The service base, situated in Labuan, Malaysia, is to support all installed and future shallow and deepwater projects within the Asia Pacific region.
An opening ceremony was held recently at the new site and was officiated by Dave Hutchinson, head of Aker Solutions' subsea business in Asia Pacific.
Labuan Island is located off the northwest coast of Borneo, north of Brunei Bay and faces the South China Sea, and was identified as a strategic location due to its proximity to the current and planned East Malaysian development locations. The site is accessible to other South East Asian locations including Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia and China. Labuan has existing oilfield infrastructure and a port which supports local operators within the facility.
The facility covers 13 680sq/m with a workshop of 1 296sq/m that has a 75 tonne overhead crane and pressure testing capabilities of us to 15 000 psi. A team of 18 staff are currently employed at the Labuan base.
The new service base will support Murphy Sabah Oil's current Kikeh and upcoming Kikeh Phase II, and Siakap developments with an expected 20 plus years' field life. Other important projects in this region include Petronas' Kumang Kanowit development.
"Our new subsea lifecycle service base shows Aker Solutions' commitment to serving our customers who require our services locally as well as being well placed to capture further potential clients. Malaysia represents an important market for our subsea business," says Dave Hutchinson.