Excelling in exploration

Chris Sugden of AGR Petroleum Services discusses how his company aiding the oil and gas industry in the hunt for hydrocarbons.

“AGR Petroleum services has an array of solutions to the problems inherent with constrained talent pools and an advanced value proposition that we anticipate E&P operators in the region will find compelling in their quest to deliver or exceed their goals”
-Chris Sugden

Who are AGR Petroleum Services and what services do you provide to the oil and gas industry?
Chris Sugden. AGR PETROLEUM SERVICES is the world’s largest independent well and reservoir management group and has the international experience, capacity and work processes required to deliver efficient and assured results for its clients. Our headquarters are in Oslo, Norway. Additionally, we have an established presence in the UK, Russia, Kazakhstan, USA, Australia and are now operating a regional hub in the UAE to develop business across the MENA region. We are a global provider of services for all phases of the upstream asset life cycle in the oil and gas Industry. This ranges from interpreting the first seismic data through exploration and appraisal drilling to field development and production optimisation.

AGR PS is designed to provide full project organisation, supplement a client's existing staff or provide expertise that may not be available in its organisation. Importantly, we provide subsurface and well engineering resources or services on an as-needed basis through discussion and liaison with the client. As a result, we are a flexible service provider who can act within or out with client offices as a fully integrated subsurface, drilling and field development team, or provide each of these service streams individually.

What has attracted AGR Petroleum Services to the MENA region?
CS. The MENA region is the most important and active E&P area in the world today. The phenomenal growth in worldwide E&P activity over the last five years has led to a dilution of expertise in all functional areas required to deliver the expected performance on important E&P projects. AGR Petroleum services have an array of solutions to the problems inherent with constrained talent pools and an advanced value proposition that we anticipate E&P operators in the region will find compelling in their quest to deliver or exceed their goals.

How are your products and services aiding the industry?"
CS. AGR PS is a process driven organisation with certified management systems supporting our operations to deliver upper quartile performance to our clients on a consistent basis. Last year, AGR PS drilled over 78 wells in seven countries for 34 clients, operated seven offshore rigs simultaneously worldwide, completed over 200 reservoir management studies and placed 191 consultants through our consultancy services group.

We are recognised as providers of the world's leading project risk management software, P1. Sometimes the most cost effective option can bring the greatest risks consequently we have designed the software to offer a range of solutions and highlight the level of risk associated with each of these, thereby giving engineers complete control over their projects. Breaking from traditional risk management tools, P1 V 3.8 draws on data from previous well construction projects to offer operators a range of solutions to problems that may arise during construction work. It provides the associated solution costs allowing engineers to quickly understand the financial impact of their decision and generates likely outcome scenarios of particular actions.

How have advancements in process and technology helped the Oil and Gas Industry?
CS. We are an industry that thrives on the challenges of enhanced hydrocarbon extraction from the earth's crust. There is a vast offering of technology and process solutions that may be selected to deliver value for any given set of circumstances. Sometimes the choice is bewildering and selecting the most advantageous solution to any particular set of conditions is not a black and white decision.

At AGR PS emphasis is placed on a detailed understanding of a particular challenge once the detail of the challenge is understood the appropriate technology can be applied. We believe this is the key to delivering superior value to a project within acceptable and transparent risk parameters.

The industry is well served with technology and it is fair to say that a significant portion of new technology is underutilised mainly due to the lack of obvious fit due to limited front-end engineering.

Chris Sugden, General Manager of MENA region for AGR Petroleum Services, is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Energy Institute. He holds a MBA degree, MSc degree in Offshore Engineering and a BSc degree in Mechanical Engineering. Sugden has held senior drilling and completion engineering positions onshore and supervisory drilling positions offshore on platforms and semi-submersibles.