21. Tecnicas Reunidas
Spain’s Tecnicas Reunidas (TR) made its mark in the regional oil and gas sector last year, when it was awarded a $700mn contract by Abu Dhabi Gas Industries (GASCO) for the construction of the Integrated Gas Development Expansion Project Package 3 in Abu Dhabi, part of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) programme to produce 400mn cubic feet of additional gas from its offshore fields. The scope includes engineering, procurement, construction, installation, pre-commissioning, commissioning and test run. The project consists of gas processing units, gas pipelines, and condensate pipelines, as well as the required interconnections.
This is the fourth large project for TR in Abu Dhabi. It has completed a project for the Petrochemical Complex of Borouge, the Sahil and Shah Field Development project, and is starting up the Shah Gas Gathering Centre.
In Q2 2015, TR and Petrofac were awarded contracts worth $4.7bn to build the Fadhili gas plant for Saudi Aramco, which will have a processing capacity of 2.5bn standard cubic feet per day (scfd) of sour gas from the onshore Khursaniyah and offshore Hasbah fields.
22. Faithful+ Gould
British project management company Faithful+Gould aims to achieve approximately 30% of its Middle East revenue through industry-related activities by 2019. Middle East managing director, Campbell Gray, recently told Construction Week that the goal was in line with the consultancy’s strategy to increase its non-property operations in the region. This shift is designed to guard against potential vulnerability to market fluctuations, given the consultancy’s increasingly targeted service offering. Gray explained: “By focusing on fewer things, we’re doing less but we’re more exposed to market change. Consequently, we’re simultaneously working to diversify.”
He added that firm was working to increase its industry-related footprint across the region, and that energy was its prime focus.
“I would like to see industry account for approximately 30% of Faithful+Gould’s Middle East revenue by 2019,” he said.
23. Bechtel
US-based Bechtel is perhaps one of the world’s largest integrated design, procurement, construction, and project management companies for oil, chemical, and natural gas facilities.
The company has been behind one-third of global LNG capacity, and has worked on 53 major oil and gas field developments, more than 275 refinery expansions and modernisations, 380 major chemical and petrochemical projects, and 110 gas-processing plants, not to mention 50 major offshore oil and gas field development projects, nearly 80,000km of pipeline systems, and 42 tank and terminal projects.
In the Middle East, however, the company appears to be decreasing its involvement in oil and gas projects, which may not necessarily be a strategic move but rather the result of tough market conditions, fewer projects in the pipeline, and more competition. Bechtel was among several international contractors to be awarded contracts for Qatar’s $6bn petrochemical complex in Ras Laffan. With the project falling victim to the oil price rout at the start of last year, however, its activities in the country are beginning to slow down.
24. Lamprell
Dubai-based oil rig construction company Lamprell this year signed an agreement to expand its operations in Hamriyah Free Zone, Sharjah, as part of plans to grow its footprint in the region.
The company leased an additional 114,280m² in phase 2, bringing its total land area to 500,000m², including 1,430m of quayside. The additional land will be used to build fully automated fabrication areas, including pipe fabrication shops and blasting and painting sheds.
Also this year, Lamprell signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Saudi Aramco, the National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri), and Hyundai Heavy Industries to investigate setting up a Maritime Complex in Saudi Arabia. The proposed facility would provide engineering, manufacturing and repair services for offshore rigs, commercial vessels and offshore service vessels. The MoU covers joint participation and due diligence on all work streams required to make a final investment decision.
Late last year, Lamprell also extended two options with Abu Dhabi’s National Drilling Company (NDC), as well as signing an option for a new jack-up build.
“The group [views] its exposure to the Middle East region as an important factor in its current and near-term business performance,” the company said at the time of signing the NDC deal.
25. Samsung Engineering
Samsung Engineering was one of the multiple Korean contractors to secure a share of the Clean Fuels Project in Kuwait. The company struck a $3.8bn joint venture deal, in which it holds 43% stake, with UK’s Petrofac and CB&I’s Dutch subsidiary owning 47% and 10% respectively. Samsung will handle engineering, procurement, construction and pre-commissioning of the Mina Abdullah I refinery package, part the of Kuwait National Petroleum Company’s $12bn upgrade initiative.
At the end of 2015, Samsung built the utilities and offsites at the Ruwais expansion project.The firm also won the package for the construction of a power plant at Saudi Aramco’s Wasit Cogeneration & Steam Generation Project.
That project helped Samsung make significant inroads in the Middle East’s power plant market, winning the Shaybah and Yanbu-3 projects in Saudi Arabia and work for a 180km-long pipeline and a central processing facility at Algeria’s Timimoun field development, worth $800mn.
26. SK Engineering & Construction
SK Engineering & Construction (E&C) is part of the Hyundai-Saipem consortium, which in the third quarter of last year signed a deal to build the marine export terminal in Al Zour, Kuwait. With a total contract value of $1.5bn, this is a significant deal for the South Korean giant, which bagged another contract on a top refinery upgrade project in the small Gulf Arab state earlier last year.
In a joint venture with GS E&C and JGC Corporation of Japan, SK is currently working on the highly complex Clean Fuels Project commissioned by the Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) to produce high-quality refined petroleum products for domestic consumption and export.
KNPC CEO Mohammad al-Mutairi told O&GME’s sister publication, Refining and Petrochemicals Middle East in January that the project was 39% complete, and that it was expected to be commissioned in mid-2018.
27. CH2M Hill
CH2M has served the oil and gas industry for more than 40 years, completing thousands of projects worldwide. The company specialises in all major refinery units, while its services range from engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM), to in-plant engineering, construction, and turn-around.
The firm worked with Al Hosn Gas, an ADNOC subsidiary, to help develop the ultra-sour Shah Gas field. CH2M provided engineering, design and programme management consulting for six out of nine EPC packages.
“In the Middle East, developing strong client relationships is critical to success. So, when Al Hosn Gas’ venture partner on the Shah Gas development unexpectedly withdrew during the project, we stepped up. They knew they could count on us to support them and make sure the project was kept alive. And now, it’s completed,” said CH2M’s Alex Shakarchi, deputy regional manager, Middle East and North Africa, and VP of outside sales, oil, gas and chemicals.
28. Tecnimont
Italy’s Tecnimont made its mark in the regional oil and gas industry when it won a $2.25bn engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract from the Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations (ADCO) in 2014. The deal saw Tecnimont implement process and associated units for the Al Dabbiya Surface Facilities Phase III project in Abu Dhabi. Pierroberto Folgiero, chief executive, said at the time that the project confirmed the company’s strategy of pursuing opportunities in “selective, well-known geographies”.
On the downstream side, Tecnimont was awarded almost $900mn to build polyethylene and polypropylene plants at Orpic’s $3.6bn Liwa Plastic Industries Complex, marking the company’s first contract win in Oman.
Together with Samsung, the Italian contractor worked on the expansion of Borouge’s industrial complex in Ruwais, raising the company’s total processing capacity to 4.5mn tonnes and that of parent firm Borealis to 3.4mn.
Tecnimont was also selected by the Abu Dhabi government to build Borouge 1 and 2. With a total value of $1.8mn, Borouge 2 is the largest polyolefin project Tecnimont has built to date.
29. Daewoo Engineering & Construction
South Korean firm Daewoo Engineering & Construction (E&C) won one of its few oilfield service contracts for the development of the Zubair oilfield in Iraq, totalling $588mn.
However, in May this year, Daewoo E&C made giant strides in Iran by signing an MoU with engineering firm Bahman Geno. The project, estimated to be worth around $10bn, calls for joint work on the construction of a 300,000 bpd refinery in Bandar Jask. Hyundai Engineering and Construction (Hyundai E&C), is also set to work on the refinery project, together with a number of local companies, in accordance with Iranian government regulations.
Also in May, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering won the right to manage Iran’s state-run shipbuilder, paving its way into the Middle Eastern nation.
30. Jacobs Engineering Group Inc
Rounding off O&GME’s list of the region’s Top 30 EPC contractors is Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. The Saudi Aramco Total Refining and Petrochemical Company (SATORP) recently awarded Jacobs a two-year contract to provide general engineering services at Jubail Industrial City II.
Under the terms of the contract, Jacobs is providing feasibility studies, concept design, and detailed engineering design services for a portfolio of low capital expenditure projects.
On June 14, Jacobs also announced that it received a three-year contract from Sahara Petrochemicals (Sahara) to provide general engineering services at Sahara’s Jubail Industrial City facilities in Saudi Arabia.
Under the terms of the contract, Jacobs will provide engineering, procurement, construction supervision, project management, pre-commissioning and commissioning support to a range of small- to medium-sized capital projects for Sahara’s propane dehydrogenation, poly propylene, chlor alkyl, ethylene dichloride and peripheral utilities operating facilities.
