How and where did DNV GL start?
The common history of DNV GL goes back to 1864 when Det Norske Veritas was founded in Oslo, as a membership organisation, with the aim of providing reliable and uniform classification and taxation of Norwegian ships. Members of the society were Norway’s mutual marine insurance clubs, which joined forces to establish uniform rules and procedures for assessing the risk of underwriting individual vessels.
The merger of DNV and GL in September 2013, led to the creation of DNV GL, a world leading ship and offshore classification society, a leading independent service provider in the oil and gas sector, a powerhouse in energy and renewables, and one of the world’s top three certification bodies. Today the DNV GL Group comprises approximately 16,000 employees operating in over 100 countries.
In defining our new identity as DNV GL, our company’s vision of making a ‘global impact for a safe and sustainable future’ has never been more relevant than it is today.
In the oil & gas business area we have defined our strategic goals as follows; to be the leading provider of risk management, technical advisory and technical assurance services to the upstream oil and gas industry in challenging operating environments across the entire gas value chain and to drive the oil & gas sector to become safer, greener and smarter by offering unique technical competence and innovation
What does DNV GL do within the oil & gas sector?
By combining DNV and GL Noble Denton (GL Group’s oil & gas business), we now have the opportunity to create the leading technical advisor to the sector. The services that each legacy company brings to the table are complementary and DNV GL’s new oil & gas business area will offer our customers greater scope, skills and scale than ever before throughout the asset lifecycle.
By joining forces, we now offer more than 5,600 experts with deep technical advisory and assurance expertise, as well as a presence in every hydrocarbon-producing country in the world.
DNV GL supports the oil & gas industry’s leading players in identifying and controlling risk, enhancing safety and performance, and assuring reliability and efficiency at every stage of a project’s development and operation. Our focus is on supporting customers every step of the way.
From the early stages of feasibility and concept selection through to operation, field extension and decommisioning, we deliver our expertise in core service areas that include: risk management advisory, technical assurance (certification, verifications and inspection), technical advisory, noble denton marine assurance and advisory, offshore clasification, and software solutions to the oil & gas industry.
Additionally, we have committed to reinvest 5% of our revenues in research and development. This will further develop the highest standards in many areas of the oil & gas industry both offshore and onshore and help our customers’ projects and operations become safer, more efficient and more reliable.
What is your presence in the Middle East region?
In the oil & gas business area, DNV GL is represented by 900 employees in the Middle East, North Africa and India (MENAI) division. In the MENAI division, DNV GL is structured into three regions (UAE and India, GCC and North Africa) with offices across nine countries and divisional headquarters based out of Dubai.
DNV GL first established its presence in the Middle East in the UAE in 1972. The country is now home to a number of global DNV GL service hubs including Technical Assurance, Noble Denton marine assurance and advisory, risk management advisory and technical advisory.
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What is your company most excited about in the oil & gas sector?
Changes in the oil & gas industry are taking place at an increasingly rapid pace, and projects today will need to be robust against the changing requirements of tomorrow. Within only a few years, the shale revolution has changed and will continue to change the world’s energy supply and demand profiles.
However, environmental risk and the collaboration with local communities and authorities are major issues that must be handled here. At the same time, the global oil & gas infrastructure continues to expand, often around existing hubs, thereby further extending field life often well beyond the initial design life of the assets.
Therefore, the continued safe operation of mature assets at a verified level of integrity is going to be critical, particularly for offshore assets and wells, where lifecycle integrity is more difficult to measure. Reducing the risk of major accidents is intrinsic to the licence to operate.
DNV GL is working on a number of projects related to the key challenges facing operators in the areas of aging assets, onshore and offshore pipelines, subsea and well integrity, blow-out prevention, safe operations in the Arctic and shale gas.
In our experience, it is highly valuable if the industry players can work together and learn from each other.
That is why every year we carry out joint industry projects (JIP) – where the participants solve a common challenge, and publish the new knowledge in recommended practices, guidelines or standards.
Presently, we are running 70 different joint industry projects and have provided the oil and gas industry with about 170 different industry standards.
DNV GL has recently initiated a joint industry project which will run through 2014 to deal with risks in sour gas fields in the Middle East where operators were invited to join this joint industry project to obtain synergies through the development of guidelines on design, construction, operations and training activities in the development and operation of sour gas facilities.
