Xodus wins over £5 million of vibration contracts

Xodus Group has won a clutch of international vibration contracts bringing the total value for this year to £5 million.

Managed through its vibration specialists in the UK and the UAE, the projects involve identifying and reducing vibration in global oil and gas assets, a significant challenge for oil and gas operators that can lead to loss of production through downtime.

One of the latest contracts is with Zakum Development Company (ZADCO) for over £270 000 of vibration analysis on its North Satellite Platform and South Satellite Platform, offshore Abu Dhabi.

The Zakum field is the second largest field in the Gulf and the fourth largest field in the world. ZADCO aims to increase the production rate from Upper Zakum from 550 000 to 750 000 bpd, sustainable for 25 years. Mr Mohamed Abdulrahman Al Marzouqi, ZADCO’s Operation Support Vice President for Maintenance said: “The need to manage long term performance and issues has led ZADCO to seek out a more economical future development concept. Reducing vibration has been a major challenge for us as we have increased production on these ageing assets in recent months.”

Mr Slahadin Ali Ashair, ZADCO’s Rotating Machinery Manager added: “Xodus was chosen to undertake this project as the team is considered the most knowledgeable and economical in this specialised field. We have been in constant dialogue and had excellent schedule control from the Xodus team. The work is expected to be completed ahead of time, saving valuable project time and overall costs.”

This is the second contract Xodus has won with the operator this year following a £400 000 contract for vibration assessment and analysis on the oil train piping and structures for ZADCO at Zirku Island. The work pulled in services from Xodus’ process, piping, instrumentation and structural teams and included a Front End Engineering Design (FEED) scope of work.

Other recent contracts include a three-year vibration study contract in Algeria for a major operator and vibration work on a new FPSO, currently sailing from Korea to the North Sea. The team is also carrying out vibration risk management and trouble shooting in the Northern and Southern North Sea and investigating two vibration issues on sulphur recovery units in Abu Dhabi.

Wim van der Zande, CEO of Xodus Group said: “Our vibration specialists are solving complex challenges for global operators, delivering tangible results and cost efficiencies. Our engineers are carrying out valuable in field assessments and are backed by technical and analytical specialists based in the UK and United Arab Emirates. Vibration and acoustic problems can affect old and new assets, severely impacting on operational uptime and we have the expertise to pin-point issues and take action to support production enhancement.”

Adapted from a press release by David Bizley

Read the article online at: https://www.oilfieldtechnology.com/drilling-and-production/10122015/xodus-wins-over-%C2%A35-million-of-vibration-contracts/