South Africa-based companies Grinaker-LTA M&E and DCD-Dorbyl
Heavy Engi-neering will operate a world-class offshore oil and gas
fabrication facility at Saldanha, off the Western Cape coast.
Grinaker-LTA MD Eddie du Rand reports that the two companies have formed a new company for this venture.
He states that, once the offshore oil and gas fabrication facility has been completed, the jointly-owned operating company will lease it from the development company, of which MAN Ferrostaal will be the major shareholder, and will equip and operate the facility.
He details that the new fabrication centres will include a fabrication yard area of 220 000 m2, a 90 000 m2 compacted lay down and assembly area at quayside, a compacted fabrication area of 54 940 m2 and a compaction outside storage area of 40 000 m2.
It will also include twin high-bay fabrication workshops, containing two 25-t and two 15-t gantry cranes with 14-m under hook, a blasting and priming workshop, a pipe-spool fabrication workshop, custom control and bonded warehouses, materials warehouses, electrical and instrumentation workshops and medical and first aid facilities.
All mobile equipment will also be supplied by the partners of the newly-formed company, such as materials-handling and welding equipment. Grinaker LTA M&E is a construction company which has undertaken a plethora of projects in the mining, power generation and oil-and-gas industries, gaining experience that, Du Rand highlights, will be invaluable when operating the Saldanha facility.
He explains that the oil-and-gas sector is divided into two sectors: the downstream sector that includes refineries, and the upstream sector that is comprised of offshore production facilities.
According to Du Rand, Grinaker-LTA M&E entered into the upstream market in Nigeria some five years ago. “Participation in Nigeria is actively grounded on the stringent local-content programme requirement of the Nigerian government, which requires some 40% of work being done by companies in the region to have a local-content programme,” he states. “There has been substantial growth in this market in the region, with Nigeria experiencing the largest growth.” Grinaker-LTA M&E established a facility at Port Harcourt in 2000 and has since developed an impressive record in the upstream oil-and-gas market.
Du Rand cites that it was off this base that the company became involved in the Saldanha facility in South Africa, coupled with the fact that it has extensive people resources.
He also reports that Grinaker LTA M&E will be working closely with Atlantis Projects in the establishment of the Saldanha fabrication facility for the upstream oil-and-gas market.
“With the global growth of the offshore oil-and-gas industry, there has been a worldwide requirement for facilities to support this sector,” Du Rand states.
“The growth has been in the exploration and development sectors as well as in production.
“We believe that we will be able to provide the necessary fabrication and repair services to support the market growth for West Coast Africa, which is currently being serviced by yards in Southern Europe, Korea and the Middle East. “The Saldanha facility will provide an oppor- tunity to service that industry out of South Africa.” Du Rand also firmly believes that there should be concerted efforts on this project, through the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, to keep African spending within Africa, which will also encourage a higher level of skills transfer between the West African countries and South Africa.
He adds that the establishment of the Saldanha facility is complementary to the West African facilities, and so the two will not be competing against each other. “Although our fabrication to date has focused on piles, subsea structures, manifolds, jackets, bridges and decks of up to 1 500 t, the Saldanha Bay facility – supported by DCD-Dorbyl Heavy Engineering – will include topside modules of up to 5 000 t and pressure vessels,” Du Rand details.
“We are also considering the oppoprtunity of providing tension leg platforms and smaller submersible hulls.
“Saldanha will be a first-class offshore fabrication facility that will benefit from South Africa’s infrastructure and support services.” Du Rand also points out that it will have the competitive advantage of being able to receive technical support from the company’s Nigerian operations, and he believes the facility will be capable of meeting safety and quality standards, while remaining on schedule, which is critical.
He says that the establishment of the Saldanha facility will create a significant export opportunity as well as employment for surrounding communities, and will contribute to the country’s growth. Du Rand comments that the facility will increase local community employment, bringing obvious benefits. “We are working with the government’s Merseta to establish training schools in the area,” he says. “These training schools will need an outlet, and part of our obligation is to employ people from these schools.” Du Rand states that the company has the people and skills in South Africa, and has built up its record in Nigeria, working with com- panies including Exxon Mobil, Chevron Texaco and FMC, and now plans to combine the two in the Saldanha facility.
The development of the Saldanha Bay fabrication centre will be done in a phased approach. Phase one will see the fabrication site recommissioned and reopened for the construction of offshore oil-and-gas projects in mid 2007, he says.
Safe Contractor of the Year Grinaker-LTA M&E was also recently awarded the ‘The Safe Con- tractor of the Year’ by Exxon Mobil Development Company (EMDC) for its East Area EPC 1A Project which was completed in November 2005 with over 1300 000 work hours without a single lost-time injury. Du Rand reports that this was achieved by having a comprehensive safety programme in place, and applying best practice from a health and safety perspective in Nigeria. He says that the company operates incentive programmes to encourage safe working conditions – the last incentive on this particular project was a small power gene- rator for each artisan working on the project when it closed on schedule, with no lost-time injuries reported. The incentive programme was jointly run by Grinaker-LTA M&E and EMDC.
Grinaker-LTA MD Eddie du Rand reports that the two companies have formed a new company for this venture.
He states that, once the offshore oil and gas fabrication facility has been completed, the jointly-owned operating company will lease it from the development company, of which MAN Ferrostaal will be the major shareholder, and will equip and operate the facility.
He details that the new fabrication centres will include a fabrication yard area of 220 000 m2, a 90 000 m2 compacted lay down and assembly area at quayside, a compacted fabrication area of 54 940 m2 and a compaction outside storage area of 40 000 m2.
It will also include twin high-bay fabrication workshops, containing two 25-t and two 15-t gantry cranes with 14-m under hook, a blasting and priming workshop, a pipe-spool fabrication workshop, custom control and bonded warehouses, materials warehouses, electrical and instrumentation workshops and medical and first aid facilities.
All mobile equipment will also be supplied by the partners of the newly-formed company, such as materials-handling and welding equipment. Grinaker LTA M&E is a construction company which has undertaken a plethora of projects in the mining, power generation and oil-and-gas industries, gaining experience that, Du Rand highlights, will be invaluable when operating the Saldanha facility.
He explains that the oil-and-gas sector is divided into two sectors: the downstream sector that includes refineries, and the upstream sector that is comprised of offshore production facilities.
According to Du Rand, Grinaker-LTA M&E entered into the upstream market in Nigeria some five years ago. “Participation in Nigeria is actively grounded on the stringent local-content programme requirement of the Nigerian government, which requires some 40% of work being done by companies in the region to have a local-content programme,” he states. “There has been substantial growth in this market in the region, with Nigeria experiencing the largest growth.” Grinaker-LTA M&E established a facility at Port Harcourt in 2000 and has since developed an impressive record in the upstream oil-and-gas market.
Du Rand cites that it was off this base that the company became involved in the Saldanha facility in South Africa, coupled with the fact that it has extensive people resources.
He also reports that Grinaker LTA M&E will be working closely with Atlantis Projects in the establishment of the Saldanha fabrication facility for the upstream oil-and-gas market.
“With the global growth of the offshore oil-and-gas industry, there has been a worldwide requirement for facilities to support this sector,” Du Rand states.
“The growth has been in the exploration and development sectors as well as in production.
“We believe that we will be able to provide the necessary fabrication and repair services to support the market growth for West Coast Africa, which is currently being serviced by yards in Southern Europe, Korea and the Middle East. “The Saldanha facility will provide an oppor- tunity to service that industry out of South Africa.” Du Rand also firmly believes that there should be concerted efforts on this project, through the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, to keep African spending within Africa, which will also encourage a higher level of skills transfer between the West African countries and South Africa.
He adds that the establishment of the Saldanha facility is complementary to the West African facilities, and so the two will not be competing against each other. “Although our fabrication to date has focused on piles, subsea structures, manifolds, jackets, bridges and decks of up to 1 500 t, the Saldanha Bay facility – supported by DCD-Dorbyl Heavy Engineering – will include topside modules of up to 5 000 t and pressure vessels,” Du Rand details.
“We are also considering the oppoprtunity of providing tension leg platforms and smaller submersible hulls.
“Saldanha will be a first-class offshore fabrication facility that will benefit from South Africa’s infrastructure and support services.” Du Rand also points out that it will have the competitive advantage of being able to receive technical support from the company’s Nigerian operations, and he believes the facility will be capable of meeting safety and quality standards, while remaining on schedule, which is critical.
He says that the establishment of the Saldanha facility will create a significant export opportunity as well as employment for surrounding communities, and will contribute to the country’s growth. Du Rand comments that the facility will increase local community employment, bringing obvious benefits. “We are working with the government’s Merseta to establish training schools in the area,” he says. “These training schools will need an outlet, and part of our obligation is to employ people from these schools.” Du Rand states that the company has the people and skills in South Africa, and has built up its record in Nigeria, working with com- panies including Exxon Mobil, Chevron Texaco and FMC, and now plans to combine the two in the Saldanha facility.
The development of the Saldanha Bay fabrication centre will be done in a phased approach. Phase one will see the fabrication site recommissioned and reopened for the construction of offshore oil-and-gas projects in mid 2007, he says.
Safe Contractor of the Year Grinaker-LTA M&E was also recently awarded the ‘The Safe Con- tractor of the Year’ by Exxon Mobil Development Company (EMDC) for its East Area EPC 1A Project which was completed in November 2005 with over 1300 000 work hours without a single lost-time injury. Du Rand reports that this was achieved by having a comprehensive safety programme in place, and applying best practice from a health and safety perspective in Nigeria. He says that the company operates incentive programmes to encourage safe working conditions – the last incentive on this particular project was a small power gene- rator for each artisan working on the project when it closed on schedule, with no lost-time injuries reported. The incentive programme was jointly run by Grinaker-LTA M&E and EMDC.
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Edited by: Matthew Hill
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