STATS Group expands in Canada and Middle East

Oil and gas pipeline engineering specialist STATS Group has invested more than CAN$ 1.8 million (£1 million) in a double-pronged expansion in North America and the Middle East.

In Canada, the isolation and integrity testing business has upscaled to an Edmonton facility twice the size of its previous premises and has recently opened a project support office in Calgary. The company has been operating in Western Canada for seven years and the extended Calgary facility includes 15 000 ft² of office, workshops, test bays and tool storage space. Recruitment is underway to add to the 15 strong staff and turnover in North America is expected to account for 20% of the group’s global revenue.

STATS General Manager in Canada, Stephen Rawlinson said: “We have recently completed a substantial contract offshore Canada for a major operator, providing isolation services to allow the subsea replacement of a section of an 18 in. natural gas pipeline. Following other recent contract wins we are making a substantial investment in infrastructure and asset build for the North American market in 2014 and beyond.

“Our PPS (Process Plant Solutions) business has been core to our operations in Canada and we see great opportunities to develop in the pipelines transmission and gas distribution markets. There is a growing demand for the high integrity isolation services we provide and we see Canada as being an extremely important growth market for us.”

Headquartered near Aberdeen, Scotland, and employing 240 staff in the UK, Canada, USA and the Middle East, STATS Group specialises in the isolation, intervention, repair and testing of pipeline systems.

STATS’ Middle East business, led by Regional Director Angus Bowie, is reaping the benefits of a new 12 000 ft² workshop, which has opened in Abu Dhabi. Located in Mafraq, the facility includes assembly bays, pressure test bays and stores, and complements an existing sales and engineering office in the Corniche area. It will be used to support assembly, test and mobilisation for Middle East workscopes and for Factory Acceptance Tests.

The team is now 22 strong following the recruitment of Operations Manager Thomas Simpson and two graduate engineers and extra staff are being recruited as part of a phased expansion plan for the Middle East market, which has included establishing a separate trading entity in Qatar.

Angus Bowie said: “We are now building infrastructure in the Middle East and the new Abu Dhabi facility gives us a proper presence and the foundations to substantially increase our market share. We are working across the region in UAE, Oman, Qatar and most recently in Saudi Arabia. We expect to see an uplift in the emergency repair work we carry out and revenue from the Middle East region will contribute to around one quarter of group revenue this year.”

Adapted from press release by Rosalie Starling

Read the article online at: https://www.worldpipelines.com/business-news/02102014/stats-group-expands-in-canada-and-middle-east-872/