INTERVIEW: Siemens
INTERVIEW:
Siemens
SIEMENS MAKING INROADS
IN THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY
Ali Vezvaei, senior executive vice president and general manager,
Middle East & North Africa for Siemens Energy Oil and Gas,
reveals exclusive details about the German firm’s expansion of its
oil and gas division and recent strategic acquisitions
A
li Vezvaei has been with Siemens
Energy Oil and Gas since 2005. Before
taking over his current role in 2011,
he was VP of strategy and head of M&A
globally for more than two years, which gave
him a unique understanding of why recent
acquisitions have put Siemens in a prime
position to expand its oil and gas operations
both here in the region and globally.
“We have acquired some very interesting
companies recently, enhancing Siemens’
existing offerings and bringing us into new
fields, such as subsea,” Vezvaei explains.
“Siemens Oil and Gas division, an
approximately US$5.5bn operation, is one of the
pillars operating under the Energy Sector, and we
have grown this business in the last few years
organically while enhancing the portfolio with a
number of strategic acquisitions,” he adds.
Within the Siemens Oil and Gas division there
are distinct areas of focus, including rotating
equipment, electrification, oil and gas solutions,
offshore and onshore power generation, water
solutions and finally, subsea solutions.
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Vezvaei remarks that Siemens’ electrification
and oil and gas solutions, “is where we have
really transformed from a product supplier to a
technology partner of choice.”
The oil and gas industry consumes vast
quantities of water, and the recent integration
of the relevant portfolio of the acquisition of US
Filters by Siemens enables the company’s oil
and gas division to help the hydrocarbon industry
better utilise and preserve this essential resource.
Siemens addresses five segments in this area
- produced water treatment, water treatment
for injection and re-injection, hydrofracturing
water treatment, process water treatment and
wastewater treatment which, in Vezvaei’s eyes,
give Siemens a real edge in the region.
Natural gas is also playing an ever greater
role in the energy mix. “The demand and
development in regions such as MENA, in
conjunction with the increasing importance of
energy independence, point towards a future
in which every tcf must be properly exploited,
optimally captured, and efficiently utilised,” says
Vezvaei. “This is where solutions like no-flare
and sour or acid gas management are expected
to have bold contributions.”
On the sour and dirty gas side, Siemens
has developed a first-of-its-kind canned, sealless and fully integrated electrically driven
compressor. The ‘STC ECO’ has been designed
to meet demanding requirements, and
successfully passed the field tests with Shell
and NAM Netherlands.
“Considering the number of sour fields in
MENA region, from BAB in the UAE to fields
in Saudi and elsewhere, we expect to add
significant value to our customers’ operations,”
says Vezvaei. “There are units on their way for
installation in the Middle East, and we are in
discussions to supply more.”
Siemens is also focused on strategic
solutions for the oil and gas industry, involving
Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR), mid-sized LNG
and unconventional gas.
At the 20th World Petroleum Conference
in Doha, Qatar, Siemens Oil & Gas and
Maersk Oil signed an agreement under which
Siemens would develop and build a turbine
INTERVIEW: Siemens
solution around Maersk Oil’s acquired license
rights to the pure oxygen combustor from
US-based Clean Energy Systems (CES), whose
technology is derived from the space industry.
The resulting solution, TriGen, owes its name
to the fact that it will deliver three products:
reservoir-ready CO2, pure water and near zeroemission power.
The project started almost two years ago,
and the first turbine has already been built and
tested along with the gas generator in California,
USA. Siemens and Maersk are looking to
push this leap in rotating equipment and field
development technology to the next level.
“We call it the magic box, especially
for regions like the Middle East as it has
the potential to address several challenges
together,” says Vezvaei. “EOR in the Middle
East is further developing as assets are ageing.
Countries like UAE, Oman, Saudi and Kuwait
are expected to have a leading role in deploying
advanced EOR solutions,” he notes.
“There are discussions ongoing with several
customers around the world, and of course in
the region, to move this collaboration to the
next level, perhaps with a small-scale pilot then
future expansion,” Vezvaei reveals.
Subsea power
While the company’s involvement in subsea
oil and gas may not be widely known, Siemens
began advancing into the sector some years
back. The company has been working closely
with customers and specialists to develop a
solution that meets the offshore and sea-bed
operational challenges.
“We developed a solid strategy, combining
in-house technological development and
electrification expertise with focused
acquisitions,” says Vezvaei. Siemens acquired
two specialised Norway-based companies in
the subsea engineering and solutions arena
– Poseidon and Bennex – and at last year’s
OTC in Houston announced the acquisition of
Expro’s connectors and measurements arm,
marking the firm’s arrival as a major player in
the subsea sector.
“The result of these efforts will be a
revolutionary new solution – the subsea power
grid,” Vezvaei says.
The Siemens subsea power grid is the first
of its kind in supplying safe and reliable power
to processing equipment at depths of up to
3,000m. The package provides the power
cables, transformers, switchgear and variable
speed drives to power up and control electrical
pumps or turbo compressors, separators and
other processing equipment traditionally kept
on surface platforms.
“Offshore development has its own unique
challenges from installation weight, cost
and safety to environmental aspects and
vulnerability to climatic conditions,” he remarks.
“That is why there are solid efforts to bring the
process as close as possible to the well on the
sea floor, and our job at Siemens is to make
sure there is reliable power available.”
Vezvaei explains: “We see good future
potential for subsea solutions in the region, with
considerable hydrocarbon potential in areas like
the Red Sea or the Mediterranean, for example.”
Ali Vezvaei, Siemens Energy Oil and Gas
Big data
The increased complexity and use of data in
the hydrocarbon industry led by modernisation
of the existing assets and emergence of
intelligent fields are being viewed as exciting
areas and growth opportunities for Siemens.
A specialised offering by Siemens has
been created by streamlining two strategic
US acquisitions, INDX Software Corp. with its
flagship product XHQ, and Berwanger Inc.,
a Houston-based engineering and software
development group.
Siemens has further enhanced the portfolio
and today, XHQ is one of the world’s largest
real-time ‘Operations Intelligence Solutions’,
enabling customers from super majors and
www.pipelineme.com
NOCs to IOCs and independents to analyse
and improve upstream operations in alignment
of oil field reservoirs, well production
optimisation and fleet efficiency enhancement.
Looking at a broad customer base like Exxon,
Chevron, Aramco, BP, Sinopec etc… we are
proud to see that our XHQ solution helps our
clients monitor a significant percentage of the
world’s oil and gas production,” says Vezvaei.
“Data is rising in importance significantly.
Smart analysis of real-time data is an
internal source of profitability for oil and gas
companies, which is why we call it the era
of ‘Data to the Bottom Line’. It’s no longer
just about how you can further push your
equipment; rather how you can better capture,
analyse and command your entire value chain
based on the real-time picture you have,”
Vezvaei says.
The smart acquisition and management of
real time data is also the bridge to the digital
oilfield, which is becoming more and more
relevant in the region.
“Things are rapidly changing here and we
believe that for the years to come, the Middle
East will see fields becoming smarter and
increasingly utilising the real time data to
enhance the financial aspects,” he remarks.
Middle East ambitions
“There is great opportunity in the region,”
says Vezvaei. “For Siemens, our growth sectors
are EOR, digital oilfields, water solutions and
unconventional gas, which will eventually
emerge here in the region.”
In terms of markets Vezvaei sees huge
growth potential in Iraq, which he says has
excellent prospects. Saudi Arabia, Oman,
Kuwait and UAE have also contributed as key
players to the growing oil and gas industry in
the region, according to Vezvaei.
“We have been successful in Iraq in the
last couple of years. We have extended
our support to the Ministry of Oil and all
its establishments as a technology partner
providing customised solutions and of course
reliable equipment,” he notes.
Vezvaei reveals that Siemens has entered
into discussions regarding a packaging and
service facility along with a training centre
to be built in Iraq, which will support Iraqi
talent development, local employment, and
knowledge transfer.
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