Global Connections
Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia – In Focus
There are approximately 28,000 KBR employees all across the globe. Though we are separated by miles, we are all connected and working together toward a common purpose — to deliver solutions that are changing the world while honoring our ESG (environmental, social and governance) commitments. In Global Connections, we celebrate KBR’s culture of inclusion and diversity by highlighting employees around the world and the communities where they live and work.
In 1938, a team of diggers struck oil at Dammam No. 7, the famed oil well that would change the future of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the region. The well is located in what is today the Dammam metroplex, comprising the “Triple Cities” of Dammam, Al-Khobar and Dhahran, the home base of state-owned oil and gas giant, Saudi Aramco. In 2011, 73 years after Dammam No. 7’s discovery, the KBR-AMCDE (Abdulla Al-Moaibed Consulting and Design Engineering) joint venture was established in Al-Khobar (fewer than 10km from the original well site) to support Saudi Aramco’s objective to localize the front-end engineering design (FEED) of mega oil and gas projects for the company’s 10 million barrels per day, the largest output in the world.
Today, the KBR-AMCDE team has grown to 450 strong and supports all Saudi and regional projects. KBR’s Al-Khobar operations are centered around upstream onshore and offshore hydrocarbon engineering with a strong focus on the oil and gas industry. KBR-AMCDE provides services such as:
- Pre-FEED
- FEED
- Detailed design
- Engineering studies
- Project management consulting
During the last decade, major changes and development have taken place in terms of capacity and capabilities in this region. The first contract with Saudi Aramco (2012) was for engineering services in onshore greenfield and brownfield oil and gas development programs, with work divided between Al-Khobar, London and Houston engineering centers. The second contract (2015) was for offshore maintenance potential projects to support offshore oil and gas fields production increments. Work was completed mainly from the Al-Khobar engineering center with occasional support from Houston and Brisbane engineering centers.
The objective was to position and develop Al-Khobar as a center of excellence. To do so, additional subject matter experts were hired to fill gaps and maximize in-house capabilities, focusing on sustainability, digitization and training team members on 3D and smart data tools. The ONE KBR culture also helped improve knowledge sharing and exchange of ideas and experience with other global KBR centers.
Elsayed Hegazy has seen those changes firsthand. Elsayed — civil, structural, architectural department manager — has worked in KBR-AMCDE's Al-Khobar office since 2012 and is the team's longest-serving member.
“I’m proud to have been part of the KBR engineering center team over the past 10 years,” he said. “I have most enjoyed working on the broad variety of onshore and offshore projects in close collaboration with KBR global engineering centers, utilizing the latest engineering technologies and tools.”
At KBR’s Al-Khobar office, the ONE KBR Value “We Are a Team of Teams” is held in high regard and gets amplified not just at work, but also during networking and community outreach activities.
The local IMPACT employee resource group chapter sponsors regular opportunities for employees to connect, such as sports tournaments, escape rooms or desert camping. The team recently also came together for a blood donation campaign in cooperation with King Fahd Specialist Hospital.
In line with KBR’s commitment to sustainability and the Saudi Green initiative (SGI), KBR-AMCDE, alongside the Ministry of Environment and Water and Agriculture, held the Saudi Annual Environment week. The campaign, which ran from March 20 to 24, 2022, supported green initiatives and included several group activities, such as a seashore cleanup, and the planting of 500 mangrove trees in nearby shoals and 200 saplings around the urban area. A beach cleanup was also organized with a local school as part of the KBR One Ocean initiative, which raised awareness about ocean pollution.
TheKBR-AMCDE team also launched a program to reuse and recycle expired IT equipment. They donated the equipment to a nonprofit organization called ERTIQA, which collects and refurbishes used computers and then distributes them to social and educational institutes and to students and families in need.
“The overriding virtue that permeates the Al-Khobar office is our employees’ fundamental commitment and dedication — not only to our customers, but also to each other,” said Aaron Fowler KBR-AMCDE vice president and managing director. “You really do get an opportunity to experience the genuine community and team collaboration and camaraderie. That creates a unique customer and employee experience and truly differentiates us from our competitors and peers.”
DID YOU KNOW?
- The King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra), a leading cultural and creative destination for talent development and cross-cultural experiences, is in Al-Khobar.
- Al-Khobar is home to the Sharqia Center (Scitech), a hub for science and technology where innovations are presented to members of the community in new and interesting ways.
- The region is home to the King Fahd Causeway, a 25km series of bridges that connects Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. The causeway boasts 536 bridges on five pylons and seven embankments in the Persian Gulf.
- Al-Khobar draws divers from around the world to its underwater museum in Half Moon Bay.
- Ak-Khobar is the only city in Saudi Arabia where ex-pats constitute the majority of the population (56%).
