Dubai Petroleum Enterprise (DPE) has awarded the contract to develop the newly discovered Al-Jalila oil field to a joint venture of the US’ Global Industries Limited (US) and the local Lamprell.

The joint venture will carry out the engineering, procurement, installation and commissioning (EPIC) of the offshore rig with work to start during the fourth quarter of 2010.

“That’s a good win [for Global Industries Limited and Lamprell] because a lot of companies wanted that contract,” a source familiar with the development says. “It is not that big a job, but it is high profile because of the location.”

The source could not confirm the exact value of the contract, but it is believed to be worth between $50m and $100m.

The contract covers a basic unmanned offshore production platform with a single compressor unit and about 12 kilometres of flowlines to transport oil produced at the field to DPE’s onshore processing and distribution facilities.

Firms that also bid on the contract included:

• J Ray McDermott (US)
• Mi Swaco (US)
• National Petroleum Construction Company (UAE)
• Saipem (Italy)

The discovery was made to the east of the existing Rashid field, Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum said in a statement in February. The ruler’s office declined to comment on the size of the new field, potential output or a timeline for its development.

Sources with knowledge of the project estimate that the Al-Jalila field will produce around 5,000-10,000 barrels a day (b/d) of oil. Dubai’s overall oil output peaked at around 400,000 b/d in the early 1990s (MEED 12:8:10).