BP said the new West of Shetland CLAIR RIDGE (SEN 31/3) platform’s quarters and utilities (QU) topside modules have been safely installed.

The QU platform comprises three modules – the quarters and utilities integrated deck (QUID) which has a lift weight of 9,400t; the power generation (GM) module which has a lift weight of 4,550t; and the living quarters (LQ) module which has a lift weight of 2,210t. They were safely lifted onto the pre-installed jackets by the Heerema Thialf heavy lift vessel.

Clair Ridge is a multi-billion dollar investment in the second phase of development on the Clair field which lies 75km to the west of the Shetland Islands.

The project comprises two new bridge-linked platforms and new pipeline infrastructure to connect storage and redelivery facilities on Shetland. The next major milestone will be the installation of the production and drilling (DP) platform topside modules, scheduled for summer 2016, with production expected to commence in late 2017.

Expro has been awarded new contracts in Africa from Tullow Oil worth more than $100mn over three years.

Expro will work across Tullow Oil’s assets in Ghana, including the JUBILEE (31/23) field and the Tweneboa-Enyenra-Ntomme (TEN) (31/23) project.

Following on from Expro’s phase one contract for Jubilee, involving more than 10 completions, the company has been awarded continued services for phase 1a. This covers completions on new wells for Jubilee, as well as interventions and remedial work.

Expro said a number of its products and services will be used, including large bore subsea completion landing strings, subsea exploration and appraisal landing strings, high flow rate surface well testing and sampling services. The TEN project will also see Expro provide subsea completion work in all planned wells.

Anadarko’s 80,000 b/d HEIDELBERG truss spar has begun its journey from Ingleside, Texas, to Green Canyon block 860 in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.

FMC Technologies will supply subsea production systems for well clusters 3-5 of the SHAH DENIZ (31/14) Stage 2 project in the Caspian Sea off Azerbaijan in a deal worth $297mn.

Another $66mn contract for the second of three batches of subsea production trees and ancillary equipment required for the full field development was awarded to OneSubsea.

Delivery will take place from 2016 to 2021.

From Houston (BN): GULF ISLAND has received a Letter of Intent for the fabrication of six jacket/piles and deck sections for an un-named U.S. customer.

This is welcome news for a Gulf Coast-based company that in its first-quarter conference call talked of sluggish offshore demand and emphasised its work on wind farms off the U.S. East Coast.

Ocean Installer has won its first deal under a framework agreement with ExxonMobil for subsea installation work at the BALDER (32/6) field off Norway.

Ocean Installer will carry out fabrication and installation of an electrical distribution unit mud mat as well as transport and installation of flexible jumpers and hydraulic and electrical flying leads as part of subsea well tie-back and engineering work.

The workscope also includes irm and rov services. Ocean Installer intends to use chartered vessel Normand Mermaid to carry out the work which is due to begin in July.

The contract carries an option for similar work in the second quarter of 2016.

The Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) and Penspen have cemented a contract for a feasibility study examining the current WEST AFRICAN GAS PIPELINE (WAGP) system performance and its possible future network extension to other Ecowas states.

The work will look at how WAGP has performed since its completion in 2010 and what measures need to be taken to optimise its operation.

WAGP at present runs from Nigeria to Benin, Togo and Ghana a total distance of 678km with 569km offshore.

DEEPOCEAN has been awarded an irm contract by BG Group. The five year contract covers all rov based IMR work for BG Group on UK and Norwegian subsea assets.

DeepOcean will use vessels from its North Sea based fleet for work under this contract.

Wood Group has been awarded a contract by Saudi Aramco for greenfield and brownfield engineering services, procurement, and construction management support for new facilities in the ARABIAN GULF.

The six-year contract, which includes options for two three-year renewals, includes the establishment of an offshore engineering centre of excellence in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia.

Work will be performed by Wood Group Mustang in the US. In-kingdom work scope will be executed by Saudi Arabian joint venture, Mustang-HDP, and is expected to employ up to 300 people.

IRM specialist Harkand has begun decommissioning work on the UK North Sea LEADON field for Maersk Oil.

Earlier this year, Harkand secured a multi-million pound 12-month frame agreement with Maersk Oil in the region for the provision of its two dive support vessels (DSVs), the Harkand Da Vinci and Harkand Atlantis.

This new award will see Harkand deliver project management for Maersk’s drill rig programme for subsea well plug and abandonment.

The scope of work which is being undertaken by the Harkand Atlantis includes barrier testing at 13 trees, removal of production and gas lift spools at trees and towhead ends along with power and control jumpers and mattress recovery. The work also involves flooding and disconnection of a 4-inch gas import flowline.

David Kerr, managing director of Harkand Europe said the company hoped to secure more decom work on the estimated 500 – 690 facilities reaching the end of their operational life in the North Sea over the next three decades.

Norway’s Westcon has been awarded a contract from Subsea 7 to deliver three riser bases with associated protection structures to be used on the Total-operated MARTIN LINGE (32/2) field off Norway.

Westcon said the Subsea 7 agreement is a large contract for its subsea department, securing work for 40-50 people through to March next year.

Wood Group Kenny (WGK) has won a contract to support the Kebabangan Petroleum Operating Company (KPOC) in pipeline engineering and flow assurance engineering studies for the KAMANSU EAST (KME) field offshore Sabah, Malaysia.

The scope of work will include concept select studies and definition engineering on subsea heating options, thus preventing hydrates, for the 30km gas pipeline which runs from the KME field in 750m of water to their new shelf edge Kebabangan platform.

The pipeline heating technology could be the first application for deepwater gas development in Malaysia.

The KME field and Kebabangan Northern Hub Project are part of the Kebabangan Cluster, which is owned by Petronas Carigali (40%), ConocoPhillips (30%) and Shell (30%).

KPOC is a joint venture company which was established to act as the cluster operator. The first gas from the field is expected to be required in the early 2020’s.

Wood Group has also agreed a $250mn deal with Antin Infrastructure Partners to provide operating services for CATS (Central Area Transmission System) in the UK North Sea for up to 10 years.

Wood Group PSN (WGPSN) will act as the duty holder of the CATS terminal and pipeline and will have day-to-day responsibility for operations. A dedicated Wood Group Kenny (WGK) team based in Glasgow will be integrated into the operating services team to provide pipeline management expertise.

CATS transports gas through 404km of pipeline from the Central North Sea to its terminal in Teesside in the UK where it is then processed on behalf of major North Sea gas producers.

The system currently serves 34 producing fields with a high portion of contracted revenues. In 2013, CATS accounted for the transportation of 13% of UK domestic gas production.

Ezra Holdings’ subsea services division, EMAS AMC, has clinched several global contracts, including one for rigid pipelay on Apache’s AVIAT (32/4) field development in the UK North Sea.

The subsea scope on Aviat includes project management, detailed engineering, procurement, and installation of 23.2km of rigid pipelines and 24km of umbilical via reel, flexible riser, spools, and structures as well as pre-commissioning.

EMAS AMC will use its latest spoolbase on the west coast of Norway to fabricate the 24km rigid pipeline.

The project mix also includes engineering and offshore support work in West Africa for an oil major. Other subsea contract work includes ROV support services and high voltage alternate current (HVAC) pull-ins.

In addition, EMAS Energy together with EMAS AMC will deploy the Lewek Centurion to undertake work in Asia, which includes subsea pipeline free span work, well plug and abandonments, slickline and nitrogen operations, well stimulation and pipeline pre-commissioning work for a variety of oil majors and national oil companies.

Larsen and Toubro has landed a $426.26mn epci contract for the BASSEIN development project offshore India from ONGC.

The workscope covers the provision of a new process platform, one nine-slot wellhead platform, topside modifications on existing platforms, associated subsea pipelines and one living quarter platform.

The project is part of ONGC's plan to extend the field life and increase recovery from the Bassein field, is targeted for completion in December 2017.

Antrim Energy has tapped Offshore Installation Services to permanently plug and abandon four suspended subsea wells in the UK central North Sea.

The contract includes the permanent abandonment of the three suspended wells on the FYNE Licence (P077, Block 21/28a) and the one suspended well on the Erne Licence (P1875, Block 21/29d). The contract is expected to be executed as part of a 10 well abandonment campaign including six Central North Sea wells from another operator.

Work is due to begin in July. The estimated cost for abandonment of Antrim's four wells is £4.75mn.

Statoil has awarded Tenaris a contract to supply casing, tubing and all related services for the UK North Sea MARINER (32/6) heavy oil project.

Mariner is expected to be in production for at least 30 years, with start-up in 2017. The oil field consists of two reservoirs, Heimdal and Maureen, at depths of 1,227m and 1,492m.

The main Mariner platform will have one drilling rig and one well intervention and completion unit. In addition, a newly built jack-up rig will be located next to the Mariner installation, working through well slots on the platform for the first four years. Over the field’s lifetime, as many as 130 well targets are planned.

Norway’s Westcon has been awarded a contract from Subsea 7 to deliver three riser bases with associated protection structures to be used on the Total-operated MARTIN LINGE (32/2) field off Norway.

Westcon said the Subsea 7 agreement is a large contract for its subsea department, securing work for 40-50 people through to March next year.

Fugro is providing wave measurements to support construction operations at an improved oil recovery (IOR) project on the Norwegian continental shelf.

The subsea infrastructure on the ALVHEIM (31/21) field (operated by Det norske oljeselskap) is being extended by offshore construction expert Technip and involves four areas that are being tied-in via subsea wells to improve oil production rates.

Technip’s subsea operations – the installation and tie-in of spools and protection covers, along with a manifold – are being performed at depths of around 120-130m.

Offshore