Qatar Awards $6 Billion Worth of Deals to Boost Output from Its Top Oilfield

Qatar’s state firm QatarEnergy has awarded engineering and installation contracts worth a total of $6 billion to develop the next phase of its biggest oilfield, Al-Shaheen, which will boost production at the offshore field by around 100,000 barrels per day (bpd).

The contract award is part of the third phase of Al-Shaheen’s development since North Oil Company took over the field’s operation in July 2017. The company is a joint venture between QatarEnergy, which has 70%, and French supermajor TotalEnergies, which holds the remaining 30%.

First oil from the next development phase at Al-Shaheen is expected in 2027, with more than 200 wells expected to be drilled and a new centralized process complex, nine remote wellhead platforms, and associated pipelines will be installed.     

Of the four major Engineering, Procurement, Construction, and Installation (EPCI) contract packages for further development of Al-Shaheen, a consortium of McDermott Middle East Inc. and Qingdao McDermott Wuchuan Offshore Engineering Co won one worth $2.1 billion.

The EPC package for a Central Processing Platform valued at about $1.9 billion went to a consortium of McDermott Middle East and Hyundai Heavy Industries. A $1.3 billion EPC package for a riser platform was awarded to Larsen & Toubro Limited, and an EPC package for subsea pipelines and cables valued at about $900 million was awarded to China Offshore Oil Engineering Co (COOEC).

“By awarding these contracts, we are taking an important step towards realizing the full potential of Al-Shaheen field, which produces around half of Qatar’s crude oil today,” said Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Qatar’s Minister of State for Energy Affairs and President and CEO of QatarEnergy.

Al-Shaheen began commercial production in 1994 and underwent significant development to reach an oil production rate of 300,000 bpd in 2007, QatarEnergy said.

Last month, QatarEnergy signed a deal with Shell under which the Qatari state firm will deliver up to 18 million barrels of crude annually to the supermajor, in the first-ever five-year crude sales agreement for the Qatari company.   

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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