US-based engineering company Bechtel is looking to win new contracts in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, according to the company’s president of infrastructure, Shaun Kenny.

Bechtel believes that Saudi Arabia currently has significant opportunities for contractors, according to Kenny.

“It's a buoyant market and we're really happy to be participating in it,” he said. “I think Vision 2030 is playing out into real opportunity for everybody in the region. So we're delighted to be there.”

Bechtel is the executive project management consultant (PMC) on The Spine, the high-speed rail link being developed to serve The Line, a planned 170 kilometre-long vertical city.

The Spine rail link is being implemented to provide connectivity across the $500bn Neom city project, cutting down travel times.

In December last year, Bechtel was also awarded the contract to provide PMC services for the Trojena development at Neom.

Trojena is a mountain destination located 50km from the Gulf of Aqaba coast. It covers an area of over 1,400 square kilometres with elevations ranging from 1,500 metres to 2,600 metres above sea level. Fifty-seven sq km will be dedicated to the main development.

Commenting on Trojena, Kenny said: “It's an amazing project. I was there just a few weeks ago and the thing that always astounds people is the scale and the ambition, and the fact that it's happening right now.”

He added: “We continue to tender for work. It is a competitive market and we take nothing for granted. We think it is a good market and we intend to be there for the long term.”

In Egypt, Bechtel is focused mainly on the power, rail and energy sectors, according to Kenny.

Previously Bechtel has worked as a consultant on various power projects in Egypt, including constructing a third power station at Kureimat.

This combined-cycle power plant was developed by the Upper Egypt Electricity Production Company and completed in 2006.

It has also executed consultancy work on a range of hydrocarbon projects, including the West Nile Delta Development, which comprises five gas fields across the North Alexandria and West Mediterranean deepwater offshore concession blocks in the Mediterranean Sea.

In the downstream sector, Bechtel is working on the front-end engineering and design (feed) for the planned $7.5bn downstream complex in Egypt’s Suez region.

In July 2021, the US-based company signed an agreement to implement basic engineering works and designs for the project located in the Ain Sokhna economic area.

Commenting on the energy sector in Egypt, Kenny said: “My energy colleagues continue to be very engaged there. They have several big prospects that they are looking at.”