Emirates Holdings has been involved closely with Adnoc and its operating companies over the past 20 years, either as partners with well-known international EPC contractors, or as suppliers of materials and equipment, or as subcontractors.

The firm has rapidly expanded from its base in Abu Dhabi to become one of the largest holding companies in the UAE with flourishing interests across a spectrum of industries.

Within the group there are five core business units, namely energy and industry, engineering and contracting, technology and telecommunications, healthcare and medical and food and consumer goods

Under the management of its chairman, Hussain AlNowais, and in association with its principals and partners, the group claims to have made a significant contribution to and benefited from the fast-paced development of the UAE.

"For instance, there is Borouge's ethylene and polyethylene plants; Gasco's reinjection plant at Asab; Adgas' LNG train 3; Takreer's Ruwais Refinery plant and Adco's head office building - just some of the projects in which we have been involved," says the chairman.

"We have just completed a $400 million project with Borouge, along with our partners Tecnimont as EPC Contractors, with Descon as sub contractors for mechanical works and our subsidiary, OTC, for the painting and corrosion protection control work" he says.

The inspiration at the heart of Emirates Holdings' achievement has been a commitment to a corporate philosophy, "partners for success".

By extending this principal to its customers, the group enjoys a leadership position in the oil and gas sector.

Each unit operates independently, drawing up its own expansion plans and financial forecasts.

This decentralised approach encourages a flexible response to different markets while allowing each unit to benefit from the synergy and accumulated expertise of the group as a whole.

Emirates Holdings has strategically placed itself in other areas of the Gulf and has operational offices in Oman and Qatar.

As the group continues on its growth path, it remains focused on increasing its value added services through either local manufacturing, local assembly and after sales services.

The Energy and Industry business unit serves areas that include oilfield supplies and services, which provides a single point source for equipment, materials and services required for petrochemical, oil and gas installations.

Key products include compressors, boilers, pumps, generators, ejectors, process filtration, furnaces, incinerators, tower internals, heat exchangers, pressure vessels, cranes, loading arms, fittings valves and pipes.

Offshore and Marine Services provides underwater marine services including pipeline and structural surveys and inspection, subsea construction and maintenance, utilising ROVs (remote operated vehicles).

Industrial Control and Automation deals with neutral networks, expert systems, advanced processed control, simulation, TMR ESD and fire and gas systems, SCADA systems, real time data base, data reconciliation and mass balance systems.

Electrical and mechanical equipment involves the supply of cables, switchgears, transformers, motors and uninterrupted power supplies (UPS).

Steel fabrication provides both design and fabrication of structures, vessels, ducting, pipe work and general engineering services to international standards

Inspection and non destructive testing and cathodic protection offers a full range of inspection services, including plant and welding inspection, quality assurance and integrity management, computer aided inspection and reporting systems.

Additional services include NDT services, industrial and pipeline ideography, ultrasound flaw detection, eddy current crack detection, magnetic particle and dye penetrant inspection.