Italian oil and gas services firm Saipem SpA and Belayim Petroleum Co., or Petrobel, said Dec. 20 they have negotiated an offshore contract addendum worth more than $1.2 billion for engineering, procurement, construction and installation activities in relation to the "Ramp Up to Plateau" phase of the "supergiant" Zohr Field Development Project situated in the Mediterranean Sea off the Egyptian coast.

The addendum includes the installation of a second 30-inch diameter gas export pipeline, infield clad lines, umbilicals and electrical/fiber optic cable, as well as Egyptian General Petroleum Corp., or EPCI, work for the field development of 10 wells in deep water of up to 1,700 meters.

In this next phase of work set to begin in January 2019, Saipem will deploy a range of highly specialized vessels including: the Castorone, the latest generation of ultra-deep water pipelayer; the FDS, a subsea field development ship; the Heavy Lift Vessel S7000; the DP3 subsea construction vessel Normand Maximus; the subsea construction vessel Saipem 3000; the pipelay vessel Castoro Sei; and the multipurpose Normand Cutter and Far Samson vessels.

Petrobel is a 50-50 joint venture between Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation and International Egyptian Oil Co. Inc., or IEOC, an Eni SpA subsidiary in Egypt, and is in charge of the development of Zohr on behalf of PetroShorouk, a joint venture between Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company and IEOC, Rosneft Oil Co. PJSC, BP PLC and Mubadala Petroleum LLC.

The Zohr field, located offshore Egypt, has reported potential resources in excess of 30 trillion cubic feet of gas in place.