Having established itself as the largest supplier of oilfield-related equipment and services in Saudi Arabia Al Rushaid Group is now spearheading a SR300 million ($79 million) Oil and Gas Technology Centre (OTC) in the Eastern Province of the Kingdom.

Headquartered in Al Khobar, the firm is now the eleventh largest company in Saudi Arabia, employing more than 5,200 people worldwide.
Al Rushaid Group sees combined specialised services all going to the wellhead as the way forward, meeting operational demands for the oil majors and contractors in the field in terms of repairs, spare part services and drilling equipment, according to the company.
Such services are set to become increasingly important, not only in the petroleum sector but within the industrial sector as well, in the future.
The Group's latest investment strategy is the highly ambitious OTC on a prime 300,000 sq m site on the Abqaiq road, a few kilometres away from Saudi Aramco and the Eastern Province's second industrial city.
A new industrial city in its own right, the OTC is the first such oil and gas facility of its kind in the Middle East and includes full Internet provision, more than 500 phone lines and direct electrical supply from the national grid to power the manufacturing industries.
According to a company spokesman, up to 75 per cent of the business will come from the oil and gas sector, with the OTC facility set to play a major role in serving future hydrocarbon developments in the Kingdom.
With the increasing demand for energy, Saudi Arabia is looking for more non-associated natural gas to meet the feedstock requirements for desalination and power plants, petrochemical plants, and a new wave of world-scale plants and industrial projects.
OTC will also provide support to subcontractors and other petroleum industry players involved in developing freestanding gas reserves.
The exploration and development of these vast gas reserves is necessary and there will be an increasing need on a local basis for sophisticated manufacturing, service and repair facilities to meet upstream technological requirements.
OTC facilities will include repair and service workshops for recycling oil rig equipment, both locally and on site with significant cost savings for the petroleum sector. The facilities will have both manufacturing and repair services housed under one roof.
Eventually, the centre will house five of his leading joint ventures.
The Group has been instrumental in bringing many of the world's leading companies into the Kingdom, harnessing advanced technologies from many of the world's leading petroleum engineering companies and providing a diverse range of manufacturing and service-related joint ventures.
These 12 joint ventures include Cameron, Dresser Rand, Cooper Oil Tools, Foster Wheeler, Baker Hughes, Weatherford and Halliburton.
Since its foundation by Shaikh Abdullah Rashed Al Rushaid in 1978, the Group has built its reputation on providing unrivalled expertise in oil and gas development, with its industrial and commercial services focused around this core sector.
Significant expansion continues across all five sectors with increasing growth in the trading, industrial, engineering, investment and IT and satellite communication businesses.
Al Rushaid Group is now the leading shareholder in the international Foster Wheeler Group and Cleveland Bridge -  the engineering and structural steel company - is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Al Rushaid Group.