A strategic joint venture has been agreed between Bahrain-based solutions provider, OAK Utility Solutions and Development, and Haka Group in Saudi Arabia.  

 

The exclusive agreement is to lunch the new and ground-breaking Pipeline Rehabilitation Technology XHab, throughout the Middle East region, said a statement.

 

OAK is headquartered in Bahrain with offices in the UAE and Turkey. It is an international developer of clean-tech sustainable energy and water utilities and provider of specialist infrastructure service solutions to the oil and gas and petrochemical industries.  

 

OAK’s integrated business model is built around four core business lines - infrastructure service solutions; renewable energy utilities; project management and feasibility services; and operations and management services. 

 

Haka, headquartered in Saudi Arabia, is a conglomerate which was founded in 1967 by the Late Sheikh Hassan Abdul Karim Al Gahtani.  

 

The group commenced operations as a transportation and general trading company in Al Khobar, in the Eastern Province and in a relatively short time.

 

XHab is an innovative, patented technology for the external rehabilitation of pipelines. It can be used to rehabilitate long lengths of aging, dented or corroded pipelines and can be applied while the pipeline remains in operation.  

 

The rehabilitation process involves helically wrapping multiple layers of an Ultra-High Strength Steel (UHSS) strip over an existing pipeline, using a fully automated wrapping machine that can rehabilitate up to 1.0km of straight pipeline per day of on-shore and off-shore pipelines.

 

XHab adds steel back to the pipeline wall therefore reinforcing it and increasing its operating capability.

 

It is also a single solution for multiple types of anomaly repairs and can be used to reduce the hoop stress in an operating pipeline to meet class change requirements.

 

Abdul Muhssen Al Gahtani, president, Haka, said: “This is an extremely innovative game-changing technology which will have a positive impact in the region.  We consider the launch of XHab as being timely and already in high demand due to the uncertainty surrounding the global oil price index.  

 

“Regional owners and operators of major pipeline infrastructure are engaged in an uncertain economic climate and are more protective of capital budgets. XHab is therefore more than a problem solver in this regard, as XHab is a revolutionary technology which will rehabilitate and/or upgrade critical infrastructure whilst the pipelines are operating at a fraction of the cost of any replacement option.”

 

Gareth Brown, chief executive officer, said: “XHab will indeed present infrastructure owners and operators immediate savings to their capital budgets. We will be able mobilise the machine within days and commence the rehabilitation of up to one thousand linear meters per day of pipeline sections whilst the pipeline is operating.” - TradeArabia News Service