Nalco Champion In Newfoundland

“I am from Lawn, Newfoundland and I have worked in the oil and gas service industry for the past 18 years. In May 2011, while working in Angola I met Ryan Olson, who is currently Canadian Regional Manager of Oil Sands and Heavy Oil for Nalco Champion. During our conversation, I asked him, “Why isn’t Nalco Champion operating in St. John’s, Newfoundland?” I had been working in Angola for about 5 years and was up for a change. That conversation was the conception of Nalco Champion, upstream in eastern Canada,” said Frank Brockerville, District Account Manager, Nalco Champion.

NALCO CHAMPION

Nalco Champion is an Ecolab company with one million customer locations; within more 40+ industries in over 170 countries. They are a mammoth company and are now located in Newfoundland. A strategic partnership between Nalco Champion and local company Alpha Chemicals, came together to supply the Hebron project with production chemicals and other chemical associated services. “The strategic partnership didn’t happen overnight, said Paul Rawding, Vice President, Alpha Chemical Limited. This has been in the making for decades and it all culminated with us winning the Hebron contract, making Nalco Champion a company that is now firmly rooted in Newfoundland.”

CHEMICAL OPERATIONS

Nalco Champion’s current focus is the execution of our ExxonMobil Hebron oil field chemicals program. The project ensures asset integrity, flow assurance, and oil/water separation to meet regulatory and fiscal requirements. That’s a lot of chemical movement and it requires a lot of safety structure to execute. With this base of product and service offerings, Nalco Champion is now well poised for other contracts that will arise in the oil and gas industry. Offshore Newfoundland represents a world-class resource with an estimated 60 billion BOE. There is a lot more business in the future.

Oilfield speciality chemicals are risky business and require the utmost of professionalism and safety for pristine operations. Nalco Champion was up for the task. To execute the Hebron project a facility operation was needed on the ground floor for the local supply and service of chemicals in St. John’s Newfoundland. District Manager and Director of Technology for Nalco Champion in Eastern Canada, Christopher Morrison says, “Internally, our supply chain adheres to “Zero Defect Delivery” standards. Externally, our chemicals are used to ensure facility asset integrity so that there are no breaches of containment. As well we provide flow assurance and oil/water separation ensuring environmental compliance in the environmentally sensitive Grand Banks. From manufacturing through supply chain, to our offshore personnel, all staff is trained in the safe handling of production chemicals.”

 

CHEMICAL SAFETY

When it comes to people, first and foremost, Nalco Champion new hires have to embrace and live Nalco Champion’s “Goal Zero” safety philosophy. They believe that zero accidents, incidents, and environmental releases are achievable.

 

Frank Brockerville says, “There many tools and methods in our arsenal to help us achieve our safety goals. I believe that safety policies and procedures have to be strictly adhered to, no “shortcuts”. I believe that a strong safety culture is developed over time by a positive discussion around safety during daily operational toolbox talks (everyone has a voice in safety), routine safety audits/safety meetings and incorporating safety lessons learned into daily routines.”

THE FUTURE

Garrett Rogers, Area Manager of Oilfield Chemicals for Nalco Champion says, “We know there will be a lot more drilling offshore Newfoundland with the exploration and production programs that are happening. It’s an exciting time when you realize that more oil discoveries are happening. Just last week we had another oil find.”

Being a part of Newfoundland, its culture, workforce, and future are most important to Nalco Champion. Garrett says, “We see an opportunity for Nalco Champion to grow with customers in this region. Our goal is to have a strong local footprint and capabilities that enable us to bring our global expertise and leading technology to Newfoundland’s oil and gas customers.”

Ross O’Dell, Nalco Champion, VP OFC North America says, “At Nalco Champion, we have a division focused solely on deepwater CapEx projects and ongoing support for the production from new oil through the mature field. We like being alongside the best operators, in growing markets, in the most challenging environments. We are excited to have set up operations to bring world-class support to the deepwater oil and gas industry here in Newfoundland.”

Ross says, “Talent is a big priority for Nalco Champion around the world. Talent will fuel our future growth. That is why we are focused on attracting, hiring, and retaining outstanding teams. We also like to hire and develop talent from the communities in which we work while giving strong support from our global network of experts. We believe that we are enhanced by having diverse and inclusive teams.”

NALCO CHAMPION FACILITY – GRAND OPENING

The brand new facility in White Hills includes the Nalco Champion office, warehousing, and chemical lab. It is a state-of-the-art operation designed for handling chemical operations.

June 21st marks the grand opening and guests will join team members for a showing of the facility and learn about the vision for expansion.

Guests will take a tour of the facility and will discover that it was designed by high-level, world-renowned, fire and safety specialists, RJ Bartlett Engineering, who adhere to or exceed US and Canadian fire regulations and specifications. It’s an incredible world-class chemicals handling site.

From idea to completion, the St. John’s Nalco Champion facility is now a reality. Frank Brockerville says, “Congratulations to all those involved in making this a success and for elevating Nalco Champion to be a leading chemical provider in Eastern Canada.”