State-owned China Offshore Oil Engineering Company (COOEC) has announced that it has won contracts worth $4bn for a project to maintain and increase the oil production potential of the Bul Hanine offshore oil field development in Qatar.

In a statement issued on 3 September, the contractor said: “Recently, COOEC successfully won the bid for two sections of the Qatar [Bul Hanine] BH project with a bid amount of approximately $4bn, setting a new record for the contract amount of marine oil and gas engineering projects undertaken by Chinese companies in the Middle East.”

In August, MEED reported that QatarEnergy had selected COOEC for two of the three main engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) packages for the Bul Hanine offshore field expansion project.

COOEC was awarded contracts for the first two EPC packages, while Qatari contractor Doha Petroleum Construction Company (Dopet) was selected for the third, sources previously told MEED.

Additionally, COOEC appointed US-based KBR to provide detailed engineering services for the first and second EPC packages, MEED reported in August.

Qatar’s Bul Hanine oil field lies about 120 kilometres offshore in the Gulf’s waters. The field has been in production since 1972 and has produced more than 1.3 billion barrels of oil to date, with an average production rate of 40,000 barrels a day (b/d).

Through this project, QatarEnergy intends to increase and stabilise the field’s output to 93,000 b/d.

EPC works on the first package cover:

• Expansion of existing offshore production stations
• Construction of living quarters
• Construction of utilities platform
• Installation of gas-injection platform
• Installation of riser platform
• Modifications to existing structures
• Installation of safety and security systems

EPC works on the second package cover:

• Installation of brownfield hookups

• Installation of flowlines
• Laying of pipelines
• Maintenance works
• Associated offshore infrastructure

QatarEnergy received technical bids for the three EPC packages of the Bul Hanine offshore field expansion project between late January and early February.

Contractors submitted commercial bids for the first package on 13 July, and for the second and third packages on 7 July, MEED previously reported.

The following contractors, among others, are understood to have been bidding for the Bul Hanine offshore oil field development expansion project:

• China Offshore Oil Engineering Company (China)
• Doha Petroleum Construction Company (Qatar)
• Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (India)
• McDermott (US)
• PetroVietnam Technical Services (Vietnam)