Five international and local companies submitted third and final prices, with the local National Petroleum Construction Company (NPCC) and India's Punj Lloyd quoting almost identical bids of $56.8 million. Larsen & Toubro (L&T), also of India, submitted a price of about $58 million and was followed by Daelim Industrial Company and Samsung Corporation, both of South Korea.

The EPC contracts call for the construction of three 68,000-cubic-metre tanks and associated works. The project manager is US-based Parsons International.

The OGD-3/AGD-2 programme has been divided into five separate bid packages. There are three other EPC packages still to be awarded on the project. They are:

Package 1, for which commercial bids are due to be submitted on 25 January. The bidders are: NPCC, with Athens-based Consolidated Contractors International Company (CCC) and ILF Consulting Engineers of Austria;Sharjah-based Petrofac International, with Turkey's Tekfen; Italy's Snamprogetti,with Dubai-based Dodsal; and Paris-based Technip,with the local Al-Jaber Energy Services.

Estimated to be worth $200 million, the contract covers the construction of a gas gathering network for the Thamama F reservoir and reinjection facilities in the Asab area. The project manager is the US/Canadian VECO; the client is Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations (Adco);

Package 3, for which the first round of clarifications is due to start soon. Technical bids were submitted on 1 November. The bidders are the US-based Bechtel, Snamprogetti, Technip and JGC Corporation and Chiyoda Corporation, both of Japan. Worth $500 million-700 million, the scope of works on the contract covers the construction of gas treatment and natural gas liquids (NGL) recovery facilities to process 750 million cubic feet a day and an NGL pipeline to Habshan. Technical bids have also been submitted by four companies - VECO, Parsons and Foster Wheeler and Mustang Engineering, both of the US - for the position of project management consultant (PMC). The client is Abu Dhabi Gas Industries Company (Gasco);

Package 4, for which five companies are preparing to submit commercial bids on 25 January. They are Bechtel, JGC, Chiyoda, Snamprogetti and Technip. Estimated to be worth $500 million-700 million, the contract covers the construction of a new NGL train with capacity of 24,000 barrels a day, new storage tanks for propane, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and butane and two leading berths. For the PMC contract, commercial bids are due to be submitted in mid-January. The bidders are VECO, Parsons, Mustang and Foster Wheeler. The client is Gasco.

Bechtel was awarded in November package 2 on the OGD-3/AGD-2 project. Worth $1,460 million, the contract covers the expansion of the Habshan gas plant and the laying of a 110-kilometre export line to Ruwais (MEED 3:12:04).