Flowserve and Al-Rushaid have proudly opened the largest hydraulic pump manufacturing, repair and training facility in the Middle East.

At the inauguration ceremony, Sheikh Abdullah Al-Rushaid, chairman of the Al-Rushaid Group, and Lewis King, president and chief executive officer of Flowserve, jointly opened the facilities, which will serve the oil and gas industry and the power, water, desalination and chemicals sector in Saudi Arabia.

Training at the facilities will be conducted in both static and dynamic laboratories, with planned classes including basic hydraulics theory, advanced maintenance and repair and technical services.

"This state-of-the-art, robust facility helps us deliver outstanding service to our Middle East customers - its scope, size and capabilities are unmatched in the region," said Mr King.

At the end of 2008, Flowserve signed a long-term agreement with Saudi state oil firm Aramco to provide its trademark flow control and value-added service to support the country's energy industry.

It will also be developing a series of regional training centres in furtherance of Aramco's Saudisation programme.

Global Education and Training event for Oil and Gas: Refining and Petrochemicals