Zadco, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), has asked the firms to submit technical bids detailing planned engineering work by 22 June, with commercial prices outlining cost structures to follow in September.
Among the firms invited to bid on the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract are National Petroleum Construction Company (NPCC) and J Ray McDermott, both local, Larsen & Toubro and Punj Lloyd, both of India, Italy’s Saipem and the US’ Global Industries.
The development will replace an existing 42-inch pipeline linking the offshore Zadco cluster of production platforms with processing, storage and export facilities at Zirku island.
The original offshore pipeline was built in 1982 and its replacement has been in the planning since 2002.
The existing facility is understood to have suffered significant corrosion leading to a reduction in the thickness of the pipe. “It’s a matter of urgency to replace it now,” says a local oil executive.
“A pipeline like this shouldn’t be in service for that long.”
The contract is part of Zadco’s plan to increase production to 750,000 barrels-a-day (b/d) from 500,000 b/d. The project aims to debottleneck the Zirku island processing facilities.
