In previous years, OSD Energy Services has undertaken a limited amount of work in South America, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and Indonesia. Currently, however, additional opportunities are being pursued in Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bangladesh and Bulgaria with a view to establishing permanent offices in strategic locations to service these opportunities.
In April, as part of raising the OSD profile internationally, General Manager Keith Horstmann presented a paper on pipeline construction at the International Bar Association Conference in Rome. The four-day conference covered oil and gas, mining, water and power construction, and attracted delegates from 38 countries.
Although most of the papers were presented from a legal perspective there were a number of issues raised and discussed that have a direct impact on the Australian pipeline industry, including: environmental impacts of construction, corporate social responsibility, regulatory reform, public-private partnerships, access to infrastructure and project financing.
The most thought-provoking issue though was that of water becoming the new oil, and the potential for “˜water wars’ to develop as regional supply becomes unsustainable against a background of climate change and population growth.
Australia is a long way from this scenario but the current plethora of water projects in the southeast of Australia may just be the tip of the iceberg. This emerging trend has coincided with OSD Energy Services expanding into the water pipeline market through its participation in the integrated team managing the Wimmera Mallee Water project in Victoria.