Italy-based global engineering and infrastructure contractor Saipem announced on Wednesday that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Bahrain's Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (GPIC) to carry out the feasibility study of three key projects.

GPIC is a joint venture equally owned by Bahrain's National Oil and Gas Holding Company (NOGA), Saudi-based SABIC Agri-nutrient Investments and Kuwait's Petrochemical Industries Co. (PIC).

The MOU covers feasibility study for three projects - first, increasing GPIC's daily plant production of ammonia, urea and methanol through technical solutions that lower energy consumption and use natural gas; second, a pre-feasibility study to build a new mega ammonia and urea plant and third, determine the quality of gas feedstock in the fields discovered in 2018 off Bahrain's west coast.

Maurizio Coratella, Chief Operating Officer of Saipem's Onshore E&C Division said the MoU with GIPIC marks a significant new opportunity for Saipem to expands and strengthen its interests in this strategic area.

(Writing by Anoop Menon; Editing by Mily Chakrabarty)

anoop.menon@refinitiv.com

© Thomson Reuters Projects News 2020