Petronile, a major player in the rapidly expanding Sudanese Oil and Gas marketplace, has committed to expanding its US$250 million annual supplier spend, by joining EOS Qatar’s e-procurement exchange and opening up procurement opportunities for the company on a global scale.

The deal, which is the first in a number of major membership announcements anticipated by EOS over the coming months, will allow Petronile to trade electronically within the worlds largest Oil and Gas industry exchange network, without changing its business processes. Petronile anticipates a huge increase in its current procurement spend due to its rapid expansion in Sudan; a country which has seen Oil and Gas output volumes double in the past two years.*

Mr Muiz, General Manager of Petronile said, “We are growing very quickly in Sudan but need access to global O&G industry suppliers. By joining the EOS Qatar Digital Document Exchange (DDE) we will be able to expand the number of suppliers who can help us deliver on our ambitious plans. The use of the DDE gives us a secure, low cost means of communicating with our suppliers, who themselves can join with no membership fees and only a small charge for each document’s movement. Initially we will issue RFQ’s, receive the quotation responses and issue the PO’s via the system, together with receipt of vendor invoices. The decision to join the EOS exchange was made after looking all the alternative exchanges available in the region. EOS represented far better proposition for Petronile and our suppliers”

With the exchange expected to go live in Qatar shortly, EOS is committed to creating access to the worldwide marketplace for Qatari corporations. Giuseppe Conti, CEO of EOS Qatar said, “This is a tremendous boost for our new business in Qatar, particularly as the exchange is going ‘live’ soon. We are also in discussions with a number of large Qatari Government, Construction and Oil and Gas industry leaders, all keen to come on board and open their doors to international trade, and to reduce their supply chain costs.”

A new JV company, between EOS MENA (of which Oman’s Zubair Corporation is a major shareholder) and a consortium of leading Qatar businessmen led by His Excellency Sheikh Saoud Bin Abdulla Jabor Al Thani, EOS Qatar has been created to meet the growing demand for the management of procurement processes within Qatar’s corporate world.

The company already has more than 10,000 members in the Middle East alone and is projecting this figure to be in excess of 30,000 by year end. Growing at a far faster rate than its competitors, EOS considers Qatar to be a key market for the company. Conti continued “EOS is currently growing at a phenomenal rate and is one of the world’s fastest growing e-commerce companies. The EOS Document delivery exchange (DDE) offers Qatari companies a simple, easy to use e-procurement system that will open doors to international trade, whether they’re looking to buy or sell. I believe through our exchange, Qatar’s public and private sectors will help the country to become one of the most e-enabled countries in the region.”

*Source: Sudan Tribune - March 2, 2006.