The SAS MIST in Suriname

Guyana and Suriname, together with French Guyana, form a small section on the northern part of South America. Since 2008 ExxonMobil and some other oil companies have looked for and found substantial amounts of oil. The arrival of the oil industry in Guyana and Suriname has led to the requirement of new environmental regulations and a whole new environmental infrastructure.

The governments have taken a strong line in ensuring high environmental standards and SAS Environmental Services is working with a number of partners in the region. One of our MIST systems is already on its way to the region in order to support the waste treatment and reduction.

The latest member of the SAS MIST family will taking on both drilling slops and production waste using our SlopTreat and SludgeTreat chemistry. It was essential to provide a low energy solution capable of treating large volumes of waste with a very low energy requirement. This keeps power consumption down and minimises the need to store hazardous waste for long periods of time.

The oil industry has the potential to help these economies to grow and at the same time responsibly manage any waste by minimising the waste creation and through fast and immediate treatment of oil waste.

To find out more about the MIST System and Process download our Product Data Sheet.

The Role of Carbon Offsetting on the road to Net Zero

Achieving Net Zero can deliver a range of business advantages– from demonstrating environmental credentials and building customer confidence in your brand, to improving staff engagement with your broader sustainability programmes. It can even deliver business growth opportunities – building resilience in supply chains, supporting growth in key markets and helping to launch new products and services. 

Companies are taking the lead by measuring, reducing and where necessary, offsetting their emissions. Some of the world’s biggest Oil & Gas Companies are taking the lead in making commitments to meet Net Zero targets. Is it about offsetting?

It is frequently stated that the road to Net Zero is one strewn with good intentions, or in this particular case, one of offset responsibilities. Many industrial processes cannot be replaced with carbon neutral methodologies. It is the case that once a full implementation of reduce, replace and manage is exhausted that the role of carbon offset becomes important. 

Can offsetting carbon emissions really tackle climate change? 

Offsetting alone is clearly not going to tackle climate change. It is simply a part of a planned strategy of carbon reduction.  But even in the best case scenario this transition will take time and in the meantime everyone will have a carbon footprint, regardless of how hard they try to reduce it.  Until we reach a zero-carbon world we need to do something about this unavoidable, residual carbon footprint. Paying to reduce an equivalent amount of carbon emissions through voluntary carbon offsetting is the most cost effective, fast and efficient way of doing this. 

Isn’t carbon offsetting is just a short term ‘stop gap measure’ for businesses to carry on emitting greenhouse gases, rather than address their carbon footprint? Businesses nearly always reduce first. In reality, nearly all businesses invest in reducing their in-house carbon footprint before considering a payment to offset what remains. Internal reduction activities frequently save money, while investing in carbon offsetting involves a financial outlay. Few businesses make this sort of investment without first getting their own house in order and being fully committed to operating sustainably. 

The alternative is doing nothing. Even if a business has done all it can to reduce its emissions it will still have a carbon footprint. Paying to offset them, is better for our environment than the alternative, which is to do nothing at all. Offsetting delivers real benefits for the environment and local communities. 

SAS MIST Process - how it helps with your waste, step-by-step.

Is carbon offsetting enough?

Offsetting is a first step in the right direction and meant to balance the scales. However, current governmental and social pressures push towards a more pro-active strategy in tackling CO2 emissions and tacking responsibility along the corporate chain. Offsetting an already reduced amount of emissions is better. To remain competitive, oil companies must demonstrate they have taken steps in transforming their operations to become as carbon neutral as possible.

SAS Environmental Services has taken this philosophy to heart. Using a combination of innovative chemistry, state-of-the-art engineering and over 40 years of cumulated experience in the industry, we help oil waste companies to reduce their oil waste through low energy processes.

Download our SAS MIST 220 to discover more.

Oil and Gas - A view on the industry status

Unprecedented Status

The oil & gas industry is in an interesting phase of its existence. The previous downturn in the oil industry in 2015 seems like yesterday to me! And here we are in a situation few would have predicted. The oil industry remains critical to the global economic engine. Some may not like that fact, but for now it is. When the great global engine slows down the oil industry is badly affected. There are some interesting things going on and each one on its own would merit serious reflection. All of them at the same time, well, that’s really making life interesting. Interesting times means there are opportunities abound.

The drop in oil demand is unprecedented. Some 10-15% reduction is extraordinary. This is causing oil prices to drop, operators to cut back spending and some smaller or older wells will be shut in.

The rise of renewable energy (exponential growth curve, we know all about that kind of growth now) and the constant reduction in costs of renewables puts pressure on oil & gas.

An Environmental Concern

A growing awareness and concern for climate change and the impact this has and will have around the world is starting to sway governments into action and is starting to make an impact on how people are going about their life. Covid-19 might have switched the focus short term, but this is an issue that won’t go away.

There is growing concern around the world on environmental issues. This may be plastics and how they remain in the environment, leaking of methane from oil and gas wells, oil sludge storage and oil spills and drilling waste being left for future generations to handle.

A Focus on Innovation

As an industry the oil industry has a long way still to go. The lock down of much of the industrialised world in the end only reduced oil demand by 10-15%.  The idea that in a short space of time the world won’t need oil and gas is unrealistic. The opportunity for the industry lies no longer in reducing day rates or laying off some more people. The world is changing and the future in the oil industry will belong to those who can bring genuine new technology, proven in the field to market quickly.

The industry has long had a reputation of being slow to take up innovation. That won’t be good enough going forward. There is competition now and a much greater focus from governments, consumers and NGOs. None of that need be an issue. The oil industry is home to amazing technology and capabilities. Becoming more efficient means lower impact on the environment as well. That is a good thing.

Taking Action…

Governments too, have a role to play. There need to be clear signals through regulation, that the environment is not an add on, not a “nice to have”. The oil industry has fuelled an enormous economic growth and most people today are better off because of it. There is however a lot of cleaning up to do. Leaving the remediation of oil industry waste to future generations or governments or the UN is no longer acceptable. The industry needs to step up if it wishes to keep its social license to operate.

Are you interested in discussing the topic forward? Connect with Mark via LinkedIn:

Delivering a tailor-made solution to your waste

All the best plans come to nothing unless you can deliver on the work and meet the expectations and requirements.

As a team we have worked for 20 years to consistently deliver the results when it matters. Genuine delivery of results means you have to always learn, keep an open mind, listen to others with experience and follow a methodical path towards problem solving.

Delivery of results means setting aside egos and working together to implement the hard work carried out in preparation and planning.

We have a deep understanding of the processes involved in oil waste creation, transport and treatment and once on-site we know how to get things set up and continuously improve the process. For example the dose rate of our chemistry virtually always reduces over the first 2 months of operation as we train and guide our clients in use of the chemistry and running the process. Making a waste treatment process as efficient as we can means building long term relationships. It is why we worked with the Ineos refinery in Scotland for over 10 years to treat the stored oil sludge on site.

Our technology has provided us with a unique capability to handle virtually all oil waste. The versatility of our process and chemistry means that with one chemical we can almost always solve any oil waste issue in the treatment process.

We have hugely enjoyed our work over the past 20 years and the amazing experience of seeing people’s daily work life change because what was a problem for them is now just the daily routine of applying our microemulsion chemistry. We have delivered our solutions from the UK to Canada and from Ecuador to Malaysia and Australia. Together we can get this process delivered to your site as well.

Business Models in the time of Coronavirus

A general consensus is that the Oil & Gas industry is very much a traditional industry. One, where contracts are won and executed over extensive periods of time. One where even winning said contracts may take even more time than executing them. It seems quite paradoxically when we are in the business of ‘making energy’. Energy that puts the world in motion and drives innovation at every other level of our society. So why wouldn’t the Oil & Gas Industry embody exactly that. Innovation that drives innovation.

First of all, what do we mean by a traditional business model. It’s quite simple and a basic economic law – supply and demand. On the supply side we have countries with massive resources, such as Saudi Arabia, the US and the UAE. Each country has private or government-owned companies that either cover the drilling and processing aspect of the industry or the whole supply chain spectrum. The overall objective is to balance the production of oil & gas to avoid market saturation and maintain a profitable price per barrel of oil. It’s on this price that all other industries are basing their own financial structure, knowingly or not.

On the demand side we have customers. We know who they are: governments, businesses, us, everyone in the world. But the ‘us’ of now are different from the ‘us’ from 20 years ago. McKinsey Consulting nailed this in their ‘The Oil & Gas Organization of the Future Report’. Demographically, the bulk of the active labor force is shifting to the millennials. On the operational side with nearly 100% but some also moving up on the executive ladder. And the core drive of a millennial is data. If they require data in their work, they require it in their consumption as well. Internet of Things, Industry 4.0, 5G, all are example of technology driven by data, aggregated in a platform that enables digital control over physical products. And that platform will need extensive amounts of energy. So how rentable it is to just think of Oil & Gas as two boxes that exert opposite forces on a resource. A resource that is not as scarce as we believe. A resource that has several ‘greener’ alternatives, creating a market that is ever increasingly aggressive.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves and look at the elephant in the room. COVID-19 managed to reveal both our digital dependency and our social individuality in the same time. The internet allows us to work from home, stay informed, connect with our friends, buy our products and so on. And with each action that we do we reveal a little bit more of our profile. But it does not substitute the human interaction. The best way to express our individuality is face-to-face. And why is that relevant? Because companies in the Oil & Gas industry will be facing clients more digitally adept, persuaded by the power of Big Data but won by Customized Service. After coronavirus, clients and companies alike will know what works on the computer and what just does not. And if it is the latter, the reason is as simple as not being service-centric.

The future business models in the Oil & Gas industry will not start at the resource, it will start at the end-user. It is a manner of reverse engineering and instead of focusing on the technical aspect, we are focusing on the human one. Data can create order from chaos on the technical aspect. But only people can truly create a customized experience. And that is the crux of our believes here at SAS Environmental Services.

Why Innovative Suppliers are the Key to Winning Big Contracts

Update: This article was posted last year , and due to the current situation, this topic is more relevant than ever. COVID-19 will demand a more innovative approach to business modelling and chain supply selection . Despite being a more traditional industry, the energy sector will be just as influenced by this major economic disruption.

In the oil and gas industry major oil service providers are frequently bidding for large contracts (9-10 figure deals). It goes without saying that these contracts are highly competitive, with each service company looking for any edge they can get.

It is in these types of situations, that companies, who have developed and nurtured strong relationships with innovative suppliers, are able to reap the benefits. 

Here are three main reasons why working closely with innovative suppliers is key to winning big contracts:

1. Attention grabbers: Innovative suppliers always have something new to bring to the table. When you’re looking for something to set you apart, innovative suppliers can give you something that will grab the attention of the key decision makers. This “attention grabber” may also help you reduce your costs or allow you to offer a much stronger value proposition.

1. You don’t know what you don’t know: Your suppliers will know the true capabilities of their products and services. They will know what’s possible and what’s not. You may think you know, but in many cases you only know a small part of the whole story. Working closely with suppliers will allow you to maximize the full potential of their products/services in ways you never imagined. 

1. A win/win relationship: Great suppliers understand that when you win, they win. They are truly vested in your success. They will work with you to help you be successful. A strong supplier/vendor relationship should result in an extremely well-aligned set of interests and objectives.

Some may say that this is unrealistic in the cut-throat oil and gas industry. We say this mentality is essential to success in the cut-throat oil and gas industry. Working closely with great suppliers creates a true competitive advantage. We’ve seen this first hand, as both a supplier to major service companies who have won significant projects incorporating our technologies, and as a vendor who has won significant work as a result of our strong relationships with our network of suppliers.

So, why not give your suppliers a call today and see how they can help you win your next big contract.

Can Technology Improve Health and Safety in the Oil and Gas Industry?

Health and safety is an aspect of the oil and gas industry that includes all players, such as the government, companies, associations, workers, and so on. In the UK this aspect of the industry is of paramount importance, and it is believed that the new digital transformation which is sweeping through the industry can help the sector improve health and safety even further. 

Offshore workers are constantly exposed to many health and safety risks; therefore, it must be a priority to prevent major accidents that could result in serious injuries or indeed fatalities. It seems this has been successful over recent years, with the sector's three-year rolling average, non-fatal injury rate reducing and remaining lower than other sectors such as transport, construction, and manufacturing.

““The industry’s work to improve safety performance is delivering.””

— (Mick Borwell, Health, Safety and Environment Policy Director with Oil & Gas UK)

Technology now plays an important role in improving health and safety in the oil and gas industry. Industry players and employees around the world believe through smart sensors, wearables, and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT), the oil and gas sector could improve the safety of its workers even further. Technology has already shown how useful it can be to the sector by boosting workers safety in remote locations, alerting them to potential exposure to toxic gases, monitoring their vitals in harsh environments offshore, and feeding them real-time data during critical decisions.

In many other industries the digital transformation causes some concern however it seems that is not the case in the oil and gas sector. Overall the reception to digitalisation is very warm, with 77% of workers seeing digitalisation as a positive development for the oil and gas industry. 

““Oil and gas companies are leaning on technology to make existing roles - and the people in them - more effective.”

”

— (Global Energy Talent Index, 2018 Survey)