North-east pipeline engineering company STATS Group has landed its biggest contract to date – a multimillion-pound Middle Eastern deal with Qatargas.
The 10-year agreement with the largest liquefied natural gas producer in the world involves providing remote pipeline isolation equipment. This work will help create 20 jobs at STATS, most of them at its headquarters at Kintore.
The firm employs 144 people, the majority in the north-east. Turnover last year was £14million and is expected to jump to more than £20million this year.
Under the new contract, STATS will design, manufacture, test and supply a new range of isolation plugs for pipelines which will become part of the Qatargas Emergency Pipeline Repair System (EPRS) for production facilities in the Arabian Gulf’s North field.
STATS says this is its first project with Qatargas. STATS chief executive Pete Duguid said it would establish his company’s reputation as a global leader in EPRS development and implementation.
He said: “To be awarded a contract of this magnitude underlines the confidence Qatargas has in STATS and our technologies and our ability to respond to all its pipeline integrity and repair issues.” “This award puts us in a very strong position to take advantage of the emerging EPRS sector in the Middle East and gives us a platform to establish our credentials as a leader in this type of work on a global scale.” Mr Duguid added: “Qatar is investing billions of dollars in developing a world-class gas supply infrastructure and the operators are focused on providing the highest standards of integrity across their assets. We are pleased to be able to support Qatargas in establishing a benchmark for other global EPRS projects.”
Last year, STATS appointed Vikas Shangari as business development manager for the Middle East, based in Doha. As well as supporting the Qatargas project, he will focus on expanding the STATS brand and technologies in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and across the Gulf states. In April former Expro chairman Graeme Coutts joined STATS as a non-executive director, while former Petrofac Training Services managing director Leigh Howarth joined the board as chief financial officer.