IRO’s 35th anniversaryOn September 8th 2006, IRO, the Association of Dutch Suppliers in the Oil and Gas Industry, celebrated its 35th anniversary in Rotterdam. Keynote speaker was Mr. Malcolm Brinded, Shell’s Executive Director Exploration and Production. Mr. Brinded highlighted the achievements of the Dutch oil and gas industry to date, both in the Netherlands and globally. He stressed the need for cooperation between operators, contractors and suppliers in order to meet the industry’s growing technical and environmental challenges. Mr. Brinded also emphasised that in a period of rapid change and increasing business pressures, an even closer focus on safety was essential.

IRO Award of Excellence 2006

The IRO Award of Excellence was presented to Mr. Joop Roodenburg, Managing Director of Huisman-Itrec. On its 35th anniversary IRO took the opportunity to hand out this Award for the first time. The award will be presented to a person who has demonstrated the most innovative attitude towards the development of products and industrial activities in the oil and gas industry in the Netherlands. Joop Roodenburg certainly meets the qualifications and highly deserves the IRO Award of Excellence 2006. His reputation is based, amongst others, on the invention of innovative products such as heavy lift mast cranes, pipe and cable lay equipment and drilling equipment.

Offshore Students’ ContestLooking at the future it is clear that, besides good creative ideas and initiatives, the oil and gas industry also needs well trained personnel. It is really important that young people are stimulated and motivated to choose a carreer in this industry. IRO is well aware of the fact that as the association of suppliers in the oil and gas industry it can play an important role in this. During the coming year a lot of attention will be given to education and the needs of our industry. In cooperation with several vocational training institutes, new study packages will be created that are concentrated on this issue. This year one of the ways IRO tried to create interest amongst young people was with the Offshore Students’ Contest, organised during IRO’s 35th anniversary. Students from several universities worked hard on an assignment. With the hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico as their reference subject, students had to find a creative solution for the prevention of damage on platforms at sea.

Member meetingsSeveral times a year IRO organises meetings with and for members. The main goal of these meetings is that members meet other members and that they use the vast network of the association. This is also a great opportunity for the host company to showcase the business they are in. On 14th of November IRO organised its very well attended Annual General Meeting at Keppel Verolme in cooperation with Allseas. All members were invited to join a guided tour on the former bulk carrier and now pipelayer ‘Audacia’, owned by Allseas. Keppel Verolme’s core business is the conversion and modification of floating offshore units. Allseas main activities are worldwide offshore pipelaying.

Other member meetings in the following months will be at the steel foundry of Allard-Europe on 7th of December 2006 and the yearly Gulf Forecast Meeting on 30th of January 2007, where the Gulf Publishing Company of Houston will give its predictions about the developments in the oil and gas industry for the coming year.

NEWSletter 03This is the third issue of IRO NEWSletter. This newsletter will be published twice a

year to inform our international relations about the news in the Dutch upstream oil

and gas industry and the most noticeable activities of our members.

ASSOCIATION OF DUTCH SUPPLIERS IN THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY

DECEMBER 2006

For the updated membership list, please visit our website: www.iro.nl

PAGE 2 Oceanwide Offshore Services to broaden horizons

PAGE 3 IRO Export Promotion

IRO P.O. Box 7261, 2701 AG Zoetermeer, The Netherlands T +31 79 3411981 F +31 79 3419764 E info@iro.nl

In the words of managing director Menno van der Ploeg, one of the spearheads of Oceanwide Offshore Services based in Den Helder is to supply added value for activities in the Dutch offshore industry. In addition, Oceanwide wishes to acquire work in other parts of the world, and has therefore developed a new strategy.

On the North Sea, the trend is for locations where major players have been producing oil and gas for years to be taken over by small, ambitious production companies. For Oceanwide Offshore Services, as explained by Menno van der Ploeg, these newcomers are an attractive target group on which to focus. “We would like to offer this new group of operators contracts with added value. For years we have been supplying platform staffing services and catering services. We can offer all the disciplines for complete crewing of oil and gas production platforms, a task we already undertake for several major oil companies. However, by establishing a total maintenance plan, we not only wish to supply the people for a platform, but also to organise and supervise the tasks on board. In addition, we will be seconding engineering personnel to our existing and new customers on the Dutch Continental Shelf. That too is one of our spearheads. Other plans include providing staff services via the Oceanwide Group, elsewhere in the world.”

Broader horizonsOceanwide wishes to respond to the large project-based activities taking place all over the world. “That not only includes supplying staff services offshore but also for projects undertaken on shore. For example at LNG, chemical or petrochemical plants. These activities tie in perfectly with our strategy for remaining active now and in the future. In the long term, offshore activities on the North Sea are bound to shrink, and we must broaden our horizons and expand our markets, if we are to survive.”

According to Menno van der Ploeg, the fact that large numbers of blue collar personnel will be required for major projects in Asia and Australia is not a problem. “The Oceanwide group has a very large network of recruitment offices around the world. Via those offices we can supply the necessary people. We have already established contacts in this framework in various countries, including Australia, Singapore and the Philippines.”

Investment in trainingOceanwide Offshore Services is not only investing in establishing new activities but also in further training its own personnel. “Right now”, continues Menno van der Ploeg, “we are running a so-called VAPRO training for eleven of

Menno van der Ploeg, “We want to offer contracts with added value.”

Oceanwide Offshore Services to broaden horizons

2 IRO NEWSletter DECEMBER 2006 published twice a year

our operators. These people already had a solid technical background, but by following this training programme, they will also gain greater insight into processes, which they will then be able to use in their day-to-day work, offshore. We also supply special training to our chefs, we train people into radiation experts, and we even provide technical instrumen-tation courses. As a consequence, our people are thoroughly trained in their field, enabling them to meet the needs of our customers, who in turn get value for their money, from us.”

As well as the Oceanwide Offshore Service offices at Den Helder Airport, the Group operates a similar office complex in Houston, the United States, that provides staff services for oil companies operating in the Gulf of Mexico. Via a further location in Norway, the company submits tenders for the provision of staff services for that country’s offshore oil and gas industry, and the Group has recently opened branches in Australia, Russia, the Ukraine and Poland.

IRO working groupAs well as his management role at the Oceanwide office in Den Helder, that currently employs a staff of some 85, Menno van der Ploeg, who himself was employed for years in the sector as a technician, is also chairman of the IRO Personnel Services Group (IPSG). “This working group is for example involved in the promotion of staff service activities, collaborates in the field of training and certification, consults on regulations and where necessary is responsible for lobbying. I believe it is vital that we can generate enthusiasm amongst young people for a job in the offshore sector, and it is important that a higher professional education course in drilling, production and maintenance technology once again gets off the ground. Such a course used to be offered in the Netherlands but was discontinued some time ago. Now that the sector is once again flourishing and facing the problems of an ageing working population, it is my belief that the de-mand for such training is considerable. It is after all becoming increasingly difficult to recruit sufficiently well-trained person-nel. It is my personal opinion that the offshore sector has a great deal to offer young people.”

IRO Export promotionIn the second half of 2006, IRO organised Dutch Pavilions at the following exhibitions:

Offshore Northern Seas Stavanger, NorwayUsing only 5% of its own production, Norway is the third largest oil exporter in the world. IRO organised a very succesful Dutch Pavilion at Offshore Northern Seas, which took place from 22-24 August in Stavanger.Rio Oil & Gas, Rio de Janeiro, BrazilFor the 6th time IRO organised a Dutch Pavilion at the Rio Oil & Gas exhibition in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Seven IRO members participated in the IRO stand and five companies joined the pavilion with their own stand. ADIPEC, Abu Dhabi, United Arabic EmiratesFrom 5-8 November 2006 IRO organised a Dutch Pavilion during the 12th edition of ADIPEC. Apart from participation at the exhibi-tion, IRO also organised a matchmaking and network reception. ALOGE, Oran, AlgeriaDuring the Algeria Oil Gas Exhibition from 25-29 November 2006, IRO participated in the exhibition. Besides meetings with the Algerian oil and gas industry, individual matchmaking programmes were arranged. The main goal of the IRO Gas Group besides promoting the interests of individual companies, is to promote Dutch gas technology.

IRO organised the following trade missions in the second half of 2006:

Trade mission AberdeenFrom 23-26 October IRO organised an oil and gas trade mission to Aberdeen. The main goal of this trade mission was to introduce IRO members to important operators and contractors established in and around Aberdeen, the heart of the British offshore industry. Meetings were arranged with Shell UK Limited, Wood Group Engineering, Scottish Enterprise, First Point Assessment, Total and Petro-Canada. Trade mission KuwaitFrom 11-13 December 2006 IRO will organise a trade mission to Kuwait in cooperation with the Dutch Embassy in Kuwait. A briefing about doing business in the oil and gas industry in Kuwait is included in the programme. Group meetings will be organised at amongst others Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), Fluor Kuwait, Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) and Kuwait Oil Corporation. A network reception and an individual matchmaking programme are also part of the trade mission.

In 2007 you can meet IRO at the following exhibitions:

CIOOE Beijing, China 3-6 April Iran Oil Show Teheran, Iran 26-29 April Offshore Technology Conference Houston, USA 30 April - 3 May EWEC Milano, Italy 7-10 MayMIOGE Moscow, Russia 26-29 JuneOffshore Europe Aberdeen, Scotland 4-7 SeptemberKIOGE Almaty, Kazahkstan 2-5 October

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