Saudi Aramco has released tenders for seven engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts for its Khurais Programme.
The Khurais Arabian Light Crude Increment is an onshore oilfield development, which was initially discovered in 1957. By 2009, the central procession facility at Khurais had a processing capacity of 1.2mn barrels per day (bpd) of oil and 320mn ft3 of associated gas, as well as 80,000 bpd of natural gas liquids (NGLs).
Plans to increase capacity began in 2012, and a Front End Engineering Design (FEED) was completed in May this year by Foster Wheeler.
This will involve further development of the Lower Fadhli field and the central processing facility, which will allow it to handle an extra 300,000 bpd of oil, 143mn ft3 of gas and a further 34,000 bpd of NGL.
To accommodate this, a new gas-oil separation plant (GOSP), a crude stabilisation unit and a gas train will be installed.
Two gas turbine-driven pump trains will also be installed to provide treated seawater injection for reservoir pressure support and a new 165MW cogeneration power plant built, with around 45% of the power generated by recovering waste heat.
A $2bn contract for the bulk of construction activities at the plant was awarded to Italian company Saipem in October.
The project has now broken ground and site preparation is underway. Project completion is slated for 2017.
