Earlier this year, two major professional service providers to the energy, chemicals and resources sectors came together under a new brand, Worley. The merger is a combination of two highly complementary organisations – WorleyParsons and Jacobs’ Energy, Chemicals and Resources (ECR) line of business – that has created a pre-eminent global provider of professional project and asset services in energy, chemicals and resources, offering global sector leadership across hydrocarbons, mining, mineral, metals, chemicals, power and infrastructure sectors.

“As a unified, integrated organisation, we are able to serve our customers better,” comments Ed Hanbidge, Vice President of Worley’s Energy & Chemicals (E&C) Services division for southern and eastern Africa. “The presence of these two complementary divisions in South Africa – one focusing on minerals and mining, the other one on energy, oil and gas – has created a stronger, united entity in many respects, through combined services, delivery programmes, resources and expertise,” says Hanbidge.

“We are building on the best of both companies to unlock long-term value for our existing and new customers across Africa. We acknowledge that the growth potential in our core markets is underpinned by the global energy transition, and as such, we have expanded our capabilities across the entire energy and chemicals value chain.”

Hanbidge says that Worley’s E&C Services business line offers global expertise to help customers develop, build and maintain technically complex facilities across the energy, chemicals and power sectors. The company’s E&C services include greenfield and brownfield engineering, procurement, project management, programme management and operations.

In cooperation with its advisory, Major Projects and Integrated Solutions business line, Worley is able to guide and support customers across the full asset life cycle of their facilities, whether onshore, offshore or deep water.

In South Africa, the E&C Services business line is predominantly active in the petroleum and chemicals industries. In addition to helping customers deliver and maintain technically complex facilities in these sectors, the company is also uniquely qualified in helping plant operators reach their optimum profitable potential within their existing production facilities thanks to its strong partnerships and technical experience.

Worley’s E&C Services business line is also known for its long-term blue-chip customer relationships. “More than 95 percent of our work is repeat business,” says Hanbidge. “We get to know our customers’ business requirements, and partner with them to help them achieve their objectives.

This commitment to our customers produces consistent cost advantages, profits and growth, allowing us to attract and retain the industry’s top talent.”

Krish Iyer, President of E&C Services for Middle East and Africa at Worley, says that both legacy companies have been working very successfully in their respective markets for a long time, building on established relationships and expertise.

“Integrating our services, expertise, geographies and sector coverage presents a number of opportunities for our business and our customers, and our combined capabilities and strengths will allow us to truly partner with our customers. We also now have the strength and scale to expand our service offering and we are excited about what the new combined force will be able to deliver for the market.”

Iyer notes that of specific interest for the E&C Services business line is the downstream capability that the legacy Jacobs ECR business brings to Worley, coupled with the company’s expertise and experience in the power sector. For example, the company is actively pursuing opportunities in downstream gas in eastern Africa, building on the successes achieved in this region on projects such as the Lake Turkana and Kipeto wind power projects in Kenya, and the Mtwara to Dar es Salaam Pipeline Project in Tanzania.

“We are seeing significant growth in opportunities in this market, and are working with customers to explore these opportunities,” says Iyer.

Hanbidge comments that Worley is also looking at ways that the combined global digital capabilities can be used to add value to their customers across the region. “There are many technologies that are already being used in other parts of the world that can be introduced to Africa – these technologies represent a smart way of executing work in terms of efficiencies and productivity, not only in the construction phase, but also into the operational and maintenance phases.

While not yet fully recognised by the industry, there is a huge array of benefits, and we are seeing an increasing demand from our customers in the energy, chemicals and resources sectors who do not want to be left behind in the digital revolution.”

“We are confident that integrating our operations, capabilities and geographic diversity places us in a strong position to capture the opportunities presented by the global energy transition, while bringing our digital and new energy capabilities to add maximum value to our customers’ new and existing operations,” concludes Hanbidge.