By: OrePulse

Saudi Aramco has awarded five offshore contracts worth up to $2.5 billion in total for maintenance and development work on its Marjan, Zuluf, Abu Safah and Safaniya fields, according to the contractors that received the awards.

The five contracts were issued as contract release and purchase orders, numbered 167 through 171, under Aramco's long-term agreement framework for approved offshore contractors. They were the first tenders issued under that framework in 2026 and drew competition from contractors worldwide, according to available reporting.

UAE-based NMDC Energy said it had received a letter of award for three of the five packages, together worth about 2.8 billion UAE dirhams, equivalent to roughly $763.3 million, with completion expected within 18 to 23 months. NMDC Energy did not disclose the individual scope or value of each of the three projects. Reports have linked the company's awards to packages 167, 169 and 171, though that specific numbering has not been confirmed directly by NMDC Energy or Aramco [uncertain].

One of the five packages covers engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning (EPCIC) work on eight jacket structures supporting offshore platforms across the four named fields, while two further packages each cover roughly three production platform units, for the Marjan and Zuluf fields respectively, according to available reporting. The contracts cover maintenance and upgrade work on existing offshore infrastructure rather than new offshore construction.

Italian contractor Saipem was awarded the remaining two packages in the batch, the companies said. Neither the scope nor the value of those two packages within this round of awards was disclosed.

Saipem has a longstanding contracting relationship with Aramco's offshore program. The company said it won two separate contracts worth a combined $400 million in April 2026 for development work at the Safaniya field, and separately won offshore contracts worth about $600 million in December 2025 covering pipeline extension and topside modification work at the Berri and Abu Safah fields.

Aramco's long-term agreement framework with NMDC Energy and Saipem dates to 2016. The companies said the agreement was extended by three years in April 2025, with an option for a further three-year extension.

The new awards follow a period of heightened offshore spending by Aramco. The company spent about $11 billion on offshore EPCIC contracts in 2025, more than double its 2024 offshore capital expenditure, as part of efforts to maintain total production capacity at 12 million barrels per day.

Aramco is also evaluating bids from its approved contractor pool for six further tenders under the same long-term agreement framework, according to available reporting, with that work expected to keep contractors engaged through the remainder of 2026 and beyond.

NMDC Energy and Saipem are both part of a wider roster of contractors prequalified under Aramco's long-term agreement framework, which the companies said was structured to let Aramco draw on a standing pool of approved firms for successive rounds of offshore work rather than running a fresh tender process for each contract.