Petrofac, the international oil & gas facilities service provider, has won a five-year, $250 million contract from the Government of Sharjah, for facilities management of the Sajaa Gas Plant and related assets.

The Government of Sharjah, acting through the Sharjah Petroleum Council, holds a 60 per cent participating interest in the Sharjah gas and associated liquids Concession. BP currently holds the remaining 40 per cent and is the operator of all Sharjah Concession petroleum operations, together with the Sajaa gas processing plant and associated storage, pipelines, condensate export terminal and Shalco LPG facilities.

The Concession will expire in November 2013 and the Government of Sharjah and BP are actively working together on assuring a smooth transition of the BP-operated facilities to the government.

Petrofac, through its Offshore Engineering & Operations (OE&O) business unit, has been awarded the Duty Holder contract to provide a full range of facilities management services to the Sharjah Government including: reservoir management, drilling and well services, plant operations and engineering and project management.

By the end of 2010 Petrofac will assume control of the operations while the Government of Sharjah will become the Concession Operator. During the transition programme, around 130 personnel, currently involved in running the operations, will transfer to Petrofac.

“Petrofac has a long established portfolio of managed facilities in the UK sector of the North Sea, where we pioneered the Duty Holder model. This expertise, combined with the group’s substantial existing operations in the region, means that we are well equipped to deliver a strong outcome on this contract for the Government of Sharjah and BP,” stated Bill Dunnett, managing director of OE&O, Petrofac.

“Appointing Petrofac before the end of Concession allows for a smooth management of change to be carried out while BP is still present as an equity holder in the concession,” added Sheik Sultan Bil Ahmed bin Sultan Al-Qassimi, deputy chairman of Sharjah Petroleum Council.-TradeArabia News Service