Industry

The paper has proposed a new Resilience Framework. (Image source: DNV)

Infrastructure resilience needs to be the driving strategy to support the rapidly advancing energy sector, finds DNV in its new position paper, ‘From concern to control’

The paper has proposed a new Resilience Framework that requires a shift of mindset from compliance exercise to a strategic priority. It takes a systems-wide look to generate a risk-based blueprint to address vulnerabilities, and take action towards preparedness and recovery. Such risk mitigation development can only be achieved through an integrated approach that includes everything from infrastructure and supply chains to economies and societies. 

Factors such as geopolitical tensions, climate change, growing digitalisation, AI and supply chain dependencies have created new and interconnected risks, which are very different from challenges companies were used to dealing with just a decade ago.

The framework sets out a four-step cycle: analyse risks, prioritise investments, implement measures and check and validate. It applies this continuous cycle across five dimensions - organisation, people, physical assets, IT and cyber, and supply chain - and is intended to help stakeholders embed a resilience mindset into core investment planning and to align on risk assessment, prepare for shocks, defend systems in real time, and recover safely after an incident.

Ditlev Engel, CEO, Energy Systems, at DNV said, “As a sector, we must treat resilience as fundamental to everyday operations. Quite simply, it is a strategic and societal necessity as it protects our ability to provide energy that is reliable, affordable and sustainable. Without integrating security into core investment planning, organizations run the risk of suffering attacks that could impact the grid and other vital infrastructure and disrupt economic and societal stability.
“What we want to do is turn vulnerabilities into areas in which companies can have real confidence. Whether it is the public or private sectors, resilience must be embedded in every step of the energy value chain, or we risk accidents or attacks that could have serious consequences.”

The report details several examples of attacks by malicious actors on infrastructure, including opportunistic cyber-attacks, damaging of subsea gas pipelines and LNG terminals and tankers being targeted by missiles. Evolving policy and extreme weather events have also had indirect impact on the reliability of energy systems.

Derek Riezebos, defence & security manager for Northern Europe, Energy Systems at DNV, said, “Risk and threats are constants in the energy sector, and few organizations can have complete visibility of their vulnerabilities. But understanding critical dependencies, reducing single points of failure and maintaining response, restart and recovery plans can help organizations move from concern to control.
Recent prolonged blackouts have demonstrated the cascading impact on transport, communications, hospitals and other critical services. Around the world, businesses and governments have a responsibility to ensure that energy systems are resilient and prepared for the worst. Threats to infrastructure are evolving faster than many organizations can adapt, making it increasingly important to ensure safeguards are at a sufficient standard to limit their impact.”

McDermott and its Qingdao McDermott Wuchuan (QMW) consortium will provide the complete EPCI scope for a new surface pressure boosting facility, including the construction and installation of a jacket and topside, as well as associated brownfield modifications. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

McDermott has been awarded an engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) contract worth more than US$1bn by ADNOC for Package 4 of the Umm Shaif Integrated Gas Cap and Surface Pressure Boosting (SPB) Project

Umm Shaif project

The project is a critical component of the Umm Shaif Long Term Development Plan (LTDP), designed to maximise gas recovery from the field and increase gas production. The Umm Shaif Gas Cap project, in the Umm Shaif and Nasr offshore concession, represents an acceleration of ADNOC’s gas growth strategy and will unlock more than 600mn standard cubic feet per day (scfd) of natural gas and associated gas liquids, equivalent to almost 10% of the UAE’s current daily gas consumption by 2030. The US$6.2bn project is being developed by ADNOC with its international partners TotalEnergies, Eni and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC). It will bring more natural gas and associated gas liquids into ADNOC Gas’s integrated value chain, supporting additional feedstock, processing volumes, LNG exports and higher revenue streams.

The project includes:
• Three engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) packages totalling US$5.1 bn (AED18.8bn) for large-scale offshore infrastructure, awarded by ADNOC to consortiums including major UAE and international contractors. The development also includes a
• US$365mn (AED1.3 bn) 14-well drilling and integrated drilling services programme to be delivered by ADNOC Drilling over 18 months using three existing rigs.

McDermott contract

Under the contract won by McDermott, McDermott and its Qingdao McDermott Wuchuan (QMW) consortium will provide the complete EPCI scope for a new surface pressure boosting facility, including the construction and installation of a jacket and topside, as well as associated brownfield modifications. Upon completion, the topside will rank among the heaviest offshore modules ever installed in the Middle East.

Engineering and project management activities will be led from McDermott's offices in the United Arab Emirates, with fabrication taking place at QMW, McDermott's joint venture fabrication yard in Qingdao, China.

"This award reflects ADNOC's confidence in McDermott's ability to deliver complex offshore developments safely and efficiently," said Mike Sutherland, McDermott's senior vice president, Offshore Middle East. "Leveraging our extensive regional experience and integrated execution capabilities, we look forward to supporting ADNOC's production objectives and contributing to the UAE's long-term energy ambitions."

ADNOC’s gas development plans

With its exit from OPEC, which have freed it from production quotas, the UAE is accelerating its oil and gas capacity expansion plans. Holding the seventh-largest gas reserves in the world, ADNOC is developing its gas resources and expanding its LNG portfolio to meet the growing domestic and global demand for reliable, lower-carbon energy.

ADNOC Gas recently announced it is set to invest US$28bn between 2026 and 2030. It recently confirmed the award of US$8.2bn in EPC contracts for Phases 2 and 3 of the Rich Gas development (RGD) project, one of the world’s largest gas growth programmes, which will see a total of US$13.2bn invested across three phases.

The venture will focus on copper and other minerals needed for the energy transition. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

Aramco and Saudi Arabia's mining company Maaden have entered into a joint venture to explore new opportunities in mineral exploration and hard-rock mining in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, focusing on copper and other minerals needed for the energy transition

The venture will see Saudi Arabia’s energy giant diversify into another area critical for the national economy as well as boosting its role in the energy transition. The joint venture is expected to be owned 51% by Maaden and 49% by Aramco, and will combine Aramco’s subsurface knowledge, advanced AI tools, and powerful computational capabilities with Maaden’s mining and mineral exploration expertise. By leveraging advanced computational algorithms, AI, and high-performance computing, the joint venture will look to pinpoint areas most likely to contain copper and valuable minerals, speeding up the path to discovery. This is expected to support mining sector development, reinforce the Kingdom’s role in the global minerals value chain, and help meet rising demand for transition minerals.

The venture will focus on exploration across Zone-4, also known as the Transition Zone, within the Arabian Platform. Spanning approximately 182,000 sq. km, nearly 10% of Saudi Arabia’s total land area, the expected exploration area stretches along a 100-kilometer-wide zone running parallel to the Arabian Shield and is believed to contain deposits of various minerals including gold, silver, copper, zinc, lead, chromium, nickel, tantalum, niobium and rare earths.

Exploiting Saudi Arabia’s strong mineral potential

The Kingdom is home to over 45 identified minerals, including gold, zinc, and uranium, with total mineral wealth now valued at over US$2.5 trillion. Developing the mining sector is critical to the Kingdom’s economic diversification efforts. Saudi Arabia's Mining Strategy is a key pillar of Vision 2030, designed to unlock the full potential of the Kingdom’s vast mineral wealth and position mining as the third pillar of national industrial growth, alongside oil and petrochemicals. Various initiatives have been introduced to this end including conducting geological surveys, identifying investment opportunities, and implementing incentives to attract both local and international investors, a key development being the introduction of a new mining investment law reducing the tax rate from 45% to 20%.

The role of copper in the energy transition

Copper, which accounts for over 20% of the US$1.2 trillion mined metals market, is increasingly significant for electric vehicles, power networks, energy storage, and renewable energy systems. As a result, the market is expected to grow from around US$250bn to more than US$400bn by 2035. As well as copper, the joint venture would also explore for other energy transition minerals including zinc, lead, and rare earth elements that will be need for the industries of the future.

Saleh M. Al Saleh, Aramco vice president of Transition Minerals, said, “Over 90 years, Aramco has accumulated and analysed the largest amount of geological and geophysical data ever acquired in a single basin for the Kingdom. This partnership intends to leverage this legacy information to find minerals in the JV area within the basin. Maaden’s expertise, our people, high-performance computing, and AI are expected to play a pivotal role in accelerating the discovery of key transition minerals at low cost.”

Darryl Clark, Maaden executive vice president for Exploration, added, “Maaden has been advancing one of the world’s largest single jurisdiction exploration programs across the Arabian Shield to help unlock the Kingdom’s mineral potential. This joint venture would take that ambition into a new area. By combining Maaden’s exploration and development expertise with Aramco’s extraordinary knowledge of the Arabian Platform, we would have an opportunity to move faster, explore smarter, and create new opportunities to discover the minerals that will power the energy transition.”

PipeSense deployed its PipeScan technology to locate obstructions in two offshore pipeline networks. (Image source: PipeSense)

Pipeline leak detection specialist PipeSense has expanded its capabilities to support offshore operations globally, following a successful project off the coast of Angola

Offshore and subsea pipeline operators undertake highly complex work every day to safely operate, maintain, and protect critical infrastructure in some of the world’s most challenging environments. This requires a continued focus on asset integrity, operational reliability, and the ability to identify and respond to changing pipeline conditions with confidence.

Working with a multinational oil and gas operator, PipeSense deployed PipeScan, its pressure-pulse technology, to monitor a 20-inch natural gas pipeline and a 16-inch offshore crude and multiphase pipeline that was flooded with seawater.

On the natural gas pipeline, PipeSense completed repeated pressure pulse testing to identify an obstruction approximately 11km downstream of the client's launch facility

For the second project, PipeSense installed instrumentation on both ends of the offshore crude and multiphase pipeline. Controlled pressure releases from both locations generated repeatable reflection signatures that identified the obstruction within approximately 700 m of the launcher, with a location accuracy of approximately ±30 m under field conditions.

The projects demonstrated how induced pressure pulse testing, high-speed pressure acquisition, and dynamic pressure wave reflection analysis can be used to accurately determine obstruction location in offshore environments, without interrupting normal pipeline operations or requiring specialised tracking tools.

Josh Holmes, PipeSense's VP of business development, commented, "This project is a clear and concise demonstration that our approach to obstruction locating can provide a practical addition to the pipeline integrity toolkit for locating stuck pigs, hydrate plugs, debris, and other flow restrictions across a wide range of offshore pipeline applications.

“Our goal is to support operators in that mission by providing advanced technologies that deliver greater visibility into pipeline performance and help teams make faster, more informed decisions.”

The company is now looking to roll out its technology in offshore and subsea environments globally, following the success in Angola. This could be good news for the Middle East, with major offshore developments planned and underway such as the UAE’s Umm Shaif Gas Cap, Aramco’s Zuluf increment and Kuwait’s development of its recent discoveries.