The project will see the development of the Belbazem, Umm Al Salsal, and Umm Al Dholou fields, offshore UAE
The project involves the development of the Belbazem, Umm Al Salsal, and Umm Al Dholou marginal fields. (Credit: Abu Dhabi National Oil Company)
The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has awarded a contract worth AED2.73bn ($744m) to the National Petroleum Construction Company (NPCC) for the full field development of Belbazem Offshore Block in the UAE.
The Belbazem block holds three marginal fields – Belbazem, Umm Al Salsal, and Umm Al Dholou. It is being developed by Al Yasat Petroleum Operations, which is a 60:40 joint venture between ADNOC and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC).
NPCC, which is based in the UAE, will be responsible for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of the offshore facilities of the project.
The offshore facilities will enable full production capacity of 45,000 barrels per day (bpd) of light crude along with 27 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) of associated gas.
First oil from the Belbazem Offshore Block is expected to be drawn in 2023.
The full field development of the offshore block will help the Abu Dhabi emirate to unlock and maximize value from all of its fields towards reaching an oil production capacity of five million barrels per day (mmbpd) by 2030.
The offshore block is located 120km northwest of Abu Dhabi city.
ADNOC upstream executive director Yaser Saeed Almazrouei said: “This award demonstrates our commitment to maximize value from all of Abu Dhabi’s hydrocarbon resources for the benefit of the UAE and our partners.
“NPCC was selected after a rigorous tender process that ensures it will deploy best-in-class technology and expertise to execute this strategic project, with a substantial part of the award value flowing back into the UAE’s economy to stimulate local economic growth, in line with the wise directives of our Leadership.”
NPCC’s scope in the project includes three offshore well head towers (WHTs), which will be erected at each of the three fields.
Apart from that, the company will layout interconnecting sub-sea pipelines and cables to Zirku Island, located nearly 60km from Belbazem Offshore Block.
Besides, NPCC will be responsible for developing greenfield facilities for water injection, water treatment, gas compression, and related utilities along with brownfield works for tie-in to existing facilities located at Zirku.
Prior to the awarding of the EPC award, Al Yasat held a front-end engineering design (FEED) competition among the bidders to streamline the offshore oil and gas project.
According to ADNOC, the initiative cut down the originally scheduled tender time by up to 12 months by eliminating the necessity for the technical bidding process for the EPC stage. Thereby, it saved nearly AED697.3m ($190m) in capital expenditure (CAPEX), said ADNOC.
Al Yasat acting CEO Shaheen Al Mansoori said: “Al Yasat will continue to drive cost efficiencies as we unlock value from those of Abu Dhabi’s fields which are comparatively smaller and require a lean operating model to optimise their production and value potential.”