Italian contractor Saipem has been awarded two EPIC (engineering, procurement, installation, construction) contracts worth an estimated $1.3bn for Saudi Aramco’s Berri and Marjan fields, located in the Arabian Gulf. This is part of the long term agreement for offshore activities in Saudi Arabia, renewed in 2015 and in force until 2021.
Saipem activities include the design, engineering, procurement, construction, installation and implementation of subsea systems in addition to the laying of pipelines, subsea cables and umbilicals, platform decks and jackets.
Saudi Aramco has made strong moves to redevelop its maturing fields, and the Marjan Crude Increment Programme, with an estimated value of $15bn, is among the largest. Baker Hughes, a GE company (BHGE) won the first integrated services contract for Marjan offshore oilfield in early September 2018, and will provide drilling services, coiled tubing services and drilling fluids engineering services as part of the project.
“The Marjan oilfield is one of the major upstream developments [in 2018] that will contribute to the Kingdom’s oil production strengths, helping maintain capacity and meet domestic and global demand,” said Mohammed Y. Al Qahtani, senior vice president of upstream at Saudi Aramco, in a press release announcing its deal with BHGE.
Meanwhile, the $6bn Berri Increment Programme was put up for tender in late August 2018 with the aim of increasing production by 250,000 barrels per day (bpd) to reach 500,000 bpd. China Harbour Engineering Arabia won a contract for the construction of two drilling islands in September 2018.
Most recently, Saudi Aramco awarded L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering, in consortium with Subsea 7, the EPCI contract for three oil production deck manifolds and subsea pipelines in Berri and Zuluf fields.
