QatarEnergy LNG, a subsidiary of state enterprise QatarEnergy, has received technical bids from contractors for a new engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) package that is part of the second phase of its North Field Production Sustainability (NFPS) project.

Contractors submitted technical bids for the NFPS phase two COMP5 package “in late June”, sources told MEED. The value of the EPCI contract for the package could be in the “ballpark of $5bn”, the sources said.

Contractors that have submitted technical bids for the NFPS phase two COMP5 package are understood to include:

• China Offshore Oil Engineering Company
• Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (India)
• McDermott (US)
• Saipem (Italy)

The scope of work on the COMP5 package covers EPCI work on the following:

• Two gas compression platforms, each weighing 30,000-35,000 tonnes, plus jacket
• Two living quarter platforms, plus jacket
• Two gas flare platforms plus jacket
• Brownfield modification work at two complexes

According to sources, QatarEnergy LNG, formerly known as Qatargas, is evaluating technical bids for the COMP5 package and has yet to set a submission date for commercial bids from contractors.

NFPS scheme

QatarEnergy’s North Field liquefied natural gas (LNG) expansion programme requires the state enterprise to pump large volumes of gas from the North Field offshore reserve to feed the three phases of the estimated $40bn-plus programme.

QatarEnergy has already invested billions of dollars in engineering, procurement and construction works on the two phases of the NFPS project, which aims to maintain steady gas feedstock for the North Field LNG expansion phases.

The second NFPS phase will mainly involve building gas compression facilities to sustain and gradually increase gas production from Qatar’s offshore North Field gas reserve over the long term.

Saipem has been the most successful contractor on the second NFPS phase, securing work worth a total of $8.5bn.

QatarEnergy LNG awarded Saipem a $4.5bn order in October 2022 to build and install gas compression facilities. The main scope of work on the package, which is known as EPCI 2, covers two large gas compression complexes that will comprise decks, jackets, topsides, interconnecting bridges, flare platforms, living quarters and interface modules.

The gas compression complexes – CP65 and CP75 – will weigh 62,000 tonnes and 63,000 tonnes, respectively, and will be the largest fixed steel jacket compression platforms ever built.

Following that, Saipem won combined packages COMP3A and COMP3B of the NFPS project’s second phase in September last year.

The scope of work on the combined packages encompasses EPCI of a total of six platforms, approximately 100 kilometres (km) of corrosion resistance alloy rigid subsea pipelines of 28-inches and 24-inches diameter, 100km of subsea composite cables, 150km of fibre optic cables and several other subsea units.

Separately, QatarEnergy LNG awarded McDermott the contract for the NFPS second phase package known as EPCI 1, or COMP1, in July 2023. The scope of work on the estimated $1bn-plus contract is to install a subsea gas pipeline network at the North Field gas development.

In March this year, India’s Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (LTEH) won the main contract for the combined 4A and 4B package, which is the fourth package of the second phase of the NFPS project and is estimated to be valued at $4bn-$5bn.

The main scope of work on the package is the EPCI of two large gas compression systems that will be known as CP8S and CP4N, each weighing 25,000-35,000 tonnes. The contract scope also includes compression platforms, flare gas platforms and other associated structures.

LTHE sub-contracted detailed engineering and design works on the combined 4A and 4B package to French contractor Technip Energies.

NFPS first phase

Saipem is also executing the EPCI works on the entire first phase of the NFPS project, which consists of two main packages.

Through the first phase of the NFPS scheme, QatarEnergy LNG aims to increase the early gas field production capacity of the North Field offshore development to 110 million tonnes a year.

QatarEnergy LNG awarded Saipem the contract for the EPCI package in February 2021. The package is the larger of the two NFPS phase one packages and has a value of $1.7bn.

Saipem’s scope of work on the EPCI package encompasses building several offshore facilities for extracting and transporting natural gas, including platforms, supporting and connecting structures, subsea cables and anti-corrosion internally clad pipelines.

The scope of work also includes decommissioning a pipeline and other significant modifications to existing offshore facilities.

In addition, in April 2021, QatarEnergy LNG awarded Saipem two options for additional work within the EPCI package, worth about $350m.

QatarEnergy LNG awarded Saipem the second package of the NFPS phase one project, estimated to be worth $1bn, in March 2021.

Saipem’s scope of work on the package, which is known as EPCL, mainly covers installing three offshore export trunklines running almost 300km from their respective offshore platforms to the QatarEnergy LNG north and south plants located in Ras Laffan Industrial City.

Saipem performed the front-end engineering and design work on the main production package of the first phase of the NFPS as part of a $20m contract that it was awarded in January 2019. This provided a competitive advantage to the Italian contractor in its bid to win the package.