Total turns to Eiffel for Africa expansion schemes

Schematic of Anguille LQ platform.

For Anguille, Eiffel has EPC responsibility for the AGMN platform, while partner Saipem will handle transportation and offshore installations. The facility will comprise an 850-metric ton (937-ton) jacket supporting a 1,300-mt (1,433-t) topsides, anchored to the sea floor via 1,200-mt (1,323-t) piles.

Since Eiffel received its early bid specifications, the weight of the platform has increased because of the decision to add more wells. There will now be 15 slots on the platform, allowing a total of 21 wells to be drilled. Construction started in Fos in October 2010, and sailaway is set for this December, followed by installation on Anguille next March. Thereafter, development drilling should lead to first oil from Phase III in June 2013.

According to Eiffel’s Offshore Energy Director Arnaud de Villepin, the company has struggled to bring new offshore work to Fos in recent years because of increased competition from yards in the US dollar-region. For West Africa, local content is also a major issue, less so in Gabon where there is no dedicated offshore construction site.

Despite the break from offshore projects, re-starting this activity in Fos has been relatively easy, because the experienced workforce has been retained for assembling modular Universal bridges (under the ‘Unibridge’ license), which are produced under a joint venture with the concept’s originator Matiere. Eiffel has been supplying large numbers of these bridges for nearshore field developments in the Asia/Pacific region, including Esso Highlands’ current Papua New Guinea LNG project.

Offshore Nigeria, NNPC has finally approved Total’s long-delayed Ofon Phase II development. Here Eiffel is part of a team bidding for a large platform, OFQ, comprising a 900-mt (992-t) jacket and a five-deck 5,000-mt (5,511-t) topsides, including a technical level, a control room, and an accommodation block for 140 personnel. De Villepin hoped to receive a Letter of Intent from Total in April.

The other members of the consortium are Nigerian design company OOPE and fabricator Aveon Offshore (ex-Grinaker), which would start building the platform early next year at its yard in Port Harcourt, after engineering has been completed. Eiffel would have EPCC responsibility, supervising engineering and construction, also managing hook-up, pre-commissioning, and commissioning. The control room and technical buildings would likely be subcontracted to Fos, providing work there for 200 staff.

Beyond that, Eiffel is aiming for further involvement in Anguille, performing offshore integration (connecting AGMN to the existing platforms). And it is also watching developments offshore Argentina, where Total Austral is expected to invite tenders for a platform for the Vega Pleyade project. Eiffel would probably bid for this work with another company, with Fos assigned the construction.