Aker Solutions to Hook Up Fifth Johan Sverdrup Platform
Norwegian oilfield services provider Aker Solutions has won a contract for the hook-up of the fifth platform on the Johan Sverdrup field, offshore Norway.
According to Equinor, the operator of the field, at peak the contract will provide jobs for around 1,300 people and have a value of up to NOK 500 million (up to USD 57,56 million)
Johan Sverdrup phase 2 includes a new processing platform currently under construction by Aibel. After the assembly in sheltered waters in 2021, it will be towed back to Haugesund for completion before installation on the field in the spring of 2022.
The new contract awarded to Aker Solutions covers hook-up on the field and other hook-up and completion tasks that must be carried out after the platform has been installed to prepare it for operation. It will be connected to the existing field installations by a gangway to the existing riser platform.
Aker Solutions was awarded a similar contract in the first phase of the Johan Sverdrup development.
“Now Aker Solutions is modifying the riser platform for phase 2 and can move on to the hook-up and completion of the new processing platform on the field in 2022,” says Bjarne Bakken, Equinor’s project director for Johan Sverdrup phase 2.
At peak in 2022, the project will employ around 1,200 people distributed on three offshore shifts of 400 people each, in addition to an onshore organization of around 100 people. Production start for Johan Sverdrup phase 2 is planned in the fourth quarter of 2022.
“Johan Sverdrup phase 2 will provide high-value creation with record-low emissions. The project generates activity and spinoffs in Norway. More than 90 percent of the project contracts have been awarded to Norwegian suppliers. The contracts have been awarded in strong international competition, proving the competitiveness of the Norwegian supplier industry,” says Peggy Krantz-Underland, Equinor’s chief procurement officer.
Linda L. Aase, executive vice president, electrification, maintenance and modifications at Aker Solutions, said: “The productivity in the hook-up and commissioning work we delivered to Equinor in Phase 1 was high. We will build on this performance and implement even further improvements for the new contract for Phase 2, in close cooperation with Equinor’s team. We are glad that our focus on enhancing performance enables us to offer competitive execution models for new contracts.”
Equinor is the operator of the Johan Sverdrup field with a 42.6267% stake. Partners are Lundin Energy Norway AS: 20%, Petoro AS 17.36%, Aker BP ASA: 11.5733%, and Total E&P Norge AS: 8.44%.
Johan Sverdrup facts, as shared by Equinor:
Johan Sverdrup is the third-largest oil field on the Norwegian continental shelf, with expected resources of 2.7 billion barrels of oil equivalent. The ambition for the field is to achieve a recovery rate of more than 70 percent.
Break-even for the full field development is below USD 20 per barrel. Expected operating costs at plateau is below USD 2 per barrel.
In the first year on stream Johan Sverdrup has produced oil worth around NOK 50 billion, i.e. around 130 million barrels of oil (based on an average price of USD 40 per boe).
One barrel of oil produced at Johan Sverdrup during the first year has emitted 0.17kg CO2 – almost 100 times lower than the global average (measured in kilograms of CO2 per barrel produced). This is mainly due to the power supply from shore.
Johan Sverdrup phase 2 includes the construction of a subsea production system, reconstruction of the existing riser platform and a new processing platform (P2).
Phase 2 will also accommodate a converter plant for shore-based power supply. The plant will distribute power to other fields on the Utsira High: Edvard Grieg, Ivar Aasen, Gina Krog and Sleipner. The four existing platforms on the Johan Sverdrup field are already receiving power from shore.
