Emerson Process Management, a worldwide supplier of process automation technology and services, has been in the United Arab Emirates for more than 35 years and is an integral part of the upstream and downstream energy process. Executive sat down with Dave Tredinnick, Emerson Process Management’s president for the Middle East and Africa, for a chat about the UAE’s energy sector.
E How has Emerson been affected by the global recession?
The interesting thing about our served markets is that while the global recession hit many areas around the world, the Middle East and Africa continued to see growth. Particularly in Abu Dhabi, we saw [large capital investment] projects continue, which helped to build confidence for us.
E Has there been any assistance on the part of the government to promote your growth in the UAE?
We opened the Abu Dhabi facility in May 2010... For us, we found the ease of doing business in Abu Dhabi to be truly remarkable. We were able to identify a local sponsor and, once we understood the requirements, within a few months we had the legal entity set up and operational. We find it to be very transparent in terms of operations and certainly in terms of business. The UAE is ranked something like 33 in the World Bank Index for ease of doing business.
There is a lot of economic activity [and] capital investment in the oil and gas sector with projects like Integrated Gas Development or SGD [Shah Gas Development]. Those were all real drivers for us, [as were current] investments in power like large nuclear projects.
E Do you see any potential conflict between the nuclear projects and the oil and gas sector?
I don’t see a potential conflict between [oil and gas] and nuclear. The hydrocarbons that had been traditionally used to power power plants, whether it was gas-driven [or] petroleum, won’t [be strongly affected]. Those refined hydrocarbons will be used for other applications, like petrochemical or export.
E How would you describe the prospects for oil and gas industry growth in the region?
We continue to see investment across the region in almost all aspects. We don’t see that changing. I think that with the economy recovering we’re going to see continued demand increases. I think you will see a lot of power [generation] switching from heavy fuel oils to gas — which is cleaner and better for the environment.
E Will export patterns change and diversify?
Asia will continue to show significant consumption increases (year-on-year) of hydrocarbons, both refined and raw products. We don’t foresee a change in that in the near term.
There probably will be significant growth globally in LNG [liquefied natural gas]. Many countries have investment plans to produce more LNG across the world, in Africa and certainly here in the Middle East.
E Have you seen demand for more environmentally friendly solutions and products?
We’ve seen a number of green projects coming up across the region. In Abu Dhabi there’s solar power, there’s the hydrogen power project — which is fractionated from gas — and there’s a carbon capture plant. They’ll capture carbon and re-inject it into the ground.
E What can be done to promote greater growth in the region and the UAE in particular?
In my view, the UAE has done a very good job at attracting not only foreign investment but foreign talent as well. It’s easy for us to get good people here in the UAE to drive our business. In Abu Dhabi, we now have about 50 people and many of them were recruited locally. I think the programs that the government has driven, for example the Petroleum Institute, which graduates qualified people, are critical.
Editor's note: Correction made 2:29 p.m., Jan 25, 2011, to reflect the accurate title of the interviewee
