Saipem boosted by potential contract for 5bn QatarEnergy project
According to rumours it is the favourite in a joint venture with China's Cooec. Quotations are also driven by the rising value of crude oil
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(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) Purchases are rewarding Saipem, which has risen to the top of the main list at Piazza Affari, thanks to the potential award of the contract for the more than $5 billion NFPS (North Field Production Sustainability) project, known as COMP 5. According to rumours reported by Upstream, the joint venture between Saipem and China's Offshore Oil Engineering Company (Cooec) - which finished 0.56% higher on the Shanghai Stock Exchange - would be the 'front runner' in the bidding process launched by QatarEnergy to increase production of North Field LNG, liquefied natural gas.
Commercial bids for the COMP 5 project were submitted earlier this year by at least four consortia or companies, with the operator expected to finalise the selection of the preferred contractor within a few weeks. Other leading bidders include South Korea's HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, the US-based McDermott International and India's Larsen & Toubro (L&T) Group.
As Intermonte recalls, already last year Saipem was awarded a $4bn offshore EPC (engineering, procurement, construction and installation) contract for the COMP 3A and COMP 3B projects of the NFPS offshore compression programme. In the first nine months of 2025, experts also point out, Saipem's order intake reached EUR 7.5 billion, while in the fourth quarter of the year so far order intake is expected to be around EUR 1 billion.
For the full year 2025, analysts estimate EUR 13.2bn (compared to EUR 18.8bn in 2024), implying an order intake of EUR 5.7bn in the last quarter. "While acknowledging that the final figure may be lower than our estimates due to slippages in the award of some projects to 2026," they write in a report, "we continue to believe that the commercial outlook for Saipem remains solid, particularly in the Offshore segment. The price is also supported by generalised buying on crude oil, following the "total and complete" blockade decided by US President Trump for all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, which is accompanied by the threat of a US military presence that "will only increase". The price of oil is rising sharply and thus the oil and gas sector is the best in Europe. Also up at Piazza Affari were Tenaris and Eni .
