Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations (Adco) received the technical bids for the contract, which covers the first-phase full-field development of the Sahil, Asab and Shah fields, on 29 April.

The project will increase total production from the three fields to 445,000 b/d. It is a key component of Abu Dhabi’s plan to increase crude production capacity to 3.5 million b/d by 2015.

The groups vying for the engineering, procurement and construction contract are UAE-based Petrofac International, Spain’s TR with Athens-based Consolidated Contractors International Company (CCC), Paris-based Technip with Dubai-based Dodsal, and Italy’s Snamprogetti with India’s Punj Lloyd (MEED 26:10:07).

The bids contained options allowing for the work to be split into two packages to make it more manageable, or awarded as one large contract.

The scheme involves increasing capacity by an initial 30,000 b/d at the Asab field, 20,000 b/d at Sahil and 10,000 b/d at Shah by upgrading field facilities.

It is part of Adco’s plan to increase its production capacity by more than 450,000 b/d. The largest element is the ‘1.8 million project’, which aims to increase output by 400,000 b/d at the Qusahwira, Bida al-Qemzam, Ruwais and Bab onshore fields (MEED 24:8:07).