ‘Structural Integrity Assessment of Clad Materials’ in Copenhagen in 2002. The Persian-born father-of-one holds a PhD in on fatigue and fracture of welds from the University of Manchester. He is also a Chartered Engineer and a senior member of the Welding Institute UK (TWI).
Xodus CEO Colin Manson said Afshin’s arrival has caused a buzz in the subsea sector saying: “Bringing someone of Afshin’s calibre on board is a massive coup. His track record and his exceptional technical skills will be invaluable as we take forward our integrated approach.”
Press release – June 2010
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| Steve Jewell, Director – Wells & Subsurface. |
Aberdeen-headquartered Xodus Group has appointed a director to drive forward a new global wells and subsurface business stream. Steve Jewell, 49, is now set to launch a recruitment drive to create 12 new posts this year rising to 50 in three years. He believes Xodus Group is in the unique position of being able to provide a one-stop-shop consultancy service covering all aspect of the upstream business, from reservoir to refinery.
He joins Xodus Group from independent exploration and production company Composite Energy Ltd where he was Chief Operating Officer and a founding shareholder. Mr Jewell grew the organisation to over 90 employees and achieved financial growth from seed capital of £300,000 to an estimated value of over £50 million in five years. Composite Energy Ltd is the most active operator in the unconventional gas market and was the first company in the UK to successfully drill for coal bed methane using pioneering new horizontal drilling techniques. Prior to starting Composite Energy Ltd, Mr Jewell held a variety of senior positions over 20 years at Hess Corporation in Aberdeen, London and Norway including Global Head of Drilling and Well Technology and Acting General Manager of North Sea operations. Mr Jewell started his career as a reservoir engineer at Conoco following a degree in electronic engineering at Sheffield University.
He said: “I wanted a new challenge and was excited by the vision and values of the Xodus Group. I’m now looking to create a multi-discipline team of production technologists, reservoir engineers and geoscientists who have the desire and drive to be world leaders in their field. With my background in unconventional gas we are able to offer expertise in what will be a major growth area in the wells and subsurface market.”
Subsurface engineers and geoscientists manage all technical aspects of reservoir development including the critical interface between the reservoir and the well, covering perforations, sand control, artificial lift, stimulation, downhole flow control and downhole monitoring equipment.
Colin Manson, Chief Executive of Xodus Group welcomed Steve Jewell to the company saying: “We predict a huge growth in subsurface services and are optimistic about the potential out there. Xodus Group can help clients with efficiency, offering a seamless integration of services from exploration through production and development and this one consultancy approach can greatly enhance the quality of what we deliver as well as saving valuable project time.”
Mr Jewell is married with two children and enjoys sports and taking part in running and cycling challenges.
Press Release – June 2010
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Energy consultancy Xodus Group and legal advisors Shepherd and Wedderburn have joined forces to urge the wind industry to move towards standardised contracts to help reduce risk and save project time. The companies, which both have renewable business streams and huge experience of delivering dozens of projects in the energy sector, are urging offshore wind developers to start a dialogue towards standardisation similar to that used by the oil and gas industry.
Richard Cockburn, Partner in the Energy Group at Shepherd and Wedderburn said: “Developing a new standardised form of contracts for the offshore wind industry would slash time on negotiations between developers and the supply chain and save money. The industry should develop a bespoke contracts system for offshore wind that allocates technical and commercial risks in a fair and appropriate manner and is project finance friendly.”
Eric Doyle, Alternative Energy Manager at the Aberdeen-headquartered Xodus Group is also warning offshore wind developers to take a ‘long sighted’ approach or risk losing some of their supply chain to oil and gas projects as the industry picks up over the coming two years.
Doyle explained: “Both industries share many of the same suppliers such as manufacturing, engineering consultancy and suppliers of cabling, so there is a real risk of creating a bottle neck, which could impact on project time. There has been a lot of consolidation recently of small and medium sizes oil and gas operators, which is giving a renewed boost to offshore orders, which could mean that the wind industry risks losing out if it does not plan for the longer term.”
Xodus Group is introducing its web based risk management tool to the energy market, which will be on display at Offshore Wind 2010. XRISK maps out likelihood, severity and cost implications of risk and prioritises counter activities.
Doyle added: “The offshore wind industry should not underestimate the cost of risks and planning ahead with standard contracts can help to minimize some of those liability issues from the start of a project. We have developed XRISK in response to the need for a single, securely shared risk register which allows managers anywhere in the world to build plans and track and manage actions in real time. It can even consider reputational damage and sends direct alerts by email or SMS if action is not followed up.”
Aimed primarily at Project & HSEQ engineers and managers, who need to understand how risk needs to be managed in order to deliver success, Xodus developed the software to provide visibility on project risks and their effective management.
Cockburn added: “There currently seems to be less of a focus on HSE issues in the renewable sector compared to oil and gas, but it will only take one incident to impact on the reputation of those involved in the industry. It is important to get it right from the start and learn lessons from other sectors.”
Shepherd and Wedderburn has worked on more than 80 on and offshore windfarm projects in the last five years. Current offshore work includes the contract to advise Smart Wind Limited as it develops the 4GW Hornsea zone, of the UK’s biggest round 3 offshore wind zones. The firm will advise Smart Wind on consenting, grid connection, third party leases, contracts and health and safety as it develops the zone in a series of blocks, with each one being around 500 MW.
The Offshore Wind conference takes place in Liverpool on 29 and 30 June. Xodus will be exhibiting at stand A5.
Press Release – May 2010
Renewable companies urged to not underestimate risks
Xodus Group is showcasing technology to help reduce the risks associated with bringing green energy projects to fruition at the UK’s largest renewable show – All Energy 2010.
The Aberdeen headquartered consultancy will be giving demos of its XRISK management tool, which helps clients anticipate and avert set-backs ranging from delayed consenting procedures to major production breakdowns on renewable technologies.
The software maps out likelihood, severity and cost implications of risk and prioritises counter activities. It even considers reputational damage and sends direct alerts of action if not followed up.
Xodus Group provides integrated engineering, safety and environmental consultancy to industry and government worldwide. The company is launching its new Alternative Energy business stream at the conference on May 19 and 20th as a direct response to the increase in demands for services in this sector.
The Xodus team will be giving demos of the XRISK software at the Orkney pavilion and Liz Foubister, who recently took up post as new Alterative Energy Director, will be showcasing some of the high profile wind, wave and tidal projects the company is involved in.
Liz said: “Most systems are not efficient because they involve sharing of reviews and actions on various documents and spreadsheets by email. We have developed an internet-based system that combines a single, securely shared risk register which means managers anywhere in the world can build plans and track and manage actions in real time. The renewable sector should not underestimate the value of risk management and can make use of the lessons learned from the oil and gas industry.”
Xodus Group has further strengthened its service portfolio by appointing Eric Doyle as Alternative Energy Manager.
Liz and Eric are leading the alternative energy drive for Xodus Group and are responsible for rolling out an increased service offering to the growing global renewables industries and the emerging Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) market. Turnover in the offshore renewables business stream is predicted to grow to over £3 million in the next two years.
New business in this sector includes work with Aquamarine Power on the ground breaking Oyster wave project, Pelamis Wave Power and Green Ocean Energy. Other clients include SSE Renewables, RWE Npower Renewables and Scottish Power Renewables.
Eric, who has 20 years experience in the oil and gas sector, said: “We have a subsea ‘super-team’ of expertise that can play a crucial role in design, installation and asset management – from engineering structures to operations in deepwater harsh environments. Our team can offer real solutions to technical safety and risk management challenges and can play an important role in addressing the issues around generating and distributing electricity.
“Our core activities transfer directly from oil and gas to renewables so for us it is a seamless transition that will benefit the entire renewables supply chain.”
Press Release – May 2010
New Solution for £multi-million Offshore Energy Project Risks
Potential disasters facing multi-million pound offshore energy projects are the focus of a groundbreaking ‘nerve centre’ system developed by a Scottish energy company. Pioneering offshore wind and marine renewables developments, accelerating around the shores of Scotland and internationally, must overcome multiple barriers of risk and uncertainty to succeed. Now energy consultancy Xodus has developed an intelligent, web-based tool to anticipate and avert costly set-backs, from delayed consenting procedures to major production breakdowns in renewables and oil and gas sectors.
“Oil and gas operators across the world are constantly looking for better risk management and, with the offshore renewables industry blazing the trail for the rest of the world here in Scotland, this is good timing for a system that integrates and simplifies the process,” said Liz Foubister, Orkney-based Alternative Energy Director at Xodus, who are headquartered in Aberdeen.
Replacing traditional, fragmented risk management systems, the XRISK management tool deals with likelihood, severity and cost implications of risks, and prioritises counter-activities.
“Most systems involve emailed sharing of reviews and actions on various documents and spreadsheets, making activity relatively slow and inefficient,” said Ms Foubister. “This internet-based system combines a single, securely shared risk register, enabling managers located anywhere in the world to build clear plans with actions assigned, managed, tracked and auditable.”
Xodus staff have already used XRISK successfully in risk management consultancy for major oil and gas and renewables operators and are now developing it as a stand-alone tool for direct use by client companies. The Xodus office in Orkney is central to the Pentland Firth area, where 10 major marine energy projects are currently seeking consent, and close to the European Marine Energy Centre, also in Stromness, where full-scale wave and tidal devices are trialled.
Press Release – April 2010
World-leading subsea team assembled at Xodus as £4.5 million of new business secured and 12 new jobs created
Aberdeen-headquartered Xodus Group has made a step-change in its subsea capability with the addition of four service lines and the appointment of a director to drive business across Europe.
Twelve high profile subsea professionals, with over 150 years experience between them, have joined the subsea team, all covering a wide range of disciplines. This additional expertise combined with the new service offering will support the recently secured contracts which amount to £4.5 million of new business.
To respond pro-actively to client demand and to grow the subsea business, Xodus has introduced service lines in the areas of concept and FEED (front end engineering design), detailed design, project delivery and subsea operations support.
Graeme Rogerson has been appointed subsea director for Europe. He said: “We have strategically aligned our service lines to suit the requirements of the global energy industry. Our integrated consultancy service now has some of the industry’s most innovative subsea talent at its helm. Harnessing this unrivalled expertise we will now deliver the complete subsea project lifecycle offering with a turnkey capability from concept and front-end engineering to project delivery and operations support.”
A further 12 subsea specialists have been added to an already impressive stable of subsea sector expertise.
Among them is Frank Smith who takes up the position of subsea manager, based in Aberdeen. An industry renowned riser specialist, Frank has extensive experience in umbilical design engineering and analysis experience. Before joining Xodus, he was engineering team leader with MCS for 13 years working in both Aberdeen and Houston.
Andrew Wylie has joined as a consultant responsible for developing the company’s project delivery capability, providing assurance on critical procurement throughout the lifecycle of a subsea project and supporting the package management of umbilical and flexible riser systems. Andrew has also joined from MCS where he was riser delivery manager. Prior to that he worked at Technip.
Matt Kirk joins the group as a senior consultant to further develop the company’s subsea operational support and integrity management services. With 12 years subsea construction experience, Matt has joined Xodus from Acergy where he was latterly group remote operations manager.
Xodus director Richard Heard, said: “We are delighted to have assembled a world-beating subsea team which will deliver a superior and fully integrated service to our global client base. This critical mass of industry-recognised subsea experience and expertise puts Xodus in pole position to lead the way in subsea project delivery.”
Press Release – January 2010
An Exodus For Xodus
Xodus Group has moved to new and prestigious office premises in Aberdeen city centre as the company positions itself for further growth. With 111 of the 234 people employed by Xodus based at the headquarters in Aberdeen, the company has moved from its existing premises on Carden Place to larger offices in the city’s Huntly Street.
Buoyed by the continued growth of the company and an expanding service portfolio, the decision was taken to move to the new 14,500 sq ft offices which boasts space for up to 150 employees to accommodate the company’s existing and future growth. The company was based at Carden Place since it was established in 2005 when Xodus started out with 20 employees.
Colin Manson, Xodus Group CEO said: “Although Xodus continues to expand around the globe, Aberdeen has remained the headquarters for the company. Last year we secured prime, high specification office premises in central London and as part of our strategy to sustain our reputation as the industry’s leading front end consultancy, we wanted to match the quality of the London space, here in Aberdeen.
“It is important we maintain a solid base of expertise here in Aberdeen, where it all began, and where 40% of our work is performed. Over the last two years we have focused on building a strong team, enhancing our service capabilities and expanding internationally. That hard work is now coming to fruition. The new site offers first class specification in a prime city centre location, space to grow and the ability to maintain close relations with clients that we have worked with throughout the last four years. It is everything we need to establish Xodus global headquarters.”