China Offshore Oil Engineering Company (COOEC), a subsidiary of China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), has begun fabrication work on a $4 billion engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPIC) contract for QatarEnergy’s Bul Hanine offshore oilfield. Construction started this week at COOEC’s fabrication base in Qingdao, in China’s Shandong Province, marking the largest offshore oil and gas contract a Chinese company has secured in the Middle East.
COOEC said the Qatar BH EPIC project covers the design, procurement, construction, transportation, installation and commissioning of more than 60 offshore facilities and 40 subsea pipelines and cables, along with the modification and removal of some existing platforms. The Bul Hanine field lies in Gulf waters about 100 kilometers east of the Qatari coastline, in water up to 40 meters deep, and the project is expected to require more than 130,000 tonnes of steel.
Bul Hanine EPIC Contract Sets a Record for Chinese Offshore Work
QatarEnergy awarded the roughly $4 billion contract, equivalent to about 28.6 billion yuan, to COOEC in 2025, making it the largest contract by value that a Chinese company has secured for offshore oil and gas engineering in the Middle East. In addition, the award builds on QatarEnergy’s wider push to expand its offshore output, which has also seen Italy’s Saipem take on separate multi-billion dollar contracts covering the North Field gas expansion.
Furthermore, the Bul Hanine project spans new construction, underwater work, platform renovation and disposal, reflecting the scale and complexity QatarEnergy is asking of its offshore contractors as it develops mature fields alongside newer ones.
Qingdao Fabrication Base Anchors COOEC’s Middle East Push
The Bul Hanine modules are being built at COOEC’s Qingdao International High-End Equipment Manufacturing Base, one of three fabrication yards the company operates in China alongside sites in Tianjin and Zhuhai. Also, COOEC operates 19 offshore engineering vessels and has built a track record in Qatar through earlier projects including the Qatar NFA, NOC RUYA and NFPS COMP2 developments, as well as the ISND5-2 project, which also began fabrication at the same Qingdao base in 2024.
COOEC’s Qingdao yard has hosted more than one Qatari energy project. In 2022, Qatar’s North Oil Company awarded the Ruya development’s front end engineering design contract to McDermott International, and the project’s central processing platform was later fabricated in part at the same Qingdao facility, under a construction contract that Hyundai Heavy Industries and McDermott won for the field’s main offshore works. The overlap illustrates how concentrated Qatar’s offshore fabrication supply chain has become around a handful of Chinese yards.
Project Overview
- Project Name: Qatar Bul Hanine (BH) EPIC Project
- Owner: QatarEnergy
- Contractor: China Offshore Oil Engineering Company (COOEC), a CNOOC subsidiary
- Location: Bul Hanine oilfield, Gulf waters approximately 100 kilometers east of the Qatari coastline
- Water Depth: Up to 40 meters
- Project Type: Offshore oil and gas engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPIC)
- Contract Value: Approximately $4 billion
- Scope: More than 60 offshore facilities and 40 subsea pipelines and cables, plus modification and removal of existing platforms
- Steel Requirement: More than 130,000 tonnes
- Fabrication Site: COOEC’s Qingdao International High-End Equipment Manufacturing Base, Shandong Province, China
- Construction Start: September 15, 2026
- Significance: Largest international offshore oil and gas contract secured by a Chinese company by value
- Wider Context: Part of QatarEnergy’s broader offshore development program, which has also seen Italy’s Saipem awarded separate multi-billion dollar contracts for the North Field gas expansion
Project Team
- Owner: QatarEnergy
- Contractor: China Offshore Oil Engineering Company (COOEC)
- Parent Company: CNOOC Limited
- Related Contractor (North Field expansion): Saipem
Leave a Reply