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Ivan Gutierrez is Materials and Corrosion Lead within Xodus Group, an independent UK basedoil & gas and low carbon energy consultant, overseeing a team of highly experienced materialsspecialists. With a wealth of experience in the metallurgical field, Ivan oversees projects fromearly concept to abandonment, from down-hole to terminal. He manages to combine his loveof rugby with his professional life and is helping organising a seven-a-side touch rugby team totake part in the Xodus Games tournament in Dubai later this year. Stainless Steel World caughtup with Ivan at his London office.

By John Butterfield and Joanne McIntyre

Tackling the tough issues…onand off field

“The aim of the Materials and Corrosion

team is to support Xodus Group’s activities

by providing accurate information and

solutions,” Ivan begins. “My role includes

coordinating a team of specialists, some

with over 30 years of experience. Our team

gets involved in the whole life cycle, from

a very broad materials selection at concept

stage, detailed selection and specification

preparation during the FEED stages,

through to supporting our customers

during procurement and construction by

interfacing with the suppliers. Once

the asset is up and running, we provide

specialised operations backup by

analysing production data, corrosion

information such as coupon analysis,

scaling review and CP anode depletion.

Whether it is overseeing projects from early concept to abandonment, from down-hole to terminal or organising a seven-a-side touch rugby team, you can be assured that Ivan Gutierrez does it with passion.

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The main output of our work is decision

support; our customers use the information

we generate and compile to make an

informed decision. We also analyse the

life of ageing assets and the original

design, providing our clients with a list

of required steps for life extension of

the asset and facilities.”

“I’m fortunate to lead a team of highly

experienced specialists and young

upcoming engineers. We are very keen

in developing young talent; Xodus

Group welcomes university interns in

all areas, successful interns are supported

through their university final year and

we support their continuing their studies,

although we also do a lot of on the

job training.”

A varied, global jobIn his London office Ivan spends as much

time as possible talking face to face to

internal and external customers. “Good

communication within the team and with

other disciplines is essential. We make

use of all our resources such as meeting

rooms, video conferences with other

offices, virtual meetings etc. I also try

to spend time in our office in Aberdeen,

Scotland and work with clients at their

premises.”

“The two aspects of the job I enjoy most

are the variety and the truly global

challenge. On the same day we may be

working on a proposal for a client in the

Far East, selecting down-hole equipment

for sour fields in Middle East, reviewing a

life extension report for North Sea,

giving advice on coatings off the coast

of Africa and collaborating with our

Xodus colleagues in the US.” 

“I’m also fortunate to work across the life of

the asset, from concept to abandonment,

from down-hole to terminal. The same

applies to customers, who range from

very small clients with one asset that

urgently need technical support, to very

big clients with massive assets who want

our expertise in very specific areas such

as reservoir souring or life extension. Life

extensions in the North Sea are popular

at the moment, while in the Middle East

we are very active in specialised integrity

support. Our customers include Total,

SNEPCo, Shell, BP, as well as upcoming

operators such as Ithaca and Dana

Petroleum. What I enjoy the most is

that every day is different.”

Inspiring the next generationWhile the oil & gas industry is technically

very demanding, the biggest obstacle Ivan

sees ahead is inspiring the next generation

of engineers. “Material selection and sour

corrosion can be challenging; qualification

of an austenitic/ferritic alloy in the presence

of chlorides at high concentration and

elementary sulphur is also very challenging.

However the most challenging aspect

in Materials and Corrosion is capturing

and transferring knowledge. This is across

the oil and gas industry as well as the

steel industry.”

“We have a reduced pool of experienced

materials specialist, and this pool is aging.

On the other hand we also have a reduced

pool of new graduates interested in

materials; unfortunately new graduates

want to get involved in other areas that

may appear more “sexy” such as high

performance automotive racing, aerospace

and nanotechnology. Oil and gas, steel

metallurgy and corrosion can be seen as

a mucky old school trade and attract very

low interest. The challenge is to attract

young new talent and nurture them by

encouraging knowledge transfer; this will

guarantee continuity in the industry. We

need to close the gap between experts

reaching retirement and new upcoming

engineers. Young talent needs to be

targeted in their high school years by

showing how exciting and challenging it

is to take 150 tons of scrap, use electricity

to melt it, cast 100 tons of steel to bash

Ivan Gutierrez

When Ivan travels off to talk to colleagues he will explain a lot through slides. Here a 3D render of a generic field that that he uses to explain howXodus gets involved across industry activities.

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it with hammers and then drop it in water

to get a perfect balance at an atomic level.

We need to show them how the industry

can machine 60 tons of steel to micrometric

tolerances to product a BOP or a wellhead

that will be installed 2000m below the sea

level and see some of the most corrosive

streams the industry have seen. If we can

present that to a young audience and tell

them the industry needs them to be skilled

enough to take the technology even further,

then I am sure we will expand the talent

pool and secure the continuity of our

industry.”

Balancing knowledge,experience, technology “On new projects we are going sourer

and deeper at higher temperatures and

higher pressures, and we need materials

that withstand those conditions while

being economically viable,” continues

Ivan. “The best way to tackle these

challenges is balancing experience,

knowledge and new technology.” 

“For all projects, the preferred option

in materials selection is always carbon

steel; however when the CO2

is too high

and corrosion cannot be mitigated with

corrosion inhibitors we need to select

corrosion resistant alloys (CRAs). If

the production fluids contain H2S

we need to make sure our material

selection complies with NACE MR0175 /

ISO 15156. This standard can sometimes

be daunting, but it is in fact a very

comprehensive and straightforward guide

which takes the reader by hand and gives

guidance on the recommended limits as

well as processing conditions. However

it is always important to remember

that materials can be qualified for use

outside these limits provided adequate

experimental work is carried out or with

adequate in-service history and here

is where the balance of knowledge,

experience and new technology can

help. We make the most of our experts’

knowledge and experience to carry out

a preliminary appraisal for qualifying a

material in conditions outside the NACE

MR0175 / ISO 15156. We work with

laboratories to make sure we can replicate

the reservoir conditions, and this may

involve the use of new laboratory

equipment.”

“We also have to work very closely with

steel manufacturers to make sure the

manufacture route (steelmaking, forging/

rolling, heat treatment) is optimised for

each specific component. We work with

manufacturers equipped with state of the

art facilities to guarantee that the hot

deformation and heat treatment processes

are closely controlled and homogeneous

properties can be achieved across cross

sections. When dealing with CRA alloys

we cannot afford to make a mistake on

any of the qualifying steps and that is why

striking the right balance of experience,

knowledge and new technology is so

important.” 

Favourite material: SS17-4!“My personal favourite is precipitation

hardened austenitic stainless steel 17-4

(ASTM A564 Gr630 DAH1150 UNS

17400). I have always been fascinated

by the precipitation hardening kinetics,

and this steel has such sensitive kinetics

that makes it a very interesting alloy.

Furthermore, the 17-4 history in NACE

is fascinating. It was ‘grandfathered’

and over the years due to lack of clear

understanding this alloy has received

a bad name; gossip around it says that

NACE is steering away from 17-4 and

the industry seem to be very careful when

specifying it, however this is due to lack

of understanding. Where failures have

been reported we need to understand

why? We also need to clearly define its

sour service limits. I have been involved

in reviewing both industry data and

laboratory data. During the last NACE

conference in Orlando, the ISO 15156

maintenance panel reviewed new data.

New limits have been submitted to a

ballot and are very likely to be approved

during the next meeting in Eurocorr 2013

at Portugal. We are now getting closer

to a redefinition of the limits of 17-4, and

rather than limiting its use I think it will

reassure the industry. Unfortunately,

during the ISO 15156 maintenance

panel meetings it seems that steel

manufacturers are not as active as they

could. The ISO 15156 standard needs

input from the steel industry.”

“We are specifying quite a bit of

ferritic/austenitic line pipes, which reflects

the nature of the projects we are

developing, i.e. very sour streams. We also

work with customers to qualify 316L for

flexible pipes (carcass) for conditions

beyond the NACE MR0175 / ISO 15156

limits. The industry is paying a lot of

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attention to mechanically bonded CRAs;

we help clients and suppliers in the

qualification process and expect to see

an increase in its use, however current

supply capacity is limited.”

When asked if he could offer advice

to the industry, Ivan has a ready answer.

“Get involved in NACE MR0175 /

ISO 15156 committees! My background

is in the steel industry and this allows me

to give a different perspective in the oil

and gas sector, however we need more

voices from the stainless steel industry

in order to get a full understanding of the

processing capabilities, new technologies

and future developments. This will also

allow the manufacturers to get a better

understanding of the oil and gas industry

needs.”

Work hard, play hardWhen he’s not focusing on material issues

Ivan takes time to relax with his family,

and he is a keen rugby player. “My main

hobby for many years was Rugby Union.

I played front row at a good level in

Yorkshire and North East Midlands,

and I even played Rugby League with

a semi-professional team in National

Division 3 back in 2004-2005. Nowadays

I don’t play as often and currently I am

focusing on training a touch rugby team.

As our office is preparing for the Xodus

Games to be held in Dubai in November

2013, I am keen to make sure our Touch

Rugby team is prepared. The Games are

a get together for all employees from all

About Ivan GutierrezIvan has over 16 years of experience

in metallurgy, including 9 in the oil &

gas industry. He is currently Materials

and Corrosion Lead for Xodus Group,

and his geographical responsibilities

include the offices in the UK, Norway,

Lagos and Dubai. Recent assignments

include: Project Manager for the integrity

assessment of ADNOC Sole Risk Gas

sub-surface facilities in the Asab and

Bab fields for Abu Dhabi Company for

Onshore Oil Operations (ADCO); and

Materials and Corrosion lead responsible

for materials selection, coating selection,

CP design and integrity management

philosophy and strategy for Shell

Nigeria Exploration & Production Co,

he also acts as Technical Authority for

several Exploration and Production

companies based in Aberdeen.

our offices; we spend a weekend together

competing in several disciplines, this help

us take our integration a step further.”