munich<u+2014>when american lisa davis took over energy operations at siemens ag in 2014, oil prices were near record highs and europe<u+2019>s largest industrial company was bullish on the u.s. natural-gas market. weeks after ms. davis assumed her post in houston, the german manufacturing giant paid a rich premium to buy u.s. oil-equipment maker dresser-rand group <u+2014>muscling onto rival general electric co. <u+2019>s home turf. but before the deal closed, oil prices tanked, with the global benchmark brent dropping from highs around $115 a barrel in mid-2014 to below $30 at the start of this year, and recently trading just under $50. now, ge<u+2019>s recently announced plan to link with oil-field services provider<u+00a0>baker hughes inc. could stymie siemens<u+2019>s energy ambitions. that transaction, announced last month, would create an energy powerhouse in the u.s. with more than $32 billion in revenue. siemens posted oil-and-gas revenue for fiscal year 2016 of roughly eur4.36 billion ($4.6 billion), according to estimates by j.p. morgan chase & co. shares of siemens have risen 13% over the past year. ms. davis pledges to push on. <u+201c>oil and gas is here to stay,<u+201d> she said in a recent interview. <u+201c>we are very committed to that marketplace and see it as a long-term bet.<u+201d> a former royal dutch shell plc<u+00a0>executive, ms. davis, 53 years old, must steer the beleaguered oil-and-gas unit through the downturn while integrating dresser-rand. investors have questioned the price and timing of the $7.6 billion deal, which closed in mid-2015. ms. davis says she aims to make the energy unit more efficient to gain a competitive edge when oil prices rebound. for that, she is calling on siemens<u+2019>s experience digitizing and automating factories. the dresser-rand deal, which came soon after siemens paid<u+00a0>about $1.3 billon for rolls-royce holdings plc<u+2019>s energy operations, broadened the company<u+2019>s energy portfolio. that means the company can now offer a range of services and products, such as compressors, to a wide variety of customers, she said. <u+201c>and so we<u+2019>re there for the opportunities when they start to come back online.<u+201d> ms. davis also oversees siemens<u+2019>s growing power-generation and wind-power divisions, which are vital to energy business profits. siemens last year signed a eur8 billion power-generation agreement with egypt , the largest single order in its history. earlier this year, the company announced plans to merge its wind operations with spain<u+2019>s gamesa corporaci<u+00f3>n tecnol<u+00f3>gica sa, in a binding deal that would create one of the world<u+2019>s largest wind-turbine manufacturers. many investors initially were skeptical of ms. davis<u+2019> ability to manage these other energy units because her work experience solely was in the oil-and-gas industry. moreover, ms. davis is the first management board member in siemens<u+2019>s<u+00a0>169-year<u+00a0>history to run a major division from the u.s. <u+201c>there was tremendous doubt about her profile,<u+201d> said ingo speich, a portfolio manager at union investment, a siemens shareholder. operations have run <u+201c>smoothly<u+201d> under ms. davis, he said. <u+201c>overall, we are more positive<u+201d> about her leadership capabilities. andreas willi, an analyst at j.p. morgan, said stationing a senior executive in the u.s. made sense because siemens<u+00a0>had been<u+00a0><u+201c>too munich-focused<u+201d> before chief executive joe kaeser took over in 2013. mr. kaeser, who has presided over a major restructuring during the past few years, centralized control before recruiting ms. davis in 2014. mr. willi said that while siemens <u+201c>historically wasn<u+2019>t an easy place for a woman, an outsider to succeed,<u+201d> if mr. kaeser <u+201c>gives her full support, it sends a pretty clear message<u+201d> to other staff. in an interview earlier this year, mr. kaeser said the oil-and-gas unit <u+201c>will be back stronger than ever<u+2026>and the way we help them survive is to help them to build a digital oil field,<u+201d> referencing siemens<u+2019>s plans to apply its digital expertise to the sector. ms. davis said she brings a fresh perspective to a management board that can be too <u+201c>process oriented<u+201d> at the expense of results. <u+201c>we tend to use our incredible intelligence and capabilities in the company to make things too complex at times,<u+201d> she said. now, the election of donald trump as u.s. president could offer the oil-and-gas industry <u+201c>a lot of tailwinds,<u+201d> said union investment<u+2019>s mr. speich. he cited mr. trump<u+2019>s proposals to lower corporate taxes and invest in infrastructure as potentially mitigating increased energy-market competition. ms. davis said mr. trump<u+2019>s pledges to improve ties between the west and moscow could help siemens re-engage in russia, where it has done many deals in recent years. siemens retrenched to comply with international sanctions<u+00a0>following russian incursions in ukraine in 2014. <u+201c>russia is like other countries where infrastructure improvements are needed,<u+201d> ms. davis said. <u+201c>so if we can do that [build infrastructure] to support the needs in russia in a fashion that is very respectful and compliant with the agreements between governments, then great.<u+201d> write to christopher alessi at christopher.alessi@wsj.com
u.s. executive leads siemens through tough times  - wsj
christopher alessi