The new thrust into the Oil & Gas market comes at a time when market statistics highlight that global crude oil production will need to increase by about 25 per cent over the next decade.
This estimation is based on the conservative opinion of most experts working in the oil and gas field. Meanwhile, it is estimated that natural gas production will need to grow by 200 per cent to cope with the increased global economic development over the next 50 years. Accordingly and based on the fact that Egypt is considerably a new comer as a natural gas player, the need for growth is rather high. All of this translates into the need for massive investment to open new gas fields and for the renewal and development of gas transport infrastructure in addition to the increase in capacities of the existing LNG plants to satisfy the world wide market demand.
With a board competence base team with in-depth experience that is realized in numerous references across a multitude of applications, Siemens provides integrated solutions for the stages of Oil & Gas industry based on high quality products and economic excellence, which compile the standards of the Oil & Gas industry with a strong commitment to HSE.
Siemens is one of the leading organizations that can provide a complete portfolio from compression and pumping motors and turbines, to power generation and distribution systems, all the way to water management, automation and instrumentation systems for onshore and offshore floating production system. Siemens’ solutions cover Upstream, Midstream and Downstream as well as electromechanical erections for the projects. “Quite simply, there is no one else who can provide what we do!”. That claim is based on the diversity of the Siemens global enterprise. Its strengths in the power generation and distribution business provide a major foundation for the electrical part of the business. Combined with the expansive scope of its automation and industrial solutions business, the organization’s interests in the oil and gas business are backed by a portfolio that is generally considered difficult to match. Siemens high technology plays a critical role in increasing production and quality, water management, automation and control systems. Siemens plays a major role in ensuring that the source fields are successfully exploited and that the quality of extraction and fracturing is maintained at a high level.
“The Egyptian market and the region is the very heart of the oil and gas industry, It is quite obvious that with the increase of global demand which makes expanded production and high technology mandatory, we should also increase our focus on providing such solutions right here on the ground in the region.” Siemens is already the largest player in the power sector, and plans to be the most reliable partner for the key players in the oil and gas sector by providing rapid response to their needs and immediate technical service support rooted in the skilled manpower located in Egypt.
Siemens’ own annual research and development budget crosses EUR 5 billion, on average. That kind of research provides great possibilities for all industries including oil and gas to leverage the potential of technological innovation developed for their specific situations. One of the direct results of the huge effort and budget Siemens is spending on research and development is the production of the world’s largest and most powerful gas turbine ever known named “SGT5-8000H” with dimensions of 13 meters in length, five meters in height, and weighing over 440 metric tons. The new gas turbine will set a benchmark in terms of output, efficiency, life-cycle costs, emissions and operational flexibility. Its capacity of 340 megawatts (MW) is approximately equivalent to that of 13 jumbo – jet – engines.
Gas turbines are a unique combination of classic heavy mechanical engineering and ultramodern manufacturing technology. The turbine blades and vanes play a decisive role. They are ultimately responsible for the turbine’s efficiency. Advanced turbine blades and vanes are masterpieces of engineering: uniting a maximum of precision and performance. The blades and vanes deployed in Siemens latest generation of gas turbines can readily handle temperatures of almost 1500 degrees Celsius, thanks to their perfected air cooling.
However, Siemens is not investing only on research and development but also executing a parallel plan of acquiring the most successful manufacturers to expand Siemens’ portfolio in Oil & Gas and industrial applications. Recently, Siemens has acquired 100% of Kuehnle, Kopp & Kausch AG (KK&K) which designs, manufacturers and markets small steam turbines with capacities up to 5MW and small compressors and fans for industrial applications. The product portfolios of KK&K and Siemens complement each other excellently.
Furthermore, the acquisition of KWU in the late eighties followed by the acquisition of Westinghouse USA for industrial applications and then the acquisition of Demag Delaval as well as Alstom turbines for industrial applications have further strengthened Siemens’ portfolio and positioned Siemens as a key player in the O&G industry.
One of our major interests is in working with our clients as partners, rather than just as suppliers; we would like to create custom-made solutions for each client. With the kind of volumes we are talking about here, customization is not just economically possible, but a necessity to ensure that each client uses technology and skilled human resources to its optimum.
By Emad Ghaly
Senior Vice President & Head of Corporate Strategy
Siemens
