Revised prices for Elephant field GOSP

12 April 2002

The award of the main contract packages for the estimated $500 million development of the Elephant field in Block NC-174 is drawing near. For the largest package, the construction of a gas/oil separation plant (GOSP) to serve the field, three companies, have been shortlisted for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract (MEED 16:11:01).

The bidders - Athens-based Joannou & Paraskevaides (J&P - Overseas), Italy's Snamprogetti, and Germany's MAN GHH - were due to submit on 10 April revised commercial offers for the package. The scope of works for the GOSP has been significantly expanded. The selected contractor will now build a plant with an initial output of 50,000 barrels a day (b/d), rising to 150,000 b/d of oil in a single turnkey contract. Originally, the client had intended to issue a separate tender for the second phase of development.

Recommendations have also been submitted to the client - the UK's Lasmo and the National Oil Corporation (NOC)- for the pipeline, civil works and electrical utilities packages. Two companies are competing for the main civil works package. They are J&P and Italy's Bonatti. J&P is completing the site's preparatory infrastructure work, which includes the laying of a 40-kilometre-long service road.

For the export pipeline package, which entails the installation of a 75-kilometre-long, 24-inch-diameter pipeline from the GOSP to the export facilities of Spain's Repsol YPFin Block NC-115, four contractors remain in the running. They are Paris-based Technip-Coflexip, J&P, Snamprogetti and MAN. The package also calls for the installation of 11-inch-diameter trunklines from the A and B wellpads to the GOSP.

The field has also narrowed for the electrical utilities package. France's Alstom Interserve Industrial Servicesis competing against a team of J&P with the Swedish electrical division of ABB. The package entails the installation of a 132-kV overhead cable, electrical transformers and an 11-kV wellpad network. Teknica- a wholly owned subsidiary of NOC - is acting as the project management consultant (PMC - MEED 1:6:01).

The Elephant field project has suffered from repeated delays since it first came to market last year. First oil from the field, located in the Murzuq basin, was initially expected by late 2003. This timeframe is looking increasingly untenable, however. 'The client wants to award the packages as soon as possible and is pressing to accelerate the schedule,' says a source close to the project.

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