DOHA: Al Shaheen Energy Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of Qatar Petroleum (QP) yesterday signed two joint venture agreements with GE Oil and Gas to support Qatar Petroleum and its subsidiaries locally and other customers internationally.
The total investments of both parties in the joint ventures amount to $305m.
Under the first agreement, Al Shaheen Energy Services becomes a 50 percent International JV Partner in GE Oil and Gas PII Pipeline Solutions business. The company will now be known as PII Pipeline Solutions (an Al Shaheen/GE Oil and Gas Company). Together, GE and Al Shaheen will establish a dedicated Integrity and Inspection Centre in Qatar, to support pipeline solutions in the Middle East.
Under the second agreement, Al Shaheen Energy Services and GE Oil and Gas have also signed a 50:50 joint venture agreement to undertake aftermarket services for the GE Oil and Gas installed fleet in Qatar, and the region.
The Al Shaheen GE Services Company, which includes GE's existing Services Centre Facilities in Qatar, will help Qatar achieve increased oil and gas capacity by providing the most advanced technologies for the inspection, maintenance and repair needs of the local oil and gas industry. The Qatar Services Centre will promote Qatar's growth by fostering technology transfer and the development of local talent.
"It is a great moment for both companies," Deputy Premier and Minister of Energy and Industry, H E Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah said at the signing ceremony. "QP recognised there was an urgent need to provide services to the energy sector in Qatar and that this could be best accomplished by establishing joint ventures with world class companies with the added benefit of developing local talent, creation of future employment as well as the transfer and development of technology."
GE Oil and Gas President and CEO, Claudi Santiago told reporters that the joint ventures will provide an opportunity to invest in technology and create jobs. "With this new company that has been created we will develop leading edge tools for pipeline inspections all over the world. Our aspiration is that we will do business with platforms that will be created here all over the world."
"We will continue to develop the after market service activities by transferring our best domain knowledge and our expertise to the service shop that we have recently inaugurated in Ras Laffan."
Santiago also noted that the pipeline segment of the oil and gas industry is growing very rapidly. Regulations in all over the world to inspect the pipelines make this technology very special.
"We believe that this part of the industry will continue to grow and our technological tools are at the frontier of the technology. With this partnership we will provide the latest tools for ensuring the integrity of the oil and gas pipelines in the Middle East and all over the world," he said.
He added that the tools that will be developed in Qatar will be used not only in the Middle East but also in the US, Europe, Asia and elsewhere. From the strategic point of view the pipeline inspection business is at the frontier of the oil and gas industry," he said.
Regarding the service shop, the second part of the partnership between Al Shaheen Energy Services and GE Oil and Gas, the after market services will assume great importance given the amount of equipment existing in Qatar in terms of LNG plants, he said.
He added that having a service shop in Qatar that will be able to upgrade and maintain this equipment and ensure their reliability is of paramount importance.
By Nasser Al Harthy
© The Peninsula 2010
