French oilfield services provider Technip has received a Letter of Intent for the world’s largest Spar hull for the Aasta Hansteen field development, offshore Norway
Technip received a Letter of Intent from Norway’s supermajor Statoil for their Aasta Hansteen (previously named Luva) field development, in the Norwegian Sea, in approximately 1,300 meters (4,250 feet) of water depth. The project will be led by Technip in a consortium with South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI).
The contract encompasses the engineering, procurement, construction and transportation of a Spar hull, the mooring systems as well as the design of the steel catenary risers. A Spar is a cylindrical, partially submerged offshore drilling and production platform that is particularly well adapted to deepwater.
The Aasta Hansteen Spar will be the first Spar deployed in Norwegian waters, the first Spar concept chosen by Statoil and the largest ever built with a total hull length of 195 meters.
The platform will have a storage unit for condensate, and a gas processing facility with a capacity of 23 million standard cubic metres per day.
“We’ve had several early-phase and concept studies for the entire Aasta Hansteen project, with Technip, Aker, Samsung, FMC, Saipem and IKM, among others, involved in developing the concept,” says Anders Opedal, senior vice president for projects in Statoil.
He adds: “The hull is the first execution contract to be set and we are satisfied that Technip has the necessary capacity to take on this assignment following strong competition with other players.”
This award follows the successful execution by Technip of the front-end engineering and design of this project. It confirms Technip’s leadership in the design of Spar platforms. The Aasta Hansteen Spar hull is the 16th to be executed by Technip (out of nineteen worldwide).
Technip’s operating center in Houston, Texas, will be responsible for project management and engineering while HHI will be responsible for fabrication. Technip’s office in Oslo, Norway, will be responsible for the marine operations to be performed prior to deck mating on the West coast of Norway in the summer of 2015.
The agreement is signed based upon the plan for development and operation’s authority approval expected early 2013 for a start-up late 2016.
[mappress] Offshore Energy Today Staff, July 11, 2012