INEOS FPS books Sparrows for more work at North Sea platform

Engineering and maintenance services specialist Sparrows Group has secured a long-term deal with INEOS FPS to provide crane and lifting equipment operations, maintenance, engineering, and inspection services on the company’s North Sea platform.

The three-and-a-half-year contract will see Sparrows provide these services on INEOS FPS’ Unity platform. While the exact value of this deal has not been disclosed, the company outlines that this is a multi-million-pound contract, which will include all mechanical, electrical, hydraulic, and structural maintenance of cranes and lifting equipment. It will be executed by Sparrows’ UK team from its headquarters in Aberdeen.

In addition, Sparrows, which has worked with INEOS FPS since 2017, will be responsible for re-certification, repair, and overhaul of lifting equipment, as well as offering ad hoc support in the form of its specialist engineering team for management of change, lifting plans, lifting services and more.

Matt Corbin, Sparrows’ Regional Director – Europe, commented: “Our commitment to providing safe and efficient operations, as well as our track record of more than 45 years in the North Sea and our experience working with INEOS FPS to date, is reflected in this announcement.

“We have an unrivalled knowledge of safety-critical lifting equipment, as well as a highly experienced team of specialist engineers, and we’re thrilled to continue to offer that to INEOS FPS through this contract award. INEOS FPS’ assets play a critical role in energy security here in the UK – we’re delighted to have been chosen to ensure the ongoing operations and maintenance of the lifting equipment on Unity.”

While INEOS FPS, which operates the Unity platform located in Block 21/9 of the North Sea in 122 metres of water, is currently investing up to £1 billion to upgrade the network to ensure it is fit for purpose until the 2040s, this is dependent on the basin remaining a viable oil and gas hub.

With the windfall tax hike casting a shadow over the once thriving North Sea basin, INEOS’ founder and chairman recently told his Forties Pipeline System business, which links over 85 fields in the North Sea, that the government’s 75 per cent windfall tax on oil and gas producers’ profits in the North Sea would lead to a collapse in investment in the basin.

The INEOS Forties Pipeline System carries 575,000 barrels per day from 85 fields over 169 kilometres to its Kinneil processing facility at Grangemouth.