InsideAES - ASRC Energy Services

AES
ASRC Energy Services Newsletter
Spring 2010
Inside
In This Issue:
Business
Highlights
Petrochem
Completes
Largest
Project
Dual Drill
Rigs at
Alpine
Statoil Plan of
Cooperation
Meetings
AES Gift to
Petrochem
CFO Corner
Employee
News
AES Receives 2010 Governor’s
Safety Award
By Wayne Swann/Steve Dawson
The ASRC Energy Services (AES) 624, 625, 626,
and 630 Operations Groups in Kuparuk received the
2010 Governor’s Safety award. The award is based
on AES’s performance and excellence in safety and
health systems and corporate citizenship. The award
recognizes that AES “has a high level of management
commitment and employee involvement in the
safety process.” The award also noted that AES
has excellent hazard analysis and hazard reduction
systems for managing safety in the North Slope
environment. Four organizations qualified for
the Governor’s Safety Award of Excellence.
The recognition is awarded to a group that has
demonstrated excellence in safety and health
systems. The annual Governor’s Safety and Health
Conference was held on March 23-25 at the
Hotel Captain Cook in Anchorage, Alaska
Department of Labor Commissioner Click
Bishop presented the award and the AES HSET
management group accepted it on behalf of the
operations groups.
Saluting Excellenc
e
at ASRC
ConocoPhillips congratula
tes ASRC Energy
Services, one of our major
operations and
maintenance contractors
at the Kuparuk
and Alpine fields, in receiv
ing the prestigious
Governor’s Safety Excellence
Award for 2010.
ASRC Energy Services has
had a long-term,
proactive commitment to
improving employee
health and safety with a goal
of zero incidents.
By supporting ongoing evalu
ations, training and
communication, ConocoPhill
ips ensures that
each member of our team
has a stake and a
role in maintaining our safet
y culture every day.
Congratulations to ASRC Energ
y Services on this
significant accomplishment.
AES met all three major criteria for the award:
AES
Participates
in ASRC Days
One-Stop
Benefits
Number
Employee
Spotlight
1. A demonstrated improvement or
continued excellence in reducing lost
workday injuries or days, number of
recordable injuries, and in workers’
compensation claim costs in the last
three years.
2. Management commitment and employee
involvement in the safety process.
3. Documented system for hazard
analysis and hazard reduction.
Alaska Department of Labor Commissioner Click Bishop, AES Safety Specialist Ashleigh
Liston, AES HSET Director Wayne Swann, AES HSET Manager Joe Buskirk (holding the pan),
AES HSET Manager Dave Crooks, Alaska Labor Standards and Safety Director Grey Mitchell.
Business Highlights
Petrochem Completes
Largest Project in its History
By Art Lewis
Petrochem is on the threshold of completing its largest project in
company history. Subcontracted by Bechtel Construction and
performed at Louisville Gas & Electric Trimble Station Unit 2 in
Bedford, Kentucky.
Under the direction of our Mid-American branch, the $30 million project was awarded in September 2007, and
demobilization is expected by June. Petrochem employees
performed the insulation, siding, roofing, scaffolding, fireproofing,
and removable insulation blanket portion of the project.
The work included insulation of more than 60,000 linear feet
of pipe and 370,000 sq ft of duct and equipment; installation
of 460,000 sq ft of siding and roofing; erection of 50 truckloads of
scaffolding; application of 18,500 sq. ft. of fireproofing; and fabrication
and installation of 7,500 insulation blankets.
The project paired Petrochem’s finest management and field supervision.
The project could not have been completed without their commitment and
dedication. The team included Senior Project Manager Jim Balduff, Project
Manager Dominick Ancona, Field General Superintendent Enos Guitierrez,
and Scaffold Superintendent Efrain Alfaro.
Branch Manager Mike Fitzsimmons said, “I appreciate the combined efforts of my entire branch and the other branch offices
that helped supply the necessary manpower required to complete this project.”
Petrochem was acquired by AES in 2009. Petrochem is one of the largest providers of insulation supply, installation and
maintenance, and other related multicraft services to industrial facilities in the United States.
AES
Inside
spring 2010
Dual Drill
Rigs at Alpine
By Steve Dawson/Tim O’Malia
AES Operations and Maintenance (O&M)
is completing the winter drilling season and
demobilizing Kuparuk’s Doyon Rig 141
and Alpine’s Doyon Rig 19 from the CD-3
(Fiord) site within the Alpine field. A total
of seven new wells were drilled at the Fiord
site. The combined production from the two
rigs resulted in an increase of approximately
15,5000 bbls. As a result, Alpine is back to
the level of 100,000 bbl per day.
AES crews supported both rigs on the small
11-acre pad. Due to the extensive amount
of work in the relatively small area, 16 acres
of ice pad were built for staging and storing
tanks. The logistics for this scenario was a
huge challenge, since alongside of the two drill
rigs was a construction project to add pipe
racks for the new wells.
AES met the challenge by quadrupling its
core equipment fleet and doubling the
manpower at Alpine. In addition, AES was
responsible for controlling access to the pad.
Special positions were added and several of
our seasonal Shareholder equipment operators
came back to support the effort. The amount
of daily traffic in and out of the site was a
logistical challenge and had to be limited. On
a typical day, an average of 120 people
entered the drill site and on the busiest day
about 160, for a total of over 10,000 workers
in the three-month period.
AES Drilling & Wells, Roads & Pads, O&M,
Fleet Maintenance, Materials and Managment
played a critical role in supporting the
complicated and dangerous task of this year’s
drilling season. Nearly 200,000 man-hours
were safely completed and with the utmost
care to the environment.
Statoil North Slope
Community Plan of
Cooperation Meetings
By Sheila Schooner
In early January 2010,
AES-RTS assisted Norwegian
energy company Statoil with
Plan of Cooperation (POC)
meetings as a part of its 2010
Open Water Seismic Survey
Plans in the Chukchi Sea.
Visiting several Chukchi Sea
communities on the North
Slope, Elizabeth Benson and Michelle Russell from the AES-RTS
Community Relations group travelled with a team of Statoil advisors.
The team included the Alaska Exploration Plan Manager Martin Cohen
and HSE/Stakeholder Advisor Karin Berentsen who presented the plans
for a seismic survey. The attendance from the community was very good
and many comments and suggestions regarding Statoil activities were
received.
POC meetings, in conjunction with leadership meetings and
co-management meetings, give an operator the opportunity to describe
its plans and to listen to local subsistence hunters share Traditional
Knowledge about animals that may frequent the area where activities
may occur. The POC meeting is part of the permitting process.
This is the second time AES-RTS has worked with Statoil. In 2007,
AES-RTS conducted a pre-feasibility study to assess the viability of
acquiring leases in the 2008 Chukchi Lease Sale 193. Consequently,
Statoil acquired 16 leases of which 14 are a joint venture with ENI
Petroleum. Located near the Hanna Shoal, the lease area extends 215
square miles and is over 100 miles offshore, northwest of Wainwright.
Last year, AES-RTS won a contract to provide Statoil with consulting
services for regulatory permitting assistance and stakeholder engagement.
AES-RTS will also recruit and train Inupiat Marine Mammal Observers
for the Environmental Monitoring Program that Statoil has prepared as
an integral part of a seismic survey.
If successful in the initial stages of this project, Statoil’s goal is to begin
drilling in 2013. In the meantime, Statoil will continue its stakeholder
outreach and looks forward to establishing a long-term relationship with
North Slope residents.
AES
Inside
spring 2010
AES Employee News
Gift from AES to Petrochem
“The Spirit of the Wolf”
by Bill Wright
AES recognizes and values Petrochem as an integral part of our company. The employees of Petrochem were presented with a custom clock
created by well-known Inupiat artist Bobby Nashookpuk.
Bobby set a clock into the hand-shaped vertebra of a whale harvested
by an Inupiat whaling crew off the coast of the North Slope. The artist
left a scar on the bone that appears to have been from a harpoon that
the whale survived years earlier. The wolf teeth are made from fossilized
walrus ivory and the claws are made from baleen-a filtering structure
in the mouth of whales. The harpoon and ice tester called “Unaaq” are
positioned across the vertebra to represent traditional hunting tools. The
tail is from a wolf taken by Bobby’s brother during a hunt last summer.
Bobby was born and raised in Pt. Hope, Alaska where he learned his
craft by watching his father and uncle create masks and carvings using
natural materials available in this northern coastal community of Alaska.
He has dedicated his life to creating artwork using natural materials such
as whalebone, ivory, driftwood, and fur to represent the traditional
images and close relationship between nature and the Inupiat people.
His distinctive, one-of-a-kind carvings are on display in
museums in Alaska and New York, and in private collections
across the country.
AES
Inside
spring 2010
Mark Guzman
Named North
Slope Manager
for BP
Operations
AES congratulates Mark Guzman
on his promotion to North Slope
Manager for the BP business unit.
The appointment was announced
by Scott Selzer, Business Unit
Manager – BP, O&M, on April 7,
2010. In his new position, Mark is
responsible for overseeing all O&M
activities on the North Slope and
reports directly to Scott. Mark was
previously Operations Manager for
the Corrosion, Inspection,
and Chemicals portion of
our BP contract.
Mark has worked on the North Slope
for 26 years and has been with AES
for the past 20 years. His expertise
includes HSE, customer interface,
contract management, human
resources management, supply chain
management, and logistics. In his
new role, Mark looks forward to
pursuing methods to further
enhance O&M efficiencies.
CFO Corner
By Jens Beck
Arctic Slope Regional
Corporation (ASRC) was
recently audited for the year 2009 by Grant Thornton, LLP,
the U.S. member firm of Grant Thornton International
Ltd, one of the six global accounting, tax, and advisory
organizations. ASRC received an “unqualified opinion”
report, which is equivalent to a “clean bill of health.” This
type of report is issued by an auditor when the financial
statements presented are free of material misstatements
and are represented fairly in accordance with Generally
Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). The report states
that ASRC’s financial condition, position, and operations
are fairly presented in the financial statements; it is the best
type of report ASRC can receive from an external auditor.
This audit complies with the Alaska Native Claims
Settlement Act (ANCSA) requirement for an annual audit
of all Alaska Native Regional Corporations. Such audits
must be conducted in accordance with GAAP by independent
certified public accountants (CPAs) or independent licensed
public accountants, certified or licensed by the state or a
U.S. regulatory authority. Audits are to be conducted at
the place or places where the accounts of the regional
corporation are normally kept. All financial records and
reports, including books, accounts, files, and other financial
documents and property belonging to or in use by a regional
corporation, are to be available to the auditors. Full facilities
for verifying transactions with the balances or securities held
by depositories, fiscal agent, and custodians are to be afforded
to the auditors. Each audit report or an accurate summary
thereof will be transmitted to each Shareholder.
Once scheduled, the annual audit is conducted by a
professional external auditor, who performs an examination
of the financial statements of a company, government,
individual, or any other legal entity or organization and
who is independent of that entity. Users of ASRC’s
financial information, such as investors, government
agencies, and the general public, rely on the external
auditor to present an unbiased and independent evaluation
of such information. In the United States, CPAs are
the only authorized non-governmental type of external
auditors who may perform audits and attestations on
an entity’s financial statements and provide reports on
such audits for public review.
Conducting the audit is only part of the auditor’s role.
While some think auditors only detect fraud, an auditor’s
consideration of fraud is only an aspect of the audit process.
The primary role of external auditors is to express an opinion
on whether ASRC’s financial statements are free of material
misstatements. External auditors ensure that ASRC’s
financial statements are a true and fair representation of the
corporation’s actual position. If auditors detect any fraudulent
information, the auditors must bring it to management’s
attention and consider withdrawing from the engagement if
management does not take appropriate actions. In addition,
external auditors review the entity’s information technology
control procedures when assessing its overall internal controls.
Auditors must also investigate any material issues raised by
inquiries from professional or regulatory authorities, such
as the local taxing authority. For public companies listed on
stock exchanges in the United States, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act
(SOX) has imposed stringent requirements on external auditors’
evaluation of internal controls and financial reporting. ASRC,
through the ANCSA, is required to follow some SOX
requirements, but not all.
The independence of external auditors is crucial to a correct
and thorough appraisal of ASRC’s financial controls and
statements. Any relationship between the external auditors
and ASRC, other than retention for the audit itself, must be
disclosed in the external auditors’ reports. These rules also
severely limit the types of non-audit services the external
auditor can provide.
The AES audit was quite successful, and all AES employees
are congratulated for applying a high quality standard to the
financial reporting processes.
AES
Inside
spring 2010
Employee News
AES Staff Participate in ASRC Days
By Rick Owen
AES was recently represented during ASRC Days in several village communities.
Jeff Kinneeveauk, AES Shareholder Programs Senior Vice President and
Point Hope native; Rick Owen, AES Corporate Counsel; Glenn Edwards,
AES Shareholder Employment Coordinator; Paul Ramert,
AES – RTS Vice President and General Manager; and Meghan Larson,
AES – RTS Environmental Scientist, traveled to Wainwright, Point
Hope, and Point Lay to participate in the activities.
ASRC Days, hosted by Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, provides
an opportunity for staff from ASRC and its subsidiaries, along with
representatives from educational institutions, to spend a day in
village schools interacting with students. During the event,
students are informed about the various business and
educational opportunities available to them.
In addition to AES, other participants included:
• ASRC (led by Robin Demoski and supported
by the ASRC Village Liaisons)
• ASRC Construction Holding Company
• Arctic Education Foundation
• ASRC Federal Holding Company
• Alaska Growth Capital
• Petro Star
• Ilisagvik College, Barrow
School administrators allowed ASRC to have day-long access to middle and high school students. Interactive
exercises designed to stimulate interest in exploring personal career goals were held in the morning. During the
afternoon session, high school students attended presentations by Rick Owen, Meghan Larson, Glenn Edwards,
and Paul Ramert, who talked about AES, careers in science, and the challenges of working in the Arctic.
Evenings were open to the entire community. Each company had a table with brochures and other information
that residents could take. AES – RTS is recruiting for Marine Mammal Observers and Communication Center
Operators. Village Liaisons manned iRecruitment tables to assist residents with creating an online profile and
submitting employment applications on the spot.
A highlight of ASRC Days for AES staff happened in Point Hope, where our staff members were treated to a
program of traditional dance by a group of local dancers—including our own Jeff Kinneeveauk. By the end of the
evening, everybody danced!
AES
Inside
spring 2010
One-Stop
Benefits
Telephone
Number
by ASRC Benefits Team
We are pleased to announce that the
benefits phone tree has been improved.
Call one number (877) 370-2772
for assistance with most of your benefit
needs. The following options are
available:
• Option 1: Medical - Premera
• Option 2: Nurseline
• Option 3: Not Applicable to AES
• Option 4: COBRA – COBRA
Management Services
• Option 5: Dental – United Concordia
• Option 6: Vision – VSP
• Option 7: Additional Options
• Option 1: Employee Assistance
Program – Magellan
• Option 2: Life & Disability
– Unum
• Option 3: 401K
• Option 4: ASRC Benefit Team
• Option 9: Repeat Options
Pipefitter Training
By Kyle Nashookpuk
This past winter, AES offered its first pipefitter training, through Northern
Industrial Training. I received a call in mid-December from Glenn Edwards
asking if I was interested in taking the training. He told me that it was eight
weeks long and taking place in Palmer, Alaska. I attended this training because
it was something in the oil and gas industry and it was a good career growth
opportunity for me.
During the first four weeks, we worked on the National Center for Construction
Education and Research (NCCER) basic construction skills book. During this
time we received a General Site Worker 40-hour HAZWOPER card, Sit-Down
Counter-Balanced Forklift Operator Safety Training, and Book Truck Operator
Safety Training. The last four weeks was all about pipefitting. Everyone made it
through the level 1 and level 2 books, which had some difficult math sections.
Course attendees learned how to calculate a rolling offset and a regular offset,
which was really interesting. Our instructor (who has over 20 years experience
in the field) developed an isometric drawing for us to interpret. We split into
different teams, and most of us arrived at different
answers, which led to some spirited discussions.
The instructor was very hands-on. Everything he
showed us, he wanted each one of us to try out
and get used to doing. My favorite tool was the
Oxyacetylene torch cutter—which was pretty intense
the first couple of times I used it. I was wearing my
standard steel-toed boots on my second cut, and some
slag (dripping hot metal) somehow found its way into
my boot and burned a hole in my sock. The instructor
said that happened to him a few times as well and
recommended wearing lace-less boots.
At the end of training, my classmates
and I received our training cards
and Pipefitter Level 1 and 2
certificates.
• Stay online for Customer
Service
AES
Inside
spring 2010
3900 C Street, Suite 701
Anchorage, AK 99503
Our quarterly newsletter, Inside AES, reaches ASRC Energy Services (AES) employees working in all divisions and subsidiaries located in Alaska,
California, and Louisiana, U.S., and Alberta, Canada. Our goal is to keep you informed about the state of the company, with a focus on providing
information about our business plans, current projects, new opportunities, and employee achievements.
We welcome your comments and suggestions at newsletter@asrcenergy.com
AES Welcomes Steve Teeter,
Engineering Specialist
By Asida Prather
ASRC Energy Services (AES) is pleased to announce further
growth to its Engineering and Construction division by
welcoming industry expert, Steve Teeter, P.E., MBA. Steve serves
as the Technical Authority for the Mechanical
Engineering group. He is a registered
professional engineer with over 34 years of
design and engineering experience, which
includes nine years in the Gulf Coast and
25 years working on projects and studies
associated with North Slope oil fields. Steve
is highly experienced in applying ASME, API,
and other industry standards to a wide array
of projects and has performed numerous studies, stress analyses,
and specification-related efforts throughout his career. He
was responsible for decisions, recommendations, and designs
encompassing major aspects of piping and mechanical equipment
at all BPXA North Slope facilities when he worked for BPXA.
Before joining AES, he worked for NANA Worley/Parsons LLC.
Steve has held various positions in the chemical and oil and gas
industries encompassing areas such as design, maintenance, and
facility engineering and project management.
AES
Inside
spring 2010
Employee Spotlight
Mike Zook
By Jeff Doyle
Mike Zook is into his 14th year with
AES and is the Estimating Manager for
the Engineering and Construction division.
On a good day Mike juggles bids in his office.
On a really good day he may be buried under
eight proposal efforts as happened on more
than one occasion during 2009. He manages
a department of four estimators and is
responsible for maintaining company standards
and systems for estimating. Mike is also one
of the AES Electrical Administrators. Outside
of work Mike is an avid fisherman, skier, and
gardener (who would
have thought?). He
has been married to
Madeline for over 22
years and is looking
forward to retiring one
of these years. Mike
brings a high level
of enthusiasm and
commitment to
everything he does.