AKD Engineering: Global Support for Oil and Gas Needs
Precision performance
Offering a dynamic, yet dependable approach to business with its current and future clients, AKD Engineering has the infrastructure and ability to provide these customers with the worldwide support needed to meet their requirements, both onshore and offshore.
Dedicated to providing high quality, cost effective services to the oil and gas industry since its formation in 1955, today this includes a full suite of onshore and offshore services to cover most work scopes, most notably decommissioning, on any installation in the world.
Spanning approximately 7.5 acres, the company’s base in Lowestoft has benefitted in recent years from continuous investment, making it one of the best-equipped facilities of its type anywhere in Europe. With access to adjacent dockside facilities that provide direct supply barge and disposal capabilities, the company is ideally placed to service and meet all of its clients’ requirements. The sheer extent of this site, combined with the range of facilities and highly experienced workforce at its disposal, allows AKD to tender competitively for contracts of a multi-disciplined, sophisticated nature.
AKD Engineering first entered the offshore decommissioning arena in 2008 when it was awarded a contract for the topsides enabling works on the five platforms in the INDE field through the Norwegian Contractor AF Decom. The original project brief involved the installation and welding of the heavy lift pad-eyes and associated structural reinforcement. AKD’s 30-year experience as a North Sea contractor allowed this original brief to be significantly expanded with a full involvement in the management of QHSE on the project, together with the provision and management of offshore labour and equipment for the destruct phase of the operation.
The project was completed after 18 months with zero safety incidents. As a consequence of this performance, AKD was contracted, last year, by a major operator to undertake a detailed scope and costs analysis for the partial decommissioning of 11 platforms located in the Dutch sector of the North Sea. The scope had only been part defined and was still in the process of review by the operator. AKD’s role required close liaison with the operator to determine the full project scope. To achieve this AKD placed engineering staff within the operator’s team to process the information stream between its own engineering team and the operator’s. The completed work package included critiques for each platform detailing the impact and options for process routing and equipment removal, destruct P&ID’s, detailed CTR’s and a fully resourced level four critical path schedule, which enables accurate labour, plant, equipment and sub-contract cost breakdowns and a comprehensive risk analysis for both HSE and commercial aspects of the project.
AKD recognises the real need for a structured and well co-ordinated approach to the whole decommissioning process, not least because the operator requires a cost effective and cost reliable solution that complies with the necessary legislative commitments. In order to do this, an engineered, managed and consistent approach needs to take place from the earliest point of survey to project completion. AKD is approved to ISO 9001:2008 and has adopted a robust management system. Priding itself on being focused on health and safety, quality assurance and the environment, the company is committed to providing a safe and healthy environment for employees, contractors, visitors and neighbours alike.
Engineering surveys and costed proposals need to be carried out often whilst the platforms are still operational in order maximise the information available. Accordingly, the company has wide experience of working on services platforms, while its employees are fully conversant with the safety procedures associated with these working environments.
AKD can provide a fully defined turnkey approach of known scope and cost that would be an attractive proposition to any operator. This turnkey approach requires the establishment of a consortium of key players, but importantly AKD will adopt the co-ordination role to pull together the players and ensure that their competing priorities do not impinge upon the success of the operation. Projects will be managed to their successful conclusion within budget and schedule. In essence, the company is committed to the future by developing with its clients, on time, cost effective, well-managed projects encompassing all its 55 plus years of engineering know how. By building upon the strengths, qualities and characteristics that have brought it such considerable success over this period of time, AKD continues to deliver the benefits that come from its dynamic yet dependable approach to clients of today and the future.
AKD Engineering Ltd
Services: Engineering, manufacturing and offshore services