Saipem, an Italian multinational oil services company, has been awarded a new contract worth US$4.1 billion by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) for the development of the Hail and Ghasha natural gas fields in the United Arab Emirates.
The Milan-based firm, in a consortium with the Abu Dhabi-based National Petroleum Construction Company (NPCC), will work on the project 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.
The contract involves 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 of subsea pipelines.
Adnoc has so far signed two EPC contracts worth US$17 billion for the Hail and Ghasha development, which is expected to produce 1.5 billion standard cubic feet per day (bscfpd) of gas before the end of 2030.
Saipem says the award reinforces its long-standing relationship with Adnoc, and further consolidates the company’s presence in Abu Dhabi, which includes an engineering and project execution centre, and a new offshore logistics base in Zayed Port.
Adnoc's partners in the Hail and Ghasha development project, with a concession term of 40 years, include Italy’s Eni, Germany’s Wintershall Dea, and Austria’s OMV.
A second LNG production plant is being developed in Al Ruwais Industrial City. The project consists of two liquefaction trains with a total nameplate capacity of 9.6 million metric tonnes per annum.
An existing liquefaction plant on Das Island in the Arabian Gulf currently has export capacity of 6 MTPA.
The Hail and Ghasha project is seen as playing a vital role in meeting the UAE’s objective of becoming self-sufficient in gas supply. Adnoc will need to invest more than US$40 billion in order for the UAE to attain that objective, considering the complex nature of the country’s gas resources, according to a recent report by energy research and consultancy group Wood Mackenzie.
