US-based Jacobs has been awarded a contract by British energy group BP for project management and process and infrastructure work on the Khazzan tight gas development in Oman.

The contract includes the management services on $2bn-worth of engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) on gas gathering pipelines, wellhead production facilities and export pipelines as well as detailed design and programme management for the associated infrastructure.

Jacobs will carry out the work from its offices in the Middle East, the UK, India and the US, the California-based group says.

The Omani government signed an agreement with BP to develop the Khazzan tight gas field, located 350 kilometres southwest of Muscat, in December 2013, following months of negotiations.  

The estimated $16bn full-field development will involve a drilling programme of about 300 wells over 15 years, with target output equal to a third of the sultanate’s current gas production.

In June, BP awarded a $50m contract to France’s Veolia to build a wastewater treatment plant at the Khazzan field, which is located in Block61, central Oman.