Introduction
The Hydrocarbon Management Workshop 2025, hosted by NFOGM and Tekna, took place on 12th June at Skandia Stavanger Airport Hotel. This event, now for the 8th time, continues to impress with the range and quality of topics and presenters, and the questions and discussions that accompany the presentations.
The event provides an excellent opportunity for technical disciplines, such as allocation and metering, to share knowledge and ideas, and discuss challenges, but also provides a forum for Commercial and Legal input and implications to be shared.
Presentations from 2025 event
Bjarne Syre (DNO Norge) opened proceedings with a warm welcome on behalf of the organisers, NFOGM and Tekna, and the rest of the organizing committee – Phil Stockton (Accord Energy), Ranveig Hygaard Bjork (NORCE) and David Stewart (TAQA).
Harald Denstad (Equinor) commenced the technical presentations with a look at the metering and allocation challenges ahead in Norway with regards the development of very economically marginal fields, and how current practices may have to be relaxed to allow development. Sarah Bowden (DNO) followed this with a change of focus, providing a very interesting insight into the gas transportation and sales process that takes place daily across Europe, and the significance of the daily allocation and nominations process.
After the morning coffee break and networking, the next two presentations focused on allocation systems. First up, Helge Pettersen and Magnus Valle Dahl (Quorum) discussed the industry trends towards automating allocation processes and the benefits that can result from this. In addition, they touched on the wider “data eco-system” that surrounds the allocation system itself, and not for the last time in the programme, the potential for AI was covered. Next up, Kjersti Evensen and Nils-Eirik Hetland presented the Energy Components (EC) standardisation project currently ongoing at AkerBP, discussing the rationale behind this and the benefits expected. Aligning with the previous presentation, automation and data flow featured strongly.
After a high-quality lunch (as always at this venue!), Dag Flølo provided an update on the new revision of the NORSOK I-106 standard, and in particular, a new Annex covering risk/cost/benefit analysis in the selection and design of allocation systems and methods. This aims to provide guidance for multiple fields, different allocation methods, and the treatment of correlated uncertainties. Following next was Phil Stockton (Accord Energy), who expanded on a previous HCM presentation, giving further insights into the area of allocation uncertainty. Here, the focus was on the impact of an Owner’s equity across multiple fields, and how this can significantly affect the Owner’s overall exposure to allocation uncertainty.
Following the afternoon coffee/networking break, the last session saw the two final presentations. First, Geir Olav Hagen (Cegal) presented on the development of Cegal’s EnergyX allocation system, and the cloud technology underpinning this. Again, automation and data management featured. Last presentation of the day was given by David Illiano (NORCE), who offered a deeper dive into the topic of correlation. The presentation covered how to recognise, understand and factor this into uncertainty evaluations, and offered suggestions and strategies to tackle this issue.
Networking opportunities
In addition to the questions and discussions that accompanied the presentations, the workshop offered multiple opportunities for networking, discussions and sharing of ideas. The attendance from operators, consultants and service/system providers provides an ideal blend to support these networking.
Summary
Overall, the Hydrocarbon Management Workshop 2025 was, once again, a very successful forum for professionals involved in Hydrocarbon Allocation/Management, and was reported by attendees to be both enjoyable and very worthwhile. The event has been running for a number of years now and continues to provide engaging presentations and discussions.
The organising committee are already looking forward to next year’s event, which will aim to continue the high standard seen at this and previous years’ events.
The presentations from 2025 are now available from NFOGM website – NFOGM HCM 2025 – NFOGM.