Industry

The KBR award follows the coming onstream of the Marjan crude oil increment. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

KBR has been awarded a project by Aramco to support the upgrade of facilities across the Marjan offshore field off the eastern coast of Saudi Arabia

Under the contract, KBR will provide engineering and project execution services to support key offshore processing, gas compression, and power infrastructure facilities within the Marjan field.

The project is expected to maintain the Marjan field's production capacity through recent field developments. It is also expected to help advance associated gas processing capabilities and strengthen long-term performance of critical offshore assets through the integration of digital technologies, automation, and power system enhancements.

"For KBR, this award reflects our long project execution relationship with Aramco," said Jay Ibrahim, president, Sustainable Technology Solutions, KBR. "By combining our deep offshore engineering expertise with advanced automation and digital integration, we aim to help achieve Aramco’s expectations."

The engineering work is expected to be executed primarily from KBR's Houston and Al-Khobar offices, leveraging the company's decades of experience delivering complex offshore energy infrastructure projects in the Middle East and around the world. The company has a longstanding involvement in the Middle East, where it has supported major energy projects by delivering engineering, technology and programme management solutions .

About the Marjan field expansion

The KBR award follows the coming onstream of the Marjan crude oil increment, which has added 300,000 bpd of capacity. In 2018, Aramco awarded US$18bn in contracts to support the wider Marjan and Berri oilfields in increasing production capacity by 550,000 bpd of oil and 2.5bscfd of gas. The Marjan portion included a new offshore gas-oil separation plant, 24 offshore oil, gas and water-injection platforms, and expanded onshore processing infrastructure.

The Tanajib Gas Plant, part of the Marjan development program, began operations in December 2025 and is expected to process 2.6bn standard cubic feet per day of raw gas from the Marjan and Zuluf fields by this year. One of the largest gas plants in the world, it will play an important role in supporting Aramco’s gas development plans, with the aim of boosting gas production by 80% by 2030 compared to 2021 levels. In addition to helping meet rising demand for natural gas, and enhancing supplies to national industries, Aramco’s gas growth strategy supports efforts to achieve a more optimal energy mix for domestic electricity production. It also advances the Kingdom’s liquid fuel displacement programme, complements the Kingdom’s 2060 net-zero ambition, reinforces energy security and contributes to building a diverse national economy. 

Offshore developments

The Middle East’s offshore developments are providing fertile opportunities for contractors and engineering companies with experience of delivering large and complex offshore projects in the region. Despite the current conflict in the Middle East, the region’s operators continue to push ahead with major offshore developments, such as ADNOC’s Ghasha offshore sour gas development and the Umm Shaif Gas Cap, Aramco’s Marjan and Zuluf increments and Kuwait Oil Company’s recent significant offshore discoveries.

A TAKRAF Mobile Stacking Bridge forms part of an integrated dry tailings solution that combines bulk material handling, water recovery and sustainable tailings management. (Image source: TAKRAF)

With a growing regional presence and integrated solutions spanning mining, minerals processing and bulk material handling, TAKRAF Group is helping advance efficient, sustainable industrial value chains across the Middle East

Across the Middle East, mining is emerging as a key pillar of economic diversification and industrial development. In Saudi Arabia particularly, Vision 2030 is accelerating investment across the mining and minerals processing value chain. The Kingdom’s ambition extends beyond identifying and extracting mineral resources to developing integrated processing and downstream capabilities within Saudi Arabia.

The focus is increasingly shifting toward the development of integrated, efficient and sustainable value chains that support long-term industrial growth. As projects become larger and more complex, operators are seeking partners capable of delivering technologies and expertise across the entire mining lifecycle while helping address challenges such as water scarcity, energy efficiency, environmental performance and overall project economics. These priorities are especially relevant in a region where responsible resource development must go hand in hand with operational excellence.

To support this transformation, TAKRAF Group has strengthened its commitment to the Middle East through the establishment of TAKRAF Saudi Arabia and a regional office in Riyadh. This local presence enables closer collaboration with customers while combining regional market understanding with technologies and engineering expertise proven in some of the world's most demanding mining operations. The Riyadh office provides a regional base for customer engagement, project development and technical support across Saudi Arabia and the wider Middle East.

A key differentiator for TAKRAF Group is its ability to address the complete mining and minerals processing value chain rather than providing individual pieces of equipment. Through the combined strengths of TAKRAF and DELKOR, customers can access solutions spanning crushing, conveying and high-capacity bulk material handling through to flotation, thickening, filtration, water recovery and dry stack tailings management. This integrated approach can improve recovery and plant availability, increase water reuse, support reliable high-volume material handling and reduce execution risk while optimizing long-term operating and maintenance costs.

The growing emphasis on water recovery and responsible tailings management is particularly significant across the Middle East. As mining developments advance in increasingly water-constrained environments, technologies that maximize water reuse while supporting safe and sustainable operations are becoming essential. At the same time, demand continues to grow for efficient bulk material handling systems capable of supporting large-scale mining, processing and export operations.

Beyond mining, many of the engineering challenges associated with moving, storing and processing bulk materials are equally relevant to other industrial sectors. TAKRAF's experience in applications such as petroleum coke handling, sulfur storage and export systems, petrochemical material handling and oil sands crushing demonstrates how technologies originally developed for mining can support broader industrial value chains. These capabilities provide opportunities to contribute to the wider industrial and energy ecosystem that is evolving across the Middle East.

As investment across mining, processing and industrial infrastructure continues to accelerate, TAKRAF Group remains committed to supporting customers with high-capacity bulk material handling systems, integrated minerals processing solutions, water recovery and tailings technologies and proven project execution expertise. The broader Tenova group extends these capabilities into hydrometallurgy, downstream metals technologies and decarbonization, enabling engagement across a wider portion of the industrial value chain while supporting the region's long-term economic ambitions.

For more information on TAKRAF Group visit www.takraf.com or be in touch at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

For Mining with Meaning.

Amin. H. Nasser, president and CEO of Aramco. (Image source: Aramco)

At the Energy Intelligence Forum in London, where energy security and energy resilience was at the top of the agenda, Aramco’s CEO Amin H. Nasser underlined the critical importance of Middle East oil and gas supplies, the need for deeper resilience, and why energy resilience and energy security should be a shared responsibility between producers and consumers

The disruption to flows through the Strait of Hormuz has exposed how deeply energy security, economic security, and geopolitical events are connected, Nasser commented.

He noted that at the beginning of the crisis there were almost 10bn barrels of global oil stocks, since when nearly 3bn barrels of gross oil supply has been lost – around half the crude and products that would normally have moved through the Strait of Hormuz over the same period.

“Existing buffers have cushioned the blow and bought time, but they are finite. And while the squeeze on crude is serious, refined fuel prices have risen even more sharply.

“Emergency reserves might buy us a winter. They cannot fix long-term supply.

“Until Hormuz fully re-opens and confidence returns, the crude reality is that pressure at both ends of the barrel will intensify.”

Replenishing inventories while meeting demand could take up to two years, he added. The supply resilience cushion is “scarily thin.”

“The world has been reminded that no energy source, route, or system is risk-free. This crisis has raised the risk baseline. And that higher risk must be matched by deeper resilience, built across multiple layers.”

Deeper resilience

This is exemplified in Aramco’s resilience approach, which includes separating critical facilities; building in backup equipment; planning for maintenance; emergency command and firefighting excellence; rapid damage assessment; restoring damaged infrastructure at pace and investing in its people.

Reducing dependence on chokepoints is also important. Aramco is studying additional routes for crude exports, while exploring more overseas storage to help cover short-term disruptions.

Emphasising the critical importance of Middle East oil and gas supplies, Nasser highlighted the need to re-assess oil policies to ensure they remain aligned with the strategic goal of long-term energy security.

“Because energy security and resilience is a shared responsibility between producers and consumers,” he stressed. “This crisis is much more than an energy supply shock in Hormuz,” he added, citing the attacks on facilities and shipping.

“The international community must stand together to safeguard the free flow of energy and goods.”

Oil and gas infrastructure is a “collective necessity for producers and consumers alike,” he said, urging collaboration to minimise and adapt to shocks.

“We can collaborate on emergency response; better supply planning; refinery and petrochemicals flexibility; joint stockpiling; and long-term relationships. And stronger finances, supply chains, and cybersecurity are a must. “

Nasser concluded with a plea to “end the era of cyclical under-investment”, highlighting the integral importance of resilience.

“This crisis has finally exposed the false choice between energy security, affordability and sustainability.

“They are inseparable, and the future energy system must be built on all three. Middle East oil and gas remain central to that system for decades to come. Strengthening the resilience of these vital supplies is therefore a global strategic necessity."

Kuwait is developing its offshore discoveries. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) is pushing ahead with its strategic expansion plans undeterred despite the crisis in the Middle East, its deputy chairman and CEO Shaikh Nawaf S.Al-Sabah assured delegates at the Energy Intelligence Forum in London

"We have not stopped, slowed down or even thought again about any of our strategic plans," Shaikh Al-Sabah said, confirming that KPC remains on track to deliver its target of increasing production capacity to 4mn bpd by 2035, and to increase domestic gas production to 2mn scf/d by 2040.

“We’re investing US$9-10bn a year in capex to reach those two targets; we’ll continue to make these investments and grow internationally throughout this process,” he said. “We are doing this because we recognise that it is our hydrocarbons that will be most in demand a decade from now, and two decades from now, in fact for the rest of our lifetimes.”

He added that the two major projects announced just before the beginning of hostilities are also going ahead as planned. Project Peregrine, which involves the lease and leaseback of existing pipelines in Kuwait, will finance future growth. Investors remain fully committed to the project, he said, and definitive agreements were signed in July.

“We were able to execute on time, on target with valuations that were higher than we expected before the war started, and at a cost less that any preceding transaction in the region of a similar scope, so we ended up with US$7.85bn in new foreign investment in the pipeline network.” This was because investors from around the world recognised the resilience in Kuwait and took a long-term view, he said.

The other project announced is Project Seef, which will develop three massive offshore discoveries made over the past two years, together containing over 3bn bbl of oil in recoverable reserves. Noting that all Kuwait’s production to date has been onshore, he pointed out that this achievement in getting a 100% exploration success, given that three wells drilled had resulted in three major discoveries. Subsequent wells have been drilled with further discoveries made, which have not yet been officially announced.

“We are asking international oil companies to partner with us to develop those resources under an operating services contract. So we’re moving ahead according to the exact same schedule that we had put together even before the war began.

“It is that type of resilience that really reflects how Kuwait and KPC are looking at this crisis and planning for the future,” he said.

Proving resilient

Discussing the company’s resilience, Shaikh Al-Sabah drew parallels with the destruction of Kuwait’s oilfields at the time of the Iraqi invasion and occupation of Kuwait in 1991, when it had been able to bring production back relatively quickly because of the resilience of its people and its reservoirs, as well as the strength of its international partnerships. Kuwait and its GCC neighbours had demonstrated resilience in the face of the current attacks by planning in advance for such a scenario.

However, he said that while storage buffers and alternative pipeline routes that had been put in place had contributed to this resilience, these buffers are evaporating and “none of these is a replacement for free navigation to the Strait of Hormuz …ultimately the resilience of the international system can only hold up for so long.”

Kuwait had responded to the crisis by slowly reducing production from 2.6mn bpd to a level sufficient to serve Kuwait’s domestic demands, when it was unable to export, and then when it had been able to restart exports by using its own internal tanker fleet, building production back up again to current level of around 2mn bpd.

“We have the capacity to go back up to our current maximum sustainable capacity of 3mn bpd, if we have the export routes available, and this comes down to the ability to move oil through the Strait,” Al-Sabah said. “We have been doing that by using our strategic tanker fleet.” He acknowledged the contribution of Kuwait’s customers, who had brought their own tankers in to support Kuwait’s operations.

Al Sabah noted that while there is an abundance of crude, there is a shortage of product, as there is no way to transport it from refineries, except through shipping, which is heavily restricted. Distillate prices are sky high, as are refinery margins. What is needed in the future is to move product out of the Gulf to get refineries to full production. Kuwait is cooperating with its neighbours on transport options. KPC is also leveraging its investments in refineries outside Kuwait and shipping as much crude as it can to those refineries, growing associated storage to make them even more resilient against any future. It is also building out its storage capacity in Kuwait itself.

“We have to be completely self-reliant,” Shaikh Al-Sabah said.

Echoing the remarks of Aramco CEO Amin H Nasser earlier, he urged an international response to the crisis, bringing producers and consumers together. “This isn’t a crisis that can be borne only by the producers, that we have to build more pipelines. The response has to be inclusive of consuming countries as well.”