Aker Solutions lands Johan Castberg work worth over $480M

Oilfield services provider Aker Solutions has won work to help Statoil develop the Johan Castberg field, the largest oil discovery in the Norwegian Barents Sea.

The company will supply the subsea production system and design the topside of the floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) facility, which will be the largest-ever of its kind offshore Norway, Aker Solutions said on Tuesday.

The total value of the work is about NOK 4 billion ($480.8M) and will be booked in the fourth-quarter orders.

The company emphasized it has been directly involved in the Johan Castberg development since its earliest phases, providing concept studies and front-end engineering design.

“Our early involvement and strong collaboration with Statoil have helped halve the development costs, enabling this strategically important project to move forward,” said Aker Solutions Chief Executive Officer Luis Araujo. “The field is critical in further developing northern Norway as an oil and gas region.”

Subsea System

The subsea production system will consist of 30 wells with vertical subsea trees, wellheads, control systems, 10 templates and manifolds, two satellite structures and tooling. The system was ordered by Statoil as part of a framework agreement awarded on Tuesday.

Work on the system will start this month and involve facilities in Norway, the UK, India, Malaysia and Brazil. Initial deliveries are scheduled for the second quarter of 2019 with final delivery in the first half of 2023.

Topside Design

The FPSO agreement covers engineering, procurement and management assistance for the detailed design of the Johan Castberg topside. The order comes after Statoil exercised an option in a 2013 engineering contract for Johan Castberg.

The work has already started and will be carried out by Aker Solutions in Norway and India. The detailed design is set to be completed in 2019.

“We are able to generate significant project synergies by building on our work from the early stages of the development and playing on our combined strengths in both subsea and floating installations to optimize the overall solution,” said Araujo.