STATS Group gets major Middle East subsea pipeline job

The UAE-headquartered oil and gas EPC contractor National Petroleum Construction Company (NPCC) has appointed STATS Group to carry out a major subsea pipeline intervention scope.

STATS Group’s scope of work includes the hot tapping and double block and bleed isolation of multiple pipelines with diameters ranging from 42” up to 56” in the Middle East region, using its SureTap hot tapping machines and BISEP technology.

The project is said to be the world’s largest diameter subsea pipeline intervention project.

“We believe this project to be a first in the world. As far as we are aware, there have been no other subsea intervention projects of this complexity or scale that involve subsea isolations on pipelines of 56” diameter,” said Mark Gault, STATS Group’s General Manager Middle East.

“We have made a significant product development investment with three new large-diameter hot tapping machines and the associated isolation assets capable of handling this unique work scope. Relatedly, we are delighted to have increased our BISEP DNV Type Approval status up to 56.”

According to Gault, STATS Group is continuing to recruit more staff both to support the project with NPCC, as well as in response to a broader increase in regional project work following the “uncertainties of Covid-related lockdowns”.

In July, NPCC signed an agreement with French engineering company Technip Energies to establish a new joint company called NT Energies to accelerate the energy transition in the UAE, the broader Middle East and North Africa.

Headquartered in Abu Dhabi, the new joint venture focuses on blue and green hydrogen and related decarbonisation projects, CO2 capture in addition to industrial projects in the fields of waste-to-energy, biorefining, biochemistry, as well as other energy transition-related topics.