Chinese energy giant Sinopec has awarded an engineering, procurement and construction contract for the Weizhou oilfield expansion in the Beibu Gulf, involving a new offshore processing platform, subsea pipelines, and fibre-optic cables.
The contract was awarded to a consortium comprising Sinopec Petroleum Engineering Design and Sinopec Shengli Oil Construction.
It is reported that the package covers detailed engineering, procurement and fabrication of a new offshore oil and gas processing platform featuring an eight-legged jacket, steel piles, topsides, accommodation facilities, and a well-workover module.
The contractors will also install subsea pipelines and communications cables offshore, including riser connections, expansion bends, offshore commissioning, and start-up support.
The original tender estimated the package at RMB1.04 billion (US$146 million), although the final contract value has not been disclosed.
The project forms part of Sinopec’s development of new production capacity at the Weizhou field, including a new WZ-CEP central processing platform linked to the existing WZ11-4 CEPD installation.
The development involves approximately 26 km of subsea pipeline and a parallel fibre-optic cable of similar length.
The new platform is designed to accommodate 28 wells, with 16 wells included in the initial drilling programme. These comprise 11 production wells, four water-injection wells, and one gas-injection well.
Modifications are also planned for the existing WZ11-4 platform to accommodate the additional production infrastructure. The EPC package has a planned execution period of 615 days, with completion tied to the project’s readiness for first oil.
