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Aramco awards pair of key offshore contracts

10 July 2023

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Saudi Aramco has awarded UAE-headquartered Lamprell two key contracts for engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) of several structures at the Abu Safah and Marjan offshore oil fields in Saudi Arabia.

Lamprell has been awarded Contract Release and Purchase Order (CRPO) numbers 125 and 126, according to sources.

The combined value of CRPOs 125 and 126 is estimated to be “upwards” of $400m, sources told MEED.

The letter of award for these two tenders was issued to Lamprell by Aramco “in late June”, the sources added.

Abu Safah and Marjan works

The scope of works on CRPO 125 covers EPCI of the following structures:

  • Three offshore jackets
  • Three production deck modules
  • Two 12-inch pipelines stretching 3 kilometres and 1.7km
  • Two 13.8kv subsea power cables covering distances of 7.5km and 3km.

Contractors in Aramco’s Long-Term Agreement (LTA) pool of offshore service providers submitted bids for CRPO 125 by the deadline of 16 January.

The scope of work on CRPO 126 involves EPCI of the following structures at the Marjan hydrocarbons field development:

  • One gas lift production deck module
  • Four jackets
  • A 16-inch subsea pipeline running 6.5km
  • 15kv subsea cables covering 6.5km

Offshore LTA contractors submitted bids for CRPO 126 by 9 April, MEED previously reported.

Robust offshore spending

Most of the kingdom’s oil and gas production comes from offshore hydrocarbon resources in fields including Abu Safah, Arabiyah, Hasbah, Berri, Karan, Manifa, Marjan, Ribyan, Safaniya and Zuluf.

It is crucial for Aramco to maintain and gradually increase productivity from these fields, some of which are mature.

To that end, the state enterprise is poised to award several billions of dollars of offshore EPCI deals to entities in its LTA pool of offshore contractors by the end of this year.

With the latest award of CRPOs 125 and 126 to Lamprell, Aramco’s spending on offshore projects so far this year is estimated to have exceeded $3bn.

A consortium of Indian contractor Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (LTEH) and UK-based Subsea7 has won six offshore EPCI contracts from Saudi Aramco, estimated to be worth nearly $2bn.

LTEH/Subsea7 won CRPOs 98, 120 and 121, which cover EPCI work on Saudi Arabia’s Zuluf, Hasbah and Manifa offshore oil and gas fields. The combined value of the three CRPOs, awarded to the consortium in March, is estimated to be $1bn.

In April, LTEH/Subsea7 won CRPOs 117, 118 and 119, which cover EPCI work on Saudi Arabia’s Marjan offshore oil and gas field development. The three tenders are thought to be worth over $900m.

Italian contractor Saipem confirmed in early April that it had won CRPO 96, estimated to have a value of $120m. The scope of work on the tender covers the EPCI of one platform topside and the associated subsea flexible, umbilical and cable systems at the Abu Safah and Safaniya fields.

Also in April, China Offshore Oil Engineering Company (COOEC) won the CRPO 122 contract, estimated to be worth $255m, covering the installation of 13 jackets at the Safaniya field. COOEC confirmed the award of CRPO 122 this week.

More recently, in May MEED reported that Aramco was closing in on awarding main contracts for at least five major CRPO tenders, and notifying contractors about their selection.

The following LTA contractors are in line to win the CRPOs in question, according to sources:

  • CRPO 97 – National Petroleum Construction Company (NPCC) (UAE)
  • CRPO 99 – McDermott (US)
  • CRPO 100 – McDermott (US)
  • CRPO 101 – McDermott (US)
  • CRPO 124 – Saipem (Italy)

In late June, Saipem confirmed winning CRPO 124, although the Italian contractor did not reveal the value of its contract.

CRPO 124 represents the third phase of gas development at the Marjan offshore hydrocarbons field. Its scope of work entails the following:

  • EPCI of five standardised, simplified and SIMOPS-capable (SSS) gas lift platforms
  • Demolition of existing structures
  • Five production deck modules
  • Upgrade of TP 7 at gas oil separation plant (GOSP) 4
  • Subsea flowlines of 4 and 6-inches covering a distance of 23km
  • Subsea cables spanning 17km
  • Fibre optic cables spread across 6km

The two other contractors – McDermott and NPCC – are yet to confirm their contract awards.

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Indrajit Sen

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