meed-logo

line1 line2 line3
SIGN IN / REGISTER

Frontrunner emerges for Dorra gas project offshore package

21 August 2025

 

Based on an initial evaluation of bids by Al-Khafji Joint Operations (KJO), a frontrunner to win the main contract for an offshore engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) package of the Dorra gas field facilities project has emerged.

KJO has divided the scope of work on the project into four EPC packages – three offshore and one onshore.

The scope of work on offshore package one covers the EPC of seven offshore jackets and laying of intra-field lines.

Contractors submitted bids for the first offshore package by a deadline of 2 June, it was previously reported.

Indian contractor Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (L&TEH) has pulled ahead in the race to win the contract for package one of the Dorra project, according to sources.

L&TEH has emerged as the favourite based on “early bid evaluation”, and the situation could change “in the coming days” as KJO engages in further discussions and negotiations with the bidders, one source said.

KJO is expected to select a contractor for the package by the end of August, another source said.

The following contractors are understood to be among those bidding for the three offshore packages of the Dorra gas field offshore and onshore facilities project:

  • Lamprell (Saudi Arabia/UAE)
  • Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (India)
  • McDermott (US)
  • NMDC Energy (UAE)
  • Saipem (Italy)

MEED reported in March that KJO was pushing forward with a major project to produce gas from the Dorra offshore field, located in Gulf waters in the Neutral Zone shared by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

Contractors are currently working towards a bid submission deadline of 15 September for the project's other three EPC packages, offshore packages 2A and 2B and onshore package three, according to sources.

The previous bid submission deadlines for the three packages were 30 June, 31 July and 25 August.

The EPC scope of work on the packages of the Dorra gas field offshore and onshore facilities project is as follows:

Package 2A – Dorra gas field wellhead topsides, flowlines and umbilicals

  • Seven gas wellhead platforms or topsides, with production routed to the central gathering platform
  • Corrosion-resistant, alloy-lined intra-field flowlines and umbilicals connecting the gas wellhead platforms to the central gathering platform and the auxiliary platform

Package 2B: Dorra central gathering platform complex, export pipelines and cables

  • Central gathering platform
  • Auxiliary platform
  • Dorra accommodation platform
  • Flare platform
  • Bridge platform
  • Pipelines for gas and condensate transmission to each shareholder
  • Produced water pipeline from the central gathering platform to Al-Khafji field and from the planned onshore processing facility next to the Al-Zour refinery in Kuwait to Al-Khafji field
  • Recovered monoethylene glycol (MEG) pipeline from Al-Khafji field to the central gathering platform
  • Control and power system linking Al-Khafji onshore facilities to offshore units
  • Offshore central control room at Dorra accommodation platform

Package 3: Onshore gas processing facilities

  • Buildings to be constructed as part of KJO’s Dorra project onshore package include:
    • Dorra control building
    • Operator building
    • Operations, maintenance and engineering building
    • Process interface building
    • Onshore 115/69kV substation
    • Two gas insulated substations
    • Warehouse
    • Maintenance building
    • Mosque
    • Telecommunications tower radio building
    • Beach valve substation at the planned onshore processing facility next to the Al-Zour refinery in Kuwait
       
  • Processing facilities for KJO's onshore package:
    • Produced water receiving and treatment
    • Sour water stripping and treated water system
    • Rich MEG storage tank
    • MEG regeneration and reclamation
    • Recovered hydrocarbons system
    • Lean MEG storage and supply
    • Fresh MEG storage and supply
    • Beach valve stations at Al-Khafji and Al-Zour
       
  • Utilities:
    • Instrument and plant air system
    • Nitrogen generation system
    • Diesel storage and distribution system
    • Fuel gas system
    • Closed drain and slop tank system
    • Hazardous area open drains system
    • Industrial water system
    • Drinking water system
    • Flare gas recovery system and a low-pressure flare system
    • Fire water system
    • Emergency diesel generator
    • Sewage treatment

The Dorra field is estimated to hold 20 trillion cubic metres of gas and 310 million barrels of oil.

Kuwait and Saudi Arabia have been working together to develop the offshore field since it was discovered in 1965. The two sides expect to produce about 1 billion cubic feet a day of gas from the asset and have agreed to split the gas output equally.

A geopolitical tussle over ownership of the asset has hampered progress.

Iran, which calls the field Arash, claims that it partially extends into its territory and that Tehran should be a stakeholder in any development project. 

Kuwait and Saudi Arabia maintain that the Dorra field lies entirely in the waters of their shared territory, known as the Neutral Zone or Divided Zone, and that Iran has no legal basis for its claim. 

In February 2024, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia reiterated their claim to the Dorra field in a joint statement issued during an official meeting in Riyadh between Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud.

KJO, which is jointly owned by Saudi Aramco subsidiary Aramco Gulf Operations Company and Kuwait Gulf Oil Company, a subsidiary of state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), is understood to have issued the tenders for the project in August 2024.

MEED reported in September 2023 that Aramco and KPC had selected France’s Technip Energies to carry out front-end engineering and design (feed) and pre-feed work on the Dorra offshore field development project.

The original feed work for a project to develop the field was performed more than a decade ago. However, due to changes in technology, the engineering design needed to be updated before the project could reach a final investment decision.

ALSO READ: Saudi Arabia and Kuwait announce Neutral Zone oil discovery

https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/14513682/main.jpg
Indrajit Sen

Register for MEED's guest program now to access this article.

Click here to register
Exclusive from Meed
Related Articles