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by Congress in one year is really encouraging and re? ects the from seismic 3D surveys carried out with time intervals, making now operates in 50 countries, with more than 40,000 employ- modernizing spirit that now lives in the country,” Peña Nieto it possible to see changes in the reservoir over time. ees and some US$7 billion sales. said upon the bill’s passing. Landrø was a coordinator on the EU-project ATLASS (analy-

Professor Alex Kemp has been

Months later, the reforms and secondary legislature were sis of time lapse seismic data) and the project lead to the ? rst tracking the industry since its signed into law by Peña Nieto on 12 August 2014. trials of 4D seismic on the Gullfaks ? eld. Statoil estimates that inception. A professor in petroleum “It is a great achievement of Mexican democracy. (These) are use of 4D seismic on the Gullfaks ? eld has generated value economics at the University of structured reforms that will free the country from the shackles creation of more than US$971 million.

Aberdeen, Scotland, he has not only that have prevented it from developing faster,” he said at the Since 2009 Landrø has been the lead on a research project published the of? cial history of the time. concerning improved mapping and monitoring of hydrocarbon

North Sea last year, he has also

Mexico became open for business, and Pemex began sign- reservoirs.

advised governments across the ing non-binding agreements with some of the world’s largest Landrø has a master of science from NTH (Norwegian world on their petroleum taxation companies: Chevron, Eni, ExxonMobil, BHP Billiton, among Institute of Technology) and he earned a dr. scient. degree in

Professor Alex Kemp

Photo from University of Aberdeen.

regimes. He was made an OBE in others. The country plans to host an offshore bid round in 2015, physics in 1986. His scienti? c career started in 1986, while he 2006 for services to the oil and gas industries. with the newly-bolstered regulator, the National Hydrocarbon was working for SERES, which was a major research collabora-

Commission, granting Pemex a great deal of its submitted wish tion within use of seismic data.

A champion for the list in Round Zero. From 1993 to 1996, he worked as a researcher in SINTEF

Cory Gardner –

However, the rest of his presidential candidacy might be

Keystone XL pipeline, Gardner serves Petroleum, and from 1996 to 1998, he worked as a geophysi- viewed, his indelible mark on Mexico’s energy sector cannot be on the House Committee on Energy & cist in Statoil. Landrø has also been a visiting professor at the disputed.

Commerce. After drafting bills related Colorado School of Mines in the US (2005-2006). to energy independence and offshore

Sir Ian Wood – After more than 45 Charles Sparks – drilling, Gardner authored and This year, Charles years helping to build and then lead sponsored HR6, the Domestic Sparks, who leads research into the engineering and services ? rm Wood

Prosperity and Global Freedom Act, mechanical behavior of drilling

Cory Gardner

Group into a multi-billion dollar which the US House of risers at France’s IFP Energies

Photo from Cory Gardner.

stock market listed out? t, the

Representatives passed on 24 June. nouvelles (IFPEN) was recognized recently retired Sir Ian Wood this

HR6 aims to fast-track the process to export US LNG to allies. for his work. year went one step further.

Among other actions, the bill will place a 30-day deadline on More than 30% of the world’s the Department of Energy to issue a ? nal decision on applica- His report, UKCS Maximising oil and gas production comes from

Charles Sparks tions to export LNG following the completion of an environ- Recovery, widely called the Wood subsea zones. But, in the 1970s, the

Sir Ian Wood

Photo from Charles Sparks.

mental review. Review, elevated the former CEO behavior of drilling risers and the

Photo from Ian Wood.

Gardner has made clear his stance that exporting LNG would and chairman to a leadership of the vibration phenomena to which they were subjected were still bene? t the US economy and weaken the perceived stranglehold industry. not fully understood.

that con? ict-heavy exporters like Russia and Iran hold over The report came at a critical time. The UK North Sea has been The safe design of the equipment needed for offshore drilling consumers in Europe and elsewhere. facing something of an existential crisis. The industry has been and production required major technological innovations as “The crisis in the Ukraine has underscored the potential for described as being at a crossroads, facing declining produc- well as a good understanding of the phenomena at play.

US LNG exports to shift geopolitics and increase global energy tion, poor exploration results and an ever increasing cost-base. Sparks, who earned a master’s degree in Mechanical Sciences security. By acting now, we can send a clear signal to our allies Meanwhile, capital spending has hit record levels. from the University of Cambridge, has studied and worked on that a stable and secure energy supply will be an available A tax-hike, followed by a string of tax concessions, put the risers since the mid-1970s, with 29 years at IFPEN until his alternative to meet their energy needs,” the Republican-led US industry in the headlines from 2010, and this year the Scottish retirement in 2003. At IFPEN, he ran many projects devoted to

House Energy & Commerce Committee said. independence referendum put the industry squarely in the different kinds of riser, including carbon ? ber composite risers. During the US November mid-term elections, Gardner, a public gaze. Drilling riser technologies developed by IFPEN, particularly in vocal proponent for US energy independence, became Senate- Sir Ian’s report, commissioned by the UK Government to the 1970s and 1980s, went on to represent a major advance for elect Cory Gardner for the state of Colorado. He will be sworn address the basin’s future, was welcomed by industry, industry offshore drilling.

in to his new position on 3 January 2015. bodies and government. Sparks’ research resulted in some signi? cant publications:

Following this successful campaign run, on 4 November, the Many of its recommendations, including a proposal to create - Sparks, C.P. 1980 The mechanical behavior of marine

Washington Post named him the candidate of the year, speci? - a new regulatory body for the UKCS, have been put into action. risers - mode of in? uence of principal parameters. Journal of cally noting his focus on energy and the economy. The Oil & Gas Authority (OGA) was created within months of Engineering Technology. ASME the report and will be based in Aberdeen. The review also made - Sparks, C.P., Cabillic, J.P., Schawann, J.C. 1982. Longitudinal

Technology

Sir Ian a key voice in the independence referendum – while he resonant behavior of very deep water risers. Paper OTC 4317,

Martin Landrø – 4D seismic technol- remained neutral on independence, he spoke out about reserves presented at the Offshore Technology Conference, Houston.

ogy for mapping, production manage- numbers, on which estimates varied widely during the pro and - Sparks, C.P. 1984. The In? uence of tension, pressure ment and monitoring reservoirs has anti-independence campaigns. and weight on pipe and riser deformations and stresses.

Sir Ian’s heritage was in the North Sea ? shing industry. been one of the key geoscience Transactions of ASME. Journal of Energy Resources Technology.

His grandfather founded Wood & Davidson, a ship repair and developments in the past 10 years.

One of those leading its development HSE marine engineering ? rm. Sir Ian joined the family ? rm, then

Jane Cutler became a force for safety in Australia as the has been Martin Landrø, an applied called John Wood & Son, in 1964. In the 1970s, Wood Group inaugural CEO of the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and geophysics professor in the Norwegian was quick to move into the oil and gas industry, picking up

Environmental management Authority (NOPSEMA), Australia’s

University of Science and Technology a contract for the Shell Brent ? eld in 1979, and establishing

Martin Landrø independent regulator for OHS, well integrity and environmen- (NTNU)’s Department of Petroleum

Wood Group Gas Turbines the same year. In the 1980s the

Photo from ONS/Killian

Munch.

tal management of the offshore petroleum industry.

Engineering and Applied Geophysics.

? rm started operating in the US and Middle East. The 1990s

His research into 4D seismic technology started in 1996. Her tenure at NOPSEMA, which ended earlier this year, saw further growth, acquisitions and partnerships, before the “Time-lapse” or 4D seismic makes it possible to compare results saw her oversee a new environmental management regime for ? rm ? oated on the London Stock Exchange in 2002. The ? rm

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