Aberdeen oil services group OEG Offshore (OEG) has won a £290,000 ($450,000 USD) deal with Texan drilling rig components manufacturer National Oilwell Varco (NOV).
OEG has been contracted to design and supply 60 No, 40ft pipe bins that will be used to transport standard drill pipe joints.
The deal was secured by OEG's Houston office and will be delivered with assistance from the Singapore team, who will oversee the manufacturing of the units in its factory in China and their subsequent transfer to NOV's pipe manufacturing facility, which is also in China, from where the drill pipes will be shipped to the end customer.
Larry Bobbitt, President of OEG's US office, said: “This contract was secured as a result of OEG's global network and the flexibility of our design capability, which encompass 50 different types of CCUs (Cargo-Carrying Units) alone.
“Our Houston office will be linking up with the Singapore and Aberdeen teams who will manage the manufacture and transfer of the units directly to NOV's pipe facility, ensuring a cost-effective solution that saves customers from shipping across continents.
“We have an excellent reputation for providing quality products and this is partly due to our ongoing working relationship with a factory in China which we have been working with for the past ten years. Its highly trained engineers are very experienced in producing our high standards.
“The recent launch of OEG's Houston office was a strategic move in expanding our share of the container industry market. Our ability to link up with OEG's other global hubs in Aberdeen, Singapore and Perth means that we can offer a worldwide network to customers, who can register their order in one part of the world and have it executed it another location, hassle-free.”
Mugar Ionica, Rig Solutions Project Manager at NOV, added: “This contract was awarded to OEG on the basis of the firm's ability to deliver on location. Our initial intention was to build the required units in Houston and ship them over to Asia, which would have incurred a much higher cost than contracting OEG. OEG's ability to build and deliver in China will also significantly reduce the timescale for completion.”