M o n i t o rIssue 25 Summer 2014

News, Views and Technical Talk from ESD Ltd., Dynamic Simulation Training Specialists

ESD TURNS 25SEE HOW FAR WE’VE COMEThere has been a whirlwind of activity while staff at ESD Simulation Training prepare to celebrate the company’s 25th successful year in training. All four offices - Aberdeen, Perth, Houston and Kelowna - have big events planned within the next few months in order to congratulate the company and it’s owners, Mark & Maureen Dixon and Belinda Gault. ESD Simulation Training first started in June of 1989 with the three founders Tim Ellison, Doug Stewart and Mark Dixon in Aberdeen, Scotland. The three engineers set out to build a unique technical training company which provided hands-on, dynamic training courses to engineers and operators working in the process industries. The first course ESD ran was the Control and Operation of Centrifugal Gas Compressors course in Oslo, Norway, in 1989, which sold out completely.

In the early days, ESD was heavily based on consultancy, helping companies such as Shell to buy simulators, which at the time were large stationary machines (seen in left and top right photos). The company would later provide training courses using the customer’s equipment. ESD were forced to rely on these stationary bulky computers with little graphics as their trusted training tools, but technology quickly evolved to allow them to use laptops as simulators which can travel to

any location, worldwide. This advancement in technology eliminated the need for the consultancy aspect of the company and allowed for the courses to be run in 2-3 days as opposed to a matter of weeks. In 1992, 1996 and 2001 ESD Simulation Training opened their offices in Perth Western Australia, Calgary (later Kelowna) Canada and Houston USA, respectively and continue to run dynamic simulation training courses worldwide today.

Aberdeen, Scotland - ESD training centre 2011 - PEARL Control Room Simulator

In 1989 Collapse of the Berlin WallTiananmen Square ProtestsBMW 325 was worth $21,400Nintendo Game Boy Introduced

The first Batman movieESD was bornEnd of the Cold WarExxon oil spill in Alaska

Aberdeen, Scotland - Elf/ESD training centre 1993

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Control room simulator for Shell in the early ‘90’s

Where are They Now?

Where you can find us ABERDEEN, SCOTLANDCraigearn Business Park, Morrison Way Midmill Kintore, AberdeenshireAB51 0THe: aberdeen@esd-simulation.comt: 01467 634 934

PERTH, AUSTRALIASuite 1, 755 Albany HighwayPerth, WA Australia, 6101e: perth@esd-simulation.comt: 08 9355 5599

KELOWNA, CANADA202-575 Osprey AvenueKelowna, BC CanadaV1Y 5A7e: kelowna@esd-simulation.comt: 778-484-7660

HOUSTON, USA2323 S. Voss Rd. Suite 605Houston, Texas USA 77057e: houston@esd-simulation.comt: 713-532-2460

EXHIBITEDGetenergy VTEC

Global

Houston, Texas

October 6-8 2014

Stand 2 at Lone Star College

Re-Introduced Courses in NorwayESD’s most popular course, Control and Operation of Centrifugal Gas Compressors has now been re-introduced into Stavanger, Norway. The first course date in Norway ran in March and completely sold out, so they are running another in October. ESD is currently working closely with the NFA to ensure ongoing success in the region.

Recent ProjectsIn the recent months ESD has been collaborating with many companies to ensure that they have a more knowledgeable, safer workforce, here are some recent projects:

BP Exploration - centrifugal compressors programChevron Gorgon - CCC compressor controls programBG Group - control room operations programWood Group - centrifugal compressors programSBM Atlantia - FPSOs program, technical and non-technicalShell Brent - centrifugal compressors programWood Group - mechanical engineering appreciation program Shell - Shearwater overviewWood Group - process control and instrumentation programCanada NFL Offshore Petroleum Board - FPSOs training programSBM Offshore - FPSOs training program in HoustonShell Prelude - introduction to centrifugal gas compressors and steam turbines.Chevron Gorgon - centrifugal gas compressors programConocoPhillips - control room operations programOrigin Energy - centrifugal gas compressors program in Brisbane, AustraliaSubsea 7 - Subsea systems - non-technical program

2015 Course Schedule released

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C U R R E N T L Y . . .

The Australasian region has been extremely vibrant and busy over the past 24 months, with large LNG projects taking shape, FPSO’s commissioned and several other expansions of existing oil and gas operations. ESD Simulation Training’s Australasian Business Development Manager, Daren Reid (bottom right) has been at the forefront of technical training, working with major companies such as Chevron, BHP, Shell, Origin and Conoco Phillips ensuring capability standards. Here are just a few of the projects ESD has been involved with:

Gorgon LNG (Chevron)North Rankin 2 (Woodside)

APLNG (Origin, Conoco Phillips)Prelude (Shell)

QGCBHP Billiton

Singapore RefineryPetronas

Upcoming CoursesDesign and Operation of FPSOs13-15 October, Perth AU

Subsea Systems16-17 November, Perth AU

Control and Operation of Centrifugal Gas Compressors20-22 October, Perth AU

29-31 October, Melbourne AU

26-28 November, Brisbane AU

Production Process and Emergency Systems on Oil and Gas Installations22-24 October, Perth AU

Control and Operation of Industrial Gas Turbines27-28 October, Perth AU

LNG - A Technical Overview3-5 November, Brisbane AU

Mechanical Aspects of Centrifugal Gas Compressors11-12 November, Perth AU

In Australia

daren.reid@esd-simulation.com

08 9355 5599

PO Box 1433

Suite 1, 755 Albany Highway

East Victoria Park

WA 6981

Blast from the PastFrom the original editions of ESD’s quarterly newsletter, “Monitor”, ESD has dug up some pictures from their first years in business. A training simulator installed in Aberdeen by Elf Enterprise Caledonia Ltd. in 1992 for their Piper B platform - one of the most sophisticated in Europe at the time. A few years later, ESD opened a training centre in Aberdeen with Elf, which can be seen on page 1. A mid-construction control room simulator from the 1990’s - ESD now has a portable control room simulator “PEARL” which can be seen on page 1. Also seen on this page, a radar simulator used to train air traffic controllers. In 1991, ESD worked with Dan Air to develop the course “Human Performance in the Control Room” to evaluate human performance and improve team work between operators in the control room.

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Above: In the early days of email - ESD’s email addresses in the 90’s are shown

above- Staff are glad they don’t have to say these over the phone anymore.

Cheers to Another 25 Years!ESD Simulation Training still has many years ahead, as they are always in search of ways to grow and expand worldwide coverage both geographically and technically. A few new courses have been developed recently, which have had very positive feedback such as the Pumps and Coal Seam Gas Processing courses - the CSG course will be running for the second time in Brisbane, Australia in October. ESD has been working closely with SAIChemE and have recently received accreditation of their courses within South Africa, where they plan to offer their Control and Operation of Centrifugal Gas Compressors course on an open registration basis. The company is constantly hiring technical trainers in order to increase their course availability, as well as their expertise. As a technical trainer, you would work part-time on a contract basis travelling the world to deliver courses to employees from top oil and gas companies. Through geographic and technical growth, ESD paving the way for another 25 successful years in training.

ESD’s Corporate Video

Interested in becoming a Technical Trainer? Email your resume to kelowna@esd-simulation.comhttp://vimeo.com/54963220

Bob HodderPublished in a 1992 edition of ESD’s newsletter, Bob Hodder is still with ESD today as a Technical Trainer, despite his best attempt at “retirement”.

Still With ESD Today!

Mark Dixon is still running the company as Managing Director in the Kelowna, Canada office and travels frequently to run training worldwide. He often wrote articles in previous editions of ‘Monitor’. The above clip was taken from issue 2 in 1992.

Belinda Gault was hired in 1997 as a Business Development Executive in Perth, Western Australia. She is now Senior Vice President at ESD’s Houston, Texas office.

F R O M T H E M O N I T O R A R C H I V E S

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HAMISH - ESD’s Kelowna Office Guard DogBorn in October of 2011 and terrorizing the Kelowna staff since Christmas of that year, Hamish likes to lounge around on his bed in the office until a mail man comes in - who he greets by barking until they give him a treat (a bowl is kept by the door). Hamish is a very friendly and loving cocker spaniel who takes good care of the staff in Canada.

Aberdeen, Scotland - Training simulator installed by Elf Enterprise for Piper B

Aberdeen, Scotland - simulator installed by Elf Enterprise Mid-construction control room simulator (90’s) Radar simulator used to train air traffic controllers

In the UKMany open and in-house based courses run in ESD’s Aberdeenshire training centre (below - top, below - bottom). Current Business Development Executive in the UK, Jacqueline Reid (below - middle) has been working for ESD for almost 5 years and has recently been working with the likes of Wood Group, BP, Shell, Talisman, Taqa, Nexen and BG Group within the region. “ESD does not only offer standard in-house courses, we work together with our clients to make sure we cover their specific needs. When they are working on specfic projects this helps the company to avoid shut downs, therefore saving them money. It helps them in the long-run to invest in training.” - Jacqueline Reid

C U R R E N T L Y . . .

Upcoming CoursesControl and Operation of Centrifugal Gas Compressors20-22 October, Stavanger NO

10-12 November, London UK

10-12 December, Aberdeen UK

Practical Aspects of Process Control and Instrumentation28-30 October, London UK

17-19 November, Aberdeen UK

Design and Operation of FPSOs24-26 November, Aberdeen

Control and Operation of Industrial Gas Turbines24-25 November, Aberdeen UK

Subsea Systems27-28 November, UK

Production Process and Emergency Systems on Oil and Gas Installations1-3 December, Aberdeen UK

Mechanical Aspects of Centrifugal Gas Compressors3-4 December, Aberdeen UK

jacqueline.reid@esd-simulation.com

01467 634 934

Craigearn Business Park, Morrison Way

Midmill, Kintore Aberdeenshire, Scotland

AB51 0TH

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In North AmericaBelinda Gault relocated from Perth to Houston in 2011 to head up ESD’s USA office with the aim of ensuring that North American customers receive the same level of on-ground service experienced by customers in Europe and Australia. The Kelowna, Canada office was opened in 2007 and hosts the management, marketing and IT departments for all global operations. Over the past 3 years they have continued to expand the public course program and have welcomed delegates from all over the USA and Canada as well as from Trinidad & Tobago, Brazil, Venezuela, Gabon and Nigeria. The in-house training in the region has seen ESD running customised courses for Saskenergy, Husky, Cenovus, BHP Billiton, BG Group, Elliott Group, and SBM Atlantia. ESD’s Sales Executive, Marlene Hinojosa was hired in 2012 and is working in the Houston office providing customer support to American customers. Houston based trainer, Ron Le Tard joined ESD in early 2014 and brings over 30 years expertise in rotating equipment to the team.

Houston, Texas USA Kelowna, BC Canada

Upcoming CoursesMechanical Aspects of Centrifugal Gas

Compressors

21-22 October, Houston USA

Control, Operation and Design of

Reciprocating Gas Compressors

29-30 September, Calgary CA

3-4 November, Houston USA

8-9 December, Calgary CA

Control and Operation of Centrifugal Gas

Compressors

1-3 October, Calgary CA

5-7 November, Houston USA

10-12 December, Calgary CA

CanadaBelinda.Gault@esd-simulation.com

778-484-7660

202-575 Osprey AveKelowna, BC Canada

V1Y 5A7

USAMarlene.hinojosa@esd-simulation.com

713-532-2460

2323 S. Voss Rd. Suite 605Houston, Texas USA

77057

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What’s Up with LNG?Liquefied Natural Gas has been on the rise worldwide since the 1970’s, with the largest international oil and gas companies investing in LNG plants as well as import/export terminals. According to the Centre for Energy Economics, the experimentation with LNG and its first plant date back to 1912-1917. The world was quickly turned off of LNG production when disaster struck in Cleveland, Ohio in 1944 at an LNG peakshaving facility. A massive fire occurred due to a leak of 9,400 gallons of LNG after the introduction of a new, larger LNG tank constructed of low nickel content, which caused the tank to crack. The explosion and the resulting fires killed 128 people. This of course instilled fear into the public regarding the industryand resulted in a lack of interest from major players for the coming decade. Extensive safety precautions were developed and LNG production and transportation became a more regulated and stable operation, with only one reported incident in Algeria in 2004 since.*

It was the United Kingdom who later showed an interest in LNG and converted an old World War 2 freighter, The Methane Pioneer. The country became the world’s first LNG importer and began a small scale operation between the UK and Algeria. Things picked up following the success of the operation, which later resulted in hundreds of plants and terminals worldwide, including 13 terminals and one plant in the USA, 3 plants in Australia, 2 plants in Norway, 4 terminals in the UK and one terminal in Canada, with pending plans for another on the west coast. “About five or ten years ago, the USA was the biggest importer of LNG, and they had set up many import terminals to support receiving LNG into the country. Lately, because of all of the shale gas readily available in the country, the need to import

LNG into the USA has significantly diminished. It will be interesting to see how the shift the USA has made from importing to exporting LNG will affect other countries’ economic states – only time will tell” says ESD’s highly experienced Technical Trainer, David Llewellyn. David is among three of ESD’s LNG trainers who have extensive hands-on experience in the industry as well as in the classroom, educating staff of many existing and developing LNG projects. ESD has worked largely in Australia, training hundreds of staff on Chevron’s developing Gorgon project, Woodside operated NorthWest Shelf and Pluto plants, Shell’s developing Floating LNG – Prelude, ConocoPhillips and Santos’ operated Darwin LNG, ConocoPhillips and Origin Energy’s Australia Pacific LNG, and Santos’ Gladstone LNG. ESD Simulation Training hopes to provide support training for upcoming LNG developments in Canada and the USA and continue to support the LNG industry by providing top class, hands-on technical training worldwide.

References: CH.IV Internationalhttp://www.ch-iv.com/history.html

Centre for Energy Economicshttp://www.beg.utexas.edu/energyecon/lng/LNG_introduction_06.php

*There was one incident in New York in 1973 which was at an LNG facility, but is reported to be due to construction & maintenance of the facility rather than directly due to the production and transportation of LNG. This remains controversial.