Saipem: contract not cancelled yet
Posted:24 November 2008
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Italian contractor clarifies contract cancellation rumour as Saudi Aramco reviews $9bn Manifa project.
Italian company Saipem, a major contractor for Saudi Aramco’s $9 billion Manifa oilfield project has been advised not to proceed with the contract as the world’s biggest national oil company reviews cost of the project, the company said.
“The contract has not been cancelled at the moment,” a statement from the company said. Reports about a supposed cancellation of the gas oil separation trains (GOSP) Manifa contract awarded in July to Saipem by Saudi Aramco, prompted the company to downplay the rumours.
Khalid Buraik, Saudi Aramco’s executive director of affairs, said earlier Saudi Arabia may renegotiate contracts for long-term projects as falling oil prices and the credit crunch ease competition for resources and so bring down project costs.
Saudi Aramco awarded Saipem the lump-sum turn-key contract for package No 1 of the Manifa Central Processing Facilities (CPF) project, in the frame of the Manifa Field Development Program to increase the production capacity of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by 900,000 barrels per day of Arabian Heavy crude production by mid-2011.
The contract encompasses the EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) of three GOSPs with a capacity of 300,000 daily barrels each, gas dehydration, crude inlet manifolds and the flare gas system.
Reports circulated in November that Snamprogetti, part Saipem will be invited to bid again for the project along with Bechtel, Technip and Foster Wheeler as Aramco will again invite companies to bid for contracts to develop the Manifa oilfield.
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