Vahana Offshore
Unfortunately , at the last Conference of Parties ( COP 26 ), the pledges by various governments showed that the earth was headed for a 2.6 deg C temperature target . In fact , considering the pledges , targets and more realistically 2030 targets , it became clear that the earth was headed for a 3 deg C temperature rise . Add to that the effect of Covid-19 on economies worldwide and the need to restore economic activity and the temperature rise threatens to be even higher . Finally , given the typical human behavior and assuming , as a worst-case scenario , that mankind is unwilling to change its ways , the planet is headed for a climate disaster of huge proportions . What is worse , it could even become irreversible - at least for the human race . Scientists have predicted that in just a twodegree warmer world , it is not only coastal communities that will suffer . As mountains are losing their glaciers , people will lose their supply of water . Entire subcontinents will be fighting for survival . As the glaciers disappear from all but the highest peaks , their runoff will cease to power the massive rivers that deliver vital freshwater to hundreds of millions . Water shortages and famine will be the result , de-stabilizing entire regions . Everywhere , ecosystems will unravel . By 2050 , more than a third of all living species could face extinction . The only redeeming thought is that the chance of avoiding two degrees of global warming is still very much within our reach , but only if emissions of green house gases are reduced by 60 % over thenext10 years .
Energy and the Drilling Industry
Oil & Gas industry provides energy for the whole world . Yet ironically , the industry is also a huge consumer of energy itself . In particular , the drilling contractors remain large consumers of energy .
The reasons for this are obvious . Drilling rigs generally operate in remote locations . These locations are either in the offshore areas , miles away from land or any source of power transmission , or in the arid areas of deserts , once again far removed from the power grid . No electric power lines exist in these remote locations . Thus , there is no option for the rigs , except to generate their own power . Present practice remains for the rigs to generate power using their own diesel generator sets . On an average a typical drilling rig is therefore equipped with four-five diesel generator sets with an equivalent of around 4500 -6000 kilowatts of power per rig . The energy produced by these diesel generator sets is consumed by the heavy rig machinery to drill wells . Industry practice is that fuel supplies are paid for by the clients – the Operating companies ( OPCOs ). Because fuel for these generator sets is supplied by the Operating Companies ( OPCOs ) energy saving is never on the agenda of the drilling contractors . This has , over the years , led to a culture of waste within the drilling industry . This wasteful practice causes massive quantities of diesel fuel being burnt – for the want of a better word - needlessly . That in turn means thousands of tonnes of CO2 being dumped to the environment . The unnecessary cost to the OPCO can thus run into millions of dollars depending on the number of rigs being managed by a field operator . It should therefore be amply clear that energy management systems must become the de rigor for the jackup owners worldwide .
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