Saudi Aramco has selected contractors for five offshore tenders covering the engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) of structures at the Abu Safah, Berri, Manifa, Marjan, Safaniya and Zuluf offshore oil and gas fields in Saudi Arabia.

The tenders are numbers 167, 168, 169, 170 and 171 on Aramco’s Contract Release and Purchase Order (CRPO) system, and are estimated to be worth up to $2bn combined.

Abu Dhabi government-owned NMDC Energy has won CRPOs 167, 169 and 171, while Italian contractor Saipem has secured CRPOs 168 and 170, according to sources.

NMDC Energy confirmed its contract awards from Aramco in a disclosure to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange on 23 October, saying the three contracts are valued at AED2.8bn ($763.3m).

Work on the contracts is expected to be completed in 18-23 months, NMDC Energy said in its filing, without providing further details.

Saipem has yet to confirm its contract awards from Aramco.

The basic scope of EPCI work on the tenders is as follows:

CRPO 167 – eight jackets at the Marjan field development CRPO 168 – four production deck modules (PDMs) at the Abu Safah, Berri, Manifa and Safaniya fields CRPO 169 – three PDMs at the Marjan field development CRPO 170 – three PDMs at the Marjan field development CRPO 171 – three PDMs at the Zuluf field development

Aramco issued the five CRPOs to contractors in its Long-Term Agreement (LTA) pool of offshore service providers in December last year, setting an initial bid submission deadline of 3 February.

The Saudi energy giant has since extended the bid submission deadline several times – to 31 March, 1 June, 1 July and then 30 July – to allow LTA contractors sufficient time to prepare proposals.

At the request of some bidders, Aramco granted a final two-day extension, with LTA contractors submitting their proposals for the five CRPOs on 1 August, MEED previously reported.

Aramco had previously indicated its intention to award contracts for CRPOs 167-171 by October, and the contract awards affirm it has adhered to this schedule.

Aramco’s LTA pool of offshore service providers comprises the following entities:

Saipem (Italy) McDermott International (US) Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (LTEH, India) / Subsea7 (UK) NMDC Energy (UAE) Lamprell (UAE/Saudi Arabia) China Offshore Oil Engineering Company (China) Dynamic Industries (US) Sapura Energy (Malaysia) TechnipFMC (France) / MMHE (Malaysia) Hyundai Heavy Industries (South Korea)

In April 2025, Aramco renewed its LTAs with the following contractors, whose contracts had either lapsed or were close to expiry:

Saipem McDermott International Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon / Subsea7 NMDC Energy Lamprell China Offshore Oil Engineering Company