Statoil has, on behalf of the license owners, issued a letter of intent to Samsung Heavy Industries for the construction of a new permanent floating storage unit (FSU) for the Heidrun field in the Norwegian Sea.

The contract is worth an estimated US $230 million and includes options to buy two additional units, according to Statoil. The new storage unit will replace the existing buoy loading system on the field.

The Heidrun field has been developed with a floating tension leg platform with a concrete hull and has been on stream since 1995. Oil from the field has since the start been exported via a buoy loading system consisting of two buoys and purpose-built shuttle tankers.

The new FSU will be permanently connected to a buoy, and the oil will be lifted from the FSU by use of shuttle tankers. The FSU will be permanently manned and has an expected design life of 30 years.

“Our ambition is to maintain Heidrun production at least until 2045,” Morten Loktu, Statoil’s head of the operations north cluster on the Norwegian continental shelf, said in the statement.

The unit will be built by Samsung in Geoje Island, Republic of Korea. Engineering will start immediately and the unit is expected to be on location at the Heidrun field in the first half of 2015. Statoil has also secured options to buy two additional storage units for use on other fields if required.

Samsung will carry out engineering, procurement, and construction services and has applied its vessel design to meet Statoil’s requirements, enabling cost-effective design and alignment with the shipyard’s design and construction practices.