The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) announced the award of a dredging, land reclamation and marine construction contract to build multiple artificial islands in the first phase of development of the Ghasha Concession.
The contract awarded to the UAE’s National Marine Dredging Company (NMDC) is valued at AED 5bn (USD 1.36bn) and will achieve substantial In-Country Value of over 70%. The Ghasha Concession consists of the Hail, Ghasha, Dalma, Nasr and Mubarraz offshore sour gas fields.
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. The project is expected to take 38 months to complete and will provide the infrastructure required to further develop, drill and produce gas from the sour gas fields in the Ghasha Concession. At peak construction, the project is expected to employ over 3,500 people.
Artificial islands provide significant cost and environmental benefits, particularly in shallow water, by enabling the use of lower-cost land-drilling rigs instead of high-cost offshore jack-up drilling rigs. They also provide greater flexibility for extended reach drilling when compared to offshore rigs. The use of artificial islands will eliminate the need to dredge over 100 locations for wells and provide additional habitats for marine life. ADNOC has a proven record of developing artificial islands, including the construction of four artificial islands for the Upper Zakum expansion project. ADNOC’s Upper Zakum field is the second-largest offshore oil field and the fourth-largest oilfield in the world.
