Saudi Aramco has awarded 34 contracts with a total value of $18 billion for engineering, procurement and construction projects at its Marjan and Berri oil fields, the company said on July 9.

Aramco plans to boost production capacity at the two fields by 550,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) of Arabian crude oil and 2.5 billion standard cubic feet a day (Bcf/d) of gas, the company said in a statement.

The company’s maximum sustained oil output capacity is currently 12 million barrels per day, the statement added.

Saudi companies account for 50% of the awarded contracts in a bidding process that involved more than 90 companies and institutions.

The offshore oilfield development project aims to increase the Marjan Field's production by 300,000 bbl/d of oil of Arabian Medium Crude Oil, process 2.5 Bcf/d of gas, and produce an additional 360,000 bbls of oil per calendar day of ethane.

Aramco also plans to add 250,000 bbls of Arabian Light Crude per day from the offshore Berri oilfield.