LNG

Saipem, the Italian energy and LNG engineering company specializing in subsea work, has signed a letter of award with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc)  for a new contract related to the Hail and Ghasha natural gas development project in the United Arab Emirates.

Saipem said its share of the contract amounts to around $4.1 billion and has been awarded in consortium with the Abu Dhabi-based National Petroleum Construction Company (NPCC).

The project is aimed at developing the resources of the Hail and Ghasha natural gas fields, located offshore Abu Dhabi.

The fields lie in the Ghasha Concession block in water depth of around 328 feet and are expected to start commercial production in the next couple of years.

Saipem said the project scope of work encompassed the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of four drilling centres and one processing plant to be built on artificial islands, as well as various offshore structures and more than 300 kilometres (187 miles) of subsea pipelines.

Integrated

“The award is in line with Saipem’s unique capability to deliver integrated onshore and offshore projects, providing its clients with a single and reliable interface for complex full-field developments,” said the Milan-based company.

“Saipem will leverage on its state-of-the-art shallow water offshore vessels, its advanced welding technology for corrosion resistant materials, as well as its renowned engineering expertise,” Saipem added.

“This award reinforces Saipem’s long-standing relationship with ADNOC and further consolidates the company’s presence in Abu Dhabi, which includes an Engineering and Project Execution Centre, as well as a new Offshore Logistic base in Zayed Port,” Saipem explained. 

ADNOC’s partners in the Hail and Ghasha gas development with a concession term of 40 years include Italy’s Eni, Germany’s Wintershall Dea and Austria’s OMV.

The multi-billion-dollar Hail and Ghasha project is also seen as playing a vital role in meeting the UAE’s gas self-sufficiency objectives.

It also comes at a time when a second UAE LNG production project plant is being developed at Al Ruwais Industrial City. The Ruwais LNG project consists of two 4.8 million metric tonnes annum liquefaction Trains with a total nameplate capacity of 9.6 MTPA.

The existing liquefaction plant on Das Island in the Arabian Gulf currently has export capacity of 6 MTPA. 

A heavy-lifting, transportation and installation contract has been awarded to privately held Dutch company Mammoet for Saudi Aramco’s natural gas storage and gas resources management project, the Aramco Hawiyah Unayzah Gas Reservoir Storage venture, located 260 kilometres (160 miles) east of Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh.

Wintershall DEA of Germany would become the leading independent oil and gas producer in Europe when the merger is completed by mid-2019 between Wintershall and Deutsche Erdoel AG (DEA), with operations stretching from Argentina’s Shale Basin to Russia, though unusually for an energy company of its size with no presence in the LNG sector.