THE world’s largest LNG producing company, Qatargas, has awarded pipeline engineering company Stats Group a multi-million-pound 10 year contract to provide remote pipeline isolation equipment.

Stats will design, manufacture, test and supply a new range of high-integrity Remote Tecno Plugs for 32”, 34” and 38” pipelines which will become part of Qatargas’ Emergency Pipeline Repair System (EPRS) for production facilities in the Arabian Gulf’s North Field, where gas and condensate is transferred by pipelines to Ras Laffan City for export.

This is Qatargas’ first project award to Stats and the company’s most significant win to date in the Middle East. The company is recruiting an extra 20 staff to support the Qatari project and other major pipeline isolation contracts which are already secured in 2012 and beyond.

The installation of the Remote Tecno Plugs will provide positive isolation at the required location and provide a safe environment to carry out quick and effective repair on subsea pipelines in the event of a damage incident.

The Aberdeen (Scotland)-based pipeline isolation and integrity specialist will also provide call-out services to maintain the equipment in a state of readiness as well as field personnel to assist in any required deployment of the system.

Stats Group CEO Pete Duguid said the Qatargas award would establish his company’s reputation as a global leader in EPRS development and implementation.

Duguid said: “To be awarded a contract of this magnitude underlines the confidence Qatargas has in Stats and our unique technologies and our ability to respond to all its pipeline integrity and repair issues.

Staub and Duguid examine a pipeline component

“This award puts us in a very strong position to take advantage of the emerging EPRS sector in the Middle East and gives us a platform to establish our credentials as a leader in this type of work on a global scale.”

Duguid added: “Qatar is investing billions of dollars in developing a world-class gas supply infrastructure and the operators are focused on providing the highest standards of integrity across their assets. We are pleased to be able to support Qatargas in establishing a benchmark for other global EPRS projects.” Last year the company appointed Vikas Shangari as business development manager for the Middle East, based in Doha. In addition to supporting the Qatargas project, Shangari will focus on expanding the Stats brand and technologies in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and across the Gulf States.

In April former Expro chairman Graeme Coutts joined Stats as a non-executive director, while former Petrofac Training Services managing director, Leigh Howarth, joined the board as chief financial officer.

Stats Group, founded in Aberdeen in 1998, is a specialist engineering company and service provider that operates predominantly in the arena of piping and pipeline integrity and maintenance and supplies a comprehensive range of products and services, which enable piping and pipeline isolation, intervention, inspection, repair, connection, and testing work scopes.

“The majority of our works are undertaken on mature assets, typically process piping onboard offshore facilities (fixed and floating). We also supply products and services for infield and trunk pipelines both onshore and subsea, as well as onshore processing and distribution terminal facilities,” a company spokesman said.

“Our key drivers of providing innovation, value and rapid response, has cemented our reputation in the UK-North Sea and other oil producing regions for always exceeding client expectations. Every product in the Stats portfolio is designed, manufactured, assembled and tested by our own in-house engineers and technicians.”

In 2009 Stats Group invested £5 million ($7.8 million) in a new headquarters at Kintore near Aberdeen, which includes 40,000 sq ft of workshops, storage and testing facilities.

In February 2012, Business Growth Fund (BGF) invested £7.8 million in Stats Group. BGF was established to help the UK’s fast-growing smaller and medium-sized businesses and is an independent company with capital of up to £2.5 billion, backed by five of the UK’s main banking groups – Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, RBS, and Standard Chartered. BGF is managed completely autonomously with an independent management team.