Gates Engineering executives Joe MacGillicuddy & Garnett Bazley elaborate on their company’s go-to-market strategy for the region’s fast expanding oil & gas services sector
As leaders in fluid engineering for the oil & gas market, Gates Engineering & Services delivers premium products and services that include the supply, installation and commissioning of hydraulic and industrial hoses, hydraulic solutions, filtration and flushing systems, chemical cleaning, onsite maintenance, pumps and power transmission products.
The company’s main activities are directed at the oil & gas, marine, offshore and industrial sectors. Gates Engineering & Services’ footprint extends across the GCC, with operational locations in the UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia while the distribution network expands into Turkey, Iraq, Egypt, Jordan and Africa.
The oil & gas sector has always been a key market for Gates Engineering & Services. Based on rig count data in the region, market intelligence reports and our relationship with key oil & gas service providers, we predict further growth in the market. We are also seeing an increase in the number of new builds and rig refurbishment projects, which has contributed to a higher demand for our products and services.
Our product supply into this expanding sector includes our premium range of Gates oilfield hose and couplings, which is made up of high pressure mud hose, blow-out prevention systems and BlackGold hydraulic hose. We also offer onsite mobile workshop containers, which allow the assembly of standard hydraulic hose in the field.
To complement the product range, Gates Engineering & Services also offers hose management, including the tagging of hoses and creation of a database to track individual hoses. We feel that this ongoing scheduled maintenance is crucial in preventing downtime.
In addition to standard products, we are also able to design, manufacture and install spooler systems and other equipment required in the market. Our customers also have the option to rent equipment such as filtration skids, HPUs, PODs and centrifugal pump skids.
Although not a requirement, we recommend our own manpower as well as equipment, which gives customers the opportunity to use our expertise and the benefit of having qualified technicians on-site to ensure that equipment is operating at optimum levels.
Our top customers include service companies and rig owners. Fast-moving products in the region include high-pressure mud hose, transfer hose and our newly launch rubber BOP hose. As political stability returns and projects come online, we expect further revenue from these products.
In terms of the services we offer, flushing and chemical cleaning (pickling and passivation), remain in high demand from both local government-owned companies and private entities. We are seeing growth in these areas, especially in Qatar, Oman and Saudi Arabia.
We recently launched throughout the US our new product, 16C hose, which has passed the most stringent fire, flex and exposure tests in the industry
Gates is the first company to offer cut and couple technology – what this means for the customer is that our lead time is reduced to weeks instead of months as has been the industry standard. Our faster response time will allow customers to downsize their inventories and the replacement product can be with them within the month, decreasing costly downtime.
Gates places a lot of importance on Research & Development (R&D). We want to stay ahead of the crowd when it comes to launching innovative products that the market needs. We will continue to work on expanding our hydraulic range in order to offer a more complete hose and coupling rig package, including high-temperature, low-temperature and transfer hoses. We will also continue to offer the high quality services and engineered products that our customers expect from the Gates brand.
(Joe MacGillicuddy is Divisional Business Development Manager, EMEA & Garnett Bazley is Senior Business Development Manager – Engineering & Services, EMEA, Gates Engineering & Services)