Deploying and managing engineering assets: a case study of a Chinese oil service

Abstract

The author went through the developing history of COSL from 1990s to date and found that with 50% of its engineering assets deploying aboard at 2012, the overseas revenue in that year is counted 31% of the total revenue, this can be recognized as success of engineering assets management of a Chinese State - Owned Company’s overseas’ operations. Meanwhile in the process, the challenges and pitfalls the company faced has always been significant due to many reasons such as significant psychic distances, backwards of industry developing level, insufficient of technical capacities and human resources, defects of the management system etc. Nevertheless the author also find through internationalized training, enrollment of highly educated personal, M&A of companies in developed markets, Green field investment in developing markets, building assets management center in places with strategically importance etc., COSL has successfully reacted to those challenges and obtained remarkable international assets management performance according to its scale in the markets.

Based on the above findings, the author has also proposed several recommendations for the company to achieve better performance in the future such as adjusting HR system to enroll more international talents locally from overseas markets; desalination of the connection with CNOOC group; More M&A investment in technology services companies besides drilling companies ; Investment in engineering assets with deep water and extreme environmental features; building more assets management centers in strategic important locations to create international assets network to support COSL’s global marketing participations.