Pictured above is Damien Hagley, Pipeyard Supervisor, Trinidad and Tobago
By John Clouston, ASCO
For more than a hundred years, the oil and gas industry has been a significant contributor to the economy of Trinidad and Tobago. Now, more recently with the discovery of significant oil reserves in Guyana and Suriname, the global focus on the Caribbean region as a producer of oil and gas has escalated considerably.
To support that future growth, the material management and logistics sector has also continued to evolve, investing in and advancing its service offering to meet operator client requirements.
The criticality of having access to a safe, efficient and reliable supply base and logistics services cannot be overestimated. Managing the energy supply chain is a complex and challenging business with failures coming at a potentially heavy cost and disruption to exploration, drilling or production resulting in anything from subsea pipeline failure and associated environmental implications to delays, lost time or shutdown.
Building a Presence in the Caribbean
ASCO, a provider of end-to-end logistics, has had a presence in the Caribbean since the turn of the millennium, levelling its global expertise to deliver its fully integrated logistics service to numerous global operators including Centrica, Shell, Total Energies and Woodside. It has now expanded its presence in the Caribbean, operating a client base for Total Energies at Kuldipsingh Port in Paramaribo, Suriname.
Main services here include logistics, warehousing and inventory, bulk and MGO and marine services.
The company built its first shore base and managed pipe yard facility in 2001 and now operates from three bases in Trinidad - Chaguaramas, La Brea and Galeota Point. It has also, recently, operated from a third party shore base with 4-acre pipe yard in Paramaribo, Suriname, and has options to resume operations there in 2025 in response to the ramping up of activity related to the new finds. A number of further pipe yard facility options are being evaluated.
Making Investments in the Region
Earlier this year, ASCO secured a five-year contract with bp Trinidad and Tobago (bpTT), the country’s largest hydrocarbon producer, accounting for more than half of its production. The contract will see it provide supply base and pipeyard management services to the operator’s 16 offshore platforms from Galeota Point and to its drilling rig from La Brea.
To support this, ASCO is making a significant investment in a new pipeyard in La Brea, including in equipment and infrastructure, to deliver its services to the highest international standards. This includes approximately four acres of laydown storage, pipe washing, tallying and inspection facilities.
This latest award renews the relationship with bpTT which ASCO first worked with in 2001, when it supported around 23 offshore platforms and three drilling rigs.
This new contract builds on ASCO’s expertise and in-country experience which has developed from working with many global operators for almost quarter of a century delivering full pipe storage and management services and sub-contracted inspection services from the Trinidad bases and from Guyana and Suriname.
The contract and planned scale up of activity and ongoing investment reaffirm ASCO’s commitment to the region. In 2019, it created a purpose built pipeyard specifically for Shell in Chaguaramas, Trinidad. Built in just 14 weeks, the 5.7-acre yard included six offices, a double washbay for pipe washing and inspection with secondary emergency power support from an 80KVA generator. It also has CCTV coverage across all areas, on-site 24/7 security, enclosed by six-foot fencing.
Local Logistics
Materials management for the pipeyards includes storage of tubulars, tracking and tallying, pipe washing and inspection services and preservation services. Yards also include an undercover area to protect chrome pipes from corrosion by the elements.
Pipes arrive in the region from various locations including Brazil and Gulf of Mexico. First inspections are carried out by a surveyor when the vessels docks, with the pipe bundles being checked for damage prior to them being downloaded. After unloading they are transported to the relevant yard where they are unbundled, racked and inspected ready for shipping offshore.
Once in the yard, third party inspectors carry out thorough inspections to check for any dents on the pipes, damaged threads, integral soundness of casing strings, completeness of protectors or any other indications of damage.
From then on, pipes undergo regular inspection and ongoing maintenance, including doping the thread and rabbiting the pipes, according to every operator’s prescribed maintenance programme.
Liaison with teams across every base and with the clients to coordinate activity to meet required needs is crucial. Through working closely with drilling teams on the various assets, client and contractor build three or six month forecasts of pipe needs to ensure the correct pipes get a final inspection and are ready and accessible for transport when required.
Safety and Environment
New technologies are also adding value to pipeyard services. Plans are currently in place to introduce bar-coding technology for pipes later this year which will enhance overall tracking and tracing of joints.
Other recent site enhancements include permanent sling racks assuring lifting gear is stored compliantly and is accessible ready for use.
In its operations across the globe, ASCO’s overriding obsessions are Safety Excellence, Service Excellence and Sustainability. The layout of pipeyards is designed in such a way as to allow suitable access to pipe storage areas within a safe working environment. Numbered signage on racks ensures easy and correct identification and location of stored materials. Undercover areas are provided to protect chrome piping from corrosion. Yards are well-maintained with regular yard and rack inspections carried out to ensure everything is in good order at all times.
A safety culture is embedded across every sphere of ASCO activity. To reinforce its local commitment to safety, ASCO participates in the Trinidad and Tobago Safe to Work (SOW) accreditation standard. ASCO’s safety performance is also endorsed by clients and in 2021, the company was named Q1 Goal Zero Hero by Shell.
ASCO is also committed to environmental excellence. Interceptors are designed to prevent pollution and protect the environment, capturing oil, grease, fuel or contamination from tubulars which are being prepared for, or returned from, offshore.
Trinidad’s ground water regulations prohibit discharge of hydrocarbon pollutants such as oils, greases and fuels into the ground or into watercourses and oil separators or tanks fitted to surface water drainage separate and store pollutants until removal by ASCO’s specialist contractor partner for waste management.
Commitment to the Local Workforce
A clear focus of ASCO’s presence in the Caribbean region has been its commitment to developing and upskilling local talent and to using local services and personnel to meet and exceed local content requirements. This commitment comes with an assurance to international operators that their global standards of work will be met by skilled and highly qualified local teams. Benefits to the local community include the creation of direct and indirect jobs.
The local team now comprises one hundred percent local personnel and headcount is set to grow by 30 percent to support the new bpTT contract win. Equally supportive of diversity and inclusion, ASCO Trinidad and Tobago is a female-led team, with two-thirds of its management team being talented Trinidadian women.
Find out more about our operations in Trinidad and Tobago here.