Milan, 12 October (AKI)- Italy's oil and gas company Saipem and international partners have won two onshore contracts worth nearly 500 million dollars, to build a urea production plant in Qatar and a deepwater bulk jetty in Oman, Saipem announced on Monday.

In the first contract, a consortium being led by Saipem and which includes Hyundai Engineering and Construction Co Ltd will take 35 months to build the urea production plant at Qafco new industrial complex, located some 30 kilometres south of the Qatari capital, Doha, Saipem said.

Saipem is the lead company on the project that will produce 3,850 tonnes of urea fertiliser pellets per day. The plant is due to be completed towards the end of 2012.

The second contract, awarded jointly to Saipem and India's AFCONS building firm is to plan and build a jetty and platform for the loading and unloading of mineral ores at the Omani port of Sohar, 150 kilometres northwest of the capital, Muscat.

The contract is for the engineering, supply of building materials and project management of the jetty and a 1,380 metre platform extending 25 metres below sea level.

Very large vessels of 400,000 tonnes will be able to dock. The project should be completed by March, 2011, Saipem said.

Italian energy giant Eni hold a 43 percent stake in Saipem, which is organised in three business units - Offshore, onshore and drilling.

Saipem is specialised in the high-tech extraction of oil and gas in remote areas and in deep water. It is a market leader in the provision of engineering services, project management and construction, both onshore and offshore .