Calling Reinforcements
Frazer Thompson spent 15 years with Norson Services before the acquisition by BJ, and he says the move has been mutually beneficial. He’s currently BJ’s business development manager for the Gulf Coast region. Foremost, he says, is the greater geographic footprint in which BJ operates.

“Globally, although Norson worked off the coast of Africa, we didn’t have any bases there,” Thompson says. “BJ certainly has a far wider coverage and established presence. BJ is in markets, such as the Middle East and the Far East, that were quite a number of years away for Norson.”

BJ gave Norson the “critical mass to reach farther afield” and a wider client base, Thompson says.

The Norson acquisition has given BJ a greater capacity to provide turnkey services to clients. “BJ did not have the capability of umbilical testing services [before the acquisition],” Thompson says. “The pipeline work that’s carried out offshore is one of BJ’s traditional services, and can also be complimented by the umbilical services.”

The Norson acquisition also brought strength in remote flooding modules, Thompson says. This equipment can be used in subsea applications to flood pipelines from the seabed and can also be used for hydrostatic testing.

“Norson had a tremendous record in the marine industry, working on naval vessels, and oil tankers,” Thompson explains. “So again, BJ can take advantage of a new, but established part of the market.”

Thompson says BJ’s reputation is so strong that Norson was “delighted” to hear that the company was planning to buy it. So far, he adds, the two have been a perfect match. “It was a tremendous team-up,” Thompson says.

Brain Drain
For all the company’s technological superiority, however, Barden says finding the brainpower to put it all to use in the field has been one of BJ’s greatest obstacles of late. “One of the biggest challenges is the lack of experienced personnel in the growing market,” he says. “The business is obviously in growth mode at the moment in all the geographies we operate in.”

BJ has been aggressive about recruiting newly graduated engineers, he says, and although the company has a fast-track training and mentoring program for them, it can be a tough wait for them to get up to speed. However, Barden adds, the end-result is worth it, as those new recruits bring with them new ideas.

“I think in many respects, it can be quite a positive experience, because bringing those new graduates into the company, they come into the business with a fresh pair of eyes and are in a position to challenge the traditional and customary ways of doing things,” Barden says. “So, I think although there are issues in regards to getting them up to speed, it is very beneficial to bring that new blood into the company and can lead to quite a lot of positive change and innovation.”    

The entire industry is feeling the effects of the lack of qualified engineers. “A general trend in the industry is that with the growth in the business at the moment, we’re seeing more reliance by the oil companies on special service companies such as ourselves to provide expertise on a turnkey basis because they are seeing the same shortage of expertise,” he says.