Saudi Aramco has announced the award of a contract to China Harbour Engineering Arabia for the construction of two drilling islands under the Saudi oil giant’s Berri Increment Programme (BPI).

A signing ceremony to mark the contract award was held in Dhahran on 11 September, Aramco said in a statement.

According to regional project tracker MEED Projects, China Harbour secured the contract in early August, although a formal contract signing did not immediately take place.

Aramco did not reveal the value of the deal awarded to the contractor. Though MEED Projects estimates the job to be worth around $80m.

As per the scope of the contract, China Harbour will construct two drilling islands near shore at the north and south sides of the King Fahad Industrial Port causeway in Jubail, to support the Berri field production capacity islands.

The two drill sites, referred to as Site A and Site B, will have an approximate overall area of 616,553 square metres (sq m) and 263,855 sq m respectively.

The objective of the BPI is to produce an additional 250,000 barrels a day (b/d) of Arabian Light crude oil from the offshore Berri oil field; by achieving that figure, Aramco can reach 500,000 b/d and maintain it’s maximum sustained capacity by early 2023.

The programme includes the installation of a new Gas Oil Separation Plant (GOSP) in Abu Ali Island, and additional gas processing facilities at the Khursaniyah Gas Plant; that's in order to process 40,000 b/d of hydrocarbon condensate associated with the BPI.

Related pipelines, water injection facilities, onshore drilling sites, drilling islands and offshore facilities are also included.