According to the bid opening prices, Bechtel is closely followed by Paris-based Technipat $1,480 million and its offer is more than $200 million cheaper than the two Japanese bidders, Chiyoda Corporationand JGC Corporation. Package 2 centres on the expansion of the Habshan gas complex and the construction of export pipelines (MEED 1:10:04).

Opinion is divided on how quickly the contract will be awarded. Some in the industry expect a swift award, possibly by the end of Ramadan in mid-November, given that the technical bid evaluation has been largely completed. However, others are more cautious, pointing to the fact that the prices are well above Gasco's estimates. Company officials at MEED's Major Project Opportunities in Abu Dhabi conference in late September said that they expected the contract to be worth about $1,300 million.

A joint venture of Bechtel and Technip was the main contractor for both OGD-1 and OGD-2.

The three-year contract centres on the construction of a two-train gas processing facility with total capacity of 1,300 million cubic feet a day (cf/d) at Habshan. It also involves the installation of natural gas liquids (NGL) and condensate pipelines to Ruwais.

Four other EPC packages are out to tender on the OGD-3/AGD-2 programme. Commercial bidding is under way by four groups for the estimated $200 million package 1 contract, which covers the OGD-3 gas gathering network for Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations (Adco). For the estimated $70 million package 5, covering new condensate storage for Abu Dhabi Refining Company (Takreer) at Ruwais, commercial bids are now due to be submitted by about seven companies on 22 November.

The other two packages, AGD-2 NGL recovery and the third NGL train at the Ruwais fractionation plant, are both in the technical bidding phase. Gasco is the client for the third and fourth packages.