Tecnimont and CCC seal Safaniyah water injection deal

Italy’s Tecnimont and Consolidated Contractors Co. (CCC) have signed the construction contract for Saudi Aramco’s Safaniyah Water Injection Project, the two companies confirmed.

The agreement was inked in Al Khobar on October 4 by Daniele Quintarelli, regional vice president at Tecnimont, and Hisham Kawash, regional managing director at CCC, following formal approval from the Saudi state oil giant.

The scheme forms part of Aramco’s upstream development programme at Safaniyah, the world’s largest offshore oil field and a cornerstone of the kingdom’s Arabian Heavy crude output. Water injection is central to maintaining reservoir pressure and sustaining production at the field, which has been in operation since the 1950s.

Under the terms of the deal, CCC will handle project execution and construction, drawing on what the contractor described as its “construction capability, technical expertise, delivery strength and proven track record in Saudi Arabia”. Tecnimont, part of Milan-listed Maire, is delivering the project to Aramco and has subcontracted the on-the-ground build-out to CCC.

Neither party disclosed the contract value or the targeted completion date. The companies also declined to specify injection capacity or the scope of associated facilities, though the award is understood to cover infrastructure tied to the broader Safaniyah development rather than a standalone platform package.

For CCC, the award deepens a working relationship with Tecnimont that has spanned multiple hydrocarbon projects in the Gulf. The Athens-headquartered contractor, one of the largest privately held engineering groups in the Middle East, has been expanding its backlog in Saudi Arabia as Aramco accelerates spending on crude capacity maintenance and gas expansion.

Safaniyah’s role in Aramco’s portfolio has shifted since the company shelved plans in early 2024 to lift maximum sustainable capacity to 13mn bpd on instruction from the Saudi government. Investment has instead been redirected towards sustaining mature fields and expanding gas output, with water injection among the priority workstreams underpinning the Arabian Heavy stream.

In a joint statement marking the signing, the two contractors said attention would now turn to “safe mobilization, disciplined execution and successful delivery of the project”. CCC separately described the award as “a significant milestone” for its Saudi business and thanked Aramco “for its confidence and to Tecnimont for the continued partnership and collaboration”.

Mobilisation timelines and the engineering lead-in were not disclosed. Aramco has yet to issue a public statement on the contract award.