VALLOUREC 
At its site in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, Vallourec has unveiled its new Tubular Management Services (TMS) Yard, solely serving customer Saudi Aramco. Vallourec's Mohammed Alissa, Hani Alburayh and Stephane Tchoundjeu discuss the project's background, its many benefits, and the strong partnership it signifies.
Vallourec's newly inaugurated TMS yard is the latest milestone in a partnership with Saudi Aramco that was solidified in 2022 with a 10-year agreement between the two groups. The agreement, chiefly for the supply of casing and tubing and services, covers part of Saudi Aramco's needs for Premium OCTG (Oil Country Tubular Goods) solutions for its drilling operations.
The new pipe management yard is located within the confines of the larger Vallourec Saudi Arabia site and encompasses 38,000m2, including a new inspection facility of 848m2. Inaugurated in 2014, Vallourec Saudi Arabia provides heat treatment, non-destructive testing and VAM® threading.
Vallourec's TMS offer provides operators worldwide with logistical resources for storing, maintaining and transporting tubular products to OCTG operations to ensure best possible field execution. The TMS yard in Dammam is no exception. The state-of-the-art site stores recently finished pipes, inspects them and ensures they are delivered to Aramco whenever and wherever they are needed.
Mohammed Alissa, Saudi Arabia Sales Manager, reflects on the yard's rapid development. "We've been simultaneously producing pipes for Aramco and constructing the yard," he says. "Within one year, we've brought this project to fruition." More than an asset for the increased efficiency and reliability of Aramco operations, the TMS yard also underscores Vallourec's strong presence in the Middle East.
By providing better efficiency while reducing delays and costs, the TMS yard optimizes complex operations and ensures reliability of tubulars from yard to rig.
The yard is a good step for Vallourec to improve the quality of products that we provide to Aramco. We're adding value to the methods for maintaining tubular products and yard management.
The creation of the yard was a joint effort, with a great deal of contributions coming from local talent.
Aramco places a lot of value on localization, so the majority of the project was done by local people from beginning to conclusion. The core team running the yard are all Saudi nationals.
This local integration aligns with Saudi Aramco's In-Kingdom Total Value Add (IKTVA) program aimed at boosting local production in Saudi Arabia. Vallourec's adherence to IKTVA demonstrates both groups' joint commitment to the regional community.
The rapid development of this yard is also due in part to the guidance of colleagues from the Vallourec Tubular Services Abu Dhabi (VTSA) yard built in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), for Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). "We worked closely with the ADNOC team, drawing from their experience to implement best practices in the layout and inspection of the building," Stephane says. "As they started construction of the VTSA facility ahead of us, we weren't starting from scratch."
Preparations are underway for a plan to implement a "one-stop-shop" concept at Vallourec's TMS site in Dammam to maximize the usage of used and workover pipes. This initiative aims to establish a circular economy in which pipes are refurbished or recycled.
For this repurposing process, technicians based in Saudi Arabia would meticulously inspect and repair used pipes on site. They would then dispatch them directly to Aramco's rigs, with VAM® Field Service (VFS) supervision for running. This sustainable approach will not only extend the lifecycle of pipes but significantly reduce waste. This pipe refurbishment service can be extended in neighboring countries such as Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman.
The inauguration of the yard in Dammam in early March was a momentous occasion, attended by Vallourec's CEO, Executive Committee and the entire project team. This ceremony solidified Vallourec's ambitions to heighten its service offerings to Saudi Aramco beyond the manufacture.
"Our ambition now is to broaden the scope of our contract with Aramco so it mirrors our comprehensive service model for ADNOC in Abu Dhabi," Stephane says. "We want to provide additional services like rig prep and return, assembly make-up, bar coding of pipes, and pipe repurposing, alongside with our VAM® Field Service."
TMS is a flexible solution, tailored to our customers' needs, and it can easily evolve with our customer's projects.
The new facility demonstrates Vallourec's ability to manage the entire lifecycle of pipes, from production to the well, offering Aramco unparalleled control and confidence in its operations. This commitment to extend Vallourec's partnership with Aramco into new areas of service highlights a shared vision for efficiency and innovation.
Vallourec is excited to enhance the services provided to Saudi Aramco and provide greater offerings in the future. "There are so many things that can be done," Mohammed says. "We've started with stock management but now are expanding to different services for Aramco. We're on the right path."
Possibilities extend beyond the Aramco partnership, as Vallourec is able to build TMS yards wherever customers need, close to their operations anywhere in the world.
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Vallourec SA published this content on 22 April 2024 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 22 April 2024 12:57:08 UTC.
