Local motion

As the Gulf Peninsula enters a brand new phase of massive petrochemical development, Mohammed Ayoub sits at the helm from GE’s local headquarters in Doha.

The company is continuing to rapidly expand its Middle East presence, with over 100 permanent staff spread across its three principal hubs, Damman, Abu Dhabi and Doha, and that local infrastructure, says Ayoub, will be key in competing for the mega projects lined up for the region.

“My role includes overseeing all regional oil, gas and petrochemical operations in the Middle East, and crucially building up a local structure that is effectively a self-sufficient entity.”

GE in the Middle East covers the oil and gas industry through the value chain from getting the raw material out of the ground to refining the final products.

Traditionally the company has had more activities in the region focussed upstream, but a huge region-wide investment swing to petrochemicals is shifting that balance.

“The ramping up of refineries in the Middle East hasn’t escaped us, and we have become much more active in that sector. The split is now probably equal across upstream and downstream, but also with much more happening in the region’s midstream activities, which incorporates pipelines and product flow management.”

The blurring of traditional hydrocarbon sector boundaries has been a key industry talking point in the Middle East. Projects are not as easily compartmentalised into exclusively upstream, midstream and downstream anymore, as new technologies and a new scale of development hits the region.

“What we are seeing here is that the projects are much more integrated throughout the value chain than ever before. From the wellhead through to tankers, receiving terminals and refineries, the new wave of developments is incorporating a much wider spectrum of activities,” says Ayoub.

Through that large-scale project integration, new economies are being sought, and squeezing greater efficiency from operations is becoming an industry in itself.

“Through innovation and technology we see our services being in greater and greater demand. GE is pushing the envelope of existing technology and developing improved processes to deliver greater levels of efficiency. A good example of scale is the development of super-trains for LNG, and the use of state of the art new materials which can improve efficiency in power generation, and reduce emissions.”

Efficiency improvement is something that has to be scrutinised all along the hydrocarbon value chain, and as Ayoub explains, it’s not simply a case of improving individual pieces of technology.

“Downtime is something that can be reduced significantly through more intelligent planning. Modular replacement in refining plants is something we are advocating now for downstream clients. Rather than having a plant down for four to five weeks, we can reduce downtime by almost 60% by working on a modular basis. We are rolling this out in the Middle East right now.”

It takes airtight planning and execution, and that’s where these improvements are being delivered. Having the know-how and experience to carry out challenging missions is vital to be able to meet very tight schedules.

“The planning stage can take several months and then the resources are deployed to carry out the work to a very strict schedule, literally months of preparatory work can go into an execution phase which is only a week.”

However, Ayoub says the most crucial aspect of his role now, is delivering a more localised service to Middle East clients.

“Most importantly we are building up the service centre capability right here in the region. Being on hand to work with customers more directly is a big part of our push for regional success.”

With the feedstock price where it is, time has become a very precious commodity. The need for flawless operations is greater than ever, says Ayoub.

“New projects need to be executed in a swift and timely fashion. All of this means that the best relationships in the region are the ones where international companies have invested and put the facilities and staff here, on the ground. It’s imperative that companies work closer together, because every hour matters – it’s vital to foster that closeness and physical presence wherever your clients are.”

In the past, to service a compressor or a turbine, engineers would have been flown in from Europe or the US, the machinery would be dismantled then shipped to Europe.

The whole process of the service could have taken several months, representing significant downtime for the end client.

“Now we have the capability to complete the whole operation within the region. By having our service centre and staff here that turnaround can be reduced to just a matter of days, sometimes even hours,” beams Ayoub.

“These are very good times for us in the Middle East. The industry as a whole is experiencing a boom, and that’s evident in all of our primary divisions, everything from upstream and, of course, downstream is expanding, including the flow business that incorporates valves and pumps. Across the board it’s robust growth.”

As competition to be involved in the vast mega projects in the Middle East heats up, Ayoub says that localisation has become an expected benchmark, and that has been an important driver to the way GE is adapting in the Middle East.

“The most rewarding part of my role has been bringing the business strategy we formulated a few years ago to fruition. It’s something you can feel and see. Seeing the satisfaction in customers faces is very rewarding, and bringing that plan to execution has been very exciting,” he concludes.