Photo by: Bloomberg
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The competitiveness of Australia’s oil and gas sector has been given a boost with federal funding for research.
The Australian Research Council (ARC) on Monday announced that it would spend A$4.9-million and A$4.5-million respectively to fund the ARC Research Hub for Offshore Floating Facilities and the ARC Training Centre for Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Futures.
Both the hub and the centre would be based at the University of Western Australia, and were geared towards driving stronger innovation in the energy sector through industry research partnerships on strategic technologies specifically related to floating offshore developments and LNG production.
“The ARC Research Hub for Offshore Floating Facilities will tackle critical engineering challenges for offshore oil and gas projects in remote deep-water locations by creating improved designs and operating procedures, leveraging Australia’s competitive advantage in floating LNG facilities,” said ARC CEO Professor Aidan Byrne.
“Researchers at this hub, working with leading global gas and oil industry organisations Woodside, Shell, and partner organisations Lloyds Register, and Bureau Veritas, will develop new technologies and analysis methods required for safe and efficient offshore projects, such as ocean forecasting, vessel motion and offloading analysis, riser and mooring longevity, and novel anchoring and subsea foundations,” said Byrne.
“The ARC Training Centre for LNG Futures, with support from industry partners Chevron, Shell, Woodside, Samsung, Daewoo, GE, Clough, Guodian, and VMG, will train the next generation of researchers in the industry, who will work closely with experts in a conducive industry setting, ensuring they have the right skill sets to make a difference in their field.”