Abu Dhabi Pipeline Project, United Arab Emirates

The Abu Dhabi crude oil pipeline project, also known as the Habshan-Fujairah pipeline, was initiated by the International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC), which is owned by the Abu Dhabi Government.

The pipeline originates at Habshan and end at Fujairah, UAE, covering a distance of around 400km. It transports crude oil from the onshore oil operations facilities of the Abu Dhabi Company for onshore oil operations to the main oil terminal for export via its offshore loading facilities.

The 48in-diameter pipeline will have a nominal capacity to transport 1.5 million barrels per day of crude oil, equivalent to more than half of the UAE's total crude oil export. The pipeline's maximum capacity is 1.8 million barrels per day.

The crude oil is transported from Abu Dhabi's main field to a crude reservoir in Fujairah. Thereafter, the oil is loaded onboard tankers outside the Persian Gulf.

Construction and completion

Construction work for the Abu Dhabi pipeline – which includes a connecting station, initial and intermediate stations, a terminal station, three offshore single-point mooring devices and storage tanks – began in March 2008.

The Abu Dhabi pipeline was completed in March 2011. The original completion date was 2009, but was delayed due to a congested market and difficulty in procuring materials. The pipeline is expected to be operational from August 2011 and reach full capacity in 2012.

When operational, the pipeline will lower the company's dependency on oil terminals in the Gulf, enhance export potential on the eastern seaboard of UAE and reduce shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.

IPIC and ConocoPhillips signed an agreement in 2006 to construct a 500,000bpd refinery at Fujairah; however, the plans were put on hold after ConocoPhillips withdrew from the project in 2007 due to increasing costs. In May 2011, IPIC revised the plans to include the construction of a 200,000bpd refinery.

Abu Dhabi pipeline contracts

The project was conceptually designed by Tebodin in 2006. ILF Consulting Engineers was selected to provide project management services in April 2007. The contract for the Environmental Impact assessment study was awarded to URS Corporation in September 2007.

Contracts for the topographical survey and geotechnical survey were awarded to Maps Geosystems and Fugro Middle East / Arab Centre for Engineering Studies in September 2007.

The FEED contract was given to WorleyParsons in September 2007. The pipe supply contract was given to Sumitomo Corporation, Salzgitter Mannesmann International and Jindal Group in December 2007.

Around 225,000t of coated steel pipes were used for the pipeline.

The total value of the contract was $460m. Sumitomo supplied 100,000t of large diameter welded line pipe for the project.

China Petroleum Engineering & Construction Corporation (CPECC) was selected as the EPC contractor for the project in November 2008. The contract was valued at $3.29bn. The EPC contract was carried out jointly by CNPC and China Petroleum Pipeline Bureau. CNPC started installation of oil tank for the pipeline in December 2009.

In November 2009, CPECC awarded a $21m contract to ABB for the design and supply of integrated electrical equipment for the pipeline. ABB provided electrical systems, 33kv gas insulated switchgear and resistors, ring main devices and capacitor banks. ABB also supplied protection panels, fault monitoring equipment and substation control and supervising equipment for the project. All the systems are based on ABB's 800xA system.

A sub-contract was given to Van Oord Offshore in December 2008, and included offshore installation of three pipelines of around 13km and three single point mooring systems. These pipelines were trenched and backfilled.

The contract work was carried out by Van Oord and Bluewater Energy, which also provided the mooring system and related engineering. It was completed in the second quarter 2010.

The sub-contract for the technical assurance and certification of the pipeline was given to Germanischer Lloyd by CPECC in May 2009. The three subsea pipelines are certified by Germanischer Lloyd and the contract work is expected to be completed by late 2011.