Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. has let a construction contract that shows the extent of its offshore Ghasha sour gas development project (OGJ Online, Dec. 19, 2018).
Under the $1.36-billion contract, National Marine Dredging Co. of Abu Dhabi will build 10 artificial islands and two causeways and expand Al Ghaf island, ADNOC said.
The work, expected to take 38 months, follows what ADNOC called one of the largest marine environmental baseline surveys in United Arab Emirates history. It includes dredging, land reclamation, and marine construction and covers first-phase development of the Ghasha Concession, encompassing Hail, Ghasha, and Dalma sour gas fields.
The artificial islands will be named for pearl-diving sites in the area: Ghanem, Sawalem, Chananiz, Mudaifena, Reeah, Seebeh, Seemeh, Shalhah, Jzool, and Duroob.
ADNOC said drilling with land rigs on the islands will be cheaper than the alternative, jack ups in shallow water, and precludes the need to dredge more than 100 locations. It also provides greater flexibility for extended-reach drilling.
ADNOC’s partners in the project are Eni, 25%; Wintershall, 10%; and OMV, 5%.
