UAE-based National Petroleum Construction Company (NPCC) has been awarded a Long-Term Agreement (LTA) contract by Saudi Aramco, giving it the right to bid for offshore oil and gas tenders in Saudi Arabia.

Aramco signed LTA deals with four international engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractors in June 2015 and NPCC will be the fifth group to enter the agreement.

The LTA contractors have exclusive rights to bid for a number of oil and gas producing platforms, tie-in platforms, pipelines, power cables and related facilities under the masterplan for Aramco’s offshore fields, the state-owned oil and gas giant said.

“This fifth strategic LTA is needed for the successful execution of the complex and extensive offshore projects to be completed in the offshore oil & gas fields in the Arabian Gulf - all within an aggressive schedule,” said Ahmad al-Saadi, senior vice-president of Saudi Aramco’s technical services department.

NPCC is owned by Abu-Dhabi-government conglomerate Senaat and Lebabnon’s Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC).

Industry sources told MEED earlier this year that Aramco had invited NPCC to join the LTA. Aramco was understood to have doubts about whether the four original groups in the LTA had the capacity between them to carry out the programme of projects being tendered.

The LTA lasts for six years with options to extend for up to 12 years in total. The LTA contractors are:

• Dynamic Industries (US)
• Larsen & Toubro (India) / Emas (Singapore)
• McDermott (US)
• NPCC (UAE)
• Saipem (Italy)

The initial four contractors are currently bidding for an estimated $1.6bn EPC contract on the Safaniya field and two contract release purchase orders (CRPO) to install facilities at the Safaniya, Marjan and Zuluf fields.

The largest LTA deal of this year was awarded to Larsen & Toubro on the expansion of the Hasbah gas field.