Saipem Secures Offshore Arabian Gulf Contracts

Italian oil and gas contractor Saipem has secured two contracts for offshore work in the Arabian Gulf from Saudi Aramco.

The deals are valued at a collective US$1.3 billion and cover development and installation of subsea infrastructure in the Berri and Marjan offshore fields.

“Saipem activities include the design, engineering, procurement, construction, installation and implementation of subsea systems in addition to the laying of pipelines, subsea cables and umbilicals, platform decks and jackets,” a spokesperson for the firm said.

 

Major Expansion

The contracts with Suadi Armaco were signed on a long-term basis and are expected to remain in force until 2021. Saipem provides onshore and offshore breakbulk transport, drilling services, engineering and installation of pipelines and complex projects worldwide.

Saudi Aramco plans a major expansion project at Berri to increase production to 200,000 barrels per day by the mid-2020s alongside the Marjan Crude Increment Program, which will result in a capacity increase of 300,000 barrels per day by 2024-2025.

Both planned developments are expected to drive breakbulk growth in the wider area over the next five to six years.

 

Aramco IPO Still on Table

Almost three years after first mooted, the proposed stock market debut of Saudi Aramco has received renewed attention in 2019, as the Kingdom’s Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih suggested an initial public offering may still be forthcoming.

“It will be probably in about the US$10-billion range,” Al-Falih said, suggesting that a decision will be made in the “next few weeks.”

Aramco is reportedly planning to disclose accounts to investors for the first time since its nationalization four decades ago, as it prepares to sell its first international bond and pave the way for a wider stock market sale.

"I think US$10 billion of issuance from Aramco will be just the start. We definitely expect them to return later in 2019 … We expect Saudi Inc to be one of the biggest issuers in the emerging market space this year," said Zehan Mohamed Salleh, manager at First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC.

Photo: Offshore platform. Credit: Wikimedia