ABL Bags Contract for Marine Services on Aramco's Safaniya Field

Energy and marine consulting firm ABL has secured a contract from China Offshore Oil Engineering Company (COOEC) to provide marine warranty survey (MWS) services for the build-out of the CRPO 122 project at the Safaniya oil field in Saudi Arabia.

The Safaniya Oil Field is the world’s biggest conventional offshore oil field both by recoverable reserves and production capacity, ABL said in a news release. Operated by Saudi Arabian Oil Co. (Aramco) the field is located in the northwest corner of the Arabian Gulf, approximately 161.6 miles (260 kilometers) north of Dhahran.

Under the contract, ABL said it will provide MWS to review, survey and approve all operations relating to the transportation and installation (T&I) of 13 shallow water steel jackets, associated piles, conductors, and other project critical items. The steel jackets and other associated items under ABL’s scope of work will be transported from Qingdao in China to the Safaniya Oil Field, offshore Saudi Arabia. The financial details of the contract were not disclosed.

ABL’s team in China will manage the contract and on-site work in China, supported by ABL’s teams in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia to resource onsite work in the Middle East. Work will begin immediately, with the project expected to be completed in July, the company said.

”This is a major project that requires numerous specialist experts and skills. In addition, there are multiple locations involved in the T&I work,” Lyu Liwei, ABL Country Manager for China, said. “Projects such as this underlines the value of ABL’s global footprint, where we are able to draw upon competence, resources and physical presence in several countries at once to provide an optimal solution to our client. We are delighted to support COEEC with our MWS services on this major oil and gas project”.

Consulting for Offshore Charging Project

Meanwhile, ABL announced it is working in a consortium with the vessel owner and operator, Bibby Marine, and the United Kingdom’s Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult to provide technical and operational consultancy for the development of zero-emission offshore charging to power wind farm service vessels.

The development of offshore charging has the potential to enable zero-emission operations of offshore vessels, such as SOVs and CTVs, by allowing the on-board battery banks to be recharged at an offshore wind farm substation (OSS), enabling the vessel to run almost exclusively on green battery power, according to an earlier news release. The project, which started in April, is expected to be completed in early 2025.

The project requires the use of offshore charging assets such as charging buoys or charging reels to be integrated into the offshore electrical infrastructure. ABL said its objective is to identify challenges and risks, and technical requirements for the integration process and future operations.

“The use of novel offshore charging infrastructure requires consideration of the operational procedures, training and novel hazards associated with its operation. These will each be addressed in the project work, advancing industries' knowledge of this exciting technology and addressing the barriers that remain to deployment of offshore charging in UK waters,” Julius Partridge, Principal Electrical Engineer for ABL, said.

ABL is part of Oslo-listed ABL Group ASA, an independent energy and marine consultancy group in the global renewables, maritime and oil and gas sectors.

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