Oil and Gas Fuels Growth as Ace Prepares to Expand Offshore

Custom material handling equipment from Ace World Companies could be negotiated on shipboard service centers in the offshore oil and gas industry as early as next year, as the sector fuels continued growth of the Fort Worth, Texas-based manufacturer.

The Norwegian subsidiary of a major oil and gas firm headquartered in Houston, Texas, will visit the Ace facility in January with a view to implementing plans to advance lifting activity in relation to subsea oil wells and related drilling, servicing and other oil and gas equipment installed offshore. Talks will center around the provision of material handling equipment for installation on ships to meet the demanding service and maintenance requirements of one of the toughest industries on earth.

It will be a landmark occasion for the company, following two years of research into how best to position the crane maker in this specialist field—a process overseen by Roman Kuczynski, the business development manager at Ace World Companies, who has a long-standing relationship with the sector. Kuczynski has masterminded Ace’s relationship with the oil and gas industry since 2010.

The manufacturer is bifocal in that it makes equipment for oil and gas companies in Build-to-Print equipment, providing work for its machine and fabrication shops, but more recently moved into the specialized, off-standard market, which has always been a hallmark of the company’s work. Kuczynski has leveraged this engineering capability to position Ace among very few companies who can serve such a lucrative, niche market.

“A standout feature of Ace is the portion of our engineering and manufacturing capability that is dedicated to custom equipment,” said Kuczynski. “The oil and gas industry is defined by its highly specialized equipment, which makes Ace such an ideal supplier. That part of our business was already growing but supplying what are effectively shipboard service factories that lift, repair, inspect, maintain and lower high capacity, high value equipment in an extreme environment is something that really appeals to us.”

The high profile disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, which resulted in a catastrophic oil spill, serves as a reminder as to how crucial this work is. Yet, with the roll, pitch and yaw of seagoing vessels combined with the ferocity of the elements and inherent hazards associated with oil and gas, the challenges of supplying this market are equally prevalent.

Kuczynski has timed Ace’s offshore foray to coincide with a change in focus of the offshore industry. He explained: “Shipboard lifting activity isn’t new in itself but the industry has historically been focused on the deployment of oilwell pods, drilling and pipe handling. Now, these ships are evolving into service centers, which requires a new level of diversity and capability than that required by a deployment vessel. Ace hasn’t been involved in this deployment activity so we are arriving on the scene with a lifting-based engineering focus, applied specifically to the job at hand.”

All hands to the pump

Kuczynski has worked in close collaboration with company founder Ace Ghanemi and his son Camron Ghanemi, the firm’s vice president, to devise this oil and gas strategy. He remembers introducing to the Ghanemis the concept of shipboard activity at a recent Offshore Technology Conference—the event takes place annually in Houston, Texas—where a model of a ship gave Kuczynski the opportunity to outline a vision.

Once the three were on board, the voyage represented natural progression. Ace has supplied equipment to ports and harbors previously and while oil and gas takes things a step further, the design and coating against salt corrosion and extreme environment, for example, is largely an enhancement of the same process.

In the oil and gas industry the preferred method of market penetration is to strive for a trusted partnership with the customer, jointly seeking out solutions to problems and engaging in risk sharing and mitigation. This is the direction Ace is taking.

“Next year we aim to take our first steps offshore and address what growing pains might be associated with that process,” said Kuczynski. “We will also continue to grow the standard oil and gas products by building on relationships with customers, increasing the scope of the equipment we supply them with through additional divisions of their operations, then offer our services to competitive businesses in their sectors. We will evolve and grow our engineering and manufacturing capabilities accordingly as this exciting journey continues.”

He concluded: “The move to shipboard activity is hugely rewarding on two levels. First, it repays the faith that the company put in its ability to deliver to this marketplace and, second, it is hugely satisfying for me personally to reach a milestone that puts Ace’s stamp on an industry as high profile, lucrative and challenging as oil and gas.”