Abu Dhabi’s Petrofac Emirates is considering plans to move into the Middle East’s growing metals sector in the future as part of a future diversification strategy for the engineering procurement and construction (EPC) contractor.

Shouab Zahid, director of sales and marketing for Petrofac Emirates says that while the company has no specific project in mind at present the metals sector is definitely an avenue the company is exploring.

“Abu Dhabi’s economy is diversifying and there is a programme in place that takes it up to 2030,” Zahid says.  “While [metals] is not something that is immediate we have to keep an eye on these developments and if we have some value to provide, Petrofac Emirates is willing to provide it.”

Zahid adds that the company is still focusing on its core sector of oil, gas and petrochemicals although he also believes that the shift to building steel or aluminium plants wouldn’t be difficult for an EPC contractor that is used to handling multi-billion dollar projects.  

“I don’t think that any large project is that different, they all have similar challenges,” Zahid says. “Obviously the technical know-how changes but that is all. Personally I think metals projects are not as difficult as oil and gas [projects].”

Petrofac Emirates is a 50:50 joint venture between the UK’s Petrofac and the Abu Dhabi government controlled investment firm Mubadala Development Company.