Extending the scope of field services

Paul Boughton

As the latest project announcements show, field services suppliers have to cover almost every activity, from offshore engineering services to supply, installation and maintenance of equipment. Sean Ottewell reports.

Aker Solutions has received a contract award notification for offshore engineering services to support Husky Energy's activities at the offshore White Rose field in Canada.

The scope of work includes studies, modifications (engineering, procurement, construction and installation) and campaign maintenance services. The duration is five years with an option to extend the contract for as many as ten one-year periods. The estimated contract value is NOK 900 million (€118 million) for the initial five-year period.

"We are delighted that Husky has chosen us as their preferred partner for offshore engineering services at the White Rose field," said Tore Sjursen, head of maintenance, modifications and operations at Aker Solutions. "Our presence in North America is increasing and the award will be a good foundation for further growth in Canada."

The project will employ about 70 management and engineering employees onshore, as well as 20 people on rotation offshore.

The White Rose field is located 350 km southeast of St. John's, Canada, and consists of a floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel (Fig 1).

Meanwhile Husky Oil Operations has awarded two contracts to Technip for the planned subsea tieback of the South White Rose Extension field, an extension of the White Rose field.

The first contract, to be executed this year, includes the supply and installation of gas injection flowlines, umbilicals and subsea structures. The second contract, planned for 2014, covers the supply and installation of flowlines and subsea structures to support oil production and water injection.

Technip's operating centre in St. John's will perform the management and engineering of both projects, with various materials and equipment being supplied from within the group and local supply chain.

“These awards mark a new step in the relationship between Technip and Husky Oil Operations, for whom we successfully completed the subsea production system contract for the White Rose field development in 2005,” noted Knut Boe, senior vice president of Technip's North Sea-Canada region.

For its part, Royal Dutch Shell has announced a final investment decision in the Stones ultra-deepwater project, a Gulf of Mexico oil and gas development expected to host the deepest production facility in the world. This decision sets in motion construction and fabrication of an FPSO vessel and subsea infrastructure.

The development will start with two subsea production wells tied back to the FPSO vessel, followed later by six additional production wells. This first phase of development is expected to have annual peak production of 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) from more than 250 million boe of recoverable resources. The Stones field has significant upside potential and is estimated to contain over two billion barrels of oil in place.

The field is located in 2896 metres of water, approximately 320 km southwest of New Orleans, Louisiana, and was discovered in 2005. The project encompasses eight US Federal outer continental shelf lease blocks in the Gulf of Mexico’s lower tertiary geologic trend. Shell has been one of the pioneers in the lower tertiary, establishing first production in the play from its Perdido development.

An FPSO design was selected to safely develop and produce this ultra-deepwater discovery, while addressing the relative lack of infrastructure, seabed complexity, and unique reservoir properties. With an FPSO, tankers will transport oil from the Stones FPSO to US refineries, and gas will be transported by pipeline.

Middle East commissioning contract

Shell Iraq Petroleum has awarded a commissioning services contract to Wood Group-CCC (WGCCC), a company equally owned by Wood Group PSN (WGPSN) and Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC), providing operations and maintenance services to the oil and gas and petrochemical industries in the Middle East. The contract is to commission the first phase of the Majnoon field near Basra in Southern Iraq.

Majnoon is one of the world’s largest oil fields, estimated by the Iraqi government to hold about 38 billion barrels of oil. It is being executed by Shell Iraq Petroleum as project operator, with other partners being Petronas and the Iraqi Ministry of Oil.

The one-year contract is effective from June 2013. WGCCC is responsible for the provision of skilled resources, tools, services and test equipment to assist the start-up, commissioning and testing of the new production facilities in the Majnoon field. New production facilities include well site facilities, a central production facility and all new-build facilities and utilities required to operate the field, including pipelines and infrastructure.

This is WGPSN’s second contract in Iraq in the last six months after the company announced its support of DNO for the development of the Tawke field in the Kurdistan region of Iraq at the end of 2012.

Back in Europe, Bilfinger Salamis UK has been awarded a major contract by Chevron Upstream Europe (CUE) to provide a full range of fabric maintenance services on the company’s North Sea platforms.

The flagship contract, with a potential value of approximately £50 million (€59 million), runs for three years and has two additional renewal options. The contract builds on the company’s existing partnership with CUE, who Bilfinger Salamis UK has worked with in the North Sea for the last 12 years.

Services provided on Chevron’s assets - Alba North, Alba FSU, Captain WPP, Captain FPSO and Erskine Platform - will include the supply of deck crews, rigging, coatings and insulation work, scaffolding, rope access, specialist cleaning and architectural services.

In the last year, Bilfinger Salamis UK has successfully worked closely with Chevron on its Walk to Work fabric maintenance campaign, the refurbishment of accommodation on the Captain FPSO, and annual platform turnarounds.

Doug Sheal, delivery manager at Bilfinger Salamis UK, commented: “Our knowledgeable Chevron-experienced onshore and offshore teams are responsible for delivering integrated services, introducing new technologies and providing innovative solutions. Over the last decade we have continually expanded our service range to meet Chevron’s requirements and deliver added value.”

Bilfinger Salamis UK also has been appointed by Shell UK to provide services for an upgrade project running until 2014.

The contract covers a major flotel FM campaign, with asset integrity work to be carried out on the Gannet and Shearwater installations.

Salamis will provide coating application, removal and reinstatement of insulation and passive fire protection, as well as access solutions for the project.

Chief operating officer Mike McKay said: “This is a significant contract award and a great start to the year and follows a record year in 2012 for the business with turnover of £155 million (€182 million) from our Aberdeen North Sea headquarters, and a further £160 million (€188 million) delivered in the UK across the Bilfinger Industrial Services Group.”

Onshore scope and offshore survey work is on-going, and offshore mobilisation to Gannet is scheduled for June.

The two contracts extend Bilfinger Salamis UK’s portfolio of work with major North Sea operators and continus a recent run of large–scale contract wins for the company. Salamis’s market share has expanded significantly in recent years, including an increase in work in the Southern North Sea.

EMAS AMC secures major Statoil contract

EMAS AMC, the subsea services division of EMAS, has been awarded a subsea engineering, procurement and offshore construction contract from Statoil for the Smørbukk South Extension project. The contract is valued at approximately US$75 million (€57 million).

Lionel Lee, md of EMAS, said: “We have been investing heavily in building up our global engineering expertise as well as technologically advanced and game-changing assets. This has borne fruit and I am extremely pleased with this latest win by EMAS AMC. It demonstrates an ever growing confidence in our project execution capabilities and validates EMAS’ global subsea strategy.”

Discovered in 1985, the Smørbukk South Extension holds estimated recoverable reserves of 16.5 million barrels of oil equivalent, and will be developed with a new subsea template connected to existing infrastructure in the area.

The contract scope includes the engineering, procurement, construction and installation of flexible flowlines, tie-in spools, manifold and umbilical as well as associated abandonment and removal activities.

Offshore activities will commence in Q2 2014 and the project is expected to last through 2015. The contract will be managed out of EMAS AMC’s Oslo office.

Svein Haug, regional head of EMAS AMC (Europe and Africa), said: “We are extremely pleased with our involvement in this development for Statoil in the Norwegian Sea. The Smørbukk South Extension project requires some complex engineering expertise, and we are keen to deliver another successful project to a key customer in the region.”

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