Saipem Secures More Zohr Work
Italian contractor Saipem said December 20 it has clinched extra work worth over $1.2bn as part of the ramp-up of the giant Zohr gas field offshore Egypt's Mediterranean coast.
It follows the original contract worth over €1.5bn by Zohr's developer Petrobel (a 50-50 Eni/state EGPC joint venture) to Saipem in July 2016, and an additional $900mn contract for Saipem one year later. Petrobel - which is responsible for the development of Zohr on behalf of PetroShorouk, a joint venture between licensees EGPC, Eni-owned IEOC, Rosneft, BP and Mubadala Petroleum - made the latest award too.
That latest $1.2bn addendum includes the installation of a second 30-inch diameter gas export pipeline and related interconnection lines, umbilicals and electric and fibre-optic cables, as well as engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) works for the development of 10 deepwater wells (up to 1700 meters). The start of this 'ramp up to plateau' phase is scheduled for January 2019. In this new phase, Saipem will employ a range of its highly specialised pipelay and construction vessels.
Zohr achieved an intermediate production level of 2bn ft3/d gross (equivalent to 20.7bn m3/yr) in September 2018. The final phase should ramp that up to 2.8bn ft3/d by end-2019.
Saipem CEO Stefano Cao said: "This additional award in the development of Zohr is a new recognition of our proven ability to incorporate the objectives of our customers from the early stages of collaboration and to complete them with determination. The innovative assets and technologies, already used in the previous phases, and the ability to build strong local partnerships will guarantee the success of this further phase." (Banner photo shows Saipem pipelay vessel Castorone, one of several vessels to be used on this final Zohr ramp-up stage)