BHGE cooperates with local companies to drive better returns, enhance production
By Mirsaid Ibrahimzade
International companies, particularly the ones operating in the oil and gas industry, enjoy profitable, safe and prosperous business life and cooperation with the local companies in Azerbaijan.
Tommy Kassem, Vice-President for Oilfield Services at Baker Hughes, a GE company (BHGE), told Trend that the company is in continuous discussions with Azerbaijan state oil company SOCAR and their cooperation is aimed at driving better returns, reducing the cost of lifting and enhancing production.
“We work with SOCAR in the upstream - field operations, offshore and land. As a strong player in the digitization of the oil and gas sector, we also support customers with our Asset Performance Management (APM) that enables our partners to achieve significant savings by increasing maintenance efficiency and effectiveness,” he noted.
Kassem added that BHGE’s APM software supports delivering efficiency and productivity for Star Refinery and Petkim Petrokimya Holding, both owned by SOCAR in Turkey. As part of the Asset Management System Establishment and Implementation Project, this marks the first-of-its-kind digital project by BHGE in Turkey and the first digital partnership globally with SOCAR.
Speaking about innovations introduced in the Caspian region for the first time, he said that BHGE jointly with BP and Topaz launched a newly retro-fitted vessel last year to be used in Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli field.
Saying that the vessel allowed well stimulation for production enhancement, he highlighted that this is the first-time wells stimulation from a vessel technique applied in the Caspian region to enhance field production.
Touching on the business environment in Azerbaijan, Kassem described it as good and favorable adding that the number of oil and gas companies participating in the recent Caspian Oil and Gas Exhibition and Conference proves that.
The vice-president of the company also noted the necessity of the further steps towards automation and digitalization to improve overall field management.
“Today BHGE offers many Digital application, sensors, and interfaces that can drive better results and support faster and improved decision making. Digitization and automation are the future of the oil and gas industry,” he said.
He further spoke about the company’s overall engagement in Azerbaijan.
He stressed that BHGE is the leading supplier of oil and gas equipment and services for exploration, drilling, production, transportation, liquefaction, compression, processing and storage for some of the most challenging onshore and offshore Caspian projects, including Shah Deniz, Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli, Absheron, and TANAP.
Kassem added that BHGE has been operating in Azerbaijan since 1990s. He emphasized the company’s 4 businesses in Azerbaijan which are called Oilfield Services (OFS), Oilfield Equipment (OFE), Turbomachinery and Process Solutions (TPS) and Digital Solutions (DS), comprised of Measurement and Controls, as well as BHGE’s Digital business.
“BHGE is a proud partner of SOCAR, as well as BP, TOTAL, Equinor, Caspian Drilling Company. We operate with our customers across all Product Companies both in simple operations, such as regular field, or in more challenging offshore operations,” Kassem noted.
Then, the vice-president underlined that local staff prevails in the company and mentioned new office has recently opened in Baku.
“As part of ongoing investments and interest at this strategic region, BHGE recently inaugurated its new office in the center of Baku and established it as its regional hub for the OFS business in Russia and Caspian region. Today, more than 300 employees work overall at BHGE in Azerbaijan and more than 90 percent of the staff is local,” he pointed out.
Baker Hughes, a GE company (BHGE) is an international industrial service company and one of the world's largest oil field services companies. Baker Hughes is 50.4 percent owned by General Electric company and 49.6 percent is publicly traded (NYSE:BHGE).
It operates in more than 120 countries, providing the oil and gas industry with products and services for oil drilling, formation evaluation, completion, production and reservoir consulting.
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Mirsaid Ibrahimzade is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @MirsaidIbrahim1
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