How was business for your company in 2015?
The facility was busy with booked works and ongoing projects in 2015, but the main challenge was to book works and win jobs for 2016, to build up the backlog. This was challenging due to the reduction in the number of bids and delays in the potential awards.
Which major oil and gas clients do you work with in the region?
We have diversified business units and work directly with the major EPC contractors like Petrofac in the UZ 750 project, Tozzi in the Mender project, Q Con in ADGAS, and Schneider in ZADCO, as well as others for which we build skids, modules, E houses, and pipe fabrication works. We provide design, engineering, procurement and fabrication/construction scope based on the clients’ needs. We also have our jack-ups/rigs business that serves the oil and gas upstream section, where we provide upgrades, refurbishment, cold and warm stacking, and equipment recertification, and the ship repair business, which helps oil and gas service providers and the offshore/marine sector, as we work with clients like NMDC, Valentine Marine, ALE, ESNAAD, Zakher Marine and others.
How do you expect to perform in 2016?
So far, we are performing well. We are implementing some cost-saving initiatives to cope with the downturn while focusing on completing current projects on time to maintain the targeted revenue levels.
We are optimistic that the coming years will bring more work to the industry once the oil price stabilises, which will allow operators to plan long term and restart the projects that were put on hold. We have a very ambitious plan to further develop our jetty, dredging across our quayside, building a one-stop-shop for services, a new office block and training centre, enhancing our rolling and welding capabilities, and improving our certification level. We have secured some reasonable orders this year and have a healthy bid pipeline, and we are working on converting those bids into awarded projects.
What distinguishes your company from its competitors in the marketplace?
We have 350m of waterfront facility that can serve all the offshore and overseas works, and gives us the flexibility to build oversized, non-land transportable packages. We will also complete a 75m x 80m x 9m draft basin by the end of June that will enable work on ships, rigs and jack-ups from land in three different directions, reducing the HSE risks associated with using hanging scaffolds, rope access, or work over pontoons.
What is your opinion of the standard of EPC projects in the region’s oil and gas industry?
I think, especially in the current market, splitting the mega EPC contracts into medium-sized contracts would be more efficient, as it would allow more contractors to enter into the equation, providing more competitive solutions and making risks and liabilities more manageable in the case of any delays. That would enable the NOCs and IOCs to budget more of those medium-sized projects in a shorter period.
As the major EPCs are mostly international companies, this concept would allow local contracting companies like us to also benefit, encouraging them to take EPC risks. This, in turn, would benefit the industry and the country’s economy, as project funds would move between the NOCs and local contractors, creating more local transactions and new jobs for the locals, and improving the community.
