A total of $11 billion worth of hydrocarbon contracts across 27 projects will be awarded in the UAE over the next 12 months – the same value of projects as 2013, a report has forecasted.

Following the boom that 2013 saw, the UAE hydrocarbons projects market shows signs of continued vibrancy this year, explained a report released by Meed projects, an online business development and market analysis tool.

This follows a four year cycle between 2009 and 2012 when 55 contracts with a value of $45 billion were awarded in 2009 and 2010 followed by two years when only 35 contracts worth $8 billion were awarded, the report said.

This reflected financial opportunism, as clients took advantage of the global economic crisis to negotiate hard and award a large amount of work upfront at prices advantageous to them. This year and last sees a return to stability and more normally distributed awards.

Meed Projects said that the majority of upcoming awards will be in the oil sector, followed gas, with the emirate of Abu Dhabi naturally being the most active in terms of awarding contracts.

The contractor landscape witnessed a major shift in 2013. In each of the years 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012, the ranking of contractors by value of contracts won was dominated by South Korean companies.

While two of the top 10 positions were held by South Koreans (Daewoo and Hyundai E&C), in the remaining 20 contracts, no South Korean company was represented. European and local companies, notably Petrofac of the UK (ranked 1) and National Petroleum Construction Company from Abu Dhabi (ranked 3), returned to favour, participating in 19 of 22 winning bids.

"The outlook for this year is positive with as much business scheduled for award as last year," said Julian Herbert, director of Meed Projects.

"European, Indian and local UAE contractors have begun to win market share, after three years of South Korean dominance. With a number of significant awards due this year such as ADCO’s North East Bab Field phase 3 and ADMA-OPCO’s Nasr Phase 2 development, it will be interesting to see if this pattern can be maintained.” – TradeArabia News Service