Hawiyah NGL Project Launched

An excavator goes to work on the Hawiyah Natural
Gas Liquids Project as ceremonies
kick off construction on the program.
Photograph by Stephen L. Brundage
(Saudi Aramco)

HAWIYAH, SAUDI ARABIA (November 30, 2005) - Another important step recently was taken in Saudi Arabia's industrialization drive with the beginning of construction of Saudi Aramco's Hawiyah Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) Project, which will add hundreds of thousands of barrels of petrochemical feedstock daily to the industrial cities of Jubail on the Arabian Gulf and Yanbu' on the Red Sea.

The massive construction project is a team effort of Saudi Aramco and contractors Snamprogetti, JGC, General Dynamics, Yokogawa, GE Nuevo Pignone and several in-Kingdom contractors, each of which has a piece of the petrochemical complex to complete.

Ali A. Al-Ajmi, vice president of Project Management; Saad A. Turaiki, executive director of Southern Area Gas Operations (SAGO); and several members of Project Management and SAGO were on hand for the Nov. 19 groundbreaking ceremonies and related festivities.

"These facilities are vital for supporting the energy flow, both to the Kingdom and the world," Al-Ajmi told the construction team. "We're counting on you to deliver these NGL facilities on or before schedule."

Ali A. Al-Ajmi cranks a wrench on the first steel structure being erected in the gas compression facility and pipe rack being built by Snamprogetti at Hawiyah. Helping him is project manager Faisal M. Al-Turki. Also in the photo are, from left, the Snamprogetti project manager, in orange hard hat; Mohammad A. Juwair, general manager of Southern Area Projects Management; Said A. Garwan,senior project engineer; and Mohammad S. Subhi, senior project manager.
Photograph Contributed by Saudi Aramco

At the ceremony, Al-Ajmi turned the first shovelful of earth on construction of the NGL facility being constructed by JGC.

Employees then traveled to the first steel structure being erected in the gas compression facility and pipe rack being built by Snamprogetti. There, Al-Ajmi and Turaiki used a large ratcheting wrench to tighten the bolts attaching a steel frame member to the concrete foundation.

Many employees took it as a sign of good fortune when the first rains of the season came after the ceremony.

Saudi Aramco and the contractors have erected temporary camps to house and cater to the thousands of workers who will remain on site during construction, which is expected to be finished early in 2008.

Saudi Aramco's Hawiyah NGL Dining Hall, capable of seating 600 people at one time, served as the venue for a luncheon at which Mohammed A. Hammad, manager of the Hawiyah NGL Recovery Projects Department, and Mohammed A. Said, manager of Hawiyah NGL plant operations, commended the team for its attention to quality and its adherence to the project schedules.

Saad A. Turaiki and the Hawiyah project manager from Japanese contractor JCC watch
as craftsmen weave meshlah, formal clothing worn for important occasions.
Photograph Contributed by Saudi Aramco

Leaders from the international contracting companies also expressed their appreciation to Project Management for their efforts to ensure that the many complex activities required in the NGL project are executed with watch-like precision.

In the evening, a special recreation area atop a jebel was the venue for a night of celebration. Saudi Aramco and contractor employees from around the world shared the cultural experience and watched craftsmen make sandals, pottery, jewelry and a variety of other items rich with the history of the Arabian Peninsula.

(Article by Stephen L. Brundage)