This article appeared in the Herald Newspaper on Monday 29 January 2024
Glasgow-born Jim Beveridge is the chief executive officer at ICR Group.
With its headquarters in Aberdeen, ICR is a global technology-focused provider of specialist maintenance, inspection and integrity solutions across multiple industrial sectors. The firm recorded a 20% rise in turnover for its latest financial year and it expects to exceed that figure this year.
ICR supports clients with their asset integrity challenges, reducing time and costs. It also has a ‘drones’ division, Sky-Futures, a worldwide leader in unmanned aircraft and remote sensing operations. This part of the business plays a key role in addressing issues related to emissions.
Demonstrating a robust commitment to sustainability, ICR employs pioneering techniques that significantly contribute to the net zero goals of its clients.
What is your business called?
ICR Group.
Where is it based?
Aberdeen, Carnforth, Hemel Hempstead, Stavanger (Norway), Houston (USA), Abu Dhabi (Middle East), Perth (Australia). ICR has partnership agreements in 25 countries, where we train the local workforce to deliver engineering projects. This helps to reduce the carbon footprint.
What does it produce/do?
ICR specialises in cutting-edge maintenance, inspection and integrity solutions. We are playing our part in the transition to a lower carbon future across multiple industries and international markets.
For example, Technowrap provides life-long repairs that can be applied to internal, external and through-wall defects on complex geometries, while INSONO is an unique NDT (non-destructive testing) technique for the inspection of engineered composite repairs. The Technowrap repair system reduces emissions by 66% compared to the traditional replacement methods.
To whom does it sell?
Clients from a broad range of sectors count on ICR to support engineering projects. These include oil & gas, renewables, defence, nuclear, telecommunications, process industries, utilities and infrastructure and other markets.
What is its turnover?
Turnover for our 2022-23 year-end was £41.7m – a 20% increase on the previous financial year. The aim is to hit £50m in 2024 and I’m confident we will achieve this.
How many employees?
268. We’re looking to add to the team.
Why did you take the plunge?
The chance to create long-term sustainable jobs and to continue to grow a business across an international footprint was an extremely attractive proposition. The CEO role at ICR was an opportunity to put my own stamp on things, and lead from the front. I was previously with a global engineering and consulting business with more than 35,000 employees.
What were you doing before?
Senior vice-president, Asia Pacific Central at Wood plc. I enjoyed my 19 years with them. I joined ICR as CEO in April, 2022. It’s been an interesting career journey since growing up in Govan.
What do you least enjoy?
Jet lag. The novelty of long-distance travel wore off a long time ago!
What are your ambitions for the firm?
It’s vital we continue to be a sustainable business. We are diversifying into new sectors and continually looking at new opportunities. The aim is to create long-term jobs and significantly grow revenue and profitability year-on-year. As well as organic growth, we are also looking to expand through acquisitions.
What single thing would most help?
Continued product development is key. We must always be a forward-thinking company – one able to move with the times and not be reliant on one region, product or industrial sector. For example, we are working with Robert Gordon University on a number of innovative solutions.
What is the most valuable lesson you have learned?
You can’t stand still in business, you need to keep looking to improve. As Albert Einstein said: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.’”
You’ve got to change it up. Also, I’m very appreciative of the people I worked beside when I started my apprenticeship on the Clyde with marine and mechanical engineering firm Hutsons.
Many of my colleagues were working class and extremely intelligent. They came from a generation where university wasn’t really an option. I’m always grateful for their time and advice. It was my university of life experience; one which led to me eventually going on to gain a degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Glasgow.
Where do you find yourself most at ease?
On the golf course or watching football with lifelong friends.
If you weren’t in your current role, what job would you most fancy?
I used to think being a chef would be good, but it looks like it would take a huge amount of effort to really do it to a high standard.
What phrase or quotation has inspired you the most?
“Everyone I pass on the way up I’m going to meet again on the way back down.” Treat everyone the way you would want to be treated yourself.
What is the best book you have ever read? Why is it the best?
Who moved my Cheese? It’s a business book by Dr Spencer Johnson. It’s a simple, short story that illustrates how people must embrace change and should adapt to new situations with an open mind and a motivated spirit.
What has been your most challenging moment in life or business?
In my previous role we had more than 1,000 workers that couldn’t leave a number of offshore installations in South East Asia due to a major Covid outbreak. There was a great deal of responsibility on myself and my colleagues to ensure we looked after the well-being of the team. The way everyone pulled together was a sight to behold and all worked out well in the end, but it was a huge logistical challenge. The health and safety of your team should always be your priority.
What do you now know that you wish you had known when starting out in your career?
Embracing failure as a learning opportunity; it’s an essential part of growth and innovation.
This article can be found online here – https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/24078257.university-life-stands-govan-raised-engineer-good-stead/
by Antonio Caraballo, Inspection and Integrity Management Services Director at ICR Group
It’s still a few weeks until COP28, but already there has been a call for the international climate summit to give more credence to the issue of methane emission reduction.
COP28 UAE President-Designate, Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, recently said: “The oil and gas sector needs to up its game, do more and do it faster. Let’s aim to reach net-zero methane emissions by 2030.”
It follows a stark warning from the International Energy Agency (IEA) that although methane emissions from the global oil and gas industry fell by an estimated 10% in 2020, it was only due to producers slashing output in response to the historic shock of the COVID-19 crisis. It also warns that these emissions could rebound strongly without greater action by companies, policymakers and regulators.
Meanwhile, a 2022 study by researchers at Princeton University and Colorado State University signalled that the oil and gas industry may be falling short in its emissions measuring. It found that some estimates of methane emissions from offshore production in the UK have been severely underestimated for some time. This suggests that some of the methods widely used – in the UK and elsewhere – to calculate methane emissions rely on outdated or incomplete information, and therefore may not accurately represent actual emissions.
We also know that massive methane leaks, commonly referred to as super-emitter events, are still being reported around the world. To cite just one example, two major fields near the Caspian Sea were recorded as emitting combined methane emissions of 4.4 million tonnes – up to 427 tonnes per hour – in August 2022. (*EPR – commercial query)
The most common cause behind these events is equipment failure and if they aren’t identified quickly enough or prioritised, the leaks can last for weeks – resulting in significant environmental damage. They collectively signal that not all asset operators have an effective methane emission identification and remediation programme in place.
The threats of regulatory sanctions as well as reputational damage may influence the strategic response of operators. So too may the cost-effective gains of methane emission reduction; IEA analysis indicates that the costs of improving operations or making repairs to prevent leaks can often be paid for by the value of the additional gas that is consequently brought to market.
For many asset operators this is becoming a priority issue. Conventional identification and remediation methods are not as efficient or safe as they need to be. Using ground-level sensors, for example, simply cannot provide the necessary reach to capture leaks accurately, and therefore risks operators missing high levels of escaping methane.
Similarly, handheld sensors are available but present safety and accuracy challenges as well as representing a time-consuming and labour-intensive option.
It’s why a ‘top-to-bottom’ survey, using drones and an experienced integrity monitoring team, is increasingly being recognised as the best overall option when it comes to the identification and quantification of leaks.
Sky-Futures™, part of the ICR Group and possessing over 10 years of operating experience in the provision of critical asset inspection data and analysis, has partnered with industry-leading sensor technology from SeekOps, a company formed to bring NASA and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) technology used on Mars Rover missions to the terrestrial marketplace.
This partnership has been working with asset operators, not just in the offshore oil and gas sector but at onshore oil and gas facilities, as well as structures in the renewables sector, including petrochemical plants and biogas plants, to deliver a state-of-the-art, technology-first solution to methane emission detection.
By leveraging integrity monitoring teams, best-in-class sensors, advanced drones or unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) inspections, and actionable analytics, the partnership is supporting asset operators to decarbonise their operations, not only detecting but quantifying methane leaks as early as possible.
This innovative approach not only saves the asset operator significant time – UAV/drone inspection can cut the time in half compared to alternative methods – but reduces the risk to personnel by removing the need for rope access or scaffolding. In addition, it saves operators millions of dollars by avoiding asset shutdowns or disruption to day-to-day operations.
Recently, the team supported an operator by measuring methane emissions at four platforms in the Southern North Sea. To ensure no disruption to operations, the team conducted the surveys from an inter-field vessel. The use of state-of-the-art technology, combined with highly-experienced drone pilots and engineers, identified areas of methane emissions in real-time to ensure accurate measurements could be obtained.
Our data analysis and report provided the client with quantified methane emission results required for their baseline study. The results not only captured the expected emissions from the vents, but also identified locations of methane releases not identified by deck-based inspection techniques.
Furthermore, our Sky-Futures™ and Integrity Monitoring teams recently undertook a series of comprehensive methane surveys of an FPSO located in the North Sea. This included aerial quantification (asset level). Using drone technology, this solution enables us to detect, identify and quantify methane emissions on a site-wide scale. The consequent aerial emissions report provides a complete overview of emissions sources, ensuring a holistic measurement of assets. Our macro method pinpoints and quantifies methane emissions at the source level.
For this project, we assessed all production areas covering components such as flanges, connections, small bore tubing and valves to identify exact emission sources and allow for quick repairs. This process helped our client to compare and efficiently tackle the most significant sources.
Onshore facilities are also benefitting with established working techniques for drone systems and inspection teams.
Given the severity of the problem that methane emissions represent, we hope that the use of innovative solutions to identify leaks and support a more proactive approach to monitoring is profiled during COP28 to raise awareness of the issue and remedies available today.
With COP28 looming and regulatory scrutiny intensifying, asset operators need to prioritise the detection of methane emissions – not only because they are told to, but because it is good for the planet and their bottom line.
Antonio Caraballo, Inspection and Integrity Management Services Director, has nearly 20 years’ experience in the energy sector. COP28 will be the 28th United Nations Climate Change conference, held from November 30 to December 12 in Dubai.For more information, visit https://www.icr-world.com/what-we-do/inspection-integrity/sky-futures-uas-inspection/
by Andrew Lake, Technical Sales Engineer at ICR
The end of May marks six months to COP28, and already there has been a call for the international climate summit to give more credence to the issue of methane emission reduction.
Recognising the need for greater action, COP28 UAE President-Designate, Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, recently said, “The oil and gas sector needs to up its game, do more and do it faster. Let’s aim to reach net-zero methane emissions by 2030.”
Methane and misinformation
Mr Al Jaber’s call to give methane emissions more attention during the hotly anticipated discussion between political leaders follows a stark warning by the International Energy Agency (IEA). In January 2021, the IEA stated that although methane emissions from the global oil and gas industry fell by an estimated 10 per cent in 2020, it was only due to producers slashing output in response to the historic shock of the COVID-19 crisis. The IEA report went on to warn that these emissions could rebound strongly without greater action by companies, policy makers and regulators.
With COP28 set to reignite the debate around how asset operators monitor for methane emission leaks, many will be asking how much is too much? Worryingly, a study published in December 2022 by researchers at Princeton University and Colorado State University found that some estimates of methane emissions from offshore oil and gas production in the UK have been severely underestimated for some time.
In fact, the study found that about five times more methane is being emitted from oil and gas production in the UK than the government has previously reported. Since asset operators tend to use similar methods, it is expected that the undercalculations are taking place not just in the UK, but globally.
Although individual countries are obligated to report their greenhouse gas emissions to international bodies such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, these recent findings suggest that some of the methods used to calculate methane emissions rely on outdated or incomplete information, and therefore may not accurately represent actual emissions.
The severity of the issue
So, why care about methane emissions? According to the United Nations (UN), the colourless, odourless and invisible greenhouse gas, is responsible for more than 25 per cent of global warming. Due to its structure, methane traps more heat in the atmosphere per molecule than carbon dioxide (CO2), making it 80 times more harmful than CO2 for 20 years after it is released.
The UN estimates that by cutting methane emissions by 45 per cent by 2030, could help the world meet the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C.
We know that massive methane leaks, which are commonly referred to as super-emitter events, have been reported around the world including in the US, Latin America, and Middle East. The most common reason for these major leaks is equipment failures and if they aren’t identified quickly enough or prioritised, the leaks can last for weeks, resulting in significant damage to the environment. For example, an emissions leak at a storage facility in the US in 2015 led to almost 100,000 tonnes of methane escaping into the atmosphere over a four month period.
Another ‘super-emitter’ example was uncovered by Spain’s Polytechnic University of Valencia when researchers revealed that an oil and gas platform in the Gulf of Mexico had released 40,000 tonnes of methane during a 17 day period. This is equivalent to 3 per cent of Mexico’s annual oil and gas emissions. In fact, the researchers claimed that if it were not for images captured by a European Space Agency satellite, the release of harmful gases would not have been discovered by the operator, leading to methane escaping over a larger period and causing a greater environmental impact.
Furthermore, recently published reports based on NASA satellite data demonstrated that two Turkmenistan oil fields have been emitting more methane than any other super-emitter in the world. The two major fields near the Caspian Sea were recorded as emitting methane emissions of 4.4 million tonnes in 2022 combined, up to 427 tonnes per hour in August of that year. This is more than the total CO2 emissions of the UK and is primarily a result of equipment leaks and flaring or venting.
Both of these examples demonstrate that not all asset operators have an effective methane emission identification and remediation programme in place.
More must be done and a fit-for-purpose, innovative approach is needed, a sentiment which was recently echoed by the Chief of the United Nations Environment Programme’s Energy and Climate Branch, Mark Radka. He said, “A more accurate picture of methane emissions gives governments and companies the information they need to act with confidence…the way to spot all emissions – large and small – is to have good monitoring regimes. Until recently, we did not have the tools to monitor methane emissions.”
The drivers for better methane detection
Perhaps unsurprisingly given these examples, the US government recently announced plans to impose fines on major methane emitters. As part of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the Biden administration is taking the release of methane into the atmosphere seriously. The new legislation, which is still being finalised, is expected to force energy companies to take action or else face fees of up to $1,500 a tonne for methane emissions they fail to identify and remedy. It is thought that this US law could be rolled out internationally if it becomes a successful preventative measure to reduce methane emissions in the US.
It’s not just the threat of regulatory fines that may influence the actions of operators when it comes to methane emission reduction. According to the IEA, it is not only beneficial for the environment but cost effective too. They shared, “IEA analysis highlights that reducing methane emissions is very cost-effective for oil and gas companies. Unlike CO2, there is already a price for methane everywhere in the world – the price of natural gas. This means the costs of improving operations or making repairs to prevent leaks can often be paid for by the value of the additional gas that is brought to market.”
Adding to the cost benefit, asset operators are incentivised via reward schemes for accurately measuring and remediating methane emission leaks. These can come in the form of Renewable Natural Gas Carbon Credits worth significantly more than the raw gas prices, e.g., LCFS, RINs, etc. Certification of Responsibly Sourced Gas.
Furthermore, asset operators face reputational damage and backlash from activists and investors alike if it is exposed that they have failed to effectively detect and manage methane emissions. In today’s corporate world, a company’s ESG credentials mean a lot, and a leak could destroy these overnight.
Methods for managing methane emissions
For many asset operators this is an issue that is causing concern. Methods that have been tried before are not as efficient or safe as they need to be. Using ground level sensors for example simply cannot provide the necessary reach to capture leaks accurately, and therefore risk operators missing high levels of methane escaping at an asset. Similarly, handheld sensors are available but require personnel to climb onto the asset using scaffolding or rope access. With these assets typically suffering from corrosion or other issues due to age, this puts the health and safety of personnel at risk. This approach is also extremely time-consuming and labour intensive, and proves challenging to capture accurate results due to the positioning of the sensors.
Sky-Futures™ (an ICR company), with over 10 years of operating experience in the oil and gas sector, providing critical asset inspection data and analysis have formed a partnership with industry-leading sensor technology from SeekOps, a company formed to bring NASA and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) developed technology used on Mars Rover missions to the terrestrial marketplace. This partnership has been working with asset operators, not just in the offshore oil and gas sector but at onshore oil and gas facilities, structures in the renewables sector, including petrochemical plants and biogas plants, delivering a state-of-the-art, technology-first solution to methane emission detection that provides an alternative to these outdated methods.
By leveraging best-in-class sensors, advanced drones or unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) inspections, and actionable analytics, the partnership is supporting asset operators to decarbonise their operations, not only detecting but quantifying methane leaks as early as possible. This ultimately, enhances the operator’s ESG reporting and transparency with key stakeholders through highly accurate and reliable data.
This innovative approach not only saves the asset operator significant time as the use of UAV/drone inspection can cut the time in half compared to alternative methods, it reduces the risk to personnel by removing the need to use rope access or scaffolding, and it saves the operators millions of dollars by avoiding asset shutdowns or disruption to day-to-day operations.
The technology and skills of the drone/UAV pilots and our engineers is so advanced that the inspection can even take place from a vessel, without the need for them to board the rig and take up accommodation, allowing them to move efficiently from one site to another. This approach in itself reduces emissions by allowing the team to avoid helicopter trips to the site and back.
Recently, the Sky-Futures™ team supported an operator by measuring methane emissions at four offshore platforms in the Southern North Sea. The four platforms varied in size from a Normally Unmanned Installation (NUI) approximately 30m along the deck to a five-jacket complex covering more than 200m.
To ensure no disruption the operator’s operations, the Sky-Futures™ team conducted the surveys from an inter-field vessel having gained the necessary permits. This use of state-of-the-art UAS and sensor technology, combined with highly-experienced pilots and engineers, identified areas of methane emissions in real-time to ensure accurate measurements could be obtained.
Our data analysis and report provided our client with quantified methane emission results they required for their baseline study. The results captured not only the expected emissions from the vents, but also identified locations of methane releases not identified by deck-based inspection techniques. With unobtrusive remote operations, there was no impact to personnel on board and day-to-day operations were unimpeded.
Onshore facilities are also benefitting from this use of new technology with established working techniques for drone systems. A recent project saw a team of two travel around nine locations in West Africa by road vehicle, helicopter and pirogue to establish baseline readings for a company with a view to returning later this year to undertake a second survey after emission reduction measures have been undertaken by the plant operators. During the project, all areas of all plants were surveyed including flares, storage tanks, compressors, wellheads, piperacks, and in some instances, emission sites were identified and the operators we were able to close off the leak at the time of the survey.
Pledges vs action
So far, 150 countries have committed to reducing human-caused methane emissions by at least 30 percent by 2030 under the Global Methane Pledge. However, due to the scale of the issue and the serious impact of methane on the atmosphere, the pressure is growing to turn this from simply a pledge into strong industry/government backed commitment, and ideally a mandatory methane agreement.
Given the severity of the problem that methane emissions represent, we at Sky-Futures™ hope that the use of innovative solutions, like drone/UAS and sensor technologies, to identify leaks and allow operators to take a more proactive approach to monitoring, does take place during COP28 to further raise awareness of the issue and remedies available today. Regardless, COP is 13 days out of 365, so the threat of major methane leaks and their impact on climate change must be more than a tabled discussion at the conference.
With COP28 just around the corner and regulatory scrutiny intensifying, asset operators need to prioritise the detection of methane emissions, not only because they are told to, but because it is good for the planet and their bottom-line. Luckily for them, the latest drone/UAS and sensor technology is at the forefront of this, and we have the proven solution that will reduce the impact of methane emissions.
Find out more about our services underpinned by innovative drone/UAS and sensor technologies and world-class engineering here.