Oilcorp Bhd's unit Oilfab Sdn Bhd and Saudi Arabia's Rafid Group will form a joint venture company to set up a major fabrication yard in Saudi Arabia to capture the Middle East offshore fabrication market. In a statement here on Tuesday, Oilcorp said the primary target in the region will be Saudi Aramco, one of the largest oil companies in the world with an outlook market of more than $100 billion in the next 10 years for the development of offshore projects. With the joint venture, Oilfab and Rafid will collaborate to provide the Engineering, Procurement, Construction, Installation and Commissioning (EPCIC) services for the offshore structure and facilities in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Countries Community (GCC). Oilcorp's move in the Middle East makes it the first joint venture partner from Asia to set up a fabrication yard established locally in Saudi Arabia. “With the signing of the MoU (between Oilfab and Rafid), we hope to kick off of our market potential for the multi-million contracts in the onshore fabrication of offshore structures and the offshore hook-up and commissioning respectively in the Saudi and the GCC region,” Group Managing Director Sunny Ng said. Regardless of the equity share to be decided, the project management of all contracts executed by the joint venture will be done by the Oilcorp Group of Companies. Oilfab continues to carry on its business of providing engineering, procurement, fabrication, construction and commissioning services of offshore platforms, facilities at their 58-acre fabrication yard near Westport, Pulau Indah, Klang. Rafid Group, a leading group of companies in Saudi Arabia provides a wide spectrum of services to the world's largest oil & gas and petrochemical industries. It has been a player in the oil and gas industry of Saudi Arabia for the last three decades.
