trunkline - Woodside

trunkline
The magazine for Woodside people | Q4 2013
1
FLNG pioneer joins in Browse effort 4-5
Goode signs for bright future 6-7
Adding value 8
Future for LNG is now 9
Leading by example 10-11
Raising the bar 12-13
Simply the best 14-15
Figuring it out 16
10
6
4
Meeting the challenge 17
Change of environment 18
Runs on the board 19
Healthy addition 20
Sharpening skills 21
Editor
Kellie Bombardieri
t: +61 8 9348 6743
Journalist
Mark Irving
T: +61 8 9348 6293
Administrator
Natalie Brown
t: +61 8 9348 5728
Email
[email protected]
Photography
Aaron Bunch
Ross Swanborough
On the cover
Tons of effort: Clark Curedale, Rod “Rocket”
Sermon and Steve Yates have more than 90
years of Woodside experience between them.
We’ll catch up with the them and other longtime Woodside workers throughout 2014, the
company’s 60th anniversary year.
Picture: Aaron Bunch
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trunkline | Q4 2013
Design
Silverback Creative
Printing
Quality Press
Trunkline is published four times a year by Woodside Energy
Ltd. Back issues of Trunkline are available for viewing on the
Woodside website and intranet.
the
energy in
our
lives
A day in the life of... an offshore operator 22-23
In search of adventure 24-25
Limbering up 26
Record effort 27
Webb of knowledge 28
Keeping the plant full 29
Feeding a need 30
Top effort 31
Shining stars
32
33
18
No opportunity wasted 33
Expressing thanks
34
Think pink 35
Canvas for creativity 36
World of fun
37
Road to a healthier future 38-39
Random Discoveries 40-42
Final Frame Evidence
of the hard work and ingenuity of
Woodsiders abounds.
Check out the impressive list of winners and finalists in our
annual Woodside Awards to see just a snapshot.
In fact, read through this magazine and you’ll find it is filled
with stories of progress and the people driving it.
Our company, which celebrates its 60th anniversary in 2014,
fully appreciates the commitment of its people.
43
been long-term contributors to the Woodside journey.
This includes people such as Stuart Coles, who is the
Karratha Gas Plant’s longest-serving employee.
As Stuart says, Woodside offers lots of opportunities
to build a career full of diversity, challenge and reward
- a great prospect for all of us working to achieve the
company’s aim to be a global leader in upstream oil
and gas.
We have a great past and an exciting future.
That’s why it is launching a 20 Year Club for those who have
Trunkline is printed on New Life Recycled coated paper, which is sourced from a sustainably managed forest and uses manufacturing processes
of the highest environmental standards. Trunkline is printed by a Level 2 Environmental Accredited printer. The magazine is 100% recyclable.
3
FLNG pioneer joins in
Browse effort
Marc
Cleuziou has a long history
with floating LNG (FLNG).
In fact, few people in the world,
let alone Australia, have links with
this innovative technology that date
as far back. And Marc is applying
this experience in his position as
Development Manager for the FLNG
Facilities in the Integrated Woodside
Shell Development Team working
on the proposed Browse FLNG
Development.
Marc’s first job as a graduate
engineer was in 1997 with Shell in
the Netherlands, where engineer Alan
Bliault had just sold the oil multinational
a “game changer” proposal of a
floating LNG production plant.
Mr Bliault and two young engineers set
about demonstrating if the idea of a
“floater” was feasible.
“It was really a blank sheet of
paper,” recalls Marc, one of those
two engineers and now a senior
development engineer at Shell.
“We developed the idea with a multidisciplinary team made up of upstream,
marine and LNG engineers. And then
we started looking at opportunities
among Shell’s reserves which could be
developed using a floater – in Nigeria,
Namibia and in Australia.”
None of the opportunities came to
fruition in the early years, but 14 years
on and the millions of man hours
of research are about to prove their
worth through Shell’s ground-breaking
Prelude project.
Marc, now 43, is pleased to see the
concept taking shape.
And though an FLNG pioneer, it’s quite
coincidental that he’s found himself
in a part of the world where FLNG is
about to make its debut.
Marc now lives near Perth’s beaches
with wife Christine and 10-year-old
son, Mathis, but he’s quite the globetrotter.
Born in Germany to a French father
and German mother, he spent most
of his first nine years in France, before
attending secondary school and
university in Germany.
When he was 16, he was an exchange
student in Indonesia, which ignited his
interest in travel.
He spent a year in China during his
university studies, and after working
on FLNG in the Netherlands for three
years, he worked in the UK, Italy and
Malaysia. As a result, he’s fluent in
German, French and English, and
conversant in Dutch, Italian and Malay.
Today, he’s based on the 12th floor
of Woodside Plaza – one of the Shell
staffers working hand in hand with
Woodsiders on the proposed Browse
FLNG Development.
Marc’s first job when he arrived in
Australia in 2009 was looking at new
developments for Shell.
After working on a number of Shell
development projects, he joined a
small team examining FLNG as an
option for developing the Browse
resources, where he worked with
Woodsiders, including Daniel Bathe,
now Browse Development Manager.
“It was the first time that I’d worked
with Woodside and it was a great
experience,” he says of that early
partnership.
“The work we produced in a
small team – to look at the floater,
subsurface, production models and
how everything might be integrated was high quality.
“We established a lot of trust while
working together trying to evaluate a
potential FLNG solution for Browse.
We worked together as a team and
shared our knowledge and experience
to reach a common goal.”
These sentiments are echoed by
Daniel Bathe.
“There was a high degree of
cooperation amongst the team and we
laid a strong foundation for the work
now being undertaken on the Browse
FLNG development concept,” he says.
“The Woodside-Shell integrated team
continues to leverage this work and
is making good progress on the work
required to support a Browse Joint
Venture decision in 2014 to commence
Front End Engineering and Design
(FEED), enabling a final investment
decision to be taken in 2015.”
Marc is confident about FLNG and that
it’s a concept whose time has come.
“From a Shell point of view, FLNG
has to work,” Marc stresses. “We’ve
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trunkline | Q4 2013
Getting along: Marc Cleuziou of Shell and Daniel Bathe of Woodside say the two companies are cooperating closely on the proposed
Browse FLNG development. Scaled down: Chief executive officer Peter Coleman (opposite page) inspects an FLNG model in South Korea
put an enormous effort into the FLNG
concept – more than we normally do
for a stand-alone project – to make
sure we’ve got it right.
“There are two reasons for that: firstly,
it’s new technology. Secondly, we see
FLNG as an ongoing program, not a
one-off project, so it’s worth investing
more upfront.
“I think the industry is embracing
FLNG and, over time, we’re going to
see more and more FLNG facilities.
“We believe there may be many
offshore resources where FLNG might
be the only commercially viable option.
“So the approach that we took
developing the FLNG concept was
different from a one-off platform
development. This was very much
conceived as a program from very early
on.”
Shell calls its strategy “Design One
Build Many” or D1BM for short.
“The principle is ‘spend the time
upfront to get it right, learn from one
another and not redesign everything
for the next one’,” Marc explains.
“The Prelude and proposed Browse
FLNG facility designs will be very, very
similar,” Marc predicts. “I would argue
that unless you knew what to look for,
you wouldn’t see a difference.
“The water depths and metocean
conditions where the proposed
Browse FLNG facilities will operate are
different than those for Prelude, and
the MEG plant is also different. “But
overall, 90 per cent of the design will
be the same,”
Marc is also confident about the safety
of FLNG and points to 15 years of
research that has looked at all aspects
of the design, installation and operation
of an FLNG facility. Of particular
relevance to offshore WA, extensive
computer simulation and wave tank
modelling has been completed to
understand the impacts of extreme
weather conditions.
“We’ve done a lot of work that has
determined the FLNG facility is more
than capable of withstanding one in
10,000 year weather conditions,” he
says.
The focus on safety is something that’s
extremely important to Woodside, as
Daniel Bathe explains.
“Woodside has significant experience
and a strong track record as a safe and
reliable LNG producer and operator.
The safety of our people is absolutely
paramount,” he says.
“While FLNG is a new concept, it
integrates practices, processes and
equipment that are well known and
proven in the oil and gas industry.
“The work we are undertaking now
will ensure the Browse FLNG facilities
are designed, installed and operated in
manner that protects our people and
the environment.
“As operator of the Browse FLNG
Development, Woodside is responsible
for taking this project through the Basis
of Design and FEED phases.
“We have a strong team of
Woodsiders working on Browse across
areas such as reservoir development,
subsea and pipelines, drilling and
completions, health and safety, and
environment. These are all areas where
we have significant experience and can
leverage our core capabilities to deliver
a high quality development.
“It’s an exciting time to be at
Woodside and there are great
opportunities for our people to be at
the forefront of this game changing
FLNG technology.”
5
Goode signs
for bright
Woodside
welcomed
another new addition to our LNG
carrier fleet in October, with a naming
ceremony for the Woodside Goode
held at the Daewoo Shipbuilding and
Marine Engineering (DSME) yard in
Okpo, South Korea.
The vessel – named in honour of our
former chairman Charles Goode – is
the first LNG carrier commissioned by
the company that is not aligned to a
specific Woodside-operated project.
Instead, it will play a key role in
the development of Woodside’s
global LNG trading business, to be
undertaken by the company’s newly
opened Singapore office.
Building on Woodside’s proven
capability in LNG trading and shipping
activities, the 294 metre, 160,000 m3
capacity vessel will transport thirdparty LNG volumes identified by the
Singapore office to customers in Asian,
Middle East and South American
markets.
This will enable us to grow our
footprint across the emerging shortterm and spot LNG market, which has
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trunkline | Q4 2013
future
grown from just 2% of total global LNG
trade in 2001 to almost 30% today.
Employing latest-generation
technology, the Woodside Goode is
very fuel efficient with low levels of
LNG “boil off” (loss of vapour from the
LNG tanks), making it ideally suited for
the long voyages it will make between
markets in the Atlantic and Pacific
basins.
Like its sister ship the Woodside
Rogers, also constructed at the DSME
yard in 2013, the Woodside Goode will
be operated by leading international
shipping company Maran Gas Maritime
Inc.
“Other opportunities may include subchartering to third parties and providing
back up to our Pluto LNG fleet
when these vessels undergo routine
maintenance.”
Speaking at the ceremony, Peter
highlighted the role that Charles had
played in expanding the company’s
relationships with the Asian region.
This included the contract to supply
LNG from the North West Shelf to
China, and a Sales and Purchase
Agreement with South Korea’s largest
gas buyer, Korea Gas Corporation,
both signed during Charles’ time as
chairman.
Chief executive officer Peter Coleman,
who represented Woodside at the
naming ceremony, said the Woodside
Goode would be a “trailblazer” for the
company.
Charles and his wife Cornelia – who as
sponsor had the honour of blessing the
new ship and breaking a champagne
bottle on the hull – said they were
thrilled that the Woodside Goode
would bear their name as it crosses the
globe on Woodside business.
“We envision this ship playing a variety
of roles as Woodside takes forward our
growth projects and builds LNG trading
capacity in an increasingly flexible
market,” Peter said.
“It’s not the sort of thing that you
ever expect, but it’s certainly a great
honour,” Charles said.
“I remember being in Karratha to see
our first LNG tanker take gas to Japan
Setting sail: The Woodside Goode (above)
was named in honour of our former
Chairman Charles Goode. He and his wife
Cornelia (far left) say they are thrilled that
the ship that bears their name will travel
the globe on Woodside business. Our CEO
Peter Coleman (second left) described the
vessel as a trailblazer.
in 1989. It’s a huge pleasure to be in
Korea for this ceremony.”
Being in South Korea to witness a new
Woodside LNG carrier being named in
his honour was a great way for Charles
Goode to reconnect with the company
he served as chairman from 1999 to
2007.
During this period, Charles was at the
centre of several events that were to
play a key role in the company’s recent
history.
This included Shell’s attempted
takeover of Woodside in 2001, which
put the company on the front pages of
the nation’s newspapers and prompted
the Commonwealth Government
to block the bid on national interest
grounds.
“Our worry was that Shell would look
to synchronise our projects coming
to market with their own projects in
the region in places such as Malyasia,
Brunei and Sakhalin, whereas we were
interested in developing our resources
for the good of Australia,” Charles said.
“Given they were starting off with
a 34% holding it was very hard to
imagine them not getting a majority.
We believed there was a legitimate
argument to put to the government
that we were Australia’s national oil
and gas company and deserved to
be preserved as such. And we also
thought that it was not in the interests
of shareholders to sell at that time.
“Our arguments prevailed and I’m
very pleased they did. Since then
Woodside has forged ahead and
become a great Australian company.”
One of Charles’ final acts as Chairman
was to sign off on a final investment
decision for the Pluto LNG Project, a
commitment that represented more
than 50% of the company’s market
capitalisation.
“It was a huge commitment, but we
could see that Pluto was really the
future of the company,” Charles said.
“If you’re fortunate enough to find a
deposit that can be developed then
you really need to have the courage to
go ahead and develop it.”
A keen observer of the industry and
broader Australian business scene,
Charles continues to follow Woodside
closely.
“What I’ve seen in recent years has
been very pleasing,” Charles said.
“We’ve maintained the adventurous
spirit that we’ve always had while
developing a more balanced set of
skills and a very professional approach,
establishing ourselves as a truly
leading oil and gas company.”
7
Out and about: General manager finance Mike Williams discusses audits in the North West with finance graduates Georgina Forbes (left)
Trent Dell’orso and Sarah Peyman.
Adding value
It’s
become a well-trodden path for
the Pluto graduate accountant.
Every year the latest recruit gets to
escape their desk at Woodside Plaza
and venture to the North West to audit
an Indigenous organisation in the North
West that Pluto LNG sponsors or
supports.
The idea is for the graduate to develop
an understanding of Indigenous culture
and the programs supported under
Woodside’s Conservation Agreement
with the Australian Government.
It is the brainchild of Mike Williams,
now general manager finance, but
Pluto’s finance manager when he
devised the program more than three
years ago.
Mike says: “My perspective has
two elements – my wanting to make
sure the graduates get a breadth of
experience and knowledge base to
go forward with their careers; and
ensuring they do more than sit behind
a desk, which can be the nature of the
business we’re in.
“It takes them out of their comfort
zone and challenges them. I saw a real
benefit in giving the grads some leftof-field experience.
“It’s not about instantaneous business
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trunkline | Q4 2013
benefit but getting into their heart and
soul of what the business is about.”
Sarah Peyman was the first of the
graduates to take part in the program.
In 2011 she visited Roebourne and
audited Weerianna Street Media – an
Indigenous-owned and operated
multimedia company of which
Woodside is the foundation sponsoring
partner and which runs the Digital
Dreamtime Project.
“I didn’t know what to expect but it
was really interesting and very different
from St Georges Terrace,” Sarah says.
Her visit lasted two days and one day
was given over to a tour of the Pluto
LNG plant which occurred prior to start
up.
Trent Dell’orso travelled to the North
West last year to visit the pilot ranger
program at Murujuga National Park and
the Roebourne art projects.
“My perspective was looking at the
pilot rangers scheme which at that
stage was very much in its infancy,”
says Trent, now an accountant in group
reporting.
“It was about getting to know the
projects we were funding such as the
Weerianna Street Media and Big hART.
“I hadn’t been up to Roebourne prior
to that and had my own perceptions
about what it would be like. To get up
there away from the world of finance
and understand the impact Woodside
has on the community was fantastic.
“The Big hART project was setup
in a local house kitted out with
different types of music, media and
sporting equipment sport – it was just
fantastic.”
Georgina Forbes was this year’s
graduate.
She flew up to the Pilbara in
November, visited Deep Gorge and
the site of the Flying Foam Massacre,
and then completed the audit of the
Murujuga Rangers.
“We provide sponsorships and the
audits are about checking that the
funds are being spent on the activities
they’re meant for,” explains Georgina.
“The audits are of a general nature –
matching invoices with their records
and talking to them about their
processes.”
Georgina says accountants spend a
lot of time sitting behind computer
screens at their desks.
“So it was nice to get out and do
something different,” she adds.
Future for LNG is now
Pluto
LNG is developing a new
organisation model with a focus on
maintaining Woodside’s competitive
edge through the operational phase of
the plant.
Next year the transition will begin to
this new organisational model, Pluto
Future LNG, which features asset
management and technical support
based in Perth.
The plan is to “go live” in 2015.
Daniel Kalms, general manager
production Pluto, explains it’s a big
step but necessary as Woodside
aspires to improve Pluto’s
performance.
“We want it to be the best LNG asset
in the world and implementing this
model is one component of reaching
that goal,” Daniel says.
The changes are the result of a lot of
work and reviews to determine the
best way for Pluto to proceed.
Daniel says change is inevitable now
that Pluto has successfully completed
its start-up.
“Now is the time to set up Pluto for
the next stage of its life – its normal
operations stage – and organise the
asset in such a way that it maintains
our competitiveness and helps us work
towards functional excellence as part
of the Compass,” he explains.
additional bonus – building capability
for Woodside.
“We anticipate by implementing these
changes and demonstrating functional
excellence it will help us build
capability that can be transferred to
operating future FLNG developments
and supports our objective to be a
partner of choice,” he says.
Though the Productivity Challenge
was introduced after Pluto Future
LNG, Daniel believes it will deliver
the perfect tail wind to support the
program and push it along.
The new model will feature a Perth
support centre where asset management
and technical support will be housed.
While rare in the LNG industry,
satellite operations support is not a
new concept and offshore assets have
been supported this way for many
years. But for Pluto, Daniel stresses,
it will mean remote surveillance, not
remote operations.
“Control will still be on the asset,” he
emphasises.
As for personnel changes, he says
Woodside is conscious not only of the
importance of its workforce but also
that the changes inevitably will impact
on employees and their families.
“We are very conscious of behaving in
a way consistent with our values. So
we are always checking: Is this valuesbased behaviour? Are we considering
our employees? Is our overarching
approach consistent with the
Woodside Compass and our values?”
But Daniel explains the new model
for Pluto has the additional benefit
of enhancing the range of options
available for Woodsiders.
“We’re essentially creating more choices
for our employees,” says Daniel.
“Through this model, we’ll be able to
offer site-based roles at Pluto, as well
as provide the opportunity for LNG
asset support in Perth.”
Daniel states not only is Future LNG
necessary, but he is confident it will
ultimately be to Woodside’s long-term
benefit.
“By virtue of us getting better and
finding better ways of working, all this
opens up new opportunities for us,”
he says.
“What we’ve done so far has been
successful; but we need to change to
reflect the fact there’s a competitive
environment out there and we need to
get better all the time.”
The changes evolve from Woodside’s
experience as an LNG operator and
offshore operator – or, as Daniel puts it,
“drawing on the expertise we already
have in the business and bringing them
together.”
“Future LNG brings together those
things to a model that works for Pluto,”
says Daniel.
And though the need to remain
competitive and strive to be world
class is a clear business driver, he
says there is an ancillary benefit or
Future focus: Senior vice president Pluto Julie Fallon and production technician Troy
Rodger discuss Pluto’s vision to be the best LNG asset in the world.
9
Hands-on approach: Phil Reid regularly attends pre-start meetings and takes the opportunity to meet people on the frontline to ensure
he is in touch with what workers at the Karratha Gas Plant need to make their jobs easier.
Leading by example
Ask
Phil Reid to describe his role
as general manager of production at
the Karratha Gas Plant (KGP) and he
sums it up in a sentence.
It helps that, to quote the KGP staff
Trunkline spoke to, Phil “speaks their
language”; that “he’s got cred”; that
“he’s pretty down-to-earth”.
“My job is to make it easier for people
at the KGP to do their jobs,” he says.
After all, he has been in many of
their shoes, working an array of roles
at the plant since joining as an inlec
technician in the late 1980s.
This is reflected in his very handson approach. Phil regularly gets out
and about on site, attending pre-start
meetings and talking to the people on
the frontline about how they get their
work done.
“We are all here to produce the gas
that feeds our bottom line,” he says.
“So I really enjoy getting out there and
speaking to people. It makes it easier
for me to understand their issues and
to make decisions that help and don’t
inadvertently hinder their efforts.”
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trunkline | Q4 2013
And he worked hard to earn his place.
Phil left school at 15, taking up an
apprenticeship with BP in Kwinana in
1979. The pay was good but he wanted
to stretch his learning and experience.
He kept a close eye on the fortunes
of Woodside, intrigued by this
independent Australian company
making its mark in the world of oil and
gas.
When the right opportunity came to
join, he took it. He also took every
opportunity he could to learn and lead.
“I had an ambition to be a supervisor
by the time I was 30 and achieved this
aim at 27,” Phil says.
“I was just drawn to leadership
positions. Even when I got called up
for jury duty as a relative youngster, I
ended up as the foreman.”
He is also a clear and structured
thinker; inherent traits that came to
the fore when he was asked to work
on a business improvement program
in 1994. He had to cut 30% out of
the KGP maintenance budget in three
months, without compromising safety
or reliability.
It was a difficult but rewarding
challenge in which he learnt a lot,
particularly in regard to continuous
improvement. He not only met his
target but enjoyed doing so.
In his role as a maintenance
improvement coordinator, he gained
greater insight into the design of
systems and processes that guide
workflow.
He appreciates good planning, in fact
he insists on it, but acknowledges that
not everything goes to plan.
A case in point is the time he was
leading the KGP shutdown group. The
LNG4 mixed refrigerant compressor
failed and Phil remembers clearly
taking the call that relayed news of the
problem.
“I was home washing the car when
Stuart Coles rang to suggest that I
come in and take a look,” he says. “It
was the start of a six-week effort to
get things back on track. Almost the
entire site worked very hard, practically
living at the plant, but fully focused.
“We really rallied together and that
spirit of cooperation and determination
was really something special.”
Now the occasion is memorable for
another, more light-hearted reason.
A bouncy castle was brought in on
Fathers’ Day and set up in the car park.
The families of workers were invited to
come in to work to see dad, enjoying
some time out with their hard-working
loved ones.
“I was a bit concerned at the time how
I would explain an injury if someone fell
off the bouncy castle!,” Phil says.
Next up for Phil came a stint as an
operations area superintendent then an
appointment as ops manager of LNG.
After the start-up of LNG5, KGP
was set the objective of getting the
LNG reliability back to top quartile
performance. As the operations area
superintendent, Phil led the team.
They analysed gaps, looking for
ways to improve, developed budgets
and mapped out plans to safely and
successfully implement the changes.
“It was a slow burn but then we got
rapid traction and achieved our goal,”
he says.
Soon after, he moved to Pluto, playing
a key role in the handover of the plant
from construction to production, then
through to start-up.
It was an exciting experience but “full
on”, drawing on a lot of the skills Phil
had built up over the years.
From there, he took on the general
manager role at KGP.
“The opportunities at Woodside are
endless,” he says. “The pathways are
there and anyone can succeed if they
are determined enough.
“I’m really passionate about the
Compass as it sets the scene for our
future with even more opportunities.
“Here in Karratha, where the
company’s two gas plants operate, we
are mindful of the part both assets play
in being a partner of choice.
“If we operate safely, reliably and
efficiently, being the best facilities
in the world, we will go a long way
towards ensuring this.
“We not only contribute to the base
business but demonstrate what a good
and capable partner we are; a partner
of choice.”
11
Raising the bar
If
the right culture and mindset have
been adopted and the right leadership,
tools and systems are in place,
what is the potential for continuous
improvement at Woodside?
That was the question posed to a team
of the company’s leaders who recently
visited Singapore and Japan to witness
continuous improvement, or CI, in
action.
It was also the potential considered by
divisional CI champions who took part
in a similar tour in December.
Brad Russell-Lane, our vice president
of continuous improvement, says CI is
the foundation for delivering excellence
as described in our Compass – “We
achieve great results. We learn. We get
better.” So it made sense to “go and see” and
“not assume” what some of the best
exponents of CI in the world were up to.
“A CI mindset is developed over many
years where every employee in the
organisation continually works to solve
problems and eliminate waste,” Brad
says.
“Woodside’s CI journey started with
training and education being deployed
initially in Perth and across all levels
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of the organisation, including our
executive team.” The recent tour of Rolls Royce
aerospace’s new manufacturing centre
of excellence in Singapore and the
Toyota and Denso facilities in Nagoya,
Japan by Woodside leaders marked
another step in the ongoing effort.
It was led by Brad and included a
representation of executives from
across the company namely Lawrie
Tremaine, Shaun Gregory, Jeroen
Buren, Alastair Bruce, Philip Allison,
David Young and CI manager Jose
Ruiz.
Lawrie says he was impressed by
the drive, purpose and unity of the
workforces they visited. “These companies are relentless in the
identification and elimination of waste
to achieve improvements of their
processes,” he says.
“They all had a clear mission which
was translated into very specific
and visible targets for each team
and individual. You had a sense that
everyone was pulling in the same
direction. “All of the improvements are driven by
employees who are deeply committed
and are recognised for their efforts.”
Jeroen notes Toyota’s “active
supervision”, whereby a supervisor is
called immediately when there is an
issue and helps to solve that issue. “And at Denso, we saw examples
of how the frontline operators had
become so knowledgeable about their
production line they were actually
driving some of the company’s new
product developments.”
David admits to having had doubts
before the trip that mass production
management techniques could be
implemented in Woodside’s business.
“I now realise that 90% of our
management and cultural needs are
the same,” he says.
“Our Compass provides the cultural
space for continuous improvement
and if we adopt or adapt many of the
practices we saw in action then we will
create a more productive and satisfying
place to work.”
These sentiments resonated with four
of our divisional CI champions who
took part in a McKinsey-hosted CI tour
of Japan in early December.
Ashleigh Hahn, Elena Mavrofridis,
Gregoire Fifis and Janny SpilsburySchakel, representing various
divisions from corporate and finance
Go, See, Learn: (Clockwise from left)
Our vice president of continuous
improvement Brad Russell-Lane gets
his hands dirty during a visit to TSK in
Japan; Woodside executives call into
the Rolls Royce factory; Ashleigh Hahn
meets workers at Omron; and Elena
Mavrofridis joins in TSK’s cleaning
effort.
to production, HSE, technology and
development, all took part.
The team visited Toyota, Sho Logistics
(a logistics provider to Toyota), TSK
which manufactures circuit boards,
OMRON which manufactures
sensors and blood pressure readers
and Kobelco which manufactures
excavators.
The group not only heard from the
CEOs and line employees of these
companies, they also got their hands
dirty on the shop floor.
A highlight was meeting former Toyota
production system executive Kato Isao
who trained under, and reported to,
the father of LEAN (the CI philosophy
developed by Toyota), Taiichi Ohno.
Kato-san answered many questions
from the group covering everything
from how Toyota develops its people
to the CI tools he believes are critical
to any organisation for continuous
improvement success.
At TSK, President Mr Yoshihito Tanaka
stressed the importance of cleaning.
Tanaka-san tested his theory (that
a clean organisation sets the stage
for improvement and transforms
performance) by starting to clean his
local park. He then transferred the
philosophy into his company, which
has grown significantly since the global
financial crisis and despite increasing
competition in the sector.
The Woodside team were up early the
day they visited TSK, joining Tanakasan and factory workers cleaning the
machines (as they do every morning)
before the first shift started at 8am.
At Omrom, where 80% of employees
are disabled, many in wheelchairs, the
motto is “no charity but a chance.”
The organisation competes with the
best in the business, delivering power
supplies, sensors and blood pressure
readers globally.
Ashleigh says the visit was
inspirational.
“This stable workplace for people
with disabilities, where everybody
challenges themselves to always do
better, has delivered over 10,000
improvements so far this year, that is
over 70 improvements implemented
per person per year,” she says.
Elena took a lot from the visit to
Kobelco in Hiroshima.
“Their improvement aspirations are to
double productivity and to halve the
production lead time of excavators for
the international market and I have no
doubt they will deliver that,” she says.
“They drive a fun workplace where
everyone is improving their work and
working environment, including in their
staff canteen, every day.
“Despite the intensity of their work –
welding, painting and machining – it
has to be the cleanest shop floor I have
ever seen.
“When I saw a small tractor delivering
parts with a vacuum cleaner attached
cleaning the floor of the factory at the
same time I knew that this company
had a mature CI mindset.”
Brad says a few key takeaways
from the “go, see and learn from
the best” tours will be matured over
the next few months, adjusted to
Woodside’s environment and rolled
into Woodside’s CI plan.
“I am truly excited about how high the
performance bar can be raised when
a CI mindset is truly embedded in an
organisation and that is our goal.
“We all need to be part of it, coming
up with improvements daily and
implementing them.” 13
Working together: Production Excellence manager Gregoire Fifis (pictured bottom right) says the initiative would not be a success
without the “heavy lifting” of people at the coalface of our operations. He is impressed by ideas and will to achieve.
Simply the best
Production
Excellence
manager Gregoire Fifis’s focus is on
simplicity .
But simplicity, he is quick to point out,
is not simple to achieve.
Greg and his team are working hard
to streamline processes and generate
efficiencies within the production
division. They are focused on creating
synergies and making it easier for
people to do the right things, better.
Our Compass describes excellence as
achieving great results, learning and
getting better. With that in mind, it is
clear to see the thinking that underpins
the Production Excellence initiative.
Launched less than a year ago, it
links a series of programs focused on
removing unnecessary complexity
from processes while maximising
productivity, reliability and safety to
develop a more enabled workforce.
Although it will run for five years, its
gains should deliver lasting benefits.
Greg says he feels lucky to have been
identified as a continuous improvement
14
trunkline | Q4 2013
champion for production and
appreciates this chance to contribute
to functional excellence by identifying
and helping to facilitate change that
improves outcomes for people at the
coalface of our operations and for the
business as a whole.
It’s about freeing people from timeintensive activity unrelated to their core
skill so they devote more time to doing
the work in which they can make the
greatest contribution.
He is also grateful for the drive and
commitment of the activity leads who
do the “heavy lifting” onsite, saying
they have really taken ownership
of their roles and embraced the
opportunities.
It looked at the amount of time that
maintenance workers at the Karratha
Gas Plant (KGP) actually got to spend
on the tools.
“The Production Excellence concept
is new and this is both challenging
and motivating,” Greg says. “It’s
rewarding when staff provide positive
feedback on the concept. It shows
how committed they are to improved
business performance.
“It is a journey so, at the start, you need
to invest a lot to get great returns later.”
So what sort of returns can be expected?
Productivity is the big driver. And this
goes hand-in-hand with enabling our
production staff to be the best they
can be.
Tool Time is an excellent example of this.
The result highlighted inefficiencies.
Planning, pre-job preparation and task
close-out chewed up more time than
actually doing the job.
A re-think was required. There was a
clear need for streamlining, improved
clarity and better distribution of tasks.
Now technicians spend less time on
SAP, no longer raise permit requests
themselves and attend prestart
meetings positioned closer to their work
fronts. In an average four-week period,
this more than tripled the amount of
time they got to spend on the tools.
Other areas of immediate focus
include simplifying the technical
Path to excellence
What led Gregoire Fifis to the role of
Production Excellence manager?
change management system (TCMS)
and integrated safe system of work
(iSSoW) as well as improvements
to the management of production
documents.
So how is our workforce responding to
this challenge?
“I will let our frontline do the talking,”
Greg says.
“If they see that Production Excellence
makes a difference, that it makes their
work easier so they can produce more
and enjoy greater job satisfaction, then
we will have achieved our main goal.
“I believe we have no alternative but
to deliver on this if we want to become
the partner of choice.
“Hopefully, after five years, everybody
will be a continuous improvement
champion; that’s the mindset we
need.”
Vice president production Jeroen
Buren is clear on the ultimate
aspiration.
“Through our people, we will outclass
the emerging competition to become
the most reliable and efficient
Australian oil and gas producer and
partner of choice,” he says.
Well, he began his career with Shell,
working firstly as a process engineer
then becoming the start-up engineer
for a new plant.
After that, he took a role in internal audit.
“This gave me knowledge about
business processes and improvements
on a wide range of business areas, from
marketing to supply chain,” he says.
“My mixed experience, taking in
operations, support and corporate
in different locations, gave me more
ideas on what production excellence
can be and deliver,” Greg says.
“It is all about taking the best ideas,
shaping them and embedding them for
the long term.
“By doing so, you can gain a lot of time
designing and letting the creativity
improve further.
“It is very rewarding work.”
“As one of the only engineers within
a pool of 300 auditors, I was regularly
sent to assets across the world (35
countries).”
This helped hone Greg’s continuous
improvement mindset and opened his
eyes to opportunities for different parts
of the business to work together for
mutual gain.
His next job was back in operations,
preparing for the start-up of a
140,000bbl/d GtL plant as the area
manager for gasification. He was then
involved in the start-up of an LNG plant
on the Russian island of Sakhalin as
head of operations.
At Woodside, he worked first as a
reliability manager before landing the
Production Excellence manager role in
January 2013.
15
Figuring it out
If
you think you spend a lot of time
in meetings, the figures are in and the
news is that you’re not alone.
“We’ve found that Woodsiders spend
about 30% of their time in meetings,”
reveals David Humphrys.
“And people tell us that some of that
time is very inefficient and that there
are parts of meetings they feel are
unproductive and some meetings that
they feel they don’t need to attend.”
The debit ledger is balanced somewhat
by the time consumed by emails: Only
10% of Woodsiders send and receive
more emails than the industry norm.
Such facts, figures and comments
are all taken on board and analysed by
David in his new role as vice president
of organisational effectiveness.
It’s a change of scenery for the West
Australian, but then David’s used to that.
He joined Woodside in 2005 as
our chief information officer after a
career in information technology that
stretches back almost as far as IT itself.
He was a high school maths teacher
in Perth in the 1970s when he decided
he wanted to be part of the embryonic
computer industry.
The Canberra College of Advanced
Education (now the University of
Canberra) was one of the few places
in Australia to offer such qualifications
at that time, so that’s where he went
before spending the next 30 years
working in IT in the resources industry.
Now, his work is focused on improving
Woodside and he sees a major
component as removing work that
does not add value and ensuring
what’s left is as efficient as possible.
people who have done this before,” he
says.
David describes the productivity
challenge as a very aggressive
schedule but something that has been
done before in other companies.
“I have spent my career working
to improve business processes in
resource companies but this is the first
time that I have had the opportunity to
look broadly across all aspects of the
organization at the same time.”
The foundation for all this work and more
is the Woodside Compass, he adds.
This, he explains, will allow the
company to build capability to
deliver on our strategy and plans and
ultimately make Woodside a better
place to work.
“That’s provided us with a set of rules
as to how we operate as a company.
So there’s no debate as to how we
operate. These are our values and
they’re rock solid.”
David’s team on the 11th and 12th floors
of Woodside Plaza has been drawn
from all parts of the company, as well
as consultants from management
consulting firm Bain & Company.
He sees the role of the OE team
as keeping the Woodside compass
alive and to execute company-wide
business improvement initiatives, such
as improvements to the Woodside
Management System and our
compliance processes as well as the
productivity challenge.
“They bring the methodology, a lot of
comparison data and some really good
“All the skills we’ve learnt through the
development and deployment of the
Compass are now being brought to bear
on these and other projects,” he explains.
“We always have an eye on our
culture and see that the work we do
actually enhances our culture and gets
us closer to being a high-performance
organisation all of the time.”
David says he is convinced from
the big response Woodsiders have
given the request for suggestions
for improvements that there is clear
support from the ground up for the
productivity challenge, whose first two
stages – the diagnostic and design
phases – have now been completed.
“I thought this was an ambitious goal
that might be hard to sell within the
organisation,” he notes. “But what
I’m finding surprising it that people are
ready for it.
“They’re keen to participate and I think
there’s a groundswell of support for it
that is greater than I had predicted.”
Man on the street: David Humphrys, vice president of organisational effectiveness, says
there’s clear support from the ground up for the productivity challenge.
16
trunkline | Q4 2013
Busy year: Deb Morrow of the program management office says we’ll need to shift gears in how we do our jobs.
Meeting the challenge
A
new year means a new phase
in the productivity challenge and
Deb Morrow, from the program
management office (PMO), is gearing
up for a busy start to 2014.
With the diagnostic and design phase
of the productivity challenge now
finished, Woodside is entering the next
phase of the journey.
“January,” explains Deb, “is about
mobilising the team to start the
transformation projects. It’s also about
setting ourselves up to deliver on the
promises that we’ve made to ExCom (the
Executive Committee) and the Board.”
The diagnostic phase in late 2013 led the
productivity challenge team to create six
areas or six themes of transformation,
each with a catchword to encapsulate
the goal relating to that theme.
They are volume (maximised), external
spend (optimised), organisation
(streamlined), people (empowered),
process (simplified), and performance
(aligned).
“All of the improvement projects that
we choose to undertake to deliver
the productivity gains will fit into
one of those six themes,” Deb says.
“Throughout the multi-year program,
we will always be targeting a robust
and complementary mix of activities in
these areas.”
Take “external spend”, for example
which offers the most significant
financial value as it will be realised
through cost avoidance (doing the
right things) and cost reduction (doing
things better).
“But if we just concentrated on
external spend and did nothing in the
other themes we would not deliver
the full potential value,” Deb argues.
“For example, there are process
improvements and organisation
simplification opportunities that
impact the way we engage with
external parties – all of the themes are
interrelated and inter-dependent.
“So when we implement the program,
we’ll be sequencing and prioritising
activities within and across the themes
so that we’re always actively tackling
the six themes in one go.”
Deb says she’s been heartened by
the response from Woodsiders to the
productivity challenge as evidenced by
employee participation to date.
The raw figures are impressive: more
than 500 Woodsiders filled in the
productivity survey and another 180
provided improvement ideas via the
intranet. In addition more than 80
workshops have been held across the
functions and business units. All of
this data was then calibrated with the
bottom-up factbase and Woodside
employee survey feedback.
“Of significant note is that every single
piece of data we’ve collected – the
productivity survey, the improvement
ideas, the workshops – supports the
vision of a 20% productivity gain from
workplace improvements,” she says.
The key areas for improvement in the
workplace include quantity and quality
of meetings, clarity of accountabilities,
simplification of our foundation
processes and automation of our
cross-company systems. Deb warns
that attaining the full productivity
improvements is premised on
transformative, sustainable, change
that will take multiple years to deliver.
“The highest amount of effort will
occur in 2014, with change and value
realisation starting early in the first
year,” she predicts.
Not only will that require a clear and
cohesive approach to managing
changes, but Deb adds: “We’ll also
need to shift gears in how we do our
jobs.”
This will see “change specialists”
working alongside the PMO to build
a change framework to ensure we
continue to build awareness and
understanding and demonstrate
commitment to the journey.
The result, Deb says, should be
financially significant, make Woodside
“feel” simpler and foster a continuous
improvement mindset – all essential to
enable future growth and support our
drive towards being a global leader in
upstream oil and gas.
17
Change of environment
It
was Cadbury that first ignited her
enthusiasm for engineering and Esso
that directed her into the oil and gas
industry.
Now Melissa Hill is channelling
her passion for making things into
protecting things in her new position
as Woodside’s vice president
environment and heritage.
When Melissa spoke with Trunkline
she had been in the role only a few
weeks but was already immersed
in the work and was relishing the
challenges it provided.
build a new plant on the Apple Isle
ignited her passion for engineering.
describes, with good reason, as “a
baptism of fire”.
“It completely changed my view on
what I wanted to do,” she says.
She’d signed up just before an oil price
crash, prompting Esso to retrench staff
and put expansion plans on hold.
“From then on I wanted to be a field
engineer. I wanted to roll my sleeves
up, fix things and make things work.
What my teachers had told me was
absolutely right.”
First job out of uni was with Esso
as a graduate engineer which she
Melissa was given the job of
surveillance engineer with
responsibility for three oil platforms in
Bass Strait.
The previous incumbent had been
transferred to fill a hole caused by
“It presents a lot of opportunities
to help and for me it’s also a great
opportunity – I’m working with a terrific
team at the top of their game,” she
says.
It’s not perhaps a predictable move for
the former vice president engineering
but then Melissa has a track record of
venturing outside her comfort zone and
with great success.
Her favourite subjects at school
in Melbourne were English and
humanities and she won a cadetship
at The Age to kickstart a career in
journalism. But both her chemistry
teacher and career adviser were
adamant she had it all wrong.
Engineering, they argued, was the
direction she should be taking.
“They went on quite a campaign to
educate me and open my eyes to
engineering,” Melissa recalls. “But
because I came from a strong rural
background where women didn’t go
into those ‘harder’ areas, I thought
engineering and ‘dirt under the
fingernails’ wasn’t me.”
She came round to the idea enough
to enrol in chemical engineering at
Monash University, but was still
envisaging a career as a white-collar
engineer at a merchant bank or
insurance company.
Then came a trip to Tasmania during
her third year at university, and the
three months spent helping Cadbury
Tree of knowledge: Vice president of environment and heritage Melissa Hill brings a
diverse engineering background to her new job.
18
trunkline | Q4 2013
Esso’s retrenchments, so there was
no handover. Instead, on her very
first week she was flown to all three
platforms to tell managers they had to
cut their budgets by 50 per cent.
But she survived and thrived.
Over the next six years Melissa was
handed a variety of roles – project
manager, construction engineer,
commissioning supervisor, gas-lift coordinator – until she left both Esso and
Australia to go travelling.
She met her husband-to-be, Mark,
in West Timor and spent a couple
of years working in the UK until the
couple moved to Kuala Lumpur and
then to Melbourne.
Melissa worked with Worley Parsons
and Origin, as well as an Esso
contractor again, until she crossed
the Nullarbor to start her career with
Woodside as pre-ops manager with
Browse. “The lure of big gas over
West became too much,” she says
with a smile.
Mark took the chance to change
direction, too. He gave up his career in
finance and became a primary school
teacher and an award-winning writer of
young adult fiction – as well as sharing
the care of their 13-year-old-daughter,
Sally.
After 18 months with Browse, Melissa
moved to facilities engineering looking
after the day-to-day engineering
support for offshore assets and then
back to development planning before
becoming general manager for oil and
gas development.
In July 2012, she was made
engineering vice president and in
August this year accepted a switch to
environment and heritage.
“I’ve always been very passionate
about the environment,” she says. “It’s
certainly been an area of interest.
“I’ve had quite a varied career but
predominantly in engineering, projects
and operations, so this is something
that’s very different. I think it’s a real
opportunity to expand some skill sets.”
At the same time, it connects with her
interest in the outdoors.
Melissa lists diving and wilderness
camping as her interests, as well as the
farm her family owned when growing
up in Victoria.
Taking stock: Woodside and its joint venture partners have funded decades of research
into Scott Reef.
Runs on the board
Melissa Hill says it is possible to
have development and protect the
environment, and Woodside has the
runs on the board to prove it.
What’s more, you can be open and
accountable at the same time, she
adds.
“I wouldn’t want this job if this was a
company that was trying to hide things
and not protect,” she says.
Dampier Archipelago.
Moreover, thanks to the new
technologies employed, it will be
possible later in the Pluto project for
the world’s first recycled effluent
treatment system on an LNG facility
supplying facility service water – a
particularly valuable achievement in
water-constrained Pilbara.
“I also absolutely believe in
development and the need for it and
don’t think you have to create havoc
along the way. I’m quite sure that
Woodside takes that position as well. I
think this company is very much about
sustainable development – there are
some really fantastic things that the
environment team has been driving.
Other areas in environment that
Melissa singles out include the
decades of research work on Scott
Reef (vividly illustrated in the book
Discovering Scott Reef, which
Trunkline featured in Q2 2013) and the
work currently being undertaken on the
Oil Spill Improvement Plan. And at the
other end of the scale, the replacement
of disposable cups by reusable cups for
manned offshore projects.
“And I’m also really excited about
where Woodside is going. Breaking
down the silos, working together and
working with the Compass.”
“A lot of people see oil and gas
companies as evil but when you
actually work in it you find loads of
people who really care,” she says.
Melissa points to a couple of recent
successes, including Pluto LNG
Project’s effluent treatment plant –
which won the Chairman’s Excellence
Award in the Woodside Awards – as
evidence.
“There’s a perception that it’ll all be
messed up and there are no shades
of grey and we don’t care, when the
reality is that there are shades of grey
– we do care and we want to do it
sustainably.”
The plant produces treated effluent
of such a high standard that it is
discharged into the coastal marine
environment without damaging the
environmental or social values of the
Melissa believes the oil and gas
industry’s reputation as environment
wreckers is undeserved and it’s
up to the industry to make people
understand this.
19
Healthy addition
A
successful town is a growing town,
but that also means added pressure on
infrastructure and services.
A period of sustained growth in the
population of Karratha and the wider
Pilbara community has inevitably led to
a corresponding increase in pressures
on health services. Demand for
ambulance services, for example, has
risen by around 15% a year.
Woodside has acted to help alleviate
such issues. Through the NWS Project
and Pluto LNG, the company is helping
fund a new St John Ambulance Sub
Centre in a new, modern facility that
will allow for future expansion for the
community in Karratha.
Penny Bayliss is a health and safety
adviser at the Karratha Gas Plant (KGP)
who has seen the town expand over
many years.
“Being a former nurse and working
on health and safety at KGP, it is very
important that the emergency health
services can meet the growing needs
of the community,” Penny says.
“St John Ambulance provides a
great service. Having the new facility
and new staff in town will be an
excellent addition to the region and will
contribute to improving the health and
wellbeing of our communities.
“In addition to the improvement
in services for the community, the
expanded ambulance service will also
contribute to improving the emergency
response capability for our employees
commuting to and from work.”
Julian Smith, general manager of the
country ambulance service of St John
Ambulance, said: “The ambulance
service in Karratha is highly successful
and has delivered quality care to the
community for many years.
“While the current premises have
served our operations extremely well,
Woodside’s generous assistance with
this project will help provide a large
modern facility to create the ideal
stage to expand and continually evolve
our services for Karratha.”
The project will contribute to improving
emergency response times in Karratha
and allow the continued operation of
a 24/7 ambulance service. This new
centre will also be designed with
space for full-time paramedics who will
complement and work alongside the
volunteers during the day.
The current version of the Karratha Sub
Centre plans includes garage space to
house six 2WD or 4WD ambulances,
larger first aid and volunteer training
facilities and more retail space. There
is also room in the new premises for
St John Ambulance to create a Pilbara
regional office.
Thanks to larger training facilities at the
new sub centre, first aid training within
the community will also be improved.
“Access to immediate first aid in the
workplace, in the family home and
within the community saves countless
lives every year,” Mr Smith said.
“The larger training facilities at Karratha
will go a long way to achieving our goal
to make first aid a part of everyone’s
lives.”
And for the first time, Karratha will
enjoy services and a facility similar to
that enjoyed by residents of other large
regional centres.
Woodside’s investment is part of a
long-term commitment to Karratha, the
Pilbara and its residents.
The project also complements
Woodside and St John Ambulance’s
other programs – first responder
program, and the Karratha first aid
training initiative.
St John Ambulance is currently
recruiting volunteers to join the
growing Karratha Sub Centre and
many other regional sub centres
throughout the state. To find out more,
call 1800 069 393, visit the www.
stjohnchangelives.com.au website,
or email volunteermemberservices@
stjohnambulance.com.au.
Taking care: The new St John Ambulance Sub Centre is part of Woodside’s long-term commitment to Karratha.
20
trunkline | Q4 2013
School’s in: From left, Phil Reid, general manager, production, Karratha Gas Plant, Dr Ken King, chief executive officer of the Pilbara
Development Commission, Thomas Kavanagh, principal of St Luke’s College, Karratha, and Greg Kelly, principal of Karratha Senior High
School, discuss the benefits of the new trade training centre.
Sharpening
Woodside’s
investment in education and training,
its commitment to the Pilbara and its
desire to recruit high-quality staff from
the region have come together with
the establishment of a multi-milliondollar training centre in Karratha – with
another to come.
Work wasn’t even finished on the 40place Trade Training Centre (TTC) before
the announcement was made that a
new Electrical and Instrumentation
Centre of Specialisation would be built
at the Karratha campus of the Pilbara
Institute.
Phil Reid, Karratha Gas Plant general
manager, who himself completed an
apprenticeship at the Pilbara Institute,
says the initiatives will play a key role in
helping Woodside “grow our own”.
“Our apprentices coming through the
ranks of the business are important
in achieving our vision of growing our
own skilled staff,” he points out.
“We want to create pathways for
young people to stay in the Pilbara. We
are now seeing the second generation
of local families coming through the
industry.”
Phil adds that would help create a
sustainable Karratha with a diversified
economic base and amenities.
skills
As for the proposed Electrical and
Instrumentation Centre of Specialisation,
Phil says he is very glad that Woodside’s
investment will assist in providing high
quality training to the current generation
of apprentices in the Pilbara.
“Training will be more relevant to the
needs of all local industries in the
area,” he says.
The TTC, located in St Luke’s College,
is scheduled to open in February and
will deliver early level trade training
skills to students from both St Luke’s
and Karratha Senior High School. The
expectation is the curriculum will build
interest and basic skills in electrical
and instrumentation trades and will
complement the vocational pathways
taught at the Pilbara Institute.
“The collaboration of St Luke’s and
Karratha Senior High School are vital in
this project because it is essential that
trade training complements vocational
pathways at the Pilbara Institute and
curriculum studies in maths, science
and physics,” Phil says.
Meanwhile, construction of the
Electrical and Instrumentation
Centre of Specialisation will begin
in September next year, scheduled
to be completed by October 2015.
It will triple the number of electrical
apprenticeships the Institute currently
offers.
Both initiatives are part of the Karratha
Infrastructure Strategy, through which
Woodside has funded a number of
community infrastructure projects over
the past five years, with the aim of
improving opportunities and quality of
life in Karratha.
The TTC has been funded by
Woodside, through the North West
Shelf Project and Pluto LNG, the
Commonwealth Government and
the State Government through the
Royalties for Regions program.
The Centre of Specialisation will
be funded by Woodside and the
Commonwealth.
From Woodside’s perspective, the
investment comprises a small but
important part of our wider investment
in infrastructure in Karratha.
Since 1984, the company has invested
significantly in the community –
notably in roads, housing, health
services and education – in order to
make positive changes so Karratha
remains a great place to live and work.
Most recently, Woodside has made
major contributions to the Tambrey
Early Learning Centre and the Youth
Shed.
21
Running like clockwork: Tim Kennedy offers some insight into a long but rewarding working day.
A day in the life of… an
offshore operator
Life
on board an offshore platform
is something not many people get to
experience or completely understand.
Offshore operator Tim Kennedy has
been a Woodsider for eight years and
has worked on North Rankin B (NRB)
since May 2012.
Since the start-up of NRB just a few
months ago, North Rankin A (NRA) and
NRB have been known as the North
Rankin Complex (NRC). Today Tim is
part of a multi-disciplined integrated
operations and frontline maintenance
team onboard NRC.
As an operator, Tim is responsible for
ensuring technical and operational
activities on board NRB are monitored
and managed at all times, while
exceeding the health and safety targets
set by Woodside.
If this role isn’t challenging enough,
operators on board NRC have
particularly complex responsibilities.
The NRA, NRB and Angel platforms
22
trunkline | Q4 2013
are all operated from one control
room. Operators working on board any
of these platforms need to have an
understanding of activities occurring
across all three facilities.
While Tim does find it hard being away
from family and friends when he is on
shift, he says he couldn’t go back to a
normal 9-to-5 job.
“There are not many jobs where you
get ocean views from every direction,”
he says. “Not to mention the amazing
food, great recreation facilities and
being surrounded by friends every day
of the week.”
In this article, Tim gives us some
insight into a typical day’s work for one
of our many offshore employees.
4.30am My morning alarm goes off
and I jump in the shower before getting
dressed and heading to breakfast. I
have my first (much-needed) coffee
at about 5.00am then head off to start
my shift.
5.15am I meet up with the nightshift
operator who talks me through the
activities of the previous night and
anything I may need to be aware of. He
heads off to bed and my day officially
begins.
5.30am Pre-start meeting. Held at the
start of every shift, this is a chance for
the team to review the deliverables
for the day. We discuss health and
safety, the state of the facility and any
potential issues we need to be aware
of. We then identify our priorities
before starting work.
6.00am Permit sign-ons. My role here
is to ensure my work party understand
what is required of them and that we
meet all conditions of the permit. I
identify the piece of equipment to be
worked on and show the work party
any relevant isolations. I always ask
my team questions relating specifically
to the permit and safety in the area, i.e.
can you talk me through this lift plan so
I can visualise the lift points/anchors,
etc? Can you show me all the PPE
(personal protection equipment) you
need for this activity?
If I feel there is a conflict with the
system of operation or the work is
unsafe, I will not endorse the permit
and the work will not proceed until the
conflict or hazard is removed.
7.00am I now begin my walk around
the platform to check the operation of
many different types of equipment,
pumps, motors and other materials.
I am looking for performance levels,
minor leaks and other operational
issues that may arise.
When I am doing outside operations
and responsible for a specific area, an
important part of my role is an ongoing
check for any operational issues
and potential conflicts. I continue to
walk around the area and monitor my
work groups as the activities change
throughout the day.
The next few hours are spent
undertaking my normal duties. Firstly
I review the weekly SAP Plan which
is a document or work orders required
to be completed by different groups,
such as maintenance and operations.
Every roster we are given a series of
work orders to complete which include
activities such as Technical Integrity
Checks, isolation schemes and
functional tests.
After these duties are done I spend
some time in the office catching up
on important emails before heading to
lunch.
12.00 noon Time for lunch and a quick
chat with some of the other workers in
the cafeteria.
1.00pm After lunch I usually resume
normal duties. This includes
implementing the isolation schemes
developed for facility maintenance.
Depending on the maintenance activity
required, this may require my team to
drain, vent, flush or purge pieces of
equipment. Some of these isolations
can be extremely complex and take up
to two shifts to implement safely.
3.30pm Permit sign-offs. Once a
task is complete I ensure that all the
conditions stated on the permit are
satisfied. I also work with my team
to ensure the work area has been left
clean, tidy and safe.
4.30pm My shift is drawing to an end
so I spend time filling out the logbook
for the day. This document outlines
today’s events and any particular
issues that may have arisen. This is like
an operator’s personal diary. We use
this book for everything and can refer
back to particular events or activities to
identify why something happened the
way it did.
5.15pm I catch up with my nightshift
counterpart and fill him in on the day’s
activities.
5.30pm Once my shift is finished I
usually head to the gym to burn off
some energy before having dinner
in the cafeteria. When living on the
platform, a lot of the other workers
become like family as we are so
isolated. I enjoy catching up with them
all and we usually find something to
have a laugh about before heading to
our rooms for the night.
7.00pm My downtime for the day!
I call my partner and catch up on
everything happening at home. After
that I may watch some TV or read a
book. I am usually pretty tired by this
time of the evening.
8.30pm After such an early start I am
well and truly ready for bed. I set my
alarm and go to sleep, ready to do it all
again tomorrow.
23
Getting involved: Sarah Ryan (fourth from the left) takes a look around our Karratha facilities with fellow board members Andrew
Jamieson and Melinda Cilento, joined by senior vice president North West Shelf Niall Myles, senior vice president Pluto Julie Fallon and
general manager production Pluto Daniel Kalms. Sarah, who enjoys seeing new places and grasping new opportunities, says Myanmar,
a new country entry for Woodside, is an amazing place.
In search of
Fun,
adventure and a willingness
to try new things have guided what
continues to be a very rewarding
career for Sarah Ryan.
The Woodside board member says
she could not have envisaged where
her working life would take her when
she first signed up to study geology
and geophysics but she continues to
appreciate every step.
It all started with a simple interest
in the science of soft (sedimentary)
rocks.
From there, Sarah has taken a global
journey via many and varied roles in the
oil and gas industry to now land back
in Australia, working from home as
an equity investor and non-executive
director of two boards.
Her first job was as a wireline engineer
with Schlumberger, one of the world’s
largest oilfield services companies.
She had attended a practice interview
with the firm, decided that it sounded
like a good place to work and sought
out a role for real.
24
trunkline | Q4 2013
adventure
Over 15 years, Sarah worked as a
field engineer onshore and offshore,
in research, manufacturing, product
development, marketing and
management in six different countries.
She sought out roles that suited but
stretched her.
“I really like the oil and gas industry,”
she says. “It is global, high tech and
offers you responsibility at a young
age.
“Plus it is so much fun to be a part of
and there is so much opportunity for
progression if you are open to it.”
Not that Sarah is one to wait for
opportunity to knock. She is always on
the lookout for ways to strengthen her
skills and build on her knowledge.
In fact, it was her love of learning
that led to her initial association with
Woodside. Back in the early ‘90s,
while studying at the University
of Adelaide, Sarah completed a
Woodside-sponsored thesis on our
Angel field. She even spent some time
in Perth working with the asset team.
And it was her love of adventure that
led to her taking up a role as the chief
operating officer of MTEM, an oil and
gas technology firm in Scotland.
“It was a start-up so it was all new
and interesting, such an exciting
experience,” she says.
Make no mistake, though. It did
require a leap of faith. Sarah says
it was a difficult decision to leave
Schlumberger, where she had earned
a place as a highly regarded executive,
for the relative unknown but it was
a calculated risk; a well thought-out
logical decision.
So was her next move. Sarah took up
a role with a US-based investment
management firm, Earnest Partners.
It took her oil and gas expertise into
new territory, shifting her focus to the
financial and investor realms.
She loved the work and loved the
chance to hone new skills. There was
only one problem. Her husband and
two daughters did not feel at home in
Atlanta, where the firm was based.
Sarah decided to resign so the family
could head back to Australia.
But when she relayed this news to
her boss, a fresh opportunity was
presented. Why not work from home,
wherever that home may be?
This was an offer too good to refuse.
Sarah and her family moved to
Queensland’s sunshine coast where
Sarah could continue to work from afar.
“Making what was initially a quite
difficult decision because it was the
best thing for my family turned out
better than we could have imagined,”
Sarah says. “We have been very happy
with the way things have panned out.”
And Sarah’s career opportunities have
continued to evolve, too.
As well as her work in the investment
space, she is a director on two boards
– Aker Solutions in Norway and, of
course, Woodside, based in Western
Australia. It involves a bit of travel but
this adds a nice balance to her working
life.
Quick questions
Can a woman have it all? Sarah’s
reply? “Yes, but not all at the same
time. There has to be a bit of give
and take, according to the fluctuating
needs and priorities of you and your
family.”
Where did you meet your husband?
“At work... on a drilling rig... in my PPE.
We weren’t dressed up for a date,
that’s for sure.”
How important has his support been
to your success? “He’s absolutely
wonderful. Early on, for various
reasons, we agreed that I would have
a ‘career’ and he would have a ‘job’.
This allowed us to move around the
world as a family, and for me to take
on more challenging roles. More
recently, he has become a stay-athome dad and ‘gentleman farmer’,
which he loves.”
How do you plan for such a varied and
interesting career? “We plan for about
two years at a time. You don’t know
what opportunities are going to open
up for you so it pays not to be too rigid
in your thinking. Have a direction, be
prepared to take chances and keep
enjoying yourself.”
Your work has taken you around the
world. Does any place stand out?
“Myanmar amazed me. I have vivid
memories of my time there... tales
of equipment carried by elephant,
meeting such hospitable people doing
their best despite sometimes trying
circumstances and the beautiful,
beautiful countryside. There are British
Colonial style hotels and cars from the
‘50s lining the streets, golden pagodas
and gorgeous green fields in the hills.
And there is a desire and commitment
to develop, to achieve, to get better.”
Plus, it’s fun to be able to contribute in
a new and interesting way.
Sarah says she is very pleased to have
joined the Woodside board at this
phase of the companys growth.
“It’s a dynamic, exciting time,” she
says. “The overall company strategy
is clear. We know where we are going
and we have a good base from which
to progress our growth projects,
such as Browse, and build new
opportunities.
“Exactly what those opportunities may
look like is part of the excitement.
“Sure, there is an element of patience
involved as the scene is set but what
an adventure to be helping to shape a
new era.”
It helps that Sarah has great faith in the
Woodside team.
“Michael Chaney is an exceptional
chairman and we have a world-class
board,” she says. “Board meetings
are full of positive, challenging and
supportive discussions.
“We appreciate too that it’s the people
who work for the business day in, day
out that will make the vision a reality
and there is a lot of knowledge and
enthusiasm to drive success there too.
“It’s great fun to be involved.”
25
In good shape: The OPREP team celebrates the success of the tune-up of this key decision-making tool.
Limbering up
Most
Woodsiders will have
heard of OPREP – a decision-making
framework for Opportunity and
Project Realisation from Exploration to
Production.
It aims to ensure we make the right
decisions at the right time to draw
the best value from the development
options available to us.
What you may not know is that OPREP
has been toning up for our journey to
top quartile performance.
It’s been put through its paces to
ensure it is agile enough to support the
decisions that will guide the growth of
our portfolio.
In the words of Robert Edwardes, our
executive vice president of Development,
OPREP has been streamlined to make
it more user-friendly.
“The OPREP framework was
lacking clarity around decisionmaking regarding the progression for
opportunities” he says.
“We sometimes rushed our decisions
to move projects through the gates
26
trunkline | Q4 2013
regardless of the business context or
level of project readiness.“
The improvements can be captured in
five key points:
He saw an opportunity for
improvement and the OPREP team
took it. Over nine months, they worked
with the Development leadership team
and the Project Strategy Group to
deliver a stronger, lighter framework.
• A focus on decision gates rather
than assurance
• Simplified and streamlined process
with fewer decision gates
• Better clarity around deliverables
with effort scaled according to the
risk, complexity and size of the
opportunity
• Effective governance
• Easy access to information through
the intranet
The refreshed version of OPREP
not only makes it easier to identify
when Woodside should pursue an
opportunity but also when it would
be wiser to stop efforts to advance a
project that is not going to deliver the
required value.
OPREP manager Michael Morison says
it makes the way forward much clearer.
Of course, this is all captured more
comprehensively in the finer detail of
the stronger, lighter framework.
“We stop, put on hold and recycle
opportunities where required,” he
says. “Or we consciously decide to
progress the opportunity.
From January, a series of education
sessions will be rolled out to help
everyone understand the changes and
the impact of those changes on their
work and the company’s business
objectives.
“In doing this, there is major value
to Woodside with decision-making
becoming more effective and
efficient.”
The Introduction to OPREP session has
also been redesigned and the next course,
starting in February, will incorporate
the newly introduced changes.
OPREP is ready to roll.
Record effort
Stuart
Coles holds the record
as the longest serving employee at our
Karratha Gas Plant (KGP).
in the middle of summer . . . from
memory it was a blistering 48
degrees,” Stuart says.
high. There are plenty of opportunities
within Woodside if you are willing to go
after them.
This year, he celebrated his 30 th
anniversary with Woodside – and he
has seen a lot of change since he
started as a general service operator at
King Bay Supply Base (KBSB) in 1983.
“The airport terminal was just a 40foot donga. We had to rummage
through a trailer full of luggage to find
our belongings.
Phil Reid, general manager KGP, says
Stuart is well liked around site and
known as the go-to guy for advice.”
“When I started, we were a very
young company,” he says.
“In my first role, I was involved in
supplying and packing drilling rigs
for the North Rankin field. The first
production well was completed the
year I signed on.
“Looking back, I’m proud to have been
part of this major milestone.”
How Stuart came about his tenure at
KGP was less than conventional.
“My father was based in Japan
working on the construction of the
North Rankin A jacket and transferred
to Karratha towards the end of 1981 as
the administration superintendent for
Woodside projects.
“He then moved to KBSB to take up
the role of manager, it was decided
it would be best if I moved to KGP as
it was seen as a conflict of interest
working with my father.
“It took some smooth talking to sell
the place but now I can’t get her to
leave.”
Two months after they arrived, the
young couple (Stuart was then 21 and
Sue 19) welcomed the birth of their
first child, Camerin, in the brand new
Nickol Bay Hospital. Their second child
Stephanie arrived seven years later.
Stuart says working for Woodside has
opened the door to many opportunities
and experiences.
“Over my 30 years, I have been given
so many opportunities, learnt new
skills and tackled new challenges.
“Funnily enough, I have never been
bored with my job and have enjoyed
the variety of every role. I feel a great
sense of pride and belonging having
been part of so many milestones along
the way.
“My advice to future and current
apprentices and employees is to aim
“Having Stuart around with so much
experience is valuable for when we
need to know about what has gone
on in the past, what has worked and
where we can improve. Stuart often
puts these insights into practice on the
jobs he manages and is always willing
to share his experiences with others,”
he says.
And there must be something special
about the Karratha lifestyle. Stuart is
one of five Karratha-based employees
who have been with us for more than
30 years.
In fact, Keith Cahill, KBSB logistics
operator, this year celebrated his 36th
year at Woodside, making him our
longest serving employee.
So what’s next on the cards for Stuart?
Well, he is planning to take a welldeserved rest for a six-month caravan
trek around Australia with his wife.
Their first six-month trip was back in
2010 and they had so much fun they’ve
decided to do it again.
“It turns out that this was possibly the
best move for my future and career
within Woodside.”
Stuart went on to complete a matureage apprenticeship in 1987 to become
a fitter first class machinist. After
working as a mechanical technician
for a number of years, he took on a
maintenance planning role.
Now, several roles on and three
decades later, Stuart is an acting KGP
shutdown superintendent.
“I was raised in the Pilbara region, so
for me it was an easy decision to live
and work in the town. I liked the laidback lifestyle it had to offer,” he says.
But when Stuart and his wife Sue
arrived in Karratha in December 1982,
Sue initially had reservations.
“She was seven months’ pregnant
with our first child when we arrived
27
Webb of knowledge
Eric
Webb, one of Woodside’s key
players in the company’s early years,
passed away in October in Melbourne.
He was 83.
A Queenslander by birth, Eric lived
most of his life in Melbourne and joined
Woodside (Lakes Entrance) Oil in 1959
after managing director Rees Withers
persuaded the Board to employ its first
full-time exploration manager.
Eric, a 29-year-old geologist, then
reviewed the company’s leases. As the
book Fifty Years of Woodside’s Energy
recounts: “Webb urged Withers to apply
for acreage off the Gippsland coast, in
the stormy waters of Bass Strait.
“Seizing the moment, Withers
secured a 2600km2 permit off the
Ninety Mile Beach. Webb wanted
more, but Withers, unwilling to
gamble the company’s slowly
improving finances, told him there
was a limit. It was a decision Withers
later regretted in the light of the Bass
Strait oil discoveries by the Esso-BHP
Joint Venture.”
Eric left Woodside in 1962 to be
a consultant and later became
managing director of Endeavour
Resources (now Endeavour Oil). His
successor was Nicholas Boutakoff
who helped direct Woodside towards
WA’s North West.
Geologist-turned-journalist/author Rick
Wilkinson says Eric was also deeply
involved in organising the first APPEA
conferences in 1961 and 1962.
“One of the old school oil industry
figures, he was scrupulously ethical,
fair and honest,” says Rick.
“He also has a marvellous dry sense of
humour and his wit was rapier sharp.”
Eric joined Lakes Oil NL – a former
Woodside subsidiary bought by
Rob Annells in 1984 – several years
before his retirement and became an
important part of the company.
“Eric talked many times of his time
with Woodside,” Rob, chairman of
Lakes Oil, told Trunkline.
He said one of Eric’s anecdotes
involved managing director Rees
Withers lowering a jam tin down one of
the wells at Lakes Entrance to recover
oil to show investors.
Another had chairman Geoff
Donaldson approving the drilling of
an expensive onshore well and then
chastising Eric for getting a taxi from
the airport instead of the bus.
Rob says he once travelled through a
forest near Lakes Entrance with Eric
– the same road he’d travelled with
many geologists previously without
incident.
But Eric asked Rob to stop the car.
He had noticed subtle changes in the
gum trees, indicating the geology had
changed and they were entering the
area of granite basement they were
looking for.
“He was a very caring geologist who
observed everything and realised that
change, wherever it occurred is for a
reason,” Rob explains. “Unfortunately
this is a quality rarely seen today,
where if the computer does not show
something it’s not there.”
•
28
trunkline | Q4 2013
Trunkline would like to
acknowledge the assistance of
Rick Wilkinson with this obituary.
Full of ideas: Our North West Shelf Long Term Gas Forecasting team has the future in its sights.
Keeping the
Do
you ever wonder how
Woodside ensures the Karratha Gas
Plant is kept full?
It’s one of the key tasks of the NWS
Long Term Gas Forecasting (LTGF)
team which in December assumed the
same responsibility for Pluto LNG, too.
But it’s only one of their tasks.
The LTGF team, based in Woodside
Plaza and part of Reservoir
Management, spends its time
examining, researching and planning for
a host of scenarios and circumstances.
To do this it brings together onshore
facility performance, offshore
constraints and reservoir production.
this requires close collaboration with
the NWS business unit, projects,
production, development planning and
other reservoir management teams.
As gas forecasting manager Yvette
Manolas says: “The forecasting
team is one of the few areas in
the organisation where all project,
production and reservoir interactions
come together to form a complete
picture of the future.”
Plant full
What development concept should be
used for projects such as Persephone,
Greater Western Flank 2 and Lambert
Deep?
What are the long-term (2030-plus)
cost and production implications of
brownfield decisions and how will they
impact Karratha, NRA, GWA and Angel
refurbishment and decommissioning
plans?
How much LNG, Domgas, LPG and
condensate are we expected to
produce? What would be the value
if we could market these products
differently?
What are Woodside’s NWS reserves
figures? And what are the key risks
and opportunities to enhance NWS
production?
Of course, predicting the future is
fraught with risk but what is the
alternative? Forecasting lead Craig
Duarte is fond of quoting Isaac Asimov,
who stated: “No sensible decision can
be made any longer without taking into
account not only the world as it is, but
the world as it will be.”
In the past, things were more certain.
The LTGF’s work includes generating
production and cost forecasts spanning
between four and 40 years (the end of
the NSW life) to develop answers to
some important questions, such as:
NWS production forecasts were
historically constant – production
supply exceeded facility processing
capacity.
When are new developments needed
to keep Karratha full and meet contract
obligations?
But this will change. The NWS is
experiencing smaller and more
complex reservoir tie-ins, as well as
the planning and execution of new
projects and new NWS strategic plans.
Due to this changing nature of the
NWS it is important that current
forecasts are used in planning and
optimisation work and that any new
insights are shared with the LTGF
team. A key risk for any business
is using out-of-date information in
decision-making and analysis.
The Long Term Plan (LTP) provides an
overview of all key reservoir, project,
production and cost assumptions at
the start and middle of the year. These
forecasts are referred to as the 1H LTP
and 2H LTP, respectively.
Examples of work that rely on current
forecasts include maintenance and
facility life extension strategies,
development concept selection and
LNG and gas contract analysis.
The LTGF team is constantly looking
to improve its work and recent
developments include a corporate
“quick look” production forecasting
and economic tool. This tool will
enable desktop production and value
screening by engineers and analysts
across Woodside.
Alternatively production and
cost analysis, optimised system
assessment or detailed decisions
require fully integrated analysis and
the LTGF team should be contacted to
undertake such analysis using DIME or
Maximus, a new and enhanced system
modelling tool.
29
Improving prospects: Redi Komunidade Ikan Di’ak provides training in salt making, dry fish production and business skills.
Feeding a
need
Woodside
and the
Sunrise Joint Venture participants
have formed a relationship alliance
with Timor-Leste non-government
organisation Empreza Di’ak to increase
the capacity of the Atauro Island
community in Timor-Leste.
Redi Komunidade Ikan Di’ak, meaning
Good Fish Community Network, will
provide more than 250 local people
with training on salt-making, dry fish
production and business skills.
Representatives of the Sunrise Joint
Venture travelled to Dili, Timor-Leste,
to attend a signing ceremony to
formalise the relationship and general
manager Sunrise Darren Flynn says
it was pleasing to partner with a new
organisation in the country.
“Empreza Di’ak is a local organisation
focused on building the capacity and
improving the health and wellbeing
of local people – key focus areas of
the Sunrise Joint Venture’s social
investment program,” Darren explains.
“The relationship between Empreza
Di’ak and the Sunrise Joint Venture
represents our commitment to
supporting and contributing to the
communities in which we have an
interest.”
By using the emergent fishing industry
on Atauro Island, Empreza Di’ak is able
to deliver training enabling livelihood
opportunities, income creation and
future sustainability for up to ten
fishing communities within poor
coastal villages on the island.
30
trunkline | Q4 2013
Program manager and co-founder
Ariana Almeida said market research
revealed fish was seldom used by
organisations with feeding programs,
despite its nutritional value.
“Fresh fish is usually spoiled due to
bad handling and storage and becomes
unsafe to consume and imported dry
fish processing does not meet the
minimum hygiene requirements,” she
says.
So in a pilot program in 2012, the
Empreza Di’ak team successfully
established a network of dry fish
producers, creating the right conditions
to promote entrepreneurism and teach
a trade that people could use for life.
The relationship with the Sunrise Joint
Venture represents a scale up of this
model, enabling program benefits
to extend to more impoverished
communities.
The dried fish product is currently
stocked by supermarkets and
markets in Dili, and is also supplied
to organisations providing feeding
programs at a discounted price.
“Average weekly income of these
households has increased from US$7
to US$82.50 as a result,” says Filipe
Alfaiate, Empreza Di’ak’s director and
co-founder.
Filipe says it was important to create
an innovative approach to development
that provided economic empowerment
at the grassroots level so the Timorese
people could produce good quality
local dry fish, and reduce the amount
of dry fish imported.
“Many of the products imported
into Timor-Leste could be produced
locally to generate income for local
communities, particularly those living
at subsistence level,” he says.
Technical training focuses on quality,
hygiene and processing of salt and
dried fish and business training
including cost, revenue, marketing,
distribution and record keeping.
Business skills training will provide
program participants with the skills to
supply their products at an affordable
price to the local market, generating a
sustainable income for their families
and the community.
The program also includes the
establishment of a Social Business
Centre on Atauro Island, a sub-district
of Dili with a population of 8000 people
and considered one of the most
remote areas in Timor-Leste.
Working directly with communities
and local cooperatives, the program
has already reached more than 2000
people and improved the income of
community members by more than
300%.
To learn more about Empreza Di’ak,
visit its website at http://www.
empreza-diak.com/ or its Facebook
page www.facebook.com/Empreza.
Diak.
Top effort
Being
voted one of the top 30
graduate recruiters in Australia came
as something of a surprise to Michelle
Hardwick.
“It was humbling, to be honest,” she
says. “I find my work very rewarding.
My role involves working with key
people in our business to identify
talented young people and inspiring
them with the possibilities of what a
future with Woodside can bring.
“Receiving recognition for the part I
play is really an unexpected bonus.”
It should be noted that this recognition
has come from the candidates
themselves.
The Australian Association of Graduate
Employers (AAGE) conducted a
survey of the thousands of people who
applied for graduate positions at 500
different companies.
strategy outlined in our Compass
but also the values. She also strives
to impart an appreciation of the
opportunities that await at Woodside.
“Our WA base, our move into the
international arena, the fact that we
have greater access to senior leaders
than our peers . . . these are just some
of the many things that set us apart,”
Michelle says.
“It really is a tremendous place to grow
your talent and have fun doing it.
“I have certainly found that to be true
from personal experience.”
Michelle, who studied a commerce
degree with a major in marketing and is
now studying a post graduate in human
resource management, began her
Woodside career with our Customer
Service Group.
Pursuing her desire to develop, she
was later seconded to our recruitment
team in human resources and has been
busy working with potential graduates
for the past year.
Her role requires good people skills
as well as sound business nous – a
combination that Michelle fully
appreciates.
Our executive vice president of
corporate and commercial Rob
Cole says her aptitude for the job is
reflected in the positive feedback
received via the AAGE results.
“Michelle is a fantastic ambassador for
Woodside,” he says.
It included this request: “Please
name the one representative, and the
company they belong to, who made
the most positive impression on you
during your job search.”
Although it was not compulsory to
reply, 3000 aspiring graduates did.
When their answers were tallied up,
Michelle’s name appeared in the top 30.
So what set her apart?
Well, Michelle is quite matter of a fact
about her approach to her role, strongly
believing that she has a duty to make
the graduate recruitment process a
good experience for all involved.
“The calibre of the candidates is very
high,” she says. “And our ambitions as
a company are very high.
“It is in everyone’s best interests that
we get the right people to shape,
influence and drive our ongoing
success. There needs to be alignment.”
This is particularly important given
the company’s emphasis on growing
its own talent. Michelle appreciates
that the people Woodside takes on as
graduates now have an opportunity
to play leading roles in its journey to
become a top quartile performer for
many years to come.
She works hard to ensure candidates
understand not only the vision and
It all stacks up: Michelle Hardwick sorts through applications for graduates
positions at Woodside.
31
Star performers: Ebony Couzens and her Karratha Gas Plant colleagues Matthew Smith
and Dylan Whittles did well in the regional round of the 2013 WorldSkills Competition.
Shining stars
Apprentices
and
trainees hosted by Woodside at our
Pilbara operations did the company
proud in November at the 2013
WorldSkills Australia (WSA) regional
competitions.
Business administration trainee Ebony
Couzens and Matthew Smith, a thirdyear mechanical apprentice, both won
gold while Dylan Whittles, another
third-year mechanical apprentice, took
bronze.
WorldSkills Australia is one of 67 World
Skills International member countries
or regions and in 2013, more than 500
competitions were held across the 30
WSA regions.
“To be honest, I didn’t really want
to, but after a bit of encouragement I
agreed.”
Ebony competed in the Karratha
Business Services Regional
Competition, where the tasks included
the type she would normally complete
for TAFE assignments, such as
creating a PowerPoint presentation,
spreadsheets, calendars and the like.
Matthew Smith spends his days
maintaining pumps, motors, valves,
fans and more.
He also enjoys machining, one of the
skills he’s learnt in almost three years
with Woodside.
Ebony’s win was all the more pleasing
as she was a reluctant participant in
the competition.
Matthew and Dylan Whittles competed
in the Karratha Fitting Regional
Competition.
of experience and knowledge,” he
explains.
“Our Apprenticeships Australia
supervisor, Jade Drew, suggested I
participate,” she recalls.
Dylan cites shutdowns as one of his
favourite work experiences. “That’s
when we are exposed to a wide range
of mechanical scope and gain a lot
Ebony and Matthew now head to the
2014 WorldSkills Australian National
Competition, which will be held in
Perth for the first time since 1989.
32
trunkline | Q4 2013
Winners are grinners: Woodside’s chairman Michael Chaney presents the Chairman’s Excellence Award.
No
opportunity wasted
Exceptional
waste
water treatment has won the Pluto
team top honours at this year’s
Woodside Awards.
Pluto LNG Plant’s effluent treatment
facility delivered outstanding water
quality treatment, enabling it to achieve
a world first in LNG effluent reuse as
well as protection of the environmental
and social values of the proposed
Dampier Archipelago Marine Park.
Woodside’s chairman Michael Chaney
presented the team with the coveted
Chairman’s Excellence Award at a
ceremony in October.
He praised the team responsible for
achieving such an outstanding result.
“This initiative went well beyond
business-as-usual to stand out as
an exceptional contribution to our
company,” Mr Chaney told guests at
the awards ceremony.
“It demonstrates Compass values in
action, addresses considerations in
the areas of environment, technology,
community, people and economy and
builds on Woodside’s reputation as a
safe and reliable operator, and partner
of choice.
“Furthermore, the design of the
treatment plant demonstrates efficient
resource use and has achieved
environmental credibility in a costeffective manner.”
Winners are selected in a variety of
categories.
Accepting the award on behalf of the
team were Stephen Hart, Rob Hearn,
George Gatenby and Brent Gardner.
All winners donate their prize money to
their charity of choice.
Our 2013 winners were:
The high level of treatment and
water quality discharged from the
unit was achieved through the
successful application of two best
available technologies and was novel
to Woodside. These technologies
set a benchmark in industry for
environmental performance,
with a number of Australian gas
developments following suit.
Our chief executive officer Peter
Coleman applauded all the awards’
finalists.
“The talent and ongoing commitment
shown at these awards are to be
commended, and it is through each
of your efforts we will achieve our
vision of becoming a global leader
in upstream oil and gas,” he told the
audience.
The Woodside Awards are held
annually to acknowledge the efforts of
those who have made an outstanding
contribution to the company,
demonstrating excellence and a
commitment to our values. • Communities - Joint winners Kimberley Indigenous Marine
Traineeship Program and Yijala Yala
Project
• Economic Excellence - 1000 Days of
Uninterrupted Domestic Gas Supply
• Innovation and Technology - Gravity
based Structure Steel Storage and
Offloading Concept
• Environment and Heritage Demonstrated Environmental
Performance of Waste Water
Treatment at Pluto LNG Plant
• Health and Safety - Okha Riser
Turret Mooring VIM
• Our People - Working Together to
Achieve Excellence
The 2013 People’s Choice award
winner was:
• Novel Domestic Gas Operating Mode
The Woodside Young Professionals
and Graduate Recognition Awards
were awarded to:
• Woodside Young Professionals
Award - Hamish Horne
• Graduate Recognition Award Yossy Wicaksana
33
Room to move: Ian Ross, vice president health and safety, displays Woodside’s
breastfeeding accreditation to financial accountant Christina Yow and legal counsel Anna
Wylie. Exploration manager Kerry Smith (pictured below with daughter Olivia) was a
driving force of the accreditation.
Expressing
thanks
Woodside
is officially a
Breastfeeding Friendly Workplace.
The company was recently added to
the list of more than 100 Australian
companies and organisations that have
gained accreditation under a national
program launched five years ago.
In Perth, Woodside has two dedicated
rooms where mothers can express and
store breast milk. There’s another room
at the Karratha Gas Plant and another
at the Pluto facility.
The Australian Breastfeeding
Association was behind the guidelines
and pilot program for breastfeeding
friendly workplaces in the mid-1990s
after it had identified a need to support
the growing number of women
returning to paid employment.
nursing mothers to express milk. But
as Kerry points out, it needed some
modifications.
“Firstly, there were no signs on the
door so I would often turn up to find
the room being used for some activity
other than expressing breast milk,” she
says.
Plus, there were issues with the
number of power points (needed for
electric breast pumps) and keys to
access the room.
“We got permission and a budget
from HR to spruce up the room,” she
says. “We got extra power points,
cupboards, keys, signs on the door,
privacy screens, an extra chair, etc.”
At Woodside, Kerry Smith, our
exploration manager for the Asia
Pacific region, became one of the
driving forces for accreditation after the
birth of her daughter, Olivia, in March
2010.
Kerry says she felt accreditation
was important to ensure the room
was always supported, the standard
maintained and the message to
staff and managers of support
for breastfeeding was clear and
consistent.
When she returned to work in 2011,
Woodside had a room assigned for
She says more than 90% of women
at Woodside who take parental leave
34
trunkline | Q4 2013
return within 12 months of giving birth.
“This means there are often many
women needing the room,” she adds,
estimating the number could be as
high as 12 at any one time.
She believes accreditation will make
a big difference to Woodside mothers
who wish to continue breastfeeding,
adding the rooms have had a steady
stream of mums using them.
Christina Yow is one.
The financial accountant on Browse
has been using the room on the 18 th
floor of Woodside Plaza since she
returned to work from maternity leave
in July after the birth of her son, Abran,
last December.
Christina finds the room extremely
private and useful.
“I like the fact the room has partitions,
making it possible to accommodate
a few mums expressing at the same
time,” she says. “In addition, the room
can be locked from inside which makes
it very private for the mums.”
Tickled pink: Natasha Ngoma (far left), chair of the Women of Woodside’s Perth branch, with some of the Woodsiders who made the
Pink Ladies such a great success.
Think
pink
Woodsiders put on a striking show of
support in October – Breast Cancer
Awareness month – to pay tribute to
women and their families affected by
the illness.
Employees sponsored a “Pink Lady”
silhouette to support Breast Cancer
Network Australia, and the ladies
were gaily displayed in a “mini field of
women” outside Woodside Plaza at
the end of the month.
It was another example of the value
of Women of Woodside (WoW)
which aims to help women within
the company connect with others, be
engaged and be informed.
Its goal?
“To provide the opportunity for
Women of Woodside to network,
learn from and support each other
as they work to realise their full
potential and maximise contribution
to Woodside,” states WoW’s mission
statement.
Every year WoW puts together a wide
range of events.
These include networking functions
such as the CEO and executive team
annual dinner, round table forums
(one example being the Lean-in
session which generated discussion
and personal action), lunch and learn
sessions on specific issues facing
working women, panel discussions and
presentations.
All have the objective of supporting
members’ professional and personal
development. And they are aimed at
recognising and promoting women in
an industry that is still seen by some as
an unusual career avenue for females.
Natasha Ngoma, this year’s chair of the
WoW Perth branch, says the 500-plus
members who constitute the group
are at diverse stages of their lives and
careers.
“It’s important because I believe it
provides women within our organisation
a chance to positively connect, share
ideas, encourage and hopefully sponsor
each other in the work place,” says
Natasha, a graduate accountant.
“Collectively I think we can make a
bigger impact.”
There is also an active Karratha branch
of WoW, which was launched in 2006.
The Perth and Karratha groups try to
align with each other as closely as
possible, according to Karratha chair,
Pam Levis.
Pam, Production Excellence manager,
Burrup, says WoW’s membership in
Karratha totals about 140.
This year’s Karratha events included
an International Women’s Day morning
tea, a workshop on professional
development, a career-planning
workshop to give women the tools
to boost their career progression and
advice from a life coach on how to
attain a work-life balance.
“Next year we will be trying to
challenge Karratha women to think
about ‘what can I give’ rather than
‘what can I get’ – to try to get to a
place where women come to the
events with a mindset focussed on
supporting other women just as much
as developing themselves,” says Pam.
“We want to show everyone how
rewarding this approach can be.”
And you don’t have to be a woman to
be a WoW.
The group is open to anybody in the
company and Shannon O’Rourke,
strategy and governance manager,
strategic planning, joined the group
(and its committee) in 2010.
“It was an opportunity to make a
difference and have some fun at the
same time,” he says.
Shannon says it was a good
opportunity to help women progress in
the company.
“I also think that there must be a twosided effort – men must want it to
happen as well as women,” he says.
35
Alluring art: Cassandra Halden displays one of her works at the 2013 Pluto LNG-sponsored Ngurra Nyingu Art Exhibition, held at
Woodside Plaza.
Canvas for
creativity
It
took a trip to Perth from her home
in Roebourne to open Cassandra
Halden’s eyes to the breadth of artistic
work coming out of the Pilbara.
The 23-year-old liked what she saw
with the other artists’ more random,
more natural form of dot painting and
has been enjoying adapting her style
while in the Woodside Plaza foyer as
part of the annual Pluto LNG-sponsored
Ngurra Nyingu Art Exhibition
“I got inspired,” she told Trunkline. “I
didn’t know I had that style in me.”
This year’s exhibition ran from
November 18 to 29 and Cassandra’s
works were among the 300-plus
artworks for sale alongside a range
of painted ceramic plates and handcarved Aboriginal artefacts
Cassandra has been painting since she
was eight years old.
“It gets the worries out of us and
makes us happy,” Janine said.
This exhibition is one of Pluto LNG’s
cornerstone community activities,
supporting Indigenous artists to
express their culture, country and
stories through artwork.
It’s one of a range of programs
identified as important to the Traditional
Custodians of the West Pilbara and
supported by the company and its joint
venture partners through Pluto LNG.
Pluto LNG has supported the
Roebourne Art Group since 2008 and
that support has extended to the group
exhibiting at Woodside Plaza.
In 2011 involvement in the exhibition
was broadened to include Yinjaa-Barni
Art and independent West Pilbara
artists.
“Dad was a good sketcher and drawer
and we used to colour in his drawings,”
she recalled.
“Ngurra Nyingu” means “we are from
this country” in the language of the
Ngarluma people, who are the traditional
owners of the Roebourne area.
Her favourite subjects today are
animals and putting stories into her art.
“You get lost in your painting – that’s
how I feel,” she said.
Cassandra is mother to two young
children and says painting is not only
something she enjoys doing but is a
hobby that creates an income.
Fellow artist Janine Samson of
Roebourne agreed.
Since 2008 almost $500,000 worth
of artworks has been sold through the
36
trunkline | Q4 2013
annual exhibition, with proceeds going
to the artists, their art groups and the
Roebourne community.
Senior vice president of Pluto Julie
Fallon welcomed guests to the
exhibition, opened by the State
Minister for Energy and Indigenous
Affairs, Peter Collier.
Julie told assembled guests that Pluto
LNG was very proud of the support
that it has been providing in the region
to the advancement of Aboriginal
culture and the arts.
“Our Conservation Agreement with
the Commonwealth Government has
also been making real progress in
protecting and promoting the living
culture and National Heritage values of
the Burrup,” she said.
“It’s supporting film-making; writing,
translating and recording of songs;
photography; and creating and
performing theatre.
“It’s fusing together Aboriginal cultural
heritage with new technologies for
iPads and smart phones in order
to preserve and share culture and
knowledge.
“And it’s doing it in a way that is
building community confidence,
capacity and pride.”
Bigger and better: This year’s Red Earth Arts Festival boasted 67 events that attracted
almost 16,000 patrons.
World of fun
of Tokyo – in fact, something for or all
the family with a total of 67 sessions,
including 39 free events and four free
workshops for children.
Woodside
helped provide
lots of artistic entertainment and free
fun in Karratha again this year with its
sponsorship of Fringe World helping
make the annual Red Earth Arts
Festival (REAF) bigger and better than
ever.
REAF has grown into one of the
country’s biggest regional arts
festivals and this year its 67 sessions
spread over 16 days in September
attracted almost 16,000 patrons – a
reported 500% increase on last year’s
attendance.
Though primarily centered in Karratha,
it boasted satellite events in the wider
Roebourne shire – more than 100
hours of entertainment across five
towns.
The fantastic De Parel Spiegeltent
made a welcome return to REAF after
its debut appearance last year, too.
“Spiegeltent” is Dutch for “mirror
tent”, “De Parel” means “The Pearl”.
The hand-carved wood and canvas
structure, built by the Klessen family in
Belgium in 1905, is lavishly decorated
with mirrors, stained glass, velvet
and other ornate decor. It makes for a
unique arts venue in Australia.
starting on 24th January, four lunchtime
events will be held at Woodside Plaza.
Jo Hos, Artrage’s marketing manager,
said the festival’s sponsorships with
companies such as Woodside helped
give people a sense of continuity and
sustainability.
“Woodside’s support of Fringe World
is also crucial to us achieving our big
goals for the festival and enables us
to have a significant positive impact
on the cultural landscape in Perth and
regional WA,” Jo said.
All in all it made for another spectacular
attraction for another spectacular
festival and the participation of Fringe
World also contributed greatly to
making REAF a success again.
Fringe World is produced by Artrage
and is modelled on similar events in
Edinburgh (Edinburgh Festival Fringe)
and Adelaide (Adelaide Fringe).
The highlight for many was Erth’s
Dinosaur Zoo which delighted more
than 17,000 parents and children.
A pilot Fringe World program was
tested in 2011 and Woodside’s
sponsorship of Artrage started the
following year.
But the menu also included cabaret
and comedy, burlesque and circus
acts, Peter Helliar and top band Birds
In its three-year existence, Fringe
World has become a great success in
Perth and as part of the 2014 program,
37
Full cycle: Woodside’s Ride to Conquer Cancer team raised $140,000 for cancer research.
Road to a
healthier future
Cold
weather, heavy rain and
strong winds are not ideal cycling
conditions but they didn’t deter
Woodside’s Ride to Conquer Cancer
team riding 216km in October.
The team of 36 riders took to the
road on a wet Saturday morning with
one goal – to raise money for cancer
research, and they raised a tremendous
$140,000.
Ride to Conquer Cancer is a fundraising
ride (not a race) that attracts thousands
of participants across Australia and
brings together cancer survivors, their
families, cyclists and their supporters.
The WA ride – the State’s largest cycle
ride – saw a grand total of 1336 riders
meander their way through country
WA, camping over night in Pinjarra,
and returning to Perth the next day. In
total, they raised $5.2 million for cancer
research at the Western Australia
Institute for Medical Research.
Dave Harwood, engineering general
manager and Woodside team captain,
says there was a huge diversity in this
year’s ride, including in the company’s
team.
“Our youngest rider was 16 years old
and our oldest was aged 67,” he says.
And the cycles included road bikes,
hybrid bikes, mountain bikes, tandem
bikes, recumbent bikes and one keen
team member who rode a “fixie” – a
38
trunkline | Q4 2013
bike with one fixed gear.
Dave says there was a place for
everyone, with about one-third of the
Woodside team comprising women
and cycling speeds varying between
15km/h and 45km/h.
Day one of the ride proved to be
challenging with cold weather, heavy
rain and strong winds. Organisers
arranged pitstops along the way with
food, drinks and facilities. At the
overnight camp, tents were already
erected and the hot showers, coffee,
physio massage and hot meals were
thoroughly enjoyed after riding 103km.
The next day started with breakfast,
wind behind the riders and sunshine
on their backs. After a tiring day of
riding along the coastline through
Rockingham, Fremantle and along
the river, riders were cheered on by
crowds of supporters at the finishing
line. Dave says there were a few tears
for some riders when their name was
announced on the final stretch.
“It was an emotional weekend with
people remembering the battle
with cancer that many have seen or are
in the middle of themselves,” he says.
Many riders displayed yellow flags
on their bikes to show that they were
cancer survivors.
The ride is a personal statement of
their own victory over cancer and their
support for others with the disease.
Dave rides to support his friends,
neighbours, work colleagues who have
fought cancer, but mostly in support
of his sister Belinda who is currently
battling breast cancer.
Belinda joined the Woodside team
insisting that cancer was not going to
stop her. Inspirationally, she rode the
entire 216km during her chemotherapy.
Everyone in the team shared similar
stories of friends and family who have
been also affected. Cancer impacts
one in two Australians.
Registrations are open for the next
ride, 18-19 October 2014, with 22
people already signed up for the
Woodside team. Dave says everyone is
welcome, including family and friends.
Dave says with a little commitment, the
ride is something almost anyone can do.
“We had people at the start of the year
who could barely cycle 15km, but they
put in the effort and were able to ride
the entire distance,” he points out.
Or if bike riding is not for you, why not
consider volunteering as a crew member?
“Volunteers are vital to the success
of the event, whether it’s driving the
support vehicles, cheering on riders
or helping set up tents,” says Dave.
“It is all needed to make the event the
success that it is.”
Cycling benefits add up
Woodside cyclists again joined enthusiastically in the
annual Ride2Work program, with almost 120 taking the
opportunity to participate in this national event.
And for the first time, Woodside was the event’s
Principal Breakfast Sponsor in Perth.
Ride2Work Day celebrates the bicycle as a viable means
of transport to work and aims to encourage Australian
workers to adopt this healthier and environmentally
sound method of commuting.
It is part of a national initiative aimed at getting more
people to cycle more often and to improve the health of
the community through cycling and physical activity.
For the fifth year, Bicycling Western Australia supported
the program.
This year’s program was held on Wednesday 16 October
and more than 2000 enjoyed a free breakfast in Perth
CBD, along with exhibitions promoting cycling health,
infrastructure and education.
Overall, more than 5000 West Australians registered for
the Ride2Work Day – a big increase on the 3500-plus
number of last year.
Woodside has a strong cycling community of about
400 regular cyclists, and becoming Principal Breakfast
Sponsor provided a great opportunity to encourage an
active and healthy lifestyle within the company, while
also complementing the other community initiatives we
support.
Right on track
Cycling is not restricted to commuters to Woodside Plaza
or those who take part in mass rides for good causes in the
South West.
A hardy bunch of Woodsiders are among a group of keen
bike riders in Dampier and Karratha who regularly hit the
tarmac in the North West – a region that makes for very
scenic cycling though the climate sometimes ensures it’s
warm work.
They’re called the Good Country Roadies (“Good Country”
being the Aboriginal translation of Karratha) and they come
together every Saturday morning for a social ride, though
they divide into two groups: the first group rides 50km and
riders don’t exceed 30km/h; the second, more experienced,
group generally ride 70km without speed limits.
Jason Attard, acting maintenance department
superintendent at Karratha Gas Plant, says the group also
enjoys even longer rides of 100km once a month as well as
training rides two mornings a week.
“Members are always training for one thing or another and
regularly travel to world-class events such as the Tour Down
Under, the 1000km Tour de Freedom and the Cape to Cape
mountain bike race,” Jason says.
Meals on wheels: The Woodside-sponsored breakfast to
celebrate the Ride2Work program attracted hundreds of hungry
cyclists. Above right: The Good Country Roadies hit the tarmac
in Karratha.
He adds that cycling is the “new golf”– people can still take
part even though they get “more experienced”.
“Good Country Roadies range in age from 15-year-old
through to those approaching their 60s,” he says.
39
random discoveries
Welcome to the column which attempts to put more Woodside people back on the pages of Trunkline.
Random Discoveries aims to be just that – the presentation of bits of information about your
colleagues that you probably did not know. The diary style calls for surprise, humour and, most of all,
brevity. Please send your contributions to [email protected].
Stepping up and helping out
Woodsiders happily put on their
walking shoes and stepped out to
show their support for their colleagues
and their families in the John Hughes
Big Walk in October.
And the good news? “Maxi has now
completed chemo and had his tumour
taken out,” says Rolf. “This means we
are in follow-up monitoring as far as
the cancer is concerned”.
colleagues. That included half a dozen
GWF-1 Team members (and partners
and friends) who joined the walk and
enjoyed a morning tea and games
afterwards.
The annual walk, which benefits the
Princess Margaret Foundation (PMH),
this year attracted more than 3400
people and raised a total of $255,000.
Rolf and his wife, Natalie, completed
the walk, too, along with Maxi (full
name Maximilian) and his two-year-old
brother, Haakon.
The Big Walk comprised three event
distances, ranging from 6km to 15km,
all around the Swan River and using
variously the Windan Bridge, the
Narrows Bridge and the Causeway to
cross the river.
Rolf and Natalie paid tribute to the
medical staff at PMH, the neonatal
unit, the surgeons and especially the
oncology team at Ward 3B.
Also taking part in the Big Walk
were family and friends of sisters
Stephanie Brown and Katherine Covic–
respectively, Woodside’s corporate
affairs administration assistant and
supply chain administration assistant.
Thanks to the initiative of administration
assistant Maddy Long, the Greater
Western Flank (GWF) Project put in a
team effort to get behind the family of
pipelay coordinator Rolf Pedersen.
Rolf’s baby son Maxi was diagnosed in
July this year (only five weeks after he
was born) with neuroblastoma, a solid
tumour which stemmed from a nerve
near his lower spine.
“They’ve been absolutely fantastic
and we would like to support them
to help so many children and their
families through their tough journeys,”
he said.
Rolf adds he and Natalie were only
in and out of PMH for a few months
while Maxi was having his treatment,
but many families spend years there
and the ward becomes their second
home.
Maxi has since undergone two rounds
of chemotherapy, plus surgery, at PMH.
“The donations raised will help
make their lives just a little bit more
comfortable,” he says.
But he was well enough to take part
in the Big Walk and enjoyed the view
from his comfortable pram when he
wasn’t asleep.
And Rolf was certainly happy with the
result. His goal was $1500 but more
than $2600 was donated by supporters
of Maxi – his family, friends and
The sisters lost their father, Russell
Brown, in July this year after a sixmonth battle with cancer.
Russell had an outstanding record of
contributing to his local community
– so much so that he was Mosman
Park’s Citizen of the Year in 2011 and
recently had a park in the town named
after him.
Much of Russell’s voluntary work
was conducted through the auspices
of the Rotary Club of Mosman Park,
of which he was twice president. He
received the Royce Abbey Medal for
his enthusiasm and commitment to the
ideals of Rotary, not least for his work
in helping set up and organise the Big
Walk itself.
Stephanie says her dad was completely
dedicated to this project and he took
a lot of personal pride in making the
event a success.
The fund raising of Stephanie,
Katherine and their brother Cameron
and the 28-strong team they called
Dad’s Army, was a big success,
too. They raised $9495 – one of the
biggest totals of any team at this
year’s walk.
Good cause: The Dad’s Army team of Woodsider sisters Stephanie Brown and Katherine
Covic raised almost $10,000 in charitable donations in John Hughes Big Walk.
40
trunkline | Q4 2013
“We missed Dad very much on the day
as it was the first Big Walk in 18 years
without him,” says Stephanie. “But
he would have been very proud of our
team and our efforts for such a worthy
cause.”
random discoveries
Glory days: Woodsiders in the successful Karratha Falcons in the 1994 season and Craig Sargeant shows he’s still got what it takes in 2013.
Kicking on
Lifelong footy enthusiast Craig
Sargeant is proof that footy players
never lose the desire – they just run
around a bit more slowly when their
careers enter the autumn period.
Our black and white photo, first
published in Trunkline’s June 1994
edition, shows Craig (far right) with
four Woodside colleagues in the
Karratha Falcons.
The Falcons were enjoying a stellar
start in the Pilbara competition that
year – which made a very pleasant
change to their previous season when
they finished bottom of the ladder
– and credit was being lavished on
production accountant Michael Browne
(centre) in his rookie year as coach.
Karratha born and bred Craig completed
his apprenticeship with Woodside after
he left school and he lived in the Pilbara
till he went travelling in 1995.
“It was a very busy time with all the
construction going on,” recalls Craig,
“and footy was a good way to meet
people. It’s a way to make mates for
life – I still catch up with some of the
guys I played with.”
Nowadays Craig is based in Perth
where he’s a commissioning start up
and instrument control electrical lead
production operations.
Brett McCarthy (second right) is now
an onshore installation manager at
Perth and he echoes Craig’s memories
of the Karratha Falcons – and how they
were the “whipping boys” of the comp
till “Browny” took charge and led them
to the preliminary final.
“I remember that Jason Bindon (now
operations team leader at Pluto) did
something I’d never seen before: he
had a shot which hit one goal post and
then the other,” says Brett.
for playing and especially enjoyed the
more-relaxed approach to the game
where the score counts less than
camaraderie.
“I’ve made numerous new friends
through what my wife calls ‘Auskick for
adults’ as well as rekindling friendships
with former players like Brett
McCarthy,” says Craig.
Craig now plays fortnightly for the
Northern Warriors, which fields teams
in three age groups 35 and over.
Brett now plays footy with the
Mandurah Makos and says it’s great
fun which involves the whole family.
The Makos have a Mrs Makos social
club for the ladies and several functions
throughout the year just for the kids.
“And this year there is also an Over
50s game once a month to help the
‘Legends’ still compete without having
to play against guys up to 20 years
younger,” Craig says.
The colour photograph shows Craig,
now 42, demonstrating his skills at the
recent masters national footy festival
at Darwin, where the WA team he
captained in the 40-to-45 age group
narrowly lost its grand final.
He says the overarching message is
to convey to guys that this is a good
way to stay fit and experience the
bonding created between guys in
playing footy after “normal” football
passes them by.
After retiring from playing, footy-mad
Craig’s free time was largely spent
coaching his two boys’ teams on
weekday evenings and weekends, or
watching (dare we mention) Hawthorn.
Modified rules (no sling tackles, knees
high in marks or shirt fronting) is
designed to make it safer and ensure
the players still are able to turn up for
work on Mondays.
Then he was told about masters footy
and quickly rediscovered his enjoyment
“After all, we’re no longer spring
chickens,” says Craig.
41
random discoveries
Book it in, Sam
If you’ve had chance to have a look
at the great new book on Scott Reef,
you’ll understand why young Sam
Jones is so fascinated with it.
“He’s a bit of a bookworm,” Nick says.
Sam was snapped recently by his dad,
environment and heritage manager
Nick Jones, devouring the publication
in the family lounge.
True, it’s the glorious photographs
rather than the words that have
captured his attention but then Sam is
only four years old.
“Since its release he’s not been able to
put it down.”
But maybe he already has designs on
becoming a marine biologist . . . or
something else.
“His favourite question is ‘how deep
is that water’ so maybe he’s a future
subsea engineer,” Nick reports.
said he recently handed over copies
to the Shell engineering team for the
proposed Browse FLNG development
in Paris.
“It got rave reviews,” he reports “But
then wherever you take the book, you
get amazing feedback.”
For Sam, it’s triggered an interest in all
things marine and his fascination with
the shark photographs prompted his
parents to buy a DVD of Finding Nemo,
which he’s been watching non-stop.
And his next reading project has
already been decided – this magazine.
Co-sponsored by the Browse
Joint Venture, the 180-page book
Discovering Scott Reef was published
in June and already has made its mark
inside and outside Woodside. Nick
Nick told his son he was sending his
photo to Trunkline, and Sam’s been
asking ever since when it’s likely to be in.
Sara is half way through an MBA at
UWA’s Business School, of which
Woodside is a corporate partner.
compete against the top business
schools from around the world,” she
says. “It was amazing to be part of
a high-performing team on a global
stage.”
This is for you, Sam!
Stating her case
Sustainability adviser and MBA student
Sara Curtin experienced a whirlwind
trip to Toronto, Canada, in October to
take part in an international business
case competition.
She was one of four students
selected to represent the University
of Western Australia (UWA) and the
team got through to the grand final
of the Schulich School of Business
international case competition where it
finished a very creditable fourth out of
32 teams from all over the world.
The case was focused on sustainability
in mining and Sara, who began her
career as a geologist in mining, got
selected to join the high-performing
team because of her excellent MBA
results, experience in health, safety
and environmental and corporate
sustainability knowledge and skills.
She says the main challenge was
the time required to prepare for the
competition on top of work, study and
family commitments (she has two
young children).
But such an opportunity might not
come up again, and the case was a
perfect fit to enhance her skills and
experience she reasoned, so she
jumped at the opportunity.
“I thought that the competition would
really push me to investigate financial
considerations in sustainability
challenges and I was excited to
The competition was held all day
Saturday and while the other team
members stayed on in Toronto for
a week Sara had to rush back to
Perth for an external stakeholder
engagement panel session for this
year’s Sustainability Report.
“It was a whirlwind trip,” she says,
“but I loved every minute of it and
increasing my sustainability knowledge
base and global insight into the
challenges facing the sector was a
great bonus.”
“The competition had us wear the
hat of the financial stakeholder
and determine how they evaluate
environmental and social components
of a project and build these
considerations into their investment
decision-making,” Sara explains.
Her colleagues on the UWA team
came from other disciplines such as
finance and mining, and worked for
both private sector and government.
42
trunkline | Q4 2013
Top team: Sara Curtin (second from the right) with her UWA teammates in Toronto, Canada.
final frame
An aquatic zoology team of 14 scientists and
of the WA Museum, explored isolated mid-shelf shoals
researchers recently completed a survey of Ashmore
which, as far as we know, have never been dived
and Hibernia reefs in Western Australia’s north west.
before. Among the amazing finds made was a 1.02 m
The field trip, made possible by Woodside sponsorship
giant clam.
43
Woodside Energy Ltd.
240 St Georges Terrace Perth, Western Australia
G.P.O Box D188 Perth,Western Australia 6840
44 t: +61
trunkline
Q4 2013
8 9348| 4000
f: +61 8 9214 2777
www.woodside.com.au