EXECUTIVE INTERVIEWS
Industry addressing challenges
of deepwater, data management
Subsea pumping will be major growth area, says new INTECSEA president
For 30 years, INTECSEA has provided frontier technology leadership for the energy industry’s most challenging off- shore field development and pipeline projects. The company has designed subsea production systems, pipelines and float- ing systems for operations in some of the harshest environments, and in locations as diverse as the Black Sea, Arctic Ocean,
Mediterranean, the Gulf of Mexico, offshore West Africa, and the
South China Sea.
As part of the WorleyParsons Group, INTECSEA offers the industry engineering and project management expertise in its five core
areas: subsea systems, offshore pipelines, marine riser systems,
floating systems, and Arctic development.
Neil Mackintosh was appointed president of INTECSEA in July
2014, and has more than 30 years’ experience in the oil and gas
industry. As president, he is responsible for maintaining the company’s leadership as a global provider of engineering and project
management services for offshore oil and gas developments.
Throughout his career, Mackintosh has successfully established businesses
in multiple markets, including
Malaysia, Australia and Brazil.
His experience covers engineering, construction,
project management of marine pipelines, as well as
subsea and riser developments, and fixed and floating offshore facilities.
Recently, Mackintosh met with Offshore to discuss the latest trends
in offshore oil and gas development, subsea engineering, data management, and the outlook for the industry in the next five to ten years,
and beyond.
•••
Offshore: INTECSEA is involved in a number of technologies. Where
do you see the most opportunity for the next 5-10 years, and beyond?
Mackintosh: One of the key areas of technology development
for INTECSEA is in data processing and data management. As an
industry, we are installing large numbers of sensors and collecting
substantial amounts of data on our subsea equipment, flowlines, and
risers. However, we need to do a much better job of managing that
data. We have so much information that it is sometimes difficult to
determine what is important and what is irrelevant.
We are working on an extended web-based environment, designed
to capture, integrate, and visualize key data through the asset lifecy-
cle. We can add information through each stage of the project devel-
opment, then continue to record and update the data through the full
field life. As the development matures, the integrated dataset evolves
into a “digital asset,” which is populated with data, including links to
existing operator-specific systems for IMR records and process moni-
toring to provide a comprehensive, flexible platform to support integ-
rity management through the life of the field.
Of fshore: There’s been a lot of talk about standardization. What do
you think about its place in the industry?
Mackintosh: Various operators and manufacturers have tried
to provide some degree of standardization for their developments.
This has worked very well for most companies and adds a significant amount of value in terms of equipment change out, manufacturing flexibility, and simplicity in offshore operations. Can more work
be done in this area? Yes, absolutely, and subsea companies are taking the lead and moving this forward for our industry.
Of fshore: How does INTECSEA respond to calls for more local
content in places like Brazil, Mexico, West Africa, etc.?
Mackintosh: This is an absolute requirement for our company. We
Bruce Beaubouef
Managing Editor
Neil Mackintosh
In order for subsea pumping to be successful, the industry will need to
be able to transmit a lot of power down to the seabed, says INTECSEA
president Neil Mackintosh. (Photo courtesy OneSubsea)
