Abu Dhabi: Intertek, a quality solutions provider to industries worldwide is planning to spend $4 million (Dh14.7 million) in the expansion of the Abu Dhabi Technology Center that was opened on Tuesday in Musaffah Industrial area.
The new 15,000-square foot facility has been built with an investment of $4 million and will serve the oil and gas industry in the region, a top executive of the company said.
“We will double the investment in the next three years to expand the facility and provide more services to our clients from the region,” said Edmond Stephani, vice-president and director of Intertek Upstream Services.
He said the new centre will be the regional gateway to Intertek’s comprehensive upstream oil and gas laboratory testing services.
“The Abu Dhabi Technology Center will have a positive cost-related and time related impact on our clients in the region, whether in the exploration phase of a project or for the optimisation of existing oil and gas fields,” Stephani said.
The company is already active in the region in food testing, building material testing and electrical testing and has an annual revenue of Dh1 billion mainly coming from the Middle East, South East Asia, North Africa and Pakistan.
When asked whether falling oil prices has any impact on its business, Raymond Pirie, Intertek’s vice-president for exploration and production services said they are cushioned from the impact because much of their activity is related to production rather than exploration.
“We are here in the long term, even with depressed oil prices we can see a good reason why we should invest significantly in the Middle East. In the long term we can see real benefits in being here,” he said
“This region is not much affected as much as other areas. We haven’t felt anything so far,” he added.
The company with headquarters based in Houston, Texas has a network of more than 1,000 laboratories and offices in over 100 countries. It employs more than 36,000 people.
