Offshore staff
STAVANGER, Norway – Equinor and its partners have sanctioned the Askeladd Vest subsea development in the southern Barents Sea, at an estimated cost of close to NOK3.2 billion ($384 million).
Askeladd Vest can deliver 134 MMboe, according to Geir Tungesvik, the company’s svp for project development, and should extend plateau production at the Hammerfest LNG plant on Melkoya Island, northern Norway by two years. Start-up is expected in the first half of 2024.
The Snøhvit organization in nearby Hammerfest and Harstad will operate the new project, which will entail tieback of a subsea template on Askeladd Vest to the Askeladd field via a pipeline and an umbilical.
Equinor added that the distance from the onshore LNG plant to the subsea field is 195 km (121 mi), a record for a tieback development.
Aker Solutions will supply the subsea production system comprising the template and two Christmas trees with associated components, under a NOK460-million ($55.2-million) contract.
Fabrication will take place at the company’s facilities in Sandnessjøen and Egersund, and project management and engineering in Tranby.
Last September, Equinor issued a letter of intent to TechnipFMC for pipelaying and subsea installation services for the project.
TechnipFMC’s Orkanger spool base will fabricate the pipelines for subsequent reeling onto the installation vessel.
Germany’s Butting has already manufactured and supplied the pipes, currently stored in Orkanger.
Nexans has a letter of intent to fabricate the umbilicals followed by loading onto installation vessels at the company’s plant in Halden.
In addition, the company will manufacture the fiber-optic and power cables at its complex in Rognan, with the contract value estimated at around NOK100 million ($12 million).
Equinor’s license partners for the development are Petoro, Total, Neptune Energy, and Wintershall Dea.
04/23/2021
