CLYDE UNION Pumps

Pumped for action

Formed in November 2008, CLYDE UNION Pumps is a world leading pumping solutions provider.

When Clyde Pumps and Union Pumps merged last year, superior products and vital experience were brought together to offer the market an outstanding organisation that draws on the best aspects of two businesses to offer an enhanced product portfolio.

Indeed, the two companies boast rich heritages and a combined history of over 300 years in pump production and development. Commenting on the blending of these businesses, Ian Morrison, business unit managing director for the upstream oil segment of CLYDE UNION Pumps, believes each party brought significant benefits to the table: “Both were in the pumping industry and the combination of the two was a fantastic fit in terms of markets served, product ranges, technical expertise, manufacturing locations and capacity. Clyde Pumps was mostly involved with upstream oil, nuclear and conventional power generation and industrial, whereas Union Pump was involved in the downstream oil sector and nuclear.

“The product ranges were so complementary that our offering into our key markets of oil and gas, and nuclear is enhanced while the combined portfolio now allows CLYDE UNION Pumps to have a competitive offering into the industrial sector including the growing reverse osmosis market. Clyde in Glasgow was principally set up as a single point of manufacture in the UK, with some cooperation developing in India and China, whereas Union had facilities in the US, Canada, England and France, so merging the companies added a great deal to capacity and capability.”

CLYDE UNION Pumps is structured into six business units: upstream oil, downstream oil, nuclear power, conventional power and water and industrial. In addition the company’s global aftermarket service ensures customers can optimise their processes. Speaking about the dynamics between the units, Ian says: “While the business units are very focused in their own sector there is close working between them in terms of product development and sharing product expertise where products can be used across industries. The products will be fine-tuned to suit the sector’s customer needs. The business units also work closely with the global sales team to provide technical and market support, and now that we’re able to go into the marketplace with an enhanced set of products we’re more attractive to end-users and contractors alike.”

Citing examples of recent work, Ian continues: “In upstream oil we have installed equipment with all the major oil companies. Some of the most recent contracts we have delivered or have in manufacture are high pressure injection, flowline circulation and pipeline pumping equipment for large projects for Petrobras in Brazil, Tullow Oil in Ghana, BP in Angola, Petrofac in Kuwait, Sonatrach in Algeria and Statoil in Canada. The pumps are being manufactured across almost all of our facilities. Oil production is a worldwide business and we’re able to serve many of the needs of contractors and end-users; our global sales and aftermarket services are key parts of upstream oil’s overall capability providing local technical and commercial expertise both before and after the placing of an order.”

CLYDE UNION Pumps is planning to continue work in these locations in the future, Ian asserts: “We’re actively investigating an increased localisation programme in Brazil, we have reached an agreement with a partner to work and provide aftermarket support in Angola, and we will be increasing our role in Russia. Russia is the world’s second largest producer of oil and it’s important to increase our position where there’s a need for local support. The Middle East will always remain active and while we have a presence in Abu Dhabi through our regional sales office we hope to increase our presence and capability in the coming 12 months. We have supplied pumps to the Middle East oil and gas market for more than 30 years and we cannot see the strategic importance of the region diminishing in the foreseeable future.”

The company owes its success and impressive standing in the market to its enviable heritage and consistently strong product line. “We have a strong portfolio of high quality and reliable products, which deliver very solid performance in the field,” Ian observes. “We have excellent ranges of high-pressure pumps covering barrel case BB5s, axial split case BB3s and reciprocating pumps packages engineered to suit the service and specification for production applications and a wide range of pipeline pumps. Our other speciality pumps include submersible seawater lift and downhole oil pumps – the downhole pump has a very successful installation in the North Sea with Chevron providing exceptional operation performance in both reliability and availability.”

Recent months have seen the integration of Clyde and Union’s products to create a consolidated portfolio. As part of that, the company has been developing and enhancing the existing ranges to best suit market needs. “For upstream oil there are areas within our product ranges that require improving to meet expected future market needs, principally by extending either hydraulic coverage or pressure rating. Our R&D team has been standardising the present ranges, for example adopting optimum hydraulic performance or utilising best bearing arrangement designs across all of our high pressure pump ranges. For downhole and seabed applications we’re developing equipment for a wider range of applications, such as oil and sea water injection boosting, drawing on the operational experience we’ve built up over the last ten years.”

Whilst the company is on course for a prosperous future, recent months have presented difficulties due to the recession. “This has been a challenging year and there have been several projects delayed or cancelled,” Ian says. “However, upstream oil as a unit is doing extremely well and the need for oil, as well as the need to develop new assets to extend global production capacity, means there’s a requirement for equipment such as ours, especially as we move into a period when oil is less accessible; there’ll be more use of higher pressure injection systems in deepwater and it’s with that technology we have particular strengths.”

Summarising CLYDE UNION pumps’ plans for the future, Ian concludes: “Our vision for five years is to be the supplier of choice for pumps used in high technology production – we want to be recognised for providing exceptional reliability and availability of our equipment in the field.”

CLYDE UNION Pumps

Products: Pumping solutions