QP approached up to 15 international contractors to ascertain their interest in bidding for the contract. It is understood that companies which responded positively to the inquiry include South Korea's Hyundai Engineering & Construction Company, US-based Stone & Webster, Athens-based Consolidated Contractors International Companyand Sharjah-based Petrofac International, which carried out the front-end engineering and design (FEED) contract.

The project involves modifications to the Fahaheel stripping plant and the installation of new pipelines in the Dukhan field, along with the upgrade of the four NGL plants at Mesaieed. The scope of works may also include the installation of a new acid gas removal unit with capacity of at least 500 million cf/d at the Mesaieed NGL complex.

The project will enable QP to handle 340 million cf/d of RAG from Dukhan, 205 million cf/d of offshore RAG, 200 million cf/d of Al-Shaheen gas and about 800 million cf/d of North field gas. It is being undertaken to reduce gas flaring, secure ethane supplies to petrochemical producers at Mesaieed and maximise product recovery.

A decision is awaited for the separate EPC contract to upgrade and revamp the NGL-1 and NGL-2 plants. The three companies bidding for the estimated $110 million contract are France's Cegelec, Paris-based Technip-Coflexipand Petrofac (MEED 7:2:03).