Getting to work: the Khurais field is one of a number of projects currently on the agenda for Aramco
Aramco moves ahead at Dammam
Saudi Aramco is said to be moving towards carrying out a conceptual study as it plans to boost output at the ageing Dammam field, a project which could cost as much as $1.2 billion.
The Saudi Arabian giant earlier unveiled plans to increase production from the field, first tapped in 1938, to 100,000 barrels of crude per day.
A source familiar with the plans told Dow Jones Newswires that Aramco is close to inviting engineering players to make initial bids for the contract for a concept study.
Preliminary industry estimates put the cost of developing the field, located on the Persian Gulf coast in Saudi's Eastern Province, at as much as $1.2 billion.
The sources added that companies including Foster Wheeler, KBR, SNC-Lavalin and WorleyParsons are likely to be interested in bidding for the concept study.
A KBR spokeswoman said that the engineering outfit had not yet reached a decision on whether to bid for the project, while WorleyParsons declined to comment.
Foster Wheeler and SNC-Lavalin were not immediately available for comment.
The Dammam project comes on top of existing large-scale developments, including Khurais, Khursaniyah and Manifa, aimed at taking the kingdom's crude production capacity to 12.5 million bpd by the end of next year.