OREANDA-NEWS. Wood Group is leading five new joint industry  projects (JIPs) which will use the company’s extensive subsea experience to solve  industry-wide challenges.

These international projects, which will run between  2015 and 2018, will see Wood Group Kenny (WGK) work with several oil and gas  operators, contractors and regulators to improve quality, safety and competence  across the sector and achieve significant savings in design and unplanned  intervention costs: 

  • SURFIM  Network involves the largest number of operators for a Wood Group Kenny JIP,  with 14 major companies having participated in its first phase. SURFIM Network Phase  II will organise, convene and facilitate face-to-face and virtual forums for  knowledge sharing and delivering solutions to subsea integrity and reliability  challenges, focusing especially on subsea hardware.  This initiative has been delivered with the  support of the Industry Technology Facilitator (ITF).
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  • Now  in phase III, Slug Loading  & Response  in Pipelines  and Risers (SLARP) focuses on developing best practice for  analysis of slug loading and response in pipelines, spools and risers and has five  participants in this phase.
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  • SureFlex2015  will provide an update to failure statistics and industry guidance on flexible  pipe integrity, as well as the tools and technologies used for inspection and  monitoring of these critical components. This project is in collaboration with  Oil & Gas UK and backed by 10 supporting participants.
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  • The  Subsea Engineering Competency (SECOMP) JIP will develop a consistent framework for  assessing the competency of subsea engineering personnel and provide standardisation  across companies and regions. It is supported by three operators, the Society  for Underwater Technology (SUT) and the Institute of Marine Engineering,  Science and Technology (IMarEST).
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  • The  Subsea Equipment Australian Reliability (SEAR) JIP is a collaboration supported  by six operators in Australian waters aiming to reduce subsea equipment  failures through collaboration and knowledge sharing in order to improve subsea  equipment design for Australia’s unique offshore environment and avoid costly interventions.

Bob MacDonald, CEO of Wood Group Kenny, said: “Using  our expertise in the subsea arena to inform and improve operations, these JIPs  will help to steer and support the future direction of the ever-evolving subsea  sector. Spearheading these critical projects is fundamental to providing  solutions to our customers and we look forward to working with the participants  to deliver successful JIPs.”

These latest projects continue Wood Group Kenny’s  strong track record in leading JIPs, having been involved in 27 JIPs over the  last 18 years.

Kieran Kavanagh, technology development director at  Wood Group Kenny, added: “Our success in JIPs is testament to our innovative approach  to addressing industry problems. These new JIPs are focused on subsea integrity,  competency and improved design practice; all significant challenges as we seek  to reduce risk and life-of-field costs in the subsea industry.”

Wood Group is an  international energy services company with over \\$7bn sales and operating in  more than 50 countries. The Group is built on Core Values and has three  businesses – Wood Group PSN, Wood Group Kenny and Wood Group Mustang –  providing a range of engineering, production support and maintenance management  services to the oil & gas, and power generation industries worldwide.