3 Sep 2008 - GAS AND OIL ENGINEERING CONSULTANCY FORECASTS ERA OF EXPANSION
One of the UK’s fastest growing gas and oil industry engineering consultancies has signalled an era of further expansion by unveiling a new corporate image.
One of the UK’s fastest growing gas and oil industry engineering consultancies has signalled an era of further expansion by unveiling a new corporate image.
OSL, previously Optimus Services Limited, based in Hull and Aberdeen, is building a strong reputation in the world of gas and oil engineering and the new image, coupled with a major recruitment campaign, will take the company to the next level in its already impressive development.
Established in 2005, OSL has achieved phenomenal growth with turnover this year expected to exceed £3.5m. As a result of this and recent contract successes, OSL is looking to double its current team of 30-plus by recruiting additional head office staff and around 15 specialist engineers.
The company was founded by Alastair Robertson and Nick Jones, who have worked alongside each other since 1994, gaining valuable experience in the Humber region’s gas and oil sector and in Aberdeen. Three years on and the company is already working with the likes of BP, DONG (the Danish national oil company), Perenco and a subsidiary of Russian-owned Gazprom.
Alastair said: “The launch of our new corporate identity is the beginning of an exciting era for OSL. We intend to broaden our horizons throughout the UK and internationally, especially in Denmark and Norway. We’re already well known in some areas but we need to push ourselves and our brand far and wide.
“Although the business began by handling some relatively small projects, we are now capable of undertaking very major tasks in a highly competitive field. To achieve our ambitions, we need to recruit the best engineers in our sector, probably doubling our size and workforce over the next two years.”
OSL has recognised the shortage of engineering skills and has put in place a range of activities to help members of their team develop their careers in-house. They include work experience programmes and opportunities for further education and external study.
Alastair said: “We believe the best way to resolve this skills shortage is to introduce ground-breaking training and study techniques within our own organisation. This will enable us to nurture an individual’s talent and develop it in a way that will best suit the recruit as well as the needs of OSL and our clients.”
He added: “Our aim is to become an even stronger force, providing a fresh approach but always concentrating on producing solutions to our client’s business ideas and delivering those solutions with the best quality skills, within budget and on time.
“OSL’s reputation has been built on the high level of expertise demonstrated by its highly skilled team of engineers, consultants and project managers and our achievements in delivering conceptual studies, feasibility studies, front end design, detailed engineering and safety and risk assessment studies have helped us to become one of the fastest growing companies of our kind in the United Kingdom.
“In the gas processing sector, our knowledge and experience have been key factors in providing our clients with a successful outcome, sometimes in testing and very time-sensitive circumstances.”
One of the area’s in which OSL is making its mark is Front End Engineering Design (FEED). The company has had recent experience in providing a client team to manage a FEED contract and to prepare the project sanction documentation for a gas caverns and surface facilities project in Europe. The client is a joint venture of three national Exploration and Production companies and the project consists of seven gas storage caverns (made from leaching salt from the salt formation), a gas processing facility, an export route, metering systems, vent and blow-down systems, a 60km pipeline and a hydrocarbon accounting system.
OSL has also formed part of a client’s project team on a Southern North Sea Rationalisation Project. To enable drawdown to much lower wellhead pressures, three offshore production areas and three onshore gas treatment facilities are being amalgamated into one revamped onshore gas terminal. OSL’s work included the design and project management of new gas turbine driven gas compressors, pipelines and slug catchers, metering systems and associated field modifications.
Alastair said: “This demonstrates the type and size of project that we are now undertaking. We’re looking forward to a period of significant growth, working throughout the UK and Europe with the major players in the gas and oil sectors. To help us achieve this growth, we will be looking to recruit some skilled and dynamic engineers.”
For further information on OSL, including career opportunities, contact us on +44 (0) 1482 482450 or click on to www.oslconsulting.com.
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