Opportunities in the Cabling Market

Q: How did Prysmian enter the Mexican market in 2006?

A: Our first work in the Mexican market was with Pemex Refining, supplying industrial cabling at both medium and low voltage for the Tula refinery, and also at some of the country’s other refineries. We saw the opportunity to expand our business to the upstream oil and gas industry, and in 2010 started working with Pemex Exploration and Production at Ku-Maloob-Zaap. It was a big project, which involved linking up seven production platforms with medium-voltage submarine cables. We provided the cabling, as well as the services for laying the pipe and establishing the connections.

Q: What do you see as the biggest trends and opportunities for cabling companies in the Mexican oil and gas industry?

A: We are in the business of delivering information and energy. Pemex will need companies like Prysmian as it approaches every one of its most difficult challenges over the next 20 years. In terms of solid business drivers for Prysmian in Mexico, we expect that medium and high voltage linking cables between platforms, and to connect them to the shore, will be one of our more stable businesses in the mid-term. We hope to develop this, and introduce our fiber optic and submarine power cables to the market. Another opportunity for Prysmian was created by the group’s 2010 acquisition of Dutch company Draka, which portfolio includes a number of high technology products designed for the oil and gas industry, including sensors for drilling systems, control signals, and power solutions, for both onshore and offshore applications. By combining the experience of Prysmian with the product portfolio of Draka, we have a very strong product offering for the Mexican oil and gas market.

Prysmian also has extensive experience in providing umbilical solutions to oil and gas companies focused in deepwater. In collaboration with Petrobras, we worked in Brazil as one of the NOC’s main partners, providing umbilical solutions for their deepwater exploration projects. Since then, the company has worked closely with Petrobras to deliver a wide range of umbilicals for various different uses.

Q: What are your ambitions regarding the introduction of umbilicals into the Mexican deepwater market?

A: We are extremely keen to introduce our umbilicals to Mexico, and are very interested in collaborating with the EPC contractors that will be helping Pemex to complete its deepwater development plans. Our umbilical solutions are tailored to individual circumstances – because of the extreme challenges involved in working at such water depths, we want to make sure that each cable can operate according to the specific conditions it will face during its lifetime. In such conditions, accuracy is critical. Each umbilical can also include several different functions, according to what is required, for example, to inject drilling additives, take samples, send data via fiber optic cable, or even power subsea machinery.

We are now waiting for deepwater operations to ramp up in Mexico, but we know that before deepwater development can begin in any serious way in the country, the proper political and economic frameworks will have to be put in place, so that investment in deepwater can begin. Nonetheless, when this happens, we hope to quickly establish a name for ourselves as one of the key partners in deepwater operations in Mexico.

Q: How does the umbilical business fit in your overall development ambitions for the Mexican market?

A: The umbilical business is at the very first stage, we know that it is necessary to wait some time before this projects reach a greater level of maturity, so that we can develop a local presence as providers. First of all we have to recognize all the opportunities, customize our umbilical solutions, and present them to the different main contractors, which are mostly international contractors.