Saudi Aramco has awarded McDermott International the fifth contract for the provision of engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) services for its Safaniya offshore oil field project, under its existing long-term agreement with the US contractor.

The scope of work spans provision of the full range of EPCI services, including design, fabrication, installation and pre-commissioning of nine slipover jackets, 10 production deck modules, an electrical distribution platform and associated cables and pipelines.

The combined weight of the structures will exceed 20,000 metric tonnes, with the pipelines totalling over 26 kilometres, and the cables totalling around 22km.

Located about 200km north of Dhahran in the Gulf waters, the Safaniya oilfield is currently the largest offshore oil field in the world, in terms of production. This brownfield project is the next phase of a wider campaign to replace ageing facilities with electrified platforms to maintain and enhance the field’s production.

Work on the contract has begun, according to a McDermott statement, and the award will be reflected in the company’s fourth-quarter 2017 backlog.