Saipem Ramps Up Offshore Contracts

Italian oil and gas contractor Saipem has signed an offshore contract addendum for the “Ramp Up to Plateau” phase of the “supergiant” Zohr Field Development Project in off the Egyptian coast.

The contract, valued at US$1.2 billion, covers engineering, procurement, construction and installation activities, and will be enacted jointly with partner Petrobel.

“In this new phase of works, Saipem will deploy a range of highly specialized vessels including the Castorone, the latest generation of ultra-deep water pipelayer; the FDS, a subsea field development ship; the heavy-lift vessel S7000; the DP3 subsea construction vessel Normand Maximus; the subsea construction vessel Saipem 3000; the pipelay vessel Castoro Sei and the multipurpose Normand Cutter and Far Samson vessels,” said Stefano Cao, CEO of Saipem.

Headquartered in Italy, Saipem provides onshore and offshore breakbulk transport, drilling services, engineering and installation of pipelines and complex projects worldwide. Petrobel is a 50-50 joint venture between the Egyptian General Petroleum Corp. and IEOC, a subsidiary of Eni.

 

South America Opportunities Expand

The award of the Zohr contract marked the end of a productive month for Saipem, with the firm announcing new drilling contracts worth about US$255 million in December. Onshore drilling contracts were signed in Argentina, Ecuador and Per, while offshore projects with Eni Messico in Mexico, and with Eni in the offshore Norwegian sector, were also confirmed.

“The awarding of important contracts in onshore drilling in South America marks the solidification of Saipem in the area and the strengthening of our presence in a market of particular interest in terms of size and prospects for growth. The new offshore drilling contracts confirm the company’s consolidation strategy both with long-term and new clients with a view to growth in the drilling market,” Cao added.

The group also reported new offshore drilling activities in the Middle East, a contract in Pakistan with the drillship Saipem 12000 and a contract extension in Indonesia.

 

Arctic EPC Renaissance

Rounding out the year Saipem also announced an onshore engineering and construction project worth €2.2 billion in the Russian Federation in the Tazovsky District, on the western Gydan Peninsula.

The project is a joint venture with Turkish oil and gas services company Renaissance and was awarded by the Artic LNG 2 consortium consisting of Novatek JSPC and Ekropromstroy.

The work comprises construction and breakbulk transport of three liquefied natural gas plants, each with a capacity of about 6.6 million tons per year. The tanks will be installed on concrete gravity-based structures with LNG storage facilities of 687,000 cubic meters.

Photo: S7000 vessel. Credit: Siapem