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HALLIBURTON SUBSEA AND SOUTHAMPTON UNIVERSITY SIGN AUTOSUB AGREEMENT
ABERDEEN, Scotland — Halliburton Subsea, a division of Halliburton Company's (NYSE:HAL) Energy Services Group, and Southampton University have signed an agreement giving Halliburton exclusive use, in the Oil and Gas and Subsea Cable markets, of the technology and know-how associated with the Autosub development program.
The Autosub development is a continuing program funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) which has successfully designed, built and operated Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV's) for use in environmental and oceanographic research. Autosub, an 'underwater robot', has the ability to navigate a predetermined course collecting data from a suite of sensors. When it returns to the surface, it down loads the data for analysis.
Southampton Oceanography Centre (SOC), a joint venture between NERC and the University of Southampton, has been involved in the program from its inception in 1994 and the AUV and development teams have performed more than 250 operational missions. The vehicle is currently on its way to the Antarctic to commence a series of under-ice missions on behalf of the British Antarctic Survey.
Halliburton Subsea, a leading Offshore Construction, Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) and Survey contractor, intends to build on the know-how from the Autosub Program. Using its experience in the design, build and operation of underwater vehicles, Halliburton will introduce an advanced range of AUV's for use in the field of offshore oil and gas exploration and production. A team of engineers has already started the transfer of technology from SOC and the commercial development to bring Autosub to the offshore market, with trials of a Survey AUV scheduled for the third quarter 2001.
Keith Birch of SOC said, "We are very happy to be part of this agreement. We have always had the hope that the development of Autosub would lead to commercial applications. We hope that the continued development of subsea technology at SOC for science missions, such as the under ice program, will lead to further commercial applications."
The deal, to run over 10 years, should be worth several million pounds to the University of Southampton and will benefit SOC in particular. "This is a very significant licence agreement for the University, SOC and NERC," said Dr Peter Hooper, Deputy Director of the University's Centre for Enterprise and Innovation. "AUTOSUB is a world beating, technologically advanced development and it is exciting to see it taken up by one of the world's biggest companies in the marine survey sector. This is an excellent example of technology transfer, where a major investment in science has now led to an advanced technology with real commercial applications," he said.
Dr Hooper also acknowledged the contribution of DERA to the AUTOSUB program, and confirmed it will also be a beneficiary of the deal.
"The adoption of Autosub technology will place Halliburton Subsea at the forefront of commercial AUV development. Following its extensive analysis of state-of-the-art AUV systems, Halliburton has chosen to use the proven technology of Autosub to position itself at an advanced stage of development. On completion of the program Halliburton intends to deliver an operational system which can significantly improve data quality, acquisition times and safety whilst realising cost benefits to its clients," says John Smith, vice president of Halliburton Subsea.
Founded in 1919, Halliburton Company is the world's leading diversified energy services, engineering, energy equipment, construction, and maintenance company. In 1999, Halliburton's consolidated revenues were $14.9 billion and it conducted business with a workforce of approximately 100,000 in more than 120 countries.
Notes for editors:
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NERC leads in providing independent research and training in the environmental sciences. |
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Southampton Oceanography Centre is a joint venture between the University of Southampton and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). It is one of the world's largest institutions devoted to research, teaching and technological developments in ocean and earth science.
See www.soc.soton.ac.uk/PR/NEWS
Autosub has been developed for the UK's scientific community with funding from NERC. To date Autosub has been used in research on fish stock estimations, mapping underwater sand-banks in the North Sea, making oceanographic measurements in the Strait of Sicily, measuring wave turbulence off the west coast of Scotland, and sampling manganese levels in Loch Etive.
See www.soc.soton.ac.uk/PR/Autosub.html
Autosub will be engaged for research by Dr Andrew Brierley of British Antarctic Survey from 20th January until the 14th February and will be deployed from the research ship RRS James Clark Ross.
See www.marlab.ac.uk/USIPS/USIPS.htm |
Contact
Julie MacGregor
julie.macgregor@halliburton.com
Halliburton Company
Public Relations
Aberdeen
(p) 44.1224.777.182
Kim Brown
Autosub Press Officer
(p) 023.8059.6170
Zelma Branch
zelma.branch@halliburton.com
Halliburton Company
Public Relations
Houston
(p) 713.676.7067
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