Italian oilfield services provider Saipem has received a letter of award from Qatargas for a new contract worth over $1 billion related to the North Field Production Sustainability Pipelines Project located offshore and onshore the North-East coast of Qatar peninsula.
The additional contract (the EPCL package) entails the Engineering, Procurement, Construction, and Installation (EPCI) of offshore export trunklines and related onshore tie-in works, Saipem explained on Monday.
The deal is part of the development of the North Field production plateau, which also includes the EPCI of offshore facilities (EPCO package) previously awarded to Saipem in February 2021.
The scope of work under the contract from February encompasses the Engineering, Procurement, Construction, and Installation of various offshore facilities for the extraction and transportation of natural gas, including platforms, supporting and connecting structures, subsea cables and anticorrosion internally cladded pipelines.
The scope of work under the new contract for this award (EPCL package) includes three export trunklines starting from their respective offshore platforms to the Qatargas North and South Plants in Ras Laffan Industrial City for a total length of almost 300 km, as well as associated onshore tie-in works and brownfield activities on existing onshore and offshore facilities.
Pipelaying operations will be executed by the DE HE and Saipem Endeavour vessels.
Saipem stated it will enhance the overall project execution, comprising both EPCO and EPCL scope of work, by combining relevant planned schedules and project management and will start activities immediately. Project completion is expected by mid-2024.
Stefano Porcari, Saipem E&C Offshore Division COO, commented: “This additional contract awarded by our key client Qatargas strengthens our consolidated relationship and represents a further proof of the trust in Saipem’s ability to deliver challenging projects and is a sign of success of our positioning strategy in Qatar”.
The North Field is one of the largest single non-associated natural gas fields in the world. It is operated by Qatargas and lies off the north-east shore of the Qatar peninsula.
In related news, Qatar Petroleum has issued an invitation to tender to a large group of shipowners as it aims to firm up long-term LNG carrier charters to cover its future production increase.
The state-owned company’s shipping requirements are set to rise with the ongoing expansion project in the North Field, which will raise Qatar’s current LNG production capacity of 77 million tons per annum to 126 million tons per annum by 2027.
Qatar Petroleum has entrusted Qatargas with the management of this ship-owner selection program on its behalf.