Statoil Awards $288m North Sea Contracts

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Statoil Awards $288m North Sea Contracts

Statoil has awarded approximately US$288 million worth of contracts for its Johan Sverdrup offshore oil and gas field.

The latest awards for the North Sea field cover all subsea pipeline work, including fabrication, coating, and installation.

The pipeline totals 267 miles (430 km), and connects both the fields subsea infrastructure, and the main John Sverdrup platform to the Norwegian shore based refining facilities.

Oil produce will be expiated from the field to the Mongstad oil terminal via a 36 inch 170 mile (274 km) pipeline, whilst gas produce will be exported via an 18 inch 97 mile (156 km) and tied into the Statpipe system.

Pipeline Fabrication
Statoil has awarded the fabrication contract to Japan based Mitsui. The company have said that around 220,000 tonnes of steel will be used in the fabrication, with work starting early 2016.

Pipeline Coating
The contract for all pipeline coatings was awarded to Malaysian based Wasco. Their contract covers both external anti corrosion coatings and a concrete coating on oil and gas pipelines. The concrete coating is used as a weighting method.

Wasco will also be applying an internal coating to the gas pipelines. All coating work will be conducted at the company’s Malaysia base and is scheduled to take place in 2017.

Pipeline Installation
Saipem has been awarded the contract for the pipeline installation, and will utilise their giant Castorone pipelay vessel for the operation.

The Castorone was recently used to complete the record breaking Ichthys subsea pipeline offshore Australia, for INPEX. The 42 inch subsea line covered a distance of 553 miles (890 km).

The Ichthys pipeline now holds the record for the longest subsea pipeline in the Southern Hemisphere and the third longest in the world.

Commenting on the contract awards, Statoil VP Johan Sverdrup project, Kjetel Digre, said: “We have selected a solid team of principal suppliers for the Johan Sverdrup export pipelines, and are thus well positioned to deliver first oil from Johan Sverdrup from late 2019.”

Source: www.offshorepost.com

Moving Abroad Checklist

Initial Considerations

Will your partner be travelling with you?

If so, what will they be giving up in your present home and will they be able to continue with their career in your new home? You will need to check whether a separate visa is required for your partner to work or if your visa gives that right. If they are unable to work you will need to decide on the effect on your finances and what alternatives are available to give a fulfilling life (home business, training, voluntary work).

Are you taking family with you?

Moving with family raises many exciting opportunities, but also can create challenges. The HSBC Expat Explorer survey indicates that expat kids can take six months to settle in to their new country (see article). Getting young or even older children to prepare to move and leave their friends and family behind can be a challenge and should be thought through.

The options for education is another area that needs to be thought through.

Moving your child to a new country with a different education system can be a great opportunity to broaden their experience, but if they are close to key exams the timing can make this inadvisable. If you do take your family with you, it is important to decide between joining the local school system or choosing an international school.

Where will you be living?

Whether you will be living in a house or apartment, furnished or unfurnished, these decisions will affect what you need to take with you. The time you are planning to live overseas will also affect whether you should leave your property at home empty, rent it out or sell it. See the article Sell, Store or Ship.