Hyundai E&C secures $2.7 bil. order from Saudi Arabia

Hyundai E&C Executive Vice President of Plant Division Lee Won-woo, left, shakes hands with Saudi Aramco Vice President of Project Management Fahad E. Al-Helal after signing a contract for the Marjan incremental development project at Saudi Aramco's headquarters in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday. / Courtesy of Hyundai E&C

By Kwak Yeon-soo

Hyundai Engineering & Construction won a 3.2 trillion won ($2.7 billion) order to build gas and crude oil-processing facilities in Saudi Arabia, the company said Wednesday.

Hyundai E&C said it signed a deal with Saudi Aramco, the world's largest oil producer, for two major packages of an oil field incremental development project in Marjan, northeast Saudi Arabia.

According to the company, the 1.72 trillion won Package 6 requires it to expand an existing gas-oil separation facility.

Under the Package 12 deal, which is worth 1.45 trillion won, Hyundai E&C will build facilities for an onshore plant. The company expects each construction project to take 41 months.

Hyundai E&C said its construction record in Saudi Arabia helped the company secure the latest deal.

The builder previously secured an order from Saudi Aramco to build a gas treatment plant worth $700 million in Uthmaniyah in 2016. It also built a Karan gas treatment plant worth $1.2 billion in 2012 and another one in Khurais worth $700 million in 2009.

So far, the builder has won 156 construction projects worth $17 billion in Saudi Arabia. Since 1975, Hyundai E&C has built various facilities, including refinery plants, in the Middle Eastern nation.

With the latest deal, Hyundai E&C said it aims to secure more orders in Saudi Arabia.

“We were able to secure the deal by building trust with Aramco regarding our technology, quality and process of building a gas treatment plant in Uthmaniyah,” a Hyundai E&C official said.

“Along with renovating the National Museum of Qatar and completing the Sheikh Jaber Causeway in Kuwait, we hope to contribute to the construction industry.”

Hyundai E&C hopes such orders can improve its earnings. The company had an operating profit of 205.2 billion won in the first quarter of this year, up 6 percent from a year ago, with sales reaching 3.9 trillion won.