Wood Group is providing subsea services for five new joint industry projects (JIPs) to solve industry-wide challenges.

These international projects, which will run between 2015 and 2018, will see Wood Group Kenny (WGK) work with several oil and gas operators, contractors and regulators to improve quality, safety and competence across the sector and achieve significant savings in design and unplanned intervention costs:

SURFIM Network involves the largest number of operators for a Wood Group Kenny JIP, with 14 major companies having participated in its first phase. SURFIM Network Phase II will organise, convene and facilitate face-to-face and virtual forums for knowledge sharing and delivering solutions to subsea integrity and reliability challenges, focusing especially on subsea hardware. This initiative has been delivered with the support of the Industry Technology Facilitator (ITF).

Now in phase III, Slug Loading & Response in Pipelines and Risers (SLARP) focuses on developing best practice for analysis of slug loading and response in pipelines, spools and risers and has five participants in this phase.

SureFlex2015 will provide an update to failure statistics and industry guidance on flexible pipe integrity, as well as the tools and technologies used for inspection and monitoring of these critical components. This project is in collaboration with Oil & Gas UK and backed by 10 supporting participants.

The Subsea Engineering Competency (SECOMP) JIP will develop a consistent framework for assessing the competency of subsea engineering personnel and provide standardisation across companies and regions. It is supported by three operators, the Society for Underwater Technology (SUT) and the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST).

The Subsea Equipment Australian Reliability (SEAR) JIP is a collaboration supported by six operators in Australian waters aiming to reduce subsea equipment failures through collaboration and knowledge sharing in order to improve subsea equipment design for Australia’s unique offshore environment and avoid costly interventions.

Bob MacDonald, CEO of Wood Group Kenny, said: "Using our expertise in the subsea arena to inform and improve operations, these JIPs will help to steer and support the future direction of the ever-evolving subsea sector. Spearheading these critical projects is fundamental to providing solutions to our customers and we look forward to working with the participants to deliver successful JIPs."

These latest projects continue Wood Group Kenny’s strong track record in leading JIPs, having been involved in 27 JIPs over the last 18 years.

Kieran Kavanagh, technology development director at Wood Group Kenny, added: "Our success in JIPs is testament to our innovative approach to addressing industry problems. These new JIPs are focused on subsea integrity, competency and improved design practice; all significant challenges as we seek to reduce risk and life-of-field costs in the subsea industry."