What is the general mood at ADIPEC this year?
I think that the conference has a quite upbeat about it. There are a lot of companies exhibiting from different areas so it’s not just oil and gas onshore but also other offshore sectors. So I think the market is ready to see what will happen at the end of the month with the OPEC meeting. I think that everybody understands that the market shifted and that the next year is going to be much more positive.
Did the success of this year’s event led you to decide in favour of participating next year?
We have been present in this market for over ten years. So the Middle East is quite an important piece of the puzzle for us. I moved to Abu Dhabi earlier this year where I am now based. If a company decides to move its COO to a specific region, it sends a message to the market about where that region stands on the priority list.
Which are the countries you are most active in?
We work with all countries in the Gulf region including Iran, Kuwait, Saudi, the UAE, Qatar and we recently opened in Oman as a new market for us. Some of our clients include McDermott, Saudi Aramco, ADMA as well as others.
Can you give us an idea about some of your products and services for the upstream?
We are in marine transfer, for which we design and manufacture carriers to transfer people offshore. This can be used for LNG as well. Anywhere offshore where you need to transfer people back and forth whether it’s to go to work or for maintenance visits, our products would be a suitable option.
What steps did Reflex Marine take to come to terms with the current market conditions?
Just to touch quickly on the oil prices, I am not sure if we came to an agreement because there is the OPEC meeting at the end of this month. So it is premature to say that the oil prices have stabilised at the current rates and that it will not increase. I don’t think a dramatic rise in price is necessary because at this point getting it up to $60 is enough. I think anywhere between $50 and $75 is sustainable. Anything over that would create the bubble that is unsustainable.
The downturn in the past few years did make us leaner, move at a much faster pace and became more proactive. We learnt a lot and we understood the importance of data and information. We also understood the importance of connecting the dots between different regions, because we can’t just look at one region since the oil moves everywhere. In that sense, I think we managed to transform and we came out stronger.
Do you think this is a good time to do business in the region?
I think it is the right time to do business in the region actually. The end of a crisis is always the right time to grow.
Do you have any expansion plans in the region, beyond the maritime transport which you are already very strong in?
Oil and gas maritime is our primary focus. There are a lot of opportunities in that regard. There are quite a lot of shipyards in the region that we have spoken to, a lot of which are managing their own fleets.
Shipyards are the next kind of thing for us here. We are already in conversation with two of them in Jeddah, Saudi as well as with Abu Dhabi shipyard. I think that ports and freezones would be the obvious choice. Also, Kuwait and Iran are opening their refineries in Vietnam, for which the logistics side of things will be an important piece of the puzzle for us.
