Omani companies have been awarded contracts to install two pipelines on the Khazzan Tight Gas Project being developed by UK-based oil major BP, according to sources familiar with the packages.

The Oman Construction Company (Toco) won an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to install a gas export pipeline, while Muscat-based Gulf Petrochemical Services & Trading (GPS) will install a condensate export pipeline.

The $16bn Khazzan tight gas scheme, located at Block 61 in north-central Oman, will have the capacity to produce 1.2 billion cubic feet a day (cf/d) – increasing the sultanate’s gas capacity by about a third.

The gas export pipeline will connect the Khazzan central processing facility (CPF) to the gas network at Saih Nihayda with a 60-kilometre, 36-inch pipeline. The export pipeline will be buried, uninsulated, with a 3mm polyethylene coating.

Construction on the gas export pipeline was initially expected to start in the first quarter of 2015 with completion set for the third quarter of 2016. This indicates an 18-month timeline that could be completed by Toco by the end of 2016.

Other companies bidding for the gas export pipeline EPC tender were thought to include local groups Galfar Engineering & Contracting and GPS, and India’s Punj Lloyd.

GPS was awarded the package to install the condensate export pipeline. This comprises the construction of a 12-inch, 68km pipeline to transport stabilised condensate from Khazzan to Petroleum Development Oman’s (PDO) pipeline network at Yibal. It will be buried including a single tie-in with metering facilities.

In May, Galfar announced it had won a $110m EPC deal to build a gas gathering system for the project.

The government gave the final go-ahead for BP to develop the Khazzan field in December 2013 and the British company has formed a 60:40 joint venture with Oman Oil Company for Exploration & Production (OOCEP) to operate the asset.

Khazzan is one of the world’s first greenfield tight gas projects. The reserves are trapped at 4.5-5km below the surface and because the gas does not flow to the surface naturally, BP will have to hydraulically fracture the formations to release the gas.

BP plans to drill about 300 wells at the field over a 15-year drilling campaign.

The main CPF is being constructed by a consortium of UK’s Petrofac and the Athens-based Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC), which won a $1.3bn EPC contract in February 2014.