Italian oilfield services firm Saipem has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Saudi construction company Abdel Hadi Abdullah Al Qahtani & Sons Company (AHQ).
Saipem said Tuesday that the memorandum set the path to towards the creation of a Joint Venture in Saudi Arabia. The joint venture, Saipem said, would combine Saipem’s EPC competences and skills with AHQ’s knowledge and experience in logistic, construction, and supply chain.
"The Joint Venture aims to maximize local value creation and to become a first-tier player in the execution of Onshore construction works as well as of Onshore pipeline EPC projects," Saipem added.
Maurizio Coratella, Chief Operating Officer of the Onshore E&C Division, commented: "Saudi Arabia has been a core market to Saipem from the outset and our ambition is to maintain our EPC leading role in the country. We are committed to establishing this Joint Venture together with AHQ with the aim of harnessing synergies to support our key Client Saudi Aramco.
"A central feature of the partnership is the possibility to operate in compliance with the requirements of the IKTVA (In-Kingdom Total Value Add) program launched by Saudi Aramco as an integral part of its contracts to achieve 70% localization of spending by 2021."
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