Reuters contributed to this article

Saudi Aramco signed a land lease agreement with McDermott Arabia Co. on March 26 to establish an engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (EPCI) facility in the King Salman International Complex for Maritime Industries in Ras Al-Khair, Saudi Arabia.

A joint press release said that Aramco signed the lease with McDermott Arabia, a subsidiary of McDermott International Inc., to establish a fabrication facility that will be used for large scale fabrication of offshore platforms and onshore/offshore modules.

Saudi Aramco senior vice president of technical services, Ahmad Al Sa'adi said the facility would serve as a major EPCI hub not only for the Kingdom, but for the GCC region.

The new facility in Ras Al Khair will be located near the Jubail Industrial City on the Kingdom’s east coast. It will cover an area of approximately 1,150,000 sq m (12,378,496 sq ft). At peak production, the facility will have a throughput capacity in excess of 60,000 metric tons per year.