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PETROLEUM DIRECTORY: PDC Harris Group creates northern synergy Energy sector engineering joint venture pays off Susan Braund Petroleum Directory Contributing Writer
Practical visionary Buckminster Fuller was a mover and a shaker. When he injected his theory of synergistics into the Way We Think, he activated an exponential, global mind shift. According to forward-thinking Fuller, synergy is a mutually advantageous conjunction of distinct elements. Simply put, synergy is a relationship where everyone benefits through sharing what each can do. If this is true, the PDC Harris Group is rockin’ and rollin.’
Two engineering entities —Alaska’s PDC and Seattle-based Harris Group — joined forces as PDC Harris Group LLC in 2002 to enhance their abilities to provide engineering and design services to cold region clients in the oil and gas, power generation and Department of Defense arenas. Both firms bring more than 25 years of experience to the table. For five years prior to the union, they worked cooperatively on numerous Alaska energy sector emissions control and air permitting projects.
“In general, since we formed the PDC Harris Group we have achieved the financial and market penetrations goals we set,” says General Manager Mike Moora. PDC Harris Group has successfully executed small and mid-scale engineering projects for several of the independent producers, both on the North Slope and in Cook Inlet, as well as for local electrical utilities. Oil and gas, cold regions experience combined The company has the strength of combining oil and gas experience and knowledge of cold regions engineering challenges. Engineering services include: upstream and downstream production and processing systems, power generation, owner’s engineering, cold regions design, infrastructure and facilities, and environmental permitting. PDC Harris Group staffs engineering projects in the chemical, civil, control systems, cost estimating, electrical, environmental, fire protection, mechanical, piping design, project management, structural and surveying disciplines, all geared toward meeting the needs of the client working in remote, rigorous environments where transportation and logistics are difficult.
“We support a diverse client base — some come to us because of our experience working in remote regions and extreme engineering environments, and others come because we can respond to smaller, fast-track projects or both,” explains Moora. “ We understand our clients’ business, so we can provide efficient service delivery and can absolutely do more with less because we have leaner structures.”
Clients include upstream and downstream oil and gas producers, processors and refiners; utilities, independent power producers and rural electric associations; and Department of Defense agencies.
“In the oil and gas arena our focus is on the independents who are moving into the oil patch and taking over for the bigger companies,” says Moora. “They are more efficient and cost conscious than their big brothers, just as we are more so than our big brothers, which makes us a good match.” Project management: communicating change PDC Harris places high priority on strong and responsive project management, project control and management of change.
“We use rigorous and standardized methodologies for project control, meeting milestones, and controlling expenditures,” says Moora. “In an era when intelligent design tools get you more efficiency they can also wreak havoc in terms of introducing too much change. You can’t just press a button to make a change without managing the change and having it occur on a scheduled basis. Management of change involves a lot of communication between project participants.” Power generation: a good track record Harris Group has provided engineering services for numerous energy sector projects in the Lower 48, from front-end engineering design through preparation and evaluation of procurement documents, detailed design engineering and support during construction, commissioning and performance testing.
“Our company is looking to build on our experience and qualifications with gas turbine projects in the Lower 48 — we’ve engineered over 1,000 megawatts of turbine generation capacity — an average plant is 50 megawatts,” explains Moora. “We have the experience and qualifications in energy sector work and have the methods and procedures in place to do so competitively and manage projects according to industry standards.”
At the Amundsen-Scott Station’s power plant project at the South Pole, Antarctica, the climate demanded close attention to energy efficiency, personnel safety (ventilation, exhaust, fire detection, fire suppression and heating) and installation techniques to accommodate extreme climatic conditions such as a winter design temperature of –120 degrees F at a barometric altitude of 12,000 feet.
And, there’s a lot of upcoming power-related activity in Alaska, not only in the Anchorage area, but also in Fairbanks. Golden Valley Electric Association’s planned North Pole Plant Expansion is one such example. GVEA will purchase low-sulfur distillate from the North Pole refinery, and may eventually switch over to natural gas, when it becomes available. “It’s an exciting engineer-procure-construct project, due to be awarded in May, and the competition is anticipated to be fierce,” says Moora. With PDC Harris Group’s depth of experience on similar projects, Moora feels his team and offering will “raise the bar.”
Interest in coal power is increasing because of the lower fuel costs. PDC Harris Group has already executed several coal-fired power plants in Alaska, including the Healy Clean Coal Project and the Usibelli Coal’s conceptual project at Emma Creek, near their Healy mine.
The Harris Group Inc. has a team of engineers that were there in the ‘70s and ‘80s involved in the design of more than 12 coal-fired power plants. They know what makes a plant work environmentally, economically and operationally — a detailed process that their engineers have been doing successfully for over 30 years. They can guide perspective clients through site and coal selection, cycle analysis, water treatment, environmental permitting, design, construction management and start-up. Recent experience has expanded the scope of coal-fired power plant services to include control system upgrades, capacity expansion, retrofits, environmental upgrades and due diligence. Extra bennies Another advantage to the joint venture is sharing expanded services like the Harris Group financial consulting unit, which provides assistance with development, financing, monitoring and acquisition in a variety of industries, including power generation, oil and gas, and forest industries markets. Lenders, developers and project owners call on the financial consulting unit to provide timely and accurate information on project development and financing. Based in Denver, the consulting unit reviews projects on a national and international scope.Many hats General Manager Moora is the firm’s main man in Alaska. Fortunately, he is a cold-region kind of guy. He admits that the siren call of the Alaska outdoors was 60 percent of his decision to come North — he enjoys skiing, rafting, hiking, biking and climbing, so Alaska is a good fit. Last summer he went on Alaska Wilderness Journey’s Russian Far East Kamchatka expedition, full of mini-adventures like white water rafting, volcano exploration and sightseeing. “Kamchatka is likely to be like Alaska was 75 years ago,” he notes.
Moora is primarily responsible for business development, but changes hats as needed, demonstrating the do-what-it-takes flexibility that characterizes the company. He also manages projects, has fiduciary responsibility for corporate reporting and tracking, supervises project engineers, oversees and implements marketing and sales efforts and guides long term planning.
“Business is good, industry project budgets are up, projects are moving forward — we’re happy,” enthuses Moora. “ Like most Alaskans, though, we’re patiently waiting for the uptick anticipated with North Slope natural gas. We feel certain that our cross-industry experience and hands-on capabilities put us in a strong position when the time is right.”
Editor’s note: Susan Braund owns Firestar Media Services in Anchorage, Alaska.
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