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For the trade press
Siemens helps to secure future supplies of oil and gas with new
technologies
Hannover 2006-04-25
In order to open up as yet untapped oil and gas
resources, new technologies need to be developed and put to use. "In the
coming years, global consumption will continue to rise and the
proportion of production from the offshore sector and bitumen extraction
from oil sands and shale will grow considerably in order to secure
supplies", explained Joergen Ole Haslestad, speaking for the Managing
Board of Siemens Industrial Solutions and Services Group (I&S), to the
press on the occasion of the industrial trade fair in Hanover. Siemens
has developed solutions, he says, to extract, transport and distribute
crude oil and natural gas in future under extreme climatic and
geological conditions, and to do so safely and in an environmentally
responsible manner. Now that output from oil wells in North America
and the North Sea has passed its peak, the challenges today lie in the
exploration and development of new oil and gas deposits in areas that
are more difficult to access, such as in regions subject to permafrost
or at great depths on the sea-floor off the coast of Africa, China or
South America. In the utilization of the major tar sand deposits in
Canada, too, both national and multi-national oil companies see an
opportunity to cater for increasing consumption in China and India and
thereby satisfy the further growing demand for oil and gas around the
world. The global shift in consumption away from North America and
Europe to Asia will be taken into account through the construction of
about 100,000 km of new pipelines in the next ten years, three quarters
of which will be for the transport of natural gas alone. Towards 40
billion euros are scheduled to be invested in the development of
offshore an d deep-sea resources in the coming five years. "Making use
of these new energy sources imposes particularly high requirements in
terms of integrated technological solutions for automation and the
operation of production installations", according to Haslestad. At the
same time a high degree of standardization is required in the plant
technology in order to guarantee the safety of the plants, protection of
the environment and economic efficiency of extraction.
Within the framework of the overall value-added process, extending from
extraction in the field through transport by tanker or pipeline right up
to processing in the refinery, Siemens concentrates on electrical
engineering and power generation and distribution , drive, automation
and IT solutions and on security systems. New technologies are being
developed for subsea production. "In the offshore sector Siemens is now
a complete systems supplier for integrated instrumentation and control
technology, safety and security systems, power generation and
distribution, telecommunications solutions and compression plants for
floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) units", says
Haslestad. All-embracing solutions on the basis of proven components
ensure higher productivity at lower operating costs on floating or
fixed-installation units.
With the takeover at the beginning of this year of Berwanger, Inc.,
based in Houston, Texas, USA, one of the world's leading suppliers of
process solutions and system integration, I&S further strengthened its
position in the oil, gas and petrochemical industries. Berwanger
complements the expertise offered by Siemens in the fields of drive
configurations, power generation and distribution and water treatment.
The software solutions from Berwanger include the Oil & Gas Manager
(OGM) for upstream concept selection and field development planning,
Pressure Protection Manager (PPM) for the design and analysis of
pressure relief systems, and UltraPIPE, an inspection data management
system (IDMS). Siemens will support Berwanger's development of enabling
technologies to reinforce the company's existing plant services business
lines, and also expand Berwanger's profile internationally in front-end
engineering design (FEED) for upstream projects.
With another acquisition at the beginning of the year, that of the U.S.
company Monosep Corporation, of Lafayette, Louisiana, I&S also further
expanded its range of solutions in the field of water treatment
technology. "The acquisition of Monosep represents a cornerstone for our
national and international growth in the oil and gas industry", said
Haslestad.
The Siemens Industrial Solutions and Services Group (I&S) is the
integrator of systems and solutions for industrial and infrastructure
facilities and global service provider for the plant and projects
business covering planning, installation, operation and the entire life
cycle. I&S uses the electrical and technical products of other Siemens
Groups in order to enhance productivity and improve competitiveness of
companies in the sectors of metallurgy, water treatment, pulp and paper,
oil and gas, marine engineering, open-cast mining, airport logistics,
postal automation, intelligent traffic systems and industrial services.
In fiscal 2005 (to September 30) I&S employed a total of 31,700 people
worldwide and achieved total sales of EUR 5.390 billion.
| Reference number: I&S 0406.5221 e |
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Press Office Industrial Solutions and
Services
Wieland Simon
P.O. Box 3240
D-91050 Erlangen
Tel.: +49-9131 7-46169
Fax: +49-9131 7-25074
E-mail: wieland.simon@siemens.com |
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