MANAMA, March 8 (Reuters) – U.S. oilfield services and equipment provider McDermott International said on Wednesday it would build a fabrication yard at a shipbuilding complex planned by national oil giant Saudi Aramco on the kingdom’s east coast.
The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding for the first major manufacturing investment in the complex, which is part of Saudi Arabia’s drive to diversify its economy and create jobs in an era of cheap oil.
Saudi officials have said the complex at Ras Al Khair will cost more than $5 billion to build. The kingdom wants to jump-start local manufacturing industries by making more equipment for its oil industry at home rather than importing it.
McDermott plans to build and outfit offshore oil and gas platforms at the new yard. A source familiar with the deal said the companies aimed to sign a final agreement by next year, with Aramco providing land for the project by the end of 2019.
The development of Ras Al Khair could eventually take business away from other maritime yards in the region, such as Dubai’s Jebel Ali. McDermott said it expected to move business gradually from Jebel Ali to Ras Al Khair by the mid-2020s.
The U.S. firm did not give a monetary value for its planned investment in Ras Al Khair but said its facility there would have up to 16 million man-hours of capacity, compared to 8 million man-hours at its current Jebel Ali facilities.
Last year, Saudi Aramco signed a memorandum of understanding for construction of the complex with National Shipping Co of Saudi Arabia, a state-controlled firm which ships oil for Aramco, as well as a subsidiary of London-listed Lamprell , a United Arab Emirates-based engineering firm, and South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries. (Writing by Andrew Torchia; Editing by Edmund Blair)
COPENHAGEN, April 15 (Reuters) – Shipping company Maersk has not made any deployment changes after a Portuguese-flagged container ship was seized by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, the Danish company said on Monday. “We find recent...
WASHINGTON, April 15 (Reuters) – The FBI has opened a federal criminal investigation into the deadly collapse of a Baltimore bridge last month when a ship crashed into one of its supports,...
By Daryna Krasnolutska (Bloomberg) Russia and Ukraine may have struggled to shift things significantly on the battlefield for more than 16 months, but a new phase of the war is moving...
April 14, 2024
Total Views: 2113
Why Join the gCaptain Club?
Access exclusive insights, engage in vibrant discussions, and gain perspectives from our CEO.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.