Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) said one of its units has awarded a major engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to Archirodon Construction Overseas for development of its giant Bab onshore field, located 160 km southwest of the UAE capital.

The contract, which has a term of 39 months, was announced by Adnoc Onshore, a subsidiary of Adnoc and the operator of the field, at the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (Adipec).

As per the deal, Archirodon will start building the facilities and infrastructure required to sustain long-term crude oil production capacity of the field at 485,000 barrels per day (bpd).

The scope of the Bab field upgrade project includes the development of oil producing wells, water injection wells, artificial lift wells, well-bays, let down stations, water injection clusters and other infrastructure required to sustain the production capacity of the field, it stated.

Adnoc had already announced an investment of Dh1.8 billion ($489 million) to upgrade Bab field, one of its largest onshore producing assets.

The investment will re-energise Adnoc’s first field producing Murban grade crude to sustain long-term crude oil production capacity and reinforces Adnoc’s commitment to maximizing value from Abu Dhabi’s vast hydrocarbon resources as it delivers its 2030 smart growth strategy, it stated.

Abdulmunim Saif Al Kindy, executive director of Adnoc’s Upstream Directorate, said: "This award follows an extremely competitive and rigorous tender process that ensures that over 75 per cent of the award value will flow into the UAE’s economy, stimulating local economic growth and nurturing new business opportunities for the private sector, in line with the leadership’s wise directives."

The Bab field, he stated, was integral to Adnoc's strategy to create a more profitable upstream business.

The expansion of the Bab field comes two years after Adnoc Onshore awarded a contract to increase the capacity of the field from 420,000 to 450,000 bpd by 2020.

This new award builds on the substantial progress made to date and will enable Adnoc Onshore to unlock and fully utilize the long-term potential of the field, said the top official.

"This award will ensure that we sustain long-term oil production capacity from a maturing field, underlining our commitment to making smart investments and engaging value-add partners to unlock and maximize value from Abu Dhabi’s vast hydrocarbon resources," added Al Kindy.

Adnoc Onshore CEO Yaser Saeed Al Mazrouei said: "The Bab field already plays an important role in supporting Adnoc’s production capacity mandates and this upgrade complements Adnoc’s upstream growth plans."

"The project will enable us to minimize life-cycle costs on the field and will deploy cutting-edge technologies to allow us to progressively and efficiently unlock the full potential of the field’s existing assets and wells, while tapping into new reservoirs to sustain long-term production output," he noted.

With more than Dh1.35 billion ($367 million) expected to flow back into the UAE’s economy over the lifetime of the project, the award will give significant stimulus to the country’s products and services and create additional skilled employment opportunities for UAE nationals, he added.-TradeArabia News Service