Global engineering firm Wood has been awarded a contract by China Offshore Oil Engineering Company (COOEC). This agreement establishes that the British firm will assume the detailed design scope for the Bul Hanine field, a strategic initiative by QatarEnergy located offshore Qatar.
Strategic Continuity at Qatar’s Bul Hanine Field
Wood’s participation will focus on contributing its expertise in deepwater subsea engineering and flow assurance. The central purpose of this collaboration is to design an optimized solution for the complex field pipeline network, aimed at improving production capacity and extending the long-term operability of the Qatari state oil company’s assets.
The contract stipulates that Wood will assume technical responsibility for the design of 25 subsea pipelines. The engineering will ensure safe interaction at the geographical points where these lines cross existing infrastructure on the seabed. Additionally, the technical team will manage thermal expansion to protect the structural integrity of the assets against temperature and pressure variations.
In addition to the main lines, the assigned activities include performing crossing analyses for 15 umbilicals and 2 power cables. These tasks are essential to mitigate operational risks in a high-density offshore infrastructure environment.
Corporate Alliances and Energy Production Optimization
The cooperation between both entities seeks to integrate complementary technical capabilities to achieve the Qatari operator’s operational goals. Gerry Traynor, Wood’s regional president for the Middle East, Africa and Caspian, has stated that the corporation has a solid track record in the detailed design of complex offshore projects and in optimizing subsea installation solutions.
The executive has indicated that this joint work will contribute to accelerating QatarEnergy’s vision of extending the field’s life, increasing capacity, and boosting production from these critical infrastructures.
For his part, Wu Zhixing, deputy director of COOEC Engineering Company, has expressed the company’s satisfaction in acting as QatarEnergy’s trusted partner on the Bul Hanine EPIC2 project. The executive has stated that this advancement consolidates the organization’s track record in the sector, strengthens its presence in the Middle East energy market, and demonstrates the entity’s capability to deliver reliable engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (EPIC) solutions in offshore megaprojects.
This new award represents the continuation of Wood’s previous activities at the Bul Hanine field. Previously, the engineering firm had developed the front-end engineering design (Pre-FEED) and initial detailed engineering design (FEED) phases under direct contract with QatarEnergy. This sequence of contracts demonstrates the technical confidence placed in the multinational for the modernization of mature fields in the region.
Source and photo: Wood