In November 2015, 52 contracts were awarded totalling around $13.16bn according to MEED Projects. They were made across Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iran and Iraq.

The biggest announcements MEED recorded were in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Oman, dominating half the overall value of contract awards with a total of $7.7bn.

The Liwa Plastics award in Oman takes top spot, at $2.8bn; Egypt’s appointment of oil and gas exploration contracts was worth $2.2bn, followed by the $1.7bn Fadhili gas plant in Saudi Arabia.

The Middle East is under increased pressure with low oil prices for exporting counties making it increasingly difficult to push ahead with major infrastructure schemes.

CB&I team wins largest Liwa Plastics package

A consortium of Netherlands-based CB&I and Taiwanese group CTCI was awarded a $2.8bn package on Oman’s Liwa Plastics project.

The scope of work includes the 880,000 tonne-a-year (t/y) ethylene plant, pygas unit and methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) unit, as well as related offsites and utilities. It also covers the construction of cryogenic and atmospheric storage tanks and pipe spool fabrication.

Egypt ratifies six oil and gas exploration contracts

Egypt’s President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi ratified six oil and gas exploration contracts worth a combined $2.2bn on 4 November, as part of the country’s drive to increase domestic hydrocarbons production.

Four of the agreements were between Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) and Italian oil company Eni.

These were worth $2.1bn and grants Eni permission to explore areas in the Sinai peninsula, the Gulf of Suez and the Mediterranean, as well as areas in the Nile Delta.

Under the deal, Eni has agreed to invest three-quarters of the total sum in exploration, development and operation in Sinai and the Nile Delta.

The other two deals were with US-based oil company Apache and Tunisia’s HBS.

The deal with Apache was worth $30m and grants the company permission to explore south of Um Barka in the Western Desert, drilling at least two wells.

EGPC’s deal with HBS was worth $9m and allows the company to drill four wells in the Halif area of the Western Desert. 

Petrofac confirms Fadhili sulphur recovery plant award

Petrofac was awarded the contract to build a sulphur recovery plant as part of the Fadhili gas plant project in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.

Petrofac’s proposal was strongly contested by the second-lowest bidder – a consortium of South Korea’s Daewoo Engineering & Construction and Samsung Engineering – but Saudi Aramco eventually settled on Petrofac’s bid, according to several sources.

Petrofac’s scope of work includes the construction of six sulphur recovery trains with associated facilities for the sulphur and heavy duty oil handling, loading, unloading and storage; sour water stripper, flare system and waste water treatment plant.

The package was the third of four major engineering procurement and construction (EPC) tenders on the Fadhili gas plant project – a greenfield development located 30km west of Jubail near the Gulf coast.