Webuild unit wins $439m Saudi water contracts
Three-year project will create approximately 1,500 direct and indirect jobs and utilise world-leading plant technology
Fisia Italimpianti, a subsidiary of the Webuild Group, has won two contracts with a combined value of $439m, for the construction and management of a water treatment plant in the Zuluf onshore oil facility, Saudi Arabia.
A global leader in water treatment and desalination plants, Fisia Italimpianti said these contracts mark its entry into the oil and gas industry and its return to the operation and maintenance segment of the water sector.
The project strengthens Webuild’s position in the water industry, a field where it aims to grow market share, according to its recently announced 2023-2025 roadmap.
The first contract clinched by Fisia Italimpianti involves engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services worth $327 million.
The project scope includes the construction of a plant for the Zuluf Central Processing Facilities, which is required to support onshore structures, and is in fact part of the Arab Heavy Crude Oil Increment development programme being led by oil giant Aramco.
Located in eastern Saudi Arabia, 6 km west of the airport in Tanajib, it will be built for a consortium comprising of Almar Water Solutions and Aljomaih Energy and Water Co Ltd., on behalf of Aramco.
As per the contract, Fisia Italimpianti will build the plant that will treat, de-gas and filter water for iron and suspended solids at a maximum production capacity of 185,000 cu. m. per day.
The plant will reinject the water in the oil wells to facilitate the production of Arab Heavy crude oil by maintaining pressure in the wells. The project is expected to take three years to complete and create approximately 1,500 direct and indirect jobs.
For the second contract – worth $112 million – Fisia Italimpianti will be a joint-venture partner with Almar Water Solutions, Aljomaih Energy and Water Company and Aquatech International. It involves the operation and maintenance of the completed plant for 25 years.
Fisia Italimpianti has enjoyed a long history in the Middle East, where it has built desalination and water treatment plants in the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain. Across the globe, its plants provide potable water for more than 20 million people.
