Our early Oil and Gas experiences

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SVT's first experiences in the oil and gas industry were in the early years of the development of Australia’s North West Shelf Venture (NWSV) - a Shell, BP, Chevron, BHP Billiton, Japan Australia LNG and Woodside joint venture.

The A$25 billion development, underpinned by some 33 Tcf of gas reserves, is still the largest resource development project in Australia.

Involvement with the NWSV and with Esso (now Exxon) in the Bass Strait over two decades, involved literally hundreds of engagements to support the production of Liquid Natural Gas, domestic gas and condensate, across a range of facilities including:

  • North Rankin — one of the largest capacity gas production platforms in the world
  • Cossack Pioneer — a floating crude oil production, storage/offloading facility featuring flexible flowlines to subsea production wells
  • Goodwyn — the single largest offshore oil/gas investment ever made in Australia designed for up to 30 production wells, including five re-injection wells
  • Karratha Gas Plant — one of the world's largest onshore gas processing facilities, featuring five LNG production trains with a capacity of 16.3 million tonnes a year

Our early Mining experiences

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SVT's earliest experiences in the mining/minerals sector were with major companies in a variety of open cut sites in outback Western Australia.

In the late 1980s we assisted Mt Newman Mining (now a part of the BHP Billiton group) with the design and implementation of their first modern condition monitoring system (to improve the safety, reliability and performance of crushers, conveyors, conveyor drives, electric shovels, screen fans). SVT also conducted their earliest whole-body vibration studies and performed some of the first structural dynamics studies in Australia on their 250 tonne Haulpack trucks.

By the early 1990s SVT was providing a variety of asset management, design and troubleshooting services to companies including:

  • Hamersley Iron (now a wholly owned subsidary of Rio Tinto) — condition monitoring and occupational noise management across all port and inland facilities
  • Tiwest (now the world's largest titanium minerals production and manufacturing company) — major environmental noise assessments to help address non-compliance against new stringent noise regulations
  • BHP Billiton Worsley Alumina (one of the world's largest, most efficient alumina refineries) — implementation of state-of-the-art remote condition monitoring systems, environment modelling to support refinery expansion and troubleshooting
  • Alcoa — extensive noise reduction programs


Where We Started

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In the mid-1980's new oil and gas facilities were being established in North West Australia and mining companies were using larger and larger machines - pushing the boundaries of current equipment and expertise.

In 1987 a small company was formed to pioneer the application of sound and vibration technology (SVT) to help industry meet these challenges.

SVT's technical director, Professor Michael Norton, provided strong links to the University of Western Australia and fundamental research. This expertise was combined with the practical industrial experience of Dr Paul Keswick and SVT developed a reputation for its ability to solve tough problems.

As their reputation grew they attracted many challenging opportunities and talented engineers.

Tragically, Michael passed away in 2002, a victim of leukemia. In his honour, SVT and the University of Western Australia established the "Michael Norton Medal in Mechanical Engineering".

Paul and the rest of the team maintained a commitment to be at the leading edge and to create an environment where people with a passion for 1st principle engineering could learn and grow...and go on to build an enduring company with world-class capability.

 

What We Believe

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Our people believe our culture is "worth bottling" (that's Australian for: "it's worth keeping").

We believe this culture - based on a can-do attitude and a passion to apply 1st principle engineering - is the essence of what SVT is about.

We believe our engineering talent will flourish if we pursue challenging opportunities. In turn, this talent will grow our capabilities and enable us to make a real impact for our clients. (Dr Paul Keswick, SVT Chairman)