Renaissance Services SAOG has awarded a RO 30 million (US$78 million) civil construction contract to Douglas OHI as part of a RO 33 million (US$85.8 million) investment programme in new facilities for contractors in Oman’s interior oilfields. This follows the recent award of contracts to Renaissance, by Petroleum Development Oman LLC (PDO), to build, own and operate new Permanent Accommodation for Contractors (PAC) facilities at Marmul and Bahja. The long-term contracts run until 2044 and the contract value of the initial 5-year period is in excess of RO 35 million (US$ 91 million).

Operations of the new facilities are expected to commence in 2010. The Marmul facility will have 512 rooms and the Bahja facility 304 rooms, with both sites having room for further expansion. The rooms are designed for single, double and triple occupancy. The project anticipates an occupancy level of 1,000 residents at Marmul and 600 residents at Bahja. Renaissance already owns and operates ‘PAC’ facilities for PDO contractors at Fahud and Nimr, which opened in August 2000, and Qarn Alam, which opened in February 2002. These three existing PACs have a total of 1,452 rooms and accommodate over 3,000 people. The Renaissance PAC projects won the prestigious Oman Awards for Excellence ‘Investment Project of the Year’ for 2001.

Commenting on the projects, Renaissance Chairman, Samir Fancy said “Through the PDO PAC initiatives Oman has been at the forefront of raising living conditions and occupational health for workforces. Similar initiatives are being adopted by governments and large corporations in other markets. The Renaissance PAC concept and design provides a cost-effective quality solution to this increasing demand.”

Renaissance CEO, Stephen Thomas elaborates this point saying “A Renaissance PAC delivers higher standards at lower costs through economies of scale. The key to the cost-effectiveness of these projects is the predicted likely volume of occupancy and the longevity of the contract period. Residents are safer, healthier and happier in a quality lifestyle environment. Clients save tangible costs in the long-term, and enjoy intangible gains including improved safety performance, improved productivity and improved environmental impact. The concept can be beneficial to any large constituency of people, including resident workforces, students and military.”

The PAC facilities include accommodation with en-suite bathrooms. Recreation facilities including swimming pool, gymnasium, squash, tennis, volleyball, basketball courts and other indoor and outdoor sports and games facilities. There is a fully equipped clinic. Dining facilities are supported by state-of-the-art kitchens, bakery and stores. Other facilities include the administration building and offices, laundry, reception, function rooms, meeting rooms and library. The new PACs will also have an auditorium.

Commenting on the selection of Douglas OHI as the civil construction contractor Thomas said “Building major facilities in Oman’s remote oil and gas fields is a significant challenge. Safety is our foremost consideration. We wanted to select a contractor from amongst Oman’s top quality construction companies because, like any Renaissance project, the mission for the construction phase is zero lost time safety incidents; on-time, in-cost project completion, 100% in compliance with contract specification. We cannot wait to get started”.