The number of major upstream contracts awarded in first-quarter 2015 has plummeted 65%, compared to the previous quarter, in yet another sign of tough times for the industry.

But the drop, as unveiled in the latest EIC Monitor report, is not all doom and gloom. Despite the decline, some of the contracts awarded carried hefty dollar amounts.

“The value of some is substantial,” EIC said. “But while long-term investment plans and new discoveries hold promise for the long term, these could take a long time to come to fruition for industry players.”

Thirty-nine major contracts—for work such as engineering, procurement and construction (EPC), FEED and subsea/subsea, umbilicals, risers and flowlines—were awarded between January and March 2015, down from 66 awards in fourth-quarter 2014. Most activity was in the EPC category with 21 contracts awarded, mainly for projects offshore Ghana, Norway, Malaysia and the U.S., EIC said.

Ghana: Commanding attention, with about 500 MMbbl and about 41 Bcm of oil and non-associated gas in place, is Cape Three Points Block, a deepwater development operated by Eni Spa (NYSE: E), with partners Vitol and Ghana National Petroleum Co. First oil and gas are expected in 2017 and 2018, respectively, with production set to peak in 2019 at about 80,000 boe/d, Eni said on its website.

Four contracts for the development, which includes the Sankofa and Gye Name discoveries, were awarded in the first quarter, EIC said. These include one of quarter’s largest deals—Yinson Holdings’ $2.5-billion 15-yearcontract to charter, operate and maintain the FPSO vessel for the Tano Basin block. Other major contracts include one each for PetroVietnam Technical Services Co. and Kanfa Group to supply four topsides modules for the FPSO and an $850 million contract to GE Oil and Gas for three gas turbines and four centrifugal compressors.

Norway: Statoil was busy doling out high-dollar contracts for its Johan Sverdrup and Gina Krog developments offshore Norway in the first quarter. Aibel landed a deal worth more than $1 billion to construct the deck for the drilling platform on the Johan Sverdrup Field.

“Targeted efforts have been made to reduce cost and ensure a cost-efficient delivery and execution,” said Margareth Øvrum, Statoil’s executive vice president for technology, projects and drilling. “The drilling platform is one of four platforms in the planned field center.”

Other contract awards included one to ABB to supply power equipment for Johan Sverdrup. IKM Ocean Design landed an EPC contract to supply the Zeepipe Zeepipe IIA Gooseneck Spool and retrofit hot tap tee in the Gina Krog, EIC said.

Others: Other notable EPC contracts included the $4.3 billion contract won by the Petrofac-led consortium for the Lower Fars heavy oil field development being developed by the Kuwait Oil Co. Work will center on the main central processing facility and associated infrastructure as well as the production support complex. Saipem also caught a big one—a $1.8 billion contract from North Caspian Sea Operating Co. to build two 95-km pipelines.

“The significant value of these contracts demonstrates that while the overall number of awards has reduced, the value of those being made is still substantial,” EIC said.

Following EPC contracts were subsea/SURF contracts, with 12 awarded. Dominating here were Ghana and the U.S., each with three contracts awarded.

Oceaneering International Inc. (NYSE: OII) handed out all three contracts for projects in U.S. waters. As reported by EIC, these were for umbilical installation tiebacks in Marmalard North and Marmalard South in the Gulf of Mexico’s Mississippi Canyon Block, umbilicals and hardware for the Hess Corp. (NYSE: HES)-operated Stampede oil field in the Green Canyon area, and a third for subsea production umbilicals.

Contract activity continued to ramp up in Ghana with the GE Oil & Gas and Oceaneering joint venture winning a deal to supply a subsea production system in Cape Three Points. DeepOcean secured the other two contracts, both awarded by Tullow for inspection, survey and subsea construction services in the Deepwater Tano Block and Jubilee Field.

Contact the author, Velda Addison, at vaddison@hartenergy.com.