On board with Westcon

Published: 08.05.12

With one of the Norwegian industry’s leading shipyards just around the corner from Omega’s head office, we have an open invitation to provide Pims to some of the world’s most advanced rigs as they arrive for repair and maintenance. Westcon is steadily welcoming new platforms to Ølensvåg, and with three large rigs having docked in the last six months, our Westcon team has had their work cut out for them.

Three large platforms have loomed on the fjord-laden horizon of our head office recently, with Saipem’s Scarabeo 8 platform being joined by the West Elara platform in October and the COSL Innovator platform in March. As activity at Westcon has increased, the demand for Pims resources and closer cooperation with Omega has also grown. Today, Pims is used on most Westcon assignments, and new products and systems are tailor-made for the shipyard on an ongoing basis.

Three platforms have been docking at Westcon the last six months. Our Pims team were aboard all three, in addition to an Omega crew of sixty consultants on assignement on Scarabeo.

Close cooperation

Our close relationship with Westcon offers significant benefits, as we have the opportunity to engage with high-level, industrial, offshore service facilities, says Omega Project Services Manager, Neil Carlsen.

“Westcon has proven that they are capable of handling the really heavy assignments and they have become a very attractive service provider in rig repair. We have had a close working relationship with Westcon for many years, a cooperation that peaked with the arrival of Scarabeo 8 in Ølensvåg two years ago.”

Scarabeo 8 is now running sea trials before sailing towards the Goliat field. After almost one and a half years heading the establishment of Pims and consultant services on Scarabeo 8, Carlsen has moved on to Westcon’s latest arrival, COSL drilling platform Innovator, which will dock at the Westcon yard for two to three months, before operating on the Troll field in Norway’s North Sea.

“Pims has been used on all of the rigs that have arrived for maintenance and completion in recent years. Working with Westcon on their increasingly-comprehensive assignments has given us the opportunity to develop and test new products with one of the most cooperative and successful shipyards in the industry.”

Pilot projects

Our systems team is currently working closely with Westcon, upgrading and developing new systems for Innovator. Pims Coordinator, Vidar Nordnes, says the Pims crew at Westcon has had no trouble keeping busy.

“Pims Work Preparation and Welding Management has been tailor made, in close cooperation with Westcon’s technical department, to optimize it for their use. These products are now in a test phase, as we analyze the use of Pims across the entire Westcon group for upgrades,” Nordnes says.

Today, Pims products are used in most departments of the Westcon group: Westcon Yard, Westcon Power & Automation and Westcon Løfteteknikk (cranes and lifting operations). Pims is integrated into many business processes at Westcon, and it is therefore an extensive job to complete the upgrades, Nordnes points out.

“Pims CMS has been operating on Scarabeo 8, while Pims Document Management has been essential for Scarabeo , West Elara and several other projects since the system was first was utilized on Scarabeo, when the platform was heading for Ølensvåg. Pims is utilized in most processes at Westcon now; and while several of our people are working on existing functionality, new projects are also evolving all the time”.

COSL (China Oilfield Services Limited) Innovator

Sailed from its Chinese shipyard before Christmas, heading for Ølensvåg. Arrived at Westcon in March. The rig is designed for drilling wells down to 7500 meters at a sea depth of 750 meters. Innovator is planned to sail to the Troll field during 2012’s Norwegian summer, to drill with sister rig, COSL Promoter, for Statoil.

Scarabeo 8

Considered to be one of the most advanced drilling rigs in the world, capable of drilling down to 3000 meters in areas prone to extreme weather conditions. It arrived at Westcon in 2010 for repair, completion and commissioning. Scarabeo is Westcon’s largest assignment to date. At the height of the project’s activity, 1200 people were working on the project daily. Sixty of our consultants worked on the platform after Westcon awarded Omega a frame agreement on Scarabeo’s arrival in Ølensvåg.

West Elara

One of the world’s largest jack-up rigs arrived at the Westcon Yard in October 2011 for completion and preparation. The platform is now on its way to the Gullfaks field to drill for Statoil.