Gastech 2024 sessions to be hosted by yours truly

The Oilholic is delighted to be back in Houston, Texas, US for Gastech 2024, one of the world's largest energy industry fixtures, being held here from September 17 to 20. Yours truly will be holding three panel sessions and two fireside chats at the event with Hardeep Singh Puri, India's Honorable Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, and Chris Ashton, Chief Executive Officer of Worley. 

The three panels will include distinguished industry thought leaders. Please do join if you can for some fantastic and insightful industry dialogues. Here are the details of the sessions:

Tuesday, September 17, 2024 @ 12:45 pm CDT

IEW2025: Energy transformation through innovation and investment

With His Excellency Hardeep Singh Puri, Honorable Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, India

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Tuesday, September 17, 2024 @ 4:50 pm CDT

Harnessing the advantages of natural gas to fuel the Artificial Intelligence revolution

With:

- Rebekah Eggers, Global Client Engagement & Innovation Director, Energy & Resources Sector, IBM

- Arun Kumar Singh, Chairman & CEO, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd

- Ken West, President & CEO, Honeywell Energy and Sustainability Solutions 

- Naser Al Yafei, SVP - Strategy, Sustainability & Transformation, ADNOC Gas

- Matthew Babin, Head of Energy & Natural Resources, Palantir Technologies

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September 18, 2024 @ 10:40 am CDT

Delivering projects in a challenging operating and cost environment

Executive leadership fireside chat with Chris Ashton, CEO, Worley

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September 19, 2024 @ 10:45 am CDT

Decarbonizing heavy transportation: Collaborations to address the acceleration of climate technology solutions from development to deployment

With:

- Sukhmal Jain, Director (Marketing) & Board Member, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited

- Yoki Firnandi, CEO, PT Pertamina International Shipping

- Meg Gentle, Executive Director, HIF Global

- Mark S. Brownstein, SVP, Environmental Defense Fund

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September 19, 2024 @ 2 pm CDT

Fostering greater climate technology innovation, deployment, and scale across the value chain

With:

- Mahdi Aladel, CEO of Aramco Ventures

- Paula Gant, President & CEO, GTI Energy

- Vikas Dhole, GM of Project Management, AspenTech

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Keep reading, keep it here, keep it 'crude'! 

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To email: journalist_gsharma@yahoo.co.uk  

© Gaurav Sharma 2024. Photo © Gastech / dmgevents 2024. 

$80 is looking like Brent's price ceiling not the floor

The second day of the fresh trading week has heaped yet more misery on the oil market. Its the same story as the last week - of declines along familiar lines (global demand, lower Chinese imports, economic uncertainties, oversupply of light crude in particular - the whole works). 

Compared to last week, on Monday the Brent front-month contract ended 8.11% lower while the WTI ended 7.01% lower. 

Having breached $75 per barrel floor, Brent futures are now testing $70 with the WTI having fallen through it some time ago. This is for all intents and purposes a rout based on weaker demand and more than adequate supply. It means that as things stand - at least from the Oilholic's perspective - a $80 oil price is now the ceiling, and not the floor!

The current market sentiment has sent Wall Street banks scrambling to lower their oil price forecasts and market observers to tone down their demand growth forecasts for both this year and the next. This blogger has long been suggesting that 2024 will end in an oversupply of light sweet crude. But as it appears, the whole market might well be in surplus regardless. 

Away from pricing, here's yours truly latest missive for Energy Connects on M&A activity in the sector which appears to be pretty buoyant. Looks like the low price climate has seemingly narrowed the buyer-seller disconnect.

More musings to follow soon. Keep reading, keep it here, keep it 'crude'! 

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© Gaurav Sharma 2024. Photo: Oil production site. © Jplenio / Pixabay, 2018. 

Up close to world's 'strongest land-based crane'

Last week the Oilholic headed out to Westdorpe, The Netherlands, for an opportunity to get up close to what is being described as 'the world's strongest land-based crane' designed and built by Mammoet. Meet the SK6000. 

But just how strong and big you ask? Well the vital stats provided by the good folks at Mammoet are impressive. The '6000' in the name gives it away that it has a maximum lift capacity of a whopping 6,000 tons. 

It can routinely lift components of up to 3,000 tons - roughly the weight of six Airbus A380 super-jumbo aircraft - to a height of 220 m. It utilizes 4,200 tons of ballast to lift with a maximum ground bearing pressure of 30 tons /sq m. 

Naturally for a crane of such a record-breaking capacity, it has to be ginormous and it is. Yours truly saw the gleaming red structure from nearly a mile away on approach to the Mammoet pilot site. We're looking at a main mast of 127-171 m, a jib length - or the distance between the crane axis and the jib - of 29-95 m and a ballast to mast foot length of 59.2 m. 

It has the capability of full electric power (grid, fuel cell, batteries) or standard generators, and it will be primarily containerised for simplicity of movement to sites worldwide. 

Undoubtedly, this beast of a crane will likely have a huge impact on the construction processes and life-cycles within the energy infrastructure sphere - its intended primary market. 

That is a world where there is constant pressure on project sponsors and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firms to complete projects safely, on time and on budget or if you wish - with more efficiency, more productivity and through safer operations. 

Nuclear, renewable and traditional energy project segments would all welcome Mammoet's latest offering. The company has lined up its first client for the SK6000 "in Asia" with a deployment scheduled at some point in 2025.  

Here's the Oilholic's more detailed feature for Forbes on the business case for the SK6000, following a conversation with Gavin Kerr, Director Global of Services at Mammoet. 

Additionally, he discussed the concept to completion journey of the crane, describing it as four-year endeavour involving multiple teams, and a satisfying final assembly phase that began in June and was completed last month ahead of schedule. 

The report also has more awesome photos of this modern engineering marvel, rather than yours truly's admittedly amateurish attempts to capture a huge crane on a tiny mobile phone camera for this blog!  

In a nutshell, Mammoet believes the SK6000 would enhance the serviceability for refining and offshore new-build and / or maintenance projects in the following ways:  

• Its facilitation of modular construction will allow energy facilities to be built simultaneously, in controlled environments that are safer and high-quality. 

• It would assist with building in larger components, which shortens the build phase and reduces on-site installation activities.

• The more (and the bigger bits) that can be built off-site, the fewer the connections needed to be made on-site with less testing and fewer working hours.

• And, a combination of the above reduces the time to first energy, and/or reduces the downtime needed to maintain facilities.

All-in-all a very interesting development for the energy EPC segment to watch out for as Mammoet's latest record breaker undergoes final safety and stress testing ahead of its first outing. With those final thoughts, it's time take your leave. More musings to follow soon. Keep reading, keep it here, keep it 'crude'! 

To follow The Oilholic on Twitter click here.

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To email: journalist_gsharma@yahoo.co.uk  

© Gaurav Sharma 2024. Photos: Gaurav Sharma at the launch site of heavy engineering group Mammoet's latest crane - the SK6000 which is considered to be the world's 'strongest land-based' one. © Gaurav Sharma, August 30, 2024.