Aker Kværner to remove Frigg field platforms

Oct. 27, 2004
Total E&P Norge AS awarded Aker Kværner Offshore Partner AS the contract for engineering, preparation, removal, and disposal of the Frigg field installations.

Total E&P Norge AS awarded Aker Kværner Offshore Partner AS the contract for engineering, preparation, removal, and disposal of the Frigg field installations. The contract has a value of NKr3 billion. The Frigg field, which is 230 km northwest of Stavanger, has been in operation for 27 years – from September 1977 till this autumn. Frigg gas has been exported via pipelines to Scotland.

Aker Kværner Offshore Partner AS, Stavanger, will be the contract partner in a consortium of both Norwegian and UK companies, including Saipem UK, Shetland Decommissioning Co. Ltd., Aker Kværner Offshore Partner Ltd., Aberdeen, Aker Stord, and Aker Marine Contracting. All topsides and steel jackets are to be removed. The detail planning of the removal operations on Frigg starts immediately. Next summer 13,000-14,000 tonnes of steel from the gas handling and compressor platform TCP2 in the Norwegian sector – and some smaller units from the living quarter, QP, in the UK sector, will be taken onshore.

"The contract for removing the installations on the Frigg field is well aligned with our operations. As the field is partly located on the Norwegian continental shelf and partly on the UK continental shelf, we have planned to carry out the onshore dismantling activities both on the Green Head Base at Shetland, and at Eldøyane on Stord, Norway. Our priority will be to ensure that the work is carried out to the highest safety and environmental standards," says Tore Sjursen, president of Aker Kværner Offshore Partner AS.

From 2005 to 2008, Aker Kværner will remove nearly 85,000 tonnes of steel from the Frigg field, almost 20,000 tonnes of which will be taken to Shetland for dismantling and the rest will be taken onshore at Stord. All the steel will be recycled. In addition to the steel topsides on the TCP2 platform, DP1 and the entire drilling platform DP2 on the Norwegian sector, the contract includes all the living quarters and the steel topsides on the TP1, MCP-01, and CDP1 platforms in the UK sector.

The large crane vesselSaipem 7000 will play an important role during the heaviest lifting operations on the Frigg field.

10/27/04