Petrostem in India
Weatherford and International Tubular Systems (ITS) had better watch out! Oilfield tools and equipment provider Petrostem has identified these two as its main competition in India in the fight to win business from ONGC, Reliance, Cairn and others.
Set up in Aberdeen just three years ago, but with a head office in Dubai, Petrostem sees India as a major growth market and plans a sales office in Mumbai. “Our overheads are ten times less than Weatherford or ITS,” Petrostem tells us.
“Most of the equipment we lease or sell belongs to us.” Petrostem is talking to Aban Offshore for a $130,000 contract to supply drill pipes; Essar, for its CBM drilling programme in West Bengal; Mitchell Drilling, for cementing kit; and – ironically – Weatherford, for tools and casing from Malaysia.
“To enter a market you first need to support your competition,” adds Petrostem. “In three years we’ll bid for the contracts ourselves.
In India, it can take four to five years to get firmly established.”