Saudi Aramco is understood to be closing in on the selection of its long-term agreement (LTA) contractors to carry out hook-up and commissioning activities across its offshore fields.

Multiple industry sources told Upstream that the much-delayed tender from the Saudi Arabian state oil company aimed at finalising the LTA players for hook-up and commissioning activities is nearing its decision phase, with up to three players likely to be chosen within a month or two.

At least six offshore contractors are believed to be battling it out for the right to participate in the hook-up and commissioning LTA work, which includes relatively smaller brownfield and modification jobs, sources told Upstream.

Those thought to be competing include domestic Saudi players Zamil Offshore and Jana Marine.

Among the international contenders, Malaysia’s Sapura Energy, Indian engineering giant Larsen & Toubro, Oslo-listed Subsea 7 and China’s Offshore Oil Engineering Company (COOEC) are also understood to be among the potential participants, sources have suggested.

Technical and commercial offers for the LTA tender were submitted by six players last year, but its finalisation was delayed on several occasions.

Zamil Offshore and Jana Marine were a part of the previous hook-up and commissioning LTA list and are also expected to win contracts for the new arrangement, sources have indicated.

In addition, at least one international player is also likely to be included in the hook-up and commissioning arrangements by Aramco.

The new hook-up and commissioning LTA contracts are likely to be valid for a five-year period with likely extensions up to two years, sources said. As the state-owned giant embarks on multiple incremental development programmes involving fields such as Marjan, Berri and Zuluf, contractors selected for the hook-up and commissioning LTA are expected to benefit from the increasing volume of offshore jobs being awarded.

Aramco is also carrying out tendering activity for substantial offshore maintenance contracts involving its larger pool of engineering, procurement, construction and installation players, which are a part of coveted LTA arrangements.

About $2 billion to $3 billion-worth of contracts are likely to be awarded by Aramco each year as a part of its EPCI LTA arrangement with nine offshore contractors or consortia.

Higher spending on EPCI LTA contracts is also likely to lead to increased activity in hook-up and commissioning. Aramco added four new groups to its EPCI LTA arrangement last year for carrying out offshore maintenance and brownfield jobs across multiple offshore fields.

Sapura Energy, 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 added as the new entrants, joining five existing members.

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 Larsen & Toubro with Subsea 7 and Abu Dhabi’s National Petroleum Construction Company (NPCC).

The first four contractors entered into the EPCI LTAs with Aramco in 2015, while NPCC was added at a later stage.

Weekly

Saudi Aramco lines up LTA installation job list