Aker Solutions picks up contract pair from Aker BP

Norwegian oil services company Aker Solutions has won orders from Aker BP for the Skogul and Valhall Flank West field developments offshore Norway.

Aker BP submitted the plans for development and operations for the Valhall Flank West, Ærfugl, and Skogul fields to the Norwegian authorities on Friday, December 15.

Aker Solutions said on Monday that the company will deliver two subsea manifolds, a controls system, and umbilicals for Skogul, which will be tied back to the North Sea Alvheim field.

The company will also provide umbilicals and detailed engineering of the topside for a normally unmanned installation (NUI) for Valhall Flank West, which will be tied back to the Valhall field center.

According to Aker Solutions, the subsea work will be carried out as part of the company’s subsea alliance with Aker BP, and Subsea 7.

As a reminder, Subsea 7 has already been awarded contracts for the Skogul and the Valhall Flank West projects. Within these contracts, Subsea 7 will provide a long-distance tie-back to Alvheim FPSO via Vilje South field, using pipe-in-pipe technology. Also, the Valhall Flank West EPCI project comprises a 4 km tie-back to the Valhall Center including an umbilical and riser system.

Aker Solutions added that the topside engineering work is being undertaken as part of a wellhead platform alliance with Aker BP, Kvaerner, and ABB. The alliances have previously completed front-end engineering work for both fields.

Namely, Aker BP on Monday awarded a contract for delivery of the topside and steel jacket substructure for Valhall Flank West project development to Kvaerner.

Executive VP Knut Sandvik, Aker Solutions’ projects delivery center head, said: “We look forward to working with our alliance partners to optimize the solutions for these fields. The alliances’ strategy of early engagement and close collaboration is enabling us to significantly reduce costs and lead times on field developments.”

Project management and engineering for the subsea delivery will start immediately at Aker Solutions’ facilities in Tranby and Fornebu in Norway, Aberdeen in the UK, and Pune in India. Facilities in Tranby, Moss, and Egersund in Norway will handle fabrication. The topside engineering work will also begin immediately at Aker Solutions’ offices in Stavanger.

Aker Solutions added that the parties agreed not to disclose the value of the orders, which would be booked in the fourth quarter.

The Valhall Flank West project aims to continue the development of the Tor formation in Valhall on the western flank of the field, with startup of operation in fourth quarter 2019. Valhall Flank West will be developed from the new NUI, tied back to the Valhall field center for processing and export. Recoverable reserves for Valhall Flank West are estimated to be around 60 million barrels of oil equivalent.

The Skogul field is located 30 kilometers north of Alvheim FPSO and will be developed as a subsea tieback to Alvheim via Vilje. Recoverable reserves are estimated to around 10 million barrels of oil equivalents. Production start is planned for first quarter 2020. The production well at Skogul will be subsea production well number 35 in the Alvheim area.