Wood Group PSN expands in Middle East with Iraq contract

Tuesday, Nov 13, 2012

Wood Group PSN (WGPSN) has been awarded a contract by DNO Middle East to provide engineering and project support services to the Tawke field, in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. The contract marks WGPSN’s expansion into Iraq.

The energy services company will deliver engineering studies, detailed design, technical and operations support to DNO for the ongoing expansion of the Tawke field. WGPSN is assigning a team of 30 engineers to the contract, initially based in Abu Dhabi and mobilised into Kurdistan as required. DNO’s operations in Kurdistan are managed from its office in Erbil.

DNO International ASA is an Oslo-listed oil and gas company focused on interests in the Middle East and North Africa. The company holds stakes in 17 licenses in various stages of exploration, development and production both onshore and offshore in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, the Republic of Yemen, the Sultanate of Oman, the United Arab Emirates and the Tunisian Republic. Operating in Kurdistan since 2004, the Tawke oilfield is a significant asset with ongoing plans to increase capacity to 100 000 bopd by the end of 2012.

Nicholas Atencio, DNO Iraq AS general manager said, “DNO is pleased to engage Wood Group PSN, as a technical and operations resource, in our efforts to grow our business in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. The addition of this world class service provider into the Kurdistan operating arena will benefit all stakeholders.”

David Clark, WGPSN regional director for the Middle East said, “The strategic importance of this contract is significant. Iraq is an oil and gas region of enormous potential growth, especially for Wood Group PSN because of the extensive number of brownfield facilities. We are excited about the opportunity to work with DNO and help deliver projects to enhance production. The safety and security for our people has been our top priority and we have been working closely with DNO to achieve certainty on this. The contract also offers us an opportunity to instigate a programme to develop Kurdistan national engineers and build our local resource capability and capacity for future developments.”

WGPSN now employs more than 3,300 people across the Middle East.

Operating in Abu Dhabi, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, and now Iraq, the company also recently invested $1.2 million (USD) in establishing a new engineering office in Gurgaon, India. An extension of WGPSN’s Middle East business, the India engineering centre will create opportunities for 100 skilled engineers and serve to provide engineering services to the Indian domestic market and international projects in the Middle East, Asia, Australia and Europe.

Source: Wood Group PSN