The Wasit Gas Programme encompasses the development of the Arabiyah and Hasbah offshore gas fields, located approximately 150 km northeast of Jubail Industrial City, in the Persian Gulf. A total of 12 wellhead platforms, two tie-in platforms and one injection platform will be installed as part of the programme.

Saipem will install a 36 inch diameter, 260 km export pipeline to bring the gas onshore to the central processing facility (CPF) also being constructed as part of the programme. The CPF will have the capacity to process 2.5 Bcf/d of gas from the offshore fields.

As the export pipeline will be buried deep under the sea and exposed to extreme cold, salt water and corrosion, mono-ethylene glycol (MEG) will be introduced into the pipelines as an antifreeze and anticorrosion agent. Saipem will install approximately 200 km of MEG pipelines as part of the project.

The scope of work also includes the shore approaches and construction of approximately 120 km of onshore pipelines. In addition, 200 km of subsea electric and control cables, and 40 km of offshore flowlines will also be installed.

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The fabrication activities will mainly be carried out in the yards of Dammam, Saudi Arabia, and the offshore activities will be performed mainly by the Castoro II and Castoro Otto vessels.

The programme also provides for installing natural gas liquid (NGL) fractionation facilities inside the Al Wasit CPF to allow for the processing of 240,000 bbl/d of ethane and NGL produced at the Khursaniyah Plant.