Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) has yet to award contracts on a brownfield project at the Qarn Alam field two years after issuing the tender, according to sources familiar with the scheme.

The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) tender for the Qarn Alam offplot project, which covers mechanical, electrical and earth works, was floated in April 2014 with bids submitted later that year.

Bidders are thought to include the following Omani groups:

• Al-Ghalbi International
• Al-Hassan Group
• Arabian Industries Projects
• Galfar Engineering & Contracting
• Marmul Contracting & Trading Company
• The Oman Construction Company (Toco)

The project is estimated to be worth about $450m, but it is unclear when PDO plans to award the contract.

PDO floated another tender on a similar project at the Yibal, Fahud and Lekhwair fields at the same time as the Qarn Alam scheme.

One source told MEED that this tender is still outstanding with a similar list of companies submitting EPC bids for the contract.

Another source familiar with the project said that Galfar had been awarded an extension of their existing contract on works at the Yibal, Fahud and Lekhwair fields.

PDO and Galfar could not be contacted to comment on the project, which is also valued at about $450m.

The mechanical works scope includes the design, procurement and construction of pipelines for oil, water, steam and gas, along with well hook-ups and associated facilities, while the earthworks scope includes well-pad design and construction, cellar and hard-stand concreting, access road construction and rig camp construction.

All four fields are located in the north of PDO’s Block 6 concession in central Oman.

PDO accounts for more than 70 per cent of the sultanate’s crude production and nearly all of its natural gas supply. The government holds a 60 per cent stake in the company, with 34 per cent held by the UK/Dutch Shell Group, 4 per cent by France’s Total and 2 per cent by Portugal’s Partex.