About us
Klyde Consultants was founded in 1987 and converted into a limited company in 1989. The company was established by Ingolf Fra Holmslet (then Ingolf Klyde) to provide training in valve treatment.
The starting point for the business began when Ingolf was hired in 1972 as an operator by Phillips Petroleum Co. Norway on the Ekofisk field. He started his oil-related work on board Gulftide, which was the first production platform on the Norwegian Shelf. During his years as a production operator, he learned to operate valves using steering wheel wrenches and brute force, which contributed to not a few valves being replaced.
After a few years on Ekofisk, coincidence led Ingolf to land-based work, which consisted of repairing and recertifying valves that came from the Ekofisk field. Over the next 10 years, he discovered that a large proportion of the valves that came in for repair were either broken due to mistreatment or incorrect operation. Because of this experience, it was decided in 1985 to start training process and mechanical personnel. The first valve course for Ekofisk personnel was developed during 1985 and 1986.
After a few courses for Phillips Petroleum, Ingolf was contacted by representatives of Statoil who also wanted valve courses. In 1987, he entered into an agreement with Statoil for valve training for personnel on Statfjord and Gullfaks. Over the course of the next few years, more and more companies wanted valve courses. In 1990, Klyde Consultants arranged valve courses for the companies:
PPCoN - Elf - Amoco - BP - Statoil - Shell - Saga - Esso - Conoco and Norsk Hydro.
Between 1987 and 1994, 136 five-day basic valve courses were organized for process and mechanical personnel in Stavanger with Ingolf as instructor.
| Phillips Petroleum Co. Norway | 40 Course |
| BP Norway | 9 Course |
| Amoco Norway | 11 Course |
| Elf Aquitaine Norway | 4 Course |
| Esso Norway | 3 Course |
| Conoco Norway | 2 Course |
| Shell Norway | 6 Course |
| Saga Petroleum | 5 Course |
| Statoil | 40 Course |
| Norsk Hydro | 16 Course |
During these years, special courses were also developed for these installations and facilities:
Sleipner - Valhall - Ula - Heidrun - Kristin - Kvitebjørn - Visund - Kårstø - Snøhvit - Gullfaks - Draugen - Veslefrikk.
The courses focused on the installations' own valves and covered the necessary treatment and maintenance of them.
From 1993 to 1994, Ingolf developed Valve Course II for safety valves - PSV. This course was aimed at mechanical personnel who in their work recertified safety valves.
In 1994, the valve courses, Valve Basic Course and Valve Course II Safety Valves, were moved from Stavanger to Statoil's training center in Bergen. When Ingolf was stationed at Sandsli, he developed several valve courses for Statoil, and Klyde Consultants arranged the valve courses for Statoil in 1996:
- Valve basic course
- Valve course II for ball and plug valves
- Valve course II for gate and globe valves
- Valve course II for safety valves
In connection with Valve Course II , Ingolf built a valve test rig at Statoil, this rig consisted of 63 valves of different types. The test rig was on two floors where the pipes in the lower half were filled with water, and in the upper half the pipes were pressurized with 20 bar air. The rig was used to perform valve maintenance and problem solving in an operational situation.
Ground floor on valve rig
Second floor on valve rig
From 1994 to 2012, Ingolf Fra Holmslet was the responsible instructor on approximately 350 valve courses organized by Statoil.
From 2000 until 2012, Ingolf was commissioned by Statoil to develop an interactive valve program in collaboration with Mintra AS, which is used in connection with problem solving and maintenance of valves. Part of the interactive valve program has formed the basis for OLF's (now Norwegian Oil and Gas) Handbook of Valve Technology, formerly Guideline 119.
Until 2012, Klyde Consultants AS, led by Ingolf Fra Holmslet, was responsible for teaching and developing valve training in Statoil.
In recent years, there has been a constant demand for courses for senior personnel in projects and operations. To meet this need, Ingolf wrote two books in 2012:
- Cheater Bar for valves with rising stem
- Steering wheel wrench for valves with rotating spindle
Cheater Bar for valves with rising stem is printed in both Norwegian and English. Book number two: Cheater Bar for valves with rotating spindle will hopefully be available in Norwegian and English during the fall.