Oil majors backing ClerkMaxwell’s innovative approach to project delivery

An innovative project delivery system developed by a leading oil and gas consultancy has won repeat business with operators less than 22 months since it was brought to market.

ClerkMaxwell has won further business from oil majors after they recognised the efficiencies that could be made by using its ‘smarter working’ processes.

The energy consultancy’s integrated approach bridges the gap between the conceptual and detailed engineering design phases – an attractive proposition in today’s challenging climate.

Under Managing Director John Wilson the company launched in 2008 just as the recession began to bite. But he and the management team had already recognised the need for a more efficient project delivery model.

That requirement was heightened as the oil price plummeted and spending was cut. In fact, the cloud of the recession transpired to be a silver lining for the Aberdeen-based company.

“Our business development, therefore, was based on a close examination of what was required to safeguard the future of the North Sea, and a need to tailor our services offering accordingly,” said John Wilson, from his company’s offices that overlook the city’s harbour.

“What may in some circumstances have proved to be bad timing instead provided us with the opportunity to show a straitened market that innovative approaches to old problems could provide the basis for progress and growth.”

With over 20 years’ experience in the industry, covering the entire petroleum lifecycle, he has a detailed knowledge of the feasibility and front-end engineering design of modifications to existing oil and gas infrastructure.

This expertise enables him to better understand the impact of decisions made during the front end design phases of a project and how such decisions may affect the project implementation and installation phases, and ultimately the effective operation of the facility.

He believes a key solution today is to work smarter and place more emphasis on bringing greater operation and detailed design knowledge into the front end.

Omitting these two elements often leads to projects running late and over budget. Integrating them at the beginning can achieve the greatest impact with relatively little investment – and that is the cornerstone of ClerkMaxwell’s new approach.

Making that step change in the way projects are delivered, overcoming resource shortages and quality issues and adopting a new strategic approach to project execution will be pivotal in ensuring the North Sea market survives, especially when the oil price falls.

“A company’s business model needs to overcome the human resource constraint by making delivery more efficient, not by adopting the one-dimensional ‘employ more people’ approach,” advocates John Wilson.

“Having the right people and using their skills effectively should be the ultimate objective, and supports the step change in engineering delivery. It all comes back to efficiency.”

ClerkMaxwell has been in the marketplace for 22 months but already has multi-million pound contracts with a number of operators - including Chevron North Sea Limited - with more contracts at home and abroad on the horizon.

The company has increased office space at its HQ at Aberdeen’s Salvesen Tower to cope with expansion and currently has a team of 40 people with a range of technical and development skills encompassing both topsides and subsea disciplines.

Between them, the senior team of Managing Director John Wilson, Subsea and Pipelines Director Guy Cook, Technical Director Satnam Shoker, Projects Director Sean Close and Executive Officer Alistair Dornan, have more than a century’s engineering experience in the oil and gas industry.

For further information log on to ClerkMaxwell’s new-look website www.clerkmaxwell.com