Saipem’s two new European offshore deals rake in nearly $2 billion

Italy’s engineering, drilling, and construction services provider Saipem has won two new E&C offshore contracts in Romania and Germany with a total value of around €1.8 billion, which is close to $2 billion ($1.97 billion).

According to Saipem, the first contract is with OMV Petrom for the Neptun Deep gas development project, which was recently greenlighted by Romania’s National Agency for Mineral Resources. This project is located in the Romanian area of the Black Sea.

The Italian giant’s scope of work entails the engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCIC) of a gas processing platform at around 100-metre water depth, three subsea developments – at about 1,000-metre water depth in the Domino field and at approximately 100-metre water depth in the Pelican field) – a 30” gas pipeline approximately 160 km long, and associated fiber optic cable from the shallow water platform to the Romanian coast.

The offshore operations will be performed by the Saipem 7000 and JSD 6000 vessels. While the gas processing platform will be fabricated at Saipem’s yards in Italy and Indonesia, the technological tests and analyses for the materials used in the project will be carried out in Romania, through the firm’s local entity in Ploiesti.

OMV Petrom also confirmed the signing of the deal with Saipem, describing it as “the main contract for Neptun Deep infrastructure development.” The company further elaborates that the contract framework enables Saipem to provide management, engineering, procurement, fabrication, assembly, maritime transportation, installation, testing, and commissioning services for the offshore facilities of the project.

In addition, the contract includes the testing and commissioning of the gas metering station and the near shore and onshore sections of the gas production pipeline, which will be built by other contractors. The contract has a total estimated value of approximately €1.6 billion ($1.75 billion), which will be equally split between OMV Petrom and Romgaz Black Sea Limited as partners in the operating agreement for the development of the Neptun Deep project.  

On the other hand, the contract in Germany was awarded to Saipem by GASCADE Gastransport GmbH to execute the pipelaying of the Ostsee Anbindungsleitung in the Pomeranian Bay in north-eastern Germany.

The Italian firm’s activities entail the transportation and installation of a 48” gas line of around 50 km, from the Lubmin site, in northern Germany on the Baltic Sea, to the Mukran port, along the east coast of the Rügen island, and the construction of landfalls, utilising its Castoro 10 pipelay barge. The Ostsee Anbindungsleitung is slated to be commissioned in early 2024.

“These awards confirm Saipem’s key role and its ability to design and realize the infrastructures necessary for the entire natural gas value chain,” concluded the Italian giant.

Saipem secured multiple new deals over the past few months. The most recent ones, which are worth approximately $1 billion, were awarded for activities in the Middle East and Brazil.