Drilling rig designer and builder Bentec marks its 125th anniversary late this year, a remarkable achievement for the Germany company, which is a unit of KCA Deutag of Aberdeen.
And 2013 has the makings of an excellent year to boot, judging by the firm’s ebullient CEO, Dirk Schulze.
“We’re doing well; 2012 was exceptionally good,” he told Energy, pointing out that sales of drilling rig top-drive systems made a sizeable contribution to that success.
“We have now sold more than 50 top-drives and it’s only two years since we introduced them into the Bentec fleet.
That is ahead of expectation and we now plan to increase our production capacity.”
Schulze added that the successes of last year mean that 2013 already has strong underpinnings for the firm, which is located at Bad Bentheim.
Part of the success run is attributed to geographic growth, the notable event for 2012 being the opening of facilities in Oman.
“We started there a couple of years ago with an umbrella and a workbench. A couple of years later we have 1000,000sq.m of top-notch facilities in the centre of the oil and gas fields of Oman. We’re there to stay. We’re putting our money where our mouth is; meeting customer expectations.”
One of Schulze’s missions is to ensure that Bentec has the in-house capability to provide its client-base with just about everything “around the borehole”. Only a few components are missing from the jigsaw and the gaps are being progressively filled, if necessary through acquisition.
“The only real gap is the iron-roughneck. There are two options . . . either our R&D department develops and delivers what we need or we’ll fill that gap through acquisition.”
However, while Bentec is bent on raising production, especially of top-drives, Schulze declined to disclose specifics such as by how much output of, for example, top-drives, will increase, what Bentec’s market share targets are and how much investment is planned.
“This is competitive information. We’re moving forward. We want to become the number two top-drive company in the world. We can beat all the recognised brands in the world.
“We’re winning top-drive orders over NOV, Tesco, Canrig (Drilling Technology) and so-forth. This year we’re expecting an even bigger order intake compared to 2012. It will bring us into a position to achieve the number two position abroad.”
Turning to rig building, very much the traditional backbone of Bentec’s business, Schulze said the company has four fast-moving “speed” rigs on order for the Middle East/North Africa region (MENA) and four “cluster/slider Arctic rigs” for the Russian region.
“Just before Christmas we delivered a rig into Europe for use in a geothermal project in the south of Germany. That was a 450-tonne Euro-rig.”
But while Bentec is riding a wave of success, Schulze warned that there is no room for complacency and that it was important to relentlessly review the company’s “value offering” to the market . . . excellent quality and HSE performance at an affordable price.
“We have ongoing initiatives to further reduce the cost of our rigs and I’m very bullish for Bentec moving forward.”
And that approach is applied as much with in-house orders that may come from parent KCA Deutag as other clients.
But what about the shale gas market, burgeoning in the US if not Europe where, for example, ExxonMobil gave up on its hunt in Poland, for example?
“There was a big hype about Polish shale gas and we’ve spoken to various parties on potential deliveries of suitable rigs. But we don’t see a US-style shale revolution here in Europe,” said Schulze.
“Shale gas is do-able; we all understand that. Bentec rigs have been and can be used to drill for shale gas. It’s always a question of whether different countries are willing to exploit that kind of energy resource, or not.
“As far as we can see, there are enough contractors and rigs available to drill for shale gas. But that is not is up to us; that’s a matter for the respective countries in Europe to decide.”
Should there be a real shale breakthrough in Europe, Schulze believes that US land rigs providers will find it hard to break into this market because of tougher regulations. One irony is that Bentec rigs could prove highly attractive in the US.
“We are compliant to the strictest regulations that exist globally,” said Schulze. “That will give us a competitive advantage when entering new markets. Once we can prove to a new market that we already meet the toughest regulations that exist, we usually don’t find it too difficult to enter into these new markets.”
He pointed out too that the company is not specifically looking for shale gas solutions because Bentec already builds suitable rigs.
“We’re focusing instead on other aspects, like extending the capabilities of our top-drive fleet.
“We added the 275-tonne top-drive last year and are now working on a 750-tonne version which will allow us to go into the offshore business.”
Schulze pointed out that Bentec’s existing 500-tonne top-drive could be fitted aboard an offshore rig, subject to the necessary approvals. However, most offshore rigs start with the 750-tonne model, running up to 1,000/1,250 tonnes.
Bentec’s 750-tonne model is at the R&D stage and will most likely become available before the end of this year. It will be the company’s first real foray into the offshore market.
“We have had such a strong success with our top-drive fleet that we’re doing this development on our own,” said Schulze. “We are working with various industry partners to ensure our new top-drive has all the features required to really make a difference offshore.”
Bentec’s traditional markets lie primarily in Europe/Asia and the MENA region. That doesn’t mean the company won’t try North America. Indeed it dipped the proverbial toe into that market last year.
“We made a component-led entry,” said Schulze. “This is just a first step. We’re currently investigating two to three options on how to enter the North American market.
“I’m regularly in Houston and talking with various of our, and KCA Deutag’s, customers. Almost all want an alternative to the existing suppliers of oil and gas equipment to that market.
“We wouldn’t ship complete rigs from Europe. Our approach will be component-led. That approach means we won’t have to ship steel (for derrick towers), there’s no point.”
However, breaking out across the Atlantic is just one part of the Bentec grand plan to build a really significant global player.
“At the end of the day, I want to build a much bigger organisation by 2016 and beyond. 2013 is just a step along that road.”
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