Arabtec subsidiary wins Dh280m Saudi Aramco project

The scope of work includes upgrading the existing water disposal unit at Qatif’s gas oil separation plant

Arabtec Construction won a major contract from Emaar Misr to build a residential project on the north coast of Egypt. Jeffrey E Biteng / The National
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A subsidiary of Arabtec Holding won a Dh280 million contract for the expansion and upgrade of a water disposal facility in Saudi Arabia.

Target Engineering, a fully-owned unit of the UAE’s biggest-listed contracting firm, won the contract from Saudi Aramco to upgrade the existing produced water disposal unit at Qatif’s gas oil separation plant in the Eastern Province of the kingdom, Arabtec said in a statement to the Dubai Financial  Market, where its shares trade.

Target’s scope of works includes the installation of a water oil separation vessel; water disposal pumps; water injection pumps; low-pressure de-gassing tank water draw-off pumps and a pipeline to transfer oily water from Ju’aymah Terminal to Qatif.

Another project win in the kingdom is “strengthening our longstanding relationship with Saudi Aramco”, Arabtec’s group chief executive, Peter Pollard, said. “This award adds to our pipeline of projects in the industrial infrastructure sector, consistent with our strategic priority to diversify our backlog,” he noted.

In June Target secured a Dh315m contract for construction and expansion works at the Bu Hasa Integrated Field Development Project, owned by state oil giant Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. The contract was awarded by master contractor Tecnicas Reunidas, a Spanish company overseeing the engineering, procurement and construction of the project within a 39-month time frame on behalf of Adnoc Onshore, a subsidiary of the state producer.

Arabtec, whose portfolio of projects includes the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, the Emirates Palace Hotel and Louvre Abu Dhabi, is looking to ramp up its contract wins and has announced several awards to date in 2019.

The company, which has restructured its business and sold a number of non-core assets, is weighing up a merger with the construction arm of Abu Dhabi-based Trojan Holding. The two firms "have commenced a review of the possibility of combining their construction businesses," Arabtec said in a statement last month.

"In the event an agreement is reached between ... following the technical, financial and legal reviews, it is intended that a contract will be signed for this purpose detailing the terms and applicable procedure for such combination which made lead to a merger between the two companies", Arabtec said at the time.