Kentz awarded €38m Russian contract

Kentz, the Irish-founded engineering services group, has been awarded a $50m (€38.3m) support services contract with the Russian subsidiary of US oil and gas giant, ExxonMobil.

The deal will be conducted specifically through Kentz’s global technical support services division and it will be delivered via the group’s Russian joint venture, Kentz DEM LLC.

The contract is for various support services dealing with the shutting down of part of Exxon Neftegas’ development project on the island of Sakhalin on the far-eastern coast of Russia.

The contract will see Kentz DEM (Kentz’s Russian business entered into a joint venture alongside a Sakhalin-based engineering and construction services company, DalelectroMontazh (DEM)) providing personnel, equipment, transportation, procurement, and execution planning, as well as the management of contractor and sub-contractor resources.

“Globally, our technical support services business continues to grow and provide high quality, solution-driven services to core clients such as ExxonMobil,” said Michael Murphy, Kentz’s Technical Support Services chief operating officer.

The Exxon shutdown deal is scheduled to take place next July and will see workforce levels — totally provided by Kentz — peak at around 600 people.

The deal follows on from Kentz’s Technical Support Services unit being awarded, earlier this year, the shutdown contract for the Natref Oil Refinery in Sasolburg, South Africa — the largest shutdown of its kind in 20 years.

Last month, Kentz reported a 9.4% year-on-year increase in first half revenues to $703.7m and a 36%rise in pre-tax profits to $51.2m.