About Owen Kratz
In a September 2012 interview, Owen Kratz, CEO of Helix Energy Solutions Group, discussed the company's work for BP following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Kratz stated that the contract "doesn't represent a windfall for Helix," explaining that the company made its assets available to BP at the same rates it had been receiving from previous clients. He described the deployment of three vessels: the Q4000, the Express, and the Helix Producer 1, which were engaged in diverting oil from the wellhead.
Kratz said that Helix would like to lead an industry effort to create a "fast response flexible universal system" that could be deployed quickly in the event of another spill. He argued that while regulatory oversight and prevention are important, preparation for incidents is necessary to mitigate impact. Kratz noted that the current response involved performing work on a "very fast track basis under very abnormal conditions," and advocated for pre-assessing options and pre-engineering components to be ready for future emergencies.
Source: AI-verified profile updated from Owen Kratz's recent appearances.
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Transcript (9 segments)
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Interviewer0:00
It has been almost 2 months since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded, and these days BP is looking for all the help it can get. One of the companies joining the relief effort is Helix Energy Solutions from Houston. This morning we welcome CEO Owen Kratz. Owen, tell us exactly what's going on. Your company was hired by BP. Talk to us about the engagement and the terms.
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Owen Kratz0:24
Good morning. We have three major assets out working for BP performing the work as directed by BP. One, I think everyone has seen, is the Q4000. It's a very versatile ship that was specifically designed to do work in 10,000 feet of water, including well intervention. The second one is the Express, which is a pipe lay and construction vessel that's laying out the hoses, pipelines, and everything needed to connect the production vessels. The third one is our Helix Producer One, which is a unique production vessel capable of handling 60,000 barrels of fluids a day. So the process right now is trying to connect apparatus that will divert the oil from the wellhead up through these various production vessels.
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Interviewer1:17
Owen, the other day your stock jumped on the disclosure that you'd been hired by BP. Just how financially rewarding might this contract be for your company, and what does it portend for the future? In other words, what is it that investors are excited about?
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Owen Kratz1:33
Well, it doesn't represent a windfall for Helix. What we did was make our assets available to BP to respond to their needs by simply going to our current clients, getting a release, and then transferring the vessels over to BP at the same rates we were being paid before. Potentially, going forward, what it means for Helix is that we believe the technology does exist to create a fast-response, flexible, universal system that could be ready to deploy at a moment's notice. To that end, Helix would like to lead the effort in providing such a system to the industry.
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Interviewer2:17
Okay, but that would only be deployed in the event of another spill, correct?
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Owen Kratz2:23
Yes. I think you can pay all the attention you want to regulatory oversight and prevention, but inevitably you need to be prepared for an incident such as this in order to mitigate the impact and allow the cleanup assets a chance to be effective.
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Interviewer2:41
Owen, with about 30 seconds to go, talk to us about the enormity of the challenge here. Just what kind of a job are you up against?
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Owen Kratz2:49
Well, you can imagine that in normal circumstances, to take the oil from a wellhead to shore is a process that takes years to design, engineer, and fabricate. We're trying to do it here on a very, very fast-track basis under very abnormal conditions. There are a lot of uncertainties at the bottom. The process is you have to assess what you have, then source your options, analyze the options, contract, then move on to engineering and fabrication. What I'm talking about doing is pre-assessing, looking at the options, pre-engineering, prefabricating things so that they're ready to go.
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Interviewer3:29
Owen, thanks very much. You've got quite a job ahead of you. That's Owen Kratz, CEO of Helix Energy Solutions. We're back with more in 2 minutes.
