UAE-based offshore oil and gas company Lamprell says its Saudi shareholder, Blofeld Investment Management, has doubled its stake in the firm.

Blofeld, a private investment fund based in Saudi Arabia, has increased its share in Lamprell from 5.1 per cent to 10.08 per cent.

Lamprell has also announced it is forming a local joint venture in the kingdom, ‘Lamprell Saudi Arabia’, with another Jeddah-based investment firm, Asyad Holding.

Blofeld and Asyad Holding are owned by the same Saudi family owned business entity, Lamprell said in a statement.

The development comes as Lamprell looks to expand its presence in Saudi Arabia. The London Stock Exchange-listed company has made a bid to enter Saudi Aramco’s long-term agreement (LTA) pool of offshore contractors.

Lamprell, which owns fabrication facilities in Hamriyah and Khalid Port in Sharjah, and Jebel Ali in Dubai, is also a stakeholder in the Aramco-led consortium that is building the massive International Maritime Industries complex in Saudi Arabia’s Ras al Khair industrial zone.

"We are uniquely positioned to build our business in Saudi Arabia with the complementary opportunities of investment in the International Maritime Industries yard and our LTA bid to Saudi Aramco," Lamprell CEO Christopher McDonald has been quoted as saying in the statement. "We are committed to developing our local capabilities and we are looking to realise these opportunities by aligning with strong partners in-kingdom.

“We are therefore pleased to gain the support from Saudi investors, both as a major shareholder through Blofeld Investment Management and as our local partner in our Saudi joint venture.”