Dredging contract for Saudi Aramco's Manifa field development signed

Scheduled for completion in 2009, Jan De Nul will carry out dredging works in the Arabian Gulf before building several drilling islands and a 41-km causeway that will provide Saudi Aramco with a direct link from the coast to shallow-water offshore man-made drilling islands.

This is the first Lump Sum Turn Key (LSTK) contract to be signed under Saudi Aramco's Manifa development program, their largest offshore project. It aims to add 900,000 bpd of Arabian Heavy crude production by 2011.

"This sets the stage for one of our major investments in the region," said Ali A. Al-Ajmi, Saudi Aramco Vice President of Project Management. "Jan De Nul's role is very critical and instrumental."

The design and procurement out-of-kingdom contract was signed by Al-Ajmi and Noël Pille, Jan De Nul Group's director of Offshore Work. The procurement and build contract was signed by Al-Ajmi and Bassam Atiyeh, managing director of Jan De Nul Saudi Arabia Company Ltd.

The ambassador of Belgium in Saudi Arabia, Rudi Schellinck, along with representatives from Jan De Nul, attended the signing.