LONDON (May 17, 2016) -- Omnix International, the provider of technology-enabled solutions to the Middle East, and AVEVA, a global engineering software provider, have announced a formal business partnership. The alliance has been created specifically to address the increasingly complex needs of the oil and gas industry in the KSA, Kuwait and Qatar region.

Under the agreement, Omnix, which has more than 25 years of experience working in this region, will be positioned to offer AVEVA’s software solutions to its customers. AVEVA’s design and engineering tools assist engineering companies and owner/operators to increase the speed and efficiency of project execution and enhance operations reliability. Omnix is building a dedicated team of AVEVA specialists who will combine local knowledge and AVEVA certified technical expertise.

“Energy demand in the Middle East and North African region is growing at more than three times the global average and—despite the oil price pressures—our region’s Oil & Gas sector still has active projects totaling approximately half a trillion dollars. According to MEED Projects[1], Kuwait alone is expected to award nearly $35bn of contracts before the year-end,” said Jayant Deshpande, director of Omnix. “Despite this positive outlook, there is significant pressure on the sector to improve performance as projects increase in complexity, especially as PWC reported 70-90% of budget and schedules overrun on Middle East Capital Projects[2]."

“Technology has a critical role to play in improving performance, and this prompted us to evaluate our portfolio to ensure we continued to offer the world-class solutions for which Omnix is known in the region," Deshpande continued. "Having reviewed the market carefully, it became clear that AVEVA’s solutions for the oil and gas sector would help our customers become more agile, efficient and effective amid such turbulence. We also wanted a partner that would remain relevant in the future. AVEVA’s history of innovation, from the creation of the object-centric 3-D design category with PDMS through to its ground-breaking information management and decision support solutions built to run on the largest touchscreens really impressed us.”

Louis Khoury, SVP of Operations MEA, AVEVA, added, “AVEVA has considerable success in UAE and Oman where we have direct relationships with end users. However, we also recognize that the markets in KSA, Qatar and Kuwait deserve specialist support and infrastructure, as they are complex and dynamic, and are experiencing the same shortage of skilled resources affecting the rest of the GCC. In such situations, it is vital to have a strong local presence of highly skilled, highly experienced technical resources to provide the maximum level of direct customer assistance. Omnix has an impeccable track record of expertise and excellence across the region as a whole, and so we are honoured that it has chosen to partner with AVEVA and to add AVEVA technology into its portfolio.”

[1] MEED, Engineering, Procurement & Construction http://ezine.meed.com/MEED-magazine-2013-40-Supplement-EPC/Arabtec/file…
2 PricewaterHouse Cooper, Black Gold: The road ahead, http://www.pwc.com/m1/en/publications/documents/blackgold.pdf