Edward L. Ferguson
M.B.E. Chartered Engineer. MICE.
CEO
Educated in Scotland and London; professional training and qualifications in Civil & Structural Engineering was gained through Westminster College and a Private Consulting Engineering Company based in London.
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Recruited by British Petroleum International in 1964; worked in their Head Office for one year.
Early in 1965, on being transferred to Project Management, was assigned to a Field Development Project in Libya.
The Sarir Field, located in The Great Calensio Sand Sea, was a new discovery in partnership with the US Bunker Hunt Oil Company.
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The work involved the development of new oil fields containing over a hundred wellheads feeding four remote gathering centres. Transfer pipelines to the main gathering centre were an average length of 40miles and around 24inch in diameter.
From this main gathering centre a 36inch diameter, 310mile long pipeline and pump stations took the oil to a new build exporting terminal at Marsa al Hariga in Tobruk.
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From laying out flowline work, determining and surveying transfer pipeline routes and the construction of these pipelines and gathering centres, responsibilities moved on to the construction of the major pipeline and terminal. After being involved in the commissioning of the pipeline and terminal, was charged with the ‘hand-over’ of all the facilities to the operating company.
Late 1968, brought the appointment of Civil Engineer, supervising the construction of the ‘grass roots’ 100,000bbl/day Volpiano Refinery in northern Italy. This work commenced from site clearance to commissioning of the refinery which received its crude by pipeline from Genoa and distributed product by rail and road.
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From 1971 to 1974 supervised the construction and commissioning of Europe’s two largest crude oil tanker jetties in Maasvlakte, a new crude oil terminal in Rotterdam, Holland.
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In 1974, was assigned to Alaska in the position of Project Manager, responsible for the construction of the northern most 300miles of the Trans Alaskan Pipeline. This work included the construction and operation of pipeline camps north of the Yukon to house the workforce of some 14,000 operatives. The pipeline itself was 48inch diameter and a total length of 810miles.
In 1977 was appointed Construction Manager for the Sullom Voe Oil Terminal in the Shetland Islands, Scotland. This Terminal is still the largest in Europe with over 2million bbls/day throughput. At the time, the development was important if not vital to the UK’s economy. Consequently the political pressures on BP and the oil companies (51 in total) were intense.
In 1981 was appointed BP’s Representative in the Kuparuk Oil Field Development in Alaska. Based in Denver, where the Field Operator and Developer, Atlantic Richfield, was located, was responsible for BP’s 10% expenditure on the multi-billion dollar project.
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Honoured in 1982 at Buckingham Palace by HM The Queen with the award of “Member of the British Empire”. This was in recognition of personal contributions made to the UK Oil Industry.
Later in 1982; appointed Project Manager and subsequently Project Director of BP’s only two Norwegian offshore fields ULA & GYDA. This appointment was successfully completed in 1987.
Appointed General Manager, BP Petrochemicals, Scotland in 1987. Managed all of BP Chemicals business in Scotland, along with the Petrochemical Plant and Complex at Grangemouth. Served on BP Scotland’s Board, chaired by the BP’s Chairman & C.E.O.
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Retired from BP in 1994 and was invited to join Halliburton, Brown & Root in London as Director of Onshore Engineering, Europe & Africa; a new division for their London Head Quarters. Completed projects during this period included a gas supply pipeline to Belfast from mainland Scotland and a product pipeline in Tanzania for BP Africa. This role also led to many business opportunities in Russia and the CIS. During this period, strategies for export pipeline routes, from the Caspian and Black Sea Regions were developed. A crude oil export route from Baku in Azerbaijan by train, to Batumi in Georgia, was developed in 1997 for Chevron’s Tengiz oil field in Kazakhstan. This was the first export of crude oil from Azerbaijan to western markets.
Retired from Brown & Root in 1998 and became President & CEO of AMBO. A company formed to develop a Trans Balkan Pipeline for Caspian Region Crude Oil to bypass the Turkish Straits.
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