Bechtel and TechnipFMC are poised to win front-end engineering and design contracts from Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) for its multi-billion dollar Hail & Ghasha and Dalma sour gas offshore developments, respectively.

Several industry sources told Upstream that Adnoc has finalised the award of the two FEED contracts, following a much-delayed tender process that was initiated last year.

Bechtel is expected to win the first major FEED contract for the giant Hail & Ghasha sour gas project, a development that is expected to involve billions of dollars of overall investment.

The US-based private player is believed to have pipped other competitors including TechnipFMC, UK-based Amec Foster Wheeler (now owned by Wood) and Australia’s WorleyParsons, industry sources said.

Sources did not confirm the price offered by Bechtel for the FEED job, but claimed that the US player offered a “very competitive” price to Adnoc for the engineering project.

In addition to Hail & Ghasha, TechnipFMC has been chosen to carry out the separate FEED job at Abu Dhabi’s Dalma offshore sour gas project, added sources.

WorleyParsons was thought to be initially competing for the Dalma project's FEED contract with TechnipFMC, but is believed to have lost out, industry sources claimed.

The tender process for the Dalma FEED was being carried out by Occidental Petroleum of the US on behalf of Adnoc, while Austria’s OMV is thought to have been carrying out the tender process for Hail & Ghasha for the Abu Dhabi giant.

Upstream reported in November last year that Adnoc was closing in on the award of the two crucial FEED contracts.

Adnoc roped in US independent Oxy and OMV in 2016 as technical advisors to develop the large sour gas fields. However, there is no clarity yet on the stake that Occidental or OMV might hold in the development phases.

The Hail & Ghasha development is expected to be among the biggest that will be carried out by Adnoc over the next few years, and is expected to cost billions of dollars, according to industry sources.

Hail & Ghasha have remained undeveloped for years due to technical and environmental challenges.

The development is believed to be at least five times bigger than the Dalma project, sources have suggested. The project is expected to involve several artificial islands, onshore and offshore facilities and multiple segments of offshore pipelines.

Ghasha alone is estimated to hold more than 5 trillion cubic feet of gas, although this figure is unofficial.

The combined Hail & Ghasha sour gas development is expected to add about 1 billion cubic feet per day of gas production for Abu Dhabi. US engineering player KBR confirmed in August last year that it had landed a project management consultancy (PMC) contract from OMV to manage FEED for Hail & Ghasha.

KBR will also provide services for the detailed engineering phase of the development, with work to be completed over a two-year period, it added.

In addition, KBR also confirmed a second award last year involving the PMC for the FEED phase of the Dalma field development and also management of the detailed design and surveys phase for the artificial islands needed for Hail & Ghasha.

Adnoc has already kick-started the tender process for fabrication of four early drilling jackets required for Dalma.

Industry sources have suggested that the EPC tender process for Hail & Ghasha is expected to start next year.

Adnoc cancelled several tenders related to these two gas development schemes in 2016, as it embarked on a thorough strategic review and a cost reduction exercise. However, the two projects were revived last year.

Adnoc chief executive Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber had earlier said that the company could invest a potential “$20 billion to develop the Hail, Ghasha, Dalma, Nasr and Shuwaihat fields”.

Abu Dhabi is swiftly moving ahead on a series of complex gas field developments that could add more than 1.5 Bcfd of production amid demand in the United Arab Emirates as a whole that is expected to grow at more than 6% per annum.