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Q:  How do you plan to expand ABS’ presence in Norway? 

A:  Well, I aim to achieve leadership in a sector of Norway that ABS already dominates in the rest of the world.  It is not like ABS is an unknown entity. We have made great strides to work with Norwegian offshore operators.

My foremost priority is to raise the ABS profile among the Norwegian offshore community. This community is a prominent industry player that can further enhance its competitive advantages through strengthened ties to ABS. With our historic longstanding dedication to the offshore industry, ABS possesses the comprehensive expertise and systematic approach that can optimally address the challenges confronting Norway’s operators, designers, manufacturers and other stakeholders.

Q:  Is ABS not known as the class society for rigs operating in the North Sea? How do you intent to change that perception?

A:  Worldwide, offshore exploration and production activity remains at a very high level, underpinned by global demand for energy and rising oil prices. Presently, more than three-quarters of all mobile offshore drilling units on order at yards around the world are contracted to ABS class; of special interest is the jackup market where ABS has a remarkable share in excess of 90 percent of all the jackups on order. Scandinavian owners account for a remarkable share in excess of 90 percent of all jackups on order. In the expectation that many of these rigs would find subsequent deployment in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea, ABS last year published the Guide for Mobile Offshore Units Operating on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, N-Notation, which specifically addresses the technical requirements of the Norwegian Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA). 

Conformance with the Guide criteria, in addition to the relevant ABS Rules, qualifies offshore units for the issuance of the ABS (N) notation. Receiving this notation may then contribute to the evaluation of a unit by the PSA for the authority’s issuance of the Acknowledgement of Compliance, or AoC, which is mandatory for operation on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. ABS is also working toward other opportunities to support North Sea development. 

Q:  Does ABS have the Arctic and harsh weather experience needed for North Sea classification? 

A:  As an increasing number of fields are developed in the Barents and North seas with advancement into Arctic regions, ABS will be called upon to play a larger role in developing new drilling support technologies. Operations in the deep water and harsh cold environments of this region require quite sophisticated equipment. Our capabilities are ideally suited for strategic collaborations with Norway’s offshore leaders to ultimately enhance and add value to the emergent new technologies – from the design concept stage all the way through design development, fabrication, construction, installation and operation.