A €300 million contract has been awarded to Saipem for work on an offshore gas pipeline in Sicily, Italy.
Saipem’s new deal came from Enimed, a subsidiary of Eni – one of the seven supermajors. The Italian engineering and services contractor is tasked with the transportation and installation of the pipeline to connect four wells from Italy’s Argo and Cassiopea fields to the Sicilian coast.
“With a length of 60 kilometres and a maximum water depth of 660 metres, the 14-inch gas pipeline will be installed by Castorone and Castoro 10, both globally recognised as first-class pipelay vessels,” Saipem said.
In addition, the Saipem 3000 will install umbilicals connecting the Cassiopea wells to the Prezioso Platform.
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The Cassiopea project represents a strategic and complementary infrastructure in the framework of Italian gas supply, which has been recently affected by the geopolitical scene in Europe.
“It now sets Saipem as one of the main contractors able to effectively support clients and to provide tangible solution to the current energy crisis,” the company said.
The Cassiopea and Argo fields form part of a phased offshore gas development located in the Strait of Sicily. It is considered the largest greenfield gas development in Italy and, once on stream, will be one of the country’s main producing gas fields.
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The Cassiopea field lies in about 650 metres of water in the Sicily Channel, with the Argo field located to the east at a water depth of 560 metres. Both fields produce oil and gas from Triassic and Jurassic-age carbonates and gas from Pleistocene-age clastic sediments.
First gas is expected by 2024 with the project expected to deliver some 150 million cubic feet of gas per day. Eni has a 60% stake in these Italian assets, with Energean on 40%.
