ADNOC Hail and Ghasha Sour Gas Megaproject Reference

DISCLAIMER: This is an industry reference article based on publicly available reporting. Hebei Haihao makes no claim of supply, EPC participation, or commercial relationship with any company or contractor named in this article. All information is sourced from public news, corporate releases, and industry publications.

1. Project Background

The Hail and Ghasha development is the first phase of ADNOC's Ghasha sour gas concession off Abu Dhabi. It is one of the largest greenfield sour gas projects sanctioned this decade. Per ADNOC's October 2023 announcement, the company took FID and awarded the major EPC packages, framing the project as the first sour gas development designed to operate with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, supported by ~1.5 mtpa of CO2 capture.

For international procurement engineers, the Hail and Ghasha sour gas project is the reference point for current ADNOC offshore plus onshore execution: artificial islands, subsea sour gas trunk lines, and large onshore sulfur recovery and gas treating facilities. The materials demands sit at the upper end of what global mills and forge shops can supply.

2. Scale by the Numbers

3. Contractor Map

ADNOC publicly disclosed two anchor EPC packages for the Hail and Ghasha sour gas project:

• Offshore EPC: A joint venture between Italy's Saipem and the UAE's National Petroleum Construction Company (NPCC) was awarded the offshore facilities scope, including artificial islands and subsea pipelines, with a reported value of about USD 8.2 billion.
• Onshore EPC: Italy's Tecnimont (a Maire Tecnimont group company) was awarded the onshore scope including CO2 and sulfur recovery and handling, with a reported value of about USD 8.74 billion. Tecnimont publicly described it as the largest single award in the group's history.

Under these EPCs, the contractors will manage their own approved vendor lists for line pipe, fittings, flanges, valves and induction bends.

4. Typical Materials & Standards Profile

Sour gas service at Hail and Ghasha levels of H2S and CO2 typically drives a procurement spec that includes:

• API 5L PSL2 sour service line pipe with HIC and SSC qualification, plus heat-by-heat MTRs.
• Carbon and low-alloy fittings to MSS SP-75 WPHY grades or ASTM A234 WPB / WPHY, supplied with NACE MR0175 / ISO 15156 compliance.
• Forged flanges to ASME B16.5 / B16.47 in materials such as ASTM A105N normalized, A350 LF2 for low-temperature service, or higher-alloy grades where wet sour conditions or corrosion-resistant alloys (CRAs) such as duplex / super duplex (UNS S31803, S32750) and 6Mo grades are specified.
• Hot induction bends to ASME B16.49 with full post-bend heat treatment and through-thickness HIC sampling.

For international procurement teams scoping similar sour service piping packages, reference product families are described under seamless butt-welding pipe fittings, forged flanges and non-standard forgings and hot induction pipe bends.

5. Procurement Lessons for International Buyers

For sour service developments of the Hail and Ghasha class, three procurement realities dominate. First, prequalification time is long: even Tier-1 mills can need 6 to 12 months to demonstrate consistent HIC test results across multiple heats. Second, ADNOC's vendor list (the AVL) and the EPC contractors' internal AVLs both apply, and approval on one does not equal approval on the other. Third, packaging matters: bundling line pipe, fittings, flanges and bends from suppliers under one quality regime reduces the cost of TPI surveillance and avoids weld procedure mismatches at the spool fabrication stage.

Procurement teams shaping a similar sour service material package can route documented prequalification queries via the inquiry portal.

6. Reference Takeaway

The ADNOC Hail and Ghasha sour gas megaproject is a current, well-documented benchmark for sour service offshore + onshore EPC execution in the Gulf. Its USD 17 billion contract split between Saipem-NPCC and Tecnimont and its sour service material demands provide a useful frame of reference for any international buyer modeling the next wave of sour gas procurement.

Sources

• https://www.adnoc.ae/en/news-and-media/press-releases/2023/adnoc-takes-fid-on-worlds-first-project-that-aims-to-operate-with-net-zero-emissions
• https://www.ogj.com/refining-processing/gas-processing/article/14299864/adnoc-takes-fid-awards-epc-contracts-for-abu-dhabi-sour-gas-megaproject
• https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/energy/2023/10/05/adnoc-awards-contracts-worth-about-17-billion-for-hail-and-ghasha-offshore-project/
• https://www.tecnimont.com/en/newsroom/news/maire-awarded-usd-87-billion-contract-by-adnoc-for-the-onshore-portion-of-the-hail-and-ghasha-development-project-in-abu-dhabi-the-largest-award-ever-for-the-group/
• https://www.gem.wiki/Hail_and_Ghasha_Oil_and_Gas_Project_(United_Arab_Emirates)

Hebei Haihao does not claim involvement in this project.