India’s Essar Projects, which has recently entered the Middle East projects market, has won a string of contracts in Abu Dhabi to build oil, gas and chemicals operations worth a total of $170m.

The Mumbai-based contractor was awarded a $55m engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) from Abu Dhabi Gas Industries (Gasco) to build a condensate pipeline between Habshan and Ruwais in Abu Dhabi’s Western Region of Al-Gharbia.

Gasco received commercial proposals for the scheme in the first quarter of this year, with Essar later emerging as the lowest bidder. Other companies vying for the EPC contract included local group Dodsal, India’s Punj Lloyd and Italy-based Saipem, which all prequalified for the tender floated in October 2012.

The scope of the project is to replace the existing 16-inch condensate pipeline with a new 24-inch pipeline to improve the long-term reliability of the link.

The pipeline will run 110 kilometres from Gasco’s Habshan processing hub to the emirate’s downstream complex in Ruwais, 240 kilometres west of Abu Dhabi city. The work will be carried out over the next 26 months.

Meanwhile, the UAE’s major chemicals producer Abu Dhabi Polymers Company (Borouge) awarded Essar a $35m contract on a polyethylene colour grade compounding plant in Ruwais. The contract, which will be carried out in 22 months, involves the EPC of process equipment, associated pipelines and control systems.

Essar also won three contracts totalling $80m on refinery projects in Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi Oil Refining Company (Takreer) awarded the Indian group a direct contract for the EPC, commissioning and start-up for a spent caustic treatment plant at the refinery in Abu Dhabi city. The plant will have a capacity of 3.6 cubic metres an hour.

The company was subcontracted on two other refinery projects by South Korean EPC contractors. Samsung Engineering contracted Essar for civil works on the carbon black and delayed coker project at Takeer’s Ruwais refinery, while GS Engineering awarded the company a contract for the construction of twin inter-refinery pipelines between Abu Dhabi’s two refineries.

While Essar is a major EPC contractor in India �?building major projects, such as oil refineries, steel plants, pipelines and power plants �?these three direct EPC contracts in Abu Dhabi represent the first work it has been awarded in the Middle East since entering the market.

Essar already has an office in Abu Dhabi and is to open another in Muscat to target the Oman oil and gas projects market.