ITF Invests USD 9 Million in Oil and Gas Technology
ITF is increasing its international footprint by opening two new offices in the Asia-Pacific region to drive new technology solutions to tackle global oil and gas challenges. The organisation is opening bases in Perth and Kuala Lumpur to unite technology developers with its membership of major oil and gas operators and has revealed plans to invest AUD 9 million in groundbreaking solutions there by 2015. Peter Brazier has been appointed as regional manager for Australia.
He will head up the office in Perth. With 30 years’ industry experience, Mr Brazier will promote the organisation in the region and encourage more operators and service companies to join ITF. He said: “ITF currently has a good position with major companies such as Woodside and Chevron already signed up as members, who see the benefits of collaborating on funding new technologies. However, there is a growing demand for next generation technologies that will recover hydrocarbons from increasingly challenging environments and I want to make sure that local companies benefit from the funding being offered. I’m looking forward to building strong relationships with oil and gas operators, innovative technology companies and academic institutions.”
Investment
ITF’s regional director for the Middle East and Asia-Pacific, Ryan McPherson will oversee the Kuala Lumpur base with plans to appoint a full time technology analyst there next year. Mr McPherson said: “There is definitely an appetite for concerted technology development in Australia and Malaysia and our aim is to invest USD 9 million in new technologies over the next four years. We are extremely pleased to welcome Peter to the team and are certain his extensive network of contacts and industry knowledge will enable us to successfully bring more technology to market.”
New Offices
The new offices come as ITF also issues a Call for Proposals for subsea technologies. This was the result of a Technology Challenge Workshop which took place in Perth in June. The call is an open invitation for organisations to submit technology solutions to address the challenges identified by ITF’s 28 member companies, with the opportunity for developers to secure 100% funding. Specific areas of interest include
· Subsea Power
· Flow Assurance
· Subsea Separation
· Temperature Management
· Pipeline Integrity Management / Cost Reduction
· Low Cost Intervention
· Specific Australian Regional Challenges
Mr McPherson added: “I would urge interested companies developing new subsea technologies to get in touch as our members are currently very interested in funding new projects in this field. We work right across the oil and gas spectrum from subsurface to production, drilling and wells and are constantly on the search for new technologies that address our members’ priorities. Our door is always open to novel ideas.”
Other Project
ITF has already facilitated research and development projects in Australia and helped to establish the Pipeline Repair Operators Forum Australasia (PROFA). ITF was approached by Chevron, INPEX and Woodside last year, to help set up a pipeline repair club in the region.
PROFA’s objectives are to connect developers and vendors of pipeline technology with the PROFA members, to identify technology gaps in relation to pipeline repair and to purchase hardware and intervention tooling that would then be shared amongst participating companies.