NPCC delivers milestone project, eyes significant growth

Eng. Ahmed Al Dhaheri, CEO of NPCC speaks to Pipeline Magazine about future projects after the completion of the Umm Lulu Gas Treatment Plant for ADNOC 

National Petroleum Construction Company (NPCC) last month completed the construction of the Umm Lulu Gas Treatment Plant (ULGTP) for Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), a key part of the major Umm Lulu Field infrastructure, which marks a milestone achievement for the company.

As the company completes the significant project for ADNOC, NPCC looks to other projects in the region.

Eng. Ahmed Al Dhaheri, CEO of NPCC said: “We have several projects in the UAE, in addition to supporting energy solutions for national oil majors in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and India.”
NPCC also won an EPC contract for Bu Haseer Full Filed Development from ADNOC offshore, which will increase the peak production from 8 million bpd to 16 m bpd and will provide water injection facilities for reservoir pressure maintenance. The project is scheduled for completion later this year and is valued at AED 633 million.

“We have been serving ADNOC for more than 45 years and will continue to support the organisation in achieving its 2030 vision. Over the years, we have executed a significant part of ADNOC’s Offshore facilities and have developed a strong understanding of ADNOC’s requirements,” Al Dhaheri said.

NPCC has also been involved in various sessions to review and advise on execution strategies and challenges as part of the front-end engineering for the sour gas projects of ADNOC to develop the Hail and Ghasha and Dalma fields.

“We are currently bidding on Dalma and plan to participate in the tender for Hail and Gasha, which is expected later this year,” he added.

GCC Contracts

NPCC is also part of an Offshore Long-Term Agreement (LTA) with Saudi Aramco, which was signed in 2016. The company has won nine awards since NPCC became part of the LTA pool of contractors and is currently bidding for many more.

“We were the only entity to win five new contracts last year – and the only LTA contractor to be awarded work in 2018. We are also in the process of strengthening our resources in Saudi Arabia by developing a fabrication facility to ensure continuous business through the LTA contracts,” Al Dhaheri said.

The engineering and fabrication company also won an onshore project for Kuwait Oil Company valued at US$230 million. “It is progressing as per schedule and we aim to deliver the project with excellent quality, which would be a cornerstone for our successful entry into the Kuwait oil and gas market,” Al Dhaheri said.

In Bahrain, the company successfully executed the Saudi-Bahrain 32” x 42 KM Crude Oil Export Pipeline for BAPCO, and it is actively following the Khalij al-Bahrain Offshore Project.

In other deals, NPCC won an EPC contract for five well platforms and pipeline for the Ratna Field from ONGC, as part of an offshore oil and gas infrastructure development on the west coast of India. The contract includes survey, design, engineering, procurement, fabrication, load out, transportation, installation and commissioning of five well platforms and associated pipelines and cables, and is valued at $327 million.

NPCC has two fully-owned subsidiaries in India - NPCC Engineering Ltd. in Mumbai and ANEWA Engineering Ltd. operating from Hyderabad. Both these companies augment its engineering and procurement capabilities in the fields of Offshore & Onshore Projects.

The company has also signed an MoU with Petrojet of Egypt to partner and cooperate in the identification and execution of new projects in the country and the wider region.
“Our strategy has been focused on the organic growth of our capabilities to expand our range of services. We also aim to build our engineering capabilities through strategic acquisitions,” Al Dhaheri said.

Future plans and outlook

As part of future plans, the company constantly works to upgrade practices to ensure it is prepared to meet the requirements of the industry and also to secure greater market share, especially in Saudi Arabia.  

“We are on the right track and will continuously strive to be considered an EPC contractor of choice by Saudi Aramco. Further, we fully understand Saudi Aramco’s vision and strategy to enhance its in-Kingdom Total Value Add programme (IKTVA),” Al Dhaheri said, adding that to pursue this, the company has developed a five-year plan that includes setting up a yard in Saudi Arabia to serve both local projects and also target exports.

“Our key focus has been to ensure we leverage all our strengths and capabilities in adapting to Saudi Aramco’s specific processes and requirements necessary to deliver customised services,” he said.  

NPCC’s Al Dhaheri has a robust outlook for the future, underlined by the growth and evolution of the organisation.

NPCC brings the legacy of over 46 years in EPC work for the energy sector. In 1958, when ADMA Enterprise, the first platform was built, it used foreign expertise – with U.S. engineers working on British equipment and German skilled labour in Europe.

“We have established ourselves as a competitive EPC contractor in UAE, Saudi Arabia and other countries where we are bidding and executing projects. We have clear strategies in place for each country of operation that are based on local content options to complement our range of integrated services,” Al Dhaheri said.

“We also consider partnering options that we believe would enhance our competitiveness. We expect record revenues this year – over 30 per cent more than in 2018 - backed by our execution model, our capabilities and innovative solutions, state-of-the-art technology and resource use efficiency,” he said.

Since its inception, the company has focused on building in-country expertise in serving the requirements of the energy sector. “We are now looking to further expand our presence in East Asia and Africa, where there is strong opportunity to offer our expertise. With our focus on leveraging advanced digital technologies, we are on course to a new era of growth, supported by our five-year plan that will enhance Emirati participation in our workforce,” Al Dhaheri said.

This interview appears in Pipeline Magazine's August issue