Aker Solutions has been awarded two contracts by StatoilHydro to deliver subsea equipment to its Visund and Troll fields in the North Sea, including subsea tree number 100 for Troll. Combined contract value is approximately NOK 300 million.

Scope of work is six subsea trees, with control systems, for the Visund field, and three subsea trees with controls for the Troll field.

Both contracts are call-offs from existing frame agreements between StatoilHydro and Aker Solutions.

"These contracts mark some interesting and enjoyable milestones," says Mads Andersen, executive vice president, Aker Solutions. "The three Troll subsea trees will be number 98, 99 and 100 that we deliver to this giant field development, which we shipped the first subsea tree to in 1999. Troll represents a cornerstone of Norway's offshore oil and gas production and we are proud to still play a part in this."

Aker Solutions has also delivered subsea equipment to the Visund field since 1997. So far the company has delivered 27 subsea trees to Visund and Visund North.

The six new subsea trees for the Visund field will be equipped with Aker Solutions' most advanced subsea technology, which enables oil and gas production from so-called intelligent wells. In addition to higher oil and gas recovery, the technology provides more reservoir data and contributes towards increased production and regularity. One subsea tree with this latest technology has been operational at Visund for more than a year.

"In sum, this technology adds real economic value to the oil companies. We are very pleased to again get the opportunity to work with StatoilHydro," adds Andersen.

Subsea trees will be manufactured at Aker Solutions' facility in Tranby, Norway, and subsea controls in Aberdeen, UK. Final deliveries will be made Q1 2011.

Visund is an oil and gas field located 22 kilometres north-east of the Gullfaks field in the Tampen area of the Norwegian North Sea. The field came on stream in the spring of 1999. Visund North is a separate subsea development about 10 kilometres from the platform.

The Troll field lies in the northern part of the North Sea, around 65 kilometres west of Kollsnes, near Bergen. The field contains 60 per cent of total gas reserves on the Norwegian continental shelf and is also one of the largest oil fields on the continental shelf.

Contract party in Aker Solutions is Aker Subsea AS.