Subsea surge: New contracts and milestones shape offshore project pipeline
The global subsea market continues to accelerate with a wave of new awards and operational updates across key offshore regions.
Key highlights:
- Ocean Installer is set to manage SURF for Vår Energi’s fast-track Balder Next development in the Norwegian North Sea, adding six new wells and laying groundwork for future tiebacks.
- bp has tapped DOF Group for subsea support in the North Sea.
- TechnipFMC will deliver its Subsea 2.0 systems for Eni’s Maha tieback offshore Indonesia.
- Subsea7 reports significant vessel activity across Europe.
- DeepOcean secured two major subsea construction contracts, reinforcing its position in UK and Norwegian waters.
Ocean Installer to manage SURF for next Balder phase
Ocean Installer will perform project management and engineering of the flexible pipelines and risers for Vår Energi’s fast-track Balder Next – New Wells development in the central Norwegian North Sea.
This will add six new subsea wells and also prepare the infrastructure needed for further tiebacks in the future.
As part of Vår Energi’s Subsea Partnership, Ocean Installer is responsible for the SURF component, and OneSubsea will supply the subsea production system. The remaining scope of the project is subject to FID by the license partners.
Front-end engineering and procurement activities have begun with manufacture of flexible products due to start shortly. Offshore operations will take place in 2027 and 2028.
Ocean Installer has been collaborating with Vår Energi in the Balder area since 2019.
DOF vessel will support bp’s subsea activities
bp has awarded DOF Group a firm three-year contract, with extension options, to provide subsea services for its North Sea operations.
DOF will deploy a subsea support vessel to assist subsea construction, inspection, repair and maintenance operations, due to start in first-quarter 2026.
TechnipFMC providing subsea trees for Maha offshore Indonesia
Eni has awarded TechnipFMC an iEPCI contract for the deepwater Maha subsea tieback development to the Jangkrik FPU offshore Indonesia.
TechnipFMC will supply its Subsea 2.0 tree systems, flexible flowlines, a manifold and controls, and it will also install the subsea production system.
The company previously worked with Eni on Jangrik and the Merakes project.
Subsea7 vessels busiest offshore Europe this year
Subsea7 recently shared subsea, conventional and renewable project updates in its third-quarter 2025 results report.
Offshore Europe, eight Subsea7 vessels progressed work on their respective projects:
- Seven Vega spent most of the third quarter offshore Norway installing pipe-in-pipe at Yggdrasil;
- Seven Oceans, Seven Navica and Seven Arctic were also active offshore Norway at Irpa and Øst Frigg;
- Seven Navica worked at Murlach and Bittern-Belinda in September in the UK;
- Seaway Strashnov completed the installation of all 87 monopiles at Dogger Bank C in the UK, while Seaway Alfa Lift made progress adding transition pieces; and
- After a yard stay for a crane repair, Seaway Ventus continued work at the East Anglia THREE project in the UK.
Offshore Angola, Seven Borealis and Seven Pacific continued working, while the Seven Waves pipelay support vessel began a new three-year contract for Petrobras offshore Brazil.
In August, Seaway Aimery transited to the US where, after 20 days on standby pending the lifting of a stop-work order, it began laying cables at the Revolution project.
DeepOcean inks two subsea construction contracts
DeepOcean has been awarded a contract to provide subsea construction and tie-in work at a subsea field development on the UK continental shelf, according to a Nov. 19 company press release.
The field is being developed as a subsea tieback to an existing host facility.
DeepOcean will install a flexible production riser and flowline as well as an umbilical connecting the host facility to the subsea xmas tree. The work scope also covers the protection of the flowline and umbilical, and the commissioning of the newly installed infrastructure.
DeepOcean’s Aberdeen office will lead the engineering and project management for the subsea construction and tie-in work scope.
Phase 1 will include subsea construction and tie-in activities, and Phase 2 will entail commissioning by a second DeepOcean offshore construction vessel.
Moreover, DeepOcean also has secured a contract by Equinor to provide various subsea construction and installation activities as part of the Snorre Export and Import Gas Project (SNEIG) for offshore execution in 2026, according to a Nov. 13 company press release.
The SNEIG project is part of the broader Snorre Expansion Project, which aims to extend the production life of the Snorre oil and gas field beyond 2040. The Snorre Field, in the northern North Sea, is in water depths of 300-350 m.
DeepOcean will install a subsea safety isolation valve, a subsea umbilical, and tie-in to the existing pipeline using connectors and associated tooling from the Pipeline Repair and Subsea Intervention pool.
DeepOcean will also provide preparatory subsea construction activities include isolation pig tracking, pipeline coating removal and cutting operations. Suitable crossings for the new umbilical will also be prepared and installed at the field before various mechanical completion and commissioning activities are performed.
The award also includes the provision of onshore engineering, procurement and project management services. DeepOcean will manage the project out of its office in Haugesund, Norway.
Offshore operations are scheduled to begin in summer 2026 using a DeepOcean subsea construction vessel.
About the Author
Jeremy Beckman
Editor, Europe
Jeremy Beckman has been Editor Europe, Offshore since 1992. Prior to joining Offshore he was a freelance journalist for eight years, working for a variety of electronics, computing and scientific journals in the UK. He regularly writes news columns on trends and events both in the NW Europe offshore region and globally. He also writes features on developments and technology in exploration and production.
Ariana Hurtado
Editor-in-Chief
With more than a decade of copy editing, project management and journalism experience, Ariana Hurtado is a seasoned managing editor born and raised in the energy capital of the world—Houston, Texas. She currently serves as editor-in-chief of Offshore, overseeing the editorial team, its content and the brand's growth from a digital perspective.
Utilizing her editorial expertise, she manages digital media for the Offshore team. She also helps create and oversee new special industry reports and revolutionizes existing supplements, while also contributing content to Offshore's magazine, newsletters and website as a copy editor and writer.
Prior to her current role, she served as Offshore's editor and director of special reports from April 2022 to December 2024. Before joining Offshore, she served as senior managing editor of publications with Hart Energy. Prior to her nearly nine years with Hart, she worked on the copy desk as a news editor at the Houston Chronicle.
She graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Houston.