Contract Awards

Aker Solutions has received a Letter of Intent (LOI) for a front-end engineering and design (FEED) contract from Equinor, for the FPSO for the Wisting field development in the Norwegian Barents Sea.

The intended FEED contract includes an option for engineering, procurement, construction and integration (EPCI) of the topside for the FPSO. The scope of the FEED is to provide front-end design- and engineering for a circular floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) solution, to further progress the project development towards a planned final investment decision. If the field development moves forward to execution phase, Aker Solutions estimates the EPCI option to potentially represent a significant1 contract, subject to final investment decision and regulatory approvals.

"Wisting is one of the largest upcoming industrial projects in Norway. We are looking forward to continuing our long-standing

relationship with Equinor for this significant field development, and to mature the project towards a planned investment decision", said Sturla Magnus, executive vice president and head of Aker Solutions' topside and facilities business.

The FEED award follows the successful completion of the study phase, and the work starts immediately with planned completion in the third quarter of 2022. The FEED work will be led by Aker Solutions’ offices in Fornebu, Norway.

The Wisting FPSO is based on a Sevan design. The topside will have a weight of about 20,000 metric-tons, consisting of a large process module and a large utility module.

"This major project will have significant positive effects on employment for our engineering resources and at our yards in Norway and create substantial ripple effects for the society and local communities near the yards," said Magnus.

Equinor ASA recently awarded a fourwell drilling contract for the Statfjord Øst licence to COSL Offshore Management AS, a drilling service provider. Equinor plans to use the COSLPromoter rig at the site. Drilling of the wells is expected to start in spring 2023.

The contract is valued at around $56 million and is expected to span 220 days. Following the drilling work completion, COSLPromoter will have a five-well option in the Statfjord satellites. Using this rig is crucial for the company’s commitment toward expanding the life of the fields and keeping emissions low.

Last year, Equinor announced plans to boost recovery by 23 million barrels of oil equivalent from the North Sea StatfjordØst field by investing NOK 3 billion in the project. The move is expected to increase profitable production from the site and enhance value creation for investors. It will also increase the company’s overall activities in the Norwegian continental shelf, thereby positively impacting the suppliers. The move was targeted to boost the life of the field to 2040.

Equinor has already used the rig for eight years in the Troll field, wherein it started the phase three gas production this August. Troll is one of the largest gas fields of Norway that caters to almost 8% of the European Union’s gas consumption. Equinor is the operator of the third phase and has Petoro AS, and subsidiaries of Royal Dutch Shell plc (RDS.A), TotalEnergies

At the Statfjord Øst licence, Equinor is the operator with a 31.6875% stake. It has Petoro, Eni SpAaffiliate Vår Energi AS, Spirit Energy Norway AS, Idemitsu Petroleum Norge AS and Wintershall Dea Norge AS as partners in the licence.

Offshore accommodation services provider Prosafe has won a deal from TotalEnergies to provide accommodation support in the UK sector of the North Sea.

Prosafe said that its Safe Caledonia unit will be working for TotalEnergies at the Elgin complex. The firm duration of the contract is 270 days with one 30-day option. The work will start in mid-March 2022.

“After the Safe Caledonia safely and efficiently operated for TotalEnergies at Elgin in 2017 and 2021, Prosafe is extremely pleased to be awarded this contract for operations in 2022. We take this as a reflection of the high performance and flexibility that the Safe Caledonia offers,” Jesper Kragh Andresen, CEO of Prosafe, said.

Prosafe has already been awarded a contract for the Safe Caledonia by TotalEnergies in August 2019. It was supposed to work on the Elgin field in April 2020 for 162 days.

This, however, did not come to fruition as the companies agreed to postpone the Elgin campaign by a year. The firm duration of the deal was scheduled to start in the late first quarter of 2021.

As for the vessel, the Safe Caledonia is a POSMOOR passive position moored semisubmersible accommodation support vessel with beds for 454 persons and is capable of operating worldwide, excluding Norway, in the most demanding conditions.

It was built in 1982 at GVA Kockums yard in Sweden to a Pacesetter design. The Safe Caledonia completed a 20-year life extension in 2012/13.

Subsea 7 announced a very large1 award by Petrobras for new long-term day-rate contracts for the pipelay support vessels (PLSV) Seven Waves, Seven Rio and Seven Sun. The contracts will be recorded in backlog in the fourth quarter.

Each contract comprises a firm three-year period and a subsequent one-year option. Seven Waves will commence the new contract in the first quarter 2022. Seven Rio will commence the new contract in the second quarter 2022.

Seven Sun will commence the new contract in the third quarter 2022. Before commencing the new contracts, each vessel will undergo minor modifications requiring a short shipyard stay and modest capital expenditure.

The remaining period of Seven Waves’ and Seven Rio’s current contracts with Petrobras will be transferred to Seven Seas which will be deployed to Brazil in 2022.

Daniel Hiller, Vice-President Brazil, said: "We value our long-standing relationship with Petrobras

and these new contracts reflect well on our track record of delivering successful PLSV activities in Brazil, achieving high standards of safety and a strong operational performance.”

Empire Offshore Wind, a joint venture between Equinor and bp, has selected Vestas as its preferred supplier for wind turbine generators for both Empire Wind I and Empire Wind II, one of the largest offshore wind projects in the US.

The preferred supplier agreement – one of the largest of its kind to be announced in the US, is a key milestone for Empire Wind, an important step towards delivering its goal of providing offshore wind energy at scale to the state of New York.

The deal would see Vestas deliver 138 V236- 15MW wind turbine generators with a total generating capacity of around 2GW - for the two Empire Wind developments. Each rotation of a 15MW turbine will be capable of powering a New York home for about 1.5 days.

“We are delighted to select our preferred supplier for what will be the largest contract in the Empire Wind project. The turbines have the highest rated capacity available in the market today, which is a great fit for the high ambitions we have in this project. We have chosen the technology which will provide the best value for Empire Wind from the world’s largest

turbine manufacturer. This is state of the art technology moving the boundaries of wind energy production,” says Arne Sigve Nylund, executive vice president for Projects, Drilling & Procurement in Equinor.

“The selection of a preferred turbine supplier for New York State’s Empire Wind I and Empire Wind II offshore wind projects is providing a clear signal that the advancement of New York’s nation-leading 9 gigawatts goal of offshore wind by 2035 is on pace to deliver clean energy for New Yorkers,” said Doreen M. Harris, president and CEO, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).

“Through the utilisation of New York’s various ports, these types of partnerships will tap into local companies and manufacturing to further establish New York as the hub for the nation’s offshore wind industry.”

“Through this preferred supplier agreement, we are leading the development of a rapidly growing offshore wind industry in the US. This is just a starting point as we continue to progress the projects and harness the

local supply chain. Empire Wind is a flagship offshore wind development, shaping the future of this industry. Today’s announcement brings us one step further, as we work together with our partner bp, the State of New York and NYSERDA, and all stakeholders to develop Empire Wind, which will play an important role in producing renewable electricity to deliver on critical climate ambitions for the state, the nation and Equinor’s target of reaching net-zero by 2050,” says Siri Espedal Kindem, president of Equinor Wind US.

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