Subsea 7 scoops Shearwater deal from Shell

Offshore engineering and construction specialist Subsea 7 has won a sizeable contract from oil major Shell for the Shearwater Fulmar Gas Line (FGL) re-plumb project located 140 kilometers off Aberdeen.

Subsea 7 said on Monday that the engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (EPCI) project workscope incorporates a 37-kilometer 24″ export line, a 14″ rigid riser, control jumper, subsea structures, and associated subsea tie-ins.

Project management, engineering, and procurement work has already begun in Aberdeen, with support from Subsea 7’s office in Glasgow. According to the company, offshore activities are scheduled for 2019.

Jonathan Tame, Subsea 7 vice president for UK & Canada, said: “For many years Subsea 7 has been chosen by Shell to provide engineering and project execution expertise in the North Sea. This latest award further demonstrates our ability to design the right engineering solutions that ensures a safe, effective and cost-efficient project delivery.”

It is worth noting that Subsea 7 considers a sizeable contract as being between $50 million and $150 million.

To remind, Shell made the final investment decision (FID) for the Shearwater gas infrastructure hub in the UK North Sea last week. That was Shell’s seventh FID in the UK North Sea in 2018.

Dry gas produced by the Shearwater platform currently flows via the Shearwater Elgin Area Line (SEAL) pipeline to Bacton, on the east coast of England.

As part of a newly sanctioned project, the Shearwater platform will be modified, and the Fulmar Gas Line to Shearwater installed, enabling wet gas to flow into the Shell Esso Gas and Associated Liquids (SEGAL) pipeline.

The gas will initially be processed at the St Fergus plant in Scotland prior to onward transmission of natural gas liquids (NGLs) to the Fife Natural Gas Liquids plant (FNGL) and Fife Ethylene Plant (FEP) at Mossmorran where they will be separated and exported to customers.