A year on from our last conversation, we discuss the Kuwaiti oil & gas giant’s plans to broaden its horizons in 2018 and beyond.
PURSUING AN UPWARD TRAJECTORY
“When asked about SPETCO, I always like to emphasise the qualities that we hold as a Company,” says CEO Tareq Qaddumi. “We try, wherever possible, to ensure that we maintain the highest of standards, and I stress to my project managers out in the field to be perceptive of our clients, of our staff and of local communities.”
Having spoken to Europe & Middle East Outlook a year ago almost to the day, SPETCO has achieved success that the Company itself had not even anticipated in the 12 months since.
Having remained true to its core values and expanded upon its reputation as a high-quality vendor, the Kuwait-based oil & gas specialist’s ambitious nature has paid dividends, reflected by its latest core growth statistics.
“We have seen our overall revenues grow by 64 percent in the last year, whilst the number of employees at the Company is also up by 12 percent. In terms of our geographical footprints, we have now established branches in Abu Dhabi and Erbil, with the vision that these will contribute substantially to SPETCO’s overall growth plan.”
SURPASSING EXPECTATIONS
Much of this success has been manifested in SPETCO’s major projects, namely through the engineering, procurement and field installation of sucker rod pumping systems on 270 wells for the Company’s leading client, Kuwait Oil Company (KOC).
“We were able to install all of them before the deadline,” Qaddumi highlights. “The sucker rod artificial lift system was the first of its kind to be tendered by KOC, and our major increase in revenue has been directly linked to this project.”
Meanwhile, the firm’s work throughout the previous year has now placed it on sound footing to complete the KOC’s new Jurassic Production Facility (JPF) which produces up to 40,000 barrels per day, SPETCO is playing a major role in one of the JPF’s development.
ENABLING BETTERMENT
Whilst the completion of this facility will remain firmly on SPETCO’s agenda over the coming months, with the five-year operations & maintenance contract set to begin following this, the Company and Qaddumi himself have major plans in the aim of enabling the firm’s progression moving forward, particularly regarding its continual relationship with KOC.
“There’s three major projects that we plan to bid for; the upcoming KOC tenders for the new gas sweetening facility, and two JPFs, all of which we’re really keen on,” Qaddumi states.
Moreover, in the aim of tapping into the increasing demand for gas within the Kuwait market, SPETCO is also currently expanding its own existing gas sweetening facility.
Qaddumi explains: “This is not a client’s facility, we own the whole project, and because of the rising demand we have been asked to upgrade it – something that we’re in the process of doing and are very excited about. Effectively, we’re raising the plant’s capacity from 60 million cubic feet to 100 million cubic feet.”
These latest targets largely reflect the Company’s long term aims of becoming more broadly established across the regional oil & gas industry.
Whilst SPETCO is renowned as the most significant player in Kuwait’s production well testing services industry, currently holding the highest market share of any company, Qaddumi hopes to diversify the brand moving forward.
“We want to focus more on our production facilities division and establish ourselves as a company that isn’t only referred to as an oil field services provider, but one that is considered an expert throughout the midstream segment.”
A FORMULA TO SUCCEED
SPETCO can rightfully have full confidence in achieving this with an adaptive culture and willingness to identify key industries trends in the aim of staying ahead of the curve.
“With KOC as our main client, we readily look at their strategy and retain the flexibility to align ourselves to this where possible. For example, they’re looking to produce a lot of heavy oil and are exploring the use of technology within this – something that we’re very interested in.”
Technology and innovation are part and parcel of the oil & gas industry in the modern day, evidently recognised by SPETCO in its work with several technology providers they have signed agency agreements with.
Further, SPETCO is continually updating its internal ERP system, something that Qaddumi feels is fundamental to bolstering the firm’s administrative operations.
Through a sound outlook on industry trends, key relationships and leading expertise, SPETCO looks set to continue to excel in the coming months.
“We are confident that we will be successful in obtaining more contracts and projects to reiterate our steady growth and enhance our reputation as one of the best and top local oil & gas services companies in the region,” Qaddumi concludes.
