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Aramco receives bids for three offshore tenders

2 May 2025

Saudi Aramco has received bids from contractors in its Long-Term Agreement (LTA) pool of offshore service providers for three tenders related to the engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) of structures at several offshore oil and gas fields.

The tenders are numbers 158, 159 and 160 on Aramco’s Contracts Release and Purchase Order (CRPO) system.

Offshore LTA contractors submitted bids for these CRPOs by the deadline of 27 April, sources told MEED.

The Saudi energy giant issued CRPOs 158, 159 and 160 to its offshore LTA contractors in late November and set an initial bid submission deadline of 15 January. The bid submission deadline was extended several times, to 26 January, 24 February, 19 March, 13 April and 20 April.

The scope of work on CRPO 158 covers the EPCI of 11 jackets at several offshore fields, including Abu Safah, Berri and Manifa. Aramco has stipulated that three of the jackets must be fabricated in the kingdom.

CRPO 159 involves the EPCI of three production deck modules at the Abu Safah, Berri and Manifa offshore fields.

CRPO 160 relates to the EPCI of three more production deck modules at the Abu Safah, Berri and Manifa offshore fields.

Aramco’s LTA pool of offshore service providers comprises the following entities:

  • Saipem (Italy)
  • McDermott International (US)
  • Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (LTEH, India) / Subsea7 (UK)
  • NMDC Energy (UAE)
  • Lamprell (UAE/Saudi Arabia)
  • China Offshore Oil Engineering Company (China)
  • Dynamic Industries (US)
  • Sapura Energy (Malaysia)
  • TechnipFMC (France) / MMHE (Malaysia)
  • Hyundai Heavy Industries (South Korea)

Aramco recently renewed LTAs with the following contractors, whose contracts had either lapsed or were close to expiry:

  • Saipem
  • McDermott International
  • Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon / Subsea7
  • NMDC Energy
  • Lamprell
  • China Offshore Oil Engineering Company
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, the Saudi energy giant has gone the other way, spending an estimated $5bn in 2024 on offshore EPCI contracts.

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.

In late November, Aramco awarded three CRPOs, worth more than $500m. China Offshore Oil Engineering Company (COOEC) won CRPOs 149 and 152, which are estimated to be valued at $30m and $250m-$300m, respectively. UK-based Subsea7 secured CRPO 153, which is said to be valued at $200m-$250m.

Offshore jobs under bidding

Looking ahead, Aramco is in the bid evaluation and tendering stages for 11 more offshore tenders, including CRPOs 158, 159 and 160.

MEED recently reported that Aramco had requested LTA contractors who submitted bids for CRPO 150 – which involves the installation of structures at its offshore Northern Area Oil Operations – to extend the validity of their bids until the end of June.

Additionally, Aramco is reviewing bids it has received for four CRPOs – numbers 145, 146, 147 and 148 – that represent the further expansion of the Zuluf field development.

Offshore LTA contractors submitted bids for these four tenders, which are estimated to be worth a total of $6bn, in December, with the contract awards due in the second quarter of this year.

Separately, LTA contractors are preparing bids for CRPO 157, which mainly covers the EPCI of a 48-inch trunkline covering a distance of 60 kilometres at the Zuluf field development, along with dredging works onshore.

Aramco has also sought proposals for CRPOs 154, 155 and 156, which cover the next expansion phase of the Safaniya field. Offshore LTA contractors are due to submit bids for these three tenders by 31 July.

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Indrajit Sen

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