(Reuters) A number of local and international engineering construction firms are in the race for a key project that is central to Petroleum Development Oman 's ( PDO ) goal to sustain gas flows from its main gas production hub at Saih Rawl in central Oman. Financial and technical bids were submitted here recently for Phase 2 of PDO 's Saih Rawl Depletion Compression (SRDC) project, which is critical to ensuring that gas exports to major consumers are maintained and at the prescribed pressure and in the requisite volumes.

The phase 2 development comes close on the heels of the inauguration last month of the first phase of the Saih Rawl Depletion Compression project an estimated $550 million investment that reinforces PDO 's dominant place at the heart of Oman's flourishing gas industry. Presently the largest gas field in the country, Saih Rawl has been in production since 1991, catering to much of gas demand in the North of Oman. Volumes from Saih Rawl are processed at PDO 's massive Central Processing Plant (CPP) located not far the field.