Abu Dhabi-based oil and gas services contractor National Petroleum Construction Company and French group Technip have been jointly awarded a Dh3 billion ($817 million) contract to build offshore facilities at an oilfield in Abu Dhabi, sources said.

The contract is for the first phase of Zakum Development Company's (Zadco) expansion at its offshore oil field whose production will rise 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) when completed, one of the sources told Reuters on Monday.

'This is one of the big contracts NPCC and Technip have jointly won in Abu Dhabi this year. The two will be bidding for some more projects,' a second source familiar with the matter said.

Zadco, which operates the Upper Zakum field that is ranked as the world's fourth largest by the company, produces 500,000 bpd and plans to lift that to 750,000 by 2015.

The second phase of the project where bidding is under way will increase production by 150,000 bpd.

Zadco is a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company which holds a 60 per cent stake. US company ExxonMobil and Japan Oil Development Company have 28 per cent and 12 per cent respectively.-Reuters