Kværner wins major North Sea contract

Norwegian engineering firm Kvaerner in a joint venture with US company KBR has signed a contract with Statoil for the complete delivery of the platform topside to the Johan Sverdrup field development in the Nort Sea.

The agreement to deliver the deck for the utility and living quarter (ULQ) platform comes after a tough international competition, where Kvaerner-KBR presented the best overall bid. The agreement has an estimated total value for the Kvaerner- KBR partnership of approximately NOK 6.7 billion, and will create between 1500 and 2000 new jobs, NRK reports.

The ULQ-platform is one of four platforms to the Phase One development of the Johan Sverdrup oil and gas field on the Norwegian continental shelf. Kvaerner-KBR joint venture will execute the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) for the ULQ topside as one complete delivery. The agreement also includes an option for commissioning assistance and offshore hook-up for the platform.

"The market has shown a strong interest in this contract, and Kvaerner and KBR have won the contract in tough international competition. So far the Norwegian supplier industry has won the main Johan Sverdrup contracts. It is good to see that Statoil and the suppliers jointly are about to break the cost curve to ensure competitive force in a tough time for the whole industry," says Margareth Øvrum, executive vice president for Technology, Projects and Drilling in Statoil.

Over the last decade, costs in the global oil and gas sector have increased significantly, to the point where oil companies and their contractors are now implementing changes aimed at sustainable cost reductions.

- This is another milestone in the industry's ongoing improvements. The success of this process is based on close cooperation with our customers. Last year, the turn-around of Kvaerner's business for steel substructures for platforms resulted in a letter of intent for two jacket deliveries to Johan Sverdrup. Today's agreement shows that also Kvaerner's business for platform topsides has established a new competitive cost level. This strengthens our position for also winning other projects. We will continue the drive to improve our costs, productivity and competitiveness even further, in close dialogue with Statoil and other clients", says Jan Arve Haugan, President & CEO in Kvaerner.

(NRK/Press release)