At its site in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, Vallourec has unveiled its new Tubular Management Services (TMS) Yard, solely serving customer Saudi Aramco. Vallourec’s Mohammed Alissa, Hani Alburayh and Stephane Tchoundjeu discuss the project’s background, its many benefits, and the strong partnership it signifies.
Vallourec’s newly inaugurated TMS yard is the latest milestone in a partnership with Saudi Aramco that was solidified in 2022 with a 10-year agreement between the two groups. The agreement, chiefly for the supply of casing and tubing and services, covers part of Saudi Aramco’s needs for Premium OCTG (Oil Country Tubular Goods) solutions for its drilling operations.
The new pipe management yard is located within the confines of the larger Vallourec Saudi Arabia site and encompasses 38,000m2, including a new inspection facility of 848m2. Inaugurated in 2014, Vallourec Saudi Arabia provides heat treatment, non-destructive testing and VAM® threading.
Vallourec’s TMS offer provides operators worldwide with logistical resources for storing, maintaining and transporting tubular products to OCTG operations to ensure best possible field execution. The TMS yard in Dammam is no exception. The state-of-the-art site stores recently finished pipes, inspects them and ensures they are delivered to Aramco whenever and wherever they are needed.
Mohammed Alissa, Saudi Arabia Sales Manager, reflects on the yard’s rapid development. “We’ve been simultaneously producing pipes for Aramco and constructing the yard,” he says. “Within one year, we’ve brought this project to fruition.” More than an asset for the increased efficiency and reliability of Aramco operations, the TMS yard also underscores Vallourec’s strong presence in the Middle East.