< Previous20 TOP 30 EPC CONTRACTORS oilandgasmiddleeast.com OCTOBER 2020 NPCC The National Petroleum Construction Company has rocketed to the top of our list this year thanks to a few changes in ownership. NPCC extended an offer to Abu Dhabi’s National Marine Dredging company in August, which would be a re- verse takeover and give NPCC shareholders a 69.7% stake in the combined entity. Once merged, the company is expected to vand North Africa. NPCC was wholly acquired by ADQ earlier in the year, when it bought a final 30% stake from a mi- nority shareholder. In November 2019, NPCC revealed that it signed a $11 million investment part- nership with Microsoft and AVEVA to boost its digitalisation efforts, enhancing internal and customer-facing systems. NPCC has established an in-house innova- tion team to spearhead the transformation, part of a five-year plan. “The close links between digital and technology revolution have brought a new era of innovation to the energy sector, which has typically been static to chang- es,” said Eng. Ahmed Al Dhaheri, CEO of NPCC. “We are seizing the opportunity to be a digital-first entity through the digital transformation plan, which will en- able us to offer cutting edge solutions to meet the diverse needs of our customers, which too are moving ahead in the digital curve. In November 2019, the company invested $89.8 million on a vessel, the Delma 2000, for global deepwater projects, aiming to expand its offering. It can lift up to 1,600 MT and extend pipelines to a depth of 2,000 metres.21 TOP 30 EPC CONTRACTORS oilandgasmiddleeast.com OCTOBER 2020 LARSEN & TOUBRO HY- DROCARBON ENGINEERING PETROFAC India’s Larsen & Toubro Hydrocar- bon Engineering stole headlines throughout 2019 for winning many huge contracts, including multiple from Saudi Aramco as part of its long term agreement. While the headlines may have slowed in 2020 thanks to the coronavirus pandem- ic, LTHE is a powerhouse in the region with a clear pipeline into future projects. LTHE is part of Saudi Aramco’s Long-Term Agree- ment (LTA) programme, which was created to support the oil giant’s offshore projects and cut down lead time for contractors within the agreement. Once the storm has passed, we ex- pect to see even more activity from the Indian contractor in the region. Petrofac has made some welcome headlines through 2020, adding some positivity to the news mix. It partnered with Microsoft for an Internet of Things platform in February, the same month it won a $1.65 billion contract for AD- NOC’s Dalma project, as well as a $40 million gas storage project from Sharjah National Oil Com- pany. While projects have slowed down since then, it also secured a contract extension in Iraq with the nation’s Basra Oil Company for its long-standing Iraq Crude Oil Export Expansion Project. The facility handles approximately 50% of Iraq’s crude oil exports, and is located 60 kilometres offshore the Al Fao Peninsula in southern Iraq.22 TOP 30 EPC CONTRACTORS oilandgasmiddleeast.com OCTOBER 2020 WOOD In the Middle East, Wood has worked with ExxonMobil and Basrah Gas Company. Wood supported the start-up and ongoing operation of Majnoon oilfield, which is estimated to hold 38bn barrels of oil. SNC- LAVALIN In 2019, global engineer- ing firm SNC-Lavalin had to write down the value of its energy unit by $937mn amidst a diplomatic dis- pute between KSA and Canada. MCDERMOTT McDermott has retained a strong position on our list because of its transformation efforts, & its immense backlog of approximately $15 billion. You can read more about McDer- mott on p12. WORLEY Worley signed several agree- ments in 2019, including a five- year framework agreement to boost Sonatrach’s production ca- pacity and a project management contract for the world’s largest mixed feed cracker at Ruwais.23 TOP 30 EPC CONTRACTORS oilandgasmiddleeast.com OCTOBER 2020 TECHNIPFMC TechnipFMC says the Mid- dle East is poised for growth, and in November 2018 broke ground on a new manufactur- ing, aftermarket and training facility in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. KBR This will likely be the last time we feature KBR on our list, as it reported in Au- gust that it would drop its energy solutions business from its portfolio to focus on its two other verticals. SAIPEM Italian contractor Saipem re- ported $23.6mn profit in Q1 2019 after seeing a $2.2mn loss in the prior three months. In Q1, it won $2.9bn in contracts. The company has also won a three-year con- tract in the Middle East. TECNICAS REUNIDAS In January 2020, Tecnicas Reu- nidas, Sonatrach, and Samsung closed a $3.7 billion refinery deal in Algeria. The consortium will take on the EPC scope to build the plant in Haoud El Hamra.24 TOP 30 EPC CONTRACTORS oilandgasmiddleeast.com OCTOBER 2020 London-listed, UAE-based Lamprell is part of Saudi Aramco’s long-term agree- ment, an offshore investment programme, in November 2018, which could give it a bigger pipeline and shorten lead time. JGC recently announced that it would implement some structural reforms to accelerate its sustain- ability-related business and reinforce its efforts to transform digitally. Oman construction contractor Galfar Engineering & Contract- ing won a contract in Febru- ary 2019 to work on a pipeline project by Punj Lloyd. The subcontract is valued at $1.9mn and includes piping. Subsea 7 is involved in multi- ple projects in the region, but its most recent announcements have been outside of the Middle East. Subsea 7 has won awards in Trinidad and Tobago as well as contract extensions in Brazil. GALFARLAMPRELL JGC SUBSEA 725 TOP 30 EPC CONTRACTORS oilandgasmiddleeast.com OCTOBER 2020 CCC CCC has taken the spotlight this year for several projects to combat the pandemic, including portable ICU units and large donations. CPECC CPECC met with NPCC in March 2019 hoping to gain experience in prefabrication for local projects, and paving the way for future partner- ships. BECHTEL Bechtel has secured a number of contracts in recent months, and in August appointed Jus- tin Siberell as the president for Europe and the Middle East. DODSAL GROUP Dodsal Group, founded in India and based in the UAE, is a conglomerate spanning up- stream, EPC work and trading and distribution of chemical products in India. OIEC OIEC is currently working on the Azar oil field develop- ment, along the Iran-Iraq border, and could reach 65,000 barrels per day of production. MOTT MACDONALD Mott Macdonald appears poised for expansion as it looks at several new acquisi- tions, projects, and new job opportunities across its areas of operation.26 TOP 30 EPC CONTRACTORS oilandgasmiddleeast.com OCTOBER 2020 HYUNDAI EN- GINEERING This South Korean company is part of a $2.4bn contract to build a seawater supply facil- ity in Iraq from Basrah Oil Company. It will supply 5mn barrels of water per day. FLUOR Fluor’s energy and chemi- cals division boasts projects across the globe, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. It also oper- ates across other verticals. TARGET ENGI- NEERING Arabtec Holding, which owns Target Engineering, very recently announced that it would go into liquidation, making this the company’s final appearance on our list. PUNJ LLOYD India-listed Punj Lloyd largely operates in its home country, but has also inked contracts in the GCC includ- ing an engineering deal with Orpic in Oman. SAMSUNG ENGINEERING Samsung Engineering oper- ates and provides services across oil and gas process- ing, refining, petrochemicals, industrial operations, and environmental work. SEEH AL SARYA Seeh Al Sarya was established under Petroleum Develop- ment Oman in 1997 and pro- vides a wide array of services across the energy industry in the country.27 TOP 30 EPC CONTRACTORS oilandgasmiddleeast.com OCTOBER 2020 BONATTI GROUP Bonatti Group operates across the Middle East and North Africa, among other regions. It recently celebrated 500,000 hours worked without incident at Algeria’s MLN Field. MMEC MAN- NESMANN German EPC company MMEC Mannesmann has expanded its presence in the region with an Abu Dhabi office and an EPC turnkey contract for ADNOC Sour Gas’ Sulphur Pipeline Project. SK E&C The South Korean company is building the world’s largest underground oil storage facility in UAE emirate Fujairah, with a $1.2bn price tag. It will have a capacity of 42mn barrels of oil. Emergency Mobile No: 00971 50 3752010 Plot No S-50807, Jebel Ali, Free Zone (South), P.O. BOX 17729, Dubai-United Arab Emirates Telephone: +9714-8865119 Fax: +9714-8865118 Email: sales@sso.ae | info@sso.ae www. shreesteeloverseas.com Branches: • SHREE OILFIELD SUPPLY LLC MUSAFFAH - ABUDHABI - UAE TEL: +971 2 6214290, FAX: +971 2 6214289 • STEEL PIPING SOLUTIONS LLC GHALA - MUSCAT - OMAN TEL: +968 24230900, MOBILE: +968 9229237028 SPECIAL FOCUS oilandgasmiddleeast.com OCTOBER 2020 BY SAMER MOSIS, HEAD EMEA LNG ANALYTICS, S&P GLOBAL PLATTS THE QATARI LNG EXPANSION: BUILD, BUT WILL THEY COME?29 SPECIAL FOCUS oilandgasmiddleeast.com OCTOBER 2020 In April 2017, Qatar lifted what had been a 12-year moratorium on further development of its vast offshore North Field. Three years later, Qatar is steamrolling forward with the largest LNG expansion the industry has ever seen. If it so desired, Qatar could fund and construct seemingly unending expansions to its already massive, 77 million mt/year, 14-train liquefaction operation. Qatar Petroleum (QP) has effectively said as much, upping its expansion plans twice since 2017. First there was the 2017 North Field East (NFE) expansion, initially aiming to take Qatari LNG export capacity to 100 million mt/year, a target upped to 110 million mt/year shortly thereafter in 2018. As if the NFE expansion wasn’t enough, there was then the third announcement, the North Field South (NFS) expansion, which aimed to take Qatari LNG export capacity to 126 million mt/year. While this 126 million mt/year acts as a best case, not base case, scenario for medium-term Qatari export capacity, the message is the same: Qatar is unconcerned about cost-based competition in its determination to maintain a vice grip on global LNG markets. That said, even with the lowest production costs in the world, a geographically enviable location, and a deep balance sheet, the real question is not Qatar’s ability to build this capacity, but how it will find a home for the output. Recent contracts with Air Products indicate QP’s NFE expansion will entail four 7.8 million mt/year mega-trains for which engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts are expected to be finalized toward the end of 2020, a delay of roughly one year relative to the original timeline, which can be attributed to Covid-19. Despite the delay, site preparation and development of incremental natural gas production are already under way. QP aims for an ambitious 2025 start-up of the four trains. 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