The global oil and gas (O&G) industry experienced a 15% quarter-on-quarter decrease in the total number of contracts, from 1,596 in Q3 2024 to 1,353 in Q4 2024.

Despite the dip in volume, the overall contract value remained stable, driven by the announcement of some major contracts in Africa, reveals GlobalData, Offshore Technology’s parent company.

GlobalData’s latest report, “Oil and Gas Industry Contracts Review by Sector, Region, Terrain and Top Contractors and Issuers, Q4 2024,” reveals that the overall contract value remained relatively stable at $39.2bn in Q4 2024, compared to $38.8bn in Q3 2024.

The major contracts announced in the African region include Tecnicas Reunidas and Sinopec Engineering’s $4bn new deep conversion oil refinery project in Algeria’s Hassi Messaoud region, and $1.4bn Wuhuan Engineering and WeDo’s ammonia and urea plant project in Angola.

Pritam Kad, O&G Analyst at GlobalData, said: “Sinopec Engineering replacing Samsung Engineering to partner with Tecnicas Reunidas for the five metric tonnes per annum (mmtpa) deep conversion refinery project in the Hassi Messaoud region of Algeria was a significant value booster."

They continued that this was alongside "support from JGC Indonesia $2.4bn compression contract for the Tangguh LNG contract, Saipem’s $1.9bn GranMorgu subsea development contract in Suriname, and Wuhuan Engineering and WeDo’s contract for an ammonia and urea plant in Angola."

These contracts were crucial in keeping the contract value stable despite the decline in volume, Kad concluded.

Operation and maintenance (O&M) represented 50% of the total contracts in Q4 2024, followed by procurement scope with 30%, and contracts with multiple scopes, such as construction, design and engineering, installation, O&M, and procurement, which accounted for 10%.

Some other notable contracts during the quarter were Bram Offshore and Starnav Servicos Maritimos’ $2.74bn construction and charter contract from Petrobras for 12 Platform Supply Vessels (PSVs) and Saipem’s $1.9bn contract from TotalEnergies EP Suriname for the EPC, supply, pre-commissioning, and commissioning assistance for the Subsea Umbilicals, Risers, and Flowlines (SURF) package for the GranMorgu project in Suriname.

These contracts demonstrate continued investment and expansion in key global oil and gas projects, said GlobalData.