Legal issues cloud Deep Panuke platform sail-away

May 5, 2011
Construction of EnCana’s Deep Panuke MOPU platform has been completed in Abu Dhabi, according to contractor SBM Offshore.

Offshore staff

MONACO -- Construction of EnCana’s Deep Panuke MOPU platform has been completed in Abu Dhabi, according to contractor SBM Offshore. Transportation to Nova Scotia is imminent.

During the project, late modifications to the original design increased construction time and costs. SBM Offshore has claimed these additional costs from the client pursuant to the contract.

However, the company could not reach agreement with the client on compensation and has therefore started legal action to obtain judgement from the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia.

SBM has also supplied a MOPUstor platform for Talisman’s Yme field redevelopment in the North Sea, again built in Abu Dhabi, but this structure remains on standby in Norway awaiting a suitable weather window for safe offshore installation.

Among SBM’s other current projects, commissioning work on the FPSO Okha for Woodside Energy is nearing completion at Keppel shipyard in Singapore. Sail-away is scheduled before mid-year.

In the same complex, a tanker is undergoing conversion and refurbishment for use as Petrobras’ FPSO Cidade de Paraty. Fabrication of modules has started in Singaporean and Brazilian yards.

The project to relocate the FPSO Espadarte to the Baleia Azul field is also progressing as planned. The vessel has been disconnected from the Espadarte field and is awaiting tow to Singapore, where construction of the additional modules is under way.

05/05/2011