AGG Aviation has launched a 24-hour medevac service for the oil and gas industry in Iraq between Basra and the new Al Seef Hospital in Kuwait.
This new service utilises Beech 1900C aircraft and provides the industry with a much-needed 30-minute direct emergency flights in and out of Basra, so eliminating the lengthy and sometimes dangerous land crossing currently used in emergencies.
The AGG Beech is fully-equipped for medevacs and can transport up three critical patients looked after by trauma specialists and with full telemetry for direct communication with specialist doctors at Al Seef Hospital.
AGG Aviation’s chief of security, Phillip Forsyth, said of the new offering: “International oil companies and a range of service companies are now operating in southern Iraq.
“They face obvious security concerns for their personnel, especially at times of emergencies, in an area which is still subject to conflict.
“We provide a reactive Medevac service manned by trauma specialists who are very experienced in the types of injuries associated with oil field services.
“Iraq brings a wealth of opportunity but following years of sanctions and conflict lacks essential infrastructure, some of which is vital to achieve the highest possible industry standards.
“AGG has reached out and will continue to expand this Medevac service.”
AGG Aviation is a unit of AGG International, which describes itself as a privately-owned oilfield services company focused on the oil and gas service sector, mostly within the Middle East.
Meanwhile, BP is staging an Iraq share fair in Istanbul on November 22.
Any companies who have not yet got their names into the hat are too late and it will be interesting to see which British firms made the effort as capturing their interest in the Iraqi oilfield rehabilitation programme has so far proved a challenge.
BP is the lead contractor for redevelopment of the super-giant Rumaila field in Southern Iraq, together with partners PetroChina and the Oil Marketing Company of the Republic of Iraq.
The objective of this share fair event is to provide information to the global/local contractor communities on plans to rehabilitate the Rumaila field and specifically on the selection process for following types of contracts:
Engineering and project management services (EPMS), the scope of which will include detailed design and engineering of certain facilities at Rumaila; procurement for and on behalf of BP and its partners; logistics management; and site construction management activities.
Engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract work covering design, procurement, installation and commissioning of discrete packages of work.
Construction
Due to the high interest shown by the contracting community in attending this event, it is expected that invitations will be restricted to EPMS, EPC and construction contractors with the capability to support large-scale project activities.
After the event, contractors will be invited to declare, via an expression of interest process, if they wish to be considered further.
A pre-qualification and competitive bidding process will then be implemented to select the perceived “best value” contractors to support the Rumaila redevelopment.
Energy believes that tier-two and tier-three suppliers in the UK should make a point of ensuring they know which contractors ultimately get picked for the large workscopes, and then pitch for sub-packages as they come up for bid. Not to complete will simply lead to the work going to foreign competitors.
As of June this year, the Rumaila field was producing just short of 1million barrels of oil per day, about 40% of Iraq’s total output.
BP and CNPC intend to raise the production from the current 2.3million bpd to 2.85million within the next six years. Once this production milestone is reached, Rumaila will become the second largest oilfield in the world after Saudi Arabia’s huge Ghawar field.