What does Le Beck’s portfolio of services offer for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) oil and gas sector?
We are a specialist security and risk management consultancy with a dedicated presence in the MENA region since 2004. We offer turnkey solutions aligned to the operational needs of individual clients, and our services centre on security risk and threat assessments, master security plans, security system design, peer reviews of security design, project management of the tender, implementation, and testing and commissioning process.
What is the scope of your work with oil and gas industry players in the region?
We have enabled these organisations to enhance their security measures and response capabilities in compliance with international standards and local regulatory requirements. Through our Saudi partners (SSOCS), Le Beck is formally approved by the High Commission for Industrial Security in Saudi to provide specialist security consultancy services that are mandatory in the critical infrastructure sector.
What are the major threats to the stability and prosperity of the regional energy industry?
The energy sector is the most sensitive to threats, especially in a region that is prone to economic turbulence and socio-political volatility. In the past decade, we have seen a surge in demand for our services in the energy sector, and the requests are becoming more sophisticated. The risks are multidimensional, with external and internal factors that need to be assessed, be it cyber security, terrorist acts, civil wars, political instability, intra-regional strife, or global economics. Threats in this region are constant and manifest themselves in different ways.
Governments in the GCC are presently pursuing economic diversification to reduce their dependence on oil and gas revenues, but do you believe this is a prudent or feasible strategy?
Oil and gas has been the key driver of the GCC economies, but in this day and age this is clearly an unsustainable scenario. Change will not happen overnight, but the right steps are being taken to ensure the new strategy is put into effect, and we are already seeing the fruits of this vision in some countries, like Bahrain and the UAE.
How do you plan to expand your business?
Our primary footprint is in the GCC, though we also operate in other parts of the extended MENA region. We are now looking to strengthen our reach outside of the GCC. Uncertainty and volatility is forcing the Arab region to embrace the implementation of effective security systems and procedures across crucial sectors such as energy, power, utilities, and transportation. Our focus is two-pronged – we create tailored security solutions whilst ensuring clients do not spend more than they have to.
