WEIR Arabian Metals Company (Amco Weir) is an engineering and general machining subsidiary of the Saudi-based Olayan Group and UK-based Weir Group. The joint venture company is a key service provider to the oil field industry.

The company was established in 1977, primarily to serve the oil field industry in the eastern region of Saudi Arabia from its base in Dammam. During the initial 28-year period that Amco operated, it provided engineering and general machining services to oil field operators and service companies, specialising in the repair and re-certification of drilling components.

The joint venture (JV) was formed in order to strengthen the local manufacturing capabilities in the kingdom and to bring world-class technology to the country and it has been very successful. Weir brings over 140 years of international industrial engineering experience and proven methodology to the JV.

The company has an excellent reputation for quality and service; Amco Weir is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and 365 days a year, and is a pre-eminent vendor and service support organisation for the oil and gas industry.

The company’s main client, in terms of oil production and oil field operation, is Saudi Aramco, with which it has an ongoing service contract.  Amco Weir also counts the leading oil field services companies among its  customers such as Halliburton, Schlumberger and Baker Hughes, as well as drilling companies including Nabors, Arabian Drilling Company (ADC), Saipem and Transocean. In addition,  Amco Weir works for SEC (Saudi Electricity Company) and Sabic. Amco Weir has invested heavily in machine tooling to support the requirements and demands of its customers.

Amco Weir is structured into four core product and service segments.

• Tubular equipment and accessories; valve, BOP and wellhead recertification: The tubular segment includes the inspection, repair and recertification of drill pipes, tubing, crossover subs and everything else that goes into a well. Within this segment, Amco Weir has licence agreements with several international companies such as Vallourec, Hunting, Nippon Steel, Tenaris Hydril and Grant Prideco for the repair of premium connections. These are specific and special threads that are machined onto the tubing, and Amco Weir is licensed to perform the recut and re-certification of these parts, so that they can go back into the field as soon as possible. Amco Weir also manufactures the accessories crossovers and pup joints locally in Saudi to API standards 5CT, 5 DP and 7-1.

• Repair and API accessories manufacturing: The valve and wellhead segment incorporates re-certifications of BOP’s and they are authorised to repair pressure control equipment for GE, Hydril and NOV Shaffer. Additionally Amco Weir repair, certify and manufacture flow and pressure control manifolds to API 16C specification. They also repair, re-certify and manufacture API 6A wellhead and Christmas tree equipment.

• Rotating equipment: The rotating equipment segment is a division that has been added into the overall services that it provides. It involves anything that has to do with repair, maintenance and upgrading of rotating equipment, be it centrifugal pumps or compressors, steam turbines, blowers or gearboxes. In the case of centrifugal pumps,Weir is well-known around the world for being one of the leading designers and manufacturers of rotating machinery.

• Spare parts manufacturing: Amco Weir gets involved in supplying customers with manufactured spare parts that are redesigned, and also re-engineers existing equipment.

The company is not only capable of manufacturing parts with a high degree of precision, but can also repair and fabricate components weighing up to 15 tonnes, thanks to its state-of-the-art facilities. As part of its long-term strategy to achieve growth and diversification, the company has recently more than doubled its size, and now operates from two adjacent sites with a combined area of 35,000 sq m. Amco Weir has the tooling resources for the products that they produce; testing facilities, with tests up to 30,000 psi; cladding and welding facilities, which allow it to perform re-certification, repair and maintenance of components.

“Amco Weir is a service company and carries out its business in a very dynamic, day-to-day basis, rather than a project basis,” says a company official. “Response, response, response is Amco Weir’s mantra as the customer does not need things done today, he needs them done yesterday.”