Dorra gas project package bidders get more time

13 May 2025

Al-Khafji Joint Operations (KJO) has allowed contractors additional time to prepare proposals for one of the offshore engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) packages of the Dorra gas field development project.

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.

KJO has divided the scope of work on the Dorra gas field development project, which is estimated to be valued at up to $10bn, into four EPC packages – three offshore and one onshore.

According to sources, contractors bidding for offshore package one now have until 19 May to prepare bids. The previous bid submission deadlines for the package were 6 May22 April, 8 April and 24 March.

The EPC scope of work on the Dorra gas field development project packages and their submission deadlines are as follows:

  • Package 1: Seven offshore jackets and laying of intra-field lines – 19 May
  • Package 2A: Seven production deck modules and associated corrosion-resistant, alloy-lined pipes connecting to the gas compression plant – 30 June
  • Package 2B: Compression and auxiliary platforms, accommodation platform, associated trunklines and cables connecting to the shoreline – 30 June
  • Package 3: Onshore gas processing plant – 30 June

The following contractors are understood to be among those bidding for the three offshore packages:

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

Contractors bidding for offshore packages 2A and 2B have the option of submitting a combined proposal, sources previously told MEED.

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 over Dorra through a joint statement issued during an official meeting 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 in Riyadh.

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 last year.

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: Construction starts on Kuwait Gulf Oil Company headquarters
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Indrajit Sen
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