Libya’s Mellitah Oil & Gas Company (MOG) has invited international firms to prequalify for supply of a subsea production system for the second phase development at the offshore Bahr Essalam oil field.

Prequalification documents are due to be submitted by 28 February to MOG’s offices in Tripoli.

Once MOG has drawn up a shortlist, it plans to tender the deal in the second quarter, with a contract award slated for early 2014. The company hopes to startup the new subsea facilities by the end of 2015. 

MOG is currently conducting the basic engineering and front-end engineering and design (feed) for the development of unexploited areas of the field, which is located in the Block NC-41 concession, 100 kilometres off the coast in depths of between 190 to 205 metres.

Phase two of the development will deliver gas and condensates from 13 new subsea wells at the C-central and C-east area of the field to the existing Sabratha gas processing platform where they will be partially treated and sent by a 110km pipeline to the onshore Mellitah plant.

The eastern area will include 10 wells divided into two cluster manifolds, which will be connected to existing risers on the Sabratha platform. A new cluster will also be built for two wells in the central area. The final well, which has already been drilled, will be completed and connected to a dedicated line to Sabratha.

The scope of work covers detailed designs, procurement, manufacturing, fabrication, testing, delivery, supervision during installation and commissioning of equipment for the production system.

Libya’s offshore production is dominated by the Bouri field, which sits within the NC-41 concession and is jointly operated by Italy’s Eni and state-owned National Oil Corporation (NOC), through the Mellitah Oil & Gas venture. In 2010, production capacity was about 45,000 barrels a day.

The Mellitah facilities are dedicated to processing and exporting oil and gas from the onshore Wafa and offshore Bouri and Bahr Essalam fields. The complex is made up of two plants: the Wafa coastal plant, which treats the oil and condensates produced at Wafa, and the Mellitah plant, which processes the gas and condensates produced at Bahr Essalam.