Equinor Inks Deal for Two Shuttle Tanker Newbuilds

Norwegian oil major Equinor, formerly known as Statoil, has entered into contracts for two newbuilt shuttle tankers with the compatriot shipowner Knutsen NYK Offshore Tankers AS (Knutsen).

The tankers will be built at Hyundai Heavy Industries in South Korea.

The shuttle tankers are intended for the Roncador field, the third largest producing field in Brazil, in which Equinor recently acquired 25 percent interest.

The Equinor’s equity production in Brazil is increasing to around 100,000 boe per day, an increase of around 60,000 boe per day, the company said.

The newbuilt shuttle tankers will be used to transfer the crude to conventional tankers, and the crude will then be marketed around the world.

“We have now secured the long-term solution for the lifting of the Roncador crude,” says Kjetil Johnsen, head of Shipping in Equinor.  “With these modern and fuel-efficient vessels, we will evacuate the crude oil in a safe, sustainable and cost-efficient way.”

The vessels are designed for operations in Brazilian waters and will come in operation in 2020.

In addition to the new shipping capacity for the Roncador production, Equinor has seven conventional tankers on long term contracts in operation for the Peregrino field.

Image Courtesy: Flickr-Kees Torn under CC BY-SA 2.0 license