QatarEnergy has announced the award of Engineering, Procurement, Construction, and Installation (EPCI) contracts worth more than $6 billion related to the next development phase of the offshore Al-Shaheen oil field. The project aims to increase production by about 100,000 barrels of oil per day (bbl/d).

The award is part of Project Ru’ya, which is the third phase of Al-Shaheen’s development since North Oil Company, a joint venture between QatarEnergy (70%) and TotalEnergies (30%), took over the field’s operation in July 2017.

With the implementation of Project Ru’ya, the field will see the development of more than 550 million barrels of oil within a period of 5 years, with the first oil expected in 2027.

The project includes the drilling of more than 200 wells and the installation of a new centralized process complex, nine remote wellhead platforms, and associated pipelines.

The EPC contract consists of four packages, with one package valued at about $2.1 billion for nine wellhead platforms. It has been awarded to a consortium of McDermott Middle East, Inc., and Qingdao McDermott Wuchuan Offshore Engineering Co.

Another package valued at about $1.9 billion has been awarded to a consortium of McDermott Middle East Inc. and Hyundai Heavy Industries for a central processing platform.

The remaining two packages include a riser platform valued at about $1.3 billion, awarded to Larsen & Toubro, and subsea pipelines and cables valued at about $900 million, awarded to China Offshore Oil Engineering Co. (COOEC).

Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs and the President and CEO of QatarEnergy, welcomed the award of the contract packages as an important milestone in the development of the State of Qatar’s largest oil field, stating, “By awarding these contracts, we are taking an important step towards realizing the full potential of the Al-Shaheen field, which produces around half of Qatar’s crude oil today.”

“I would like to thank North Oil Company and our longtime strategic partner TotalEnergies for their great efforts towards unlocking the true potential of Qatar’s hydrocarbon resources and maximizing value from the Al-Shaheen field through the implementation of world-class development and operational excellence programs,” Al-Kaabi added.

Notably, Al-Shaheen field is located 80 kilometers offshore Qatar and is among the world’s largest in terms of “oil in place.” The field commenced commercial production in 1994 and underwent significant development to reach an oil production rate of 300,000 bpd in 2007.