Duke of York visits Schlumberger Centre
Posted: 21 January 2004
Schlumberger Oilfield Services hosted His Royal Highness The Duke
of York at its Global Drilling Technology Centre in Stonehouse,
Gloucestershire.
The Duke of York visited the facility in his capacity as the UK's
Special Representative for International Trade and Investment. Last
year, Schlumberger designated the Stonehouse Drilling Technology
Centre as its main production facility for downhole drilling systems
and power sources. Since then the facility on the Stroudwater Industrial
Estate has rapidly expanded , from 80 employees in late 2002 to
140 employees currently. In June 2003, Schlumberger commissioned
a new plant at the site to design and manufacture state-of-the-art
downhole power sources for drilling tools. Expansion continues,
with a further 27,000-square-foot facility scheduled to open later
this year, bringing an additional 80 jobs to the Stonehouse site.
The company chose Stonehouse as its worldwide Drilling Technology
Centre because of the plant's proven track record in design and
manufacture of leading-edge drilling tools. The Stonehouse facility
was responsible for the design and manufacture of the PowerDrive*
rotary steerable drilling system, which has helped to revolutionise
exploration and development of offshore oil fields throughout the
world. The rotary steerable system overcomes many of the problems
of conventional downhole drilling, enabling operators to access
oil that has been uneconomic to recover by conventional methods.
The Duke toured the centre with Simon Bittleston, vice president,
Product Development, Schlumberger Oilfield Services, and Derek Normore,
Stonehouse Technology Centre manager.
"The Duke of York's visit highlights the positive commitment
Schlumberger is making to the Gloucestershire economy through the
expansion of this facility," said Bittleston. "Gloucestershire
and Bristol have historic links with the aircraft industry, which
spawned a large amount of engineering expertise and quality manufacturing
machine shops. This made it a natural choice for Schlumberger as
a location for its centre for drilling excellence. We look forward
to continued growth through the recruitment of skilled and talented
local people."
The Duke of York's role with British Trade International
In October 2001, the Duke of York took up a new role as the UK's
Special Representative for International Trade and Investment. The
Duke is worksing in support of British UK Trade & Investment
International, the government body which supports UK companies trading
internationally and encourages foreign investment.
About Schlumberger
Schlumberger is a global oilfield and information services company
with major activity in the energy industry. The company employs
78,000 people of more than 140 nationalities working in 100 countries
and comprises three primary business segments. Schlumberger Oilfield
Services is the world's premier oilfield services company supplying
a wide range of technology services and solutions to the international
oil and gas industry. WesternGeco, jointly owned with Baker Hughes,
is the world's largest and most advanced surface seismic company.
SchlumbergerSema is a leading supplier of IT consulting, systems
integration, and network and infrastructure services to the energy
industry, as well as to the public sector, telecommunications and
finance markets. In 2002, Schlumberger operating revenue was $13.2
billion.
For more information see http://www.slb.com.
Posted by Richard Price,
Editor Pipeline Magazine
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