The economic aspirations of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 and Saudi Aramco's iktva localization program have taken a major stride forward with the official opening of the National Oilwell Varco's (NOV) first local spoolable composite pipe facility. The opening of the complex was attended by a high-level corporate delegation from Saudi Aramco, including president and CEO Amin Nasser, Mohammed Y. Al Qahtani, senior vice president of Upstream, and Ahmad A. Al Sa'adi, senior vice president of Technical Services. NOV's new Saudi facility is bigger than its original plant in Houston, Texas and is the first reinforced thermoplastic pipe (RTP) manufacturing hub in the Kingdom. The manufacturing complex will produce spoolable and jointed pipe, including high-pressure line pipe, and downhole tubing and casing. The development has been hailed as an important driver for Saudi Arabia's economic and social blueprint Vision 2030 and for Saudi Aramco's iktva program, which seeks to achieve 70% localization of its supply chain by 2021. Speaking at the event, Al Qahtani said the opening of the state-of-the-art production facility was a "special day" for all concerned, and the Kingdom. It is expected that the facility will become a major hub for the Gulf Cooperation Council and Middle East North Africa regions. "It is also an important validation of Saudi Vision 2030 and Saudi Aramco's localization program, iktva, which is helping to drive it," said Al Qahtani. "Bringing sophisticated technologies to the Kingdom is one component. Being able to export high quality products with ‘Made in Saudi Arabia' on them will surely be another. "And with 50% Saudization here already (on a path toward 90%), most of the work will be done by Saudis. "Above all, it confirms that the desire to locate here is growing, that it is getting easier to do business here, and that increased share in a global energy hub is very likely to be the result," Al Qahtani noted. Al Qahtani pointed out that market volatility in recent years had intensified the company's efforts on operation efficiency, cost avoidance, and reliability. He said that it was his belief that, "there are even more innovative ways to monetize each barrel of oil using advanced oil-based materials, which is why we are examining new outlets for our products." Al Qahtani added that the increased deployment of nonmetallics in the company's pipeline network was part of its forward looking strategy. As part of our nonmetallics strategy, Saudi Aramco is turning crude oil into advanced polymeric materials to meet the industry's growing demand for nonmetallic pipes, flow lines, and other applications because of their superior cost, efficiency, and environmental advantages over their metal counterparts. The new NOV facility, Al Qahtani said, "ticks all of the boxes for us at Saudi Aramco. "NOV is not a reactive company that lets others carry the load. They are helping to bring the win-win nature of Vision 2030 and iktva to life, adding tremendous value to Saudi Aramco." Clay C. Williams, CEO of NOV, said his team was delighted to be in Dammam to celebrate the opening of its "newest and largest, and most technologically advanced" facility. Despite market challenges in recent years, Williams said NOV had stuck to its course with its partners. "We were committed to our plan of building a truly world-class facility in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. "I want to thank everyone here for seeing this through, for your confidence to execute the project. I am excited about the future of NOV, the future of Saudi Aramco and the future of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia." Williams said his company remains committed to the training of Saudi talent and to the aspirations of the Kingdom's Vision 2030. NOV is a leading provider of technology, equipment, and services to the global oil and gas industry that supports customers' full-field drilling, completion, and production needs. Since 1862, NOV has pioneered innovations that improve the cost-effectiveness, efficiency, safety, and environmental impact of oil and gas operations. The Saudi Aramco delegation was taken on a tour of the new Dammam facility after the official opening ceremony. — SG
