Two Omani companies have been awarded RO300m ($770m) of contracts from oil producer Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) for projects on onshore fields.

Seeh al-Sarya Engineering won the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for off-plot mechanical work on the Fahud, Lekhwair and Yibal oil fields.

At the same time, Oman’s largest EPC group Galfar Engineering & Contracting won a contract for off-plot mechanical work at the Qarn Alam field.

Both fields are located in Block 6 – PDO’s main exploration and production concession in the centre of the sultanate. The contracts run for four years with options to extend in the future.

The EPC projects were originally tendered in 2014. It is unknown why there were delays in assessing the bids for the various contracts.

The awards are part of PDO’s In-Country Value (ICV) strategy to build a small and medium enterprise (SME) sector and retain more of the oil and gas industry’s revenues in the sultanate.

Seeh al-Sarya is a designated local community contractor (LCC) – companies that PDO aims to award an increasing amount of work to.

“Local companies play an instrumental role in supporting and diversifying the country’s economic growth and PDO is delighted to support Omani companies which are staffed with committed professionals and are able to deliver great work in our fields, safely and efficiently,” PDO Managing Director Raoul Restucci said.

Both contracts will provide around 700 job opportunities for Omanis, who will be trained and developed to international standards, PDO said.

PDO awarded $330m-worth of onshore field contracts to local SMEs in October 2016. Earthworks contracts will be carried out by Najed al-Ahliya at the Fahud, Lekhwair and Yibal fields, and by Sarooj Construction Company at the Qarn Alam and Saih Rawl fields.

Rukun al-Yaqeen (RAY) will carry out electrical works across the entire north of PDO’s Block 6 concession area in central Oman, which includes the five fields.

PDO is the largest oil and gas producer in Oman accounting for about 70 per cent of crude output in the sultanate. It is 60-per-cent-owned by the Omani government with the UK/Dutch Shell holding 34 per cent, France’s Total 4 per cent and Portugal-based Partex 2 per cent.