43 billion! Qatar signs the world's largest offshore engineering order this year

The world's largest offshore engineering order of the year has been placed! QatarEnergy has signed a total package contract worth 43 billion yuan, with two Chinese shipbuilders participating in the order.

On January 31, QatarEnergy announced the signing of four engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (EPCI) contracts for the third phase of the Al-Shaheen offshore oil field development project, the largest oil field in Qatar, with a total value of US\$6 billion (approximately 42.842 billion yuan).

These four contracts include a US\$2.1 billion EPC contract for nine wellhead platforms, awarded to a consortium of McDermott Middle East and Qingdao Wuchuan McDermott Ocean Engineering; a US\$1.9 billion EPC contract for a central processing platform, awarded to a consortium of Hyundai Heavy Industries of South Korea and McDermott Middle East; a US\$1.3 billion EPC contract for a riser platform, awarded to Larsen & Toubro; and a US\$0.9 billion EPC contract for subsea pipelines and cables, awarded to CNOOC Engineering.

This is the largest offshore engineering order globally this year, with the highest-value wellhead platform package contract to be built with the participation of Qingdao Wuchuan McDermott. McDermott stated that the contract covers the installation of nine wellhead platforms and jackets, but did not disclose the specific work content of Qingdao Wuchuan McDermott or its share in the total US\$2.1 billion contract.

It is understood that Qingdao Wuchuan McDermott (QWM) is a joint venture between China Shipbuilding Group Co., Ltd. and McDermott International, Inc., possessing a world-class module construction base. Leveraging McDermott's global technical support and comprehensive management system, it provides international clients with construction services for core products including offshore engineering, subsea equipment, onshore modules, and offshore wind power equipment. Currently, the company's business covers multiple countries across four continents, with major clients including globally renowned energy companies such as Saudi Aramco, ExxonMobil, and Woodside Energy. It has successfully delivered several large-scale modular construction projects, including the Yamal LNG project in Russia, the GCGV project in the United States, and the Arctic LNG 2 project in Russia.

Meanwhile, according to a recent announcement by CNOOC Engineering, the project it undertakes includes project management, detailed design, procurement, construction, transportation, installation, and pre-commissioning, and related work content for 38 subsea pipelines and 9 subsea composite cables in the Al-Shaheen oil field area in Qatar. The construction period is 64 months from the effective date of the contract (October 31, 2023).

CNOOC Engineering stated that the fulfillment of the above projects signifies that the company's general contracting capabilities have been recognized and trusted by owners in the Middle East, pushing the company to take a more solid step in the implementation and advancement of its overseas strategy. This reflects the company's continuous efforts to strengthen overseas market development and promote high-quality development of overseas business, representing a significant demonstration of the company's strategic determination.

CNOOC Engineering is a listed company controlled by China National Offshore Oil Corporation, the only large-scale engineering general contracting company in China that integrates the design, procurement, construction, and offshore installation, commissioning, and maintenance of marine oil and gas development projects, as well as liquefied natural gas, offshore wind power, and petrochemical engineering. It is also one of the largest and strongest marine oil and gas engineering general contractors in the Asia-Pacific region. Currently, CNOOC Engineering's overall design level has caught up with the world's advanced design level; it has large-scale marine engineering manufacturing bases in Tianjin Tanggu, Shandong Qingdao, and Guangdong Zhuhai, with a total area of nearly 4 million square meters, forming a site layout that spans north and south, complements functions, covers shallow and deep water, and faces the world; it has a specialized offshore construction fleet consisting of 19 vessels, including a 3rd-generation dynamic positioning deep-water pipelaying vessel and a 7500-ton crane vessel, and its offshore installation and pipelaying capabilities are leading in Asia.

       QatarEnergy stated that the four EPCI contracts are part of the Ruya project, the third phase of development since North Oil Company, a joint venture between QatarEnergy (70% stake) and TotalEnergies (30% stake), took over the operation of the Al-Shaheen oil field in July 2017. Thanks to the new contracts, QatarEnergy will be able to increase its daily oil production from the Al-Shaheen oil field by about 100,000 barrels.

The Ruya project includes drilling more than 200 oil wells, installing a new centralized processing complex, nine remote wellhead platforms, and associated pipelines. The project is expected to develop more than 550 million barrels of oil, with a five-year execution period and a planned first production in 2027.

Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Minister of State for Energy Affairs, President and CEO of QatarEnergy, said that the signing of these EPCI contracts is a significant milestone in the development of Qatar's largest oil field, and that "by signing these contracts, we have taken an important step towards realizing the full potential of the Al-Shaheen oil field".