UK firm gets job on next phase of Qatar’s largest oil field

Scotland-headquartered welding, technology, and coating services provider CRC Evans has been hired to handle welding services on a project designed to expand production at an oil field, which is said to be the largest one off the coast of Qatar.

While disclosing a contract with Offshore Oil Engineering Co., Ltd. (COOEC) to deliver welding services described as “critical” for the Ru’ya Batch 1 project (EPCI09), part of the expansion of the giant Al-Shaheen field offshore Qatar, CRC Evans explained that the formal signing ceremony was held on November 6.

The contract was signed by Paul McShane, EMEAA President of CRC Evans, and Wang Zhangling, Chairman of COOEC. This was witnessed by Zhou Xinhuai, President of CNOOC, COOEC’s parent company, and Frederic Castrec, CEO of CRC Evans.

Castrec underlined: “This collaboration utilises our specialised expertise in welding services, allowing us to contribute to the development of Qatar’s largest offshore field, Al-Shaheen, with an emphasis on safety, reliability, and precision. We look forward to working closely with COOEC to ensure excellence on this project and to further our shared commitment to advancing the offshore energy sector.”

QatarEnergy’s plans to boost oil production from its Al-Shaheen field by about 100,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) were confirmed in January 2024, when four multibillion-dollar engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (EPCI) contract packages were disclosed.

These deals enable McDermott, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Larsen & Toubro Limited, and China Offshore Oil Engineering Co (COOEC) to handle the third phase of Al-Shaheen’s development since North Oil Company (NOC), a joint venture between QatarEnergy (70%) and TotalEnergies (30%), took over the field’s operation in July 2017.

After starting its commercial production in 1994, the Al-Shaheen field underwent significant development to reach an oil production rate of 300,000 bpd in 2007. Recently, Hanwha Ocean completed a fixed platform project for the field with a 25-year design life. In September 2024, Boskalis’ vessel installed a central processing platform (CPP) topside at the field located approximately 80 km northeast off the coast of Qatar.

The Al-Shaheen field, which is said to be one of the world’s largest offshore oil fields with 40 existing platforms and up to 430 operational wells, is expected to undergo further expansion as QatarEnergy aims to develop more than 550 million barrels of oil over five years.

The expansion entails drilling more than 200 wells and installing a new centralized process complex, nine remote wellhead platforms, and associated pipelines. The first oil is anticipated in 2027. Qatar’s energy heavyweight is also pursuing its LNG fleet expansion program through shipbuilding contracts and time charter agreements for 128 ultra-modern vessels.

Following the naming ceremony for Rex Tillerson and Umm Ghuwailina at the Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard in Shanghai, four more vessels, which are part of the shipbuilding program, were named after locations in Qatar last week.