Saudi Aramco has added four new groups to its coveted list of companies that can be considered for field development work under its long-term agreement (LTA) contracts, writes Eoin O-Cinneide.

Malaysia’s Sapura Energy, China’s Offshore Oil Engineering Company (COOEC), a pairing of United Arab Emirates-based Lamprell and Dutch player Boskalis and another grouping of UK-based TechnipFMC and Malaysia Marine & Heavy Engineering were this week confirmed as the new entrants, joining five existing members.

The firm deals, signed at Aramco’s In Kingdom Total Value Add (IKTVA) event in Dammam this week, came after Upstream reported recently that the quartet had signed letters of intent with the Saudi state oil giant.

Before the expansion from five to nine was confirmed, Aramco’s preferred LTA contractors were McDermott International and Dynamic Industries of the US, Italy’s Saipem, a partnership of India’s Larsen & Toubro with Oslo-listed Subsea 7 — which last year acquired Emas Chiyoda’s business in Saudi Arabia — and Abu Dhabi’s National Petroleum Construction Company (NPCC).

The first four contractors entered into LTAs with Aramco in 2015, while NPCC was added later.

Sapura chief executive Shahril Shamsuddin said: “This win is a major milestone for Sapura Energy in line with our strategy to grow the business and deepen our presence in the Middle East.”

Under this week’s deal with Aramco, London-listed Lamprell will be involved in engineering, procurement and construction of offshore facilities, such as jackets and topsides. Boskalis will be involved in transport and installation work, as well as dredging and some specialist subsea work.

Both Lamprell and Boskalis said that within the scope of the LTA, investments could exceed $3 billion per annum.

Lamprell chief executive Chris McDonald said: “This is one of the most sought-after and selective processes in the industry and the award advances our strategic aspirations with respect to both Saudi Arabia and the EPCI sector, as well as cementing our relationship with an industry partner in Boskalis.”

Boskalis counterpart Peter Berdowski added: “In the coming year, we will focus on tendering and building up our local organisation in preparation of the execution of projects for the period thereafter.”

Also at this week’s IKTVA event, Aramco chief executive Amin Nasser said the company had signed 31 deals worth a total of $27.5 billion. However, he did not elaborate on the workscope associated with the collaborations.

Weekly

Aramco adds four to LTA list