AMEC, an international engineering and project management company, and Black Cat Engineering & Construction, a leading contractor in Qatar, have entered into a joint venture agreement to offer ‘asset support services’ to the oil, gas and petrochemical sectors in the country.
The new joint venture, AMEC Black Cat, offers facilities engineering, maintenance, shutdown and workshop services and access to international suppliers.
A joint release said ‘the joint venture combines the global capabilities and strong customer relationships of AMEC, with the long established local capabilities and market position of Black Cat. This combination gives us the ability to bring international best practice capabilities but with local delivery to our customers in Qatar.’
Tony Cruddas, president of AMEC’s Natural Resources Growth Regions Business said, “This new joint venture is part of our long term strategy to not only work in countries but also to be an integral part of their future. I am delighted to be working with Black Cat as we come together to form a world class service for Qatar, part of our strategically important Middle East region”.
Sheikh Hamad bin Abdulla al-Thani, Black Cat chairman said, “We have created this joint venture company to offer truly world class services to world class companies like QP and its international partners. The JV with AMEC enables us to offer much needed services to the rapidly expanding oil and gas production facilities in Qatar. The selection of AMEC as our partner is consistent with Black Cat’s drive to offer the best quality services through association with the best global partners.”
Speaking to Gulf Times on the sidelines of the signing ceremony, Black Cat General Manager Mr. Adnan Al-Mubarak and Amec Regional Director for Middle East and North Africa, Mr. Craig Muir said the joint venture was being registered to be able to undertake large asset management prospects with a potential turnover of hundreds of millions dollars.
Asked about the strategic significance to AMEC and whether it was a “game-changing, Mr. Muir said it was a regional strategy which addresses their long term ambitions of delivering this new business stream to the region. He said "This work type is successfully delivered by Amec elsewhere in the world.
Clients in Qatar will include new customers and also existing international customers we work for in other parts of the world." Asked whether the impact of the new JV on the jobs would be positive or negative, he said the new entity would create significant employment opportunities for both of the shareholders and that work will require them to train and enhance local existing workforce.
On the impact of the new JV on the environment and community, Mr. Al-Mubarak said "It will be positive in that we are localising these services to enable Qatar to be able to maximise on its local capability and delivery over the longer term."
