A North-east energy expert will give a key presentation in Mexico on the importance of international standards in the oil and gas industry.

David Galbraith, Chief Technology Officer at Aberdeen-based moorings provider Sigma Offshore , will give his talk on the International Organization for Standarization, widely known as ISO – the international standard setting body composed of representatives from a wide range of national standard organisations.

Mr Galbraith will highlight the benefits of ISOs on the first day of a two-day conference held by the Mexican Petroleum Institute in Mexico City on October 18-19.

Mr Galbraith said: “The universal understanding of ISOs improves a number of aspects in the industry including procedures, safety and efficiency.

I’m looking forward to making the presentation in Mexico and hearing other talks at the event.”

With more than 30 years' experience in the offshore oil and gas industry, Mr Galbraith has been involved in the criteria for ISO standards. He is also a member of the ICE (Institution of Civil Engineers), the Energy Institute and the Aberdeen Branch of the Offshore Engineering Society.

His offshore career began with 10 years in design contracting which included greenfield and brownfield designs, fabrication and installation supervision and operational support.

This was followed by 12 years with Mobil North Sea Limited during which time he was responsible for all structural aspects of their European offshore structures. He set up his own company in 2000 which he then sold six years later.

He has a number of industry firsts to his credit including the first use of carbon fibres for strengthening structural steelwork and the first diverless structural repairs. He joined Sigma Offshore in 2008.

Sigma Offshore has developed Smart Mooring System (SMS), a cost-efficient and flexible mooring and turret solution for oil and gas production vessels such as FPSOs (Floating Production Storage and Offloading) and similar vessels in which both mooring and fluid loading and uploading is required.

A bespoke SMS can cost from £10m (US$15.8m) to £30m (US$47.5m) or more, while competitive mooring systems can cost £25m ($39.5m) to £50m ($79.1m). The company believes the system could save clients in excess of 30% on total installed cost. SMS can be built at a number of locations around the world without the need to dry dock vessels.

As well as its mooring and riser solutions, Sigma Offshore delivers extended well testing systems, floating production export system solutions, subsea architecture design, deepwater subsea solutions, consultancy services and project management.