Saudi Aramco has requested offshore contractors in its Long-Term Agreement (LTA) pool that had submitted bids for a tender involving the installation of structures at its Northern Area Oil Operations to extend the validity of their bids. The tender is number 150 on Aramco’s Contracts Release and Purchase Order (CRPO) system. It is estimated to be valued between $350m and $400m, according to sources. The scope of work on CRPO 150 involves the upgrade of trunklines and flowlines at Aramco's Northern Area Oil Operations, mainly at the Marjan offshore oil field development.  Aramco’s Long-Term Agreement (LTA) pool of offshore contractors submitted technical bids and associated In-Kingdom Total Value Add (IKTVA) credentials for CRPO 150 on 14 November last year, while commercial bids were submitted by 8 December. Aramco has requested bidders for CRPO 150 to extend the validity of their proposals until the end of June. This request could have been made to “buy more time” for evaluation of bids. In January last year, the Saudi Energy Ministry directed Aramco to abandon its campaign to expand its oil production spare capacity from 12 million barrels a day (b/d) to 13 million b/d by 2027. As a direct consequence of that government decision, Aramco cancelled the tendering process for at least 15 tenders involving the engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) of structures at offshore oil and gas fields. Since that decision, however, the Saudi energy giant has gone the other way, spending an estimated $5bn in 2024 on offshore EPCI contracts. Italian contractor Saipem was the biggest beneficiary of Aramco’s robust offshore spending, winning five of the eight CRPOs awarded last year. In early May, Aramco awarded Saipem the contract for CRPO 143, which involves replacing an oil line between the Berri and Manifa oil fields in the kingdom’s Gulf waters. Aramco then awarded Saipem the contract for CRPO 138, which involves laying a trunkline at the Abu Safah offshore field. The contract is estimated to be worth $500m. The Milan-listed contractor then scooped three major CRPOs in August, starting with CRPOs 132 and 139, the combined value of which is estimated to be about $1bn. In early September, Saipem began work on the two contracts, which involve the EPCI of structures to upgrade the Marjan, Zuluf and Safaniya offshore field developments. Just days after awarding CRPOs 132 and 139 to Saipem, Aramco awarded the Italian contractor CRPO 127, a $2bn contract that involves the EPCI of topsides and jackets for wellhead platforms, a tie-in platform jacket and topside, rigid flowlines, submarine composite cables and fibre optic cables at the Marjan oil and gas field. In late November, Aramco awarded three CRPOs, worth more than $500m. China Offshore Oil Engineering Company (COOEC) won CRPOs 149 and 152, which are estimated to be valued at $30m and $250m-$300m, respectively. UK-based Subsea7 secured CRPO 153, which is said to be valued at $200m-$250m. Offshore jobs under bidding In addition to CRPO 150, tender proceedings are under way for 11 more offshore tenders, among which are four CRPOs – numbers 145, 146, 147 and 148 – that represent the further expansion of the Zuluf field development. Offshore LTA contractors submitted bids for the four tenders, which are estimated to be worth a total of $6bn, in December, with the contract awards due in the second quarter. Between November and December, Aramco issued seven more CRPOs to its LTA pool of contractors. CRPOs 157, 158, 159 and 160 relate to the EPCI of several structures at the Abu Safah, Berri, Manifa and Zuluf fields, with contractors preparing bids for these tenders at present. CRPOs 154, 155 and 156 cover the next expansion phase of the Safaniya field. Offshore LTA contractors are due to submit bids for these three tenders by 31 July. (ICE RIYADH)

Fonte notizia: Meed