Petrobras extends Lochnagar contract
Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras) has extended the contract for the Subsea 7 flexible pipelay vessel Lochnagar at an estimated value of $12 million. The contract is for the exclusive use of the Lochnagar for 175 days to provide flexible pipelay, engineering, and subsea installation services. The vessel will work offshore Brazil in 2,000 m of water and is capable of installing bundles or single flexible pipes varying from 2-in. to 12-in. in diameter.
The vessel has been working in Brazilian waters since 1998, when it was modified to convert to a flexible pipelay vessel. The commitment to the vessel by Petrobras will offer continuity of work for the Lochnagar until December.
Petrobras previously awarded Subsea 7 a two-year, $110-million contract to install flexible and steel lines offshore using the Lochnagar on virtually a continuous basis for flexible installation, and Skandi Navica on shorter campaigns for the steel line installation. The earlier contract contained options to extend the duration for up to five years. Major modifications will be made to the Lochnagar, upgrading the top tension capability to over 250 tons to enable the vessel to lay flexible lines in up to 2,000 m.
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According to Subsea 7, the upgrade will be carried out in a Brazilian shipyard soon to be nominated. The vessels will install over 300 km of steel and flexible lines primarily in the deepwater Campos basin. The project will begin in 3Q 2005.
Vice President for Subsea 7 Brazil Victor Bomfim, confirmed the award and added, "This award shows considerable commitment by Petrobras to the Lochnagar and Subsea 7's pipelaying capabilities. Based on previous experience, we anticipate that around 150 km of flexible pipe will be installed during the contract period."
Meanwnile, Subsea 7's Gulf of Mexico Integrated Remote Tech-nologies (IRT) group has received two contracts for ROV services onboard the drilling rig Sovereign Explorer for projects off Venezuela and Trinidad. The work, in water depths to 750 m, will be for Statoil Plataforma Deltana AS and the client consortium headed by British Gas Trinidad & Tobago and British Gas International Ltd., and including partners ChevronTexaco, Petrotrin, Eni, and PetroCanada. The contracts are valued in the region of $2 million and run until December 2005.
The combined work scope includes six wells with additional optional wells thereafter. Under the existing Statoil frame agreement, the first contract covers two wells for the drilling program for Statoil Deltana, block 4, offshore Venezuela. A separate contract will cover four wells for the British Gas Trinidad & Tobago and British Gas International drilling program for 2004-05 in the east and north coast marine areas offshore Trinidad.
Subsea 7 will use two Centurion HD work class ROVs during the project, with the option for of a tool deployment unit and tooling for completion operations.
Subsea equipment for Greater Plutonio
FMC Kongsberg Subsea AS, a unit of FMC Technologies Inc., has signed a $32-million contract to supply subsea systems and related services for the BP-operated Greater Plutonio project in block 18, offshore Angola.
The contract, which covers local Angolan fabrication of manifolds, brings the total current project value for FMC to $382 million.
FMC Technologies' scope of supply for the Greater Plutonio project is expected to include 45 subsea trees and associated structures, manifolds and production control systems, as well as connection systems for flowlines and umbilicals. FMC Technologies also will supply technical services related to installation and startup. The supply of equipment and services will be supported by FMC Kongsberg Subsea's operations in Angola. Deliveries will be completed over a multi-year period and are scheduled to begin in early 2005.
Sonsub completes contract, continues another
Sonsub Inc has completed a 180-day contract with Oceanografia S.A de C.V, in the Bay of Campeche on Pemex pipeline projects using the 75-HP work class ROV Discovery 3. Meanwhile, Sonsub's Scorpion 22 ROV, mobilized in May 2003, is continuing work on a three-year contract for Oceanografia for inspection, survey, and CP monitoring on 623 submarine crossings, 266 submarine interconnections, and 5,040 km of submarine pipeline, including risers. According to Sonsub, by using the Innovatum tracking system, the ROVs have been able to perform the work in 0.2 to 0.4 m of visibility at a rate of 0.9 km an hour. Sonsub also is also supplying a dual-boom pipeline inspection suite, including dual head profilers, a bathymetry unit, and other inspection capabilities.
In the August issue of Offshore magazine, we said that Fairfield Industries built the Deep 2 Pod Deployment skid system. In fact, Sonsub built the system.
