Kvaerner Secures Letter of Inteny For Kristin Project

Kvaerner has received a Letter of Intent to provide equipment for ten subsea wells, production controls, and support structures for the Kristin field operated by Statoil, on the Norwegian shelf. The order, which is to be awarded to Kvaerner Oilfield Products, will be worth in excess of $110 million, and will involve the supply of equipment from Kvaerner companies in the USA, the UK, and Norway. "This letter of intent confirms our successful development of sophisticated subsea well equipment - designed to withstand the high pressures and temperatures found in deep and complex reservoirs", commented Bjorn Klepsvik, President of Kvaerner Oilfield Products Group, the specialist subsea subsidiary. The scope for the project includes the delivery of wellheads, valve-trees and subsea production control systems for ten wells. Four, 4-slot wellhead templates are also included. The high-pressure components for the valve-trees are to be provided by Kvaerner Oilfield Products in Houston, the control systems are to be built by Kvaerner in Aberdeen, Scotland, and the Company will assemble the wells at its Tranby site outside Oslo, Norway. The templates will be built at Kvaerner's yard in Egersund, Norway, where integration testing of the wellhead equipment will also be undertaken.

The contract is expected to be formalised within the next few weeks, and production will start at the Kristin field on October 1, 2005. Hydrocarbons produced from the Kristin wells will be processed on a semi-submersible floating production platform. The contract for engineering, procurement and construction of the topsides for this platform was recently awarded to Aker Maritime, which is expected to merge with Kvaerner's Oil & Gas business area by the middle of March, 2002.