SPRING NEWSLETTER FROM IKM CONSULTANTS
After a wild, wet winter, spring has finally arrived. In our industry,
growth will continue at a healthy pace in 2014, despite less activity
among some of our customers. However, other contractors, small
operating companies and international assignments will have a higher
level of activity that will compensate for this.
It is clear that Statoil is postponing some activities and many consider this a necessary market adjustment.
The whole industry is keen to reduce costs and improve efficiency. It is not so much a matter of reducing
prices and rates (even if some customers expect this), but of working efficiently, reducing the
documentation requirement, good planning, design freeze, etc. IKM Consultants and our consultants can
also help contribute to this. Consultants who are creative, point out smart solutions, demonstrate they are
team players and are positive to changes will be in demand no matter which way the market fluctuates. We
have experienced this with some customers, who have reduced the number of hired consultants, but
where the percentage reduction in the number of our consultants has been lower than the overall
reduction.
As one of the largest companies in Norway, IKM Consultants has agreements with all the important
companies in our market. This implies that we receive almost all inquiries posted in our market. Even
though activity has slowed down somewhat in the last year, we still receive hundreds of new inquiries for
temporary positions every month. This ensures our consultants continuity and job opportunities.
There is a lot happening in the market and we see new and exciting opportunities. In 2014 and in the next
few years, the Asian projects will sail to Norway in various degrees of completion. From experience we
know this means a phase of significant hook up-, commissioning- and carry-overwork, with re-engineering
and new design to be carried out in Norway. We also know that several projects will be ongoing at the
same time.
Johan Sverdrup fase 1 bygges ut med fire installasjoner med stålunderstell, forbundet med broer.
Even if Statoil makes fewer investments in Norway, they have already awarded the FEED contract for the
Johan Sverdrup. Development of this field will be one of the largest offshore projects in the world in the
coming years. Up to BNOK 130 will be invested in the first development phase of the field, which in total
will be on a par with Ekofisk. IKM Consultants already has consultants working on this project and the
company will be involved in the increasing activity in the years ahead.
Major projects will continue to be awarded to Asia in future and much of the engineering work will be done
abroad. Therefore, IKM Consultants must continue to focus on international assignments. The framework
agreement with Statoil on global consulting services is an important foundation for this effort. IKM
Consultants also supplies consultants to ENI, Det Norsk, Total and other customers with global projects.
Spring is a time of optimism and our industry is no exception. In Norway, spring is also a time for enjoying
the great outdoors and it is especially important for everyone to remember the basic traffic rule:”Always be
attentive and show consideration to pedestrians and other road users to prevent accidents or injuries”. If
everyone could just follow this rule, drivers, cyclists and pedestrians alike would be able travel about safely
and enjoy the spring.
We hope as many of you as possible will use the spring and the lighter evenings to get out and about and
enjoy the great outdoors. Have a Happy Easter!
With regards
Per Oscar Knudsen
General Manager
IKM Consultants AS