DMS Interview - Waleed A. Abuzaid Director of Business Development. Arabian Consulting Engineering
Centre (ACEC), Saudi Arabia.
Mr. Waleed has a degree in Chemical Engineering and his career at ACEC started as a Design Engineer. At present he is serving the company as Director of Business Development. Mr. Waleed A. Abuzaid was interviewed by DMS’ Editor for Saudi Arabia, Mr. Abdul Naeem.
On behalf of DMS, I would like to convey my warm regards to you and your colleagues at ACEC. Thank
you. It is always a pleasure to share time with DMS. My warm regards
to the DMS team also. What is the organisational structure of ACEC? Arabian Consulting Engineering Centre (ACEC) is a recognised company in Saudi Arabia with a wealth of experience in multi-discipline engineering and architectural design. It was founded by Eng. Abdullah Ahmed Bugshan in 1979 to perform general engineering services in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries. ACEC specialises in engineering and design services to the oil & gas (onshore and offshore), chemicals and petrochemicals, refining, power cogeneration, desalination, communications, security and infrastructure sectors. The Al-Khobar office employs over 150 professionals and support personnel. Over the last few years there has been a resurgence in the business industry in general in Saudi Arabia be it petrochemical, oil & gas or the civil construction industry. How is ACEC cashing in on this mega boom? ACEC has being following these projects very closely. We are closely involved in the bidding for major Aramco projects. Apart from that we are also bidding for private sector projects. The way things are going we will certainly be very busy for the next five years. This is the outcome of good team work and leadership on our side. We are committed to making our mark in the business arena.
ACEC is an approved GES contractor for Saudi Aramco and Khafji Joint Operations. We have been involved in projects that consist of upgrading refinery and petrochemical facilities. Some of the projects that we have been involved in include, but are not limited to BI-3095, BI-3094, BI-3082 and BI-8261.
Which ongoing projects is ACEC currently involved in? At present, we are in the final stage of the detailed engineering design for the Control System Upgrade for Uthamaniyah GOSP’s 7,8, and 10. We have also been awarded the detailed engineering for BI-8290, Power Supply to ESP and are being awarded a big As-Built job for KJO.
What do you think of the energy industry in the Middle East in comparison to Europe or the rest of the world? The energy industry in the Middle East is now riding high. It is booming in comparison to its counterparts in Europe. This is reflected in the number of projects. The amount of works to be accomplished and those planned will keep us very busy up until 2015 and beyond. We certainly have some busy times ahead of us.
Based on the amount of petrochemical, oil and gas presence in the Middle East, where do you see the energy industry heading in the region? There will be more projects involving refined products especially with the two export refineries that Saudi Aramco has commenced in Yanbu and Jubail and also the integrated petrochemical complex in Rastanura, which will be identical to Petro Rabigh. Then we have the expansion of the Yanbu Refinery. We are seeing a change in trends as more and more foreign players are pitching in. It will not be wrong to say that Saudi Arabia is now the main hub of business activities in the Middle East.
What would you say is the main reason for ACEC’s success in the Middle East during this time? Our commitment to our clients to provide quality products within the given time frame of the schedule and below budget. That is the secret of our success.
In your view what is ACEC’s goal in the next 5 years ? In the next five years we are concentrating on expanding our speciality and will be more involved in technology projects. We are looking at collaborating with international contractors so that we are able to handle major projects. We are also aiming to further the national cause by hiring locals from Saudi Arabia, in this way we would be contributing to the prosperity of the country. Saudisation is and will be our main goal.
DMS is organising a conference that will involve all of the contractors in the oil, gas and petrochemical industries. What would your comment be on that? It is a very exciting and interesting idea. DMS would have the support of ACEC. We would actively take part in it and offer all our support to the DMS team. We would certainly like to see DMS organise more of these mega conferences.
Of late there has been a rumour among the GES family that there could be a reduction in the number of Aramco qualified GES contractors. Would you like to comment on that? We do not have any official correspondence on this issue from Saudi Aramco, so I would not like to comment on this matter. Nevertheless, with the business boom in Saudi Arabia I think that it would be better to maintain the same number of GES contractors or even qualify more of them to have more participants for mega projects. In the past there were 24 contractors and this number was then reduced to 14 and now I believe that all the 14 GES contractors are qualified to handle big projects. Similar to the two PMS awarded to Saudi Consult and ZFP.
How do you rate the DMS Correspondent project tracking system in comparison to its other competitors in the market? DMS is an excellent source of market intelligence and it was very useful in the past and I can personally see that lots of improvements have been made over the last couple of years. I see a marked change in the trend of DMS operations especially where project research and tracking is concerned. DMS’ proactive nature is worth commending. I would like to see DMS focus more on GCC countries. It would be interesting to see DMS’ contribution to the Arab community. |
