New strong offshore alliance

14 Esbjerg companies forming a consortium to gain a stronger position facing operators in the Danish, Norwegian and Dutch sectors.

A new consortium consisting of 14 companies having their headquarters or an office in Esbjerg are ready to join hands in order to offer complete packages to operators in especially the Danish and Norwegian sectors of the North Sea and to the onshore oil and gas industry.

Offshore Consortium Esbjerg (OCE) has a broad range of skills within design of pipes, decks, constructions, surface treatment, hydraulics, electrical systems and instrumentation as well as the subsequent production, installation and maintenance of the equipment. OCE, consequently covers the entire spectrum from idea, design and production to operation and maintenance. The 14 companies comprise local specialist firms as well as international giants like the ABB.

“Common for us is that we are all present here in Esbjerg, and we are more or less equal. But of course we realise that a member like ABB can draw on its enormous resources, but capacity-wise that may only be an advantage to us,” states the chairman of the steering group of the consortium, Department Manager Esben Marcussen, Promecon A/S.

 
Department Manager Esben Marcussen,
Promecon A/S.
Photo: niels husted

“The consortium is still under development, but we have already submitted tenders involving several of our members for jobs like modification of an unmanned platform in the Danish sector and a packet solution in connection with the re-construction of rig.

We shall start up mainly by bidding for minor projects worth 10-20 million DKK, but soon there will be no limits to our activities. We may even bid for the complete re-construction of a rig. We find our way of cooperation quite obvious considering the fact that major operators to a certain degree are outsourcing an increasing number of projects to sub-contractors.”

The southern part of the North Sea
Via its individual members OCE is visible on the Achilles portal, and the consortium will improve its homepage, www.oce-dk.com, in order to attract the attention of Danish, Norwegian and Dutch customers.

“We believe in the increasing opportunities of the southern part of the North Sea, and when the Norwegian kettle boils over due to lack of production capacity, the jobs will float south.”

Under his Pomecon-hat Esben Marcussen saw the potential in the Dutch oil and gas industry, when one of his company’s major clients placed a substantial order in Holland. The Dutch had difficulty in producing the pipes for the project, so their 5,000 man-hours part of the contract was handed over to the Danish company – and an even larger order may be on its way. 

Concept with opportunities
An interesting Promecon-concept useful to the members of the consortium is a complete maintenance and construction package using a working-vessel for handling jobs at rigs and platforms. The concept has the advantage that bunks are not required at the platforms, and the same goes for helicopter transport and the logistics traditionally required when transferring personnel.

OCE lately was joined by the surface treatment company, Gardit, and the forwarding and transport company, Blue Water. Blue Water has gained considerable experienced as an efficient onshore supply base, and this combined with its mere size and global network will give the entire concern a distinct lift.

“The consortium is based on a joint agreement where we are committed to submit bids to one another when awarded contracts, but I expect our organisation to develop into a more formal structure.”

The 14 Companies:
Promecon A/S, ABB, Persolit, Niras, Force Technology, AN Group A/S, Hydropower A/S, Line-X A/S, Sturnus Engineering, PNE Teknik A/S, Vestjysk Hydraulik A/S, Ocean Team Scandinavia A/S, Blue Water and Gardit.