Eiffel looking to extend niche fabrication skills beyond West Africa

Despite the global surge in fabrication opportunities, tendering remains as tight as ever, according to Eiffel Offshore Division Director Arnaud de Villepin.

The strength of the euro is partly responsible. The company’s facility in Fos-sur-Mer, west of Marseille, is struggling to match bids from US yards, particularly for projects priced in dollars.

But cost is not the only issue. Most of the large new field developments are in West Africa, where increasingly local construction content – rather than price or technical competence – is driving contract awards.

Partly for this reason, Eiffel lost the bidding for Total’s Ofon Phase II production platform offshore Nigeria to a consortium led by Hyundai. “However, we are still in the race for the wellhead platforms and living quarters,” de Villepin points out, “both due to be awarded this year.”

If successful, Eiffel’s Nigerian partner Grinaker would build the platforms, with Fos responsible for the living quarters. Previously this yard supplied the quarters module for Total’s Amenam Phase 1 project. “We also want to develop a modular living quarters company in Nigeria with a local partner,” de Villepin says. “We would not need a big yard for a modular system – just a workshop to assemble 40-ft or 20-ft [12.2 or 6.1 m] long containers, which could then be transported by road.”

Elsewhere, Eiffel is monitoring developments at Gazprom’s Shtokman project in the Barents Sea. “We are also looking at some projects Zadco and Adma Opco are planning offshore the UAE, and others off Qatar. The main yards in the Middle East such as NPCC, J Ray McDermott, and Lamprell, are all at full capacity, so why not? It is a very competitive market, but it is also very dynamic, with some large opportunities.

“We know the oil companies involved – they have visited Fos, so we are pre-qualified for the current bidding program. Awards are due to be made for all the projects at year-end.” Again, Eiffel will be pitching for wellhead platforms and quarters modules, in this case for refurbishment or expansion projects.

“We have better knowledge of living quarter assembly than local yards in the Middle East,” de Villepin claims. “Our main intention is to give work to Fos, but that’s not a prerequisite, because we are bidding on the basis of the most competitive price. If we need to fabricate outside Europe, we can introduce this in our bid. For Ofon Phase 2 our bid was in partnership with a Singapore-based company.”

To sustain the workflow at Fos – currently without a major offshore project – Eiffel is pursuing subcontract opportunities from the major engineering contractors. One present assignment is a new A-frame for Acergy’s laybargePolaris, replacing an old one. This will be installed while the vessel is in dry dock for an inspection program. Eiffel has also made quotes to Saipem for replacement A-frames for some of its vessels, and associated structural strengthening.

“Elsewhere, we are proposing fabrication of pipe reels to Flexi-France, Technip’s manufacturing center in Le Trait, northern France,” de Villepin says. “These would be a mixture of replacement reels and carrousels for Technip’s new installation vessels, which would be the biggest of their kind on the market – the engineering being done by Technip, not by us.”

Eiffel has also invested in new paint shops and a new workshop with a covered hall to fabricate masts for Europe’s growing array of onshore and offshore wind farms.