Oil and Gas Community

Social networking is growing more popular every day, LinkedIn, Facebook, Bebo, Twitter and others, have fast became a part of our every day lives. The ability to network and connect with like minded people all over the world is not only a great way to socialise and keep in touch with friends; it is also a very powerful business and marketing tool.

Lots of small companies and even some larger ones are releasing the power of the web and using it as a way of generating interest in their business. Lots of companies now recruit on social networking sites and the chances are if you don’t have an online presence you are probably missing out.

All of the above are reasons why people join such sites. www.oilandgaspeople.com hopes to take it a step further. We believe social networking could be used to improve safety within the oil and gas industry. In terms of safety, some countries are much further ahead than others, some companies have strict policies in place, and others have next to none. The standard varies from country to country and from individual to individual.

It comes down to training, knowledge and education. We see the same accidents occurring time and time again. Often those involved will say they ‘didn’t know’ or ‘weren’t aware’ Accidents and incidents that probably would have been avoided, if only we had managed to learn from other peoples lessons and mistakes.

Let’s use the powers of social networking to share lessons learned and to educate others in the industry. Wouldn’t it be great to have a massive resource of people from all aspects of the oil industry? A bank of knowledge and information that can be tapped at any time! From every day tasks to huge projects, you can bet someone has done it before. They may know a better way, a product you wasn’t aware of or a procedure that could save you time, money and improve safety.

The industry is ever changing, ever developing and pushing the barriers of new technology every day. It’s impossible to keep track with everything. Let’s use social networking to expand our knowledge, share our experiences and to improve safety across the board.

www.oilandgaspeople.com is not just another oil and gas jobs site. It has been created by oil and gas people, for oil and gas people! As part of the site and to prove our commitment to the industry, we are proud to announce the launch of www.oilandgascommunity.com a brand new social networking site for anyone working in oil and gas.

It doesn’t matter where you work or what you do, we are confident you will have something to bring to the table. We are going to be developing the site over the coming months and hope to include lots of pages with information, lessons learned, new technology, industry news etc, etc…

People can post requests for help and information on the forums. Join groups of like minded people, create events, chat instantly with other members, share information through blogs and build a profile advertising their company.

If you work in health and safety our sister site www.hsepeople.com will also be very relevant to you. HSE people is a well established community site that will give people an insight into the potential of www.oilandgascommunity.com

Hope to see you all there soon.

Kevin Forbes
www.oilandgaspeople.com
www.oilandgascommunity.com
www.hsepeople.com
 

CONTITECH BEATTIE GIVES SAFETY THE GOLD MEDAL TREATMENT

ContiTech Beattie Ltd’s has launched two new products to help with health and safety in the oil and gas industry, giving them the Gold Medal treatment at the prestigious Offshore Europe exhibition and conference.

Great Britain Olympic hero Victoria Pendleton joined the Ashington and Aberdeen-based market leader in hose technology for the oil and gas industry to help celebrate the launch.

The six times World Champion, Commonwealth Champion and Olympic Champion in track sprint attended the event in Aberdeen, one of the major showcasing events in the industry’s calendar.

Both of the new products have safety at the forefront of their design. While the first new product is specifically designed to be fire retardant, the second has built-in floatation capability.

The athlete’s success in the Beijing Games in 2008 reflect the company’s own Olympic Challenge of raising its turnover to £42 million by 2012 through further overseas sales growth, developing internal processes and developing new products and services

Victoria also uses inner tubes produced by ContiTech Beattie’s parent Continental group.

Andrew Esson, managing director of ContiTech Beattie, said: "Victoria Pendleton is a national sporting hero and her Olympic pedigree is an inspiration to our team who, like Victoria, have their own 2012 targets to achieve. It was a great honour to have someone who has achieved the highest standards time and again while burning rubber on the track launch our new hoses – one of which has been designed specifically so that the rubber does not to burn when deployed in its own field.

"The Floating Hoses mean that there is now no longer a need for a separate hose and floatation collar arrangement, making life easier for the customer who may previously have had to search for the right matching partnership.

"With the fire retardant hoses, the benefits are clear for customers who use our products for flammable environment. Safety is a priority in the oil and gas industry, so products like these are there to save lives and avoid disasters happening."

ContiTech Beattie’s Fire Rated Diesel Hose has been tested and is certified by Lloyds Register to OSG/1000/499 to withstand 700ºC for 30 minutes and its typical usage would be for fuel oil suction and delivery, with up to 50 per cent aromatic content. This hose design is also suitable for seawater, mud and other offshore applications, as well as long lasting bunkering applications.

This hose allows the safe use of oil/fuel suction and delivery in high fire risk areas.

High tensile textile cords with embedded steel helix wire and antistatic wires provide the reinforcement, while ozone and hydrocarbon resistant covers lie over layers of heat resistant fibre.

The Floating Hose range, offers Bulk Material, Diesel and Potable Water applications.  The range eliminates the need for cumbersome floatation collars, providing a high quality solution for floating bulk hose applications.

Integral buoyancy layers eliminate the need for separate tie-on floatation collars. This removes the possibility of the collars moving in service and affecting buoyancy, ensuring the satisfactory floatation and high visibility at all times is provided through appropriately coloured bands on the hose body, while removing the possibility of snagging under water.

The high tensile textile cord-reinforced hoses use multi-layers of PE foam for floatation and have black CR/BR blend, abrasion, ozone and hydrocarbon resistant covers.

ContiTech Beattie is a world leader in the design, manufacture and supply of flexible hose assemblies and associated hardware to the oil and gas sector. Originally formed in 1960 as Beattie Hydraulics Limited, a manufacturer of carbon steel hydraulic hose fittings, the firm rebranded from Phoenix Beattie Limited to ContiTech Beattie Limited in 2008 and now employs 97 people, including 82 in Ashington and 14 in Aberdeen, with one in Singapore.

Pic caption: Victoria Pendleton (centre) launches the new hoses with Dr Tamas Katona (MD, Continental, left) and Andrew Esson (MD, ContiTech Beattie, right)

The UK's new offshore safety chief has warned the industry there is no room for complacency.

Steve Walker, who has just replaced Ian Whewekk as head of the Health and Safety Executives (HSE) offshore division, said he wants the regulator to be respected.

Meeting Industry at Offshore Europe in Aberdeen yesterday for the first "time in his new position, Walker said: ' Ian has left me an excellent legacy. Under his watch the industry did improve in its leadership of offshore health and safety... but one of my top priorities is to make sure the industry is not complacent with its current safety standards.

"I want the industry to deliver on its commitments to maintain safety."

Walker said he wants the HSE to be an efficient and effective regulator and hopes it will be respected by the industry. However, he raised concerns about spikes in the number of hydrocarbon releases and major accidents in the first quarter of this year.

Walker, who has been with the HSE for more than 30 years and in the offshore division since 2004 was responsible for running the organisation's recent and largely positive KP3 review into offshore safety.

"We gave the industry a pretty good message when the review was published in July but the Industry still has to keep its eye on the ball.

"I recognise the challenges in keeping aging installations fit for purpose at a time when industry is looking at the technical and cost demands of developing existing fields, especially in the context of the economic climate and the energy debate," he said.

Robert Paterson, the health and safety director of industry group Oil and Gas UK, said: "Over the last 21 years the industry has made huge progress in putting in place multiple barriers on its offshore installations to prevent escalation of dangerous occurrences and to reduce their impact.

SOURCE - www.upstreamonline.com

HOBBS VALVE UNVEIL NEW PRODUCTS AT OFFSHORE EUROPE 2009

NOF Energy member, Hobbs Valve Ltd, has unveiled two new products at Offshore Europe 2009.

The South Wales based company introduced Triple Offset Cryogenic Butterfly Valves and a 600lb pressure class range at the exhibition, which took place in Aberdeen between 8-11 September.

Industry leaders in the design and manufacture of patented Triple Offset Butterfly Valves, Hobbs Valve produce high specification, high performance valves for supply to the global on and offshore Oil & Gas, Chemical, Petrochemical, Nuclear and Power industries.

The new butterfly valve has been specifically engineered for use in the delivery of Liquid Natural Gas and can withstand temperatures of -196°C.

Hobbs Valve has added the 600lb pressure class range to its existing portfolio of 150lb and 300lb valves to be able to manage high pressure applications.

Hobbs Valve is fast carving out a position in the sector securing considerable maintenance and repair work in the Oil & Gas market. In addition, it has recently secured contracts for projects within the UK Marine Industry.

Rhys Jones, Hobbs Valve Ltd Commercial Director, said: “The introduction of these new products will play a part in the growth of our market share.  Offshore Europe is an ideal location to introduce our new technology to the market and we are keen to meet new potential partners and customers who will benefit from our valves.

Joanne Leng, Director Business Development at NOF Energy, said: “Hobbs Valve demonstrates the skill and innovation that exists in the UK supply chain.  The global market is continually looking at the UK to deliver engineering excellence and high levels of service.  Companies such as Hobbs Valve are meeting that challenge.”