RIYADH: Italian multinational oilfield services company Saipem has been awarded onshore and offshore contracts worth $1.25 billion in the Middle East, the firm said in a statement. According to the statement, the first group of contracts is associated with the extension of onshore drilling contracts in the Middle East for an overall amount of approximately $600 million. This group is related to the ten-year extension of existing contracts regarding four land rigs located in the Middle East. It includes the deployment of land rigs for exploration and production activities in various oil and gas fields that are already under operation. Apart from these existing contracts, Sapiem was also awarded four new contracts in the Middle East with a combined value of $650 million. The scope of these includes engineering, procurement, construction and installation of several offshore jackets, decks, subsea pipelines, subsea composite cables, umbilicals, fiber optic cables and brownfield modifications.