NFE tenders cover jackets and topsides
Qatargas is swiftly moving ahead with two key tenders involving the offshore infrastructure required for its huge North Field Expansion (NFE) project, write Nishant Ugal.
The state-owned giant is thought to be carrying out a tender process for the engineering, procurement and construction of at least six jackets required for NFE.
In addition, the Qatari state-controlled player is also working on a separate tender that involves the front-end engineering and design work on at least six wellhead topsides required for the expansion project.
Industry sources told Upstream that technical and commercial offers for the NFE jackets EPC project are now likely to be submitted to Qatar Petroleum subsidiary Qatargas by the end of this month, following a delay of almost three months in the tender process.
“We are now hoping to submit bids by 28 January,” one source said.
While the NFE jackets tender initially involved at least six jackets, Qatargas is expected to make changes to the project’s workscope, adding about two to three new platforms in the tender package, a move that has delayed the project’s bid submission.
Four to five leading international contractors are understood to be preparing bids for the NFE jackets offshore project.
Those expected to bid include US giant McDermott, India’s Larsen & Toubro, Italy’s Saipem and Malaysia’s Sapura Energy.
In addition, Oslo-listed Subsea 7 and Vietnam’s PTSC are also seen as potential bidders, sources said.
The NFE tender package includes a turnkey job of at least six offshore wellhead jackets, each likely to weigh upwards of 1500 tonnes.
In addition to the EPC tender for the wellhead jackets, Qatargas is thought to have recently floated a new tender involving the FEED study on the wellhead topsides required for the expansion project.
“The FEED tender has just been issued and bids are expected to be submitted later this month,” one source said.
The NFE project is among the first to be launched by Qatar for the giant gas accumulation after a 12-year ban on further development was lifted in 2017.
