SKEC Continues to Win Projects

Company celebrates 32nd anniversary and gets a string of project orders in Abu Dhabi and Singapore to build gas plants and subway lines

SK Engineering and Construction Co. celebrated the 32nd Anniversary Ceremony at the Education Room located in the 5th floor of SK Soonhwa Building on July 31.
In the ceremony, the vice-chairman, Yoon Suk-Kyong, as well as executives and team leaders of each department, the chairman of Economic Development Association and the chairman of Yeoulhoi Society were attended to celebrate the 32nd anniversary of SK’s foundation.
The main program of the anniversary ceremony was the prize reward for the long-service employee, the SUPEX reward, along with the 32nd anniversary ceremonial.
The reward was given to 10, 20, and 30-year long-service employees, and the SUPEX reward was granted to the department that has achieved ‘Excellent Project’, ‘Excellent Quality’ and ‘No Accident’, where the vice-chairman of SK E&C, Yoon Suk-Kyong awarded them the prize. SK Engineering and Construction Co. clinched from Abu Dhabi Company for Offshore Oil Operations a project to build three compressed gas plants for $820 million. President Choi Kwang-chol signed the contract with his counterpart at the Abu Dhabi oil company, Abdul Kindy, on June 13 at the oil company’s headquarters building in Abu Dhabi.
The project involves the construction of three gas compression plants in the Habshan region in Abu Dhabi, a turnkey project to be completed in 37 months. The plants will produce 6.4 million cubic meters of gas daily and pipe it to the refinery plant.
SK Construction officials said the project in Abu Dhabi is significant for their company as it is located in UAE, not in Kuwait, the traditional construction market for their company in the Middle East, strengthening the company’s global competitive power.
The company also won the 915 project district of the second stage construction of Down Town Line of MRT ordered by the Singapore Land Transport Authority on June 2. The project is worth 230 million Singapore dollars and has put the company in a good position to win additional stages of the main project. The 915 project district is designed to build an underground tunnel linking the Beauty World Station and the Hillview Station in the northwest area which is the second stage work on the Down Town Line of the Singapore Subway.
The company will build a double track tunnel with the tunnel boring machine method 2.3 km long, a launching shaft, 8 cross passages, among others, to be completed in April, 2013 before the completion of the entire project in July, 2015.
SK Construction has a excellent record for building railroad as it took part in the construction of KTX, high-speed rail in Korea, along with part of its support facilities and for subways. The company has accumulated tons of experience for the TBM method to build tunnels and underground water ways. The company also build underground oil storage facilities in Korea, getting valuable experience for tunnel and underground space construction.
In the meantime, SK Engineering and Construction Co. secured a construction project from Al Tamouh Investment Co. in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to build four buildings on Al Reem Island in Abu Dhabi on March 3 worth $373 million, the company announced March 5.
The four buildings to be used for residential, commercial and offices will be built on the C-13 block on the island with a total space of 17,646 square meters. They range from 31 storey to 51 storey high targeted to be completed in 2011, the company said.
SK Construction has been able to strengthen its overseas project portfolio by adding the building construction project to plant and other construction projects. The company secured an undersea tunnel construction project in Turkey on turnkey basis, and an hydro power dam project in Laos last year to diversify its overseas construction project portfolio. The company has overseas projects in variety of construction projects in such areas as plant, civil and construction, becoming a top-tier construction firm overseas. Director Oh Jin-won in charge of the Overseas Project Headquarters, said the company has been able to strengthen its capability to face any kind of difficult conditions imposed by the slumping economy worldwide by diversifying its construction capability.
The Al Reem Island project is the biggest construction project for the company since its venture into overseas and the company will continue to make efforts to secure similar projects overseas.
The Al Reem Island project is a core project to make Abu Dhabi, a key mall in the Middle East, part of the $30 billion super-scale plan to develop the island divided into three sections. Three large real estate developers in UAE have given the rights to take charge of each sector of the mammoth project and Al Tamouh is in charge of the largest sector of the project to develop the island with a total space of 3.6 million square meters, the company said.
In the meantime, SK Construction has secured the project to repair an oil refinery in Ecuador from Petroecuador, the national oil company in Ecuador, for $76 million, the company said on Feb. 18.
Esmeraldas refinery, located in north of the Esmeraldas region inside the Petro-industrial Complex, is capable of producing 110,000 barrels of oil daily. The oil refinery, initially produced 55,000 barrels of oil when it first went online in 1977, but it was later expanded to the current capacity through two expansion work, once in 1987 and the other in 1997, the company said. nw

President Choi Kwang-chol of SK E&C, 2nd L, are pictured with President Abdul Kindy of Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. after signing a contract for BAB gas compression project.