Up to five leading international contracting giants are poised for an almighty scrap over a prized offshore contract from Qatargas to provide offshore infrastructure for the second phase of its giant North Field Expansion liquefied natural gas project.

The state-owned giant recently invited bids for up to five offshore jackets required for the North Field South (NFS) project — the second expansion phase of the giant gas field — three people with direct knowledge of the development told Upstream.

“Tenders documents have been issued and bids are likely to be submitted by end of October,” one of them said.

The offshore project includes the engineering, procurement, construction and installation of five sizeable offshore wellhead jackets destined for the NFS project.

Those expected to submit bids include McDermott International of the US, Italy’s Saipem and Rosetti Marino, Indian engineering giant Larsen & Toubro and Malaysia’s Sapura Energy, project watchers said.

Qatargas is a subsidiary of state-owned giant Qatar Petroleum (QP) and is carrying out the tender process for multiple onshore and offshore projects involving the giant expansion scheme.

QP is yet to respond to an Upstream query seeking details on the NFS tender process.

Workscope details