Italian player Saipem is believed to be in pole position to land a pipeline installation contract related to further development of Noble Energy’s Alen field off Equatorial Guinea, writes Iain Esau.

The Milan-based contractor is set to install a 24-inch, 70-kilometre pipeline which will transport up to 950 million cubic feet per day of gas from the existing Alen platform to facilities on Bioko Island.

Upstream was told that Saipem has established a joint venture with Alduco Engineering, a Nigerian company with an Equatorial Guinea base in Malabo on Bioko Island.

News of Saipem’s front runner status emerged as Tenaris was awarded a contract to supply 21,000 tonnes of line pipe for the project, which will be manufactured at its Confab welded pipe mill in Pindamonhangaba, Brazil.

The final investment decision was taken earlier this year on what Noble calls the Alen gas monetisation project.

In May 2018, Noble struck a deal with the Equatoguinean government and fellow US player Marathon Oil to pipe associated gas — currently being re-injected — from Alen to the Equatorial Guinea LNG facility, just outside Malabo.

The heads of agreement established a framework for Alen’s gas to be processed through Marathon’s single-train liquefaction facility and its liquid petroleum gas plant at Punta Europa.

The gas project calls for modifications to the existing Alen fixed platform and construction of the pipeline while primary condensate will continue to be produced and lifted offshore via the Aseng floating production, storage and offloading vessel.

Ultimately, the project aims to tap more than 3 trillion cubic feet of gas that Noble has identified in Block O — which hosts Alen — and Block I, although initially about 600 billion cubic feet will be exploited.

This new development is due to come on stream in the first half of 2021 with production peaking at about 300 million cubic feet per day.

Gas from Alen will supplement declining supplies to the EG LNG plant from Marathon’s Alba field.

The intention of the government is for Alen to become a gas commercialisation hub in the Rio Muni basin, taking production from fields in both Equatorial Guinea and, potentially, Cameroon.

Noble’s partners in Block O are Glencore and state-owned Gepetrol while its partners in Block I are Glencore, Gepetrol, Atlas-Oranto Petroleum and Gunvor Resources.

Marathon’s partners in the LNG plant are state-owned Sonagas, Mitsui and Marubeni while its partners in the LPG facility are Noble and Sonagas.

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Saipem heads pack for Alen gas project off Equatorial Guinea