SUBSEA/SURFACE SYSTEMS

Chevron awards Thailand contract

Chevron Offshore Thailand Ltd. has awar-ded Aker Kværner’s subsea business unit a three-year contract for supply of surface wellhead equipment and associated services within its Gulf of Thailand operations. The estimated value of the contract is $12-14 million over the three-year term.

Aker Kværner’s subsea and wellhead business, Kværner Oilfield Products (KOP), will deliver the surface wellhead products from its manufacturing plant located on Batam Island in Indonesia. The project will entail supplying approximately 75-100 sets of surface wellheads and christmas trees per year over a three-year period. KOP will provide associated installation and maintenance services from its service support centers in Sattahip and Bangkok in Thailand.

“The award of this contract ensures that the relationship between KOP and COTL, which began in 2000, will continue through 2008,” said Raymond Carlsen, executive vice president for Aker Kværner. “Having recently been awarded a similar supply and service contract by Unocal Thailand valued at almost $35 million, this further confirms the strategic importance of the region in the continued growth of KOP.”

Petrobras awards $500-million contract

Petróleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) has awarded a $500-million engineering, procurement, installation, and commissioning contract to Subsea 7 and Technip. The contract is for the design, supply, and installation of flexible risers and flow lines and the installation of umbilicals and jumpers on the P52 platform in the Roncador field in the Campos basin. The risers and flowlines will be manufactured at the Technip facility in Vitória, Brazil. The value of Technip’s part of the work is over $350 million. Subsea 7 will undertake all installation works for the contract, with a value of more than $150 million.

The work scope includes the design, manufacture, supply, installation, pull, and hook-up to the P52 platform (including pre-commissioning) of risers, associated flowlines, and ancillary equipment for four 9-in. flexible lines totaling 221 km in length and the installation of a further 83 km of jumpers and 163 km of umbilicals free issued by the client. The installation scope includes pre-lay surveys along the proposed routes, full-time ROV monitoring of the touchdown point, installation of riser suction anchors, and full as-built survey once the pipe has been tested and stabilized.

The Campos basin is offshore the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Operations on this project will take place in water depths of up to 1,900 m. The project will be executed, engineered, and supported from the Subsea 7 base in Niteroi in the state of Rio de Janeiro and the Technip factory and base in Vitória in the State of Espírito Santo. Offshore work will begin in late 2006 using the pipelay vesselKommander 3000, which will be upgraded to a top tension of 340 tons for the project. Technip will undertake upgrades to their manufacturing facility Flexibrás in Vitoria to accommodate the work scope.

“We are delighted that Subsea 7 is involved in the largest and most prestigious subsea installation so far awarded in Brazil, and we welcome the opportunity to work in partnership with Technip bringing together our mutual experience of supplying and installing flexible pipe in the deep waters of Brazil,” Victor Bomfim, vice president for Subsea 7, Brazil, said.

According to Frédéric Delormel, president of Technip in Brazil, “The bid process for this landmark project included extensive screening of potential concepts. It is particularly rewarding therefore that flexible technology developed in partnership with Petrobras has once again demonstrated its superior benefits for ultra-deepwater applications. We are especially proud that our solution, offered in partnership with Subsea 7, provides the winning combination of competitive price and highest Brazilian content.”

Oceaneering wins umbilicals contract

Oceaneering Multiflex, a unit of Oceaneering International Inc., has received a $10-million contract from Clough Engineering Ltd. of Australia to supply umbilicals for the G-1 and GS-15 fields offshore Rajahmundry, India.

The order is for approximately 40 km of steel-tube-based production control umbilicals. The umbilicals will be manufactured at the Oceaneering Multiflex facility in Rosyth, Scotland, and are scheduled for delivery in 4Q 2005.

InterMoor wins mooring contract

InterMoor Inc., an Acteon company, has finalized an agreement with Enterprise Products Partners LP to provide engineering, management, and design services for 12 permanent suction piles for the Independence Hub semisubmersible production facility in the Gulf of Mexico’s Mississippi Canyon block 920, about 150 mi southeast of New Orleans. Each pile is 18 ft in diameter and 88 ft long. Water depth at the location is approximately 8,000 ft.

InterMoor will also procure all free issue items to outfit the piles, such as butterfly valves, ROV interface, and cast padeyes. The piles are scheduled for completion in 4Q 2005.

InterMoor delivers integrated mooring systems for the offshore oil and gas industry in the Gulf of Mexico, Canada, Caspian Sea, Brazil, Asia Pacific, and West Africa. Acteon is a group of specialist engineering companies serving the global oil and gas industry and was formerly known as UWG Group. InterMoor evolved from Acteon’s asset acquisition of Technip Offshore Moorings Inc.

Modec to supply KNOC FSO

Modec Inc. has received a letter of intent from Korea National Oil Corp. for the supply of an FSO vessel for KNOC’s Rong Doi/Rong Doi Tay fields offshore Vietnam, together with Petroleum Technical Services Co. (PTSC), a subsidiary of Vietnam Oil and Gas Corp. (Petrovietnam) and Mitsui & Co. Ltd., a consortium. The letter includes the time charter of the FSO to KNOC for seven years with maximum 30 years operation.

The Rong Doi (Twin Dragon) and Rong Doi Tay (Twin Dragon West) fields are 320 km southeast of Vung Tau on block 11-2 of the Nam Con Son basin.The FSO is planned to be installed in 85 m of water and is designed to have receiving capacity of 18,000 b/d of condensate and storage capacity of 300,000 bbl. Condensate processed at Rong Doi platforms will be loaded to the FSO via flexible riser. The consortium (Modec/PTSC/Mitsui) is responsible for the engineering, procurement, construction, installation, commissioning, and operations for the FSO, including the external turret mooring system. The consortium will own and operate the FSO for seven years with an additional 23 one-year options.

“When we complete this FSO project, we will be operating three FPSO/FSO vessels in Vietnam,” said Kenji Yamada, president and CEO of Modec Inc. “We look forward to working with KNOC to achieve on-time completion and to initiate the operations that will follow.”

Modec currently operates seven FPSOs and one FSO, and an additional unit will begin operations in the first half of 2005.