The firm will also expand its in-country engineering and procurement offices, as well as establish a new marine base in the Eastern Province

Saudi Aramco has signed a land lease agreement with McDermott Arabia Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of McDermott International, to grant McDermott a lease to establish a fabrication facility located within the King Salman International Complex for Maritime Industries in Ras Al-Khair, Saudi Arabia.

This is pursuant to a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between Saudi Aramco and McDermott earlier.

The new facility will be used for large scale fabrication of offshore platforms and onshore/offshore modules. To further enhance project execution capabilities in Saudi Arabia, McDermott will also expand its in-country engineering and procurement offices, as well as establish a new marine base in the Eastern Province to support installation of offshore platforms, subsea pipelines and cables, skids, and associated structures and assemblies.

"This facility will serve as a major engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (EPCI) hub for not only the kingdom, but for the GCC region," says Ahmad Al Sa’adi, Saudi Aramco senior vice president of technical services.

"Having this facility with International Maritime Industries (IMI) in the King Salman International Complex for Maritime Industries offers an integrated portfolio of maritime products and services," says Mohammad Al Assaf, Saudi Aramco vice president of new business development. "The localisation of these capabilities will contribute to diversifying the economy, create almost 7,000 jobs, and achieve a target of 60 per cent Saudisation by 2030," Al Assaf added.

The new facility in Ras Al Khair will be located near the Jubail Industrial City on the kingdom’s east coast. It will cover an area of approximately 1,150,000 sq m and will utilise cutting edge technologies to ensure world class standards in safety, quality and efficiency.

"Expanding our fabrication capacity in Saudi Arabia demonstrates McDermott’s commitment to the kingdom’s Vision 2030 objectives," says David Dickson, McDermott’s president and CEO.

"We will establish a world-class fabrication facility that enables us to better serve the needs of Saudi Aramco and other customers in Saudi Arabia and across the region," added Linh Austin, McDermott senior vice president, Middle East and North Africa.

At peak production, the facility will have a throughput capacity in excess of 60,000 metric tonnes per year. It will localise expertise in multiple disciplines related to the industry and is expected to create a significant number of direct and indirect job opportunities in the kingdom. Apprenticeship and training programmes will also be provided to ensure that a sufficient number of qualified nationals of the kingdom are available for hire to meet the in-kingdom content requirements. The facility is expected to be operational by 2022.