Byrne Insider - Syed Zahid Hussain

BYRNE INTERVIEW ZAHID SYED Assistant General manager KSA EASTERN & YANBU REGION

1. HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN

I joined the Byrne family almost 12 years ago in 2010 in a sales role capacity.

WITH BYRNE AND TELL US

I have since evolved in the business and my current role is Assistant General

ABOUT YOUR ROLE?

Manager, managing Byrne’s operations in the Eastern and Western region of KSA, the predominant area of the O&G industry across the Kingdom.

2. WHAT ARE THE

The rental industry is the most active industry in the form of strategy and

CHALLENGES OF THE RENTAL

planning and it’s my job to keep steering the wheel against all challenges

INDUSTRY AND HOW DO YOU OVERCOME THEM?

that come our way and overcome these, on both our short and long term goals. The major challenge in this industry is providing consistent, effective operational support to our clients in the vast area of operations across KSA. Over the past 20 years, we have built a strong reputation in KSA and we

pride ourselves on the high standards of service that we provide and have maintained over this time. It is imperative that we keep this up and stay ahead of the curve. In line with this, we are investing in a state of the art 50,000sqm facility in Jubail which will further enhance our capabilities in the region. It will enable us to accommodate our growing product portfolio, build on our training and employee development and in turn support more projects. This site will be in addition to our existing sales offices and depots that cover all of the major cities in KSA, which demonstrates our commitment to our clients, ensuring we have a reach across the entire Kingdom in order to effectively serve their needs.

3. TELL US ABOUT SOME KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE REGION AND WHAT OPPORTUNITIES YOU EXPECT TO GAIN FROM THESE? There are a number of projects happening in the Kingdom across various industries such as O&G, Mining, Infrastructure, as well as the Mega-project developments of Red Sea, NEOM and Qiddaya which we expect will give a boost to the overall supply chain demand and in turn, bring opportunities our way. With 7 sales offices, 4 yard operational bases, a fleet over 5,000 items of high quality equipment and a team of 400 people across the Kingdom, we are well positioned to meet the requirements of such projects. There are also a number of mega power projects in the pipeline across the Kingdom for which we have the expertise to supply with our new fleet of power, a vertical business adding to our existing portfolio. We look forward to working on many mega power projects in the coming years in addition to our rental business.

4. WHAT ARE THE CURRENT KEY TRENDS IN THE O&G INDUSTRY IN KSA?

Recovering oil prices, strong demand from the transportation industry and modern developments of O&G exploration and production activities are some of the factors driving Saudi Arabia's O&G market growth. With around 18% of the world’s proven petroleum reserves, the country is among the largest drilling rigs in the world and this is expected to be driven even more with the increasing production of natural gas. Natural gas production is expected to continue to be a vital part of meeting global energy demand, and the increase in its production is expected to drive the market. Furthermore, new development in the smart rigs technology, like the advancements in the automated drilling rigs, is expected to make O&G production more viable and may provide an opportunity for market players.

The O&G industry creates huge demand for products and services and is the most prominent sector with activities such as Shutdown & Turnarounds, maintenance projects, turnkey camp requirements, process cooling, hoist elevation work or mega power requirements. We are well equipped to cater to all of these requirements with our diverse product range and over 30 years of experience - 20 of those in the Kingdom. We are unique in that we are a single source solution for our clients, and can cater to anything from small scale projects to huge mega power projects or 10,000 plus man camps. We are always working towards providing the best possible solution in the market.

5. HOW DOES BYRNE’S STRATEGY IN KSA ALIGN WITH VISION 2030? WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS WORKING TOWARDS THIS? With Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia is working towards creating a more diverse and sustainable economy which we fully support and are aligning our operations accordingly. With our pending new facility in Jubail and our ever growing fleet, we are committed to adapting and developing the business in line with the demand and trends in the market. As a company we are constantly listening to the needs of our clients both existing and perspective and we work closely with OEM partners to enhance existing product lines as well as develop new ones. A key pillar of Vision 2030 is a thriving economy that provides opportunities for all, most notably giving youths the skills for the jobs of the future. In line with this, Saudization is a key component of our people strategy within the Kingdom and we are focused on hiring and retaining local talent, most notably younger graduates who we can support further with their education and experience in the industry.

In terms of our product portfolio growth, we are focused on expanding our shutdown & turnaround portfolio with new equipment to complement our existing product offering. At the tail end of 2021, we launched an enhanced product for our camp services, designed on the basis of heavy duty and durability, and specifically designed for drilling / rig area working. From this we have received positive feedback from drilling contractors & sub-contractors.

Also 2021 marked our entry to mega power projects within the reputed government sector and this year, we have launched a brand new chiller product line for process cooling in the petrochemical and refinery in response to a growing demand for cooling.