LONDON�Norsk Hydro AS Wednesday awarded development contracts worth 220 million kroner ($25.2 million) to Stolt Offshore SA and Fabricom Contracting NV for Vale field, a satellite of Heimdal field on Block 25/4 of the Norwegian North Sea.
Under a 164 million kroner deal, Anglo-Norwegian subsea contractor Stolt will coat, lay, and trench the 16.5 km, 8-in. flowline between the Vale subsea production system and the Heimdal riser platform. The contract covers engineering, procurement, laying, and trenching of the umbilical, as well as tying in the lines at both ends.
Fabricom, of Belgium, will make topside modifications on the Heimdal platform for the Vale and Vesterled field projects. It includes engineering, procurement, onshore fabrication, and offshore installation. The contract is for 60 million kroner.
Hydro said the offshore work will be conducted between May and September with first flow from Vale scheduled for December. It said the marginal Vale development, which holds some 2.5 billion cu m of gas and 21 million bbl of condensate, was "representative of the significant future challenges (Hydro) faces on the Norwegian continental shelf."
It said, "Vale is a marginal field that lies near existing platforms and pipelines. It is imperative we exploit such deposits in the best possible way. We have demonstrated the priority placed on rigorous economic demands to ensure optimal resource recovery."
Hydro plans to invest 800 million kroner at Vale, covering modifications at Heimdal, a new subsea template, pipelines, as well as drilling. About 260 million kroner has been spent on its "Heimdal 2000 project" in preparation for the Vale development.
Hydro is the operator at Vale with a 28.53% stake. Marathon Oil Co. has 46.9%, TotalFinaElf SA 24.24%, and AS Ugland Rederi 0.32. Hydro said the remaining 0.01% was unresolved.
Vesterled is a 33-km gas pipeline that will connect the Heimdal platform to the existing Norwegian Frigg pipeline, and extend from Frigg on to St. Fergus, Scotland.
The 600 million kroner pipeline will have a capacity of 11 billion cu m/year, and is scheduled to come on stream Oct. 1 (OGJ Online, Oct. 18, 2000).
