STATS Group Continues to Build Portfolio in Australia and Asia Pacific

Photo Credit: STATS

A number of completed landmark projects, greater market recognition and a long-standing policy of localization, has strengthened STATS Group’s (STATS) presence in Australia and the wider Asia Pacific hydrocarbon sector.

The pipeline technology specialist has broken new ground with the awards of inaugural projects by major operators and is on a recruitment drive to consolidate existing markets while opening up new opportunities.

STATS Group has a long-established track record in delivering industry-leading repair and maintenance solutions to energy operators along with main EPC contractors globally, with proven dual sealing technology at the core of their product and service offerings.

New client, Australian Gas Infrastructure Group (AGIG), recently commissioned STATS to deploy its patented BISEP double block and bleed isolation technology to isolate a 20-in. pipeline in Western Australia and the company hopes this lays the foundation for winning similar scopes of work.

Other BISEP projects in Western Australia included two projects for ATCO Gas (double and quad 6-in. pipeline) and a quad 14-in. isolation for APA, while building on an existing frame agreement with Santos, a 12-in. hot tap service on a 42-in. pipeline was delivered in Queensland.

Gareth Campbell, STATS regional manager for Asia Pacific, said: “This has been one of our busiest and most successful periods in terms of project activity and increased turnover in the Asia Pacific market.

“We have taken a long-term view and from our initial market entry in Australia we have continually invested in infrastructure and people, starting out by setting up a base in Perth and expanding east and northwards.

“This policy of having people and equipment on the ground -- which is a template in all our international locations -- allows us to respond quickly to client demand and it is paying off as the main Australian operators are now engaging on a regular basis.”

In Malaysia, STATS has a track record of successful project work dating back to 2011, and earlier this year the company signed an exclusive supply arrangement for its products and services with Malaysia’s E&P O&M Services Sdn Bhd (EPOMS).

The strategic agreement covers STATS’ innovative range of pipeline hot tapping, plugging and inline isolation services, and it strengthened an existing relationship with EPOMS which saw STATS complete a scope of work in 2022 which included the isolation and reinstatement leak-testing of a 12-in. shutdown valve on the EPOMS-operated Larut A platform.

Campbell added: “Malaysia is a strategically important market for STATS and following the signing of a new partnership with EPOMS we have started training their personnel to support onsite workscopes in the local market and are supporting knowledge transfer of our product range.”

“We’ve just secured our first ever project in Indonesia and will deploy a 14-in. Remote Tecno Plug (RTP) on behalf of a leading international energy company, which we believe will be the first time a remote isolation technology has been used in Indonesia, so our decision to put personnel in place in Jakarta has been well founded,” said Campbell.

As global oil and gas operators look to support energy transition and net zero carbon emission targets, STATS is in a strong position to help clients repurpose existing assets and piping infrastructure for future use in hydrogen, Carbon Capture Storage (CCS) and other decarbonisation projects.

Over the past two decades, STATS Group has played a central role in numerous pipeline interventions, repairs and maintenance projects, giving the company a deep knowledge base of the very infrastructure that, in the future, may be repurposed.

Campbell said: “Like all oil and gas producing regions, APAC’s operators and contractors are looking to the future and exploring ways to meaningfully support energy transition. Our technology, and particularly our isolation tools, are ideally suited to projects which will look to repurpose older or redundant assets, and we are alert to playing a positive role in hydrogen and CCS projects and other innovative schemes which will emerge in the region in the not too distant future.”