UAE-based J Ray McDermott has won an estimated $1bn of infrastructure work at the offshore Safaniya oilfield in Saudi Arabia.

The contract covers upgrades to existing crude oil gathering facilities and power supply infrastructure to help maintain output at the giant oilfield, J Ray said in a 24 march statement.

MEED reported in March that state energy firm Saudi Aramco, the client on the project, was in talks with prospective contractors over the contract, with J Ray McDermott in pole position to take the job.

Under the deal, J Ray will build a new 6,000 tonne offshore oil platform, oil flowlines, new electrical facilities at an existing platform, 156 kilometres of electrical cables, and a series of control and communication systems at the field.

Aramco had considered tendering the electrical element of the project, worth about $250m, separately, but decided to leave it in the final contract, sources close to the deal tell MEED.

The company will start construction work on the project in April, with completion scheduled for 2013.

The contract is part of Aramco’s wider Maximum Sustainable Capacity programme to reach and maintain undisclosed production targets at the field by 2013.