Contractors in the oil and gas and utilities sectors have had to become less arrogant due to the current financial climate, an industry figure has claimed.
Amana Pipelines managing director Nabil Helou, speaking exclusively to arabianoilandgas.com, said: “Clients are in a much stronger position today than they were six months ago.”
“Prices have definitely come down. The arrogance of contractors has had to disappear. Because we are a new entity, we didn’t get to the point where we were thinking like that, but a lot of the contractors became very arrogant. That has got to change when dealing with clients.”
Helou also revealed that the single biggest challenge to contracting firms is securing finance for projects after the tendering process. “We can tender a project of AED500 million [US$136.15 million] today and even if I’m awarded it, the issue is whether I can get the banking for it, 99% of the time the answer is no,” he revealed.
“This is the biggest challenge, getting the work today is more difficult than it was six months ago but it’s a lot easier than getting banking. The banking is what determines whether you take a job on today, not the price.”
On the future of the oil and gas sector in the Middle East, Helou was buoyant: “The world needs oil and the UAE supplies 9% of the world’s oil, so the world will always require the UAE. I’d say it will come out of the economic downturn healthier than most countries.”
