Field Centre News

Offshore installation and decommissioning firm Allseas has won a contract to remove three complete offshore platforms and two jackets in Norway for Aker BP.The company said on Wednesday that Aker BP had awarded it a deal for the removal and disposal of multiple topsides and jackets from the Valhall area in the Norwegian North Sea. Allseas will use its flagship Pioneering Spirit heavy lift vessel for the job.Work comprises removal and disposal of the Drilling Platform (DP) 5,950 t topsides and 4…

Rosenberg WorleyParsons has been awarded an engineering, procurement, construction and installation contract (EPCI) by Lundin Norway ASO in the Norwegian Continental Shelf.The services include planning, engineering, prefabrication, offshore installation and commissioning support. The objective of the modification is to prepare Lundin’s Edvard Grieg platform to receive and process oil and gas from nearby offshore fields.The project starts immediately and has a duration of two and a half years. The services will be executed from WorleyParsons Rosenberg in Stavanger.“WorleyParsons is proud to be selected to execute this important brownfield modification project for Lundin Norway”…

In the early hours of Sunday 25 February drilling started at Oseberg Vestflanken 2. On the Capital Markets Day on 7 February the project could boast break-even reduction from USD 34 to USD 16 per barrel. The investment budget for Oseberg Vestflanken 2 has been reduced from NOK 8 billion to NOK 6.5 billion. Recoverable reserves have increased, and several digitalisation measures have been initiated. Drilling is performed by the brand new Cat J rig Askepott, purchased by the licence. This is the first job performed by this rig. “This state-of-the-art rig will increase the safety and efficiency of our drilling operations. However, with a new rig…

The riser platform construction start was marked today at the Samsung Heavy Industries yard in South Korea. Project director for Johan Sverdrup Kjetel Digre (from right), project manager for the riser platform and the processing platform Ståle Nordal and head of Samsung Heavy Industries’ offshore division Younsang Won led the formal celebration of the construction start in South Korea 30 June. “As we are starting the riser platform construction we are taking another important step in delivering the Johan Sverdrup project on schedule,” says project director for Johan Sverdrup Kjetel Digre. The preparations for the riser platform construction started already in January 2015…

Harding has been awarded contracts for nine FF1200 freefall lifeboat systems complete with davits on Heerema Offshore Services BV’s Semi Submersible Crane Vessel Sleipnir. The vessel will be built by Sembcorp Marine at its flagship Tuas Boulevard Yard in Singapore. Heerema’s Sleipnir is one of just a handful of large offshore projects currently running, along with the Johan Sverdrup Field Centre in Norway, where Harding is also a supplier. “Everyone is talking about Sverdrup, but this project is every bit as big, with just as many systems,” said Harding’s regional sales manager Oddgeir Mælen.

Statoil, on behalf of the Johan Sverdrup license, has awarded Samsung the contract for decks for both the process and riser platforms. The total contract value is NOK 7 billion. The contract is a fabrication contract (FC) of decks for the process and riser platforms. Aker Solutions has previously been awarded engineering work and purchase of equipment packages for the two aforementioned decks. The function of the process platform, which weighs approx. 26,000 tonnes, is to ensure stabilisation of the oil and processing into rich gas. The riser platform, which weighs approx. 22,000 tonnes, will serve oil and gas exports, water and gas injection, as well as any future connections.

Kongsberg Maritime has been awarded a call-off order for delivery of the Safety and Automation System (SAS), Life Cycle Simulator and SAS Information Management System for the four platforms on the Johan Sverdrup field centre. The order is based on the Project Specific Agreement for the Johan Sverdrup SAS awarded to Kongsberg Maritime in May 2014 and contains extensive hardware, software and system engineering competence delivery. Kongsberg Maritime will as part of the Project Specific Agreement also participate with integrated engineering services to various contractors for Johan Sverdrup…

Statoil has, on behalf of the Johan Sverdrup partnership, awarded a contract to ABB for land-based power supply to phase 1 of the Johan Sverdrup field. The contract value is around NOK 1.1 billion, and covers delivery of electrical equipment for a converter station by the Kårstø processing complex at Haugsneset in the municipality of Tysvær, and a power module on the riser platform at the Johan Sverdrup field centre. The total cost of the power supply to phase 1 has been estimated at around NOK 6 billion (2015 value). ABB will provide high-voltage direct current (HVDC) equipment that will transform the onshore grid’s alternating current…

Statoil, on behalf of the Johan Sverdrup partnership, will sign a contract with Aibel today for the construction of the deck for the drilling platform on the field. The contract is worth in excess of NOK 8 billion. The contract includes engineering work, procurement and construction (EPC) of the drilling platform deck. The platform deck will be built at the Aibel’s yard in Thailand and Haugesund, and at Nymo’s yard in Grimstad. Assembly and mechanical completion of the deck will be carried out at the Aibel’s yard in Haugesund with delivery in 2018. Installation on the field is planned for the same year. “The Johan Sverdrup field is one of the biggest discoveries on the Norwegian continental shelf that will…

The gigantic Johan Sverdrup field, one of the most profitable industrial projects in Norway over coming decades, will provide enormous value. Construction of the first phase may lead to 51,000 man-years related to Norwegian deliveries, and the field may produce revenues amounting to NOK 1350 billion. The project will provide new knowledge, new solutions and new opportunities. “Johan Sverdrup represents all we stand for as an industry and our faith in the future. This will be a gigantic project that will secure energy supply and jobs and result in substantial spin-offs and value for Norwegian society, the industry and the partnership behind the development,” says Nylund.

Kvaerner says it has established a frame agreement with Statoil for delivery of steel jacket substructures to Statoil-operated fields. Based on this frame agreement, Statoil has signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) for Kvaerner to deliver two of the planned steel jackets to the Johan Svedrup development off the West Coast of Norway. Subject to all necessary approvals for the project to proceed, early estimates of the total value of the two jacket deliveries will be approximately NOK 3 billion. Johan Svedrup is located at a water depth of 120 meters off the West Coast of Norway Statoil is the operator for the field, and first development phase…

Statoil's (OSE:STL, NYSE:STO) first quarter 2014 net operating income was NOK 51.4 billion, a 35% increase compared to the first quarter of 2013. Adjusted earnings were up 9% to NOK 46.0 billion. “We are pleased to present strong financial results for the quarter. Higher prices and good results from our US gas value chain contributed to a 9% increase in adjusted earnings, compared to same quarter last year. Our operational performance is solid, providing the foundation for around 2% rebased organic production growth in 2014," says Helge Lund, Statoil's president and CEO. Net operating income was NOK 51.4 billion in the first quarter, an increase of 35% compared to the first quarter of 2013.

Statoil and the partners in the Johan Sverdrup field have decided on a concept for the first development phase. The partners have agreed on a field center consisting of four installations and power from shore. The partners have decided on power from shore for the Johan Sverdrup field in the first phase, which will reduce total CO2 emissions from the Utsira High area by 60-70%. “This is historic. We have not made a concept selection for a field this size since the 1980s,” says Arne Sigve Nylund, executive vice president for development and production in Norway.

Statoil preparing to resume production at installations that have been affected by a strike, after the government decided to impose compulsory arbitration in the pay settlement for the Norwegian continental shelf. Norwegian Minister of Labour Hanne Bjurstrøm has informed the parties in the offshore pay settlement that the government will propose to Parliament that the conflict be resolved by compulsory arbitration. At the request of the Minister the parties are to resume work as soon as possible. The lockout that has been announced for the Norwegian continental shelf will therefore not come into force. On Thursday 5 July, the Norwegian Oil Industry Association (OLF) announced an impending lockout for all members of the unions Industry Energy (Industri Energi)…

Efforts by ConocoPhillips to achieve the lightest weight possible for the superstructure of its Ekofisk L accommodation facility have been demonstrated by its selection of an underlay construction material. The oil major has selected Boliscreed 400 for the high-profile North Sea unit, which will replace the longstanding Ekofisk H and Ekofisk Q as part of ConocoPhillips plans to prolong activities in the Ekofisk field by up to 40 years. Ekofisk L’s top side is currently under construction at Singapore’s Sembawang (SMOE) shipyard…

Statoil and its partners are considering developing the Skrugard discovery in the Barents Sea by means of a floating production unit with the additional capacity to process and transport from other prospects in the area. A feasibility study has identified a technical and commercial solution for the Skrugard field in the Barents Sea. The solution involving a floating production unit will result in the rapid and cost-efficient development of the discovery. The production unit will have separate oil storage and offshore loading capability with a production capacity of 95…

Statoil, along with partners Eni Norway and Petoro, has made a significant oil discovery on the Skrugard prospect in the Barents Sea. The breakthrough discovery is one of the most important finds on the Norwegian continental shelf in the last decade. Statoil and its partners are in the process of concluding drilling operations on the Skrugard prospect, which is located approximately 100 kilometres north of the Snøhvit gas field in the Barents Sea. The well was drilled with the Polar Pioneer rig, and has proven gas column of 33 metres and an oil column of 90 metres.

StatoilHydro started production from the Tune South satellite well on Saturday 18 July. The satellite is tied back to the Oseberg field centre via the Tune subsea template. "Output from Tune South is expected to be 1.4 million standard cubic metres of gas per day," said Torstein Hole, senior vice president of the operations west business cluster in StatoilHydro. "In its first year of production, Tune South will account for 10% of the gas exported from the Oseberg field centre. Tune South is developed as a satellite well tied back to the Tune subsea template, 10 kilometres south-west of the Oseberg field centre in the North Sea. "Tune South utilises free capacity in the existing infrastructure of the Oseberg area. That makes maximum use of the resources in the area," said Hole.

Production on the Brage and Veslefrikk fields has been resumed after the small fire on the Oseberg A platform in the on June 15. The small fire occurred in a high voltage room on the Oseberg A platform which is part of the Oseberg field center. The high voltage room supplies electric power to the utility systems on the field center. Both the processing and the transport of oil and gas from the Oseberg field centre were stopped immediately. All safety and emergency response measures were implemented as intended  during the incident and all personnel on board were taken well care of.

Production on the Oseberg field center, Oseberg South, Oseberg East and Tune has resumed after the small fire in a switchboard room on the Field Centre on June 15. The field centre and the three other fields associated with the field centre's processing plant have been shut down during the cleaning and repairs of the switchboard room and the involved equipment. The gradual start-up of the oil and gas production and the gas exports from the four fields started Tuesday morning. The fields are expected to be back on full stream in a few days. Production at Brage, Oseberg C and Vesfrikk, which transports oil through the Oseberg field center, resumed on June 16 and has not been affected by the repairs.

BP on behalf of the BP Licences has entered into final clarifications with Aker Kværner in a view to award contract for the steel substructure to the Valhall Re-Development Project in the North Sea. Contract award is subject to partner deciding to proceed and governmental approval of the plan for development and operation (PDO). PDO will be submitted to the authorities at the end of first quarter 2007. The contract value is approximately NOK 450 million. The contract will be executed by the fabrication yard Aker Kvaerner Verdal in Mid-Norway, and includes procurement, fabrication, load-out and sea-fastening of the steel jacket substructure and piles for fastening the jacket to the seabed.

A total of 21 production shutdowns are planned by StatoilHydro on the Norwegian continental shelf during 2009. This extensive work program aims to achieve safer and more efficient facilities. In addition to required maintenance and inspection, many installations will be upgraded to expand capacity, implement technical improvements and extend their economic life. All this will be accomplished during the planned shutdowns, which are known in oil jargon as turnarounds. Compared with 2008…