ITF, the global oil and gas technology facilitator, has declared the challenges that its membership of operator and service companies want to see tackled as priorities in 2012.

Up to 100% funding will be available for the right solutions to some of the industry’s most pressing challenges and ITF aims to secure around £50 million investment directly from its members over the next three years.

A series of workshops will be held in international locations throughout the year on the top global priorities including subsea which will look at:

Subsea power Extra long tie-backs Produced water Separation and cleaning Replacement of valve actuators

A Subsea Technology Challenge Workshop will take place in Aberdeen on Thursday 6 September which will aim to drill down further into the issues and develop a roadmap to allow focus on the key subsea gaps that can be tackled collaboratively.

Neil Poxon, managing director of ITF said: “We had an excellent response to the subsea call for proposals issued at the tail end of 2011 with more than 40 innovative technology applications received. These are out for review with our members, and we are looking to secure funding for those ideas which address the needs of the industry within the forthcoming weeks.”

The organisation tasked with driving new technology solutions is establishing membership clusters in the Middle East, Australia, US and Europe to focus on the unique regional challenges and bring forward more specific joint industry projects (JIPs).

A not-for -profit organisation, ITF is owned by its operator and service company members and has launched more than 180 JIPs from early stage projects through to field trials and commercialisation. ITF has set up bases in Abu Dhabi, Houston, Kuala Lumpur and Perth, Australia and aims to continue to grow international membership in 2012.

Mr Poxon added: “ITF has been extremely successful in securing funding for JIPs and our membership is at its highest level. I would urge interested subsea companies to come to us with their innovative technologies whether they are at the early concept stage or closer to commercialisation as there are opportunities to secure investment and also the buy-in of major operators, whilst retaining intellectual property.”

ITF will be exhibiting at Subsea 2012 on stand C21, and also presenting a conference paper focusing on Subsea Technology Challenges – a reflection on global operator challenges and solutions.

Tags: ITF