< PreviousThe Oil & Gas Future Forum The Oil & Gas Future Forum will gather industry experts to discuss the next wave of advancements in the industry The Oil & Gas Future Forum is a virtual event which will gather experts across the industry to discuss the future of oil and gas in a changing landscape. It comes at a crucial time for the oil and gas industry, as it looks towards a long-term recovery following an unprecendented market crisis. With a demand drop, global pandemic, and the resulting eff ects on oil and gas operations, 2020 has left the industry with more questions than answers when looking ahead, so we are bringing together the industry’s brightest minds to explore the most pressing issues of our time and the oil and gas industry of the future. To learn more about the event, for more information, or to learn how to participate, contact the editor (carla.sertin@itp.com) or our group sales manager for sponsorship opportunities (mark.grennell@itp.com). AGENDA We will hold three panel discussions to explore the most pressing topics facing our industry as we look ahead to a recovery following a historic, turbulent year. Key topics will include the role of digital technology and the importance of cybersecurity in the industry’s COVID-19 recovery, the relevance of OPEC in the 2020s, and how the oil and gas industry should participate in the ongoing global energy transition. Digitalisation in the oil and gas recovery Following the double pronged crisis in the oil and gas industry, we explore the emerging trends among operators in the recovery period. Is OPEC relevant in the 2020s? With the emergence of the US as a major oil and gas player, and following the market crisis, how important will OPEC be in the 2020s? Energy transition: Where does oil and gas fi t in? As the world moves towards a lower-carbon future, how are oil and gas companies shift ing focus to reduce their carbon footprint and invest in cleaner energy. Accreditations SAUDI PETROLEUM SERVICES POLYTECHNIC Partnering with petroleum, energy, and industrial companies to graduate, develop and prepare quality Saudi technical workforce. SPSP is proactively working to address the high demand requirements of the Energy sector for a qualified workforce that possess the highest education, relevant skills and best fit knowledge. Prince Moteb Bin Abdulaziz St., P.O. Box 2012, Dammam 31451, KSA E-mail : info@spsp.edu.sa , Web : www.spsp.edu.sa, Phone : 9200 04939 ACT-Eng. Program Locations: Engineers Development Solutions (Certification, Accreditation, Hands-On, Operation Experience) • Drilling & Completion • Upstream: Oil & Gas Processing • Refining & Petrochemicals • Pipelines, Distribution & Terminals • Utilities:Water & Power • Lab Chemists • Services Paris - France Seoul- South Korea Yanbu - Saudi Arabia Khafji - Saudi Arabia Jazan - Saudi Arabia Dammam - Saudi Arabia Contractor Certification SPSP is authorized to conduct certifications for contractor employees for the following crafts: Rigger II I Rigger III I Slinger I Crane Operator I Heavy Equipment Operator Saudi Aramco Contractor Workforce Qualification Assurance Program (CWQAP) SPSP is approved to offer qualification assurance on behalf of Saudi Aramco in the following disciplines: Electrical I PCST (Instrumentation) I HVAC I Metals Fabricator I Metals Pipefitter Machinist (Mechanical) Short Training & Certification Programs Together, Towards a Bright Future for Saudi Youth Diploma Programs Electrical I Mechanical I Operations I Pipefitting I Welding I HVAC PCST I Drilling I Rigging I Scaffolding I Crane Operation I HSE Women Vocational Training Electrical I Health & Safety Short Courses Construction Drilling Health & Safety 10 EVENTS oilandgasmiddleeast.com OCTOBER 202011 ADVERTORIAL oilandgasmiddleeast.com OCTOBER 2020 Setting the standard Standardisation is the key to creating a globalized, interconnected, and truly international oil and gas industry. Written in partnership with SAI Global Standards The oil and gas sector is a deeply complex network of players across segments, all working towards pro- ducing oil, gas, and related products. When a system becomes this complicated, it requires standards across the industry to ensure that each player can communicate effectively with each other. McKinsey & Company writes that stand- ardisation may hold the key to eliminat- ing inefficiencies and could contribute to improving future major oil projects. There are standards to protect health, safety, technology, and more. They are mostly quiet, unseen forces—specifications, regulations, and protocols that help ensure organisations and processes work properly, interactively, and responsibly. Standards in the oil and gas industry In today’s environment of increased workload and decreased human resources, standardisation has become a para- mount concern for oil and gas companies, equipment manufacturers, and suppliers. Standards enhance the safety of industry operations, assure quality, help keep costs down, reduce waste, and minimise confu- sion. Importantly, it facilitates globalisation in the industry. Within the oil and gas industry, strategic standardisation produces benefits such as improved safety, reliability, quality, and environmental performance which assists organisations in maintaining a leading position in such a dynamic and changing industry. Standardisation also helps ensure compliance with government requirements and boosts equipment interchangeability. The importance of standards In a dynamic and challenging environment, standardisation plays a major role in setting the benchmark for objectives, outcomes, and processes. Standards provide the guid- ance and framework for businesses looking to improve their operations and practices in any field or area. More than ever, compa- nies around the world are discovering the power and value of standards to provide greater consistency of safety practices. Utilising standards within the oil and gas industry can assist with the creation of a flexible and resilient organisation, prioritis- ing the safety and wellbeing of employees and the wider community. Safety fi rst The oil and gas industry is constantly concerned with the safety of its employees, the community, and end-consumers. It contains inherent hazards in the course of day-to-day operation, but operators can minimise safety concerns and enjoy a safer workplace by following industry specifica- tions and standards. By reducing operator risk and ensuring that equipment and material satisfy regula- tions and laws, standards play a key role in developing greater public trust, boost- ing the brand’s reputation, and working towards environmental goals. On the other hand, working outside of current standards creates increased risk— potentially compromising the integrity of entire projects. Safely reaching technological heights The industry is constantly developing new operational and digital technologies to continue the industry’s growth and de- velopment. Standardisation plays a major role in setting a benchmark for technology, and creating clear guidance for use and expected results. Choosing the right standards But it isn’t enough to apply standards; with thousands of relevant standards by various publishers, it is crucial for the oil and gas industry to be properly informed of which standards are necessary. If standards or regulations are missed, or skipped, this can have catastrophic ramifications and has the potential to halt international trade. Using a reliable standards provider that is able to provide all of the standards and regulations needed by the industry is an investment into the future of the business that will bring benefits, both tangible and intangible, for years to come in the road towards global strategic standardisation. 12 COVER STORY oilandgasmiddleeast.com OCTOBER 2020 ENGINEERING TRANSFORMATION McDermott’s Senior Vice President for EMEA, Tareq Kawash, comments on keeping business up during a pandemic, his vision for the region, and the EPC company’s transformation. Tareq Kawash became the Senior Vice President of McDermott’s EMEA business at a difficult time. When he took on the role in July 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had swept the globe, disrupting virtually all industries. But he has a strong vision for the international EPC firm’s growth in the region. “Obviously, [the pandemic] has had a negative impact globally on businesses in all sectors,” Kawash says. “But I am WORDS: CARLA SERTIN proud to say that the majority of our fabrication shops and project sites remained active during the pandemic.” He is quick to add that the company ensured that all sites followed local government requirements as well as McDermott’s own health and safety guidelines. Kawash noted that the key factors in mitigating COVID-19 risks at McDermott’s workplaces were several educational campaigns to help enforce best practices while keeping the business active. He attributes this to the resilience of the company’s employees and project teams, which have kept its projects going throughout the challenging market landscape of 2020. Still, the pandemic has brought with it a renewed urgency for industry transformation. “The COVID-19 crisis accelerates what was already shaping up to be one of the industry’s most transformative moments,” writes McKinsey & Company in a May 2020 industry report. McDermott was already deep into its own transformation when the pandemic hit, possibly pushing it ahead of the curve in the EPC space.13 COVER STORY oilandgasmiddleeast.com OCTOBER 202014 COVER STORY oilandgasmiddleeast.com OCTOBER 2020 “We recently emerged from financial restructuring with a strong balance sheet,” Kawash says, noting that it did not disrupt any of the company’s ongoing projects. “We have a very solid and diverse backlog of approximately $15bn. We have made some significant cuts in costs and we have put systems in place that allow us to operate more efficiently and competitively.” Kawash himself is a good representation of McDermott’s transformation—he has 30 years of experience, but his current position did not exist before July 2020. McDermott recently combined the Europe, Africa, Russia, and Caspian region (where Kawash was previously the Senior Vice President), with the Middle East and North Africa region to create its EMEA unit, part of its efforts to streamline operations. “The reorganisation brings together all of the resources and assets necessary to deliver projects across the region under a single management structure,” he says. “Our onshore centres of excellence in Europe will provide technical expertise and project delivery know-how to the Middle East more seamlessly in combination with our regional fabrication assets as part of an integrated project delivery solution.” Onshore is a big part of McDermott’s THE REORGANISATION BRINGS TOGETHER ALL OF THE RESOURCES AND ASSETS NECESSARY TO DELIVER PROJECT ACROSS THE REGION UNDER A SINGLE MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE COVER STORY15 COVER STORY oilandgasmiddleeast.com OCTOBER 2020 portfolio, but the company’s massive backlog spans the offshore upstream segment, onshore midstream, LNG, and refining and petrochemicals. Kawash says that the new EMEA group will also help to protect and focus on the Middle East offshore business as the industry adapts to an oil price shock and the challenges of operating during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We are also looking to drive cost efficiency through a consolidated region to prepare us for a more competitive, cyclical business,” he says, adding that it will act as a single point of contact for customers in the EMEA region. He also notes that the combined region will give McDermott employees more career development opportunities with easier mobility across the area. But transforming on such a large scale comes with its share of challenges, the first of which was creating a joint leadership team for the region. “The other challenge is to adapt to the new and changing market,” Kawash says. “We have been very active in reaching out to our clients not only to communicate the changes we have made but also to understand the effect of the market on their investment plans. That is very high on my agenda right now.” It is a sensible priority—after the drop in global oil demand and prices, hydrocarbon producers responded by optimising their own operations and cutting their expenses. For EPC companies like McDermott to succeed in a changing landscape, it is imperative that they understand how operators plan to move forward. “The winners will be those that use this crisis to boldly reposition their portfolios and transform their operating models,” the McKinsey report states. Looking ahead, Kawash sees multiple areas of opportunity in the region. “McDermott EMEA has the full offering COVER STORY16 COVER STORY oilandgasmiddleeast.com OCTOBER 2020 WE FEEL THAT WE ARE WELL-POSITIONED FOR THE MARKET POST-COVID-19, AND I AM CONFIDENT IN OUR ABILITY AS A COMPANY TO OPERATE IN DIVERSE GEOGRAPHIC MARKETS GLOBALLY, OFFERING A WIDE RANGE OF PROJECT SERVICES TO THE UPSTREAM AND DOWNSTREAM SECTORS OF THE INDUSTRY of the McDermott product lines portfolio,” he says. “The shallow water business is the core of our business in the region and following our customers’ significant capital expenditure cuts this year, we anticipate a surge of investment in the coming years, including several major offshore and upstream developments in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar, either to maintain production levels or to capitalise on the region’s low cost of production to increase market share at a time when global upstream investment is challenged.” In both the offshore and onshore segments, he says that McDermott is “actively positioning for the next wave of major projects and is optimistic that an improving outlook for product pricing through 2021 will allow several of these projects to reach financial sanction.” As the region’s national oil companies bolster their downstream portfolios, EPC companies have stepped up to provide services relevant to refining and petrochemicals. McDermott is currently finishing up a major petrochemicals project for the Liwa Plastics Industry Complex in Oman, which is expected to start up later this year, and another downstream project for Kuwait National Petroleum Company involving clean fuels. “These big NOCs which were initially focused on oil production and refining are heavily investing in the petrochemical sector,” Kawash says. “The next step, which has been 17 COVER STORY oilandgasmiddleeast.com OCTOBER 2020 publicly announced by a number of companies, is to get into more specialty chemicals, beyond the basic chemicals, and you can see that in Saudi Arabia and neighbouring countries.” Kawash added, “In addition to the traditional offshore and onshore segments, we are positioning ourselves for the expanding Energy Transition developments. We will be leveraging our capabilities and expertise into Energy Transition solutions in the areas of Low Carbon Delivery, New Energies, and Circular Economy projects. We’ll continue to look at these new areas for McDermott and provide sustainable solutions to our customers so they can realize their sustainability and net-zero/ low carbon ambitions.” But he also has growth plans outside of the GCC—Kawash notes that the company is planning to expand its presence in sub-Saharan Africa. McDermott is already in a joint venture to deliver the first LNG liquefaction facility in East Africa. He also sees opportunities in deep water projects in West Africa, where the Amazon (a recently upgraded deep water vessel) is set to be deployed to an offshore project in Senegal and Mauritania. “We feel that we are well-positioned for the market post-COVID-19, and I am confident in our ability as a company to operate in diverse geographic markets globally, offering a wide range of project services to the upstream and downstream sectors of the industry,” Kawash says. “It creates a degree of resilience against such disruptive external factors as we have witnessed with COVID-19.” WE HAVE BEEN VERY ACTIVE IN REACHING OUT TO OUR CLIENTS NOT ONLY TO COMMUNICATE THE CHANGES WE HAVE MADE BUT ALSO TO UNDERSTAND THE EFFECT OF THE MARKET ON THEIR INVESTMENT PLANS18 TOP 30 EPC CONTRACTORS oilandgasmiddleeast.com OCTOBER 2020 OIL & GAS MIDDLE EAST REVEALS THE FIRMS THAT HAVE BEEN REDEFINING ENERGY PROJECTS IN THE REGION CONTRACTORS19 TOP 30 EPC CONTRACTORS oilandgasmiddleeast.com OCTOBER 2020 We, the editorial team of Oil & Gas Middle East, have never quite seen a year like 2020, making it especially challenging to rank the top EPC companies in the region. To put it simply: Everyone is hurting. Everyone will emerge from this unprecedented crisis slightly more bruised and battered than before, but all the more resilient for it. That means it is also an exciting time to consider the achievements of the EPC vertical, as well as its potential. Potential is a key word here: I would be incredibly surprised if most companies in the oil and gas sector achieved exactly what they set out to do in January 2020, or if they will hit their targets for 2021. However, what we will likely see (as we do following every industry crisis) is a pivot towards new techniques and tactics for growth and development after the crisis. In all sincerity, that is something to look forward to. Companies will once again dig into their toolbox to find ways to become sharper, smarter, and more agile to keep in step with the region’s top oil and gas producers. The companies that are able to transform quickly with agility will likely be able to find their way to success. There will always be projects to tender and partnerships to be made, it is simply up to EPC companies to make sure that they are offering the solutions that producers need in this vital time. Methodology: When formulating this ranking, the Oil & Gas Middle East editorial team took into account financial reports, current and planned projects as well as CSR initiatives, the company’s COVID-19 response, and its overall presence in the region, and future potential, to differing extents. Next >