Aurora Energy Services scales up O&G offering with key appointments to new Integrated Services division

Aurora Energy Services (Aurora) has launched an Integrated Services offering for the oil and gas and renewables sectors and will recruit 30 project delivery specialists in the next six months to provide a “nimble cost effective” full lifecycle service.

The Aberdeen division will be headed up by brothers Josh and Kane Winton, experienced project managers who have joined Aurora from Petrofac and Global Design Innovation (GDI) respectively, and who have taken a shareholding in Aurora.

Focusing on engineering design, procurement, offshore and onshore installation,  construction and decommissioning activities, the full service offering will also specialise in digital asset surveys.

Aurora Energy Services chief executive officer, Doug Duguid, said the expansion was in response to a strong market demand for a lower cost more responsive service than offered by competitors and which can deliver lower overheads.

He said: “We will be providing leaner, more nimble and cost effective integrated services for facility modifications and for end-of-life O&G assets which are being prepared for decommissioning.

“Working in a mature basin like the North Sea, this is a natural progression in how to support 40 year-old assets which no longer require expensive large-scale engineering horsepower, but which still need flexible and safe engineering solutions.  Our Integrated Service offering will build on the repair order and minor modification service we’ve delivered via Aurora R&M over past few years.

“We are delighted to have joined forces with two high-calibre project professionals in Josh and Kane Winton, who match the ambition of the Aurora management team, and they will soon be joined by a raft of other highly experienced personnel as we ramp up our Integrated Services offering.”

Aurora has the advantage of having its own large training and competency academy in Inverness and an in-house design and fabrication facility at Huntly, in addition to working closely with affiliated construction tooling specialist RenQuip.

In previous roles Kane Winton has held senior project management roles with global oil and gas Operators and latterly established his own consultancy which delivered multi-million-pound projects across the UK and UAE.

Similarly, Josh Kane has worked for a number of international Operators in senior project roles and most recently was responsible for delivering small, medium and brownfield projects form start-up to close-out, while developing expertise in remote visual asset inspection services.

Josh Winton said: “The engineering services landscape in Aberdeen and the North Sea has changed and the market is crying out for more agile providers who can integrate services under the one roof and be more competitive for clients.

“I worked for Doug Duguid years ago and know how he operates and understand what he is trying to achieve with Aurora, and this is an exciting opportunity to help shape the development of an important part of the business.”

Kane Winton added: “Operators are facing a series of challenges, with a number of them requiring support for late-life assets as they move to eventual decommissioning. There is a market appetite for smarter, more lean service providers who have fewer overheads but remain focussed on high-end project delivery.

“We expect our team to be 30-strong by the end of Q1 2025, but the new offices we have secured in Dyce has the capacity to grow our Integrated Services offering to around 80 personnel.

“While initially our focus will be oil and gas, in the medium to long term we will strengthen our renewables capabilities in line with Aurora’s other main service lines in the wind, solar, pumped hydro and waste-to-energy sectors.”

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