Maritime Services and Contracting Company announced that it was chosen as part of the 3 finalist companies by Kuwait Oil Company and was awarded a contract for the maintenance, supply and installation of artificial lift pumps for North Kuwait fields to extract heavy oil.
On this occasion, Maritime Services and Contracting Company’s Chairman and CEO, Eng. Ali Daghim Al-Shammari, said that the award of this contract is in line with KOC’s strategy to promote the production of heavy oil.
Al-Shammari highlighted hat Marine Services, which was established in 1973 as part of the oil sector, is a key shareholder of Kuwait Drilling Company with 51% stake and Kuwait Petroleum Corporation with a 49% stake, saying that our rigs account for a large portion of the business. Moreover, the company and its subsidiaries work with numerous oil companies affiliated with Kuwait Petroleum Corporation.
In a press statement issued after signing the contract with KOC, he added that Marine Services Company will spare no effort to achieve KOC’s ambitions to promote this project, which reflects its efforts to raise production rates in line with its plans and strategies aimed at enhancing its production capabilities.
Artificial Lift Projects
Al-Shammari explained that the company strives to finalize its vision and the plans laid out by its former executives, especially the expansion of artificial lift projects to enhance its competitiveness, noting that the company entered into competition with 9 companies and won second place among the final 3 that offered the lowest prices.
He also praised KOC’s transparency in providing all the data and information related to the project, which contributed to being awarded the project contract, adding that signing the agreement is a great responsibility to fulfill the stipulated requirements and achieve KPC 2030 strategy. The agreement stipulates the production of 120,000 barrels of heavy oil, which requires the usage of artificial lift, confirming that company is ready to implement the project as assigned.
Meanwhile, Executive Vice President for Drilling and Technology at KOC, Eng. Ahmed Jaber Al-Eidan, confirmed that extracting heavy oil requires great efforts, technical abilities, devices, equipment, and expertise, which entails assigning specialized and highly qualified companies to reach the required production rates.
In a statement issued after the signing the agreement, Al-Aidan added that extracting heavy oil requires special reservoirs and equipment, although it comes from close depths, but it requires different sizes of pumps, in order to improve its extraction to meet the needs of foreign markets, indicating that there are works related to drilling and others to reduce the viscosity of oil to facilitate lifting and extracting product and other technical requirements needed to extract heavy oil.
Regarding the project term and cost, Al-Eidan said that the seven-year project cost is KWD 35.2 million. Marine Services Company was awarded the project as part of the three finalists working in the field of supply, maintenance, and pumps installation.
Al-Eidan expressed his best wishes for the success of Marine Services Co. that will implement the project in accordance with the guidelines and conditions set forth by KOC, which in turn seeks doubling its current production volume of 60K barrels per day to 120K barrels, in line with its 2030 strategy.
He stated that KOC continues to follow the best international standards, to develop its operations and plans, which depend on enhancing production with the best quality.