Saipem leaves KL and merges in Middle East

摘要

ITALIAN offshore and onshore contracting giant Saipem has closed its Malaysia office in Kuala Lumpur and is scaling back its support facilities in Indonesia after failing to secure significant contracts in South-East Asia over the past five years. Many Indonesian field development projects on Saipem's hit-list to date have failed to get beyond the drawing board in the wake of the two most recent oil price crashes and fallout from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. It is understood the contractor will retain its fabrication facility on the Indonesian island of Karimun, some 30 kilometres from Singapore, although its Jakarta office will operate as a smaller satellite office of its new APAC and Middle East base in Abu Dhabi. Several sources with direct knowledge of Saipem's reorganisation told Upstream of the closure of the Kuala Lumpur office, adding that the company is also moving out of Sharjah and consolidating its Middle East-based staff in Abu Dhabi.