The company continues to penetrate and improve its activity across the Mena region with many unique products, supported by a 24/7 service commitment. Geographical and fleet expansion is also a part of its endeavour to be closer to its customers

Equipment rental major Byrne Equipment Rental says it has managed well by staying focused on penetrating into various sectors of other industries despite a measurable impact of declining oil prices and suspension of many projects around Saudi Arabia and the Middle East and North Africa.(Mena) region.

'We have always had the flexibility to adapt quickly to the ever-changing market conditions while maintaining the ability to deliver to expectations. We do this mainly adjusting to such change and introducing unique products to overcome the downsides and maintain a healthy economic balance with growth,' says Satish Shetty, deputy general manager, Eastern Region, Saudi Arabia for Byrne Equipment Rental.

According to him, the oil and gas sector in Saudi Arabia is huge and full of opportunities and continues to expand despite the decline in the oil prices. 'It remains a major anchor to many economies and we do not expect it to shrink in size albeit being impacted on prices. There are major projects already awarded in the east as well as the west coast of the kingdom.'

'As our markets sit in what is the core of the global oil industry, we fully expect the oil and gas sector to improve as we approach the end of 2016,' Shetty quickly adds.

Byrne, which offers complete plant and equipment rental solutions to the oil and gas industry in both the upstream and downstream sectors, says it has been continually expanding its product range to meet the exacting demands of this sector.

The focus, he says has continued to be on `innovation’ while providing industry specific solutions. A few striking examples to highlight this are the blast resistant modular buildings, trailer mounted oil and gas camp units of hi-spec, eco-friendly sewage treatment plants, modular offices and warehouse solutions, logistic equipment such as lift trucks and special application lifters to name a few.

The company has recently introduced highly specialised blast resistant modular buildings designed for very critical industrial applications. These blast resistant modules come in various ratings ranging from 5, 8 to 10psi and are usually used as offices, and are rented suitably furnished with intrinsically safe heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems and lighting. These modules are typically installed in those areas of the plant/refinery where the risk of explosion or blast exists,' he adds.

Shetty ... adapting quickly

The latest addition to its fleet are manufactured by Spacemaker Emirates, a sister company of Byrne. 'In the short term, we hope to see the manufacturing process shared with our other recently formed manufacturing facility -- Byrne Technical Services -- here in Saudi Arabia,' he says.

The buildings are made to the highest international standards with fully approved engineering specifications to meet, at minimum, the design maximum overpressure and corresponding duration as per ASCE response standards for the relevant class.

'In the GCC energy sector in general, and in Saudi in particular, the standards of safety continue to rise and in some cases exceed international norms. Against this background, Byrne remains the only GCC owned company in the region to have the technical and manufacturing capability readily available within the group producing these specialised products for its rental fleets,' he adds.

Byrne also continues to work on increasing its wide range of fleet for other oil and gas specific products such as onshore and offshore hi-spec rig camps, trailer mounted units for ‘pre-kill’ rig moves, DNV certified baskets, portable sewage treatment plants and many other items of equipment which can serve the various industries broadly classified under oil and gas, manufacturing, construction and infra-structure development.

'Byrne continues to penetrate and improve its activity across the region with many unique products, all fully supported by a very firm 24/7 service commitment. Geographical expansion and fleet expansion is also a part of its continual endeavour to be closer to its growing fold of customers, and to provide uninterrupted service around the clock,' Shetty says.

Talking about the prospects for its company over the coming year, he says: 'We see huge opportunities for a diverse company like Byrne in this country of vast and promising opportunities. We are driven by growth and we are currently focused on a number of additional depot openings in the kingdom and internationally, before the end of this year.'

Spread across most of the GCC, Byrne takes pride in being associated with some of the leading events in the region and working with some of the best organisations in the Middle East. 'While we are proud of our achievements to date, we are far from complacent because we understand what it takes to continuously raise the standards and quality of rental products and services – we`ve been doing this for over 20 years,' Shetty states.

Byrne was established in Saudi Arabia in 2001 with one small depot. It currently has five depots spread across the kingdom with approximately 50,000 sq m of yard space in Dammam, Riyadh, Jubail and Yanbu and Jeddah.

The company also has offices and full-fledged operations at Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Fujairah in the UAE; Doha, Qatar and Muscat in Oman. In recent years with the growth in its business, it has undertaken a programme of expanding facilities in each country where it operates. The number of staff in the group is approximately 750.