Mott MacDonald signed a lease agreement on 16 May 2011 to move its South Iraq operations to Iraq Energy City a brand-new development built by Petronor in Basra. The consultancy, which has been based in Basra for a few years, is, together with Royal Dutch Shell, the first company to sign an agreement to base its operations at Iraq Energy City.
The new development, which is located on 300,000 m2 of land leased from the state-owned South Oil Company (SOC) near Basra airport, will be developed from temporary secure units into villas, warehouses and workshops and eventually into permanent structures such as office buildings, hotels and recreational centres with a capacity to accommodate more than 5,000 residents.
The strategic move is poised to set Mott MacDonald closer to its business partners in the region while improving operations efficiency. “We were looking for a new option for our offices and accommodation in Basra. We needed to be closer to our clients as travel times were quite long. Fortunately, Iraq Energy City has provided a unique and convenient solution,” said Charles Ellinas, Managing Director of Mott MacDonald’s Oil, Gas and Petrochemicals business.
The Iraqi government has already awarded contracts worth up to $50 billion to companies such as ExxonMobil, Shell, BP and Eni to develop fields in the Basra area, and with several more on the way there are indications that the city will become one of the most exciting upstream destinations over the next two decades.
Mott MacDonald’s solid reputation of serving major oil and gas companies in the Basra region is expected to boost the profile of Iraq Energy City, which is already receiving strong interest from energy and oilfield support companies.
“As the first main service company to the oil and gas industry in Basra, this is of major importance to us and the industry tends to like to stick together in challenging environments, we are committed to the development of our business in Iraq thus the location and facilities are not only in the heart of our main operations it also gives unhindered and convenient access to our Iraqi staff” said Julian Taylor, Iraq Country Manager of Mott MacDonald’s Oil, Gas and Petrochemicals business.
