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Frontrunners to win two main engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) packages of QatarEnergy’s estimated $4bn-$5bn Maydan Mahzam offshore oil field expansion project in Qatar have emerged.

Based on QatarEnergy’s evaluation of technical and commercial bids, a consortium of state-owned PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation (PTSC) and Singapore-based Seatrium has emerged as the frontrunner to win package 1 of the Maydan Mahzam field expansion project, according to sources.

US-based McDermott is leading the race to secure package 2 of the project, sources told MEED.

QatarEnergy issued the main tender for the Maydan Mahzam oil field expansion project in February 2025, with EPC works divided into four packages, MEED previously reported.

Contractors submitted technical bids for the project’s two main EPC packages in September last year, sources said.

After QatarEnergy granted several extensions to the deadline for submission of commercial bids for the two packages – initially set for 1 March – contractors submitted their prices by 21 June, MEED reported.

The following contractors, among others, are understood to have submitted bids for the two main packages of the Maydan Mahzam oil field expansion project:

Package 1:

• China Offshore Oil Engineering Company (China)
• Hanwha Ocean (South Korea)
• Hyundai Heavy Industries (South Korea)
• Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (India)
• PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation (Vietnam) / Seatrium (Singapore)
• Saipem (Italy)

Package 2:

• Allseas (Netherlands)
• China Offshore Oil Engineering Company (China)
• Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (India)
• McDermott (US)
• Saipem (Italy)

The Maydan Mahzam oil field lies about 100 kilometres (km) northeast of the Qatari coastline, and 28km southeast of Halul Island, located in water depths of about 40 metres. The Maydan Mahzam oil field, along with the nearby Bul Hanine field, was discovered in the 1960s and has been in production since 1965.

QatarEnergy is undertaking the project to upgrade infrastructure at Maydan Mahzam to extend the life of this maturing asset and maintain productivity over the long term.

The scope of work for package 1 includes the EPC of seven new topsides, requiring the fabrication of structures weighing more than 78,000 metric tonnes in total. The main process topside will weigh 19,400 metric tonnes, while the other topsides will consist of 10-legged jackets.

The scope also includes modifications to five existing topsides; four new bridges; eight-tonne support platforms with jackets; brownfield work on Halul Island; and the installation of pipelines and cables.

The scope of work for package 2 covers the engineering, procurement, construction and installation of topsides, umbilicals and cables.

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In addition to advancing its gas production and liquefied natural gas (LNG) ambitions, QatarEnergy committed significant capital expenditure last year to increasing oil output capacity from its offshore fields.

In August 2025, QatarEnergy selected contractors for the EPC works on a project to maintain and increase production potential at the Bul Hanine offshore oil field. The EPC scope was divided into three main packages, with China Offshore Oil Engineering Company (COOEC) awarded the first two packages and the Qatari contractor Doha Petroleum Construction Company (Dopet) selected for the third. Additionally, COOEC appointed US-based KBR to provide detailed engineering services for the first and second packages.

Separately, last September, QatarEnergy awarded the main EPC contract for a project to add a fifth natural gas liquids (NGL) train at its complex in Mesaieed Industrial City. Indian contractor Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon won the contract.

The project, estimated to be worth $2.5bn, aims to build a fifth NGL train with the capacity to process up to 350 million cubic feet a day of rich associated gas from QatarEnergy’s offshore and onshore oil fields.

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