Saudi Aramco and Sabic gives momentum to GES+
Saudi Aramco initiated the concept of General Engineering Services Plus (GES+) initiative in order to enhance the level of competence of the local engineering companies and contractors and to contribute to create more value within Saudi Arabia.
Indirectly the General Engineering Services Plus (GES+) is to increase the local content of the projects in Saudi Arabia with high added value activities beyond manufacturing.
The principle of the GES+ initiative is to develop locally engineering activities such as:
- Pre-front-end engineering design (pre-FEED)
- Front End Engineering and Design (FEED)
- Project Management Consultancy (PMC)
- Detailed design and procurement services
Saudi Aramco materializes the GES+ initiative in signing a GES+ contract with the engineering companies fulfilling the GES+ requirements.
This GES+ contract defines the scope of work for which an engineering company is pre-qualified by Saudi Aramco.
This scope of work may depend on greenfield or brownfield projects, onshore or offshore, upstream or downstream activities.
Applying to the GES+ contract for a foreign engineering company begins with building a joint venture with a Saudi engineering company or contractor.
Then the foreign company must present a plan to recruit, train, transfer expertise to Saudi engineers.
Foster Wheeler, Jacobs, KBR, Mustang, SNC Lavalin signed GES-plus contracts with Saudi Aramco
This GES+ initiative started up slowly in 2008 with Jacobs Engineering (Jacobs) acquiring 60% of the Saudi Arabian firm of Zamel & Turbag Consulting Engineers (ZATE), now known as Jacobs ZATE.
As a result Saudi Aramco awarded In May 2012, Jacobs ZATE a General Engineering Services Plus (GES+) contract for the Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical Company (Petro Rabigh).
This GES+ contract covers engineering and management services for the refinery and petrochemicals.
In 2011, Saudi Aramco made a second step in signing General Engineering Services Plus (GES+) contract with Foster Wheeler and SNC Lavalin
Foster Wheeler created a consortium with:
- A. Al-Saihati, A. Fattani & O. Al-Othman Consulting Engineering Co., (SOFCON)
- Saudi Consolidated Engineering Company – Khatib & Alami (SCEC K&A)
The General Engineering Services Plus (GES+) contract signed with the consortium Foster Wheeler, SOFCON and SCEC K&A covers pre-FEED, FEED, engineering and procurement services.
SNC Lavalin decided to create a 50/50 joint venture with the local FEED, detailed engineering services and Project management services (EPCMS)
This year the GES+ initiative took a leap with KBR and Mustang signing General Engineering Services Plus (GES+) contract with Saudi Aramco.
KBR acquired Abdulhadi and Al-Moaibed Consulting Engineering Co. (AMCDE) to create KBR-AMCDE.
KBR-AMCDE is qualified to perform FEED, detailed engineering services and Project management services (EPCMS).
Mustang created a consortium with:
- Faisal Jamel Al-Hejailan Engineering Company (Mustang Hejailan),
- Dar Al-Riyadh Engineering Consultants (DAR)
- Petro-Infrastructure Engineering Consultants Company (PI Consult)
Saudi Aramco and Sabic to activate GES+ contracts with Yanbu Aromatics
With five groups of engineering companies led by Foster Wheeler, Jacobs Engineering, KBR, Mustang and SNC Lavalin pre-qualified through their respective GES+ contract, Saudi Aramco is willing to deploy them for new projects
The General Engineering Services Plus (GES+) initiative belongs to Saudi Aramco, but since now in place, Sabic is joining Saudi Aramco in supporting it.
With the expansion of the Yanbu refinery into a petrochemical complex including aromatics, Saudi Aramco and Sabic have the opportunity to enforce the GES+ contracts as a pre-qualification process of the engineering companies to bid for the Front End Engineering and Design (FEED).
Saudi Aramco and Sabic intend to award the Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) contract for Yanbu aromatics at the end of year to one of the General Engineering Services Plus (GES+) qualified bidders Foster Wheeler, Jacobs Engineering, KBR, Mustang and SNC Lavalin.
