OKEA appoints Subsea7 and SLB to ‘accelerate subsea tieback delivery to aging platforms’

Following a recent long-term strategic agreement with Norway’s state-owned energy giant Equinor, SLB OneSubsea and Subsea7’s Subsea Integration Alliance has secured a contract with Norwegian oil & gas company OKEA for its North Sea field.

The “sizeable” integrated engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (EPCI) contract will see the partnership develop the Bestla project, formerly known as Brasse, offshore Norway, specifically to accelerate the subsea tieback delivery to aging platforms for profitable and sustainable marginal field development.

SLB OneSubsea will deliver the subsea production system which will include two subsea trees, a two-slot template, an umbilical, and a control system, while Subsea7 will install the subsea production system and design and install the flowline systems, spools, and protection measures, including rock installation.

The two-well project, with a 13-kilometer tieback to the Brage platform, is the latest to be signed under the frame agreement signed with OKEA in 2017.

Bestla, discovered in 2016, is estimated to contain 24 million barrels of oil equivalent, of which two-thirds is oil and the remaining one-third is gas and natural gas liquids. The first oil is targeted for Q4 2026.

According to SLB, the solution proposed by Subsea Integration Alliance represents the first commercially viable field development plan submitted for the Brasse development. It is compliant with NCS2017+ for standardized subsea production systems tailored for application in the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) and the local economy will be supported by selecting fabrication and manufacturing from partners in Norway.

“We enjoy a long, productive relationship with OKEA, building upon the successful execution of the Hasselmus development, the first project under our Alliance frame agreement, which was delivered on time and on budget in October 2023,” said Mads Hjelmeland, CEO of SLB OneSubsea.

“Reaching this point has been driven by outstanding collaboration across all partners. Our ongoing partnership has enabled us to work together to simplify the field layout and secure long lead items and vessel capacity, which will bring the new wells online quickly and efficiently.”

The Subsea Integration Alliance earlier this month signed a long-term strategic agreement with Equinor for the subsea scope at the Wisting field offshore Norway and the Bay du Nord project located off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.