Elie Lahoud, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Petrofac Engineering and Construction, has led the development of high value, complex, multi-discipline EPC projects for onshore upstream and downstream oil and gas facilities, as well as offshore capital projects and renewable energy infrastructure.
Lahoud — who recently completed 25 years with Petrofac — talked to Oil & Gas Middle East about energy transition, the company’s projects in the Middle East region and some of the biggest challenges that EPCs face today.
Oil & Gas Middle East: Petrofac has been a key EPC contractor in the Middle East. Can you discuss your current and future projects in the region?
Lahoud: It’s a privilege to be so closely involved in the evolution of the region’s energy business. Wherever I look in the Middle East, I see examples of our work and get a sense of pride in what we are helping our clients achieve.
Current and recent projects include the OQ-LPG project in Oman, the Lower Fars project in Kuwait, and the Ain Tsila project in Algeria. Increasingly, we also utlise the region as a construction hub for projects being executed elsewhere. For example, substation projects for major offshore wind farms across several of Europe’s leading developments were fabricated here in the UAE.
For the foreseeable future, the world continues to need hydrocarbons. And given all that’s happening across the world, the onus will fall on the Middle East to deliver them – so spending on infrastructure must return. But this will be a new type of spending. Every asset owner is thinking about emissions intensity. Existing assets will need to be more efficient, new assets will need sustainability designed-in, and attention will shift to cleaner and lower intensity fuels like gas.
At the same time, there will be a surge of investment in new energies. With long coastlines, intense sun, strong winds, and an energy mind set, the Middle East is well positioned to be a global leader in new energies, as well as meeting the ongoing need for lower-intensity hydrocarbons.
Oil & Gas Middle East: Can you comment on the contract activity during the second half of the year? Do you see robust growth, given the increase in commodity prices?
Lahoud: Yes, we are definitely entering an upcycle, and our bidding activity reflects this. Right now, we are pursuing opportunities in Algeria, Oman, Libya, Qatar, the UAE, and some parts of East Europe. Given current events, there is a particular urgency around gas, but we see opportunity in all areas of the sector, including both upstream and downstream.
Oil & Gas Middle East: You recently completed 25 years with Petrofac. Tell us about your career progression.
Lahoud: My Petrofac career is indicative of Petrofac as a company. Petrofac is all about incremental improvement, forever finding new ways to be faster, smarter, more precise, more predictable, and more efficient. That may sound mechanistic, but it’s actually very humanistic – because it’s the Petrofac people who make it happen.
As a Petrofac employee, if you put yourself out there, you will always get noticed, and you will always get opportunities to prove yourself. When I first joined as an eager young engineer, I was noticed, I was given challenges, and bit-by-bit, I rose through the ranks. It’s a story you see repeated many times over in Petrofac.
With long coastlines, intense sun, strong winds, and an energy mind set, the Middle East is well positioned to be a global leader in new energies, as well as meeting the ongoing need for lower-intensity hydrocarbons.
Elie Lahoud, Chief Operating Officer of Petrofac Engineering & Construction
Oil & Gas Middle East: Can you talk about some of the biggest challenges that EPCs face and how you navigate them?
Lahoud: Sector-wide, the biggest challenge is talent – attracting it, nurturing it, recognising it, and retaining it. Again, Petrofac is a people business. It is our employees who set us apart, not just through their technical skills, but also their behaviour. They also need to know how to manage stakeholders, and how to behave with customers and suppliers. We are currently recruiting globally and need team players who can create value in new ways, who can troubleshoot, who understand people and what motivates them, and who can look at a challenge and find novel ways to handle it.
We care deeply about personal and professional development. We have a culture that embraces diversity. And we have a client-centric ethos that values innovation and creative problem-solving. Human capital is vital. And, when you get this right, everything else falls into place.
Oil & Gas Middle East: As the COO of Petrofac’s E&C division, what are your priorities for the coming years?
Lahoud: At Petrofac, we have three clear strategic priorities – best-in-class delivery, return to growth, and superior returns. From an engineering and construction perspective, the most fundamental of these is best-in-class delivery which, in simple everyday language means working impeccably.
A key component is our local delivery model. Wherever we operate, we aim to support local suppliers and stimulate local economies. Overall, there’s much to be optimistic about in the region’s energy industry and, by enabling our clients to meet the world’s evolving energy needs, there’s much to be optimistic about in Petrofac.