Three contractors are vying to land a sizeable subsea contract covering Edison E&P’s North El Amriya-North Idku gas and condensate project off Egypt.

Sources familiar with the shallow-water development in the Nile Delta area told Upstream commercial bids were submitted last month, with Saipem, Subsea 7 and TechnipFMC thought to be in the running.

A decision on the preferred contender is due to be made shortly, with first oil expected to flow about 18 months after a final investment decision is taken later this year after a one-year delay.

At this stage it is unclear which company the lead contender, although one market source suggested TechnipFMC may be in a strong position.

Assuming the contract is an integrated package covering umbilicals and flowlines plus a subsea production system, TechnipFMC could handle the entire package, while Saipem would likely call on Aker Solutions, with Subsea 7 likely teaming up with OneSubsea.

It is understood that 20 to 30 kilometres of flowlines would be needed in addition to the same length of umbilicals.

“The Egyptian government is keen so see the project progress so (Edison) should be able to announce the winning contractor in the next few weeks,” said a source close to the project.

The contract is expected to be valued at $100 million to $150 million and would involve three subsea wells on the North El Amriya concession and one well in the North Idku concession, all tied back to the existing North Abu Qir III platform.

In North El Amriya, two wells will tap the Yazzi find and one will exploit Python, while NI-1 — one of four existing discoveries in North Idku will be a single well tieback. Both licences contain undrilled prospects.

At this stage, it is unclear if NI-1 will be developed at the same time as Yazzi and Python, or afterwards.

Gas sales price deal

As of three months ago, Energean reported that Edison E&P had agreed a gas sales price with the Egyptian government covering North El Amriya of $4.60 per million British thermal units at Brent prices above $40 per barrel.

Energean pointed out there is a floor price of $4.45 per million Btu at Brent prices of $25 or less.

The fields will send gas and condensate to the Abu Qir facilities with the aim of maintaining production at about 40,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

TechnipFMC-controlled Genesis carried out engineering studies on the proposed development.

The four wells will be drilled in water depths ranging from 30 to 85 metres.

The project is operated by Abu Qir Petroleum Company, a joint venture between Edison and the state-owned Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation.

Energean's acquisition

London-listed independent Energean is in the process of acquiring Edison E&P’s assets in Egypt and elsewhere and hopes to conclude the delayed deal this year.

According to Energean, combined peak production from the two new fields is expected to be about 90 million cubic feet per day of gas and 1000 barrels per day of condensate.

The development will target an estimated 52 million barrels of proven and probable reserves at a total cost of about $200 million.

Energean said: “The development will add limited operating costs to the Abu Qir complex, resulting in attractive netbacks.”

A planned four-well infill drilling programme in the Abu Qir area has been deferred until after start-up of North El Amriya and North Idku.

Abu Qir is the oldest gas production area in the Mediterranean Sea and is one of the largest gas producing hubs in Egypt.

It comprises three fields — Abu Qir, North Abu Qir and West Abu Qir — and six interconnected production platforms, with production processed into gas, condensate and liquid petroleum gas at the onshore Meadia plant.

Field Development

Subsea trio battle for Edison Egypt contract