Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, in a consortium with U.K.-based partner Petrofac, has won an $800 million order to build the largest crude oil production facility in the Middle East.

The huge project was ordered by ZADCO, a subsidiary of the United Arab Emirates’ state-run petroleum company, according to officials.

It involves the construction of a 750,000-barrel-per-day oil production system and gas-to-liquid plants on four artificial islands in Zakum, an area located 84 kilometers northwest of Abu Dhabi.

Once the facility is complete, the current oil production capacity of 550,000 barrels per day is expected to soar to 750,000 barrels.

The consortium will take charge of all stages of the project, starting from engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning ― referred to as the EPCIC process ― and deliver the output by 2017.

This is also to be DSME’s first multibillion onshore plant construction project overseas, as the company has mostly been involved in building ships and offshore facilities.

When the project was opened for bidding last year, it was considered to favor Hyundai Heavy Industries, the world’s largest shipbuilder, but later turned into a tight two-way race between the two Korean firms.

“Onshore construction has so far been minor in our business sectors but actually involves a greater level of profit,” said an official of DSME.

“In this sense, the Middle East is a market with great potential, in which we hope to make visible advancement in the upcoming years.”

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)