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How does cyclical price for oil affect your business?

KS Major subsea development proj- ects tend to take two to three to four years to execute and therefore cyclical prices usually do not affect the project once the project has been funded.

What's happening today that will affect your business for the next decade?

KS It appears that cheap domestic oil is gone and the direction of our busi- ness is to develop the technologies re- quired to economically develop more challenging resources. These challenges include heavier oils, deeper water, lower- pressured reservoirs, sour crudes, etc.

What is the most significant advance during your career?

KS From an efficiency standpoint, there is no doubt that real time data trans- fer technology has made a huge impact.

We now have the technology and ability to monitor and collaborate on subsea op- erations as they are taking place. For ex- ample, on BC-10, we set up real time data centers on the FPSO offshore Brazil, in Rio in our main office, and in Houston at our center of excellence to collaborate on live subsea installation and commis- sioning operations and thereby get the right level of import from subject matter experts to make the best decisions.

What do you consider the biggest challenges to Shell’s development in the offshore arena?

KS Without a doubt our biggest challenge is the development and imple- mentation of fit-for-purpose innovative technologies. To be the preferred opera- tor for major international projects, we need to consistently and safely delivers top quartile quality systems.

Kent Stingl