MCEDD 2019 paves the way to realizing a future of increasing demand

Gulf Quest LLC, a Gulf Energy Information and Quest Offshore JV, is hosting this year’s 16th annual Marine, Construction & Engineering Deepwater Development (MCEDD) conference on April 2–4, at London’s Novotel London West hotel. Once again, attendees can expect to hear about the latest advances in the engineering, development and production of oil and gas in deepwater and ultra-deepwater fields around the globe.

Each year, the oil and gas industry is faced with new challenges, making it crucial that operators share experiences that will aid in the advancement of exploration and resource recovery. The sharing of ideas is aimed at tackling the industry’s biggest challenges and improving the quality, safety and economics vital to the future of oil and gas.

Technical program. This year’s MCEDD technical conference will engage key members of the offshore oil and gas community by providing a stage for world-class discussions focusing on deepwater technology, innovation and experience that is setting the state for realizing a future of increasing demand.

Fig. 1. David O’Connor, head of BP’s global projects organization, will give the keynote address to open the first day of MCEDD 2019.

Those attending this year’s conference will hear directly from industry experts and executives. Networking events are scheduled throughout the three-day conference, giving attendees the chance to speak with engineers, managers and other industry professionals, one-on-one. To maximize exhibit exposure, MCEDD will feature networking and ice-breaker events, as well as continental breakfasts and evening receptions that will allow attendees more time to mingle.

Quest Offshore also has partnered with the Early Career Engineer Program (ECE). This program, which is open to those with seven years or less of oil and gas experience, offers a high-profile platform for engineers who are still new to the industry. It gives them an outlet to share technologies, projects and ideas they are working on with their peers. Those involved were encouraged to submit an abstract to be approved by the MCEDD advisory board and included in this year’s technical program. An award will be presented for the best ECE presentation at the end of the conference.

Day One. On Tuesday, April 2, the conference will open in the afternoon with a keynote address from David O’Connor (Fig. 1), head of BP’s global projects organization. BP also is serving as the lead operator sponsor for MCEDD 2019. An operator forum will follow, during which attendees will hear from Adrian Luckins, BP’s V.P. of projects in the Americas, North Sea and subsea systems, and Jean-Hervé Morard, Total’s deputy V.P. of deepwater and subsea. Chris Barton, senior V.P. of business development offshore at Wood, will moderate. Likewise, Paul Hillegeist, director at GulfQuest, will serve as chair.

Day Two. The following day will begin with a continental breakfast, sponsored by Baker Hughes, a GE company (BHGE), and McDermott International. A contractor forum will then be held, focusing on the integrated delivery of subsea projects. Case studies from BHGE and McDermott will be presented by BHGE Commercial Director Andrew Atkinson; McDermott V.P. of Business Development and Strategy (Offshore) for Asia, Mahesh Swaminathan; Subsea 7 Executive V.P. of Strategy & Commercial Stuart Fitzgerald; TechnipFMC Senior V.P. of Subsea Projects Knut Boe; and OneSubsea V.P. of Processing Systems Mads Hjelmeland. Presenters will then participate in an operator/contractor panel that follows. David Bloom, corporate client relations director at Subsea 7, and World Oil Editor Kurt Abraham will moderate.

Following an afternoon coffee break, sponsored by AFGlobal, several managers will convene to discuss the latest in subsea technologies, Fig. 2. Speakers will include Tim Farrant, BP’s subsea engineering lead for the Shah Deniz Phase 2 project; Jostein Tvedt, OneSubsea’s sales manager for subsea processing systems; Torbjørn Hegdal, business development manager for NOV Completions & Production Solutions; and Dr. Thomas Valdez, Teledyne Energy Systems’ manager of chemical engineering. François Thiebaud, chief technical officer at DORIS Group, will be chair, while SUT CEO Steve Hall co-chairs.

A discussion on floating production systems will follow. Session speakers will include David Boggs, managing director at Energy Maritime Associates; Luiz Feijo, managing director at ABS; Anders Martin Moe, project development manager for floating production at Wood; and Christophe Paillusseau, V.P. of sales & marketing at COLD PAD. Boyd Howell, director of sales and marketing at MODEC Industrial, will chair. Stuart McDonnell, senior project manager at OMV E&P, will co-chair.

Fig. 2. NOV will present during MCEDD’s extensive technical program, providing details on how to extend field life and increase oil recovery using subsea water treatment and injection. Image: NOV.

After lunch, industry leaders will dive into topics related to flexibles and composites, disruptive technologies and the digital transition. The session on flexibles and composites will be chaired by David Kaye, director of Rigid Pipeline and Installation Technologies at TechnipFMC, and co-chaired by Henk Cornegé, Royal IHC’s director for the offshore oil and gas market. The session will include talks from engineers, directors and managers from BP, TechnipFMC, Magma Global and BHGE. The session on disruptive technologies and the digital transition will be chaired by Steve Hall. It will be co-chaired by David Saul, engineering technical authority (subsea) at BP. Speakers during this session will include executives from 3D at Depth, io Oil & Gas Consulting and ABS.

Afternoon sessions will cover topics including marine construction, subsea reliability and predictive maintenance. The marine construction session will be chaired by Cornegé, and co-chaired by David Bloom. Session speakers will include representatives of Equinor, Royal IHC, Saipem, Forssea Robotics and iXBlue. Jan van den Akker, technical authority of controls systems at OneSubsea, will serve as chair of the session on subsea reliability and predictive maintenance. Speakers during this session will include engineers and managers from BP, BHGE and McDermott International.

Day Three. Following another sponsored continental breakfast, Day Three of the conference will shift its focus to the industry’s finance and investment sector. Among those participating in the discussion will be James West, senior managing director at Evercore ISI; David Phillips, managing director and head of equity research, developed Europe and global research at HSBC; Professor Paul Griffin, special advisor for oil and gas at White & Case; and Robert West, partner at Redburn.

Before lunch is served, a session on surface, well and drilling technologies will be held, as well as one on opportunities in renewables and floating offshore wind. During the first session, speakers from companies, including Total, Sandvik, Huisman Equipment BV and Total E&P will talk about some of their latest success stories in deepwater drilling, and the technologies behind them. During the session on opportunities in renewables and floating offshore wind, representatives of DORIS Engineering, Saipem, DNV GL and Xodus Group will discuss everything from competitive offshore energy production, to the challenges and opportunities associated with adding renewables to oil and gas facilities. Erik Rijkers, director of market development and strategy at Quest Floating Wind Energy, will serve as the session chair. Carl-Petter Halvorsen, V.P. of business development at CSUB, will co-chair.

Afternoon sessions will cover flow assurance, technology qualification and subsea standardization. OneSubsea’s Akker will serve as chair, while World Oil’s Kurt Abraham and Total E&P’s R&D Deep Offshore Program Manager Eric Meyer serve as co-chairs. During the session on technology qualification and subsea standardization, representatives of BP, OneSubsea and IOGP will discuss topics including the value of subsea technologies, standardization of procurement equipment specifications and supervised autonomy, to name a few. Finally, closing out the final day of MCEDD 2019, will be an awards ceremony, sponsored by MODEC and SOFEC.