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Saudi Aramco has awarded a contract to Italian contractor Saipem for engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) of structures at the Safaniya offshore oil and gas field development.

The tender is understood to be number 156 on Aramco’s Contract Release and Purchase Order (CRPO) system, according to sources.

Saipem disclosed the contract value to be approximately $500m. The scope of work on the contract covers the EPCI of a 48-inch trunkline, comprising approximately 65 kilometres offshore and 12km onshore, as well as associated subsea facilities at the Safaniya oil field, one of the world’s largest offshore oil fields.

Offshore operations will be carried out by Saipem’s construction vessels currently deployed in the region, while fabrication activities will be executed at Saipem’s Saudi fabrication yard, Saipem Taqa Al-Rushaid Fabricators Company in Dammam, the Milan-listed company said in its statement.

Offshore contract awards galore

Aramco spent almost $11bn on offshore EPCI contracts last year, which is more than double its capital expenditure on offshore projects in 2024, marking yet another year of robust upstream project spending in Saudi Arabia.

In July, Aramco selected contractors for five CRPOs – numbers 150, 157, 158, 159 and 160 – worth over $3bn. These involve EPCI work and infrastructure upgrades at the Abu Safah, Berri, Manifa, Marjan and Zuluf offshore fields.

The Saudi energy giant then picked contractors for four more CRPOs that are part of the large-scale project to expand infrastructure at the Zuluf offshore field development. The tenders are CRPOs 145, 146, 147 and 148, and their combined value is estimated to be almost $6bn.

In late December, Saipem announced securing contracts for CRPOs 162 and 165. The scope of work on CRPO 162 covers the EPCI of two rigid pipelines – a 30-inch pipeline stretching 23.98km, and a 20-inch pipeline, 10.23km-long; replacement of a flexible 10-inch pipeline that spans 5.1km; along with modification work on topsides at the Berri and Abu Safah field developments. The duration of this contract is 32 months, Saipem said.

The scope of work on CRPO 165, lasting 12 months, includes subsea interventions at the Marjan field development and the EPCI of 300 metres of onshore pipeline and associated tie-ins.

As for 2026, the award of CRPO 156 to Saipem is the second offshore contract issued by Aramco so far this year.

In early January, MEED reported that Aramco had selected US-based McDermott International for CRPO 166. The scope of work is understood to have been carved out of the major $15bn Marjan offshore field development project, as part of which Aramco issued contracts for 20 EPCI packages in 2019. McDermott won the largest share of work on the project, with an estimated $4.5bn-worth of contracts secured for two packages.

The contract for CRPO 166 was single-sourced to McDermott without a competitive tendering process, and issued as a change order, sources told MEED.

Healthy contract award pipeline

Looking ahead, Aramco is evaluating bids it received from its offshore LTA contractors in July and August for at least five more tenders.

These tenders include CRPOs 154 and 155, representing the next phase of infrastructure expansion at the Safaniya offshore oil field; CRPO 161, which covers the EPCI of four gas jackets at the Arabiyah, Hasbah and Karan fields; and CRPOs 163 and 164, relating to the EPCI of key infrastructure at the Abu Safah, Berri, Karan, Marjan and Safaniya fields.

Furthermore, MEED reported in January that Aramco issued a new batch of five offshore tenders covering the EPCI of key structures at the Abu Safah, Berri, Manifa, Marjan and Zuluf fields, which are CRPOs 167, 168, 169, 170 and 171.

Aramco issued the five CRPOs to contractors in its Long-Term Agreement (LTA) pool of offshore service providers in December, initially setting a bid submission deadline of 3 February, which it then extended until 31 March.

Aramco’s LTA pool of offshore service providers comprises the following entities:

• Saipem (Italy)
• McDermott International (US)
• Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (LTEH, India) / Subsea7 (UK)
• NMDC Energy (UAE)
• Lamprell (UAE/Saudi Arabia)
• China Offshore Oil Engineering Company (China)
• Dynamic Industries (US)
• Sapura Energy (Malaysia)
• TechnipFMC (France) / MMHE (Malaysia)
• Hyundai Heavy Industries (South Korea)

Aramco renewed its LTAs last April with the following contractors, whose contracts had either lapsed or were close to expiry:

• Saipem
• McDermott International
• Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon / Subsea7
• NMDC Energy
• Lamprell
• China Offshore Oil Engineering Company