meed-logo

line1 line2 line3
SIGN IN / REGISTER

Offshore oil and gas sees steady capex

6 March 2025

 

This package also includes: Saudi Arabia to retain upstream dominance

With nearly half of the Middle East and North Africa’s (Mena) hydrocarbons reserves located in offshore basins, regional oil and gas producers spend significantly on maintaining and ramping up production levels. Offshore projects are predominantly geared at raising drilling capabilities, expanding subsea infrastructure and building floating production systems.

In addition to boosting production capacity, producers also invest in offshore projects to improve technological innovation, safety and environmental sustainability. 

Capital expenditure (capex) on offshore projects in the region has remained steady in the past 10 years, with 2024 being one of the best years on record, witnessing total project spending of $23.5bn.

Qatar’s offshore goals

Qatar accounted for the largest capex on offshore oil and gas projects in Mena last year, according to data from regional projects tracker MEED Projects. The country invested more than $12bn in projects to produce incremental volumes of gas from its North Field reserve, as well to sustain its crude output.

In January 2024, North Oil Company awarded $6bn-worth of engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts for a third capacity expansion project at the Al-Shaheen offshore field, to boost oil production by about 100,000 barrels a day (b/d).

North Oil Company – a joint venture of state enterprise QatarEnergy (70%) and France’s TotalEnergies (30%) – has been operating the Al-Shaheen field since July 2017. Situated 80 kilometres (km) north of Ras Laffan, at a water depth of 60 metres, Al-Shaheen holds one of the biggest oil reserves in the world and is Qatar’s largest field. It has a production potential of 300,000 b/d and accounts for about 45% of the country’s total oil production.

Meanwhile, Qatar’s North Field liquefied natural gas (LNG) expansion requires state enterprise QatarEnergy to pump large volumes of gas from the North Field offshore reserve to feed the three phases of the $30bn-plus programme. QatarEnergy has invested billions of dollars in EPC works on the two phases of the North Field Production Sustainability (NFPS) project, which aims to maintain steady gas feedstock for the North Field LNG expansion phases.

QatarEnergy LNG, a subsidiary of QatarEnergy, awarded Italy’s Saipem an order valued at $4bn for combined packages Comp3A and Comp3B of the NFPS Offshore Compression Programme’s second phase in September last year. The scope of work on the packages encompasses the engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) of six platforms, approximately 100km of 28-inch- and 24-inch-diameter corrosion-resistant alloy rigid subsea pipelines, 100km of subsea composite cables, 150km of fibre optic cables and several other subsea units.

The job for combined packages Comp3A and Comp3B is Saipem’s latest contract award as part of the NFPS scheme. The Italian contractor has secured work totalling almost $6bn on the two phases of the project.

UAE pushes offshore

With Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc Group) striving to attain an oil production capacity of 5 million b/d by 2027 and become self-sufficient in gas production by the end of this decade, offshore oil and gas projects have received a significant boost. Adnoc was the second-highest spender on offshore projects in the region last year, as well as in the past 10 years. 

In 2024, Adnoc Group subsidiary Adnoc Offshore spent about $6bn on major programmes to potentially increase oil production, such as the two phases of a project to raise output from the Upper Zakum offshore concession in Abu Dhabi to 1.2 million b/d.

In April last year, Adnoc Offshore awarded the project’s main EPC contract – known as UZ 1.2MMBD EPC-1 and worth $825m – to UAE-based Target Engineering Construction Company. In November, Target also won the contract for the project’s next phase, known as UZ 1.2MMBD EPC-2, which is understood to be valued at $500m.

Also last year, Adnoc Offshore awarded a contract, estimated to be worth $2bn, for a project to increase production from the Umm Shaif offshore oil field in Abu Dhabi. 

US-based oil and gas contractor McDermott International won the main contract for the Umm Shaif Accelerated Development project, which aims to increase the Umm Shaif oil field’s output from about 275,000 b/d to 390,000 b/d by 2027, and to sustain that level of production until at least 2036.

Aramco maintains capex

In January 2024, the Saudi Energy Ministry directed Saudi Aramco to abandon its campaign to expand its oil production spare capacity from 12 million b/d to 13 million b/d by 2027. As a consequence of that government decision, Aramco cancelled the tendering process for at least 15 schemes involving the EPCI of structures at offshore oil and gas fields. 

Aramco has since changed tack, spending an estimated $5bn in 2024 on offshore EPCI contracts and earning third place in the league table of highest offshore spenders in the Mena region last year. 

Saipem was the biggest beneficiary of Aramco’s offshore spending, winning five of the eight Contracts Release and Purchase Orders (CRPOs) awarded last year.

In 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 CRPOs in August, starting with CRPOs 132 and 139, the combined value of which is estimated to be about $1bn. In 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 the award of CRPOs 132 and 139, Aramco awarded Saipem 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 further CRPOs worth more than $500m. China Offshore Oil Engineering Company 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 understood to be valued at $200m-$250m.

Positive outlook

Regional national oil companies, particularly those in the Gulf, will seek to maintain a steady stream of investment in offshore projects this year, capitalising on the favourable oil price environment in pursuit of their goal of ramping up output potential in the mid to long term.

Their international counterparts are also likely to press ahead with projects to derive maximum value out of their offshore hydrocarbons assets in the Mena region, a large portion of which are located in prolific, shallow-water formations, making the production of oil and gas more cost-effective than in other regions.

Capex on offshore oil and gas projects this year may well match the level seen in 2024, according to MEED Projects data. In the first two months of 2025, offshore EPC contract awards reached $7.5bn.

Adnoc Offshore accounts for that entire spend through its Lower Zakum Long-Term Development Plan (LTDP-1) project. The company’s long-term objective is to raise output capacity at the Lower Zakum offshore hydrocarbons concession in Abu Dhabi to 520,000 b/d by 2027 and maintain that level until 2034.

Spanish contractor Tecnicas Reunidas and Abu Dhabi-based contractors NMDC Energy and Target Engineering Construction Company have been selceted by Adnoc Offshore to execute EPC works on the three main packages of the Lower Zakum LTDP-1 project.

Separately, Aramco is in the bid evaluation and tendering stages with a total of 12 more CRPOs. The biggest of these offshore tenders are a set of four CRPOs – numbers 145, 146, 147 and 148 – that are part of a project to further expand the Zuluf offshore field development.

These four CRPOs, estimated to be worth about $5.8bn, involve the EPCI of several structures at the Zuluf field, to maintain and raise its long-term oil and gas production potential.

In addition to CRPOs 145, 146, 147 and 148, entities in Saudi Aramco’s Long-Term Agreement (LTA) pool of offshore contractors submitted bids last year for CRPO 150 – an estimated $50m tender that involves the installation of structures at Aramco’s Northern Area Oil Operations.

In December, Aramco issued seven more CRPOs – 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159 and 160 – for which its LTA contractors are in the process of preparing bids. Work on these tenders relates to EPCI on structures at several offshore oil and gas fields in Saudi Arabia.

Aramco has been the biggest spender on offshore oil and gas projects in the region in the past 10 years, with capex exceeding $48.5bn. The world’s largest company is predicted to spend significantly on offshore EPC projects in 2025, too.

Saudi Arabia to retain upstream dominance

https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/13451668/main.gif
Indrajit Sen

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

Click here to register
Exclusive from Meed
Related Articles
  • Joint venture tenders Algeria field development contract

    10 June 2026

     

    Hassi Bir Rekaiz Group (GHBR), which operates Algeria’s Hassi Bir Rekaiz field, has issued a tender for phase 2A of the asset’s field development project.

    GHBR is a joint venture of Algeria’s national oil and gas company Sonatrach and Thailand’s national exploration and production company PTTEP.

    The scope of the contract focuses on the “provision of engineering and supervision services”, according to documents published by Sonatrach.

    The tender has been issued with a bid deadline of 16 June 2026.

    In May, GHBR signed a $1.1bn contract for phase two of the Hassi Bir Rekaiz development project.

    The contract was won by a consortium of Egypt’s Petrojet and Italian engineering and contracting company Arkad.

    Petrojet’s portion of the project was estimated to be worth around $600m, and Arkad’s portion was estimated to be worth $500m.

    The contract used the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning model.

    The scope of the project contract is focused on the construction of a central processing facility (CPF) capable of processing crude oil and associated gas.

    It also includes developing off-plot pipelines, as well as related utilities and infrastructure.

    The CPF will have the capacity to process 32,000 barrels a day (b/d) and will be designed to support future expansions.

    The related infrastructure will include an extensive pipeline network spanning approximately 217 kilometres, as well as a road network.

    READ THE JUNE 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

    GCC looks beyond the Strait; Iraq’s reform window narrows as fiscal assumptions shatter; MEED Top 100 companies.

    Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the June 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17163750/main3325.jpg
    Wil Crisp
  • Algeria extends deadline for urea-formaldehyde project

    10 June 2026

     

    Algeria’s national oil and gas company Sonatrach has extended the bid deadline for a project to develop a new concentrated urea-formaldehyde unit in its Arzew industrial zone.

    The latest bid deadline is 15 June.  

    The contract uses the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning model, and the bid deadline for technical tender submissions was originally set for early April.

    The condensed urea-formaldehyde unit will be located at the CP1-Z facility.

    The CP1-Z facility began operations in 1975 and has a capacity of 152,000 tonnes a year. It produces products including methanol, resin and formol.

    It is a two-phase tender. The first phase is a technical bid submission, and the second phase is a commercial bid submission.

    To be eligible to win this contract, companies must specialise in petrochemical industrial installation projects.

    They also need to have a share capital of at least $7m and more than 15 years of relevant experience.

    The new unit, UFC85, will have the capacity to produce 40,000 metric tonnes of concentrated and condensed urea-formaldehyde annually.

    The project’s scope also includes the development of auxiliary equipment and installations.

    Urea-formaldehyde has a wide range of uses, including the production of laminates, textiles and paper.

    In the wood industry, it is used as a thermosetting adhesive to bond wood to create plywood and particleboard. In agriculture, urea-formaldehyde is widely used as a slow-release fertiliser.

    READ THE JUNE 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

    GCC looks beyond the Strait; Iraq’s reform window narrows as fiscal assumptions shatter; MEED Top 100 companies.

    Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the June 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17163657/main.jpg
    Wil Crisp
  • Sharjah developer launches Al-Mamzar towers scheme

    9 June 2026

    Local real estate developer Alef Group has launched a mixed-use development in the Al-Mamzar area of Sharjah. The Linar project is valued at AED4bn ($1.1bn) and comprises five residential towers and one commercial tower. Across the development, the 50- to 55-floor towers will offer a total of 2,620 residential units.

    With 325 metres of sea-facing frontage overlooking Al-Mamzar Beach, the development also includes retail and service spaces. Tower A, which forms part of Phase 1 of the project, is expected to be completed from 2030 onwards. 

    In a statement, the developer said that following strong demand for expressions of interest (EoIs) in Tower A, Alef Group expanded EoIs to include towers B and C. All Phase 1 EoIs have now been fully reserved, representing a total of 1,572 residential units with a combined value of over AED2bn. The group is preparing to open EoIs for towers D and E.

    In April, Alef Group awarded Abu Dhabi-based construction firm A&M International a AED750m contract to build the next phases of its Hayyan residential community in Sharjah. The scope includes the construction of more than 700 villas and townhouses across three clusters – Samr 1, Samr 2 and Deem – along with Hayyan Mall, a clubhouse and associated infrastructure works.

    The Hayyan masterplan includes seven residential clusters: Alma, Arim 1, Arim 2, Arim 3, Samr 1, Samr 2 and Samr 3.

    READ THE JUNE 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

    GCC looks beyond the Strait; Iraq’s reform window narrows as fiscal assumptions shatter; MEED Top 100 companies.

    Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the June 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17157150/main1720.jpg
    Colin Foreman
  • Record investment drives Jordan’s utilities market

    9 June 2026

     

    In April, Jordan signed the final technical and legal agreement for its landmark National Water Carrier Project, paving the way for the financial close of the kingdom’s largest planned water infrastructure project to date.

    The agreement represents a significant step forward for the scheme, which is now projected to reach $5.6bn in total costs, including financing, up from earlier estimates of $3.5bn.

    Paris-based investment and utility firms Meridiam and Suez were awarded the contract last year to develop the project in partnership with Jordan’s Water & Irrigation Ministry.

    Since then, multiple large-scale financing agreements have been put in place for the project, which is expected to supply about 40% of Jordan’s drinking water needs.

    While new contract awards have been limited in 2026, the successful execution of the Aqaba-Amman Water Desalination and Conveyance scheme will help reassure the market that large-scale infrastructure projects of this nature can move forward.

    The project is set to reduce the benchmark water cost from about $3 a cubic metre in 2024 to approximately $2.7 and is crucial to addressing Jordan’s severe water scarcity.

    Prime Minister Jafar Hassan recently said that the scheme, along with the Aqaba Port railway project, represented “the largest level of foreign investment in the kingdom’s history”.

    For its part, the government has said it will contribute $722m to the Aqaba-Amman project, representing the largest single capital expenditure in the state budget.

    Upcoming projects

    Looking forward, there is a healthier pipeline of new water projects, led by a two-phased wastewater treatment project at Wadi Zarqa.

    The first phase will have an initial capacity to treat 150,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d) of wastewater by 2030.

    The $150m second phase covers an independent sewage treatment plant with a capacity of 200,000 cm/d. Both tenders are expected to be released in the coming months.

    Two larger projects, valued at $300m each, are currently in the planning stages. Both are managed by Yarmouk Water Company and involve major transmission pipeline works in Ajloun and Irbid as part of the Jordan Water Sector Efficiency Project.

    The Jordan Water Sector Efficiency Project is a World Bank-backed programme aimed at reducing water losses, improving utility performance and enhancing the efficiency of water services across the kingdom.

    Power contracts

    Jordan’s power sector is set for a record-breaking year following the announcement that a $900m combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plant will be developed in partnership with Etihad Development Company, a subsidiary of the UAE’s Etihad Water & Electricity (EtihadWE).

    The project will be developed under a build-own-operate model with Jordan’s National Electric Power Company (Nepco) purchasing electricity under a 25-year power-purchase agreement.

    For context, Jordan’s power sector saw just $33m in total contract awards in 2025, according to MEED Projects.

    The full-year total last exceeded $100m in 2022, when there were $111m of contract awards. The plant is expected to meet about 10% of Jordan’s electricity demand once operational.

    The kingdom has also been looking at other forms of power generation, such as Jordan’s first 450MW pumped hydroelectric energy storage project near Al-Mujib Dam.

    Earlier this year, US-headquartered K&M Advisors and France’s Artelia were appointed as transaction advisers to carry out the final feasibility study for the project, which is expected to be tendered in the third quarter of 2026.

    The Ministry of Energy & Mineral Resources (MEMR) is also planning to undertake the construction of a 1,000MW wind power plant and battery energy storage system near the Port of Aqaba in Jordan.

    The renewable energy scheme could potentially support the kingdom’s emerging green hydrogen industry, including a separate planned $1bn green ammonia and hydrogen project in Aqaba.

    In May, the project became the first publicly announced green ammonia project in Jordan to receive development approval from the Council of Ministers.

    The project would be developed by Jordan Green Ammonia, a special-purpose vehicle funded by the UAE-based 7Fidelity Group and Poland’s Hynfra.

    The project in Aqaba is expected to produce 100,000 tonnes a year of green ammonia from 2030

    Of approximately $6bn-worth of power projects in the pre-execution phase, it is worth noting that about $4.4bn are still in the early study or feed stages.

    Near-term awards are likely to come from several smaller substation and power generation schemes.

    Jordan-Syria power link

    Among the wider pipeline of regional opportunities, Jordan’s power sector could also benefit from efforts to restore electricity connectivity with neighbouring Syria.

    Syria’s Public Establishment for Transmission & Distribution of Electricity recently tendered a contract to repair the 400kV high-voltage interconnector transmission lines between the two countries.

    The works form part of Syria’s $146m Electricity Emergency Project, which is being financed through a World Bank grant and aims to restore critical electricity infrastructure across the country.

    The rehabilitation of the Syria-Jordan interconnector is expected to enable the import of up to 600MW of electricity and represents one of several initiatives under way to rebuild Syria’s power network following years of conflict and underinvestment.

    More broadly, Syria is emerging as an active power market in its own right. In April, Germany’s Siemens Energy signed manufacturing agreements for major power plant projects being developed by a consortium led by Qatar’s UCC Holding.

    The contracts cover combined-cycle power packages for the Zayzoun and Deir Azzour power plant projects, announced last year as part of a $7bn memorandum of understanding between the consortium and Syria’s Ministry of Energy.

    The May 2025 agreements include four combined-cycle gas turbine power plants in Traifawi, Homs and Zayzoun, Deir-Azzour and Mehardeh in Hama with an installed capacity of 4GW.

    Additionally, a 1GW solar power plant will be developed in Wedian Al-Rabee in Syria’s southern region.

    Most of these projects, awarded under concession agreements following a strategic memorandum of understanding framework, are due to come online in 2029.

    After years of inactivity, this is considerable progress. The next step is attracting sufficient interest in new and upcoming tenders. This will signal whether international contractors are ready to re-engage with the country’s power sector.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17157016/main.gif
    Mark Dowdall
  • PIF-owned Ardara tenders Al-Wadi sewer package

    9 June 2026

     

    Ardara, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), has issued a tender for the trunk sewer diversion and associated works package at its Al-Wadi development in Abha in Saudi Arabia’s Asir region.

    The scope includes the construction of rainwater and flood drainage networks, roads and transport infrastructure, and associated works within the wider Al-Wadi project.

    The bid submission deadline is 15 June.

    The sewer diversion package, valued at about $20m, is part of Ardara’s wider Al-Wadi development in Abha. The company, launched by PIF in 2023, is developing the 2.5-square-kilometre Al-Wadi destination in Abha as a mixed-use tourism and lifestyle development. The project will include residential, hospitality, commercial and recreational assets. 

    As MEED understands, the sewer diversion works are expected to facilitate the development of future phases of the Al-Wadi project by relocating existing wastewater infrastructure within the site.

    The tender follows demolition works completed on the site last year.

    Previously, in 2024, US-based Parsons was appointed to provide project management and supervision services for the project.

    READ THE JUNE 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

    GCC looks beyond the Strait; Iraq’s reform window narrows as fiscal assumptions shatter; MEED Top 100 companies.

    Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the June 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17156098/main.jpg
    Mark Dowdall