IN BRIEF

September 24 - 30, 2007 Vol. 24, No. 38 Reg No. 1 OGN 025 A component of www.tradearabia.com

Chevron, Total submit study AAMMMMAANN: Total and Chevron havejointly submitted to the Iraqi OilMinistry a study on the develop-ment of one of Iraq’s biggest oilfields, Majnoon, in the south of thecountry, a ministry statement said.“The ministry has set up a com-mittee headed by South OilCompany director-General AbdulJabbar Lauby, to study the possibility of signing a memorandum ofunderstanding with the two companies,” the statement said.

Iran hints at Total ‘rethink’ TT EEHH RR AANN:: Iran’s Oil MinisterGholam-Hossein Nozari said themulti-billion-dollar liquefied naturalgas agreement with Total ofFrance to develop part of SouthPars needed “reconsideration”because of differences over theprice Tehran would be paid for itsgas. Nozari said the rate quoted

by the French energy group on marketing LNG was high, whichwould force Iran to “study the feasibility of this plan once again”.

IPIC to buy Cosmo Oil stakeTTOOKKYYOO:: An investment arm of the Abu Dhabi government will spendabout $776 million to buy one-fifth of Cosmo Oil, becoming the topshareholder in Japan’s fourth-largest oil company. The InternationalPetroleum Investment Company (IPIC) was eying the growth potential ofCosmo’s fuel product exports to the west coast of the US, a source said.

OGN Yearbook on wayMMAANNAAMMAA:: The OGN Yearbook 2008 willbe released in January, its publishershave announced. Produced by the GAP(Guides & Annual Publications) divisionof Al Hilal Group, the annual yearbookprovides a unique chronicle of industrydevelopments in a month-by-monthsummary, as well detailed country andsector reviews. For further editorial andadver tising enquiries, contactmatthew.kirkman@tradearabia.net.

Opec may discuss output hikeDDUUBBAAII:: Opec will probably hold consultations about a further out-put increase if the price of oil stays above $80 a barrel for morethan 15-20 days, an Opec source said.

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$9.8bn PetroRabigheyes ‘year-end IPO’

www.oilandgasnewsonline.com

RIYADH: PetroRabigh, a joint venturebetween Saudi Aramco and Japan’s SumitomoChemicals, plans an initial public offering(IPO) before the end of this year, a sourcefamiliar with the matter said.

“PetroRabigh plans the IPO before the endof 2007. They have already applied to theCapital Market Authority,” the source said.

Saudi Aramco said last year the $9.8 billionpetrochemical joint venture would float a 25per cent stake once the complex started oper-ations in 2008, which could make the IPO thebiggest ever in GCC countries.

PetroRabigh spokesman Eyad Al Ajajdeclined immediate comment.

The largest Gulf Arab IPO was in 2003,when the Saudi government sold a stake in

Saudi Telecom Company for $2.72 billion.Aramco faced resistance from Sumitomo

Chemicals over selling shares in the firmbefore it actually starts production next year.

“They seem to have overcome the differ-ences,” the source said.

Aramco officials argue that an early floatwould help offset rising project costs. Soaringmaterial and construction expenses have morethan doubled the project’s cost from an initialestimate of $4.3 billion.

PetroRabigh has secured $5.8 billion infinancing deals with Japan Bank forInternational Co-operation (JBIC), PublicInvestment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF) and 17financial institutions.

PetroRabigh is currently in the process of

building the world-scale integrated refiningand petrochemical complex. The new com-plex will produce 18.4 million tonnes of oilproducts, 1.3 million tonnes of ethylene and900,000 tonnes of propylene a year.

A company official said recently thatPetroRabigh is mulling the building of an aro-matics complex in the second phase of itspetrochemicals expansion. “We will be look-ing at building an aromatics complex (whichwould likely include benzene and phenolunits) in the next phase (of expansion),” saidAhmed Bashaweih, senior project manager ofRabigh Conversion Industrial Park (CIP), sec-onded from Saudi Aramco.

Bashaweih was addressing the Rabigh CIPmarketing seminar in London.

Flashback ... Saudi Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Al Naimi (centre) and Saudi Aramco president and CEO Abdallah Jumah(right) at the PetroRabigh’s groundbreaking ceremony in March last year

Saudi Aramcopowers aheadOGN’s mega annual featureincludes in-depth reviews onthe oil major’s plans as well asextensive company profiles

More than skill and technologyValve-maker Pibivesse rises tothe challenges of meetingtoday’s stringent demands inthe oil and gas industry

GPCA gears forDubai forum GPCA secretary-generalAbdullah Al Hagbani speaks to OGN ahead of the association’s annual forum

$9.8bn PetroRabigheyes ‘year-end IPO’

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2007 Annual Review

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September 24 - 30, 2007

and Jebel Ali in Dubai), Oman (Muscat), Qatar (Doha) andIran (Tehran).

In April 2006, Yokogawa Engineering Middle East start-ed operations in Jebel Ali Free Zone in April last year.From this location Yokogawa is executing seven projects:three in the UAE, and one each in Oman, Egypt, Yemenand Iran.

Yokogawa’s workforce comprises engineers specialisedin various instrumentation fields. Most projects are locallymanaged and executed by its staff, including engineering,commissioning, start-up and training.

The activities of YME cover sales and engineeringServices embracing project management, supply, site ser-vices, training and maintenance of integrated processautomation systems, process control instruments and testand measuring instruments.

A major manufacturer and supplier of process controlinstrumentation and test and measuring instruments,Yokogawa’s parent, Yokogawa Electric Corporation, wasfounded in Japan in 1915. Today, Yokogawa employs morethan 19,000 people in a global network of 18 manufactur-ing facilities, 83 affiliate companies, and over 650 salesand engineering offices in 28 countries.

With more than $3.83 billion in sales, Yokogawa is com-mitted to applying state-of-the-art technology in its threemain divisions of industrial automation, test and measure-ment and information systems, including aviation andindustry support. Its commitment to innovation is reflectedin its exceptionally high ration of investment in researchand development, which enables the sustained develop-ment of pioneering new technologies, products and ser-vices.

Yokogawa invests millionsto support Saudi growthOKOGAWA is investing mil-lions of dollars in Saudi Arabiato effectively support the coun-

try’s booming mega oil, gas and petro-chemical projects.

In a strategic move, Yokogawarecently set up two companies inSaudi Arabia: Yokogawa Saudi ArabiaLimited and Yokogawa ServicesSaudi Arabia Limited.

Yokogawa Saudi Arabia is engagedin engineering and manufacturing ofprocess control solutions as well asresearch and development whileYokogawa Services Saudi Arabia pro-vides after-sales services and trainingservices of Yokogawa systems andproducts, construction and installationservices related to instrumentationand life-cycle maintenance services.

Representing a multi-million-dollarinvestment, Yokogawa Saudi Arabiaopened last December in Khobar. It islocated on a 10,000 sq m plot at theScience Park of King Fahd Universityof Petroleum and Minerals inDhahran. Future expansion of facili-ties calls for 18,000 sq m with thebuilt-up area going from 4,000 sq m to7,000 sq m.

Yokogawa Services Saudi Arabia isa joint venture of Yokogawa and GasArabian Services, a long-time partnerof Yokogawa in the kingdom. Thecompany, which began operationsrecently, is located in the SupportIndustries Area in Jubail with 50employees and occupies a total area of5,000 sq m and a built-up area of2,000 sq m which is to be expanded to3,000 sq m.

More than 200 professionals will beemployed by both companies, allow-ing Yokogawa to effectively supportSaudi Arabia’s booming mega oil, gasand petrochemical projects and tocontribute to the Kingdom’s develop-ment.

Yokogawa, which has been in thekingdom for two decades, is spear-heading a proactive Saudiisation poli-cy and both contributing to the Saudieconomy and providing high-qualitylocal services for the company’slargest market in the Middle East.

Policy objectives include theemployment and development ofSaudi nationals, a technology transferand procurement of local materials.

Moreover, Yokogawa provides high-quality local services, including on-call services on a 24/7 basis, systemengineering, integration, start-up,commissioning, construction work,modernisation of process control sys-tems and customer training.

Akira Ogawa, as president and CEOof Yokogawa Middle East (YME),heads the two companies.

Yokogawa’s existing branch officein Yanbu is set for expansion while itsnetwork will be extended to Jeddahand Riyadh.

Despite strong international compe-tition, YME has succeeded in gainingthe confidence of its customers thanks

Two new companies in the kingdom will spur the company’s growth while offering easier access to its services

Local presence ... an artist’s impression of the Dhahran facility (top) and the office in Bahrain (above)

to the high reliability of Yokogawaproducts and the professionalism ofits employees.

Yokogawa established its MiddleEast headquarters at Bahrain in 1990to facilitate easy access to its growingnetwork of sales, engineering and ser-vice facilities throughout the region.

YME has continued to strengthen itsservice and sales activities to meetincreasing demand from the fast-growing markets of the GCC and thewider Middle East. Significantly,YME became one of the regionalheadquarters and a key worldwidefacility for global Yokogawa in early2006 reflecting the growing impor-tance of the Middle East.

FOUR-FOLD GROWTHYME is now aligned with its

European, American and South EastAsian counterparts as a global facilityin order to enhance and increase thescale and range of industrial automa-tion (IA) solutions provided on a localbasis throughout the Middle East.

Yokogawa’s growth in IA businesshas increased more than four-foldover the last five years in the MiddleEast.

YME’s regional headquarters has amulti-cultural professional workforcespecialised in various functions.Currently, it employs over 476 staff insales, engineering and technical sup-port deployment in strategic locationsthroughout the region.

Yokogawa has taken advantage ofBahrain’s strategic location not onlyfor its ease of access to the region butas a global centre of excellence in theprovision of technology and servicesupport. Moreover, Yokogawa isincreasing its presence across theregion from its Middle East headquar-ters in Bahrain and operational officesin Saudi Arabia, UAE (Abu Dhabi,

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Yokogawa playing key rolein the Hawiyah gas project

OKOGAWA Middle East(YME) is partnering withSaudi Aramco to help the oil

major achieve unparalleled levels ofsuccess in boosting the kingdom’senergy stream.

In addition to several other chal-lenging initiatives in the regionalenergy sector, Yokogawa is playinga pioneering role in Saudi Aramco’sHawiyah Gas Plant expansion.Saudi Aramco is expanding theplant to process more volumes ofnon-associated gas, and it is alsoexpanding its master gas network.

EXPANSION PROJECTSaudi Aramco selected YME as theprocess control systems (PCS) sup-plier for Hawiyah Gas Plant expan-sion in April 2006 to work with itslumpsum turnkey (LSTK) contrac-tor. This project calls for expandingthe plant capacity by adding newprocess units and facilities.

REPLACEMENT PROJECTSIn addition, YME won two con-tracts to replace the plant’s processcontrol and emergency shutdownsystems: • The first, awarded in April 2006

involved replacing the existingdistributed control system

(DCS) with the state-of-the-artCENTUM CS3000 DCS; and

• The second, in October 2006,comprised replacing the exist-ing emergency shutdown sys-tem (ESD) with the cutting-edgeProSafe-RS ESD system.

YME was given a challengingdelivery date – the new DCS/ESDsystems had to be delivered to thesite by August 2007. This was inconsideration of the window avail-able for ‘cut-over’ to newDCS/ESD systems from October2007 to end of January 2008.

Another pre-requisite was that thecut-over to new DCS/ESD systemshad to be coordinated and complet-ed in time for the Hawiyah gasexpansion project.

YME’s scope of work includedsite surveys, extracting design datafrom the plant archives and existingcontrol systems, system design,design reviews, manufacturing,

fully integrated testing and deliveryto site.

Soon after the project’s kick-offmeeting, YME engineers made sev-eral plant visits and site surveys toget the system design right.

The plant is large, with DCS12,000 hardwired DCS inputs/out-puts and 5,000 hardwired ESDinputs/outputs). A large projectteam and facility was required tostage and test the entire system con-figuration in a fully integrated man-ner at the supplier’s location.

YME scaled up its infrastructureto meet the challenge locally, result-ing in a satisfied and happy cus-tomer. YME’s project team com-prised 40 people and the testing areaallocated for the project was 1,600sq m.

YME is providing critical systemsand services for the expansion ofthe Hawiyah plant. All the equip-ment has been shipped to the siteand Yokogawa Middle East is cur-rently involved in the installation ofthe equipment in preparation for thesite acceptance test (SAT).

CONSTRUCTION PROJECTSubsequently, Yokogawa was

awarded a procurement and con-struction contract for carrying out

the site work for DCS/ESD replace-ment projects on a lumpsum pro-curement and build (LSPB) basis.The scope of work included supplyof fibre-optic and multi-corecables, various construction materi-als, control room renovation, instal-lation of new control systems, cut-over (cold and hot), demolition ofexisting hardware, documentationand hand-over.

YME executed these projectsfrom its regional headquarters inBahrain. This facilitated ease ofinteraction with all the projectstakeholders during the initial criti-cal phase, including SaudiAramco’s project managementteam, plant engineers, SaudiAramco’s P&CSD and other sub-system suppliers.

YME received good support fromSaudi Aramco team members whowere keen on enhancing the presentplant operation by deploying the

Top-of-the-line process control systems fromYokogawa Middle East have been installed in a keyproject that will boost Saudi Aramco’s gas prowess

Saudi Aramco ... Yokogawa is a key partner in the oil major’s expansion plans

All the equipment has been shippedto the site and Yokogawa MiddleEast is currently involved in theinstallation of the equipment inpreparation for the site acceptancetest (SAT)

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latest technology available. Yokogawa’s solution of CS3000

and ProSafe-RS being integratedat the control network level meantsignificant advantages to the cus-tomer.

Yokogawa’s involvement willprovide key benefits in: controlsystem optimisation, operator’sproductivity improvement, safetyenhancement, performance andreliability enhancement, maintain-ability enhancement, knowledgetransfer, and improvement of plantdocumentation.

As Yokogawa’s involvement inthe Hawiyah project enters a cru-cial phase, YME is now ready tohandle bigger challenges as part ofits continuous growth in the

Middle East, a spokesman com-ments, adding that the Hawiyahproject is another example of thetrust and confidence placed onYME by a major customer.

Construction work on theHawiyah plant expansion is aheadof schedule and the project willcome on stream in 2008.

YME customers have praised thecompany for the following rea-sons: simplified logistics, closeco-ordination with end-user engi-neers, the ability to relocate mostof the project’s activities to YME’soffice, and factory acceptance test-ing of various systems at one loca-tion.

Through the successful execu-tion of these contracts at Hawiyah

gas plant from its base in Bahrain, YokogawaMiddle East has proven its capability to exe-cute large-scale projects locally in the MiddleEast, to the fullest satisfaction of its customers,the spokesman adds.

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Key advantage ... factory acceptance testing atYokogawa’s Bahrain office