published Mon, February 20, 2012
New base in Shekou positions Expro to capitalise in the South China Sea
International oilfield services company Expro officially opened its new operations base in China, on February 2, in the company of key clientele and senior Expro management.
The base in the Shekou industrial zone will have a workforce
made up of both operational and support employees that will be
responsible for servicing operations in the South China Sea.
Having a hub based in Shekou will provide a platform for Expro to
capitalise on an emerging and highly lucrative deepwater market
that is set for major growth over the next five years.
The new premises comprise of an indoor workshop covering 700m,
complete with a custom-built pressure test bay and a manufactured
clean room to provide a dust free environment for toll dressing.
The indoor workshop is serviced by two five-ton overhead gantry
cranes. An outdoor yard extends to 500m squared, serviced by a
10-ton overhead gantry crane with access to a 50-ton crane if
required.
An office area is complemented with a canteen and washroom/locker
room for workshop staff, office accommodation for nine people and a
conference suite catering for 12.
The Shekou base has already supported a very successful three well
subsea landing string campaign for the CNOOC Yacheng project. This
project was performed without any lost time incidents and zero
downtime.
Twelve people will take up a permanent role at the base and will be
supervised by China operations manager Matthew Milne, who said: "We
have managed to build up very experienced teams in China - an
onshore support team and offshore subsea and slickline crews. The
base is now loading out equipment for both subsea large bore
electro-hydraulic (EH) equipment and large bore slickline equipment
for the Husky Liwan project."
The Liwan project is part of CETS; a joint venture between Expro
and China Oilfield Services (COSL) to provide well-testing services
in the Liwan subsea gas field in the South China Sea.
Expro China country manager Kevin Illingworth attended the official
opening ceremony. He said: "This new base positions us perfectly to
provide our customers in China with top class service quality
offshore and excellent services onshore.
"The South China Sea deepwater market is crucial for our growth
strategy going forward and the opening of this base positions us to
capitalise on upcoming contracts in the region.
"Expro's investment to technology innovation and infrastructure
coupled with the dedication to ongoing training and personal
development means we are well positioned to provide bespoke
engineering solutions to a global customer base."
Date: 20/02/2012