Oil and Gas , Power and Process (CSU)
Alan Mills is an internationally recognised expert in Commissioning & Start Up (CSU) of Oil & Gas and Power & Process projects.
As well as being an international thought leader on this Alan has written some of the leading training courses on this subject for the API.
Mr Mills specializes in Commissioning & Start-Up (CSU) and is a subject matter expert in Systems Completion, operating as an auditor, advisor and trainer. He is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science & Technology (IMarEST).
Alan created 2 successful software products for use in industry the first being PathMaker in 2005, followed by Zenator in 2010.
He then went on to develop a CSU business on 5 continents, working with blue-chip customers that include Chevron, ExxonMobil, Anadarko, Petrofac, PDO and others.
His 40 year career in the oil & gas industry, much of it spent working internationally in US, Europe and SE Asia, has been mainly focused on CSU.
He is passionate about increasing process safety and helping companies to be successful in the way their projects are completed. His influence is proven with outstanding achievements on major capital projects in Algeria, Angola, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Kazakhstan and Nigeria.
Alan graduated from Trent Polytechnic Nottingham in 1983 with a BSc (Hons) in Civil Engineering and developed a career with Brown & Root, Shell and ARCO British Ltd, working in Design, Projects and Operations.
He joined the Institute of Marine Engineering in 1983, now known as IMarEST, and qualified as a Chartered Engineer in 1985.
From 1991 to 1992 he studied at Aston Business School, Birmingham for a Masters’ Degree in Business Administration (MBA), majoring in Finance and International Marketing.
He was Chairman of the East of England branch of IMarEST from 2001 to 2004, received the President’s Commendation for exceptional service to the Institute in 2006 and became a Fellow in 2012.
He served as Chairman of the Gulf Coast branch in Houston, Texas since 2012.
In 2013 he was elected to Council of IMarEST in 2013 and in 2016 was elected to the Institute’s governing body, the Board of Trustees.
Alan is the principal author of the American Petroleum Institute accredited and UK Engineering Construction Industry Training Board approved training course in Systems Completion and Commissioning & Start-Up.
Falcon Group 2000 to Date
President, CEO & MD, CSU and Turnaround Auditor, Instructor and Advisor
Falcon Group provides completions, commissioning and start-up services and consultancy to companies operating in the Oil and Gas industry. Founded in 2000 the company has grown to provide services extending professional training and software solutions to a major national and international oil and gas operators and contractors.
Fred Olsen Energy, Norway & Northern Ireland May-97 to Dec-99
Claims Consultant and Contract Manager
Dolphin as, Stavanger & Belfast – Borgland Dolphin Conversion
Claims Consultant to Dolphin a.s, part of the Fred Olsen Energy group, developing a claim for extension of time and $80m cost recovery against client for conversion of an Aker H3, semi-submersible drilling rig, settled successfully in Oslo in 2001.
Harland & Wolff Ltd, Belfast – Bideford Dolphin Conversion, May-97 to Sep-98
Contract Manager representing a UK shipyard, for the $60m LSTK contract for conversion of an Aker H3, semi-submersible drilling rig. Procured $20m Contractor-supplied materials. Managed a highly successful $10m cost recovery leading an 8-person team.
KYE Ltd, UK Jan-97 to Apr-97
Managing Director
Appointed by Chairman to lead a family-owned, $35m, 250-strong fabrication contractor operating in the UK, Algeria, India, Philippines and China supporting major Operators. Created stability, added $8m new business in Algeria, commenced preparations for company sale.
Brown & Root AOC, UK Apr-96 to Dec-96
Business Manager
Initially based in Aberdeen and relocated to Gt Yarmouth as Area Manager in June 1996, supporting Conoco, Mobil, Phillips and Ranger.
Major achievements with a 10-person team of operations specialists were the successful well hook-up and CSU of Mobil’s $3m Mordred platform, and the development of production services, procurement and logistics business worth $1m for Ranger Oil and Phillips Petroleum
ARCO Indonesia Dec-92 to Dec-95
Project Manager / Snr Project Engineer
Based in Jakarta and assigned to Offshore North West Java (ONWJ) projects, successfully introduced business process reengineering, radically reducing project cycle times from 48 months to 27 months, increasing production by 50% to 225,000 BOE/D.
Installed Yacheng Production platform in South China Sea while seconded to ARCO China in 1995.
ARCO British, UK Sep-89 to Sep-91
Snr Construction Engineer
Construction coordination at sites in Scotland, France and Netherlands, followed by Installation, CSU, well clean-up, sand separation and final handover of $400m Welland and Pickerill offshore gas production assets.
Shell, UK Sep-85 to Sep-89
Operations Engineer / Project Engineer
Commissioning and Start-up, well clean-up, sand separation and final handover of $350m Leman F&G offshore gas production assets; debottlenecking with Operations. Shutdown planning, with safe, timely execution and completion for $70m brownfield modifications (compressor re-wheeling, crane replacement) at Bacton Gas Plant and 12 platforms in the Indefatigable and Leman offshore assets.
Brown & Root, UK Jun-83 to Sep-85
Design Engineer
Design and analysis of steel jackets, flare tower and personnel bridge for BP Ula, Marathon Brae facility developments.
Brown & Root, UK Nov-75 to Sep-80
Offshore Engineer
BP Forties, Total Frigg MCP-01, Shell Brent C developments. CSU: Water Injection, Main Oil Export, Gas Compression.
MasterClass CSU Eng E-Learning Course in Systems Completion, Commissioning & Start-Up w/ API RP 1 FSC 99264
Introduction to Systems Completion, Commissioning & Start-Up with API RP 1FSC, API Masterclass Series, 1st Ed, 2019
Systems Completion & Commissioning, Encyclopedia of Maritime & Offshore Engineering, Wiley, 2018