Abu Dhabi: Alsa engineering and construction is planning to spend over $100 million in the next 18 months as part of its expansion strategy in the UAE. It is eyeing new projects and get into offshore sector to increase its presence in the country.
Chief executive officer, Gassan S Arbid said that the company is growing from strength to strength.
“In the UAE, the next push from our side is to get into offshore. We acquired two million square meters of land to start our work in shallow water pipe laying and fabrication,” Arbid told Gulf News.
The company, which is active in the oil and gas sector in Abu Dhabi, has completed projects including supplying gas to Emal’s aluminium smelter plant and Ruwais refinery.
“There are other projects in the pipeline which we are bidding. They are good size projects. We are doing it on our own as well as joining hands with our partners.”
The company is also planning to start its operations in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia by mid-next year.
According to Arbid, the biggest strength has been its workforce.
“Sky is the limit if you have right kind of people working for you. The company employs 2,500 people. We have camps in all the major oilfield areas.”
On the falling oil prices and whether it would have any impact on the company’s operations, he said that if the price slides below $65 per barrel then they might see some kind of impact.
“Drop in prices is good for oil producing countries because in the long run, it could put a break to shale oil production as it is too expensive to operate,” he said.
Oil prices closed at $61.85 on Friday. The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), cut the forecast for how much crude it will need to produce next year by about 300,000 barrels a day to 28.9 million, the least since many years.
In January this year, the company was has been awarded the $300 million Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore oil Operations (Adco) CO2 injection project.
The 25-month project, Alsa’s biggest to date — will see the company construct the facilities and pipelines to enable the first CO2 injection project of its kind in the Middle East from Masdar to Rumaitha North and Bab Far North fields.
The growth of the company has been good over the years, he said. “We have never allowed ourselves to grow beyond the level what we cannot maintain. We have been careful to take up a project that fits into our capability and financial strength. The growth is coming. We will continue to grow at a pace that we will be maintain without any difficulty.”
