Eni Awards $1.8 Billion Kronos Contracts; Baker Hughes to Supply Offshore Systems
Key Facts
Baker Hughes announced on October 28, 2026, that it had won a contract from Eni to supply subsea production systems and services for the Kronos deepwater gas field project off Cyprus. The company said the award was recorded in third-quarter 2026 orders, while Eni had signed the project's main contracts on October 26, marking the start of the execution phase. The contract package signed by Eni includes work worth $1.8 billion to develop the infrastructure needed to extract gas and transport it to Egypt for liquefaction, according to the Cyprus Mail. The newspaper's reported value does not break out Baker Hughes' share of the total package, while the company's announcement defines its scope as offshore production systems and related services. The contract places the company within a project linking gas production from a Cypriot field to Egyptian processing and export facilities, with an execution schedule extending to initial deliveries in 2027 and production in 2028.
Baker Hughes' scope includes subsea trees, wellheads, connectors, manifolds and surface control systems, along with services related to this equipment. The company said work on the project had begun and that initial equipment deliveries are expected in the first half of 2027. This work follows Eni's signing of the main engineering, procurement, construction and drilling contracts, which launched the execution phase in late October. Eni expects production from Kronos to begin in the first half of 2028. This sequence means the offshore systems and equipment are prepared ahead of the target date for gas to reach the market, although sources have not specified a more precise date for deliveries or production startup.
Kronos is located in Block 6 of Cyprus' exclusive economic zone, where Eni operates the area with a 50% stake alongside its partner TotalEnergies. Eni estimates the field holds more than 3 trillion cubic feet of gas and expects production to reach a stable level of up to 500 million standard cubic feet per day. The company plans to transport the gas produced to Egypt for processing through existing facilities, including the infrastructure for the Zohr field, before liquefying it at the Damietta liquefied natural gas plant. From Damietta, the gas is planned for export to international markets, primarily Europe. The project therefore relies on existing processing and liquefaction infrastructure in Egypt to move Cypriot gas from the field to export markets.
In an update related to Egypt's onshore infrastructure, the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources said Petrojet had contracted as the general contractor to build a pipeline linking Zohr facilities to the Damietta LNG plant. The ministry said the line is about 57 kilometers long and 36 inches in diameter. This route is connected to the Kronos plan to process gas at existing facilities in Egypt and then transport it to Damietta for liquefaction, although the ministry's statement did not specify the share of Cypriot gas in the pipeline's capacity. Eni announced on July 28, 2026, that it had taken the final investment decision to develop Kronos, targeting the delivery of Cyprus' first gas to market in 2028. This timeline is consistent with the company's expectation that production will begin in the first half of 2028, while Baker Hughes' initial equipment delivery remains targeted for the first half of 2027.
The Kronos contract comes amid Baker Hughes' third-quarter 2026 results, with the company reporting orders of $10.8 billion and remaining performance obligations of $46.4 billion. Eni said remaining performance obligations rose $6.4 billion from the second quarter, with $3.4 billion for the Oilfield Services & Equipment segment and $39.4 billion for the Industrial & Energy Technology segment, a record for the latter. The company also reported revenue of $8.025 billion, up 14% year over year, and adjusted EBITDA of $1.415 billion, up 14%. Baker Hughes included the Kronos contract among the significant offshore awards it received from Eni in the third quarter, alongside awards for other projects and regions. The company's shares closed at $52.79 on November 3, according to its investor relations page; that was the closing price recorded that day after the contract announcement.