 |
Frequently Asked Questions - Oil & Gas
Q - Who employs people offshore/onshore?
A - Different types of company employ people offshore:
Operating companies hold the
exploration and licences and operate the production facilities. Some of
them are household names, but others are less well known. Most of them
are international companies, they tend to work globally.
Drilling companies are
contracted to undertake drilling work and often operate and maintain
their own mobile drilling rigs. Like the operating companies they tend
to work globally.
Major contractors provide
integrated operations and maintenance services to the operating
companies. On some installations they employ almost all of the regular
offshore personnel (the 'core crew'). Some of these contractors are
huge international companies, while others are small by comparison.
FPSO operatorsoperate and
maintain floating production storage and offloading units. These look
like ships, but are designed to remain on station for months or even
years on end, and are packed with equipment for processing oil and gas.
Service companies provide
specialist assistance to both operating and drilling companies, e.g.
well service firms, drilling mud suppliers, cementing companies, well
testing specialists, seismic firms, drivers, caterers, etc.
Q - What are offshore installations?
A - Oil and gas offshore installations are industrial towns at sea,
carrying the personnel and equipment needed to access reservoirs
thousands of feet below the seabed and maintain continuous hydrocarbon
production. The most important functions are drilling, preparing water
or gas for injection into the reservoir, processing the oil and gas
before sending it ashore and cleaning the produced water for disposal
into the sea.
Big fixed platforms may have all these functions in one location, but
smaller platforms may be dedicated to just one function, such as
drilling or gas compression. Some installations can be moved from one
location to another, for example mobile drilling rigs and production
FPSOs.
Q -
What are onshore installations?
A - These are installations on land and usually close to the sea which
receive oil and gas from offshore installations via pipeline (or in the
case of oil sometimes by tanker). These installations prepare the
liquid products for further refining - but they are not refineries.
They also take the natural gas and make it suitable for piping into the
National Grid. At some installations gas liquids are processed.
Q -
What actually happens offshore?
A - The popular image of offshore work often centres on a muddy drill
floor, where wells are drilled to target the reservoirs of oil and gas
below the surface - but this is only the beginning of the story.
The top end of each production well sprouts a branching series of
pipes, gauges and valves called the 'Christmas tree'. At this point,
crude oil is a hot, frothy, corrosive, high pressured fluid containing
gas, water and sand.
After separation, the crude oil is metered and pumped into the pipeline or stored until sent ashore by tanker.
The gas separated from the oil may be used for fuel or compressed and
piped to shore or re-injected into the reservoir. Any gas that cannot
be used is burnt in the platform's flare. Very little gas is now flared.
Processing Systems for the gas fields of the southern North Sea are
relatively simple. The gas liquids are removed and then the gas is
compressed, cooled, dehydrated and metered before being piped to shore.
All production and drilling systems have to be monitored constantly for
leaks, since oil and gas are hazardous and extremely flammable.
There is no mains electricity offshore! Power has to be generated on
the installation to drive the production and drilling equipment and to
support life.
In other words, offshore installations are packed with complex
equipment and systems that need to be operated and maintained safely by
highly skilled people who understand the technology and the processes
involved and who can work together in integrated teams.
Q -
What's it like working on an oil or gas installation?
A - Offshore installations vary in size, but a typical one houses a core
crew of 50-100 men and women. Living quarters are compact but
comfortable. Food is good and plentiful.
Off-shift, a worker can choose to work out in the gym, watch a video,
play snooker, read or learn to use a personal computer. Living with
work colleagues, however, means that an offshore worker has to be able
to co-operate in a group.
Working hours are normally 12 hours on and 12 hours off continuously
for two weeks followed by a two/three week period ashore. So home life
is very disrupted. However, pay is good and experienced technicians can
expect to earn upwards of £30,000 a year.
The minimum age for working offshore is 18, but in practice most
workers are considerably older than that. The long working day, the
harsh weather conditions, the remoteness and the reliance on helicopter
travel do not suit everyone. Others find it a challenging but refreshing
environment, quite different from the nine-to-five routine rush-hour
commuting of many onshore jobs. Onshore life is very similar to working
offshore with the bonus of going home at night.
Q - How are things organised?
A - The Offshore Installation Manager or Onshore Plant Manager is in
charge, making sure that all operations run smoothly and that safety
standards are met. He co-ordinates the work of different groups such as
drilling, production and maintenance. Offshore progress or problems are
communicated 'to the beach'.
Safety is the principle concern in every aspect of the oil and gas
industry's activities. Every installation has a Safety Case setting out
how the risks will be managed. The industry is proud of its safety
record over the last few years and workers are encouraged to report
any health, safety or environmental problems.
|
 |
