Petrofac: Invested in Oman

Muscat: Petrofac has been playing a major role in the Oman Oil & Gas industry for more than 30 years, helping its clients unlock more value from their hydrocarbon resources by designing, building and maintaining facilities, as well as developing local workforce competence and generating in-country value (ICV). Elie Lahoud, Petrofac’s group managing director, Engineering & Construction shares his insights into Petrofac’s journey and commitment in Oman.

Can you tell us about Petrofac’s history in Oman?

Petrofac has a long and rich history in Oman. The Sultanate occupies a very special place in our hearts as we started our international business here in 1988. Our first project was the Safah crude stabilisation project for Occidental. It was a small project, but it set us on our way, and we have not looked back.

Fast forward three decades and now Petrofac’s project portfolio is truly global, but Oman has always been amongst the mix. And it is one of the countries where we have all of Petrofac’s service capabilities employed in support of clients and industry.

I think our longevity in the Sultanate reflects our deep understanding of industry needs, the strong partnerships we have formed and our collaborative and transparent approach to project development.

How has Petrofac’s contribution grown over the years?

Our contribution has grown in two ways. Firstly, in scale. As we’ve developed our capability and track record, we’ve taken on bigger and more complex projects. We’ve also expanded the services we provide in country. We design and build plants, provide the know-how to start-up, maintain and manage our client’s assets, as well as integrate specialist capabilities, such as well engineering, training and competence solutions.

Our partnership with Oman is special, as it demonstrates the value we generate by working collaboratively with stakeholders to drive for common goals, and to make good things happen.

In 2013, we opened a local engineering and project management office in Muscat to better support our in-country delivery and to develop engineering and project management talent locally.

Our multi-million Omani Rials investment in Takatuf Petrofac Oman – which opened its doors last October - reflects our commitment to support the long-term sustainability of the industry. We are helping to educate, upskill, train and develop the next generation of talented, Omani oil and gas technicians who will go on to operate and maintain the facilities being built today.

Over the years, we have been involved in projects and facilities that today deliver a significant part of Oman’s oil production and almost three quarters of its gas production. Some of these projects, past and present, within our portfolio include: the Suhar Refinery improvement project for ORPIC; the Khazzan and Ghazeer central processing facilities for BP; the LPG extraction project for Salalah LPG/OGC; Harweel field development; Kauther gas plant and Kauther depletion compression; Rabab Harweel integrated development and Yibal Kuff projects for PDO.

How has Petrofac developed the local supply chain?

Petrofac is truly invested in supporting the local contractors and supply chain to fully realise their potential. With this conviction, ever since our inception in Oman, we have helped many of our delivery partners to: become approved suppliers with our clients; to build capacity in their facilities; to expand their production and manufacturing capability into new products and to develop the capability of their people.

So, we actively look for and nurture potential. We partner with and support vendors by providing guidance and supervision and work closely with our contractors to understand their challenges and find solutions to help them compete, grow and succeed.

By working closely with the industry, we are supporting the economy through the creation of tangible and sustainable in-country value.

Can you elaborate on your contribution to developing national workforce?

Our most recent investment in Oman promotes the importance of skills and competence within the Omani workforce. Takatuf Petrofac Oman (TPO) is a pioneering joint venture with Takatuf.

As a leading technical training facility in the region, TPO’s programmes reduce the time to autonomy at the worksite through the application of practical, immersive and digitally enabled training techniques from facilities designed and built by Petrofac in Seeb.

We are also continuing to develop our own talented workforce. Earlier this year we recruited 20 Omani nationals to join our global graduate programme, which, for this year, comprises around 140 students from 14 nationalities. These graduates, like many that have joined in previous years, will be embedded in our operations and will have the opportunity to work at our project sites in Oman and abroad.

How is Petrofac ramping up its ICV commitments?

To date, Petrofac’s contribution to ICV in Oman is in excess of US$2.5 billion, 85% of which has been invested through local goods and services, as well as supplier development and training initiatives; and community programmes being implemented in the areas of education, environment and health.

We are fully aligned to, and supportive of, the Government’s Omanisation agenda. Around 30% of all personnel directly employed by Petrofac in the Sultanate are Omanis and we aspire to increase this percentage. Through our operations and projects in country, we are indirectly responsible for some 15,000 people who are employed through our construction subcontractors, many of them are Omani nationals.

Our local engineering and project management office is also an important driver of our ICV efforts, creating a sustainable delivery model for the future.

How do you see the future?

Oman is moving into the year 2020 marking 50 years of the blessed Renaissance under the able leadership of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said.

It’s an opportune moment to reflect on the strength of the sector over the decades and its contributions to the nation. The time is also right for the industry to look to the future, to anticipate the challenges that lie ahead and be better prepared to address the energy needs of Oman. We have been blessed to have been part of the country’s development and as part of giving back, we would like to continue to support the excellent progression, development and diversification we see today.

Oman has a confluence of talent, spirit and potential. It is our hope that through the strong client relationships and industry partnerships we hold, we can continue to do good things in order to create a bright future. Because we are committed to being invested in Oman.