Aramco has awarded Saipem an engineering, procurement, construction, and installation contract to build a 48-in. trunkline and related subsea facilities serving Saudi Arabia’s offshore Safaniya oil field, which has been in production since 1957 and is reputed to be the world’s largest offshore oil reservoir.
The contract release purchase order (CRPO) was awarded under an existing long-term agreement it has with Aramco, Saipem said in a 23 February news release.
Saipem’s construction vessels currently deployed in the region will carry out offshore operations across 65 km offshore. The project’s onshore component will stretch 12 km. Fabrication will take place at Saipem’s Saudi fabrication yard, Saipem Taqa Al-Rushaid Fabricators Co. Ltd., in Dammam.
Aramco’s Multi-Decade Master Plan
The project is separate but aligned with ongoing phases of Aramco’s multi-decade master plan to sustain production from mature fields. Saipem’s most recent CRPO supports this goal by integrating the various transport networks with upgrades to aging infrastructure.
Aramco CEO Amin Nasser told Arab News in 2022 that the Kingdom’s investments in enhanced recovery under Aramco’s master development plan aimed to boost Safaniya’s production to 700,000 B/D by 2027. However, in March 2024, Nasser said that, following a government directive not to expand oil capacity beyond 12 million B/D, Aramco would consider canceling the Safaniya and Manifa increment programs.
In its third-quarter 2025 earnings report in November 2025, Aramco highlighted other brownfield “increment projects to support (the company’s) ability to maintain MSC (maximum sustainable capacity) at 12 million B/D, while strengthening its unique ability to respond swiftly to changing market conditions.”
The report singled out the offshore “Marjan and Berri crude oil increments, which are on track for completion in 2025 and expected to provide additional crude oil production capacity of 300 mbpd (300,000 B/D) and 250 mbpd (250,000 B/D), respectively.”
“Procurement and construction activities progressed for the Zuluf crude oil increment, which is expected to process 600 mbpd (600,000 B/D) of crude oil from the Zuluf (brown) field through a central facility in 2026, (while) engineering, procurement, and construction activities continued for phase two of the Dammam development project which is expected to add 50 mbpd (50,000 B/D) of crude oil production capacity when completed in 2027.”
Safaniya is not mentioned in Aramco’s third-quarter report. The company’s full-year 2025 report is scheduled for release on 10 March.
Framework Agreement Extended Into 2027
In April 2025, Saipem announced it had renewed its long-term framework agreement with Aramco until the end of 2027.
With the renewal, Aramco reconfirmed Saipem’s inclusion in an exclusive list of contractors which are eligible to bid for contract release purchase work orders related to projects aimed at maintaining production capacity at Saudi Arabia’s offshore fields.
Contracts awarded to Saipem under this system are executed by a consortium of Snamprogetti Saudi Arabia,a Saipem SpA subsidiary, and STAR (Saipem Taqa Al-Rushaid Fabricators Co.). The arrangment maximizes local content by leveraging the local fabrication yard, which has been in operation since 2008, Saipem said.