Sogec-CP, set up to cash in on the increasing demand for cathodic protection services in Saudi Arabia, has made significant inroads into the market, due to its creativity and choice of agencies.

01 February 2009

Thanks to an astute expansion plan, Saudi-based Specialised Oil and Gas Engineering Company (Sogec-CP) has seen remarkable growth over the past three years.

Having attained a leadership position in the Saudi market serving clients such as Saudi Aramco, Saudi Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) and the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, the Dammam-based company is now eyeing further diversification and broadening its horizons in the Gulf region.
Sogec-CP was set up purely to service the oil and gas industry. Driven by its initial success and eager to benefit from the resources of its giant parent company, the company soon charted its course of action for growth.
Tracing its origin and growth, sales and marketing manager for Sogec-CP Walid Rajab, elaborates: “The increasing demand for cathodic protection services in Saudi Arabia led the management of the Issam Khairi Kabbani (IKK) Group of companies and Kabbani Construction Group (KCG) to seriously consider establishing a company specialised in providing this type of services. Hence, Sogec-CP came into being in Dammam in 2001.”
In its early days, Sogec-CP concentrated on oil and gas projects involving pipelines, tanks and piping inside stations — a service it continues to provide to this day. Its scope of works ranges from consulting (site surveys and CP system design packages) to supply, installation, testing and commissioning of CP systems.
Over the next few years, the company made several inroads into the market.
“In early 2006, the company’s management decided to take advantage of the finance and manpower of IKK and KCG groups and set its eyes on expansion,” Rajab continues. “For the growth plan to work, Sogec-CP started to organise itself internally by recruiting fresh graduate engineers and establishing new departments such as sales, QA/QC (quality assurance and quality control). However, a major achievement was the ISO:9001-2000 certification, which proved that all projects were delivered with the highest quality and according to clients’ specifications, standards and procedures.”
Growth has continued and the expansion strategy has been pursued over the past two years with the acquisition of agencies for some of leading global suppliers and service providers of cathodic protection systems. This strategy has made it the only authorised Lida anode partner in Saudi Arabia – Lida is a part of Italian-based De Nora Group, which supplies mixed metal oxide (MMO) anodes.
Sogec-CP is also the sole agent of Ark Engineering, which is a leading US-based company specialising in AC interference and mitigation system analysis and design in the oil and gas field, he adds.
To ensure the success of its plan, Sogec-CP began chasing projects that require cathodic protection of concrete structures and has secured and successfully carried out a number of important projects throughout Saudi Arabia, from Jubail and Dammam to Shoaiba, Jeddah, Rabigh, Yanbu and Hail.
“One of the biggest projects won and executed in 2007 was project 072-C31R for the Royal Commission in the Jubail Industrial area, where Sogec-CP was the subcontractor of Al Harbi Trading and Contracting Company, to undertake cathodic protection of concrete structures (pump station and headworks) under a contract valued at approximately $4.3 million. This deal led to further extensions of the contract, worth $1 million from the client,” he says.
Highlighting the challenges of the project, Rajab says: “The project was of a strategic nature for Sogec-CP since CP activities for concrete had newly been introduced at the time. Besides the challenges involved in executing the project, the company had to meet a tight schedule. Having successful executed the project, Sogec-CP is confident of carrying out any other concrete protection project in the country.”
Another successful project that Sogec-CP executed in 2006 was Khurais water and oil wells, including flowlines and trunk lines, for Aramco. This project was awarded to Saudi Consolidated Engineering Company Khatib and Alami (SCECKA), which in turn awarded the cathodic protection consulting package to Sogec-CP as a subcontractor.
“The original $0.4 million contract for consulting services only, increased to $0.55 million after some CP activities were added to the scope of works,” he points out.
Commenting on the project, Rajab says: “The main challenge in this project was the time frame and complexity of the project in terms of the design of the cathodic protection system. However, Sogec-CP was able to deliver a successful project, thanks to the remarkable work done by its engineering department, which created and customised software and worksheets used in design calculations and simulations to overcome the complexities.”
“In fact, Aramco recognised Sogec-CP’s creativity by awarding it a symbolic bonus,” Rajab says with pride.
Last year, Sogec-CP was appointed subcontractor of Yuksel Insaat Saudia Company Limited, to undertake the cathodic protection of pipelines, tanks, pumping stations and terminals for EPWTS (Eastern Province Water Transmission System) for SWCC. The $3 million contract is scheduled for completion in mid-2010.
“After three years of implementing our expansion plan, we can say that Sogec-CP is a leader in the cathodic protection industry, having increases our market share through winning major cathodic protection projects in Saudi Arabia with clients such as Aramco, Royal Commission and SWCC.
“As for growth itself, the management’s outstanding plan has ensured that our results surpassed the targets set for 2006, 2007 and 2008 – which no doubt has also to be attributed to the booming market,” Rajab says.
Committed to being a pioneer in providing cathodic protection services, Sogec-CP now intends to provide cathodic protection services for offshore structures such as jetties, piles and platforms.
And that is not all. Sogec-CP is looking at new markets in the Gulf region, where branches will soon be opened in Qatar and the UAE.

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