LONDON: Abu Dhabi’s oil company said on Wednesday that it had awarded a 5 billion dirham ($1.36 billion) contract to local firm National Marine Dredging Company (NMDC) to build artificial islands as part of the first phase of a gas concession.
The work will include dredging, land reclamation and marine construction, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) said in a statement.
It will support the Ghasha Concession, which consists of the Hail, Ghasha, Dalma, Nasr and Mubarraz offshore sour gas fields.
The project — which is expected to take 38 months to complete — is expected to employ over 3,500 people at peak construction.
Under the terms of the contract, NMDC will construct 10 new artificial islands and two causeways, as well as expand an existing island, Al Ghaf.
“This award accelerates the development of the Hail, Ghasha and Dalma sour gas offshore mega-project ... As one of the world’s largest sour gas projects it will make a significant contribution to the UAE’s objective to become gas self-sufficient and transition to a potential net gas exporter,” said Sultan Ahmed Al-Jaber, UAE minister of state and ADNOC group CEO.
“NMDC was selected after a rigorous and competitive tender process. The award of this project to a UAE company will generate substantial in-country value, supporting local economic growth. In addition, it demonstrates the rapid progress ADNOC is making to leverage and create value from Abu Dhabi’s substantial, untapped, hydrocarbon resources.”
The bid by NMDC “prioritized UAE sources for materials, as well as the use of mostly local suppliers, manufacturers and workforce,” the ADNOC statement said. A total local spend of over 3.62 billion dirhams ($986 million) is expected, the statement said.
