Siemens, one of the world's largest electrical engineering and electronics companies, has expanded quickly in the Chinese oil and gas market since debuted in the sector two years ago.

 

It now predicts it will grow at a considerably higher rate than the sector average.

 

Under Siemens Industrial Solutions and Service Group (I&S), the Siemens' oil and gas department has had orders worth 30 million euros (US$36 million) in China, Siemens I&S Group said.

 

Its offshore business makes up 70 per cent of that total number, while onshore work and refining account for the rest, said Zhang Jie, press officer for Siemens I&S Group.

 

She said Siemens is expecting healthy and profitable progress right along with the growth of the Chinese domestic market.

 

"There is great demand for high-tech solutions for refineries, and especially in the offshore business. The further out to sea and the deeper China drills for oil, the more interesting are our technical solutions," said Hans Werner Linne, general manager of Siemens I&S Group in China.

 

Linne said Siemens is mainly supplying electronic infrastructure equipment, instruments, telecommunication systems and power supply equipment.

 

Customers in China include Sinopec, CNPC, YantaiRaffles Shipyard, Conoco-Philips and Dalian New Shipyard.

 

Zhang said Siemens' oil and gas department in China was launched in 2004. The local office has grown from one to nine employees.

 

The department is supported by an international network, with experts coming from Norway, United States, Germany and Singapore.

 

This year, Linne is expecting the company's growth will surpass the market's growth average, which has been forecast to rise at a 12-per-cent rate.

 

"The opportunities for Siemens lie in the rising demand for innovative and proven technology. We are satisfying this demand with our product portfolio, and an international network with centers in the US, Norway, Singapore and Germany," said Zhang.

 

Zhang declined to name some of the new projects that Siemens is preparing for this year, but said the firm was confident that it could increase its business, especially in the offshore business that needs high-tech solutions.

 

The Siemens I&S group is involved in metallurgy, water treatment, pulp and paper, oil and gas, marine engineering, open-cast mining, intelligent traffic systems and industrial services.

 

In its last fiscal year the group employed a total of 31,700 people worldwide and achieved total sales of 5.39 billion euros (US$6.47 billion).

 

(China Daily January 24, 2006)