Member Article

North East firms take expertise to South Africa

The engineering expertise of three North East companies has been enlisted for a major South African offshore project.

Three members of Subsea North East, an organisation which represents the interests of the North East of England subsea oil and gas industry, are flying the flag for the region’s engineering expertise as part of a major offshore development in South Africa.

Wellstream, DUCO (Technip group) and BEL Valves have all secured contracts to supply products and services to PetroSA’s (Petroleum Oil and Gas Corporation of South Africa) Project Jabulani.

Jabulani which comprises eight wells, and is situated 100km off the coast of the Western Cape of South Africa, is being developed in two phases with the three North East businesses involved in Phase 1. Both Wellstream and DUCO are contributing to the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (ASGI-SA) and Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) by providing training programmes for South African graduate engineers.

The three companies are all part of Subsea North East, the organisation which represents the interests of the North East of England subsea oil and gas industry.

Dr Tony Trapp, Managing Director of IHC Engineering Business and Chairman of Subsea North East said: “The awarding of these contracts to three of the North East’s key subsea companies demonstrates the engineering excellence that exists in the region and the reputation the sector has achieved with global operators.

The innovative products and services of the subsea sector are vital if hard to reach energy resources are to be harvested. Companies like Bel Valves, DUCO and Wellstream are at the forefront of this challenge.“

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .