GE and MODON ink land deal for energy facility in Dammam

GE has signed a 74,000 square meter land lease agreement with the Saudi Industrial Property Authority (MODON). Over 50 percent of the land, which is located in Dammam 2nd Industrial City, is intended to be utilized initially by GE’s oil and gas business to build an advanced GE Oil & Gas Manufacturing Facility. The planned new facility will be part of the $1 billion investment commitment to the Kingdom announced by GE last year.
In the presence of Minister of Commerce and Industry Tawfiq Al-Rabiah and GE’s Chairman & Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Immelt, Hisham Al-Bahkali, GE’s President and CEO in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, and Saleh I. Al-Rasheed, director general, MODON, signed the agreement at a ceremony held in Dammam.
To be located near the existing Pressure Control Facility, the planned GE Oil & Gas Manufacturing Facility will cover an area of approximately 40,000 square meters and will integrate the different business lines of GE Oil & Gas under one roof.
The facility is intended to provide consolidated offices, as well as manufacturing capabilities, packaging and assembly for GE Oil & Gas businesses, including measurement and control, subsea systems, as well as artificial lift and pressure control equipment for its drilling and surface business.
Al-Rabiah said: “We aim to attract leading international manufacturing companies to invest in the Kingdom. As the largest manufacturing company in the world, GE’s presence will be an added value, and this project is part of the company’s commitment to invest $1 billion in the Kingdom, including in the manufacturing sector.”
Rami Qasem, president and CEO, GE Oil & Gas, Middle East, North Africa and Turkey, said: “The extensive services to be offered by the planned GE Oil & Gas Manufacturing Facility will enable us to provide our partners with the most advanced services and product support in the least possible response time to strengthen their operational efficiencies.
It also marks our sustained commitment to Saudi Arabia’s growth vision to promote localized manufacturing, job creation for Saudi youth and to boost the exports sector. We are thankful to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for their support, which will enable us to extend continued support for the Kingdom’s drilling and production, pipelines and storage, industrial power generation, and refining and petrochemical sectors.”
The GE Oil & Gas Manufacturing Facility, planned to be operational in the fourth quarter of 2015, will enable the company to support its key customers, including Saudi Aramco, with shorter cycles through localized manufacturing of key components.
With over 165 employees in the Kingdom, over 40 percent of them Saudis, GE Oil & Gas supports the diversification and capacity building goals of the Kingdom. GE’s Pressure Control Facility that opened last year manufactures key equipment such as wellheads, and valves that support the upstream oil and gas sector.
The products also used across the industry regionally supporting the vision of the Saudi government to boost exports.
With a presence of over 80 years, three offices and seven facilities, Saudi Arabia accounts for the largest GE workforce in the Middle East with over 1,000 employees driving the health care, transportation, power, oil and gas, water and aviation businesses. More than 500 GE turbines currently generate over 50 percent of the Kingdom’s electricity, and the company’s advanced technology supports the production of 150 million liters clean water daily, delivered to the country’s remotest corners.