Page 9 - MEOG Week 41 2022

MEOG PROJECTS & COMPANIES MEOG

Aramco launches rig building unit

SAUDI ARABIA THE Saudi-based Arabian Rig Manufacturing Under a 2018 agreement, ARM delivered
(ARM) company was inaugurated in the King- its first rig to Aramco Nabors Drilling Co.
dom’s Eastern Province this week, more than (SANAD) – a 50:50 JV between Aramco and
four years after it was incorporated and a year Nabors which has committed to buying multiple
after it delivered its first rig. units – in March 2021. The first rig was deployed
The company, a 70:30 joint venture (JV) at the Manifa oilfield in early July, according
between US-based NOV and majority state- to an internal Aramco newsletter provided to
owned Saudi Aramco, will be headquartered at NewsBase.
a new facility dedicated to the localisation of rig At the time, Aramco SVP of Upstream Nasir
manufacturing as part of the Kingdom’s Vision K. Al-Naimi said: “Today, we are witnessing
2030 and its In-Kingdom Total Value Add pro- the first in-Kingdom manufactured rig directly
gramme (iktva). working to serve our fields.” Meanwhile, Ara-
The 500,000-square metre unit is located mco VP for Drilling and Workover and ARM
within the King Salman Global Maritime Indus- chairman Abdul Hameed A. Al-Rushaid said:
tries Complex at Ras Al Khair around 80 km up “This represents just one of a total 50 committed
the coast from the downstream hub of Jubail onshore rig purchases to date and reflects our
and 210 km north-west of Aramco’s head office ambition to cement Saudi Arabia’s worldwide
in Dhahran. reputation as a pre-eminent builder of drilling
Speaking during the inauguration, Aramco’s rigs.”
President and CEO Amin Nasser reiterated the In 2018, Aramco said it expected ARM to
earlier expectation that the facility would manu- have manufactured 55 land rigs by 2025.
facture a minimum of 10 rigs per year. The wider King Salman complex will also
“Drilling rigs are one of the most important include the International Maritime Indus-
symbols of the oil and gas industry and one of tries (IMI) maritime yard JV between Ara-
the main equipment used in global energy sup- mco, Bahri, UAE-based Lamprell and Korea’s
plies, and now Saudi Arabia has become a site Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) as well as
for designing and manufacturing highly efficient units for jack-ups, casting & forging and engine
and technical onshore drilling rigs,” he added. manufacturing.™

KNPC to award contract for

refinery substation replacement

KUWAIT KUWAIT National Petroleum Co. (KNPC) has Ahmadi refinery by the second quarter of 2025,
reportedly pushed back the schedule for award- he said. In this capacity, the top bidder will be
ing a contract for engineering, procurement responsible for providing detailed design ser-
and construction (EPC) services related to the vices and procuring all necessary equipment
replacement of electrical substations at the Mina and materials for the new stations, as well as
Al Ahmadi refinery. constructing, testing and commissioning the
A source with knowledge of the matter told facilities.
Zawya Projects earlier this week that KNPC was KNPC has already contracted UK-based
now looking to wrap up the tender in the first Wood Group/AMEC Foster Wheeler to serve
quarter of next year. “The EPC tender was issued as its front-end engineering design (FEED) con-
on 5 June 2022. The bid submission deadline has sultant for the project, Zawya Projects noted.
been extended to 1 November, 2022. The con- In related news, KNPC announced in a Twit-
tract is now expected to be awarded by February ter post on October 10 that several units, includ-
2023,” he said. ing a gas plant, at the Mina Al Ahmadi refinery
According to the source, who was not named, had suspended operations due to an unexpected
the value of the contract is anticipated to amount cut in cooling water supplies. It said that the
to around $100mn. The winner of the bidding shutdown had not affected local fuel supplies or
contest will be expected to build and replace exports but did not say when conditions were
up to 15 electrical substations at the Mina Al expected to return to normal.™

Week 41 12•October•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P9