Offshore Savings Bonds Advantages

The wonderful world of offshore provides even those who are expatriate residents onshore in Europe, and therefore potentially affected by the EU savings tax directive and associated exchanges of information agreements, with a way to effectively and securely manage all of their savings and investments under one umbrella.

The umbrella in question is called an offshore savings bond, also known as an offshore portfolio bond or even a wrapper. If you’ve never heard about this product then this report will outline its many advantages in details. Or if your financial adviser has recommended you have one as part of your balanced portfolio, it will give you more insight into perhaps why one has been recommended to you.

The advantages of offshore savings bonds are many…read on to learn more, because whether you’re actively considering incorporating one into your financial plan or not, after reading this report, you may well discover how much you could benefit from such a solution.

Offshore savings or portfolio bonds are structures under which a plethora of assets, accounts, funds and even shares can be held. The structure itself consists of an insurance contract and a bank account which when coupled together creates a holding vehicle for you through which you can invest and manage your investments.

Such a structure falls outside the remit of the EU savings tax directive.

You can invest through an offshore savings bond into the likes of offshore funds, cash deposits, direct holdings, bond-based funds – and you can use the confidential and secure structure to limit your tax exposure and liability. The other main and real advantage is that such a bond or wrapper allows you to minimise the administration of all your investments to the absolute minimum. You can swap and change how and where your money is invested with a simple and easy faxed instruction. This means that you no longer have to engage in the time consuming headache of proving who you are for company due diligence every time you want to restructure how your assets are held and invested.

Something as seemingly straightforward as taking advantage of one banks preferential interest rates on an account over anothers can be an administrative headache nowadays as you have to go through the one bank’s due diligence process before you can transfer your money in – potentially resulting in you losing out on a least a month’s worth of the preferential rate. But with an offshore savings bond, no such hassle is incurred. You simply fax your instructions through – and hey presto, your money will be transferred according to your wishes!

The transparency for you, the ease of asset and account management, the security, privacy and confidentiality of the structure all combine together to make these products invaluable for expatriates who have in the region of £50,000 or more under management, invested or saved. The structures are also very cost effective to maintain once they are established, and you can easily offset the cost with the tax you save through structuring all of your investments under this one, tax efficient and legitimate umbrella.

If you want to find out more information about these products and solutions, learn how you can also benefit from discounts on fund charges, and even have initial charges reduced to zero in certain circumstances, get in touch with us.

source: www.shelteroffshore.com

Investing Japan, as Japan invests offshore

Even in the best of times, Japan has never been a cakewalk for foreign investors. But in the wake of the global credit crisis, the world’s second-largest economy can be downright baffling.

The recession has wiped out overseas demand for electronics and automobiles and sent a rush of mid-sized firms into bankruptcy.

Activist investors are increasingly on the retreat, citing corporate governance that some say is among the worst in the developed world. But even amid such a dour backdrop, there are still plenty of bright spots.

Most major Japanese companies have avoided massive losses on toxic assets. Faced with a shrinking market at home, those cash-rich firms are increasingly looking to move abroad. Outbound acquisitions hit a record of about $70 billion last year, and Tokyo firms are making aggressive moves into fast-growing Asia markets.

Bolstered by overseas investments, leading financial firms such as Mitsubishi UFJ and Sumitomo Mitsui are looking to become global players.

For the next two day, the Reuters Japan Investment Summit will focus on these and other issues facing one of the world’s most puzzling markets.

Through interviews with some of Japan’s most important influential executives, the Summit generate exclusive stories and investable insights.

source: blogs.reuters.com

Is Massachusetts set to block offshore wind development?

The state of Massachusetts could be poised to block current proposals for a major offshore wind farm in its waters after the state government released a new development plan designed to strictly define what can be built in its oceans

A senior official said the new rules would prohibit a proposed offshore wind farm in its current form.

Mandated by the State's Oceans Act of 2008, the plan would require developers of ocean-based projects to avoid areas that are considered ecologically important. The Act required a plan to be put in place by the end of this year.

The draft plan would introduce new environmental considerations for those wishing to construct projects in the 75 per cent of state waters that are under general management. Projects would have to get the approval of local coastal towns, and of the relevant regional planning agency, before they could go ahead.

The introduction of the plan is likely to require a revamp of existing proposals for wind farms in the Buzzard's Bay area off the Massachusetts coast, according to an interview given by state energy and environmental affairs secretary Ian Bowles.

"The big wind farm for Buzzard's Bay will not be able to go forward as it was proposed," he warned, adding that liquid natural gas projects built off the coast would also have to be careful about where they constructed pipelines. " We've got about 12 different categories of special, sensitive, unique resources and those vary area to area and depend on where that species or resource might appear."

The move comes at a crucial time for offshore wind power in the US. The Obama has signalled its support for the development of offshore wind resources and last month the Department of the Interior issued five leases for offshore wind project exploration in New Jersey and Delaware, opening the door for offshore wind farms on the eastern seaboard.

source: www.guardian.co.uk

Top companies like Lloyds fill UK jobs with foreign imports - just don't tell the customers...

By Karl West
Last updated at 12:43 AM on 03rd July 2009

Consultant Capgemini is shipping in cheap foreign labour to Telford to work on sensitive government projects as a way of getting around contractual agreements to keep the work in Britain.

Meanwhile, the Daily Mail has also discovered that Lloyds Banking Group has secretly outsourced work to India, and is so scared about its clients finding out that it has banned staff from telling them.

These are the two latest examples of how outsourcing and offshoring UK jobs has run out of control.

Indian summer: Staff from the sub-continent are benefiting from the apparent increase in firms hiring skilled foreign workers

Companies relish the cost savings that cheap foreign labour brings, but heaven forbid they should be open with their customers about it.

Capgemini does a lot of work for HM Revenue & Customs on what is known as the Aspire contract at its Telford site in the Midlands.

But the government agency said it has a clause that stipulates all work must be done in the UK.

Capgemini declined to reveal how many foreign workers are employed on work for HMRC.

A spokesman said: 'The contract further mandates Capgemini to deploy the best staff from across the globe to support delivery in the UK.'

HMRC said: 'How Capgemini resource their business is up to them.'

This practice seems astonishing when unemployment tops 2.2m, and every day more skilled British workers are given their marching orders.

Unfortunately, there seems to be an increasing trend towards this kind of 'outskilling', where UK workers are being supplanted by cheap imports.

Offshoring used to mean sending fairly menial call centre and back office roles to Bangalore or Hyderabad in India.

But the tide is also now sweeping up skilled, higher-grade roles such as IT programming, software design, and human resources.

And there is no sign yet that the practice is about to stop any time soon.

A Capgemini insider said: 'In the last few months there has been a massive influx of Indian workers.

'These assignments usually last for a few years, then individuals will go back home only to be replaced by another Indian worker.'

The source also said Capgemini's British contract workers were recently asked to take a 15pc wage cut, and were told the pay cut would be taken into account when contract renewals were offered.

'It seems that most if not all contractors will be replaced by Indian staff in October anyway, regardless of whether they took a pay cut or not,' the source added.

State-backed Lloyds Banking Group has also come under increasing pressure from unions to explain why it continues to outsource jobs when it is 43.4pc owned by the taxpayer.

This newspaper previously revealed that Lloyds (down 2.35p at 65.9p) is flying in hundreds of Indian IT workers to work on long-term projects in Britain, displacing domestic contractors.

But we have since learned that the so-called 'Bank of Britain' offshored its CHAPS (Clearing House Automated Payment System) operation to India last year.

This system helps the bank's clients, ranging from large corporationsto local councils, transfer payment to their suppliers on the same day for a small fee of £25.

A former Lloyds employee told us the lender warned staff they were not to tell customers that these payments were now being processed from the subcontinent.

The source said: 'We were under strict instructions not to tell customers that the work is being done offshore.

'If the service Lloyds offers offshore is so good, why isn't the bank telling people about it?'

A Lloyds spokesman said: 'We use offshore resources to help process some payment requests and have been doing so since 2008.

The bank's unions have urged the government to force Lloyds to bring the 4,500 jobs it currently has offshore, back to Britain.

A spokesman for UKFI, which manages the taxpayer's stake in Lloyds, said: 'We don't engage in the commercial decision-making of the bank.'

One suspects these two examples are just the tip of a rather large iceberg that not only threatens the job security of thousands of expendable British workers, but the wider economy as well.

source: www.dailymail.co.uk

Four Unfortunate Facts about the Job Market

by: Michael Mandel

After this morning’s report, here are four unfortunate facts about the job market.

1) Manufacturing jobs are falling at their fastest rate since 1946, down -12.2% over the past year.

2) Private sector jobs outside of manufacturing are also falling at their fastest rate since 1946, down -4.0% over the past year.

3) Manufacturing jobs are falling much faster than the rest of the private sector. In fact, the ‘excess’ job decline in manufacturing (the difference between -12.2% and -4.0%) is the largest since 1975.

4) The ten-year job growth in the private sector is down to only 559K jobs. At this rate, we will hit zero ten-year private job growth next month or the month after.

One important question is whether there is a ‘floor’ for manufacturing jobs. So far, we haven’t seen one. Over the past three months, manufacturing jobs have been falling at a -13.6% annual rate.

I would say that the evisceration of U.S. manufacturing may be our single biggest nonfinancial problem right now. I’m currently examining the extent to which this can be tied to trade.
source: www.businessweek.com

New York seminar focusing on offshore finance

Private and institutional investors face a number of issues and opportunities in today’s challenging economic climate.

A forum set to take place in New York today will be looking a the situation offshore jurisdictions are now in thanks to the global financial crisis and some of the high–profile investment schemes it helped to burst open such as those involving Wall Street financier Bernard Madoff and Texas Billionaire Allen Stanford.

The invitation–only forum, Offshore Financial Markets Post Madoff, will be held at the Harvard Club of New York. Hosts Stuarts Walker Hersant Attorneys–at–Law and RBC Wealth Management say they are seeking to address widespread disenchantment with the financial services industry..

“We felt that the timing was right for us to host a discussion about the impact of recent events on the financial services industry and in particular the potential impact of governmental and international agency proposals on private and institutional investors,” said Jane Wareham. An international legal consultant with Cay Solutions Ltd., a Canadian affiliate company, she working with Stuarts Walker Hersant to help organise the event.

“We have had a great response rate and expect to engage a number of influential industry figures. The event will also provide a useful platform to help communicate the facts about offshore financial services jurisdictions amidst a lot of negative perception.”

Deanna Bidwell, Managing Director of RBC Wealth Management, Royal Bank of Canada’s wealth management division, said clients are increasingly reassessing their banking and investment relationships with their service providers.

“It has never been more important for the banking industry to review the best ways to serve and protect the interests of its clients and demonstrate its commitment to providing solutions to the issues presented by the current financial crisis,” she said.

“We are confident that our forum will prove very beneficial to wealthy investors and their advisors alike, and help educate them about the role of offshore financial services centres.”

Some 90 guests are expected to attend and can look forward to hearing the views of an array of financial services experts, which includes Timothy Ridley, former Chairman of the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority, and Anthony Akiwumi, Head of Litigation at Stuarts Walker Hersant Attorneys.

Other speakers include Professor Andrew P. Morriss of the Institute for Government and Public Affairs, University of Illinois, Professor Houman B. Shadab, Associate Professor of Law, New York Law School, Joseph A. Field, Senior International Partner, Withers Bergman LLP, New York and Margaret R.A. Paradis, Partner, Baker & McKenzie LLP, New York.

The hosts also hope to use the event as an opportunity to garner support for Facing Africa, a UK based charity dedicated to helping sufferers of a devastating flesh eating disease which affects children in sub–Saharan countries. Both companies have already raised considerable funds for the victims of the disease, as well as the children’s ward of George Town Hospital in Cayman.

source: www.caycompass.com

Labuan Targeted To Be Premier IBFC In Five Years

KUALA LUMPUR, Labuan is targeted to be the premier international business and financial centre (IBFC) in the Asia Pacific by five years, according to its promoter Labuan IBFC Inc Sdn Bhd.

"We will measure that by looking at Labuan's business growth. Already we are growing faster than many other jurisdictions," its chief executive officer Martin Crawford told reporters here Thursday.

Crawford said the year-on-year growth has been significant with many of the category groups growing between 30 and 50 percent.

"In fact, one of them grew at 67 percent. But some other jurisdictions (offshore financial centres), they are not growing that well. We are gaining market share and we intend to be the premier IBFC in the Asia Pacific by five years," he said.

Earlier, Crawford presented a paper titled "Why Waste a Crisis -- Unlock Opportunities" at a seminar jointly organised by the Malaysian Institute of Accountants and Labuan IBFC at the Securities Commission.

Labuan was declared an international offshore financial centre in October 1990 with the Labuan Offshore Financial Services Authority (LOFSA) being the regulatory body to spearhead and coordinate efforts to promote and develop Labuan as an IOFC.

However, in early 2008, a rebranding exercise took place with the launch of the Labuan IBFC by LOFSA, a new identity designed to be more reflective of Labuan's new focus.

Asked what could be the benchmark to be a premium IBFC, Crawford said: "Premier is the qualitative statement as well as the quantitative one. It is not just numbers."

"We could relax (legislations) in Labuan and make it very easy and get a lot of numbers but at the end of the day we will also buy in a lot of problems. It is going to be quality growth and not just quantity growth," he said.

"IFBCs around the world all have good attributes but we just want to be known as the premier one. The best of the best," he added.

On its plan to have representatives in other regional centres, Crawford said that Labuan IBFC Inc was working closely with other Malaysian bodies such as Malaysian External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) and Malaysian Industrial Development Authority (MIDA), which have offices in other locations.

"Right now we are using other agencies to help spread the word. We are training their people to talk about Labuan," he said.

"Ultimately, if we have sufficient funds, we would like to open offices in other locations, probably in the Middle East and Hong Kong," he added.

Labuan IBFC is now focusing on the five key areas of international holding companies, private and public investment funds, captive insurance, Islamic finance, and wealth management products like expatriate pensions.

Asked whether Labuan IBFC was thinking of new focus areas, Crawford said: "The word 'focus' is very important because certain jurisdictions around the world have built a reputation being good in one or two things."

"We don't want to spread ourselves too thin. We want to be very good for those five areas," he said.

On the registration of companies this year, Crawford said it was looking at 15 percent growth for this year despite the global economic downturn.

"The registration of company is still growing. We had a growth of 10 percent when comparing on first quarter to first quarter basis. Some other jurisdictions were minus 20 percent, on that same criteria," he said.

"So there is a big flow of business from some centres towards our centre. We hope that by maintaining our standard and quality we will catch some of that flow and have those companies in Labuan," he added.

According to him, a 10 percent growth can be considered as "quite good" amid the current weak economic scenario.

On the recent announcement allowing Labuan holding companies to establish their operational and management office in Kuala Lumpur, Crawford said: "It is going to be a fantastic offer."

"Many companies that are based in Singapore and Hong Kong are now talking to us, asking when can a Labuan company be in Kuala Lumpur.

With the facility of Kuala Lumpur, talent and infrastructure, it is going to be very significant. We are pushing that," he said.

A reviewed legislation governing all facets of business and operations in Labuan IBFC will be tabled at the current Parliament session, he added.

-- BERNAMA
source: www.bernama.com

New tools and technology for the offshore industry

Areluctant few who canceled their trip to this year’s Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) due to worries over swine flu missed a strong showing of new services and equipment that underscores the industry’s continuing demand for lower costs, safer operations, greater efficiency, and improved performance. By the end of the four days, the conference drew an impressive 67,721 people.

For those who missed out, the editors of Offshore magazine have compiled a selection of new products announced at this year’s show:

Argus subsea tree system aims for faster completion

Argus Subsea rolled out the AZ-10 subsea tree aimed at reducing costs and accelerating well delivery.

The company, now part of the Galathea Group, told Offshore magazine about the new venture and strategy for meeting equipment needs in the early production subsea market with the AZ-10.

“In today’s highly volatile energy market, getting an oilfield online quickly can mean the difference between
profitability and bankruptcy,” says Carl Aubrey, GM of Argus Subsea. “The Argus AZ-10 has the ability to reduce the drilling and completion cost for a subsea completion by more than 40%, while reducing the first oil schedule by 15 months. This enables the operator to reduce drilling and completion cost by $10 million or more.”

The AZ-10 is an off-the-shelf subsea tree that features a totally concentric tree and hanger system. It has a water depth capability to 6,000 ft (1,829 m), a working pressure to 10,000 psi (69 MPa), temperature rating of 250º F (121º C), with a design life of 20 years.

“Argus’ tree is expected to fit into early production operations, in marginal fields, and for extended well testing,” says Earl Broussard, director of marketing. “We can reduce the schedule to first oil in a typical fast-track development from about 800 days to less than 250.”

This reduction in wait time accounts for much of the overall savings, but there are other advantages, says Broussard. The tubing hanger and running tool are factory assembled, and the installation requires only five tools.

“The tree is all stainless steel, with no overlays, and monobore,” adds Broussard. “At less than 50,000 lb, it weights less than half of most standard subsea trees, so it can be handled by a typical rig crane. If you can run a BOP stack through the rig moonpool, you can run this tree.”

Adding to the system applicability, instead of interfacing with OEM hardware which is not standardized, Broussard says it interfaces with standardized OCTG.

Expro launches ActiveSONAR metering technology

Expro launched the ActiveSONAR metering technology. The clamp-on sonar technology can be retrofitted to a wide range of applications and is designed to address the flow rates and heavy schedule piping encountered in upstream oil and gas applications.

The meters can be deployed on new or existing installations, lowering both the technical risks and operating costs associated with flow measurement, according to Expro.

The technology can measure primary gas flow rates over a wide range of wet gas

mixtures and can be used for new and existing well installations.

Sonar flow measurement uses sonar-array processing technology to measure volumetric flow rates within pipes by determining the speed at which naturally-occurring, coherent flow structures flow past an array of sensors clamped on to the outside of the pipe. Specifically, sonar flow measurement technology leverages the ‘beam forming’ techniques, originally developed in underwater acoustics, to determine the location of sound sources underwater.

Sonar flow measurement is applicable to single and two-phase multiphase flows and Expro Meters is developing three-phase meters around this technology. The clamp-on capability is particularly useful for applications in which intrusive flow measurement devices are not practical, the company says.

3M introduces new corrosion protection for pipelines

3M introduced new Fusion Bonded Epoxy (FBE) technology called 3M Scotchkote Coating 626-120 and Scotchkote Coating 626-140. The Scotchkote coatings protect oil and gas pipelines against corrosion at high temperatures. Scotchkote coating 626-120 can operate up to 115º C (239º F) as a stand alone and up to 130º C (266º F) when used in a three-layer system. Scotchkote coating 626-140 can withstand temperatures up to 135º C (275º F) as a stand alone and up to 150º C (302º F) as part of a three-layer system, the company says.

Both Scotchkote coating products are a one-part, heat-curable thermosetting epoxy powder designed as a stand-alone or as the corrosion coating for a dual layer FBE and multilayer polyolefin system.

Pipelines are operating at higher temperatures than ever due to deep downhole oil and gas production,” says Henry Hernandez, 3M’s marketing manager of Corrosion Protection Products. “This creates a problem of corrosion of pipes that require advanced materials and technologies. 3M’s Scotchkote coatings are designed to withstand the heat and provide an innovative solution that offers reliable high-operating temperature coating systems for the oil and gas industry.”

Dow Hyperlast develops new technology for coating, insulation systems

Dow Hyperlast has engineered a technology to blend glass syntactic polyurethane (GSPU) coating and insulation systems for deepwater pipelines on site in remote locations. The ETNAFLOW Portable Mixing Plant mixes materials, while an advanced process control ensures formulation accuracy, quality, and consistency of the finished product.

Designed for local operations, ETNAFLOW Portable Mixing Plant consists of raw materials holding and dosing

units, plus a blending operation where the polyurethane and the glass micro spheres are mixed.

“The ETNAFLOW mixing system was inspired and developed as a direct result of our requirement to supply Wasco Coatings in Malaysia, with Flow Assurance Insulation coating materials for the Gumusut-Kakap project,” says Alex Lane, global business leader for Dow Hyperlast’s Pipe and Tank Division. “This project in the South China Sea called for performance parameters at ocean depths of up to 1,200 m (3,937 ft) in very remote areas. Dow Hyperlast experts quickly recognized the need for a reliable, portable GSPU mixing system that could help expedite the project, improving materials handling and ensure quality.”

Draka introduces Arctic Grade electrical cables

The new Arctic Grade electrical cables from Draka featured at OTC are designed to meet the challenging conditions of extremely cold climates.

“Our new cost-effective Arctic Grade cable combines cold impact and cold bend requirements down to -40° C

(-104° F) along with excellent mud and oil resistance,” says Eivind Nesset, global innovations leader for Draka.

Under the IEC guidelines, the new Arctic Grade cables are also flame retardant and flame resistant and are available from 250 V to 30 kV.

“With un-discovered hydrocarbons located in more extreme parts of the earth and ocean we feel it is necessary to provide the technology our customers need to expand their exploration programs,” says Nesset.

BMT shows new subsea pipeline strain sensor

BMT Scientific Marine Services Inc. showed its new ROV-deployable subsea pipeline strain sensor assembly.

The Subsea Strain Sensor Assembly (SSSA) measures static and dynamic tensile and bending strain and alerts if the measures indicate excessive strain or potential for future fatigue damage.

A key feature of the ROV deployable package is the stable support frame for the sensor package. Before installation starts, a support frame is clamped to the riser by the ROV to provide an anchor for the ROV, and to ensure that the sensors can be fitted or adjusted without causing any damage to them. The SSSA is suitable for pipelines or risers in up to 10,000 ft (3,048 m) water depths, according to BMT

“Until BMT’s new development, strain sensors had to be installed prior to deployment of subsea pipes or possibly by divers. The new technology permits the SSSA to be retrofitted to already submerged pipes too deep for divers,” says Rod Edwards VP of BMT.

Rubberatkins unveils HP/HT Packer Elements

Rubberatkins unveiled its latest HP/HT Packer Elements. The company formulated an AFLAS compound for the new product, which is capable of holding pressures up to 10,000 psi and temperatures of 450º F (232º C) continuous and 540º F (282º C) short-term. According to the company, the AFLAS Packer Element will provide a reliable and robust solution for permanent and retrievable sealing solutions for completion equipment.

The Packer Element has a high resistance to H2S, steam, strong acids, and bases ensuring that it maintains optimum functionality within a range of environmental parameters.

Rubberatkins also previewed its new Swellable materials that are currently in development. “We have developed elastomer compounds which swell in oil and water, providing the client with a simple passive sealing solution,” says Nick Atkins, director of Rubberatkins. “The seal which is created using Rubberatkins Swellable technology can withstand temperatures of up to 150º C (302° F). We are currently testing pressure capability up to 10,000 psi.”

Knight debuts equipment inspection program

Knight Oil Tools debut its KIP inspection program for quality assurance. The interactive quality assurance program is a patent-pending system that uses a touch screen to allow technicians and inspectors to retrieve technical data, review reference material, and record inspection results from the shop floor.

“The bottom line is consistent quality with every tool, every time,” says president Mark Knight, who presented the technology.

Each component of equipment is serialized and identified with schematics to allow clear rotation of inspection results. Over 46,000 commodities have already been entered into the system and more will be added.

3M’s glass bubbles help extend production to 15,000 ft below surface

3M has developed three new grades of glass bubbles for deepwater insulation and buoyancy applications -- S42XHS, XLD3000, and XLD6000.

The products advanced performance makes it possible to link surface facilities to longer subsea tiebacks at greater depths, or to reduce riser and flowline insulation dimensions for better placement and more efficient pipelay operations at current depths, the company says.

“3M’s next-generation of glass bubbles are helping to extend the range of oil and gas production to as much as 15,000 ft (4,572 m) below the surface,” says Rob Hunter, applications development specialist for 3M Oil & Gas. “Additionally, first generation 3M hollow glass bubbles offered density and strength values of approximately 0.16g/cc at 500 psi, while these new fourth-generation 3M glass bubbles perform at the level of 0.3g/cc at 6,000 psi.”

ABS unveils new design compliance software

ABS unveiled its ABS Eagle Offshore Structure Assessment Program (OSAP) Version 2.0. This latest version allows designers of TLPs and spars to check the compliance of their designs with ABS Class requirements. Initially, the software was applicable only to semisubmersibles.

The new software builds on guidance presented in ABS’s Guide for Building and Classing Floating Production Installations by taking into account the sophisticated load modeling required for these two specialized floating structures.

The various load cases that should be considered include environmental loads, hydrostatic pressures and buoyancy, gravity and inclination-induced loads, inertia loads, operational loads, as well as mooring and riser loads during both transportation and operation and site-specific storm design levels.

The six main functions of the program are load generation, design wave calculation, load mapping and balancing, global strength assessment, fatigue assessment, and buckling and ultimate strength analysis.

“The software streamlines the complex design code check process by helping designers determine environmental loads, transfer hydrodynamic loads to a structural model, and extract structural analysis results from a user selected finite element analysis program,” explains Pao-Lin Tan, director, ABS Corporate Offshore Engineering Support. “Simply put, the software acts like a data processing hub connecting the hydrodynamic and structural analysis software with analysis results to check against the design code.”

ITT debuts reverse osmosis watermaker

ITT Corp. debut its Reverse Osmosis watermaker. The new system, dubbed C’treat ROUSTABOUT, generates between 4,000 and 20,000 gallons of potable water per day from sea water. ITT says C’treat incorporates many features found in its custom-engineered watermakers including:

• Rugged steel frames
• High quality epoxy coatings
• Corrosion resistant and durable components
• Compact footprint
• Highest levels of filtration in the industry
• Simple, reliable system.

“With the ROUSTABOUT system, we have taken many of the features from our custom units and combined them in one ready-to-ship, off-the-shelf watermaker,” says Tom Vanden Heuvel, GM of ITT C’treat Offshore. “Designed specifically for drill rigs, ships, and marine contractors, it will represent a reliable, high-value alternative to our custom-engineered systems and competing, less dependable off-the-shelf products.”

C’treat also produces a full line of ultraviolet disinfection systems to sterilize drinking water, and custom water systems including potable water pumping packages for the offshore industry. All C’treat water systems can be specially designed for customer needs and specifications. ITT also backs all of its offshore water systems with a global network of on-call service and support.

“We know the locations of every product that we have manufactured, and are ready to help with maintenance or product support at any time,” Vanden Heuvel says. “Whether it’s a custom system or the new ROUSTABOUT series, our goal is to make the customer’s experience with C’treat as simple and efficient as possible.”

Atlas Copco unveils new product lineup

Atlas Copco unveiled three new products – DrillAir portable compressors, Hurricane boosters, and a CaliberXD drill bit. DrillAir provides up to 510 psi of air; the Hurricane booster range adds models with 500-4,500 cf/m flow and up to 5,000 psi pressure; and the Caliber SD incorporates PCD technology that Atlas Copco says is more durable than conventional diamond inserts.

source: http://offshore-mag.com

DRILLING & PRODUCTION

John Waggoner • Houston

Rethinking the OCS debate

If the US seeks to bolster the long term sustainability of its energy supply, it should look to hydrocarbons in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), the leaders of some of the world’s largest oil companies say.

Delays in bringing ongoing debate forward into policy ideas about opening new exploration and production in the OCS have led the oil and gas industry to renew the effort to win over groups opposed to offshore drilling.

Government moratoria on drilling in the OCS expired last year amid fervent debate over the future of the country’s energy policy.

At the time, oil prices were screaming near a level of $147/bbl and the surge in fuel prices that followed led to renewed support for opening the OCS as a means to raise domestic hydrocarbon supplies.

Today, however the bumper stickers once common throughout the coastal states of the Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere urging “Drill, baby, drill!” have begun to fade and peel while the issue languishes for debate.

Oil prices have since retreated, and industry leaders now say it is increasingly important to call attention to the advancements in offshore drilling technology that protect human life, the environment, and the health of the economy.

Gary Luquette, president of Chevron North America comments that renewed engagement with groups opposed to OCS drilling is essential.

“The industry has done a poor job of getting the message out about how the industry is important to the economy,” he says.

The industry should take “credit and great pride” in the advancements over the past 40 years, Luquette says, particularly those which protect the safety of the environment and ensure maximum recovery with every well.

The consensus among speakers on the topic at the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston in May was that one of the main obstacles to opening the OCS is a perception by many in the country that renewable energies are somehow at odds with the hydrocarbons, even though the US needs oil and gas every bit as much as other sources to keep up with demand.

Worse, renewable energies are viewed by some as an easy replacement for the hydrocarbons that keep the world running, starkly in contrast to empirical fact and the economic and practical limitations of wind, solar, and nuclear power.

The polarization of renewable energy against oil and gas industry is essentially misleading because the country’s energy needs will continue to rely predominately on hydrocarbons well into the future, Luquette says.

“In 30 or 40 years, oil and gas will still play a very important role,” he says.

ExxonMobil president Tim Cejka agrees that technology will be a decisive factor for the industry to deliver on its promises in the OCS.

“New cutting edge technologies…can produce safely and with minimal environmental impact,” Cejka says.

Karen Alderman Harbert, president and CEO of the US Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for 21st Century Energy, believes that the OCS drilling agenda must be pursued as part of a comprehensive energy policy alongside renewables.

“There is no silver bullet, but there is silver buckshot,” she says.

The Department of the Interior’s strategy for meeting the growth in energy consumption includes both conventional and renewable resources. However, a five-year plan from the Minerals Management Service (MMS) to address new OCS leases has been delayed, raising concerns by the industry that the topic remains in limbo.

For some, if there is a single “line in the sand” which divides those in favor of drilling and those opposed, that line would be the environment.

Map showing US Outer Continental Shelf acreage. Image courtesy of Minerals Management Service (MMS).

Sidney Coffee of America’s Wetland Foundation says it is essential that OCS exploration and production operate from a sound environmental platform.

The group has organized the Gulf Coast states into a coalition of economic, environmental and energy interests to “educate America, shape public policy, and speak with a shared voice in Washington.”

In Louisiana, this coalition was instrumental in the effort to change the state’s constitution to direct the state government’s portion of federal OCS income to hurricane restoration and coastal protection.

For reasons such as this, experts say federal OCS revenue and the ability to create new jobs – many of them high paying and levied at a higher income tax rate – are powerful arguments in a recession.

David Dismukes, associate director and professor at the Center for Energy Studies at Louisiana State University says the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) currently produces each year some 490 MMbbl of oil and 3 tcf of gas, accounting for 23% and 14%, respectively, of all domestic US production.

This once restricted activity has translated into federal revenue of $32 billion per year over the last five years, Dismukes says. That amount is second only to the tax-gathering might of the Treasury itself, meaning no other industry can claim to have paid back more to the American people than oil and gas producers.

However, operations in the GoM cannot maintain this pace forever. The region’s producing wells are maturing, and federal proceeds will inevitably decline along with production unless new areas of the OCS are opened.

Due to the age of US Department of Energy data – much of it acquired with 2D seismic – the data about the country’s offshore reserves is hopelessly out of date, experts say.

Until new areas are opened to the private sector to begin exploration, oil and gas operators say it will be impossible to determine how much oil and gas is out there.

But for the operators to take on the long term risks involved in exploring these new areas, Dismukes says allowing access to the OCS will mean little without consistent governmental policies to support development.
source: offshore-mag.com

Heading Offshore?

Tips for Researching Your MTSO

By Stephen Denick

With health care's ongoing challenges of limited transcription resources and management's constant examination of costs, health care managers are being asked to look for alternatives that balance the dichotomy. While there are several options to control and lower costs of transcription, with the right partner, you can affect a positive impact with an international labor pool. Offshore transcription represents opportunities with these and other key attributes. For those who have been asked to seek out lower cost alternatives and add value to your current transcription process, your own due diligence will provide the peace of mind you desire. Concerns such as quality, security and connectivity are valid, while having a "nationalistic approach" to your labor needs, can make the research process a bit overwhelming. As a member of an organization that produces both in the U.S. and abroad, the following are some important questions to consider when exploring non-domestic production.

Economies of Scale?
At the end of the day, one has to ask themselves if the perceived risks are worth the obvious economic benefit to going "offshore." Many facilities have justified this decision based on dollars alone. Today there is more substance to the international delivery process than ever before. These fears can be overcome with good technology, ample resources, proper quality assurance (QA) procedures and good communication with your vendor's account management personnel than ever before.

How can the production process help me?
A "silver lining" in this, especially with Indian labor, is that their days are our nights, and our nights are their days. With this time difference, a global workforce assists in meeting your turnaround (TAT) objectives. The workflow can be addressed quicker each day. Also, technologies such as speech recognition (SR) can greatly ease the language barrier. As we collectively become more comfortable with SR technologies and SR technologies improve this will bridge many gaps that existed in the past.

What are their security safeguards?
Signing a business associate agreement (BAA) with your medical transcription service organization (MTSO) in regard to privacy and security standards of HIPAA is merely a preliminary step. The MTSO in turn should have the same understanding with their offshore team. Best practices should encompass confidentiality agreements for offshore contractors and their employees, where employees are bound by those agreements. This includes eliminating the MT's ability to download patient information for any purpose. Also, Internet access should be limited to client Web sites, passwords should be reset at consistent intervals, computers should be protected with anti-virus standards, and if possible, also ask if they do workstation audits. At first glance, these may seem like standard procedures, but when sending work offshore you need to ensure privacy and security measures are in place.

Will the work be done out of a central facility or via home-based transcription?
Having a centralized workforce is a good indication of an organization's commitment to its international workflow. The culture of the home-based worker is not the same as it is here in the states. Without a central facility, it is safe to assume that control may be lost during the process. It's imperative to learn about the physical location of where the work is going, the infrastructure of the facility, and the security of the PCs.

Does the company sub-contract work out?
Understanding the relationship between the "mother-ship" with whom you have contracted and its international labor pool is key. It is important to know whether you're working with one or more companies in the process. Ask questions regarding all parties involved, the chain of command and how many eyes see the reports before they are returned to you. You should require that your vendor not subcontract your work without your written permission.

What is their technical competency?
Your IT team may step in for this portion of your research, but it can serve you well and give you piece of mind to know what kind of IT practices are in place. Determine whether the vendor has the capacity and bandwidth for a secure virtual private network (VPN). Learn about their redundancy, connectivity, power and backups to each. In the case of an emergency, redundancy is even more crucial. Incorporate your partner to your disaster recovery initiatives for further piece of mind.

What is the QA process?
Ask how the MTSO connects through secure VPNs vs. re-recording voice from your server to their server. Determine whether the offshore vendor logs into the system vs. exporting files. QA can be another added benefit as this can occur prior to receiving it at your facility. In some cases, QA can be done domestically after the work has been checked offshore. You should have a clear vision of what the audit trail looks like.

How's your communication with your vendor?
For anyone who has called a customer service help desk and whose call has been routed overseas can attest, a potential language barrier may occur. Understanding who is going to handle calls in the future, on your behalf, is critical to your success. For example, who will communicate with the international production team as challenges occur? How often do they communicate? Who's "on-call" when our nights and days do not coincide? An open line of communication with your partner and offshore contractor will help. Their administrative and QA staff should be proficient English speaking representatives to ensure accurate transfer of information.

Stephen Denick, national director of sales for Outsourcing Solutions Inc., has 22 years of experience in health care sales and sales management. He has background in delivering high quality document management and speech recognition solutions from two of the largest providers. Denick has also been invited to speak at various industry meetings on the topics of speech recognition technologies and outsourcing solutions to regional groups of HIMSS, AHIMA and AHDI.

source: health-information.advanceweb.com

SBM Offshore Finalizes Project Loan And Offshore Projects

By Bart Koster
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES


AMSTERDAM (Dow Jones)--SBM Offshore (SBMO.AE), the Dutch marine construction and offshore company, finalized a $350 million Canadian project loan agreement and has delivered an offshore platform for Chevron Corp. (CVX) in Brazil, it said Thursday.

SBM said it has completed the $350 million loan facility to finance and lease a new offshore gas facility in Canada for Encana Corp. This facility is to start production late 2010.

SBM completed the installation of an offshore platform for Chevron Frade BV, 375 kilometers northeast of Rio de Janeiro. The facility has a daily production capacity of 100,000 barrels of oil and 106 million cubic feet of gas.

It took SBM 26 months to finalize the project and about 18 million work-hours have been spent in it. SBM didn't elaborate on turnover and profit of the project.

SBM also announced Thursday that it has finalized the delivery to Petronas Carigali of several offshore oil and gas facilities in Turkmenistan. The non-recurring turnover of this project amounted to $51.5 million and it brought a post-tax profit of $30 million.

SBM said its operating contract with Total SA (TOT) for the offshore Amenam field in Nigeria has been extended until June 2010.

source: online.wsj.com

Pertamina Signs DME Deal;Seeks Local,Offshore Oil,Gas

JAKARTA (Dow Jones)--Indonesian state-owned oil and gas company PT Pertamina is submitting a new bid for an oil block in Iraq and will seek to develop an oil asset in Mauritania, Pertamina president director Karen Agustiawan said Thursday. The company is also bidding on a gas development project in Indonesia with Woodside Energy Ltd. of Australia, she said.

Pertamina also signed a 30-year deal Thursday to buy 840,000 metric tons a year of dimethyl ether from local company PT Arrtu Mega Energie from 2011.

The company had said Wednesday that it was withdrawing a bid for the West Qurna oil block in Iraq as the contract terms offered made the project uneconomic.

"The per-barrel fee was too low. The (income earned) per barrel must be calculated against the risk" of investing in the block, Agustiawan said Thursday.

Iraq's oil ministry had set upper limits of as little as $2 a barrel above minimum production targets for companies seeking to operate Iraqi oil blocks, prices at which most companies balked.

Agustiawan said that Pertamina would submit a fresh bid for an Iraqi oil block in the second round of bidding held by the Iraqi government. She didn't elaborate on whether the second round of bidding had already begun Thursday, nor did she specify whether Pertamina's fresh bid was for West Qurna or for another block.

Agustiawan also didn't specify which Indonesian gas asset the company would bid for with Woodside Energy, a unit of Australia's Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WOPEY).

Dwi Martono, investment director at upstream unit PT Pertamina Hulu EP, said the state firm would have to be partnered by at least one other oil company in any oil development in Iraq, as Pertamina's daily oil production is less than 200,000 barrels a day, the minimum production specified by the Iraqi government for developers of its oil blocks.

Martono didn't elaborate further.

Pertamina partnered with Malaysia's Petronas and China National Petroleum Corp in its West Qurna bid.

Pertamina and Woodside Energy signed a memorandum of agreement to cooperate on upstream operations in eastern Indonesia and northern Australia in December.

Gunung Sardjono, Pertamina's deputy director for planning, told Dow Jones Newswires earlier Thursday that the two companies are "examining all opportunities in upstream business in eastern Indonesia and overseas, including evaluating new blocks and areas being tendered by BPMigas," Indonesia's upstream regulator.

The two companies have yet to sign a cooperation agreement and can't disclose which assets they might cooperate on or what form such cooperation might take, he said.

Pertamina Thursday said in a statement that it will be the sole buyer of DME from a methanol gasification plant to be built by Arrtu Mega in West Java province, and will utilize the fuel in its program to convert households to liquefied petroleum gas from kerosene, for cooking, lighting and other uses. DME, a methanol derivative, has similar properties to LPG.
source: online.wsj.com

Another rig joins the offshore drilling fleet

HOUSTON: New rigs continue to join the offshore drilling fleet, even as rig demand continues to fall in some rig markets, according to ODS-Petrodata's Weekly Mobile Offshore Rig Count.

The worldwide contracted mobile offshore rig count fell by a net two rigs, and now stands at 564. One new rig joined the world fleet, which now numbers 729 rigs. The rig that joined the fleet, a jackup, does not have a contract commitment and is currently idle.

Worldwide offshore rig fleet utilization this week is 77.4 percent, its lowest level since March 2000.

The U.S. Gulf of Mexico rig count has slid again, and fleet utilization is down as a result. This week, 56 of the region's 114 mobile offshore drilling units are under contract and fleet utilization is 49.1 percent.

The South American offshore rig count is unchanged again this week. With 83 of the region's 109 offshore rigs remaining under contract, fleet utilization is 76.1 percent.

The number of rigs under contract in European waters and the Mediterranean Sea also is unchanged. With 101 of 107 mobile offshore rigs under contract, the area's fleet utilization rate is 94.4 percent.

The West Africa offshore rig count is also unchanged. This week, of the 59 mobile offshore drilling units in the region, 44 are under contract. Fleet utilization is 74.6 percent.

The Middle East contracted offshore rig count fell by two rigs, and is now at 83. One rig joined the region's fleet, which now numbers 107 rigs. Fleet utilization is 77.6 percent.

The contracted offshore rig count in the Asia/Australia market is unchanged at 102, and the area's offshore rig fleet size remains at 121. The region's offshore rig fleet utilization rate is 84.3 percent this week.
source: www.energycurrent.com

Offshore mooring, rigging company completes two projects

By: Darren Parker

Southern African supplier of marine and offshore mooring, lifting and rig- ging equipment Anchor Indus- tries has completed a socketing and splicing project intended for a ship in Richards Bay.

The project, completed at the company’s 5000-m2 workshop in Cape Town, included the manufacturing of 77-mm pennant wires and 96-mm mooring grommets.

Anchor Industries MD Dale Hutcheson says that the company consistently trains its employees to equip them with skills that enable the company to remain competitive in the offshore and marine industry. He adds that all jobs are conducted according to national and international specifications that are required in the industry.

He says all Anchor Industries employees have undergone a socketing course, which details correct procedures and techniques for resin capping to American Petroleum Institution speci- fications. Further, the employees have been trained in mechani- cal splicing entailing correct measuring, splicing and pressing techniques.

Anchor Industries manufactures mooring grommets and can stock mooring ropes of up to 120 mm, which is the larg- est size available in stock in Cape Town. The company can provide an on-site socketing service for all-diameter steel wire ropes.

Anchor Industries was also contracted to install eleven 27,5m-long and 76-mm-thick GrU3 stud link chains on a ship in Cape Town harbour.

Prior to the successful com- pletion of the installation, a number of challenges were encountered. Firstly, the ship arrived at Cape Town harbour in the afternoon, meaning the job had to be done over- night as the ship had to depart the next morning.

Another challenge encountered involved detaching the anchor from the ship in order to connect the stud link chain to it. The reason for this chal- lenge was that the anchor had rusted severely while on the ship, where it had been for 26 years.

However, the anchor was eventually safely detached, enabling the ship to set sail at the scheduled time.
source: www.engineeringnews.co.za