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Adnoc Gas, the gas processing subsidiary of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc Group), has issued the main tender for a major project to develop infrastructure to process incremental gas output arising from the unlocking of gas caps at the Bab onshore hydrocarbons development in Abu Dhabi.

As part of its upstream production growth targets for 2030, Adnoc Group is working to extract gas from four underdeveloped gas cap reservoirs at the Bab onshore field – Thammama A, Thammama B, Thammama F and Thammama H. The Thammama A, B and H reservoirs are estimated to collectively produce 1.45 billion cubic feet a day (cf/d) of gas, while output from the Thammama F gas cap is expected to reach 396 million cf/d.

Existing trains at the Habshan processing complex in Abu Dhabi will be unable to handle the new gas volumes. Adnoc Gas is therefore required to build new facilities to process up to 1.85 billion cf/d of additional raw gas when its parent company starts production from the Bab gas caps.

Adnoc Gas plans to build a gas processing plant in the Bab area, about 170 kilometres from Abu Dhabi, along with associated pipeline networks and ancillary units, as part of the broader Bab gas cap development project. It has divided the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) scope into four packages:

• EPC package 1 – Main Bab gas cap plant
• EPC package 2 – Early civil works
• EPC package 3 – Pipelines
• EPC package 4 – Non-process area works

Adnoc Gas issued the tender for the main Bab gas cap plant on 25 June and has set a deadline of 17 July for contractors to submit technical bids, sources told MEED.

Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange-listed Adnoc Gas issued an expression of interest (EoI) to contractors for the main EPC tendering process for the Bab gas cap plant on 10 February. The company set an initial EoI submission deadline of 17 February, which it later extended to 20 February. Contractors submitted responses by that date, MEED previously reported.

Following completion of the prequalification phase, contractors that expressed interest formed the following teams to compete in the main contract tendering round, according to sources:

• Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (India) + Samsung E&A (South Korea)
• Saipem (Italy) + NMDC Energy (UAE)
• Technip Energies (France) + JGC Corporation (Japan) + Sinopec (China)
• Tecnimont (Italy) + China Petroleum Engineering and Construction Corporation (CPECC)

The other three packages remain in the main contract tendering stages, the sources said. Separately, Adnoc Group subsidiary Adnoc Onshore is preparing to issue the main tender for a project involving the tie-in of gas-producing and injection wells at the gas cap reservoirs of Abu Dhabi’s onshore Bab field, which forms part of the wider integrated Bab gas cap development programme.

Prior to issuing the EoIs for the Bab gas cap development project packages, Adnoc Gas completed an early engagement process with contractors in September and October last year, as MEED previously reported.

In December last year, Adnoc Gas awarded the front-end engineering and design (feed) works for the Bab gas cap development project – which will increase its gas processing capacity by about 20% – to Australia-based consultancy Worley. The feed contract covers more than 1.2 million man-hours, making it the largest engineering job awarded by Adnoc Gas to date.

Adnoc Gas currently has a capital expenditure (capex) commitment of $20bn for the 2023-29 period, which is on course to increase to about $28bn as the company strives to achieve final investment decisions (FIDs) on the second and third phases of its rich gas development programme (RGD) this year.

The first phase of the RGD project is under construction. Adnoc Gas awarded $5bn-worth of engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCm) contracts in three tranches for phase one of the RGD last June – the company’s largest-ever capital investment.

The second and third phases involve building a natural gas liquids fractionation train at the Ruwais gas processing facility and a new gas processing train at the Habshan complex, respectively, Peter Van Driel, the company’s chief financial officer, had earlier told journalists on a call.

MEED reported in March that Adnoc Gas had selected the main EPC contractors for both the Ruwais NGL Train 5 and the Habshan 7 gas processing train projects, which are estimated to be valued at around $4bn each. Adnoc Gas is yet to officially award the EPC contracts for the two projects.

Adnoc Gas’ capex commitment could exceed $30bn when the company achieves FID on the Bab gas cap development project, which is currently expected later this year, Van Driel previously said.

Bab Gas Cap concession

In addition to Adnoc Gas issuing the main EPC tender for the gas processing plant, Abu Dhabi’s Supreme Council for Financial and Economic Affairs (SCFEA) has recently awarded concession agreements for the development and production of the Bab Gas Cap reserve in the emirate.

Adnoc will hold the majority 60% participating interest in the concession. The remaining stakes will be held by France’s TotalEnergies (10%), the UK’s BP (10%), China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) International (8%), Japan Oil Development Company (Jodco) Onshore (5%), China ZhenHua Oil (4%) and Korea GS E&P (3%).

According to SCFEA, the Bab Gas Cap development and production concession represents the largest gas cap development project of its kind globally, the Abu Dhabi Media Office said in a report.

A gas cap refers to the free natural gas that sits above an underlying oil reservoir — in this case, the giant Bab onshore oil field in Abu Dhabi.

The project, operated by Adnoc Onshore, is expected to have a production capacity of approximately 1.5 billion cf/d of natural gas, equivalent to about 15% of Adnoc Gas’ total operational gas processing capacity.

“This underscores the strategic significance of the project, which is expected to contribute to the UAE’s gas self-sufficiency, support the continued development of the country’s petrochemicals sector and advance Adnoc’s plans to expand its liquefied natural gas (LNG) export capacity,” the Abu Dhabi Media Office said in its report.