Chinese firm confirms Aramco offshore contract awards
2 January 2025
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China Offshore Oil Engineering Company (COOEC) has announced that Saudi Aramco has awarded it a pair of offshore engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) contracts.
The statement by COOEC confirms an earlier report by MEED that the Tianjin-headquartered contractor won Aramco’s Contracts Release and Purchase Order (CRPO) numbers 149 and 152.
CRPOs 149 and 152 are estimated to be valued at $30m and $250m-$300m, respectively. The scope of work on the two contracts covers the EPCI of structures at the Abu Safah and Arabiyah-Hasbah offshore field developments in Saudi Arabia.
The brief EPCI scope of work on the two CRPOs won by COOEC and their bid submission dates are as follows:
- CRPO 149 – 29 September:
Installation of one offshore jacket at the Abu Safah field development
- CRPO 152 – 24 September:
Installation of structures at the Arabiyah and Hasbah offshore fields:
– Two jackets at the Arabiyah field
– One simultaneous operations-capable jacket at the Hasbah field
– One gas lift production deck module
– A 16-inch subsea pipeline running 5 kilometres (km)
– 13.8kV subsea cables covering 5km
CRPOs 149 and 152 were among a batch of three offshore EPCI contracts that Aramco awarded in late November. The third contract – CRPO 153 – was won by Oslo-listed Subsea7.
The scope of work on CRPO 153, for which bids were submitted by Aramco’s Long-Term Agreement (LTA) pool of offshore contractors on 29 September, involves replacing a 17km flank pipeline at the Abu Safah field, related demolition work and modification of other units.
The value of the CRPO 153 contract is estimated to be $200m-$250m.
Robust offshore spending
In January last year, the Saudi Energy Ministry directed Aramco to abandon its campaign to expand its oil production spare capacity from 12 million barrels a day (b/d) to 13 million b/d by 2027. As a direct consequence of that government decision, Aramco cancelled the tendering process for at least 15 tenders involving the EPCI of structures at offshore oil and gas fields.
Since that decision, however, Aramco has gone the other way. The Saudi energy giant spent an estimated $5bn in 2024 on offshore EPCI contracts, which included CRPOs 149, 152 and 153.
Italian contractor Saipem was the biggest beneficiary of Aramco’s robust offshore spending, winning five of the eight CRPOs awarded last year.
In early May, Aramco awarded Saipem the contract for CRPO 143, which involves replacing an oil line between the Berri and Manifa oil fields in the kingdom’s Gulf waters.
Aramco then awarded Saipem the contract for CRPO 138, which involves laying a trunkline at the Abu Safah offshore field. The contract is estimated to be worth $500m.
The Milan-listed contractor then scooped three major CRPOs in August, starting with CRPOs 132 and 139, the combined value of which is estimated to be about $1bn. In early September, Saipem began work on the two contracts, which involve the EPCI of structures to upgrade the Marjan, Zuluf and Safaniya offshore field developments.
Just days after awarding CRPOs 132 and 139 to Saipem, Aramco awarded the Italian contractor CRPO 127, a $2bn contract that involves the EPCI of topsides and jackets for wellhead platforms, a tie-in platform jacket and topside, rigid flowlines, submarine composite cables and fibre optic cables at the Marjan oil and gas field.
Offshore jobs under bidding
Meanwhile, Aramco is evaluating technical and commercial bids it has received from LTA contractors for CRPO 150, which involves installing structures at its Northern Area Oil Operations.
Separately, contractors in Aramco’s LTA pool are preparing bids for eight more CRPOs.
MEED previously reported that Aramco has allowed its LTA contractors additional time to prepare bids for four tenders that will further expand the Zuluf offshore field development in Saudi Arabia.
The four tenders are CRPOs 145, 146, 147 and 148, and their total value is estimated to be about $4bn, sources previously said.
Aramco recently issued four more CRPOs to its LTA pool of contractors: CRPOs 157, 158, 159 and 160. Bids for CRPOs 158, 159 and 160 are due by 15 January, while 15 March has been set as the bid submission deadline for CRPO 157.
Aramco’s LTA pool of offshore service providers comprises the following entities:
- Saipem (Italy)
- McDermott International (US)
- Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (India) / Subsea7 (UK)
- Dynamic Industries (US)
- NMDC Energy (UAE)
- Lamprell (UAE/Saudi Arabia)
- Sapura Energy (Malaysia)
- Technip Energies (France) / MMHE (Malaysia)
- China Offshore Oil Engineering Company (China)
- Hyundai Heavy Industries (South Korea)
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Siemens Energy signs preliminary 14GW Iraq pact
9 May 2025
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Germany’s Siemens Energy and Iraq’s Electricity Ministry have signed a preliminary agreement to add 14GW of electricity generation capacity to Iraq’s grid.
The firms also signed two long-term service contracts for the Dibis and Al-Mussaib gas-fired power plants.
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Abu Dhabi hopes bigger is better with Disney theme park
8 May 2025
Commentary
Colin Foreman
EditorEver since Aldar Properties first launched the Yas Island project with its Yas Marina Circuit for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 2006, Abu Dhabi has been steadily adding theme parks to the island’s roster of attractions. First, there was the Ferrari theme park, then came a water park, a Warner Bros theme park and, most recently, SeaWorld.
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Miral has developed a series of theme parks and other entertainment-related attractions on Yas Island
Enter Disney
Disney changes that. It is the largest brand in the theme park space and will be a major attraction, but with limited information released on the project so far, it is difficult to fully gauge how significant the project will be.
The official release said that the project will be developed and operated by Abu Dhabi developer Miral, adding that Disney’s in-house design and engineering unit, Walt Disney Imagineering, will lead creative design and operational oversight to provide a world-class experience. It did not give any details on the ownership of the project.
In Hong Kong, for example, a company, Hong Kong International Theme Parks, was established as a joint venture, with the Government of Hong Kong holding 57% and The Walt Disney Company holding 43%.
In Japan, the structure is different. The Tokyo Disney Resort is owned and operated by Oriental Land, and the company pays licences and royalties to The Walt Disney Company.
In interviews following the launch announcement, Miral CEO Mohamed Abdalla Al-Zaabi confirmed the arrangement will be like Tokyo.
Waterfront location
The official release for the Abu Dhabi launch also said that the project is on Yas Island, which only has limited areas of land to develop. The release also said that the land is waterfront, and imagery in the launch video shows the Abu Dhabi skyline in the background, suggesting the land is on the northern waterfront of Yas Island.
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Exclusivity clause
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Tourism gateway
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If that potential is realised, then the bigger is better theory will be proved right. If the park’s performance disappoints, then it will suggest the region is not such a great destination for theme parks after all.
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Photo credit: Kahramaa
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OQ to take interest in Oman renewable projects
8 May 2025
OQ Alternative Energy (OQAE), part of Oman’s state-backed energy group OQ, will be taking shares in Oman’s renewable energy independent power projects (IPP), starting with the Ibri 3 solar scheme.
“The direction seems to be for OQ Alternative Energy to own up to 25% shares in the upcoming solar and wind IPP projects in the sultanate,” says a source familiar with the plans.
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With this policy change, Oman will now be more closely aligned with the existing project structure in the UAE, where either Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa), Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) or the state utility, Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (Dewa), owns stakes in these projects.
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