Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Operations (Adco) has awarded a deal to oversee the construction of facilities to boost oil production at two of the company’s four onshore fields.

The UK’s Foster Wheeler won the contract in early September, according to sources close to the deal. The project management consultancy (PMC) deal covers construction of new oil and gas production and processing equipment at the Bab and Qusawirah fields in Abu Dhabi.

The projects are part of a wider scheme, the 1.8 million development, to increase the emirate’s onshore oil production by 400,000 barrels a day (b/d) from current levels of about 1.4 million b/d.

The award occurred almost a year after companies first bid for the work in October 2008. The UK’s Amec submitted the lowest bid at the time, but Adco decided to retender it because it was not satisfied with the price.

The contract won by Foster Wheeler is significantly different from the previous year’s deal. The original tender included management of work to increase production capacity at the Ruwais and Bida el-Qemzan fields, as well as Bab and Qusawirah.

In January, Adco postponed the development of Ruwais because it feared global demand for oil would increase at a much slower pace than expected.

MEED reported in July that Adco would use US contractor Veco to carry out detailed engineering and procurement work on the expansion of capacity at Bida el-Qemzan. Veco will then appoint a construction contractor to build whatever facilities it needs at a later date.

Contractors will submit their final prices for the main engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts at Bab and Qusawirah on 25 November.