Saipem has won three new offshore contracts worth a total of more than US $1.1 Bn in Azerbaijan, Brazil and Venezuela.

In Azerbaijan, Saipem has signed a deal with BP in the Caspian Sea. Saipem will be responsible for inspection, maintenance and repair of the existing BP facilities in the Azeri offshore sector, including the platforms installed by Saipem in previous years. The contract has a duration of five years, with an option to extend by two years.

In Brazil, state-owned Petrobras awarded a con¬tract for the Uruguà-Mexilhão pipeline. Saipem will transport, install and test an 18-inch, 174km long gas pipeline in the Santos Basin offshore Brazil. The pipeline will link the FPSO vessel Uruguà, located in Block BS-500 at a water depth of 4,265ft (1,300m), to the Mexilhão gas field platform at a water depth of 564ft (172m). Project activities are scheduled to finish in the first half of 2010.

In Venezuela, state player PDVSA awarded Saipem the contract for the Dragon-CIGMA pipeline in the Mariscal Sucre complex offshore northeast Venezuela. Saipem will transport and install a 115km, 36-inch gas export line connecting a platform located in the Dragon field to PDVSA’s CIGMA complex on the southern side of the Paria Peninsula, in the state of Sucre. Marine activities will be mainly carried out by the Semac pipelay vessel and are scheduled to be completed by the end of 2009.