Abu Dhabi offshore oil firm Zakum Development Company (Zadco) will start tendering engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts on the first phase of its estimated $15bn Upper Zakum field production boost scheme by the third quarter of the year, sources close to the project tell MEED.

The company started prequalifying international engineering firms to bid on the deals in the first quarter of 2010, and has now selected contractors it considers to be capable of working on the scheme, sources with close ties to the project tell MEED.

“They have finished the prequalifications, but haven’t made an announcement on it yet,” says the business development manager at one engineering firm. Along with other contractors, he expects the company to release tender documents and set deadlines for technical and commercial bids on the scheme in June or July.

The contracts are part of a wider scheme to boost production at the Upper Zakum field, which Zadco operates, from current levels of around 500,000 barrels a day (b/d) to 750,000 b/d.

The company contracted local dredger National Marine Dredging Company (NMDC) to build four artificial islands to house the production facilities in November 2009 (MEED 25:11:09).

The islands will be built at depths ranging from six metres to 14 metres, and will cover an area of 2.6km by 2km.

Zadco now wants to tender the first of three phases of EPC contracts. The first part of the project covers the construction of early production facilities, to boost production at the field by 100,000 b/d and test the viability of the project.

The second wave of contracts will see Zadco building permanent production facilities which will boost production by a further 150,000 b/d. The third phase covers smaller projects to sustain production at the planned 750,000 b/d.

The main EPC contract to be tendered during the first phase will be for the main early production system which will be used to produce the oil from the field.  This part of the project is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2013.

While the early production system is a “greenfield” project, meaning that all of the work will be done on entirely new facilities, Zadco will also tender a series of “brownfield” schemes – upgrades and additions to existing facilities at the Zakum field.

These include: new gas injection and lift facilities; extension works, and replacement of mechanical equipment. All of these projects are scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2012.

The second wave of contracts will be tendered in 2012 once the early production system is operational, Zadco planning documents seen by MEED show.

The project will cost an estimated $15bn. Zadco believes that it cut the cost of the scheme by around 20 per cent by deciding to use the islands to house the production facilities rather than traditional offshore production platforms.