Home > SAUDI ARABIA > Business events
THE ITALIAN OIL SERVICE INDUSTRY AT THE ADIPEC – FISHING FOR RICH PICKINGS IN THE GOLF
One of the most important exhibitions in the global petroleum industry: Adipec , to be held in Dubai from 3 to 6 November 2008, will be attended by more than 1,500 exhibitors from more than 50 different countries. The Italian oil service industry will be among those present, looking, along with its international competitors, to establish trade links and lay the foundations for future commissions from a regional market worth hundreds of billions of dollars. If Italy succeeds in winning over their share of the market, it will also be thanks to the promotional efforts of the ICE, the Italian Institute for Foreign Trade, which has organised a group participation in the event.
Official GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council, whose members include Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar) estimates forecast that by 2018 the countries in the Persian Gulf area will invest more than 320 billion dollars in the development of oil, gas, power and petrochemical projects to meet the growing energy needs of their Emerging Market Economies. Among the largest spenders are the UAE, who expect to see in their own domestic market – before the Emerging Economies – a constant increase in demand for electricity, to a value of more than 40.8 gigaWatt in 2020 (an average annual growth rate of 9% from 2007 onwards).
The Italian industry, which will be grouped together in one of the 18 national pavilions in the 2008 Adipec, can offer first rate services in the exploration and production sectors, thanks to production of machines, systems and equipment designed for the petroleum industry. As can be gathered from the latest joint report from Anima , the Italian Associations of Mechanical and Engineering Industries, the sector boasts a high level of internationalisation: in 2007 export was responsible for 78% of overall revenues, a huge 720 million Euros out of a total 920 million. In absolute values export has grown slightly since last year, by 1.6%. A similar growth level is expected (1.4%) this year, with a rise in employment figures from 11,500 to 11,750 jobs, and a 25% increase in investment to 25 million Euros.
The Italian players on the oil and gas industry scene are varied: from company giants like Saipem (Eni Group), the largest, most international and most balanced between world contractors capable of providing the petroleum industry with ready-to-use solutions, to Tenaris , the largest Italian manufacturer of seamless steel pipelines for the energy industry and others. These two groups should close 2008 with revenues of respectively 10.02 and 12.16 billion Euros. Trevi Finanziaria , specialised in both drilling services for the oil and gas industry and the supply of onshore and offshore drilling equipment, is rather smaller, with a forecast 1.04 billion Euro turnover. Then there’s a “small” but extremely specialised Italian multinational firm (with 2008 revenues forecast at 350 million Euros) such as the Socotherm group , among the main world manufacturers of pipes, with bases in Italy, Spain, Australia, Malaysia, China, Nigeria, Angola, Qatar, Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela and the United States. Not to mention really small players such as Bellelli Engineering (www.bellellieng.com): a company founded less than 10 years ago (2001), and which has a turnover of a few dozen million Euros, and yet is the only firm in the world to hold the licence for the air separation technology used by oil and gas industry giant USA Air Products.
|
|
