Well positioned to navigate through unpredictable market situations and with a relentless drive for sustainable growth, TAQA's  resilience has driven continuous improvement in the way it operates

The Industrialization and Energy Services Company (TAQA) is a cornerstone of Saudi Arabia’s industrial growth and economic success and will continue to play an essential role in its future development.

The company is actively pursuing and deploying the latest technologies and manufacturing practices in the oilfield services and products market, to deliver the best and most advanced solutions to its customers.

In an interview with OGN, TAQA CEO, Khalid Nouh says: 'The oilfield services industry is growing, and TAQA is strategically placed to create value for our customers by strengthening the position and growth of our existing businesses and expanding into higher-tier services and new markets. As a company, we are focused on providing differentiated, best-in-class client services, adhering to global safety standards and using the latest technologies.'

He adds: 'As the last year has shown, TAQA is well positioned to continue navigating the shifting waters of the unpredictable market situation and our resourcefulness and resilience has driven continuous improvement in the way we operate as well as a relentless drive for sustainable growth.'

TAQA is committed to instilling a culture of continuous improvement at its facilities

Established in 2003, TAQA is collectively owned by the Kingdom’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and a host of prominent Saudi joint-stock companies and institutional investors. The company has a rich portfolio of wholly-owned companies, subsidiaries and affiliates that were established in joint ventures with global leaders across several oilfield equipment and services markets.

These joint ventures focus on the core businesses of contract drilling, geophysical mapping and oilfield services and equipment (OFSE) and include the following companies:

• Arabian Drilling Company (ADC): With over 55 years of operational experience and a history of excellent performance, ADC has delivered high safety and efficiency gains to the drilling process in Saudi Arabia. The company offers a comprehensive fleet of onshore and offshore rigs, including 38 medium- to ultra-heavy onshore rigs designed to work in harsh climatic conditions and environments, capable of handling the most challenging drilling programs. In addition, ADC has a fleet of seven offshore rigs, including heavy-duty jack-ups outfitted with high specification equipment capable of drilling to depths exceeding 20,000 ft.

• Arabian Geophysical and Surveying Company (ARGAS): ARGAS’s data acquisition capabilities cover land, transition zone, shallow marine, and ocean bottom applications. The company operates four Land 3D crews and one OBS offshore crew, which combined have acquired over 50,000 sq km of seismic data in the Kingdom alone. ARGAS deploys state-of-the-art technology in geophysical data acquisition, processing and reservoir analysis services. Their equipment provides optimal productivity, reduced downtime, low power consumption and reduced equipment weight.

Meanwhile, TAQA’s wholly owned companies include:

• Cougar Drilling Solutions: Since 1969, Cougar Drilling Solutions has been designing, manufacturing, and delivering downhole drilling tools, services and solutions to oil companies worldwide. It has decades of experience in the direct management of complex drilling projects, from exploration to development drilling in oil, gas and geothermal. Cougar Drilling Solutions delivers innovative solutions both onshore and offshore, spanning North America, South America, Europe, Australia, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

• AZR Technologies: Established in 2015, AZR is a local electric wireline well logging company delivering petrophysical, reservoir and geological data critical to well performance and reservoir evaluation in both rig and rig-less operations. The company offers bundled wireline services and coiled tubing conveyance for well diagnostics, repair, and remediation solutions. AZR is equipped with cutting edge technology tools to provide necessary services to customers throughout the Kingdom.

• TAQA OFSE: The company’s state-of-the-art headquarters in the second industrial city in Dammam is the heart of its operations. TAQA OFSE aims to deliver the highest performance throughout the life of oil and gas wells and aspires to maintain a leadership position in the market for drilling, completions, stimulation, intervention, remediation, and the decommissioning of oil and gas wells. TAQA OFSE comprises four groups:

Well Construction and Evaluation (WCE): This group delivers all oilfield services involved in well construction and evaluation, including well integrity. WCE focuses on the life of a well from spudding until the last casing string is successfully cemented.

Well Intervention and Stimulation (WIS): This group delivers all well intervention and stimulation services after the last casing string is cemented, including perforations, slick line, coiled tubing, hydraulic fracturing and stimulation chemicals.

Well Completions and Manufacturing (WCM): This group focuses on strengthening TAQA OFSE’s differentiation by building the well completions portfolio and establishing manufacturing capabilities of completions tools in Saudi Arabia.

Well Engineering and Geoscience (WEG): This group comprises subject matter experts covering all well-focused domains and addressing all technical challenges faced by customers. WEG works closely with customers to deliver value through their knowledge, expertise, and technical capabilities.

TECHNICAL & TRAINING FACILITIES

TAQA’s new base includes a 620 sq m laboratory; the biggest cement lab in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East. The operations headquarters also hosts the training and development centre, a testament to TAQA’s commitment to empowering its human capital.

The centre houses classrooms capable of delivering 8,600 training days per year on operational, technical and soft skills, in addition to a wide range of QHSE courses. The latest and most potent coiled tubing simulators in the market are offered at the centre and can simulate real-life well site experience. TAQA has also introduced a custom-made cementing simulator, the first in the region, to simulate various types of operations and training on contingency plans and emergencies.

QHSE

Building an operationally-focused organisation cannot succeed without a robust quality, health, safety and environment (QHSE) business unit. The TAQA QHSE team is responsible for implementing international standards and at a minimum ensuring the company meets the requirements of regulators and customers.

TAQA is committed to instilling a culture of continuous improvement in this regard, ensuring all employees have a practical understanding of QHSE as an integral part of everyday business – ‘a way of life’.

To this end, the company recently launched a comprehensive active QHSE management system with integrated policies, business practices, and procedures. This management system enables all TAQA teams to work safely, consistently, and effectively in all geographies in which we operate, providing reliable, standardized processes.

INVESTING IN THE FUTURE

As a company, TAQA is focused on the future. It works hand in hand with its affiliates, subsidiaries, joint ventures and partners to improve its service quality, increase performance, save cost, develop our ESG capabilities and boost growth with new technologies to support its customer’s needs. It remains ever committed to maximising production at low recovery costs, doing so through the use of qualified, expert local talent and cutting-edge technology.

To this end, TAQA has invested heavily in its Product Development Center, which was established at the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) ecosystem to work closely with the university’s R&D facilities and Saudi Aramco departments using local resources to enable consistent improvements to our service offerings.

The centre’s primary objective is to support the rapid growth of TAQA by developing new chemical technologies and systems, which can be used in enhancing its customer’s production capabilities, thereby growing TAQA’s business. The aim is to grow the centre’s contributions to TAQA’s business, establishing it as an industry-recognised state-of-the-art innovation center and knowledge hub.