Al Yasat Petroleum Operations Company awards $744m EPC contract to NPCC
65% of the award value will flow back into the UAE economy as part of ADNOC’s ICV programme
Al Yasat Petroleum Operations Company has awarded a $744m engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to the National Petroleum Construction Company (NPCC). The contract is for the full field development of the Belbazem Offshore Block in Abu Dhabi.
The project scope includes three offshore Well Head Towers (WHTs), one in each of the Block’s three fields, interconnecting sub-sea pipelines and cables to Zirku Island, located around 60km from Belbazem field. It also covers the development of greenfield facilities for water injection, produced water treatment, gas compression and associated utilities, as well as brownfield works for tie-in to existing facilities at Zirku Island, the statement said.
Al Yasat Petroleum Operations Company is a joint venture (JV) between Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC). ADNOC and CNPC hold 60% and 40% stakes in Al Yasat respectively, which is said to underpin the strong bilateral ties and energy partnership between the UAE and China.
The EPC contract award follows a competitive tender process and will see 65% of the award value flow back into the UAE economy under ADNOC’s In-Country Value (ICV) programme, highlighting how ADNOC continues to prioritise ICV as it delivers its 2030 strategy, the statement noted.
“We are very pleased to commence the full field development of the Belbazem Offshore Block, together with our strategic partner CNPC. This award demonstrates our commitment to maximise value from all of Abu Dhabi’s hydrocarbon resources for the benefit of the UAE and our partners,” said Yaser Saeed Almazrouei, ADNOC Upstream executive director.
Located 120km northwest of Abu Dhabi city, the Belbazem Block consists of three marginal offshore fields; Belbazem, Umm Al Salsal, and Umm Al Dholou.
The scope of the award covers EPC and commissioning activities for the offshore facilities required to enable full production capacity of 45,000bpd of light crude with API gravity of around 35 degrees and 27m standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) of associated gas from Belbazem, Almazrouei stated, adding the first oil is expected in 2023.
As part of the process leading up to the EPC award, Al Yasat undertook a front-end engineering design (FEED) competition among the bidders to optimise the project.
This initiative reduced the originally scheduled tender time by up to 12 months by removing the need for the technical bidding process for the EPC stage and has enabled savings of $190m in capital expenditure (CAPEX).
Shaheen Al Mansoori, acting CEO of Al Yasat concluded, “The FEED competition and EPC award for the Belbazem Offshore Block highlight Al Yasat’s focus on costs and competitive approach to ensure we can commercially develop our concession areas and deliver long-term and sustainable value for ADNOC and our partner CNPC. Al Yasat will continue to drive cost efficiencies as we unlock value from those of Abu Dhabi’s fields which are comparatively smaller and require a lean operating model to optimize their production and value potential.”
