French engineering major Technip is aiming to maintain its 8 to 10 per cent annual growth in turnover in the Middle East although prospects for higher growth exist due to major developments in the regional energy sector, a top official said in an exclusive interview with Gulf News.
Technip, which has a strong presence in the UAE's utility sector, is also bidding for two large upcoming gas projects in Abu Dhabi and is planning to enter the Omani market.
"We are in this region for more than 25 years and growth has now stabilised. We are now looking at reasonable, manageable growth rather than reaching for the sky," Jean-Pierre Giraud, Chief Executive, Technip Abu Dhabi, said.
He said Technip will accompany the development and growth of the UAE and GCC markets where most oil companies have embarked on capacity enhancements.
"The next 3 to 5 years look very bright for Technip and we would like to be part of the boom. We will bid for all the important projects coming up. What we are noticing in the GCC, especially in Abu Dhabi, is the continuation of projects, irrespective of high or low oil prices."
Technip, he said will bid for the upgrading of the Abu Dhabi gas grid, a continuation of the Dolphin gas project. "It is part of the Eastern Gas Development Scheme and the tender will be out soon for which we are bidding."
The company is already involved in the Dolphin project, having won an EPC (engineering, procurement, construction) contract late last year to build a gas receiving station at Taweelah near Abu Dhabi.
"We are happy to be part of such a strategic project. Completion of the facility is set for mid-2006," he said. The company is also in the race, along with Abu Dhabi-based National Petroleum Construction Company, for an EPC contract for the Umm Shaif Gas project.
"We are also currently involved in various projects at Habshan [Abu Dhabi] for Gasco."
With its regional office in Abu Dhabi, Technip manages the GCC markets as well as Iran and Yemen where the company is executing various projects.
"Among the GCC countries, we are not present in Oman but we are targeting that market. There are some positive developments taking place in Oman and we would like to be involved in the engineering services business."
Technip is also among the bidders for a contract at the Enoc refinery in Dubai.
Competition in the $1 billion plus projects in the region, said Giraud, is not very intense.
"We are noticing the same type of competition, there are not too many EPC contractors for the big projects in excess of more than a billion dollars, although competition is stiff in the small to medium-sized projects."
Gulf News
