AOC Gathers Partners in Inspection
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Author: Juvie de Koning (Saudi Aramco News)
Released 18 April 2008
TOKYO, April 16, 2008 -- Aramco Overseas Co. B.V. (AOC) recently held its annual inspection agency meeting to discuss how to partner with inspection companies to face a growing work load.
“We have very challenging years ahead of us - in the next three to four years - not only for the projects but also for identifying new sources in the Asian Pacific region: Japan, China, India, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and everywhere,” AOC managing director Abdalhafidh M. Nagshabandi said in opening the meeting. He called for cooperation in identifying reputable manufacturers and sharing best practices.
AOC brings together its inspection partners over how to deal with an ever-increasing work load.
The mission to ensure the quality of materials to be installed in Saudi Aramco facilities has become more challenging. “Inspection management is envisioning the need to manage not only the quality but also the risk associated with procuring materials from the emerging markets with unexplored quality performance,” said AOC inspection supervisor Husam H. Sendi. “The meeting served as an excellent enabler to obtain inspection agencies’ input and experience on the potential risk areas and the measures other oil and gas companies and multinational corporations take to counter them.”
Saudi Aramco’s growing procurement and strategic-sourcing activities in the Asia Pacific region put extra pressure on finding high-quality inspectors in order to maintain zero- defect material standards.
Representatives from six inspection agencies participated in the meeting, and five inspectors from four agencies were recognized for their commitment to meeting Saudi Aramco’s requirements for top-quality materials from the Far East.
In 2007, the New Inspection Qualification program, recommended the previous year, examined 148 inspectors, of which 73 were qualified, including 31 new inspectors.
Saudi Aramco Inspection Department manager Nabil K. Al-Dabal, in closing, pointed out the importance of involving manufacturers in future meetings. “We want to make sure everybody is involved. Saudi Aramco made a commitment to the rest of the world that we will continue to be a reliable supply of energy,” he said. “That translates into a lot of commitment from us, the inspectors, EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) and manufacturers to maintain Saudi Aramco’s focus on quality. Manufacturers in the region are envisioned to play a key role in Saudi Aramco’s supply chain, and so there is even more emphasis on quality than before.”
(Article by Juvie de Koning)