Trans-Asia Pipeline Services’ global ambitions are edging closer to fruition as its “excellence” and “experience”, balanced with a proactive approach to continuous improvement, continues to attract new clients and new opportunities outside of its Middle Eastern base.
EXPERIENCED AND EXCELLENT
Headquartered in Sharjah, UAE, the leading provider of pipeline and process services to the oil, gas and petrochemical sector comprises more than 300 employees and has a presence in 12 countries around Asia, meeting needs across pre-commissioning and commissioning activities in what is an evidently volatile market.
The ability to offset inevitable industry challenges has been pivotal since the Company’s inception in 2001, growing from humble beginnings and focusing on onshore pipelines, before applying its evolving experience and track record over the years to an increasingly vast array of services.
“With an experienced team of more than 100 field persons and our custom designed equipment, in a very short time we were able to break through offshore hurdles and today we are a reputable Company having successfully executed projects for global oil & gas majors as well as national oil companies in Asia,” Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Sachin Sanghai recalls. “Trans-Asia today reflects an “excellent and experienced” team and product offerings.
“Commitment, reliability, work safety, responsibility and confidence are our core values and what we stand by. Today we are a global and dependable entity.”
Complemented by world-class equipment and customised solutions, value for money is the ultimate promise delivered to clients as a consequence, with commitments to health & safety similarly imperative to the Company’s overall aims.
“All this translates into a simple yet powerful promise,” states Sanghai. “Trans-Asia operates in a safe, environmentally conscious and socially responsible manner and works towards strong growth and secure, superior value for ourselves and our customers.”
INNOVATIVE IDEAS
The privately-owned Company primarily operates across Asia, from its UAE hub, with physical branches stationed in India, Singapore and Indonesia.
In each region of operation, the same quality standard of services are delivered across cleaning and gauging, hydrostatic testing, dewatering and drying, nitrogen services, electronic gauging and pigging survey support.
“In addition we also have a process services division where our main business comes from nitrogen services, leak testing, chemical cleaning and flushing and hot oil flushing,” Sanghai continues. “Typically, with most of the projects, we are associated with our clients from the bidding stage itself.
“We formulate the technical proposals so as to meet the complete project specifications as well as helping to reduce client barge/vessel days offshore which is a huge cost for them.
“We try to understand the project specifications and scope and depending on the same we will come up with some innovative ideas and start our procurements accordingly.”
Receiving repeat clients on a regular basis, the longevity of positive relationships formed in the sector are testament to Trans-Asia’s success, and have already reaped rewards at the beginning of 2016 via the attainment of a prestigious project in the Middle East alongside one the largest national oil majors.
Sanghai explains: “There are five pipelines and this project needs to be completed on a very tight schedule. We hope and are striving hard to reach our customer’s expectations on schedule and as of now this job is sailing smoothly.
“We also have a SBM (single buoy mooring) pipeline project in Southeast Asia where twin 48 inch lines are required to be pre-commissioned and commissioned by the end of June, 2016. This is also a prestigious greenfield refinery project and we are working with EPC Contractors to execute and handover the lines before schedule.”
QUALITY MATTERS
As a result of the ongoing, lucrative business coming Trans-Asia’s way, the Company will very soon be able to offer integrated in-house services across both pre-commissioning and commissioning, and is optimising the most honed areas of operational efficiency and sustainable capital expenditures in order to facilitate such growth.
“Almost every year since 2008, we have had a capital expenditure budget of US$ 3-5 million which we utilise 100 percent on new equipment and our asset base,” Sanghai says. “Over the years we have built up a large equipment base with which we can cater for any kind of pipeline jobs, onshore or offshore.
“In 2014, we upgraded our workshop and yard facilities and secured additional land lease at Hamriya Free Zone. At present we are constructing offices with all the latest communication and IT facilities at our Hamriya Free Zone facility which will act as a new Group headquarters and will be a centralised engineering and design centre for the Trans-Asia Group. We are also constructing a training centre for our personnel at Hamriya.”
The ability to drive forward and vastly improve internal infrastructures is refreshing in an industry which is currently under the pressure of a well-documented oil & gas slowdown, and is once again testament to the diversity that Trans-Asia has within the business to offset certain sector shortfalls.
Complementing these structural capabilities is the equally significant devotion to personnel development; once again ensuring that the experience and excellence ethos is adhered to throughout the Company, and instilled within each individual.
“Being a service Company and also a knowledge-based service Company, our employees are our brand ambassadors,” Sanghai emphasises. “We also operate in an industry where experience, knowledge, work safety and quality matters the most and it has always remained challenging for us to enhance our employees’ knowledge base, their skills level and empower them.
“Fortunately, even with more than 200 persons we are able to create an atmosphere where everybody feels included in the business and takes the ownership of the tasks assigned to them.”
GLOBAL AND DIVERSIFIED
An additional advantage implemented into Trans-Asia’s personnel strategy derives from its international presence, yet the ability to instil a local feel into each branch’s operations. As a consequence, the Company has as many as 13 different nationalities forming its truly diversified and global workforce, and sets the tone for its extensive international expansion strategy moving forward.
“In some of the market segments that we operate in, we already have a considerable market share and we wish to consolidate our strengths,” Sanghai says. “In the near term we are seriously looking at West Africa which seems to offer potential and we look forward to a breakthrough in 2016.
“We are also working on a few bids from CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) countries and wish to have a presence there.”
This natural migration will be the latest in a long line of geographic milestones which has previously seen moves into Eastern Europe, North Africa and East Africa in 2010, 2012 and 2013, respectively.
Latin America is also now a very real prospect moving into 2016, via yet another pivotal client partnership in the Argentinean oil sector, representing an exciting and dramatic evolution of a Company that has never been happy to simply maintain the status quo.
“Since our inception in 2001 we have successfully executed a number of projects for renowned oil companies and EPC contractors in the region that we operate, through our offices in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Indian Subcontinent,” Sanghai concludes. “In most of the markets that we operate we now have a substantial market share and in a few of them we are market leader in pipeline pre-commissioning services.
“In the future, I now certainly wish to see Trans-Asia as a global brand employing a truly global and diversified, efficient and professional workforce.
“I also look forward to Trans-Asia becoming recognised in West Africa, CIS, Latin America and Eastern Europe in two-three year’s time, for our engineering solutions, efficiencies and innovative edge.”
