MEED reported that Abu Dhabi Gas Industries Company is inviting bids for two contracts that form part of its USD 1 billion plus upgrade program for gas processing and distribution infrastructure.

As per report companies were invited to bid on 2 of 4 packages on the Asab, Bab, Bu Hassa and Ruwais modification scheme in early May. Gasco is seeking to improve the existing infrastructure at each of the sites to accommodate greater volumes of gas.

US Canadian firm Veco completed the front end engineering and design phase of the project in March. Gasco has set a deadline of 5 July for technical bids on both contracts, with commercial bids to follow in late September.

The first package, at the Asab field, covers the installation of a new gas booster station, increasing production capacity at the existing natural gas liquids plant and the replacement of a natural gas pipeline. Gasco hopes these works will increase capacity at the site by 150 million cubic feet a day.

Contractors invited to bid on the package include Athens based Consolidated Contractors Company and South Korean firms Daewoo Engineering & Construction, GS Engineering & Construction, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung Engineering & Construction and SK Engineering & Construction.

Dodsal and National Petroleum Construction Company, both local, the US' Fluor Corporation, the UK's Petrofac, Italy's Technip and Techint Engineering & Construction, and TR of Spain, were also invited to bid.

The second package of the project covers the installation of pipelines to transport lean sour, or sulphur-rich, gas from the Bu Hasa field to the Bab and Thammama oil and gas reservoirs, where Gasco will use it to increase pressure.

The pipelines will also carry sweet, or sulphur light, gas from the Bab field to Bu Hasa, again for injection and use as fuel.

Firms invited to bid on this package include Larsen & Toubro and Punj Lloyd, both of India, Consolidated Contractors Company and National Petroleum Construction Company, Egypt's Petrojet, SNC Lavalin of Canada, Holland's Suedrohrbrau, Veco, and the US' Willbros Group.

The third and fourth packages of the project cover the debottlenecking of an acid-removal unit at Bab and two sulphur trains at the Ruwais sulphur plant. However, a deadline for bids has yet to be announced.

A source at one international contractor in Abu Dhabi said that "Gasco invited us to bid a couple of weeks ago, and from what it told us I would expect the final two packages to be released in the next 2 weeks."

The tenders mark Abu Dhabi out as one of the most active contracting markets for oil and gas firms in the region, with a raft of multi billion dollar tenders either released or due to be issued this year.

(Sourced from MEED)