Hydro's supplier project in North-West Russia is producing results. This week, two companies in Murmansk and two companies in Arkhangelsk have received certificates that prove they are qualified to deliver to the oil and gas industry on the Norwegian continental shelf.
The results from phase two of the supplier project, which Hydro initiated in June 2003, are now ready. Representatives from six companies in Murmansk and seven companies in Arkhangelsk met this week to study the analyses Hydro has made in the project ”The North-West Russia Supplier Development Project”.
These 13 companies were chosen following a charting process in the preliminary phase of the project to be considered as suppliers to the oil and gas industry when developments in the Barents Sea and North-West Russia are started.
Detailed analyses
"We have made detailed analyses of what kind of deliveries these companies can offer, the quality and HSE systems they have and any experience they may have of delivering to oil and gas projects. We reviewed the results of the analysis work in the meetings held in Murmansk and Arkhangelsk over the summer. We will present a joint analysis, which will be available to all the companies, as well as individual analyses which will be sent to each company. The latter are confidential, and will only be available to the company concerned," says Hydro's project manager Benedikt Henriksen.
The analyses of the supplier situation in North-West Russia also include advice to companies that want to qualify as suppliers to international oil and gas developments.
"We wanted, together with the Norwegian-Danish qualification assessment system Achilles FKO and Aker Kværner, to assess whether any of the 13 companies could qualify in the Norwegian-Danish qualification system, which gives automatic registration in the European Oil and Gas Register. This gives access to the whole North Sea region.
"We found that two companies in Murmansk and two companies in Arkhangelsk could be certified for supplying the Norwegian and Danish continental shelf. The certificates were awarded by a representative from Achilles FKO at the meetings this week. These certificates are stamp of approval and this can be a good start to developing a joint qualification system in North-Russia," says Henriksen.
Hydro will cover the costs of these four companies for the first year of qualification, and they will also have access to the Achilles FKO system. Training in the use of the system was given at the meetings in the two Russian cities.
Looking for partners
During its work on the supplier project, Hydro has noted interest from several companies on both the Russian and Norwegian sides of the border in partnerships that would enhance competitive edge in the supplier market for developments on the Russian and Norwegian continental shelf.
A search for Norwegian continental shelf partners was therefore started this week. Partnerships between Russian and Norwegian companies can lead to synergies on both sides of the border.
"We think it is a good idea for Russian companies to seek partnerships across the border. The Achilles FKO system makes it possible to search for a partner with the same interests. This can provide opportunities for both Russian companies that want to get into the Norwegian market and Norwegian companies that want to position themselves for developments in North-West Russian," says Henriksen.
Hydro has financed most of the supplier project in connection with its business engagement in North-West Russia. The project is also supported by the Russian local authorities in Murmansk and Arkhangelsk, and by the Finnmark county council and Sør-Varanger municipality in Norway, as well as the Russian oil and gas companies Sevmorneftegaz, Gazprom and Rosneft, and Innovation Norway and the Barents Sea Secretariat.
AkerKværner, INTSOK, Storvik & Co, and Achilles FKO er Hydro's Norwegian partners in the project.