You were appointed to your new position last year. Can you tell us about your new role?
Honeywell recently made the decision to place more focus and emphasis on the Russian, Central Asia, and Middle Eastern markets. In order to do this, we wanted to employ a similar strategy to what we did in China 6 years ago—putting in place a leader who would be able to integrate all of our businesses and help with positioning Honeywell with customers and partners in these markets.
What are Honeywell’s recent offerings for the oil and gas industry?
Honeywell and its various subsidiaries offer a variety of products and solutions. UOP, a Honeywell subsidiary, recently acquired the US company Thomas Russell. This acquisition allows us to offer solutions to enable companies to deploy modular-packaged equipment units to remove gas contaminants and capture higher valued natural gas liquids such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). This is very interesting technology for stranded gas or gas that is in dispersed reservoirs such as shale gas and shale oil, which can be challenging to monetize otherwise. UOP also recently launched a new heavy oil technology for upgrading residue and the UOP methanol-to-olefins technology is seeing a lot of demand in areas with methane, particularly in places such as China. Overall, UOP continues to have technologies for gas processing, including membranes to remove CO2 and other contaminants.
On the automation advancement side, process solution developers such as Honeywell Process Solutions, in collaboration with oil companies, have made significant efforts to develop oil fields of the future, or smart fields. This will allow companies to be able to gather data from different wells and resources, allowing for more efficient management. For example, our software platform sits above the plant level and connects the plant through the enterprise resource planning system, allowing for safer operations and lower costs. It can also help the operator work smarter and more effectively.
Do you think that the recent shale revolution in the US will affect the Middle East?
I think it has already had an effect in the Middle East through its impact on the US market. Five years ago, several major US downstream players were in the process of backing down on production facilities in the US and were considering joint ventures and partnerships to build facilities in the Middle East or China. What is happening as a result of the shift toward shale is that several of these players have revived their operations the US, not just restarting their facilities, but also building new facilities.
This has slightly altered the level of focus the Middle East is receiving as a source of projects. It also has an effect on the way we look at the gas market, particularly the liquefied natural gas (LNG) market and on where LNG exports are headed. The US was building terminals to receive LNG, and is now considering turning those terminals around to export LNG. This means that producers such as Qatar will be seeking alternative markets and must adapt as the nature of the industry’s economics and partnerships change. This can even have an effect on markets, such as Russia, as the market in Europe is no longer as guaranteed, since Europe gains more access to Middle East gas and possibly even US gas someday.
If shale gas is recovered in the Middle East, it will have a significant effect on the region. Today, the Middle East faces a shortage of gas due to the soaring demand of power and water desalination. Historically, diesel and fuel oil were used as energy sources; however, the region could see a significant impact and benefit from shale gas if it can be safely and properly extracted.
What are the common issues and challenges facing process technology developers?
A common issue that process and automation solutions providers face is the rapid software turnover of software providers, which creates challenges for both individual consumers as well as large corporate users. We use various software as a base layer in our control systems and any change or turnover requires an upgrade or new patches. Rendering software adaptations is not an easy feat for industrial customers. In order to resolve this, the first step is to make customers aware of the changes and to help them manage these new adjustments. Our service engineers will go to the customers and upgrade the patches. This can be done remotely as we have several centers around the world, or we can do it live, with assistance through transition. We also work with major software providers to develop special industrial packages, which will last two or three times longer than consumer equivalents.
The other challenge we have today is cybersecurity, which has been a focus for Honeywell, and will continue to be a focus. We are constantly working to ensure that our systems are protected and tested against threats.
Cybersecurity has become a real issue facing oil and gas companies in the Middle East after the attacks on Saudi Aramco and RasGas. Have you introduced enhancements to your systems since then?
Last year, in August, our Experion Process Knowledge System control system platform was certified for “application control and whitelisting” to help combat viruses and malware from attacking the system. We have other tools available as well.
When it comes to cybersecurity, it is about more than just the system; there is also an element of culture that makes it about the training of people, as well as the use of thumb drives and other factors that play a critical role. It is more than just technology; it is also necessary to consult with customers in order to make sure that there is awareness and processes and procedures in place. The basic premise is that people, processes, and technology all have roles in cybersecurity.
Do you have a technical center in the Middle East region? What type of projects are you currently working on?
We have a large technical integration center in Abu Dhabi, which houses projects for multiple engineering procurement contractors and frequently end-user teams are working on the various projects. An extensive amount of training is also carried out at the center. We recently expanded this center and opened a branch in Dubai.
We recently announced the opening of a research and training center in Dhahran Techno Valley in Saudi Arabia. The integrated technology center combines UOP, Honeywell Process Solutions, and Honeywell Building Solutions, as well as some of our other businesses. The center focuses on training, R&D, software development, wireless setup and systems, as well as building systems. This is a huge investment and very important for Honeywell in the region.
The center targets issues specific to the region and to anywhere in the world. While we are working specific projects to address challenges in the region, we are also working to take local knowledge and apply it globally, and vice versa.
| Norman Gilsdorf serves as president of High Growth Regions for Russia, Central Asia, and Middle East for Honeywell International. Previously, he was president of Honeywell Process Solutions, vice president of subsidiary UOP, and head of the New Strategic Business Unit of UOP. Gilsdorf earned a BS degree in chemical engineering from Purdue University and an MBA degree in international business and finance from Northwestern University. |