This contract would open new opportunities for Clough in Saudi Arabia, according to Clough services division CEO Simon High.

“We look forward to the challenge of undertaking the work ‘in Kingdom’ and building a leading contracting company based in Saudi Arabia,” High said.

“Being a long-term reimbursable contract it fits well with the services division’s strategy and will be a major foundation of our growth for many years to come.”

The contract does not specify any minimum amount of work, but historically Saudi Aramco has outsourced well in excess of six hundred thousand man hours per annum for this services work, according to Clough.

“Our aim would be to build the local capability as quickly and competently as possible, such that we can execute around one million man hours per annum servicing Saudi Aramco and the existing client base in the region,” High said.

“We have already implemented a detailed mobilisation plan and will be recruiting several hundred people using our regional centres in Indonesia, Thailand and India, in addition to Australia.”

The deal was won in partnership with S&B from Texas and Al Bilad from Saudi Arabia, in a joint venture with Zuhair Fayez Partnership Consultants (ZFP) from Saudi Arabia. The PMS contract is for an initial period of five years with two, two-year extension options.

Saudi Aramco currently produces around 9.5 million barrels of oil or oil equivalent per day.

Production is expected to increase to 12.5 million barrels of oil by 2010. A prime requirement of this contract is to support Saudi Aramco’s current production capacity along with its expansion plans.

Clough Limited CEO and Managing Director David Singleton said the Saudi Aramco IK [In Kingdom] PMS was the most significant step taken in moving Clough towards its goal of generating 50% of earnings from non lump sum, high-risk contracts.

“It is undoubtedly our most important and impressive contract win for some time,” Singleton said.

“The Saudi Aramco IK PMS validates our strategic decision to focus on growing the Clough Services Division. It is a major success for the Services Division and demonstrates the capability of Clough with a very exacting client.”

The Saudi Aramco IK PMS contract is being undertaken by Al Bilad S&B Clough Limited, a registered Saudi Arabian company. As part of this entity, Clough will take the lead role for the execution of the services in conjunction with local consortium partner ZFP, which has a strong local presence and a long successful track record of working with Saudi Aramco.

The consortium will act as the client’s project management consultants, performing predominantly front end engineering and design (FEED) and project management consultant activities for onshore hydrocarbon extraction and processing facilities. All works will be performed in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia.