BP has awarded UK-based contractor Petrofac a new lump-sum contract worth approximately $800m for engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPCC) work on the Khazzan tight gas project in Oman.

The Khazzan Phase 2 gas development comprises the addition of a third gas train with a capacity for nominally handling 500m standard cubic feet of gas a day (mmscf/d), which will help drive increased total production capacity from the CPF to 1,500 mmscf/d.

The EPCC scope of work also includes liquid and compression trains and associated infrastructure, as well as brownfield work associated with connecting the Phase 1 and 2 facilities.

Petrofac had previously also won the $1.4bn contract for the Phase 1 CPF at Khazzan in February 2014. According to BP – which is the main operator with a 60 per cent stake, with the Oman Oil Company Exploration & Production holding the other 40 per cent – the Khazzan project produced its first gas on 22 September this year.

The gas project was developed on a greenfield site in Block 61, in Oman’s Ad Dhahirah governorate, and covers a landmass of 3,950 sq km above one of the largest natural gas deposits in the Sultanate. Phase one of the project – with 200 well sites – is on track to deliver 1bn standard cubic feet of gas a day (bcf/d), and future expansion is planned to increase output to 1.5 bcf/d, with a project life duration until 2043.

According to a source close to the scheme, the Khazzan gas project has been developed with 25 per cent of the contracts budget to spare. Omanis make up 50 per cent of the project’s leadership team and 70 per cent of the total workforce – a figure that is projected to rise to 90 per cent, the source said. Additionally, local contractors accounted for 38 per cent of contracts awarded on the scheme.