Air Cargo – At The Heart of The Oil and Gas Industry a report by Volga-Dnepr Group
It is a scenario well known to oil and gas corporations across the globe: a big and vital piece of equipment has broken, production has stopped and the cost in terms of lost revenue is running into millions of dollars.
For so many years, the requisition of a replacement spare part often involved long journeys by road and slow sea crossings taking weeks. Today, it is a very different story thanks to the foresight of a military economist who, with a group of enthusiasts, in 1989, took the bold step to retire from military service and inspire the creation of a new market for outsize and heavyweight air cargo. His name is Alexey Isaikin and his company is Volga-Dnepr Group. Having found a niche in the commercial market for using the former military aircraft, Antonov AN-124, he initiated conversion of this aircraft into the civil version, AN-124-100 (see Figure 1) and continuation of production of the AN-124-100 – which could have been dramatically terminated back in 1990 – until 2003. Underpinning its rapid growth and development over the past 20 years has been the unique operational capability of the AN-124-100, a giant ramp aircraft. With its 36.5m-long
For so many years, the requisition of a replacement spare part often involved long journeys by road and slow sea crossings taking weeks.
cargo cabin, ramp loading capability, nose and rear doors, 120 tonne maximum payload and the ability to dwarf the load and operational capability of the more traditional Boeing 747, the AN-124 freighter is now frequently called upon to support oil and gas projects worldwide.
Some would say the solution has come just in time – with the world’s supply of natural energy resources fast disappearing. Reports state that at the end of 2008 there were 1,258 billion barrels of proven oil reserves. Based on a production rate of close to 30 billion barrels a year, that equates to just 42 years of oil left at the current rate of production. The reserve lifetime for natural gas is only marginally better at just over 60 years.
If these predictions are true, the world will run out of oil in 2050 and natural gas less than 20 years later. As a consequence, oil and gas companies are increasingly extending exploration into geographic areas where their reliance on a proven logistics infrastructure and in air cargo in particular, is greater than ever. In locations such as Antarctica, Africa and islands in the Pacific Ocean, even the roads that do exist can be slow and unsafe for sensitive and valuable oil and gas exploration and production equipment. The ability to deliver such equipment by landing
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a large transport aircraft close to the exploration or production site is now a much more preferred option – even if it means having to build a runway. The exploration and production industry is not only about oil and gas, but also about people who serve this industry, so ramp aircraft can easily transport equipment such as portable houses and generators – all life-supporting equipment.
Using ramp cargo aircraft such as the AN-124-100 and the Ilyushin IL-76 (see Figure 2) is ideal because of their design capability to operate in remote airfields as well as major airports, as these types of aircraft are self-sustained and do not require any special equipment for loading/offloading, so can operate at different airports.
Dennis Gliznoutsa, Group Commercial Director (Charters) for Volga-Dnepr, has been closely involved in the growth of the company’s oil and gas business. Gliznoutsa says: “Since 1996, we’ve successfully operated more than 450 flights using our fleet of AN-124 freighters for customers in the oil and gas market. This has seen us deliver around 40,000 tonnes of vital equipment and the supplies necessary to support a large on-site team (see Figure 3). In addition, we moved a further 2,500 tonnes over 100 flights using our 50-tonne-capacity IL-76 cargo aircraft.”
In fact, the smaller capacity but equally capable IL-76 is highly sought after to support oil and gas projects and reported a 150% increase in oil and gas project work in 2010 compared with the year before.
For Volga-Dnepr every phone call produces a new challenge. This is a business that has earned its award-wining reputation by providing air cargo solutions unmatched by other means of transport. Some flights – such as with replacement equipment needed to resume pumping oil – have to be airborne within hours. Other projects can be months, even years in the planning before a single flight takes place.
Not surprisingly, this level of expertise has attracted a blue-chip client base that includes the likes of Exxon, BP, Lukoil, Total, ExxonMobil, Shell, Agip and Gazprom.
One of the examples is the Chad project for ExxonMobil that was performed by Volga-Dnepr. The airline carried 7,000 tonnes of cargo and performed about 100 flights from the US, Europe and the United Arab Emirates to N’Djamena, the capital and largest city in Chad (see Figure 4). Due to the lack of a proper road infrastructure in Chad, ExxonMobil recognised the need to use air transportation. This resulted in the company being able to launch oil extraction earlier.
Major energy companies recognise that timely and predictable logistics must be at the heart of everything they do out in the field because it is one of the most critical components in their success. From a time many
© TOUCH BRIEFINGS 2011
Transportation & Logistics
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