Deepwater to increase their footprint in the oil and gas exploration activity in India
The intense search for oil and gas in the Indian offshore is seeing several global players entering this sunshine sector. Though having only a representative presence Deepwater of USA is one major company which is set to expand its footprint, with plans to open their own office to cater to their every expanding clientele.
Collin Donald who heads the business development of their agent, DCN Offshore in Abu Dhabi in UAE, recently while in Mumbai unraveled Deepwater’s expansion plan for providing diverse range of subsea solutions including subsea project methodology, planning and execution.
As one who has been actively involved in the offshore industry since 1983, Mr Donald informed that there was immense scope in India. He stated, “So far we have been operating through our agents in providing a wide range of cathodic protection services especially to various offshore players. Nearly all stakeholders in the Indian offshore oil and gas are using our services and have approached us for deepening our relations. They include Reliance Industries, Cairn India, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. (ONGC), Oil India Ltd., Larsen & Turbo, Essar, etc. With the growing prospects and increasing demand for our services we are in the process of firming up plans to open our own office in India to better serve our clients.
“Presently we are in talks with ONGC and other EPC engineering, procurement and construction contractors to finalize our future operation in the area of cathodic protection and retrofit system. We are looking at bringing in our products manufactured in America and U. K. and put them to use through engineers operating in the Indian offshore.”
Mr Donald anticipates that it will take some time before they are able to introduce their entire range or products and services though their cathodic protection so far has been the mainstay. He says that in UAE, DCN Offshore has acquired a reputation for providing safe and effective solutions in sub-sea operations for both engineering works and the offshore oil and gas industry. He does not see any challenge to their present operations in India because Deepwater is supposed to be the biggest supplier in the world for cathodic protection.
“Besides planning to expand into the Gulf of Mexico, Saudi Arabia and China, we are looking at India for marketing our entire range of services and products,” Mr Donald stated. “We have always focused on innovative methods and new products to improve lagging industry standards. The result is a much more reliable and cost-effective approach to corrosion prevention offshore. From corrosion inspection services to engineering and turnkey project management, we provide design, manufacturing, consulting, logistics, and installation supervision to all of the world's main market areas.”
In the field of deep sea diving especially commercial saturation diving, there is a tremendous shortage of divers in the Indian offshore sector which is very essential for deep sea operations. Many players feel Deepwater will be able to make significant contribution in air, mixed gas, and saturation diving operations. Besides, they could help create a workforce of welders to perform construction and maintenance welding services including underwater wet and dry hyperbaric welding repairs.