Christopher E. Smith
OGJ Pipeline Editor
HOUSTON, Oct. 25 -- Iraq’s South Oil Co. let a contract to Leighton Offshore for the engineering, procurement, construction, and installation of three single-point moorings (SPMs) and 120 km of 48-in. OD pipeline in the Persian Gulf off Iraq. The project will enhance export facilities at the Fao Terminal near Al Basrah, and is part of SOC’s strategic redevelopment program to expand export capacity to 4.5 million b/d.
Project scope includes:
• Installation and commissioning of two 48-in. OD parallel pipelines, 10 km onshore and 40 km offshore, linking the new Fao onshore terminal to the new SPMs, about 20 km of infield pipeline, and the shore crossing for a third pipeline to be installed during future expansions.
• SPM installation complete with subsea pipeline end manifolds capable of receiving and loading very large crude carriers.
• Fabrication and installation of a 600-tonne subsea valve manifold for directing flow between existing and future offshore export facilities.
• Dredging works to achieve pipeline burial and sufficient water depth for VLCCs mooring to the SPMs.
• Construction and commissioning (including civil, mechanical, and electrical works) of the new onshore metering and manifold facilities at Fao terminal.
Leighton will use its vessels Eclipse, Stealth, and Mynx on the project. The 130-m Eclipse entered service in October 2009 (OGJ, Nov. 16, 2009, p. 58). This is Leighton’s first Middle East contract.
In August, the Tanzania Ports Authority let a contract to Leighton for the installation of an SPM and pipelines offshore and onshore near Dar Es Salaam. Leighton also has installed SPMs off India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Brunei and in addition to the Tanzania SPM, is working on one for Cairn Energy off India as part of Cairn’s continuously heated oil pipeline.
On July 13 SOC let a project management consultancy services contract to Foster Wheeler for the Iraq Crude Oil Export Expansion Project onshore in southern Iraq and off Iraq (OGJ Online, July 13, 2010)
Contact Christopher E. Smith at [email protected].