Aker Solutions Secures Two Subsea Framework Contracts With BP

Aker Solutions secured two five-year framework agreements for potential future deliveries of subsea production systems and lifecycle services at BP-operated oil and gas fields worldwide. Both contracts started in August.

The first five-year contract covers engineering, procurement and construction of subsea production systems for new and maturing developments, according to an Oct. 27 press release.

Aker Solutions would bid for work as one of four preferred suppliers for BP’s worldwide development portfolio. There is a five-year service agreement, coinciding with the first contract, for any equipment delivered under the first contract and to support previously installed subsea hardware.

The size of the framework agreements depend on the amount of work necessary, and orders will be booked as they come in.

Aker CEO Luis Araujo said the company has been partnering with BP Plc for more than 20 years.

Norway Green Lights AkerBP’s Ivar Aasen Startup

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) has given the AkerBP-operated Ivar Aasen Field in the North Sea permission to start production, according to a news release.

The field was developed with a production facility resting on the seabed at a water depth of 110 m (361 ft). Oil and gas from Ivar Aasen will undergo final processing on the Edvard Grieg Field, which also will cover Ivar Aasen’s power demand until a joint solution for power from shore is established for the Utsira High, NPD said in the release.

Ivar Aasen’s recoverable reserves are estimated at 23.3 MMcm (823 MMcf) of oil, 4.4 Bcm (155 Bcf) of gas and 0.9 million tonnes of NGL, the release said. Data from appraisal and development wells drilled after the plan for development and operation (PDO) was submitted led to higher estimated recoverable volumes and volumes in place.

Investment costs for the development are about NOK 26.9 billion (US$3.2 billion), which is in line with the estimate in the PDO, the NPD said.

Lukoil Cranks Up Commercial Production At Vladimir Filanovsky

Lukoil has started commercial production at the Vladimir Filanovsky Field in the Caspian Sea about 11 years after the field was discovered.

With recoverable reserves estimated at 129 million tons of crude oil and 30 Bcm (1 Tcf) of gas, the field is considered the largest oil discovery made offshore Russia in the past 25 years, Lukoil said in a news release. Two horizontal production wells have been drilled, but a third is in the works for the development in which Lukoil has invested about 150 billion rubles (US$2.4 billion).

Phase 1 included construction of an ice-resistant stationary platform, living quarters platform, central treatment platform, riser unit, onshore storage and the more than 650-km-long (404-mile-long) subsea and onshore oil and gas pipeline system, the company said in the release.

Phase 2 of the field development, which is underway, involves construction of another ice-resistant stationary platform and living quarters platform.

Lukoil said light sweet crude from the wells will be taken via a subsea pipeline to storage facilities onshore. From there, it will move into the Caspian Pipeline Consortium system and eventually exported. Associated gas will be processed at Lukoil’s Stavrolen plant.

Wood Group Secures Hibernia Contract Offshore Canada

Hibernia Management and Development Co. Ltd. (HMDC) has awarded Wood Group a five-year contract to provide engineering, procurement, construction and maintenance services to the Hibernia platform offshore Newfoundland.

The contract will be executed by Wood Group’s Eastern Canada operations in St. John’s Newfoundland and Labrador and has the potential of two additional five-year contract extensions, Wood Group said in a news release.

Shareholders of HMDC include Exxon Mobil Canada, Chevron Canada Resources, Suncor, Canada Hibernia Holding Corp., Murphy Oil and Statoil Canada Ltd.

—Staff Reports