India’s Larsen & Toubro is expected to be awarded a contract on the Haliba onshore oil field development in Abu Dhabi after submitting the lowest bid on the project’s engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) tender.

Project owner Al-Dhafra Petroleum Operations Company received commercial bids for the project on 26 March.

Larsen & Toubro was the lowest bidder, with a price of about $360m, while the second and third-lowest bidders submitted prices that were respectively $100m and $200m higher, according to sources familiar with the scheme.

According to sources, negotiations between Al-Dhafra Petroleum and Larsen & Toubro has been completed, but the EPC contract has not yet been officially awarded.

The other two bidders were a consortium of China Petroleum Engineering & Construction Corporation and France’s Technip, and Italy-based Tecnimont.

Al-Dhafra Petroleum is 60 per cent owned by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), with a 40 per cent stake held by South Korea’s Korea National Oil Corporation (Knoc) and GS Energy.

A 30-year deal was signed in March 2012, giving Al-Dhafra Petroleum the rights to explore three oil blocks; two onshore and one offshore. It was the first time South Korea – a major customer for UAE crude – took ownership of upstream assets in Abu Dhabi.

The front-end engineering and design (feed) study for the Haliba field scheme has been completed by France’s Technip. The study is thought to cover an oil field development at Area 1 in southeast Abu Dhabi. The work will include bringing commercial production on stream at the Haliba field for the first time.