(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Muscat- Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) has received the first 'Made in Oman' electric submersible pump (ESP) system for its oil operations from a factory in Sohar.
The US$7.5mn Borets Seven Seas & Co facility was officially openedon Sundayunder the auspices of H E Dr Ali bin Masoud bin Ali al Sunaidy, Minister of Commerce and Industry.
The facility will assemble and service ESPs - which provide an efficient and reliable artificial-lift method for extracting moderate to high volumes of fluids from wellbores - for use in oil and water wells. Borets Seven Seas contractors will also install, commission, test and maintain the equipment in the field.
The factory was opened at the Sohar Industrial Estate after PDO negotiated a three-year US$105mn contract with Borets, a global leader in artificial lift systems engineering, manufacturing, sales and servicing.
Under the terms of the deal, which also has an option for a seven-year extension, Borets was mandated to set up the plant, so it can provide training and job opportunities for Omanis, as part of PDO's efforts to develop local skills and promote in-country value (ICV) in hi-tech areas.
The official opening of the facility was attended by H E Dr Envarbik Fazelianov, Russian Ambassador to Oman; Lev Stulberg, chief executive officer, Borets and Raoul Restucci, managing director, PDO.
Speaking on the occasion, Restucci said, 'We are delighted that such a leading company as Borets has opened this new state-of-the-art facility in Oman which is already producing ESPs for our operations. We have worked hard to make this happen as factories like these will help create job opportunities, develop local technical capabilities, shorten our supply chains and reduce our costs.
'A key enabler for this achievement is PDO's new ESP contracting strategy which is structured in a way that makes it mandatory for contractors to set up ESP manufacturing facilities in Oman as part of their agreements. A central plank of our ICV programme is to retain more of the wealth of our industry in Oman and this new factory really is ICV in action.'
Stulberg said, 'Oman was the first country outside former Soviet Union states, where Borets started its international operations in 2005 - that's why the Sohar facility is not just one more project for us. We put our hearts into its construction and we will apply our best efforts to perform all our client with high quality and on time.' Borets is planning to extend the facility to cater for the assembly, testing and service of the surface components of the systems, alongside the current downhole ones. Borets is using Sohar Port to import ESP parts, and has opened a path for potential co-operation and knowledge transfer with SQU.
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