The engineering specialist Kentz Overseas has opened a new office in Dubai as part of a company strategy to strengthen its operations in Iraq.
The FTSE 250-listed company, which specialises in construction services for the oil and gas industry, said its office, located in the Gold Tower of the Jumeirah Lakes Towers complex, will have capacity for 100 engineers.
The news came as Kentz announced that its Dubai-based joint venture with fellow engineering firm Foster Wheeler had won a two- year contract from Shell to provide engineering, procurement and other services for the Majnoon oilfield in Iraq.
Kentz said that it had identified the Middle East as a key area of strategic focus through 2014 and beyond, with particular focus on growing its operations in Iraq.
The company, which employs 14,500 people across 36 countries, said in January that its subsidiary Kentz International Ireland plans to open a new branch in Doha, offering services in oil, gas, transportation and infrastructure.
Kentz, which already operates in the UAE through an office in Mohammed bin Zayed City in Abu Dhabi, also has offices in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Iraq.
“Kentz has been operating in the Middle East for over 35 years and is committed to sustaining an active presence in the region, where we have recently been successful in winning a number of contract awards,” said the general manager John Walsh.
“These include the ExxonMobil LES Project in West Qurna 1, Basra, Iraq and the Shell Majnoon oilfield project in partnership with Foster Wheeler, also in Iraq.”
In December Kentz launched a US$435 million takeover of the Houston-based gas handling company Valerus Field Solutions just three months after its FTSE 100 oil services construction rival Amec formally withdrew its own takeover bid, which valued Kentz at £700m (Dh4.27 billion).
“Kentz has a high growth track record and specialises in completing construction projects in challenging and remote operating environments,” said Alex Brooks, an analyst at Canaccord Genuity. “Because of the nature of its work, it has a very decentralised management and so it needs the infrastructure locally to support its operations. The Middle East is a growing part of Kentz business with new contracts such as this new one in Iraq, and so it is not surprising that the company is expanding in Dubai.”
lbarnard@thenational.ae
Follow us on Twitter @Ind_Insights
Rock in a Hard Place: Music and Mayhem in the Middle East
Orlando Crowcroft
Zed Books
Slow loris biog
From: Lonely Loris is a Sunda slow loris, one of nine species of the animal native to Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore
Status: Critically endangered, and listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature red list due to growing demand in the global exotic pet trade. It is one of the most popular primate species found at Indonesian pet markets
Likes: Sleeping, which they do for up to 18 hours a day. When they are awake, they like to eat fruit, insects, small birds and reptiles and some types of vegetation
Dislikes: Sunlight. Being a nocturnal animal, the slow loris wakes around sunset and is active throughout the night
Superpowers: His dangerous elbows. The slow loris’s doe eyes may make it look cute, but it is also deadly. The only known venomous primate, it hisses and clasps its paws and can produce a venom from its elbow that can cause anaphylactic shock and even death in humans
The major Hashd factions linked to Iran:
Badr Organisation: Seen as the most militarily capable faction in the Hashd. Iraqi Shiite exiles opposed to Saddam Hussein set up the group in Tehran in the early 1980s as the Badr Corps under the supervision of the Iran Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The militia exalts Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei but intermittently cooperated with the US military.
Saraya Al Salam (Peace Brigade): Comprised of former members of the officially defunct Mahdi Army, a militia that was commanded by Iraqi cleric Moqtada Al Sadr and fought US and Iraqi government and other forces between 2004 and 2008. As part of a political overhaul aimed as casting Mr Al Sadr as a more nationalist and less sectarian figure, the cleric formed Saraya Al Salam in 2014. The group’s relations with Iran has been volatile.
Kataeb Hezbollah: The group, which is fighting on behalf of the Bashar Al Assad government in Syria, traces its origins to attacks on US forces in Iraq in 2004 and adopts a tough stance against Washington, calling the United States “the enemy of humanity”.
Asaeb Ahl Al Haq: An offshoot of the Mahdi Army active in Syria. Asaeb Ahl Al Haq’s leader Qais al Khazali was a student of Mr Al Moqtada’s late father Mohammed Sadeq Al Sadr, a prominent Shiite cleric who was killed during Saddam Hussein’s rule.
Harakat Hezbollah Al Nujaba: Formed in 2013 to fight alongside Mr Al Assad’s loyalists in Syria before joining the Hashd. The group is seen as among the most ideological and sectarian-driven Hashd militias in Syria and is the major recruiter of foreign fighters to Syria.
Saraya Al Khorasani: The ICRG formed Saraya Al Khorasani in the mid-1990s and the group is seen as the most ideologically attached to Iran among Tehran’s satellites in Iraq.
(Source: The Wilson Centre, the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation)
What vitamins do we know are beneficial for living in the UAE
Vitamin D: Highly relevant in the UAE due to limited sun exposure; supports bone health, immunity and mood.
Vitamin B12: Important for nerve health and energy production, especially for vegetarians, vegans and individuals with absorption issues.
Iron: Useful only when deficiency or anaemia is confirmed; helps reduce fatigue and support immunity.
Omega-3 (EPA/DHA): Supports heart health and reduces inflammation, especially for those who consume little fish.
