Aker Kvaerner Sign LOI for Statfjord B and C Modifications

Statoil and Aker Kvaerner have signed a letter of intent covering extensive modification work on the Statfjord B and C platforms. This work, which constitutes an important part of the Statfjord Late Life programme, will ensure increased production of oil and gas and prolong production to around 2020. Under a contract worth some NOK 1.9 billion, Aker Kvaerner's involvement will run through to 2009, embracing both onshore and offshore work.

The contract, which is expected to be signed within a few weeks, is turnkey, comprising engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning (EPCIC). Statoil's contract partner will be Aker Kvaerner Offshore Partner in Stavanger, which will also draw on Aker Kvaerner Elektro's electrical, instrumentation and telecommunications expertise. The assignment includes prefabrication of a number of piping and steel structures, which Aker Kvaerner Offshore Partner will have made in Stavanger.

"The fact that we got those parts of the wide-ranging Statfjord Late Life programme that we wanted most of all is a great stimulus for our whole company," says Tore Sjursen, president of Aker Kvaerner Offshore Partner, which is one of the leading players in the operation, maintenance and modification of installations in the Norwegian offshore sector.

"This assignment gives us the opportunity to further develop the extensive expertise we have built up in upgrading operational platforms on the Norwegian continental shelf, and which we increasingly see opportunities to export to customers abroad," he says.

Preparations for the project start immediately and offshore work in six months' time. The modification work will take place while the platforms continue normal operations, and safety standards have at the same time to be maintained. This means that much of the work has to be done in two to three hectic weeks in the summer of the coming years, during the annual maintenance turnaround.

Aker Kvaerner Offshore Partner will establish its project organisation at its Buøy offices in Stavanger. Manning will peak during the annual turnarounds, but at other times will involve around 500 personnel, including both the onshore and offshore contingents.

"Statoil Late Life is Statoil's largest and most complex offshore conversion ever," says the company's project director Bjarne Bakken. "Good cooperation with the contractors, where we work together for positive safety results, will be crucial for success." At present the platforms handle oil with associated gas, but will be converted to handle gas with associated oil. This will increase the recovery rate on Statfjord to around 70 per cent for oil and 75 per cent for gas, and maintain production until around 2020.

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Posted 13/04/05

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