Saipem, a leading engineering, drilling and construction company, said it has been awarded a $1.7-billion contract by Qatargas for the development of the North Field Production project, located offshore Qatar peninsula.
 
The scope of work 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, said the statement from Saipem. 
 
Furthermore, the project encompasses the decommissioning of a pipeline and other significant modifications to existing offshore facilities.
 
According to Saipem, the pipe-laying and lifting operations will be executed by the DE HE vessel in water depths of approximately 65 m, leveraging on Saipem’s high-end welding technology for corrosion resistant cladded pipelines to meet the client’s stringent quality requirements, said the statement.
 
The project aims at increasing the early gas field production capacity to 110 million tonnes per annum.
 
This new contract, which consolidates the group’s position in Qatar, is the latest of a string of projects awarded to Saipem since its return in the country in 2018 with the Barzan project, nearing completion. 
 
Saipem is already executing the WHP12N Jacket project, awarded in July 2020, which is part of the North Field Production Sustainability Offshore Project development. This new contract award is included in December 31 backlog.
 
Saipem has recently expanded its offices in the country and strengthened its fabrication capability by cooperating with a local fabrication yard, offering a sustainable Qatar-based execution scheme.
 
On the contract win, E&C Offshore Division COO Stefano Porcari said: "Saipem is well positioned and actively executing various contracts in Qatar, a key market for us with several offshore investments expected to progress in the near future."
 
"This acquisition by Qatargas consolidates our position in the gas sector, confirms our strategic role in the energy transition and represents a token of confidence in Saipem's experience and proven ability to successfully execute and deliver challenging projects," he stated. 
 
"Furthermore, it also confirms the relevance and effectiveness of the early engagement model adopted through our division XSIGHT, which recently concluded, ahead of time, the front-end engineering design contract for the whole NFPS development programme," he added.-TradeArabia News Service