Equinor selects Aibel for Krafla engineering study

Oil and gas services company Aibel has been awarded a field engineering, concept optimisation, and definition study for Equinor’s unmanned process platform at the Krafla field located off Norway.

The study’s main objective is to further mature the concept with tie-in to the Aker BP-operated host platform located in the NOA area (North of Alvheim), Aibel explained in a statement on Tuesday.

Equinor is the operator of the Krafla licence and Aker BP is the operator of the NOA and the Fulla licences.

In close cooperation with Equinor, Aibel’s focus will be to ensure reliable and robust design for minimal maintenance needs, simplification of systems and functions on the platform, as well as automation and digitisation.

Here, Aibel will make use of experience from the previous Krafla and Peon concept studies and the expertise the company has gained from unmanned platform concepts in general, both in oil and gas and within offshore wind.

The study is carried out in the Concept & Studies group in Asker and is already underway. The first phase will last until December 2020.

Nils Arne Hatleskog, Executive Vice President for Field Development and Offshore Wind in Aibel, said: “We see the award as a recognition of the Unmanned Facility capabilities developed within Aibel over the years, firstly within Offshore Wind Substations, and now brought to a new level for Unmanned Process Platforms, in an inspiring working relationship with Equinor”.

It is important to remind that Equinor and Aker BP last June entered into an agreement in principle on commercial terms for coordinated development of the licences Krafla, Fulla, and North of Alvheim (NOAKA) on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

The two companies also started preparations for submitting Plans for Development and Operation (PDO) in 2022.

The contemplated development concept for the area consists of a processing platform in the South operated by Aker BP, an unmanned processing platform in the North operated by Equinor, and several satellite platforms and tiebacks to cover the various discoveries.