Shell taps Aker Solutions for work on Ormen Lange Phase 3

Norwegian engineering firm Aker Solutions has been awarded a letter of intent from oil major Shell for the Ormen Lange Phase 3 onshore project.

Aker Solutions said on Monday that the scope was to integrate the wet gas subsea compression system with the Nyhamna onshore gas plant in Norway.

Subsea compression will enable increased recovery from the Shell-operated Ormen Lange field. Aker Solutions’ scope includes a 500-metric-ton module which will be fabricated at the company’s yard in Norway. The contract will have a value of approximately NOK 600 million ($68.5 million).

The delivery will include engineering, procurement, construction and installation. The awarded contract is a continuation of the front-end engineering and design (FEED) delivered by Aker Solutions. The contract is called off under an established long-term frame agreement for Nyhamna brownfield modifications.

The Nyhamna plant outside Molde in mid-Norway receives gas via underwater pipelines from several offshore gas fields, including Ormen Lange. The plant is operated by Gassco, with Shell as the technical service provider.

Linda Litlekalsøy Aase, EVP of electrification, maintenance, and modifications at Aker Solutions, said: “Aker Solutions has a global business with supporting customers in maintenance and modifications of offshore installations and onshore industrial facilities.

“For the new scope, we will combine our expertise on what is best practice for safe and cost-effective project execution with our extensive knowledge of the plant at Nyhamna“.

Pre-execution work will start during the first half of 2021. Pending final investment decision for the Ormen Lange Phase 3 project and confirmation from Shell later in 2021, the work will progress into the execution phase.

The engineering, procurement and project management will mostly be executed from Aker Solutions’ offices in Stavanger and Kristiansund. The module will be delivered from the company’s Egersund yard.

The contract also involves civil construction and construction of new facilities at the site expected to be completed in 2024.

Ormen Lange deep-water project in the Norwegian Sea is one of Norway’s largest industrial projects to date and at the height of construction, it involved around 20,000 people from more than 50 countries.

The facility was completed, tested and commissioned in September 2007. Shell took over operatorship of Ormen Lange in December 2007.

Ormen Lange operates without a platform and includes 19 wells divided between four templates – structures containing slots for well equipment – on the seafloor. Two 30-inch pipelines transport the gas to the land facility in Nyhamna, where it is separated into natural gas and condensate for export. Produced condensate is stored in underground caverns before being exported by tanker.

The gas only spends about ten minutes at the processing facility before travelling 1,200 kilometres through the Langeled pipeline – one of the world’s longest subsea pipelines – to the UK.