Dutch offshore access solutions provider Ampelmann has secured a contract to supply the North Oil Company (NOC) with its A-type gangway system.
Ampelmann said on Monday that the gangway would be installed on the chartered diesel-electric, 73-meter Bourbon Gulf Star support vessel currently deployed to the Al Shaheen oil field, 80 kilometers north of Doha, Qatar.
The Ampelmann gangway will enable access to multiple offshore platforms and will be used during project and maintenance campaigns as well as during various scheduled shutdowns.
The gangway was installed on the Bourbon Gulf Star at the end of November and will be deployed from early December until June 2018. The A-type can compensate up to three-meter significant wave height.
The Ampelmann country manager for Qatar, Jayne Moran , says: “Being awarded this contract is important to Ampelmann, as we continue to expand our presence in the Middle East. The A-type gangway provides our customers with a safe, reliable and cost-efficient method of transferring offshore personnel.”
Ampelmann has been providing offshore personnel access in Qatar since 2013. The company has carried out over 3.8 million safe transfers to date globally.
The Al Shaheen field is among the world’s largest oil fields. It has been producing oil for over 20 years and holds the potential to produce a few-fold of the oil it has produced so far. It currently produces around 40% of Qatar’s crude oil, at around 300,000 barrels per day.
The field was operated by Maersk Oil until July 2017 at which time its 25-year production sharing agreement with Qatar Petroleum expired.
The operatorship of the giant Qatari field was taken over by NOC , a 70-30 joint venture company between Qatar Petroleum and French oil major Total.