Construction capabilities for Saudi Arabia’s mega-projects

Saudi Arabia

Mohamad Haek, CEO of Saudi Drill, talks to The Energy Year about supporting large-scale development projects in Saudi Arabia and the ongoing expansion of the company’s manufacturing and construction businesses. Saudi Drill is a trading and investment company that provides equipment and services to the oil and gas, petrochemicals, water and power sectors.

Among Saudi Drill’s range of services, which have been the biggest growth drivers over the past 12 months?
We have been expanding our construction capabilities to support large-scale projects such as NEOM and projects led by PIF [Public Investment Fund], Aramco and others. There are significant opportunities in construction and we have made strides in this area over the past year. For example, we launched TMS, a company specialising in high-rise scaffolding, formwork and other structural items. The company has already won a major contract with The Avenues mall for formwork and scaffolding.
We also formed a partnership with Hydroserv International, a company that specialises in dewatering and water drilling. Currently, we have two projects with them in NEOM, and we will continue to bid for new contracts. In addition, we have started representing the China Machinery Industry Group, which will allow us to leverage their expertise and competitiveness in EPC projects. Overall, we are in a good position to bid on small-to-large construction projects in Saudi Arabia.

What investments are you making to support your expansion in construction and manufacturing?
We have leased land in the King Salman Energy Park (SPARK) to build a drill pipe manufacturing facility with a capacity of 20,000 tonnes per year, which will be constructed soon. We will start with pipes for friction welding and carry out heat treatment, coating, threading and other processes, but we have plans to expand our capabilities to serve both domestic and export markets. We are also investing in our scaffolding rental business to support the temporary infrastructure needs of large projects, where renting is often more practical.
In addition to investing equity into these ventures, we are partnering with local banks, and we will receive support from the Saudi Industrial Development Fund for our manufacturing projects. Our commitment to local manufacturing aligns us with Vision 2030 and the IKTVA [In-Kingdom Total Value Add] programme. We want to continue expanding in the manufacturing and service sectors to support economic diversification.

What opportunities do you see in construction specifically within the oil and gas sector?
Aramco’s long pipeline of projects and other large-scale developments presents a number of targets for us. We are pursuing contracts to supply services such as dewatering, water drilling, scaffolding, formwork and logistics. Our good relationships with clients place us in a good position to support these initiatives; on average, we bid on 10-15 projects each month.

Could you give us an overview of Saudi Drill’s involvement in the upstream segment?
We partner with several companies to provide specialised upstream services in Saudi Arabia. We’re the exclusive agents for companies such as WellBoss, which manufactures fracking equipment, NXL Technologies, a provider of coiled tubing and pressure control equipment, and Thru Tubing Solutions. We also recently introduced Tiva Technologies’ greaseless valves, which eliminate the need for frequent lubrication in fracking, reducing environmental impact and maintenance costs. They have successfully passed trials with Aramco.
Around 60% of our investment portfolio is directed to the upstream segment, with the remaining 40% dedicated to the downstream and construction-related activities. However, our downstream segment is growing steadily as we expand our services and our equipment fleets to support construction and petrochemicals clients.
We’re aiming for growth across all segments and seek partnerships with companies with advanced R&D and manufacturing capabilities in the US and China, particularly in oil and gas and renewables. By leveraging our existing international alliances and forging new ones, we gain access to a range of high-quality solutions that we can localise and offer in Saudi Arabia.

What is your outlook for Saudi Drill in the coming years?
We expect substantial growth. We plan to increase our investments by 40-50% per year in the next few years, and revenue growth should outpace this – we anticipate year-on-year growth in the range of 60–70%.
We’re confident that our investments in manufacturing and services, along with our growing project portfolio, will position Saudi Drill as a major player within our holding Group, if not as the leading revenue generator. Currently, we operate eight joint ventures, each with its own management and sales targets. If we can elevate each of these companies, Saudi Drill will become a major force in the industry, accomplishing in a few years what typically takes decades.

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