Malaysian energy company Sapura Energy has announced that its subsidiaries Sapura Fabrication and Sapura Saudi Arabia have been jointly selected by Saudi Aramco to become part of the energy giant’s long-term agreements (LTA) pool of offshore contractors.

Sapura said its LTA with Aramco is valid for six years, with options for extension. Becoming an LTA contractor allows contractors the privilege to bid for engineering, procurement, fabrication, transportation and installation (EPCI) jobs that Aramco tenders for its offshore projects.

Sapura was one of the eight offshore contractors prequalified by Aramco bidding to enter the latter's coveted LTA group. Aramco is expanding the LTA pool to ease the workload of the five players that originally comprised the group.

A consortium of the UAE/UK-based Lamprell and The Netherlands-based Boskalis has also recently been confirmed as an Aramco offshore LTA services provider.

It is learned that two other entities – a consortium of TechnipFMC and Malaysia’s MMHE, and state-owned China Offshore Oil Engineering Company (COOEC) – have also won LTA spots, although the players have not officially announced the deals.

MEED has previously reported that competition among international offshore oil and gas contractors to be a part of Aramco’s main LTA scheme has been intense. About 30 firms initially participated in the bidding process, with Aramco undertaking a rigorous screening process to prequalify just eight of those entities eventually.