Saudi Aramco is expected to add just two firms to its pool of offshore contractors with which it has long-term agreements (LTAs).

MEED has previously reported that pre-qualified oil and gas contractors have submitted bids to be included in the LTA group, which currently has five firms that have the privilege to exclusively bid for Aramco’s offshore jobs.

“They are only looking at bringing in one or two additional contractors into the LTA,” a source told MEED.

The firms that have bid “are working very hard to meet the requirements and get information across to Aramco,” the source said.

MEED has also earlier reported that Aramco had prequalified eight oil and gas contractors to bid for the LTA expansion, from about 30 aspirants:

• TechnipFMC (France)
• China Offshore Oil Engineering Company (COOEC – China)
• Sapura Energy (Malaysia)
• Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering Holdings (MMHE – Malaysia)
• Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI – South Korea)
• Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (South Korea)
• Lamprell (UAE)
• Dragados Offshore (Spain)
• Boskalis (Netherlands).

Aramco is expected to finalise the expansion of the LTA pool this quarter, although the process is now expected to concluded towards the end of the year.

One of the main reasons why Saudi Aramco is looking to expand its pool of chosen engineering contractors is understood to be the pressure of delivering existing and future projects.

The firms are said to have full order books, and there is concern that they could struggle to complete the assigned works on time and on budget.