Abu Dhabi Gas Industries Company (Gasco) has delayed the deadline for the final round of bidding on a deal to build a replacement 100-kilometre gas pipeline linking production facilities in the northeast and southwest of the emirate at a cost of up to $150m.

Gasco originally asked contractors to submit bids on 31 September, but delayed the deadline to 21 October after contractors asked for more time.

“They know there are a lot of tenders out there and we just want to get the price right, so they let us have a little more time,” says an executive at one firm bidding on the deal.

The winning bidder will replace the existing transit system for methane and ethane-rich lean gas and linking the Thamma C production facilities in the northeast with the Asab facilities in the southwest with a new 36-inch pipeline.

The contractor will also decommission the existing pipeline.

Among the main contenders for the deal are Lebanon’s Contracting & Trading, the US’ Willbros, France’s Technip, India’s Larsen & Toubro and Punj Lloyd, and local companies National Petroleum Construction Company and Dodsal.

The project is part of a wider $1bn-plus scheme to improve the processing and distribution infrastructure at Asab, Bab, Bu Hasa and Ruwais. The scheme is known as ABBR. Gasco plans to increase the capacity of its distribution network by 150 million cubic feet a day (cf/d).