An LPG tanker loads in the port of Ras Al Khair, Saudi Arabia.
Offshore staff
Courtesy Aramco
Aramco, in collaboration with international partners, is establishing two offshore fabrication yards that aim to deliver a more than 200% increase in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s offshore fabrication capacity.
DHAHRAN, Saudi Arabia —Saudi Aramco is collaborating with two international engineering groups to establish two offshore fabrication yards in Saudi Arabia.
These should increase the Kingdom’s fabrication capacity by more than 200%.
Both are under construction in Ras Al Khair in cooperation with National Petroleum Construction Co. (NPCC) and McDermott International, and they will be used to build and assemble offshore platforms, jackets and structures for subsea pipelines. They will serve projects offshore Saudi Arabia, also targeting the GCC countries and wider markets.
The location at Ras Al Khair also purposely supports localization of the Saudi maritime industry and the nearby King Salman International Complex for Maritime Industries and Services.
Aramco expects the new facilities to start up in third-quarter 2023, with an initial combined production capacity of about 70,000 metric tons per year.
That would lift the Kingdom’s annual offshore fabrication capacity to 100,000 metric tons. When the sites are fully operational, they should create up to 7,000 direct and indirect jobs.
