Singapore-based Leighton Offshore said it has signed an EPC contract worth $733 million with Iraq’s South Oil Company for a crude oil export facility project at Fao Terminal near Basra.

As per the contract, Leighton will install three single point moorings (SPMs) and 120 km of 48-inch pipelines at the site.

The project will provide enhanced export facilities from the Fao Terminal and forms a major part of the South Oil Company’s strategic redevelopment program for Iraq, said a top official.

“This project is a fantastic opportunity for Leighton, and coming closely behind the recent SPM project win in Tanzania, provides strong recognition of Leighton’s strength and experience in SPM installations,” remarked David Savage, Leighton Holdings chief operating officer.

“In recent years, Leighton has built an enviable track record on SPM’s and large diameter pipelines, having worked on some 13 SPM’s around the Asia region. Being awarded the Middle East’s largest and most prominent SPM contract is a great honour for us and great reflection of the strength of our capabilities,” Savage said.

Leighton Offshore will use its vessels, Eclipse, Stealth and Mynx on the project. Eclipse, Stealth and Mynx are ideally suited for working on SPM projects, and provided Leighton a key edge in securing this work.

Leighton operates a very young fleet of state of the art vessels, all of which are fully compliant to latest Class and safety standards including International Special Purpose Shipping code, he added.

'Some of Leighton’s recent SPM projects include crude oil export SPM’s on India’s west coast for Bharat Petroleum and Bharat Oman Refineries, as well as the prestigious three SPM Terminal project for Reliance at Jamnagar,' he noted.

Leighton has also installed SPM’s on India’s east coast, in Sri Lanka, in Malaysia and in Brunei and in addition to the Tanzania SPM, is currently working on one of the worlds most challenging SPM’s for Cairn Energy which forms part of the worlds longest continuously heated oil pipeline, he added.

One of Leighton’s key strengths is its ability to execute large projects in diverse locations, and the ability to tap into the full depth of resources and capabilities across the expanse of the Leighton Group.

“In the Middle East we have the benefit of tapping into Al Habtoor Leighton” said Savage.

“Al Habtoor Leighton has an agreement with Leighton Offshore to provide support with logistics and resource services for offshore projects in the Mena region and has played a positive role in securing this project.”

“This is the first major offshore project for Leighton in the Middle East,” Savage said, “but with the opportunities in the Gulf and the Mena region, we are very confident it will be the start of a strong business line that will provide a steady revenue volume for both Leighton Offshore and Al Habtoor Leighton.”

Laurie Voyer, managing director of Al Habtoor Leighton, said, 'This project provides us with an opportunity to support Leighton Offshore with the resources and capacity that we have available in Dubai at the present and produce a strong revenue stream for us from offshore projects going forward.”

The contract forms part of the Iraq Crude Oil Export Expansion Project (ICOEEP) which is developing offshore loading facilities to enable export capability of 4.5 million barrels of oil per day.

The EPC project also involves fabrication and installation of a 600MT subsea valve manifold for directing flow between the existing and future offshore export facilities; dredging works to achieve pipeline burial and to achieve sufficient water depth for VLCCs mooring to the SPMs and construction and commissioning (including civil, mechanical and electrical works) for the new onshore metering and manifold facilities at Fao terminal.-TradeArabia News Service