Sustainability is quickly becoming a necessary element amongst mining and oil & gas companies to incorporate into their business practices. Sustainability can be viewed as an umbrella term that incorporates various efforts a company is taking to have a reduced impact on the planet as well as a greater focus on employee and social wellbeing.
One of the focuses of sustainability is that of the circular economy, or circularity. The premise is
based on a model where the production and consumption of resources and materials are shared, leased, reused, repaired, refurbished or recycled to further their lifespan to avoid or limit the creation of new resources and materials.
Surplus management solutions
At PicklesOil&Gas, we have incorporated our own circular economy opportunity for clients – the Surplus Management Solutions Program (SMS). This initiative helps to support our clients’ sustainability efforts by helping them extend the life of assets whilst minimising unnecessary waste through the reuse and redeployment of both unused and used assets. Our SMS program is aimed at managing oversupply, returned, and outdated assets that businesses may otherwise choose to dispose of through landfills or a scrap process.
One of the first clients to take part in our SMS program was based in Western QLD, with a company who needed assistance with the redeployment of casing/drill pipe. We were approached by the gas company to trial the disposal of used casing. Casing is the pipe that goes into the underground well which, for safety reasons, must be changed within 3 years as per state and federal legislation. As new casing pipes began to replace existing pipes, our client wanted to explore the opportunities that these surplus pipes offered to other industries whilst also bringing transparency to the sale process for their Joint Venture Owners.
Our National Accounts Manager, Steven Wainhouse, rapidly developed an auction facility in the region and created the first casing pipe sale which delivered very positive results both in the sale values and in the efficiency of the solution too.
How circularity is helping rural farmers
Being a niche product offering, sales interest was sparing to begin with but with Pickles’ initiatives and a push towards online auctions due to COVID-19 constraints on hosting in person auctions, we experienced a sudden increase in buyer participation from NT, WA and VIC. As a result of this shift the returns on casing have nearly doubled and kept thousands of tonnes of casing from being scrapped, with most of the casing being reused for fencing in regional farming areas.
These farmers have been seeking casing pipes to replace wooden fencing that was destroyed by bushfires. With help from the State and Federal Governments in the form of the Farmers Agricultural Grant, the purchasing of these casing pipes is both an affordable and sustainable solution for the agricultural industry.
Implementing the SMS program shows the support PicklesOil&Gas has for clients’ sustainability efforts by helping them extend the life of assets and minimising unnecessary waste through the reuse and redeployment of both unused and used assets.
Looking ahead
The success with our QLD Gas client has allowed PicklesOil&Gas to enter into an agreement with DIGATEX Inventory Hub.
This Inventory Hub is a collaboration portal that allows our clients to share their surplus inventory for searching and sharing spare parts between themselves. The Hub has become popular amongst the top five oil & gas operators in Australia, creating an initiative to share their spare parts. Having similar assets and common suppliers, it is estimated there will be significant capital savings by pooling common spare parts whilst providing positive sustainability outcomes.
This new inventory hub will potentially revolutionise the reuse and redeployment of surplus materials and take sustainability to a new level as well as preventing downtime of their facilities by sharing parts in a timely manner. PicklesOil&Gas is the sale partner for all transactions, providing transparency and an arm’s length auditable process.
PicklesOil&Gas leader in WA, Mr Stephen Amy says, “PicklesOil&Gas is delighted to be a partner on this transformative hub. The hub brings more than just dollar savings as the sustainability and reuse approach will benefit all parties including shareholders via the ESG process and importantly the environment benefits through waste minimisation”.
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