Continental Committed to Oil and Gas Industry
- Customers in the North Sea Region benefit from long-term industry know-how
- Focus on high-pressure and hose management to service clients more effectively
- More than €7 million invested in hose plant, further investments planned for 2019
- Hose assembly, fitting and coupling activities in Ashington will cease during 2019
Hamburg, Germany, February 6, 2019. The technology company Continental remains committed to the oil and gas industry despite the large fluctuations in the oil price in recent months. “Volatility is becoming a constant in the oil and gas industry. Crude oil and natural gas prices have been rising and falling even faster than we experienced ten years ago. Volatility creates uncertainty,” explained Maximilian Schwaiger, who is responsible within Continental for industrial fluid solutions in the Europe, Middle East, Africa region. He added: “Companies which have the ability to handle that volatility will make the pace in the future. We believe that this dynamic situation represents an opportunity for us to better service our customers’ needs.”
Continental remains committed to the oil and gas industry despite the large fluctuations in the oil price in recent months.
Continental has invested more than €7 million in recent years in modernizing existing machinery, expanding capacity and installing new testing equipment in its industrial hose plant in Grimsby, UK. At the same time, the company wants to increase its competitiveness to better strive for operational excellence. That’s why it has decided that the hose assembly as well as fittings and coupling activities in the Ashington plant will cease during 2019, affecting up to 50 employees. “This decision wasn’t easy but, unfortunately, it was unavoidable and necessary. We have completed the consultation phase and we have established an internal process for those interested in other job vacancies within the company. We are also in close contact with the local Jobcentre Plus to identify alternative options in the region,” Schwaiger said.
The oil and gas industry is moving ahead with its focus on safety, environmental protection and operating efficiency, especially in offshore applications. In the future, a services-and-solutions approach benefiting those needs will become key. “That’s why we are transforming our business approach into a more service-orientated business model,” emphasized Schwaiger. An experienced and dedicated sales and service team based at a new location in the county of Northumberland in the North East of England will serve their high-pressure and hose management clients more effectively.
Continental provides services for offshore applications including tailored solutions for asset management, maintenance, hose assembly inspection, testing services, external inspection, internal borescope inspection, high-pressure testing and recertification. In addition, the company inspects and maintains hose reeling equipment, such as bunker stations and offloading systems.
Continental has been active in flexible hose technology for well over 60 years. The Grimsby facility, which will remain untouched, was founded in 1955 in the English coastal town in North East Lincolnshire and supplied the world’s first marine oil transfer hose in 1958. The company manufactures and supplies hoses for the oil, gas and petrochemical industry.
Wolfgang Reinert
Head of Media & Public Relations
ContiTech