Department of Civil Engineering

Indian Institute of Technology Delhi

Civil Engineering Society

Presents Seminar on

SOME EXPERIENCES FROM OFFSHORE NORTH

SEA OIL & GAS SYSTEMS

by

Dr. Prayag Narayan Misra

DATE : 27 September 2005 (Tuesday)

VENUE : Committee Room, Department of Civil Engineering (IV 221)

TIME : 11:00am – 12:00am

ABOUT THE SEMINAR

The oil and gas fields in North Sea are one of the largest reserves in the world, and present enormous technological challenges due to harsh weather conditions. The early developments started around 1960s. Phillips Petroleum Company- now Conoco Phillips, successfully explored oil and gas from Ekofisk field in 1969, followed by Statfjord Development by Mobil Oil, Statoil and other partners- in 1973 onwards.

Nature has its own way-as most of the findings were on the borders between UK and Norway. However, both countries set the politics aside and formed joint strategy to benefit from the nature's gift. As a result, the British economy did not collapse and Norwegians became rich and known as Arabs of Europe! Europe's dependence on Arab oil was lessened.

Dr. Misra will deliver a broad based talk on several aspects of oil and gas systems of North Sea including their structural dynamics aspects, economic aspects and management.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Dr Misra was employed in Norway with several major companies- including Statoil- as Senior Offshore Engineer and participated in Statfjord "B" Platform Development in areas of Project Planning, Cost and weight Control; with det Norske Veritas as Naval Architect/Senior Engineer. Previously, he worked in Germany for HDW and Blohm & Voss Shipyards- involved with design of Very Large Crude Carrier , Pipe Laying Barge; and conducted research on hull vibrations at the University of Hamburg, German Lloyd and Hamburg Ship Model Tank.

Of the many contributions Dr Misra made to economy of India, three are worth mentioning. First, he submitted a confidential Memo in 1972 to the then Shipping & Transportation Minister, Hon'ble Raj Bahadur, regarding establishment of Indian Register of Shipping, at Mumbai. The recommendation was implemented in a record period of three months- an institution which was badly needed to monitor classification and registry of Indian ships. Second, he provided specifications- highly confidential to Mazagon Dockyard for manufacturing of propellors -in 1973. Reliabilty was needed in view of the fact that such propellors were used in defense vessels. Third, a subsidiary named Worldwide Technologies (Electronics) was established in Madras Export Promotion Zone (MEPZ) in Chennai, Tamil Nadu in 1990 to manufacture state of art modems- needed for internet in India. The parent company Worldwide Technologies, Inc. operated in Richardson, Texas from 1986-1999, and engaged in high-tech consulting.

Dr. Prayag Narayan Misra has three degrees: Doctor of Science in Naval Architecture from the University of Zagreb, Croatia, 1972; Bachelor of Technology with Honours in Naval Architecture from IIT, Kharagpur in 1963 and a Bachelors of Science degree in Science from the University of Allahabad, 1958. His hobbies and interests include chess, swimming, bhakti yoga, nature cure, walking, and assistance to Minority & Small Businesses.