Vol. 2 Issue 2June 2013

NEWSLETTTER

From the Corner Office 2News from the Corporate Office 3Asset Integrity Management 4Fracking 5E-Mail Etiquette 8Accreditations 10Its all about YOU! 11

FOREWORDMr. Mitch Nobles

M.D. ICO Group

FROM THE CORNER OFFICE

FOREWORDDr. Santosh Gupte

Director - Quality

Editing Team:

Dr. Santosh GuptePrasad NanoteAmey Saware

“No Turning Back”

It seems that for ICO there is noturning back, first in 2012 wereceived the BID Gold Award in NewYork City, for Excellence andBusiness Prestige.

Then in March 2013 ICO receivedour API Q1, making ICO the onlyInspection company in all of Asiawith API Q1.

Now in April 2013 ICO has receivedThe Quality Achievement Awardfrom ‘ESQR’. This will be awarded toour Director of assets Mr. ChrisNobles in London on July 7th 2013.

To top it all off, in May we passedour Audit to become a Level 1,Global Inspection Provider forHalliburton, the only InspectionCompany to ever achieve this.

I want to take this opportunity tothank all ICO Employees becausewithout you we could never haveachieved any of these.

Chief Editors: Aadit ShroffMrugesh Paralikar

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At the outset, I wish to put on recordour sincere thanks to entire team of“ICO Operation”, without which wecould not have achieved a singlemilestone which we have and shallcontinue to every month and everyyear, climbing the ladder to be theWorld’s Number 1 InspectionCompany in Oil & Gas Industry.

Through this Newsletter we intend toshare with you the developments thattake place in ICO Group, as well asother information which may beof interest to you. To that end, yourcomments & inputs are solicited.

I once again thank you for being a partof our growth & look forward to yourcontinued support in our futureendeavors.

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NEWS FROM THE CORPORATE OFFICE

• Expansion of Singapore Corporate Office• ICO Singapore opens new Training Centre• ICO Perth, Australia was certified by NATA for ISO/IEC17025

• “ICO International do Brazil” – ICO Group expands intoSouth America, tendering Repsol for Third PartyInspection

•ICO’s new website to be launched soon•ICO Engineers in Singapore in process of incorporatingMatlab programs to generate statistical sales analysisand forecast

• BHI T2 Training carried out by Global Trainer –Dr. Santosh Gupte at Dubai.

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NDT Methods Used: Ultrasonic Thickness Gauging,Magnetic Particle Testing, Visual Inspection, PitDepth Measurement.

Spec: API 570

“There were pipes which were not accessible fromanywhere except from the bottom, so we had togo via boat. No Harness, no place to store ourequipment. Nothing! It wasn’t easy!” - Paul

Asset Integrity Management

Customer:Penfinre Malaysia Sdn.

Bhd.

Location: Penang

ICO Scope of Work:Ethylene Glycol Pipeline System Asset Integrity

Management

Inspectors:Paul MurugarajAmey Saware

Lead Inspector Paul & Inspection Engineer Amey

performing VT under the guidance of Dr. Gupte

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Fracking is the process of extracting

natural gas from shale rock layers deep within the earth.Fracking makes it possible to produce natural gas extraction inshale plays that were once unreachable with conventionaltechnologies. Recent advancements in drilling technology haveled to new man-made hydraulic fractures in shale plays thatwere once not available for exploration. In fact, threedimensional imaging helps scientists determine the preciselocations for drilling.

Horizontal drilling (along with traditional vertical drilling)allows for the injection of highly pressurized fracking fluids intothe shale area. This creates new channels within the rock fromwhich natural gas is extracted at higher than traditional rates.

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This drilling process cantake up to a month,while the drilling teamsdelve more than a mileinto the Earth’s surface.After which, the well iscased with cement toensure groundwaterprotection, and the shaleis hydraulically fracturedwith water and otherfracking fluids. Methanolis a biodegradablechemical and an essentialcomponent in thefracking process that forall practical purposes.

Once the fracturing process is over, the water rises back tothe surface, forced upward by the geologic formation’spressure, Then, the fluids are stored in pits or tanks to betreated – if the water is to be discharged into surfacewater – or is injected deep underground.

Videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VY34PQUiwOQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFUxq9UolN4

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DANGERS OF

1-8 million gallons of water per fracture400 tanker trucks and diesel fuel needed per site

40,000 gallons of chemicals per fracture

600 chemicals, many carcinogens and toxins likeLead, Uranium, Radium .Mercury, Hydrochloric Acid& Formaldehyde

Methane & toxic chemicals contaminate drinking water supply

Contaminated water used by near by cities & towns

Contaminated water causes sensory, repertory, & neurological damage

50% - 70% of fracturing fluid is left in the ground

Open-air pits release harmful VOC’s and Ozone

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10 Tips for Perfecting Your E-mail Etiquette

Do you have bad etiquette? In other words, are youappalling colleagues with your awful e-mail manners? Clean-upyour act with these etiquette tips from the experts.

Don't "e-mail angry." E-mailing with bad news, firing a client orvendor, expressing anger, reprimanding someone, disparagingother people in e-mails are all major no-no's. DON’T TYPE IN ALLCAPS. This can be perceived as “shouting” via email.

Use exclamation points sparingly. The maximum number ofexclamation points in a business e-mail? One. Otherwise, yourisk looking childish and unprofessional.

Be careful with confidential information. Refrain fromdiscussing confidential information in e-mails. Should the e-mailget into the wrong person's hands, you could face serious, evenlegal repercussions.

Format. The ideal font is Arial, ideal font size is 12.

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Respond in a timely fashion. Unless you work in some type ofemergency capacity, it's not necessary to be available theinstant an e-mail arrives. Depending on the nature of the e-mail and the sender, responding within 12 to 24 hours isacceptable.

Refrain from sending one-liners. "Thanks," and "Oh, OK" donot advance the conversation in any way. Feel free to put "NoReply Necessary" at the top of the e-mail when you don'tanticipate a response.

Avoid using shortcuts to real words, emoticons, jargon, orslang. Words from grown, business people using shortcutssuch as "4 u" (instead of "for you"), "Gr8" (for great) inbusiness related e-mail is not acceptable Any of the above hasthe potential to make you look less than professional.

Beware of the "reply all." Do not hit "reply all" unless everymember on the e-mail chain needs to know. You want to makesure that you are not sending everyone on a list your answer—whether they needed to know or not.

Keep it short and get to the point. The long e-mail is a thing ofthe past. Write concisely, with lots of white space, so as to notoverwhelm the recipient. Feel free to use bullet points. Youshould state the purpose of the e-mail within the first twosentences. Be clear, and be up front.

Train your staff. Business owners should make sure their staffis trained in e-mail communications don't assume they knowwhat they're doing, and what is considered professional. Setup e-mail standards that everyone at the company shouldabide by.

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ACCREDITATIONS

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From the Editing Team

ITS ALL ABOUT

YOU!

In this edition of the newsletter, we wanted toexplore an idea which we could continue in futureissues. From the next issue of this quarterly, we willdig deeper into the science behind HorizontalDrilling, the technology, tools and different areas ofEngineering that aid in tapping natural gasreservoirs. We again, urge you all to come aheadand give us your ideas and feedback so that we cando what it takes to keep your inquisition satisfied!

We wish you a pleasant read!

Aadit ShroffMrugesh Paralikar

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