Exceed Forms World's First Deepwater Drilling Consultancy

A group of the world's most experienced deepwater wells professionals has joined the first drilling consultancy to specialize solely in deepwater projects.

Founder and co-director Ian Mills, who has 25 years' experience in the oil & gas industry, including senior drilling roles at Shell and BP, has launched the drilling consultancy as a new division of Aberdeen-based Exceed.

The division will provide a full wells project capability from conceptual design, exploration and evaluation through to full field development.

Exceed has invested more than $200,000 in developing the consultancy which will result in two directors and 20 wells specialists joining Exceed. The company is already in advanced discussions with three clients and anticipates its first project starting in Q4 this year.

The multi-disciplined deepwater team has amassed more than 300 years combined offshore drilling experience in locations including the East coast of Canada, West Africa, Brazil, Asia Pacific, North Sea and Norway working on a variety of rig types up to the latest technology 5/6th generation dual-handling vessels.

Mills said, "Deepwater exploration and development plays an increasingly important role in meeting global energy demands. The key players in this field -- National Oil Companies, operators and contractors, are faced with challenges such as the increasing complexity, escalating cost of services, limited availability of deepwater rigs, and the shortage of experienced and technically capable people.

"This is where Exceed's new consultancy comes in. We are offering a world-class deepwater well delivery capability that covers the spectrum from geology to well design, converting concepts to completions and prospects to production.

"Our mission is to be the world’s premier deepwater wells specialist who explores for and develops deepwater prospects at the lowest cost possible with no damage to people or the environment."

Mills said benefits of Exceed's approach for National Oil Companies, independent operators and rig-sharing consortiums, in particular, included providing consistency and continuity through having a team that remain with the rig, as well as best in class performance levels being achieved quickly because Exceed’s core members are an established high-performing team.

"They will ensure world-class health & safety and operational performance and also ensure best practice is transferred from client to client, with performance continually improving," he added.

Target markets are Brazil, Gulf Of Mexico, West Africa, Norway, North Sea and South East Asia.

"With the price of oil where it is, now is the time to focus on waste and cost reduction and to be as lean and efficient as possible. The industry is faced with more complex technology and less experienced people in more challenging conditions. Our role is to deliver premier quality wells teams with a commitment to coach, mentor and develop the next generation and embed client capability. External factors such as the amount of oil in place or the price of oil are out of our control, but we can directly influence the cost of extraction and the time to deliver production," said Mills.

"Most companies offer technology solutions as the only means to accelerate deepwater drilling performance. At Exceed, experience tells us that typically an increase of 10%-15% in productive time can be achieved through design, a fit for purpose contracting strategy and continuously improving the performance of the team.

"Our service also includes providing clients with a professional video library, filmed specifically for each rig. Combining induction, pre-job planning with activity-based videos positively impacts on effective communication, Health & Safety and productive time as 70% of the population learns visually. In fact, research shows that video learning is equally as effective as simulator-based exercises."

The video-knowledge library will be supported with subject expert voice over and can be translated into local operating language to ensure quality communication to new team members. It is intended that the service will expand to include an online confirmation of learning & competence assessment.

"We have a rigorous approach to planning and learning, capturing lessons learned and building a culture where everyone from the operator and service provider are working towards the same goal," said Mills.

Exceed has a strong track record in working with extraction industries such as oil & gas and mining. The business was initially formed to specialise in improving operational performance and has delivered multi-million pound savings for several major operators, including Talisman, BP and De Beers' offshore diamond mining fleet.
 


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